DIY Pottery Barn Trunk Inspiration

I was recently flipping through the Pottery Barn Catalog and came across the Rebecca Trunk.... HELLO!  LOVE IT!!!  Only teensy tinesy problem... it's $600.00... awesome I'll take 2!  Just kidding I want things for about $5.00 and I really don't think they are going to give me a $595.00 discount just because I'm fabulous ;)... But wait for it... I do have my own trunk sitting in my bedroom that could stand to be refinished anyways ... and since I seem to be turning everything in my life slowly to aqua... evidenced by my DIY Barn Doors, DIY Coffee Table and Painted Glass Jars ... my trunk (which I keep trying to call my chest but I feel like that sounds awkward :) ) can go ahead and join the ranks.  

So this is what my trunk looked like originally... cute but normal.  It's about to get a party like it's 1999 makeover... Get ready for this party to get started... Bring on the power tools.  An electric sander was definitely called for on this project.  I sanded that puppy down until she was good and naked... and believe you me that took some work.  The sanding took about two afternoons... but the absolute greatest news is that the rest of the project was done in literally about 1 hour.

So here she is ... don't stare... your making her uncomfortable... it's not every day she's naked in my driveway.... with all her bolts and love handles on display for the world to see...  Anyways on to the paint experimentation... I never have more than a rough idea of a ... (wait for it ... it's a FOUR letter word to me if you know what I mean...)... plan... if you will ... and I really don't do plans... I like the surprise effect when I'm finished with my projects... I surprise myself because even I don't know how they will turn out. :)

So back to the basic ... EEK!... plan... I knew I wanted to use some type of primer as my base coat.  So I grabbed my trusty aqua paint and mixed a little into my Bare Wood Primer and then decided I needed to actually do a paint wash to try and achieve the effect of the PB trunk.

So here I am adding water ... again no plan... just whenever I felt the mood struck me to turn off the faucet ... I turned it off.  

 Then using a rag I rubbed my diluted paint concoction onto my trunk following the grain of the wood.
Make sure you have a separate wet rag and jar of water if you're like me and like to live on the wild side painting on the driveway with no tarp underneath.  OOPSIES... don't tell the hubs but there were a few stray blobs that forgot to stay on my rag and instead made a home on the driveway.  Luckily I got them up and the hubs can live in ignorant bliss. :)

I love the way it turned out!  Definitely way more blue then then my Pottery Barn inspiration... But it gives me the same sparkly LOVE IT feelings the original did in the catalog.  The poor hubs though before he even saw the trunk asked... "Is it turquoise?"... what's he trying to say? I paint everything aqua?  I just had an epiphany ... next project I'm going to surprise him and hand paint his car turquoise and plaster the inside with turquoise post it notes that remind him of all the reasons he's lucky to have me and all of my aqua glory! ;) 

Thanks for stopping by ... I'd love to hear from you ... questions, comments or any random topics of conversation are welcome. :) 

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Double Apron Twirl Skirt Tutorial

Back to digging through the hoarders pile of fabric... I really should take a picture of that pile to give a true glimpse of the epic-ness of that beast... alas... I'm afraid someone really will nominate me for the hoarders show... so I will probably keep that little jewel to myself :)  So anyways... get excited for super easy Double Apron Twirl Skirt.  I'm not going to say this is a skinny second project like my One Hour Maxi Dress... but this is definitely an afternoon (aka couple hours) project and definitely doable for beginners :) Yeah!

What you need :
Depending on size of your skirt about 1.5 yards of fabric total
4 different scrap fabrics of your choice
1 in. elastic
thread

To begin your skirt you need to measure from your peanuts waist to the desired length you want the skirt to be and add 2 inches for hem and seam allowance... this will be your length... then measure her waist and add 5 (for extra fabric so it gathers nicely) ... this will be the width of your fabric.    Take this measurements and cut two identical pieces of fabric.  This will be the base of your skirt... You should now have two rectangles like I have below...  Place these two pieces with right sides facing and stitch down the length of both sides.  This fabric tends to fray a lot... so I like to also run a basic zig zag stitch next to my straight stitch on both sides.  Finally along the top edge run a gathering stitch and then set aside.

Next grab your fabric for the second layer of the skirt... You will use the same measurements for the first layer ... minus 2 inches from the length... cut out into two identical rectangles and lay with right sides facing each other... again run a straight stitch down the length of each side and follow with a zig zag stitch on the outside.  Again run a gathering stitch along the top edge and set aside.

 Now we are ready to cut out our aprons... keep in mind my skirt is a size 8 so you may need to tweak your apron a little if you have a much smaller size than that.  My bottom apron I made 10 inches across and 2 inches shorter than the length of the second layer of the skirt.  You only need to cut one rectangle for this apron.

The top apron I subtracted 2 inches from the width and 1 inch from the length of the first apron.... anyone else's brain hurt???  Holy cow... I just realized how many math problems were necessary to bring about this glorious creation :)  Take both apron pieces and get out your handy iron... iron about 1/4 inch on three sides... (don't worry about the top, it will be tucked into the waist band) then press in again 1/4 inch to conceal all raw sides and to keep from fraying.  Sew a straight stitch on three sides of both apron pieces and set aside.

Finally the waist band... and ... wait for it... the last math problem ;)... (insert fist bump)! Rewind to your previous measurement of your peanuts waist... subtract 5... this will be your width ( again if your doing a much smaller size I would subtract 3 instead) and your length will be three inches ... Cut two identical pieces with these measurements.

Take both waistband pieces, right sides facing and run a straight stitch down the both sides. Once that's done... iron in 1/4 inch on top and bottom... just like below.

Now fold band completely in half and press with the iron again...

This can get a tiny bit frustrating trying to maneuver all pieces inside the waist band ... but I have complete confidence you can do it! :)  Grab your first two layers of skirt and pull the loose threads at the top to gather the fabric... keep gathering until both layers are the same width as the waistband.  Now pin all layers together inside the waist band.  Run a straight stitch along the bottom edge of the the waistband making sure you are lined up with the edge of the waistband on the inside as well (we want to make sure all fabrics are secured inside the waistband. ) *MAKE SURE TO LEAVE A SMALL GAP IN THE WAISTBAND TO PUT THE ELASTIC THROUGH!*

I left a gap near the side seam but you can do it where ever you want.  Grab your elastic and measure you babies waist minus 3 inches.  This is the length of your elastic.  Push a safety pin through the end of your elastic and fish it through your waistband... once you have both elastic ends out sew them together... then push inside waistband and sew up your gap and .... You are done!!! Yeah!  I told you it wasn't a skinny second but maybe a medium second project. :)

Just a little side note... we get a ton of snails at my house which lead to hours of fascination for my peanuts... in fact we had to go into mourning when I accidentally stepped on one of the poor things... but anyways this skirt is equally cute for dress up or play... Lou did lots of snail watching and inspecting in this skirt... :) 

Feel free to leave me comments or questions ... I'd love to hear from you :)

Colorful Coffee Bonanza Corner

You know those days... where your just trying to survive until bedtime...  Don't get me wrong ... being a mom was and still is number 1 on my list for what to do with the rest of my life from a very early age... but no one told me that everyday my kids would try to take me to the edge of no return... that they would draw a clear line in the sand that says them against me... that they would try to torture me until I've clearly gone to the dark side and my crazies come out...then strategize to bring me down and by down ...i mean down... you know like ... have me tied up... upside down with an apple in my mouth like a pig on a spit...you know what days I'm talking about ... days where you need a diet coke at 8 am ... maybe you can relate if I say coffee... diet coke is my coffee!   

Well today was that day my friends... 9 am Mcdonald's run to get a diet coke (in a foam cup... because of course it would be sinful to get it in plastic... try it... I promise... you will never go back!) Even though of course I was supposed to be at gymnastics at 9 am... so that puts us in at 9:10 to which my honey dew as usual... refuses to bring anything to do while he sits there ... even though I tell him every week ... listen you are going to be bored ... you are going to try and drive me crazy and most likely will ... please for my sake and yours ... bring something to do.  

Nah... that would be to easy ... why would he bring something to do when he can ask me 10,000 questions instead ... and by questions I mean the kind that require major brain power... such as... "when I'm 13, will I be able to watch every pg-13 movie and if not, which ones will I be able to watch?"  ... "why do you need a wiener to make a baby"... "do you know that your pinky finger in china really means the middle finger?" need I remind you this was at 9:10 am ... my brain is not functioning yet ... I need to be at least half way through my diet coke before I can to some small degree act like a normal person.  So I gave them quarters to entertain themselves with the gumball machine...when in doubt give them gum... I promise you it works every time.

After gymnastics, I just wanted to run into target for three things... three things... thats all ... that's all I wanted in this world... those three things... that's not asking for much... when you have an 11 year old, 9 year old and 7 year old ... I promise you it is asking for a lot.  Oh to go back to the days when they were babies and I had a 4 year old in the back of the cart, a 2 year old in the baby seat and and a baby in a snuggie.... if they get fussy stick a boob in one and shovel snacks into the others.

Instead today, I had honey dew asking about every other item we passed whether I would buy that for him and why not... my 7 year old, lou... who is definitely not small for her age and could in no way be mistaken for a baby... buckled herself into the baby seat of the cart... on top of that my 11 year old, boo, who you would think would be the most reliable out of this group of crazies... insisted on touching what seemed like every item in the store ... 

so as I'm just trying to get my three measly items and three crazy kids to the checkout... ones acting like a baby ... and I mean a real baby in the baby seat... another one is repeating over and over with a few variations in the question... mom I really want that shirt... can I get it... how about football cards...you know how much I love them... fine ... a candy bar? ... and child number 3 is about two miles behind us fondling all of the glassware in the kitchen and dining aisles.... doing a great impersonation of Gollum from Lord of the Rings ... MY PRECIOUS!

So I went to my happy place... I pushed my cart... smiled and nodded at people staring at us and I thought of my diet coke waiting for me in the car... then I thought of my next sewing project that's been floating around in my head...and then I just started chanting to myself (In my head of course!) like Dory in Nemo... you know where she repeats... "Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming"... except I was saying ..."Just keep pushing... Just keep pushing" ... thankfully we finally made it to the checkout ... I got my three items and my three kids safely back to the car...

and 4 hours later I realized my husband had been dying for ice cream and I forgot it ...normally I would just forget it... but poor hubs has had a rough week... so that's right... wait for it... I loaded the kids up ... went to the nearest grocery and as soon as we stepped one skinny toe in that store... I informed them we were there for one thing and one thing only... do not ask me to buy you anything ... you will not be getting anything... the less you talk the sooner we can leave... see how we all win if we are just quiet?  Luckily they had buy 4 ice creams get them for $2.75 ... so each of the kids felt like a rock star when they get to pick their own tub... it's the small things that keep them excited...

So the moral of the story is that everyone's sleeping like little angel's in their beds now ... and all I want to do is kiss their little faces off... I'm obviously having a hard time remembering why I was so annoyed with them today... they are such sweetie pies when they are sleeping... (could be due to the fact that they aren't speaking) :) I'm so thankful for the opportunity to love these kids...my life would be incredibly boring without them ...

but I sure could use a mom-cation right about now! :)  So while a vacation definitely doesn't look like it's in my near future... I definitely go to a happy place ... (and that's a form of vacation... right? ... just say yes and make me feel better)... when I'm creating and designing... Even though I don't drink coffee... the hubs does ... and every man needs a colorful coffee bonanza corner ;)

I would love to hear from you!  DIY comments... sewing comments... cray-cray parenting comments ... I'm open for any and all topics :)

DIY Boy's Room on the Cheap!

So a little disclaimer... don't stare at wrinkliest curtains known to man ... I couldn't help myself I just had to post pictures RIGHT NOW!  So lets pretend like that they are wrinkle free and I spent hours ironing them to perfection (like I would spend hours ironing anything ... but it's the thought that counts! :) )

This is my little honey dew's room... we finally finished it... to both of our satisfaction... and (how many more dot dot dots can I put in ) ... on practically a $5.00 dollar budget.

Dang it ...I wish I had a before picture... I feel like I say that a lot... hmmm... maybe I should make a note to self to take before pictures ... oh that's right I don't do notes and if I do I lose them.  :) So looks like there will probably not be before pictures in the future either, but one can always hope.

To give you an idea of the before you can look at my house tour pictures and the gold you see on the walls was the glorious gold on the walls in my honey dew's room as well.  As you can guess gold was not really a part of my magical color scheme plan ...so first things first we repainted the walls.  Not really sure why I just referred to myself as we... you see when painting happens in this house or any other house ... I'm the designated painter in this relationship.  The hubs is good for a lot of things... painting is not one of them.

I totally rocked some DIY projects in this room thanks to Pinterest :) ...(what in the world did I do before pinterest) ... the faux roman shades, painted canvas curtains, Peyton Manning picture canvas (engineering print from staples ...rubber cemented to foam board), twine and chalkboard mason jars and the orange wall shelves I originally scored at Goodwill.  I also found the Pottery barn kids bedding on EBAY and several of the little pictures on clearance.

I had one almost epic fail... My little man wanted a picture of Peyton Manning in his broncos uniform ... hmmm ... maybe I should actually look at the letters and emblems on the uniform before I just decide that the picture is obviously manning on the broncos... Bummer it was a college picture of him and of course honey realized it right away.  Luckily hunky hubs suggested we do three pictures... college ... then on the colts and then the broncos as well.  Love that man :) In the end... I loved the way the room turned out and even better my little Honey Dew was so in love also.

I'd love to hear any comments, suggestions or questions you have!  Thanks for stopping by! :)

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Afternoon Ruffle Maxi Tutorial

Be prepared for visual stimulation!  There could be an eensy weensy teensy tiny little sliver bit of a possibility that I went a little overboard in the photo department. :)  Maybe I got a little trigger happy with my camera ... but it's all in an effort to make this this dress look super amazing and in turn make me look like a superstar... anyone else want to do the superstar stance from Saturday Night Live?  Come on ... start this project out right... get into position and say it with me ... SUPERSTAR!  So back to the real purpose of this post... wait for it... another Maxi dress tutorial.  I can't help myself not only am I trigger happy ... apparently I'm also Maxi happy.  :)  So just to get you excited for your final product, I decided to start the post with pictures of the finished dress.  Motivational pictures if you will, (and I will).  Not to toot my own horn but ... wait for it ... TOOT... I freaking love this dress.  I especially love anything I can get done in a few hours and that I can scrounge up supplies from my epic hoarders fabric pile I mentioned in my last post.  So lets just pretend this dress cost me zero dollars, because lets face it, that's how it feels when you find a fabric treasure trove floating at the bottom of your hoarders pile.  Ok moving on to the tutorial...

Things you need:
1 to 2 yards of fabric
thread
1/2 inch elastic

Part 1 Pre-sewing Hoopla (aka all the boring stuff)

* side note... don't be thrown off by the leopard fabric... after my oldest saw this dress finished she wanted one as well... so I didn't decide to do a tutorial until the second time through

*another side note... for this dress I used a rolled hem for the bottom of the dress.  If you are using a traditional hem add a 1/2 inch to the length of the bottom ruffle for hem allowance.

To begin with depending on the size of dress you are making you will need 1 to 2 yards of fabric.  The dress pictured above is a size 7/8 and I used about 1.5 yards of fabric.

Ok grab your little peanut and measure around her chest.  Take this number and multiply 1.5 times, this will be the width of your fabric.  Next measure about 2 inches past her knee, this will be the length of your dress.  Now measure and cut your fabric out.  You should have one large piece of fabric, this will be the main body of your dress.

 Onto the chest ruffle... cut another piece of fabric the same width as the main body of fabric and a length of 5 inches.  Set this aside and cut another piece of fabric for the ruffle at the bottom of the dress.  The bottom ruffle needs to be 1.5 to 2x wider than the body of the dress in order to have it gather and ruffle. To measure the length start 2 inches below the knee and measure to the top of your sweeties foot.  Again ... measure and cut, but instead of one large piece like the previous pieces we cut, this we be in 2 equal pieces.  (So just take the 2x wider measurement and divide in half to get each piece.)

 Final measure and cut... I pinky promise and everyone knows... a pinky promise can't be broken.  For the straps measure 2 inches in width and 8 inches in length.  Cut 4 of these strips.

Part 2... The part you've been waiting for ... Dress Construction

Ok so I've talked about before how much I hate to iron... but I promise you it makes your project easier in the end :) So grab your 4 strap pieces and iron both sides in towards the middle... just like the next two pictures show.

 Stop staring at my stubby fingers in the last picture... apparently I need to work on optimum finger positioning for my pictures. :)

 Now that you have the sides folded in towards the middle... fold those sides in together and tie a knot in one end of the fabric (see above picture... the knit fabric was being temperamental and kept unfolding without consulting me first so don't look at the unfolded parts ... just the knot.

 Once you have your knot, pin your strap folded together all the way down.  Pin all 4 straps together and then sew them each down one side with a zig zag stitch.

 Lay the main body of your with design side of your fabric facing down.  Next measure from both edges of your fabric in 5 inches and pin a strap at both spots.  For the front straps, locate the very center of your fabric and measure 5 inches both directions and pin a strap a both spots as well.  Now you should have all four straps pinned to your main fabric.   Grab your chest ruffle piece and lay it face down on top of your straps and main piece of fabric and pin it in place.  Sew along this edge with a straight stitch.

 

 Go back to your ironing board fold your newly sewn chest ruffle right side up over your main piece and press with your iron.  Now is a good time to hem your chest ruffle.  I chose to use my rolled hem foot to create a tiny hem.  You can also do a traditional hem by folding up the bottom a 1/4 in press, fold up again a 1/4 inch and press, pin in place and sew along the edge.
Here's a picture of my rolled hem and the foot... don't be scared to use one, one of the employees where I bought it tried to convince me I would never be able to figure this bad boy out... but she obviously didn't know who she was talking to. ;)  It's super easy after you experiment a little.

 Now that the chest ruffle and main fabric are sewn together, make a 1 inch casing for elastic all around the top edge.  You don't need to measure or pin, just line it up with the seam measurements on your sewing machine.

 The chest measurement you took earlier will be used for the elastic measurement - 2 inches. Using a safety pin attached to your 1/2 in elastic, feed it all the way through the casing and pin on both ends to secure.

 Turn your dress inside out, line up and pin the outside edges along the length of the dress.

 Sew along the edge all the way up.  Make sure you sew through the pinned edges of the elastic at the top.

Time for a celebration... you are almost done... only the bottom ruffle left... look at you ... superstar! Pin your two pieces for the bottom ruffle together on both sides.  Then sew a straight seam down both sides.  Go ahead and hem the bottom of the ruffle either with the rolled hem or a traditional hem.  Next put your straight stitch at the longest length you can (mine was 4.5) and stitch all the way around the top leaving excess string at the beginning and end.  

Grab your extra string and pull gently while pushing the fabric in the opposite direction in order to gather the fabric.

 Keep gathering until your ruffle is the same width as the bottom of your dress.  Pin upside down with the right sides facing each other.  Pin all along the edges and sew together with a straight stitch.

YEAH!  You are D-O-N-E!  This totally calls for a chest bump!  But maybe we should hold off ... that could get awkward if my husband caught me chest bumping my computer screen in an effort to give you a "Good Job" bump!  :)

Feel free to leave me comments with questions and or thoughts... I would love to hear from you! :)

                             Thrifty Thursday