Moon Fringe Shirt ~DIY~

Hello Everyone!! I've missed my blog SO much this semester. I figured I should do a little post before I pack my family up in the mini van and head to Florida for Spring break!! I'm so excited to be taking my two year old to Disney World for the first time.

Todays tutorial is nothing out of the ordinary. There are lots and LOTS of fringe shirt tutorials out there, so I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how to cut a straight line. I just wanted to share my twist:)

I chose a shirt from Goodwill (mostly because it was $3) but also because it was long, and I found it in the women's section, which means it also will not be too wide for me. It was hot pink with an elastic strip that ran mid-hip. I ripped out the elastic with my seam ripper, and dunked it in some black rit dye overnight.

I ended up with a purplish-black blotchy shirt, which was fine with me. Makes the shirt more interesting in my opinion.


I tried on the shirt to mark how far the fringe should come up. Since I'm a 28 year old mother, I'm not exactly going for the belly shirt look:)


Next is the fun part.....and the different part. I used freezer paper to make myself a half moon stencil and ironed it onto the shirt. I can't say enough good things about freezer paper stencils. They rock. They're cheap. And you buy freezer paper at the supermarket and it lasts FOREVER. I'm always looking for new freezer paper projects to do.

Then I just painted in my stencil with fabric paint (I used silver) And Voila!!

Supply Costs

Goodwill Shirt $3.50
Rit Dye $2.00
Freezer Paper Already Had
Silver Fabric Paint $1.00

Not a bad project for $6.50!

Patchwork Wingback Chair

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. My life has just been so super busy that I haven't had time to stop! This weekend I'm stopping.....right after I make this post, make a baby dress for a wedding, make a pot of chili, stain a picture frame and hang up some new shelves. Yeah.....that is how my life has been lately. CRAZY. Never a moment to spare:)

Despite my crazy non-stop schedule, I have still managed to work on a few projects. The biggest is this patchwork wing back chair I re-upholstered.

I had to move it around the living room a bit to get some decent lighting for the picture. Let me just say that this is my first upholstery project. I have been really determined and inspired for a while to start learning to upholster. I've read tutorials and blogs. Pinned anything and everything inspirational on pinterest. Finally I decided to dig into it. Sometimes it's time to DO SOMETHING because it really accomplishes nothing to sit around pinning all the time. SO.....I bought this chair about a month ago at a flea market for $20.00. Then it sat in my garage for 2 weeks while everyone in my house had a violent stomach virus.

As you can see, It's all kinds of yucky. The upholstery was basically in rags. BUT....I wanted a challenge. I wanted to teach myself a skill, so one evening I had my husband bring it into my room.
I must admit it probably wasn't the best place to work, but I knew I would never stay in the dark, cold garage working for hours and hours. I started by deconstructing 1/2 the chair to see what supplies I would need. When I dug in I found a real treat.

Some of the foam had disintegrated into dust! At this point, I was like "WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN INTO????" I kept plowing through the mess though. I was determined to overcome my fear of the unknown. Here is the chair almost totally deconstructed.

Though I had previously read a lot of blogs about re-upholstery, I did not use a tutorial. The best advice I took was this.

1. Pay attention to how your chair is put together as you are deconstructing.

2. Use the old upholstery pieces to make your patterns.

3. Put the chair back together the same way it was.

It's really as easy as that. NOT that this is a quick and easy project. I spent over 5 hours deconstructing, and no telling how long on the rest, but the worst part is by far the deconstruction process. After that it actually becomes quite fun.

Here is a rundown of my supply costs.

~$20.00 for the chair
~$20.00 for 4 yards of upholstery fabric off the scrap table
~$12.99 for 3" thick foam (I bought the sides of a pet bed @ hobby lobby @ 40% off)
~$10.00 for upholstery tacks
~$5.00 for cotton batting (I bought the warm and natural crib size cotton batting @ hobby lobby for 30% off) Luckily I was able to re-use most of the batting on the chair because it was in good shape. I also re-used the chair cushion.
$12.00 for upholstery staples.
Heavy curtain panel given to me by my mom-FREE
tassel fringe $6
cardboard strips I cut from an old box-FREE
2 yards of cotton cord (under $1.00)
Grand Total: under $87.00

You also need a few tools you probably already have on hand.

~hammer
~pliers
~flat head screwdriver
~upholstery stapler
~fabric glue

It also helped that I did my chair patchwork because I was able to piece together the upholstery pieces and use old remnants that I already had on hand. I used the heavy duty curtain panel in the back and sides. Here are a few more pictures of the details.

These chair arm pieces are made out of an old skirt I thrifted and welting I made from cotton cording and the existing cardboard piece that was already on the chair (recovered)

These are the outside wings.

And the tassel fringe on the front of the chair.

I'm pretty happy with the end result considering how much patchwork chairs go for online. Best part is that I can upholster now! The possibilities are endless for furniture now! I can't wait to find my next piece to do!!

Living Room Decor Update

I've been busy this week working on my living room. I painted all the trim and walls. Here is the before.

See the yucky yellowish hue the walls had?? I hated it. Worst of all, I think they were more smoke stained than anything. Apparently two years ago the tenants who lived here smoked heavily in the living room. The trim was pretty yucky too. Here is the trim before.

The bottom is before, top is after. I gave it a nice coat of white and they look SO much better.
And here is that corner of the living room all finished.

I picked a light taupe color instead of purple, but it has a lavender hue. SO much better!

The dresser is an antique that I had in my room as a child. I decided not to hang the mirror over it so it could go in the living room since I already have an awesome antique dresser in my bedroom. The two middle mirrors were thrifted ($3.00 for both) and the metal tree was a housewarming gift from my mother. The two side pictures I bought at a flea market ($5.00 for both) and I framed some art from my favorite artist, Kelly Louise Judd.

You can buy her prints on etsy. Only problem is she cannot make extra large prints. 12"x 16" is the largest she can do.

Other little nick-nacks include handmade bells (made by my uncle) A bird candle holder that was my moms, handpicked feather bouquet in a pewter vase that belonged to my uncle's mother, vintage books, handmade doily's and another bird figurine given to me by my aunt. I still need to get some better pictures printed for my frames, but basically I'm through with this little corner. I have so many little nick-nacks and so little display area because of my 2 year old.

The rest of the decorating is going a little slower than I anticipated. I have these giant walls to fill and ended up having to order more large prints to fill them up. I am particularly excited about this one by Warwick Goble.

It is called Sita Finds Rama (Seventh Avatar of Vishnu) Among the Lotus Blooms. 

I think it will end up going above the mantle. I'll post pictures as soon as I get it matted and framed.
So I still have a long ways to go on the living room, and will be posting as I go. I have some really awesome things for my walls that I have been collecting!

Have a great weekend!

January 2012 Round-Up

Just a little post to tell what I've been up to lately.......

Vintage toddler patterns like this one I ordered off etsy. I'm seriously in love and foresee many more vintage childrens patterns in my future:)

Natural beauty products from featherheart trading co. I can't wait to try the rosemary hair oil.

Stenciling. I have big plans for my living room wall. I'm sure I'll post about it when I get it all done.

Ordering more prints from my favorite artist Kelly Louise Judd. How many is too many??

Vintage botanical plates like these for home decor. Source

Making little Valentine printables and goodies from one of my favorite sites Free Pretty Things For You.
I've never really been into Valentine's Day, but I want it to be exciting for Scarlett.

Mod Podge Suitcase

Today I made one of the famous mod podge suitcases I'm sure you've seen floating around online. I've had the project in my head and was waiting for the right suitcase to come along.

I might have mentioned that I got a TON of crap out of storage a few weeks ago. I mean a ton. My garage is FULL. Everything I own is now under one roof and I have nothing else in storage. Huzzah for that even if my garage is a nightmare. I'm still going through boxes one by one and today I found a vintage suitcase I've had since I was 11 years old.  I bought it at a yard sale, and it's bright orange just like the train case I recently bought. I was thrifty even as a kid, and remember loving yard sales. (still do) I was so happy to find it because I moved back and forth between parents a lot as a teen and lost stuff each and every time I did. This is one of the only things I have from my teen years. Sometimes you need a little reminder that you're still the same person just a little more refined. (or a lot in my case.....I was a wild hippie girl who sold hemp jewelry at school and was always in trouble) Regardless of that fact, I was in love with retro vintage items and would KILL to have some of the awesome things I did as a teen.

Anyways......my beloved suitcase was looking kinda rough (band stickers stuck all over it), but since getting rid of it wasn't even an option I decided to mod podge it with some vintage fabrics. I didn't really use a tutorial since mod podging is pretty basic once you've used it once or twice (or a thousand times...lol)

I'll just tell you about the issues I ran into...

1. Some corners were a pain. The remedy....sewing pins to hold down the fabrics while drying.

2. Bright orange color showing through the light fabric spots.....The remedy....a coat of white primer before applying fabric and mod podge. (darker fabrics or a suitcase with less vibrant color would not have these issues)

3. I hate the crunchy plastic feel fabric gets after you mod podge over the top......The remedy.....I didn't do a top coat, I just went around the outer edges again to seal them down well.

Besides that....Easy Peasy! I love to mod podge, how about you??