Mrs. Goodwill Drab to Miss Sassy N. Fab Chair Revamp...

I've been feeling super inspired by all the thrifty crafty DIY and fabulous revamp blogs I've been reading. So I gathered up my spending cash (less than $20.00 - whoopadeedoo....can you buy ANYTHING anymore for less than twenty bucks?), pawned the kids off on my dear hubby, jumped in the car and headed to our local Goodwill store for some thrifting therapy.

I eagerly browsed around looking for something horrible and decrepit with a splash of potential.

There was one fabulous chair that I passed up because it was too expensive.

Y'all - Here I am, IN A GOODWILL STORE, turning my nose at a perfect revamp project because Mrs. Stinginess did not want to shell out $14.99! Ha! Told ya I was thrifty...or dutch, but whatever.

However, I'm glad I passed up the aforementioned overpriced chair because tucked in the back high up on a shelf I spotted this sad, forlorn and forgotten chair:

Goodness gracious, HELLO POTENTIAL!

I was muchly thrilled. And even better? The stingy dutch woman living inside of me (Hi, Mrs. Stinginess, I know you are in there) was pleased as punch to see a price tag of $3.99.

YOU BETCHA!

I picked this sucker up for less than a Starbucks Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte!



Can ya tell I was slightly ecstatic? I wheeled my chair-laden goodwill cart proudly, wondering if the other patrons were kicking themselves for passing up my treasure.

The seat fabric? Detestable. Fuzzy orange with shiny gold stripes:

Blech!

I unloaded that thing into my garage and took Bessie to it:

Yeah, I named my cowtastic screwdriver Bessie.

Yanked that seat off, threw the fabric DIRECTLY into the garbage, then sanded, primed and spray painted that chair to gorgeousness:

I added a bunch of batting layers to the squashed seat pad:

Stapled on some fantastic new fabric (that cost more than the chair), Bessie reattached the seat and voila!

Meet Mrs. Previously Goodwill Drab, now known as Miss Sassy N. FAB:

LOVE the lines of Lil Miss Sassy...properly distressed, of course.

I have a slight obsession with green. I actually gasped OUT LOUD in the fabric store when I saw this bit o green gloriousness.

Before and after shot, from DRAB to FAB! :

Check out more DIY projects over at : A Soft Place To Land, the Shabby Chic Cottage and Thrifty Decor Chick...

A

Ah, Dear Summer, Where Hast Thou Gone

Ah, dear summer, where hast thou gone?

The summer season is ending soon, is it so horrible to be joyfully anticipating crisp fall nights, hot apple cider, pumpkin pie spices and resplendent trees? The school buses went by today, solidifying the fact that yes, fall IS indeed arriving soon.

I am eager to break out the scarves, hats and gloves and spend more time being cozy inside. Bible Study is starting, sewing projects are needing completion and the summer blooms are slowly fading.

However, we still have a few short weeks left to eke out every last remaining glimmer of summer.

Enjoy the rest of your summer along with me, won't you?

A

Green Season Salad Plate Winner...

The winner of the Green Season Salad Plates is announced over on the Vintage Dutch Girl -giveaways Blog!

Thanks for playing everyone!

A

Just A Reminder!

*Contest is now closed and a winner has been chosen*

Just a reminder to click on over to the Vintage Dutch Girl -giveaways blog to enter to win a set of 4 pretty green salad plates!

Contest Ends August 31st! Only four more days to enter...

A

Ain't Nuthin Chic About Anti-Diarrhea Medication...

You always feel ultra cool when you make an emergency run to the all-night convenience store to pick up a 24 pack of anti-diarrhea capsules and a spray bottle of bleach bathroom cleaner.

Do you ever wonder what the checkers must think? Did they look at my behind when I was walking out the automatic doors thinking, "hmmm, that girl's got the trots"?

I always feel the need to casually bring up in conversation with the checker that no, it ISN'T me who is sick.

This time I didn't say anything...leading me to wonder if they were in fact wondering,"how bad can it be that she needs a 24 capsule supply AND spray bleach? Wonder what her bathroom looks like?" as they surreptitiously squirted a hefty dose of hand sanitizer.

Yeesh.

A

Naptastic...

I am NOT a napper. I NEVER nap. I can't POSSIBLY sleep during the day. It TOTALLY messes up my night time sleep. Napping is for WEAKLINGS.

Y'all.

I was naptastic on Sunday.

I added up all my napping hours. They added up to a normal night of sleep for me (7 hours. SEVEN HOURS!).

Granted, I was quite sick and feeling rather blah. However, I'm a bit proud of my new found napping ability. Whether this is the current seasons' fad or a lasting fashion is yet to be determined...

A

Piano Bench Revamp...

I was all energized and inspired yesterday so I picked up my handy dandy screwdriver (it has a cow print on it...it's pretty much cowtastic) and started taking apart the piano bench:



(Mom and Dad, you might want to look away now. I know this upholstery fabric was o-so-stylin' back in the day, but it had to go. What you'll see next might pain you.)

Next up, boring needle-nose pliers to start yanking out staples:



This got old QUICK. So much so, that I found a better method as opposed to yanking out each staple one by one.

I started cutting the fuzzy maroon upholstery fabric. It was actually kind of strange. Not to go and get all philosophical on you, but all three of us kids sat on this bench to learn to play piano. It almost felt like I was destroying a piece of my childhood when cutting it....OK, moment's over!



I found by cutting and then yanking the fabric I popped out most of the staples:



Then I traipsed up to my craft room to finish the project. I made sure to iron the fabric first and then centered the bench, foam pad side down, on top of it.



Start stapling! I love my staple gun. It's therapeutic. I made sure to pull the fabric tight and mitered the corners, like a good CNA should do.



Trimmed the excess fabric:



Then added a coordinating liner fabric, edges tucked in as nice as you please:



Then began the arduous task of reattaching the hardware...which I completed without the use of a drill or a male. Proud of me Dad? And yes, it DOES open and close, and yes it IS centered correctly.



Nevermind that I have one puncture wound and five blisters.

Here is my finished, revamped piano bench:



I TOTALLY would have painted the wood black, but I respect my Father's health way too much to do that to him. See, he made this bench by hand, and in his book painting Mahogany is akin to spray painting a diamond.

I am happy with the results, it makes me smile:



Hmmm, (peering around the house) what ELSE can I revamp?

A

Check out Kimba's blog for more DIY projects!

Revamp Is Necessary...

I really REALLY really need to revamp this:



...into something stylistically appropriate.

AKA: Make it cute.

Stay tuned for makeover.

And by 'stay tuned' I do NOT mean later today...or this week. Let's just throw it out there that it may not happen this month. If it happens this year I'll be quite satisfied.

And by posting this it serves not only as a a reminder but a promise. A promise to you that I will EVENTUALLY revamp it.

Ideas, suggestions, advice?

A

Mass Coverage And Focused Removal...

The other day I had to make an emergency last minute trip to Rite-Aid to buy more carpet cleaner.

I was NOT thrilled.

I ended up buying a deep stain remover as well as a heavy traffic entire room cleaner.

Uh huh. I was looking for mass coverage as well as focused removal.

Sounds delightful, no?

Followers of my blog will most definitely assume the culprit was the poo-on-the-floor 31.8 lb toddler, but no.

The offspring have joined forces against their mighty foe. Let's just say leaving a naked eight month old poo-factory alone for just a smidgen too long on the carpet to 'air out' isn't such a grand idea.

In my defense, I did have her on an absorbent pad and all...she just rolled off of it...cause she's smart like that.

Then she proceeded to roll around IN it and made quick work of spreading the 'wealth' to all corners of the nation. I'm pretty sure this was a joint collaboration between my two Poo Soldiers to see how frustrated they could make their Mama.

It worked rather well.

I'm gonna need a new battle plan...

A

Spunky Repurposed Ruffly Baby Top...and Tutorial!...

So, apparently I have some addictions.

1. I am addicted to naps...for my children. Mama is a better Mommy when the kids take naps.

2. I am addicted to sewing. I have experienced some major sewing binges over the course of my life. I am experiencing a sewing binge currently.

3. I am addicted to cutting up t shirts and repurposing them. Guess what? Jersey does not require finished seams. COULD. IT. GET. ANY. EASIER!?

Mash them all together and you get: Mama on a mad cutting up t shirt sewing during nap time spree.

First it was the maternity shirts. And don't even think I'm through with them! I have an entire pile in my bonus room awaiting their turn at my sewing machine.

Next up was the 'donation' pile of clothes. I may never donate another article of clothing in my life.

So, I'm just going to go ahead and warn my husband that his closet may soon be raided. Any t shirt that you haven't worn for a few months may be subject to my Fiskars, sewing machine and whim. Consider yourself warned.

During today's mad cutting up t shirt sewing during nap time spree I cut up an old shirt that someone had given me. It was old, didn't fit, and screaming to be sliced up. So I obliged.

Old blah shirt:



SLICE!



After an embarrassingly long time of hemming and hawing (tee hee, pun intended!), I cut out a simple front and back dress shape using the finished bottom shirt hem as the dress hem. I sliced long lengths to use as ruffles, one arm cuff to use as a headband, and some small pieces of the bottom hem to use as shoulder straps:



I sewed front to back and tacked on the straps. Next up I basted then scrunched up the ruffles:



Then started adding them wherever I felt like it. First up, the sleeves:



Don't be stingy with pinning, folks! They are necessary to achieve a nice seam with ruffles!



(p.s. it's MUCH easier to sew on ruffles BEFORE you finish sewing them to the back.)

(p.p.s. - yes, that IS coffee I was consuming in the afternoon. Don't judge me!)

Then I got so preoccupied sewing on ruffles that I forgot to take photos. So I made a quick little tutorial for you:


Here is the finished ruffly dress/shirt and headband:



Melikey RUFFLES. Melikey sewing ruffles.

Besides, Lil Chick was starting to feel left out of the yellow invasion and needed some spunky yellow wear:



See? She's already feeling decidedly spunky:



Off to chop up some more t shirts...

A

300th Post And A GIVEAWAY!!!

*contest is now closed and a winner has been chosen*

I've been watching my post count, and we are officially hitting 300 today! Which means I have wasted many MANY hours writing bloggity nonsense and stories of poo and craftiness.

In honor of my 300th post, we are doing a giveaway! To enter to win, head on over to the Vintage Dutch Girl Giveaway Blog and leave a comment to be entered to win!

This giveaway is from a lovely store that has fun home accessories and dining room furniture.

* You do NOT have to run a blog to enter. Just click in as anonymous and make sure you tack your first name and email on the bottom of your comment. Enter to win and join the fun!

A

Maternity Shirt Renovation...

You know what? Maternity shirts can be VERY cute.

Also? Maternity shirts can be VERY flattering.

However? Maternity shirts worn when 8 months (gah!) postpartum may still be VERY cute...but are VERY unflattering.

So today I started cutting them up.

And cut some more.

And sewed a bit.

And embellished a bit.

And am very happy with the result.

Meet Mrs. Blah Yellow Maternity shirt:



I got sick of her making me look all poochy and pregnant...you know, since I'm NOT PREGNANT anymore...so I cut her arms off and pinned her sides smaller to match a shirt that currently fits me:



After sewing up the side seams I had all these extra pieces:



So I trimmed off the old side seam and was left with these randomly shaped pieces. I basted right down the middle, grabbed hold of one thread and cinchced it til it got all nice and bunchy:



Sorry, no bunchy pictures. I was too excited to finish my project to stop and take another picture. That, and I was talking to my sister on the phone while sewing, as well as yelling at Bubbalu to stop trying to make his sister topple over. I'm a multi-tasker but I do have my limits.

Anyways, I had three bunchy strips which I pinned to the front and sewed down. I'm very happy with the final result.

Meet Miss Sassy Yellow Bunchy Tank:



Not too shabby for an afternoon (less than an hour, really!) spent with my scissors, sewing machine, diet coke and a wildly insatiable need to craft something:



A

Mama's Here, Bubbalu, Mama's Here...

Motherhood never ceases to amaze me.

Since having children my sleep patterns have changed and quirks have developed. I sleep through my alarm and can snooze it once (okay, three) times while still asleep. However, when Bubbalu woke up crying at 4:20 this morning I was able to hear him through three walls and over my ceiling fan noise.

I just sat up in bed and said, "he's crying". Lance said, "mmmph". Which loosely translated means, "What ARE you talking about? Do you realize it's 4:20 in the morning and would you please stop talking to me?".

I rushed into his room, picked him up and snuggled him while he sobbed and sobbed. I repeated"Mama's here, Bubba, Mama's here" over and over while rocking him back and forth. NO idea what was going on. He never tells me. Bubbalu was soon ready to lay down and went back to sleep. Me? It took a short while longer...as in 47 minutes.

Which might explain my inability to fully wake up this morning. Coffee here we come.

Motherhood never ceases to amaze me. I love being able to be his safe place. His constant. His provider.

His Mommy.

A

#1 Trashiest Campsite Status...

I am freshly back from a nine day camping trip.

Yep, NINE days.

CAMPING. (Well, mostly motorhoming.)

With two littles. One potty training, one nursing.

Whew!

Things we discovered:

- It is shocking how quickly a toddler can trash a campsite.

- Bubbalu LOVES to pee outside, further establishing our "#1 trashiest campsite in the campground" status.

- Lil Chick is a movin' and a shakin'. She is scooting and just starting to crawl around. Here we go! Bubbalu learned to crawl in Spokane, Lil Chick on this camping trip. That's it, I'm not going ANYWHERE else! Lil Chick will stand up and recite the Heidelberg Catechism Q & A Lords Day 1 if I ever leave on another trip again....not that reciting the Catechism is bad...it's just TOO. STINKIN. FAST.

- Sunscreen in an spray can is AWESOMENESS.

- Bubbalu loves to say "AWESOMENESS!".

- An air conditioned motorhome is FAR superior to NON air-conditioned sweltering house that hit 95 INSIDE while we were gone.

-Potty training is set on the back burner while camping. This may be due to a specific ginormo poo in the underwear incident that I'd just as soon like to forget about. Underwear was tossed into double layer plastic zip-top baggies, squished with some laundry soap (kinda like those friendship bread baggies. "Day #3 - Squish the bag" - yep, EXACTLY like that) and then promptly thrown out of the motorhome...where it sat until it was time to pack up and go home. Once again, reestablishing our "#1 trashiest campsite in the campground" status.

-Many many MANY baby wipes are used while camping. Face, hands, buns, tables, high chair, legs, chairs, neck...you get the picture.

-Showering the children outside using the handy-dandy outside shower attachment on in-law's trailer is a GREAT way to prevent the trailer/motorhome gray water tank from filling too quickly. However, once again...#1 trashiest campsite in the campground.

-Giving Bubbalu a haircut outside using your home clipper set and a squirt gun filled with used pool water to wet their hair down doesn't help your "#1 trashiest campsite in the campground" status.

-Showering yourself (in the motorhome INSIDE shower) while STANDING IN A HUGE PLASTIC TOTE BIN and then carrying it outside to dump your shower out also saves your gray water tank, but again, doesn't help your status.

-Neither does pulling a utility trailer complete with two different chipped beyond repair paint jobs (that don't match), zero hubcaps and a horrible case of rust that you store at the entrance to your site covered with a hole-ridden, well past it's prime, bright green tarp.

I'm starting to wonder if the campground owners threw their hands in the air and cheered while we drove away.

However, that was AFTER my husband spilled a couple of gallons worth of raw sewage onto himself and the dump station before we exited the premises.

Yeah, they were DEFINITELY celebrating...

A

Questionable TP...

The effectiveness of this toilet paper to accomplish it's primary purpose is most definitely questionable:



Bubbalu has struck again.

A