The cutest seahorse ever...

I wanted to try my hand at making some slipcovers for my blah-ze dining room chairs. I sewed one during naptime the other day, with a cheap linen-ish fabric I got from Wal Mart. It turned out pretty nice. Now I have to sew enough slipcovers for 4 more chairs (I only have 5 chairs now, one broke right under me while I was nursing my baby. My husband walked in and found me laying on the floor with the baby still nursing like nothing even happened!)

In addition to sewing these, I decided to brandish some sea critters on the back, just for interestingness (I know it's not a word but it sounds good). I used Citrasolv and a copy I made from a Xerox machine. Apparently you can use laser prints too, but not prints from a jet printer. Anyhow, it came out cute, though smaller and lighter than I wanted. I'm alright with it though because there's no way to fix it and I'm not sewing another cover. Nope!

Here she is...



A closeup of that cute little guy...



I'm off to bed, Friends. Thank you for visiting & thanks for inspiring me!

~*Steph~*

Some creativity...

So I'm making some progress around here! Not enough to brag about or anything, but I'm putting in some effort. I've painted lots of furniture, and you know how long that takes (with 4 kids)-- first sanding, priming, painting, repainting. maybe some retouching... I'll share some pictures of the furniture in a latter post.

For now I thought I'd share some pics of the smaller, fun projects. Like these cute frames adorned with sand dollars and a starfish. The frames were .25 at the thrift store. I used a little bottle of robin's egg blue acrylic paint, $2.00 or so. I also got the shells for $1.50 at the thrift store. I think it's a fun little project, though my silly husband laughed at me when he saw it. He said, "How are you supposed to see the picture in the frame now?" He's funny, I love his silly sarcasm. I'll have to give him some learning on the subject of Coastal Chic Decor!

Thanks to Trash2Treasure for the idea!



I pulled this old window out of my shed. I bought it years ago for $7. It's been collecting dust in the shed, just waiting for me to do something special with it. I sprayed it white (it was red, which I'm trying to get away from). I made the wreath after a beach trip a couple of years ago. That was the last time I had some sand in my toes. :-( Anyhow, I thought the window and the wreath were made for one another. It's pretty cute, ain't it?



I didn't craft this one, I cheated. I bought it on clearance at Pier1 for $10. OK, I'm lying. I bought 2 of them. But I can't stand it, I'm having a love affair with Capiz shells. LOVE them!



And do you remember my little Freecycle chair?



She was FREE! You gotta love that! I bought some cheap fabric from Wal Mart and reupholstered her for about $12. I painted the wood white. I don't *love* the fabric, but it'll do. I'll throw some pretty frilly pillows on her, maybe a feedsack or burlap pillow, and she'll be a dollbaby.



Now I'm working on making a painting for my living room, doing some whitewashing on bedroom furniture, painting my living room and bedroom, and making slipcovers for my dining room chairs. Oh, and I'm trying my hand at making some bubble roman shades, like these. Fingers crossed they come out nice, I've never done window treatments and I can't find a tutorial on the web that speaks my lingity dingity...



That's all I've got for now, Friends. Thanks for visiting & thanks for inspiring me!

~*Steph~*

Question for you...

I don't know if this is one of those big obvious answer questions but I saw this sign at The Virginia House and I love it. The font is kind of subway-ish. I see signs all over your blogs with similar fonts. There's also the beachy looking fonts, like the ones you see used on wooden beach signs that I like.



My problem is that I don't have a Cricut (I think some of you make stencils using those) and the nearest Hobby Lobby is 45 minutes away and has NOTHING in stencils or in sponge letters.

Do you have any suggestions on how I can make stencils, or order some that are affordable? The whole exacto knife on sturdy paper idea scares me, I must admit. I know you ladies are really good at creativity and I'm new to all of this, so I thought I'd ask you!

Your suggestions are much appreciated!

~*Steph~*

Layered Fluffy Bedding

I've been planning to make my own bedding for awhile, it's on my list (which is very long) of things I want to do. I want that fluffy, light, squishy, cozy bedding that is like a layered cloud of cotton.

I've always wanted Anthro bedding. I started browsing their catalog in 2003 (when it was a little more affordable), dreaming of cuddling inside a brightly colored quilt. Now I'm not so much in love with the bright colored bedding, I'm more into this white Cirrus Duvet...



So, rather than pay $208 for it, I'm going to make it. My sewing machine is a champ with the ruffling, so I think it will come out nice. The only thing I will do different is use a fabric similar to linen that I found at WalMart for $2.50 a yard. It is soft and comfortable and it reminds me of old sail mast. Plus it's thick enough that my current colored comforter will not show through the fabric. Then I will sew pretty pillow covers with various light colored and textured fabrics, as well as a few little burlap throw pillows.

I'll post some pictured soon!

My Pretties...

Today I decided to do some cheap shopping at the thrift stores and antique mall. I made some money sewing some little girl twirly skirts, and boy was that $30 burning a hole in my pocket!

I had to remind myself what I wanted. You see, I always had an eye for pretty vintage things, but I would buy every pretty little vintage thing I could afford. Which is what got me to this funny little hodge podge scheme I have now. It's not awful looking, but I want a "theme" if you know what I mean-- that theme being bringing Charleston here to my home. So I kept my eyes open for all things shabby chic or beachy-ish.

Well, that's a challenge in Colorado because there's all this Native American, Ranchy, and Southwestern type decor, so that's what you find in thrift stores and antique malls around here. There's no French inspired decor, that's for sure. And forget the Coastal Chic. But it's about getting creative, isn't it? Working with what you've got, and doing it on a budget, in my case.

Today I found some treasures! I found sand dollars, about 6 of them, for $1.50. I got a big shell filled with little shells for another $1.50. I found a rocket ship mirror for my boy's room for $2-- and it goes with their space themed room (which I'll share picture of later). And... Drum Roll... I found a brand new Chandelier for $15! It's so pretty, little, dainty! And it's never been used, still in its original packaging. Who does that!? Who buys a pretty chandelier like this and drops it off at the thrift store? I'm not sure, but boy am I glad they did!



Earlier this week I was taking my daughter to school and saw a cabinet on the side of the road, buried under some old lumber and yard trash. It's yard clean up week in my town, so everyone is putting their junk on the road. I kept trying to talk myself into knocking on the owner's door and asking if they minded me digging through their trash pile, but it took me 4 days to get the courage. I finally did it, and the home owner even helped me load it into my van. I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet, besides paint it, fix the door (there's a door that fell off), put some wood on the back (maybe beadboard) and sand it up to age it and shabby chic it up. I'll figure out where to put it after I get it looking nice... One man's trash...



Oh, boy, am I getting over my head with projects!? This week I got a chair to reupholster, a cabinet to refurbish, and a chandelier to wire... That's on top of all of the rooms that need painting (I have RED walls in my dining room, ACK!) and the pillows I need to sew for my new bedding. Oh, geesh. Anyone want to come over and help? Bring your paint clothes and a brush, k? :-)

Score!

I tried posting a want ad on my local Freecycle.com site, asking for a "Cozy Vintage Wooden Chair With Character." I figured that I might get offered nothing, I might get offered something with the wrong translation of "chair with character", or I might just score something really awesome. And I DID score! Isn't she lovely? Now I just have to find some time to reupholster and paint this beauty. Perfect cozy little winter project! I'll post pictures when she's done!

Getting started

I have some pretty pieces in my home, I've always had an attraction to old furniture. But they were all dark colored wood, and I wanted more of a shabby chic look. I was really scared to paint them though because, well, I had always heard how "taboo" it is to paint a solid wood furniture piece. Not to mention, dark colors just make sense when you have 4 youngins.

I don't know if I could achieve the coastal chic look with dark wood. Maybe if it were in just bits and pieces, but ALL of my furniture is dark, my flooring is dark, my couches are dark, my rugs are dark... You get the picture. The look I wanted to go for required some "bucking up" about painting the furniture. Besides, if it's a pretty piece of furniture, it's not going to be ruined because I paint it... It might even look better!

So I've started the project of painting. I was worried about white furniture because of the kiddos, but truth is that we need to just have rules: No drinks or food except for at the table, wash hands after meals or crafts, etc. Then white furniture and light fabrics can work. Geesh, I should know this of anyone. I grew up with my German Grandmother who had white carpet (that's still white after 25 years) and pristine furniture, because she implemented a few rules. No biggie, if I lived through living in a white house as a kid, my kids will be alright in my light, bright home.

So, I started painting on Sunday... I painted the nasty old table black and the chairs white. I also painted the china cabinet white. I have a little French style table that I also painted white. It's a semi-gloss paint so that it will be easier to wipe when it gets dirty. I had planned to distress everything after I painted it, but am scared to now! Why mess with a good thing?

On the dining room chairs I plan to make some linen slip covers with seashells, starfish, crabs on the back of the chairs, using iron-on transfers on linen fabric. I am a little concerned because kids are messy when they eat. I can yank the slipcovers off once a week and wash them, but will the iron on transfers stand up to weekly washing? I'm thinking of making a second set of slipcovers with painted numbers on the back-- maybe the paint will last longer than the imaged slipcovers. Then I can just save the imaged slipcovers for when company is coming over...

Here are some pictures of our busy Sunday...

Here is the ugly old dark table... You can see that we've been doing art projects at the table... Another rule that needs to change, Momma needs to throw down a paint cloth before kids start painting pictures...



Here is the chair. I'm trying not to be really embarrassed by how badly I let things get. I mean, LOOK at this chair! Yuckadoo! Believe it or not, I just recovered the fabic on the chairs 2 years ago. Kids are hard on furniture, to say the least. That's why I wonder how crazy I am to think khaki linen slipcovers will work in this home... We shall see.



Here I am trying to remove the chair cushions so that I could paint the chairs. Do you see that wee little person trying to help me? Well, he's not really "helping" but he's real cute, so I try to work around him. You can see why this transformation from hodge podge to coastal chic is going to take awhile, we have so many youngins! You're planning on sticking around for awhile, right?



Here's the table and chairs getting primed with some KILZ with my new sprayer. The sprayer did not like the KILZ at.all. My husband suggested I water the KILZ down a little so that it isn't so thick, and that worked. It was a hot day and the tip of the sprayer just kept getting clogged if I just paused for a second. I'd have to take the stupid thing apart, take the tip inside, wash it off, reconnect everything, spray again for awhile until it would clog again. It was really frustrating. Not to mention it would spray and dry almost instantly on the furniture, which was creating bumps-- not a smooth finish. Anyhow, the good news is that the watered down KILZ worked better and the final coats with a semi gloss went very smoothly. The sprayer is obviously a fussy little thing, but it's better than the brush method! :-)



My sweet husband, who totally humors me with this whole beachy makeover, deserves a big kiss for all of his hard work and a great attitude. WhattaGuy! Not only is he sweet, he's hunky too. See my fluffy pretty little chicken girls in the background too? Love those girls!



Last but not least, my pretty little Frenchy table. She's going to be a dollbaby now, all white and shiny...



Ok, so I've got the table & chairs done, the china cabinet (which I don't have a picture of yet, and my little Frenchy table. Ohhhh, just a drop in the bucket on my journey to a little decor makeover. But we'll get there... Thanks for watching my progress!

New Here...

Hi everyone!

I am not new to blogging, I've been doing it for years. But I am new to decor blogging, and I'm looking forward to sharing so many things! But first, let's talk about the gal behind the blog:

I am a mother of four Beeeee-autiful children who I adore from the pit of my being. I am married to my bestest friend, who inspires me and encourages and nurtures my every whim. We moved to Colorado about 10 years ago, and though I love the amazing things that life has brought us since our move here, I am homesick for the warm, lush, beauty that was my Southern home in Charleston, SC. We are here for the unforeseeable future though, so I decided to bring the beach to our sweet Colorado home-- through our decor.

But that's where things get interesting... I have a love of the coastal chic decor, but as I mentioned, I have 4 children. I love white... white... maybe some sea colors... maybe some natural burlap, linen textures... some Robin's Egg Blue... a splash of white... and a little bit of white. So, we'll see how well this color palette and natural textured fabrics go down in a home with 4 children and all of their snotty noses, chocolate chip cookie covered fingers, and cherry jello covered clothes...

Hmmmm... I'm crazy, no? Can we say "Lots and lots and lots of Scotchgard?"

And there's this other teensy weensy problem, I live in an area that is pretty close to desolate (no malls, no considerable shopping, minimal antique stores) AND the decor I have collected so far is hodge podge and lacking any real sense or purpose. I mean, I KNOW what looks nice. I KNOW what "pretty" is. I have fantastic taste. But, let's face it, I haven't really been aiming for anything other than "functional" and "affordable" since we started our family. I'm not far away from those brick and board shelf days of my college years... And I'm almost 35! Shhhhhhh. Don't tell anyone! ;-)

So, I'm creating this blog to document the changes, because there's gonna be some. I've been missing Charleston, growing up with sand in my toes, for so very long. And there's no need for that. If I can't live at the beach, well, I'll bring the beach to my home. Watch and see!