feather earring {makeover}

Feather Earring Makeover!

 I had some old earrings laying around that I never wear anymore, one because I don't typically wear plain silver earrings, and second because they are just small and I'm more into big dangly earrings.

 For this project you will need craft feathers (mine are from Hobby Lobby, 50% off, watch the sales), hemp from Walmart, craft wire from Walmart and a glue gun and scissors.

 I took the longest feather I was using and wired it to the side of the earring.

 The next three feathers I used a small dot of hot glue and glued them on top, one after the other.

 I then took a small piece of hemp and rolled it together to form a small rosette or what not, and then glued it to the top of the points of feathers.

And voila! Pretty simple to make some fun, hippy earrings.

 Don't judge me that the earrings don't match this outfit because on the account that the shirt is way too crazy. I was too lazy to change. Also, I cut my hair. I'm not sure it was the best decision, but meh.

All material I already had on hand, so these earrings for me were free 99. Awesome! So go find some old earrings and make them over!

Have a great weekend and be sure to tell me what you think!  Linking to THESE parties this week.
Also, Button is currently in the top 25 of a photo contest of over 620 entries, so it would be awesome if you maybe voted for her here at PB kids if you want.  You are all awesome!

5 {second} shirt makeover

Ok, so maybe it's not QUITE 5 seconds, but you'll see. :)

 Step One: Find a knit shirt. I choose knit just because I'm lazy  I don't have a lot of time and didn't want to finish the edges. I wasn't loving this one from the downeast outlet clearance store, but saw its potential as a cardigan-ish shirt.

 Step 2: Fold it exactly in half with the front on top.

 Step 3: Cut it. Go ahead.

 Step 4: Carefully cut over any seams.

Step 5: Wear it over whatever you want. I love belts.

See 5 seconds right? Happy cutting!

rocker {redo}

I found this set on KSL (like craigslist in Utah) for $20. I needed one for the nursery, but was pretty particular on the color scheme and couldn't find anything for less than $200 in the colors I needed. So I thought I'd brave the magical world of recovering. This was my first attempt ever at recovering furniture so I thought I'd start out with something VERY simple. Well at least I thought it would be. (Notice the oreo's? Yea, I blame my weight gain on 'the baby'. RIGHT.)

A little scary...

So to begin I took the pads off the frame. They were velcroed on back so it wasn't a big deal. I seam ripped the bottom pad at the back edge, and then took our the original foam. I bought a role of 2" thick foam at hobby lobby with a coupon for 40% off, so I think it ended up being around $16. I traced the original foam onto the new roll and then cut it out.

I flipped the original cover inside out and then allowed for about a 1/2 inch seam around the edges, just kind of eye balling it. The suede I found at Joanns on clearance for $7 a yard. I think I used 2 or 2 1/2 yards. Every time I type yard, it comes out yeard. Then I have to backspace. Seriously.

I put right sides together and then just sewed the bottom piece leaving the back open. I put both pads back in, to give more padding and because I allowed a larger seam.

I then pulled the back tight and pinned it. I folded two ribbon pieces and pinned them where I wanted them to tie onto the frame on the back.  Then I machine stitched. Yea, I know it looks pretty ghetto, but it's my first time. And it's in the back.

I did the same for the top piece. Stitched right sides together, but only put the new pad in. Then machine stitched the bottom. I marked where I wanted the ribbon in the back and then hand stitched it on. To make the pad look 'puffy', seriously I don't even know what the term is, I just hand stitched front to back a bunch of times, pulling it tight each time until it gathered. I used a thicker thread so it wouldn't break, because you have to go through the pad. I also noticed I usually have a bunch of junk in the background of my photos, yeesh. I'll get to that.

And she's done! The whole project including paint and materials to recover was about $55. Huzzah. I painted the frame white after sanding, and let it dry before replacing the pads. The corners of the bottom piece I also hand stitched a little stitch so they were tight against the curve. I have still to complete the ottoman... another post for another day. :) Let me know what you think or if you have questions! (Sorry for the lack of step pictures)

nursery {furniture}

Does this picture not make you want to cry a little? In fear? Like it should be straight out of a horror movie? Ok, maybe a bit. I got this baby for $15 at the DI (Utah thrift store) when I was in college. It was great and completely cobweb free. Since my apartments were a little, well, ghetto, this dresser matched perfectly. I then moved to Washington DC so this little gem lived with my brother for awhile. When he moved it got stored under the deck at my parents. Where it was rained on. And snowed on. And inhabited by a small family of spiders. That grew into a large family of spiders. Poor dresser.

So fast forward a couple of years and I now live in a house with a great husband preparing a nursery for a little girl. I remembered the dresser and wondered if it had any potential as a changing table. I found it under the deck on a trip to my parents and saw that it was the PERFECT height for needed table and would give us a lot of great storage. So my dad pulled it into the shop, cleaned it up, rebuilt a drawer, tacked the back in, and built a top for it that was a bit wider than the original dresser. What a great dad. Then after some sanding and some white paint it made its way into the nursery.

Over the years some of the original hardware had gone missing so I bought four new 'girly' pieces for the top drawer for 50% off at Hobby Lobby and spray painted all the old hardware...because I'm cheap like that. I found a great toile pattern of vinyl at the dollar store that I put on the top and in all the drawers of the changing table and added a creme floral print panel to the gap in the back where the original dresser was shorter than the new top. It adds a great little place for storage now.

I also found some wood decorative pieces at Hobby Lobby to add a little feminine flare and help it match the following nightstand:

Isn't she beautiful? Hahahah. This is post sanding, so I didn't get a true before picture which I sincerely apologize for. I loved the scroll work at the bottom. Guess where I found it? On a curb. For free. Yea, that's right, free. I even knocked on the door of the house to make sure I wasn't stealing, but when no one answered I loaded it up by my pregoself and took it home. This was after passing it once, flipping a u turn and coming back. It also sat for a couple of months out in the rain. I'm really good with furniture like that.

After some sanding and some new/spray painted hardware, it's so cute and feminine! I love the two nursery pieces that cost me about $10 in paint and hardware to redo. (White paint I had on hand). I was going to antique them, which would also be a great look, but since the crib is not antique, I just went with a simple white. We did buy the crib new which I thought was a step up for us. :)

Happy Monday! Hope you had a marvelous thanksgiving weekend! I love comments! And followers! Both would totally make my day. :)

patchwork {frame}

On a past thrifting outing at the DI (Utah Thrift Store) I found this wonderful little frame. I seriously sat for five minutes because even though I knew what I would do with it and saw it's potential, it was still $4.00. And I am CHEAP. So about five minutes later, I sighed, put it back and walked away. Then about five minutes after that I picked it back up and went to the check out before I could change my mind. A little pathetic? Maybe. But c'mon, it was $4.00, not my typical $.35.

Although the digital roses were, well, what they were, I knew the old paper HAD to go. So I ripped it and scraped it off. Well tried anyway, some was pretty cemented down, so I just gave up. I cut four coordinating colors of scrapbook paper and measured where I wanted them to go on the frame. I cut them to size then modgepodged over the old paper and frame to the size of each paper at a time. Once they were all down I modgepodged over the top and added a thin ribbon between each paper line.

So now I have a cute little 'patchwork' frame for the nursery! Super easy and *mostly* cheap. ;) What do you think? Happy Monday!