Repurposed With Love

I decided to try and be a little creative this year with some of the gifts. I was going through our storage unit getting the X-mas decorations out, and low and behold I found my daughter's old doll bed(she is now 14). A light bulb went off...I could use this as one of Sophie's Santa gifts. She had asked for a doll bed anyway. There were a couple of small things that needed to be fixed, but nothing big. This doll bed was much nicer than anything I could have bought at Target. It was solid wood, and I remember when I bought it I paid quite a bit. It had been in storage for at least five years. It was time for a makeover. I forgot to take a before picture, but it was a light colored wood and the bottom was missing. I lightly sanded it, and spray painted it white. I don't know about you guys, but spray paint has become my best friend!!! I love it. My hunky hubby made a new bottom, and it too got a coat of white spray paint.

Now, lets move on to the really fun part BEDDING. I am by NO means a seamstress. I own a sewing machine and can use it a little bit. Confession time...I can never figure out how to raise the bobbin, so thankfully I have a handy and hunky hubby, and he does it for me. I know, seriously, I got really lucky with him!!! Of course I made all the bedding on Christmas Eve. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I am soooooooooooooo glad I did because when I went to JoAnne's they had just gotten in the MOST YUMMIEST brown and blue fabric ever. I can't even begin to tell you all how much I am in love with it. The most awesome part is it just so happens to match her new bedding, so instead of doing a blue and green bedroom...it's gonna be brown and blue baby! Can't wait. The room redo will come at some point, and of course I will blog about it. The ideas are spinning like crazy in my head. I kinda feel dizzy.

Ok, back to the bedding. I bought three coordinating fabrics 1.5yds of damask, 1.5 yds of stripe, and 1 yard of polka dot. I used coupons for the fabric and foam, so my total was $15.00. I covered the foam in muslim to keep the green foam color from showing through the super cute polka dot fabric. The foam was for the mattress. I had no pattern other then the foam, so I basically made a sleeve for the foam. I took the damask and the striped fabric and made the blanket. I just sewed the right sides of the fabric together and then reversed them and sewed the end, kinda like a pillow. I then made three different sized pillows in each of the fabrics. For a little more POP I tied brown and blue ribbon around the polka dot pillow. I thought it helped to add a little somethin' somethin'. The bedding looks adorable, and I love how it is custom! You wouldn't be able to find anything like this in the store.

Overall for having lousy sewing skills I think I did a pretty good job, and I didn't have a pattern either. Sophie loves her new doll bed and so do I. I spent way less than if I had gone out and bought her a brand new one. It just goes to show you how with a little imagination you can repurpose anything!!!



With my leftover fabric I'd like to make a bumper pad and bed skirt. I think I've figured out how to make the bumper pad, but I'm not sure about the bed skirt.

I'll be attempting to link up to the following:




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Drab to Fab...the story of a $5.00 chair

Yay for me...my chair is done. I found this great chair at my favorite junk place for $5 dollas!!! I was almost jumping in the air when she told me, ok so I actually just gave her the biggest smile EVER and said SOLD. So, I took this beauty home with me, and I knew exactly what I was gonna do with him(this blog is PG, so keep your minds out of the gutter)LOL. Overall the chair was in really good condition, nothing needed to be fixed. It just needed a Joan Rivers overhaul minus the Joan Rivers price tag. I bought some black spray paint at Lowes, bought some industrial type fabric that kinda has a linen type look, and some black fabric paint. I used my 50% of coupon for the fabric, so I got 2 yds(which was way too much, but I wanted extra in case I screwed up).
1. First I took off the seat.
2. Gave the chair a good cleaning, and lightly sanded it.
3. Spray painted chair
4. took off old yuck dirty fabric
5. Removed pretty much all of the old staples, needle nose pliers were a big help, cause these staples are tough Little rascals.
6. I laid out my fabric and placed cushion on top, and cut out fabric.
7. My master plan was to stencil a M(first letter of my last name) on the seat. I only put a couple of staples in on 2 sides of the chair. Then I slipped in a piece of cardboard between cushion and fabric. That was in case the fabric paint bled through, it would go on the cardboard not the foam.
8. Cut out a stencil on my friend's cricut(Shout out to ASHLEY)
9. Taped stencil to fabric and stenciled away. I just use a cheapy foam stencil brush and go up and down. Can we say...so easy? So easy.
10. Wait for it to dry.
11. A stapling I went. Make sure each side is pulled really really tight, think Joan Rivers face...ahhh yes now you all get it. The corners I wraped like a present and then stapled.
12. Put seat back on chair.

Overall the project was easy. That was my first time reupholstering anything. I had seen it on T.V. like a 1,ooo times, and knew I could do it. What I did learn is do not use gloss spray paint. It just doesn't look good, so I resprayed with satin spray paint, and oh yay, that was what I was looking for. Enjoy the pics, and I will accept questions.LOL








WHOOPS, my before and afters are in the wrong order...sorry, but I don't know how to change it.

Pink and Green Perfection

Greetings everyone. Happy Friday!!! I thought I'd start my first post with my daughter Julia's bedroom. I really wanted that Potterybarn Kids look without the price tag. I am definitely a design on the dime type of gal, and over all the room turned out to be adorable. Sadly, I never got to totally complete the room because Life reared its head, and we moved. I do think I'm going to recreate the room in our new house, as soon as I have free time.LOL Anywhoo, I'm going to start out with what I did to the walls. After finding a pink polka dot quilt at TJ Maxx(my fav store) that I scored for $30.00 bucks plus 2 matching pillow shams for $12.99 each my design wheels started to turn. I talked to Julia about what colors she thought she'd like, and she picked green. I think green and pink is an awesome color combo, whether using light colors or bright colors. She and I headed to the paint store, and Miss J picked out a delightful shade of green. So, my sister-in-law to be and I started painting green. Once the walls were done my next plan of action was to paint a border on the wall. My inspiration came from an old decorating kids magazine. I painted two pink strips and between the stripes I painted different words...Believe...Dream...Love...Dance...Laugh. In between each word I stamped a flower. I also stamped dots on the pink stripes. Those stenciling foam brushes make the BEST dot makers. I use those little suckers all the time. The hardest part of the painted border was the measuring...ouch! Luckily I was able to convince my brother-in-law to do that for me. His measuring skills rock, and mine well lets not get into that right now. Another tip I learned is before you paint the stripes apply a thin layer of clear over the edge of your tape, it helps keep the paint from bleeding. It really works and saved me a lot of time which = fabulousness. I love love her room!!! It really suits her personality. The main thing that I didn't get done was her bed. I found a full size head and foot board on Craigslist for the bargain price of $15.00. Gotta love me some Craigslist. I just need to paint it white, and in my spare time I will get it done. I did paint a dresser, nightstand, chair, and desk for her(I need to take pics of). I just kinda ran out of steam for the bed. Well, I think that pretty much sums it up. Enjoy the pictures and if you have any questions...ask away!



Close up shot of the border. I wrote the words in pencil and then traced them with cheap craft paint.
Pink curtain panels form Target(another fav store) for $20.00

There are other little projects I did in her room that I will use as a Part 2 post, so there are more pictures to come. Hope you enjoy these for now!

Total cost for room-----$269.97

Quilt(TJ Maxx) $30.00

Pillow shams x 2(TJ Maxx) $25.98

Curtian panels(Target) $20.00

Curtian rod(Target)$24.99(I think)

desk(Craigslist)$15.00

chair(Craigslist)$5.00

nightstand(Craigslist) $24.00

bookcase(Craigslist) $50.00 (wish I'd have held out for a cheaper one)

dresser (My mom) FREE

paint $75.00

Let's get this party started

I haven't blogged in FOREVER, and I thought it was about time to restart. I've kinda revamped my blog in hopes to turn it into more of a decorating blog. I really wasn't into the whole blog world, but recently I started reading other's peoples, and a light bulb went off... I need to do this too. I mainly read ones that have to do with decorating, crafting, or home ideas. I decided to do that with mine. I always have all these ideas swimming in my head, and now I'm going to try them out. Hopefully in time I will have some followers. I don't really know how often I'll post cause I'm a pretty busy gal...4 girls, a hubby, 1 Pekingese, 1 cat, and going to school part time...YAY I'm just a little busy. Somewhere in between I'm going to fit this blog in too!!! So here's to blogging, new friends, and lots and lots of projects...CHEERS!!!!!!!

Yummy Horseshoes!

A few weeks ago my husband and I got a craving for a horseshoe sandwich. Since we don't live in Springfield, Il anymore we can't go to D'arcys pint and eat one, so we decided to make our own. Overall it turned out pretty good except for the cheese. We used a Mexican cheese sauce, but it was way too spicy for me. So, today I got the brilliant idea to search the internet for a recipe, and guess what? I found one. I am super excited and can't wait to try it. I'm hoping to make it this week, cause I am totally craving a horseshoe.

For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about...a horseshoe is a piece of bread with a hamburger patty or other type of meat on top, french fries are then piled on top, and then smothered in cheese sauce. AWWWW they are soooo good. Horseshoes can only be found in Springfield,Il and surrounding towns. So, if anyone ever goes to Springfield try a horseshoe or its smaller version a ponyshoe.

I'll let you all know how my cookin' goes!

Room to Roam

As a mom of four girls I never realized how wonderful having space would be until we got it. We are no longer all on top of each other. Everyone can spread out. Things are much calmer, and there is a place for everything. We moved almost two weeks ago into our dream house. It has everything the two of us has ever wanted. Everyone has their own room, there are 3, yes 3 full bathrooms, and an inground pool. We are in town, but at the same time we aren't. The house is on almost 3 acres, which the kids are loving. Unfortuntly our 12 yr old must have been tuning her dad out(this happens often at this age), and didn't hear him say "watch out for the poison oak". So, she has it on her arms, legs, and neck. So far so good no other cases of a poison oak outbreak have been reported. Julia the almost 8 yr old tells her sister. "I knew there was poisin oak, that's why I didn't wear shorts. I listened to dad". Then a couple of glares and smirks were exchanged between the two. Typical.

We went from about 1200 sq. ft to 3080sq. ft plus a bonus room over the garage. I pinch myself everytime I drive up the driveway. I can't wait to start painting and decorationg. It will take awhile. My goal is to do one room at a time. I'll have to put pictures up as I get rooms done. Right now the family room and dining room are totally empty, but it will stay that why for awhile. I want to get the girls room's done first. I still have to unpack our room. Over the weekend Steve and I used our bathtub. It is a 2 seater jacuzzi tub...OMG that was AWESOME!!! It was like we were in a hotel! Can't wait for this weekend.

We are on a hill, so our views are beautiful. Yesterday I looked out the window and I counted 26 wild turkeys in our yard, some of them had their feathers sticking up. The other night when we were driving up to the house there were three deer in our front yard. It is so cool to see the wildlife. I don't know if you can buy food for the deer or turkys, but I'm going to find out. I want to feed them!

Once I find my cord for my camera I will put some pictures up. This is the house that we will be in for at least the next 20-30 years!!! Which is totally exciting for me because I want my girls to be able to come home to the house they grew up in. I never had that, and I wish I did.

Heidi, if you and the fam ever want to come out and visit I have room for the 3 of you. I'd love to have you! Are you planning a summer trip to Spfld? The me and the girls will be there in July sometime after the 11th(our weddind anniv.)

More to come at a later date. Hope everyone is doing well.

Ringing in the New Year

Well, this is my first blog for the new year, so here it goes. There are reasons that if you are having a new years eve dinner party why you should make the meal first before you start drinking. We had two other couples over for a elegant NYE dinner party. Us girls got all dressed up while the guys didn't(party poopers). We all had drinks before I started working on dinner. I had a few too many drinks and was feeling REALLY good while trying to make dinner. The menu was filet mignon, crab legs, corn on the cob, and scalloped potatoes. Luckily my hubby stepped in and took over dinner otherwise I have a feeling dinner would have never been ready. After dinner I set out dessert. Turtle pie and apple pie both from Schwans. I thought all I had to do was let them thaw, WRONG. It turns out the apple pie needed to be baked, WHOOPS!!! Keep in mind the bahama mama bottle and I had become very very good friends. All of sudden I hear Steve saying "Ummm Rachel you were suppose to bake the pie". Of course we all burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Our other memorable moments of our party was the board games. I got Steve the Dirty Minds game for X-mas. We thought it would be a fun game to play. It is hilarious. The clues just crack me up. What made the game so damn fun, was listening to Steve trying to read the clues. He just started cracking up. None of us could stop laughing. Here is on of the clues Steve attempted to read: People pay to see me play with a big pussy. They scream as I shove my head between two pig pussy lips and then ride the furry one to the climax. The answer a LION TAMER, need I say more.

All in all NYE was a night of good food, good fun, and good friends