Thursday, July 23, 2009

A giveaway!

Okay folks! I've got a few of these coming up
Vendors that have donated things to me to help with my fundraising for the Susan G Komen 3 Day in November. I so far have $499.00 fund raised, and I need $2,300 by November 9th, so heres the first fundraiser!

Up for grabs I have TWO Weather teddy bears by Storytime Felts.
I don't know if there are storytime felts reps here in the DFW area, but there are in Northern California where I lived before, and they got us HOOKED. All the kids who come over to our house love our Felt playsets, and they are so easy to use. Not messy, babies can even use them, they are 100% safe, non toxic, no fears of lead, etc... and they are even safe to use in the pool/tub!!

http://www.funfelt.com/weather-teddy-bears.html



These run $33 EACH if you purchase from their website.
These are the mounted board sets (great for kids to need something sturdy to hang on to) and uncut (you cut out the clothes yourself, takes about 5-10 mintes, one time). GREAT for teaching about dressing yourself, clothing, seasons, sensations and more!
[quote]These oversized bears are great fun for little hands to dress up for whatever the weather may be. Sets includes 18 pieces of clothing and 3 felt windows depicting rain, snow, and wind, to go along with the background scene of a sunny day. Girl bear also includes a starry night time window. Choose Boy or Girl bear. Save by purchasing both! See below.
Backgrounds measure either LG 14" x 16" or SM 10" x 12" and can be mounted like a felt board or left unmounted to tack on the wall or make into a pillow or play mat. Set includes 18 felt pieces of clothing to dress your bear in. [/quote]Enter to win by visiting my 3Day Website and donating $5.
Each $5 donation = 1 entry! Donate $15 in one payment, and that's 3 entries
MY 3 DAY WEBSITE: www.tinyurl.com/3dayjr

Donations will be taken through August 4th, and then two winners will be selected from the list of entries using random.org!

eHow, here i come ;)

Today I posted my first tutorial on eHow!
CREATE INEXPENSIVE COASTERS on eHow

Please take a moment to rate my tutorial, and be sure to add me as a friend or subscribe on eHow!
FABRIC FLOOZIES PROFILE on eHow


Tuesday, July 21, 2009

2 new projects!

So it's that time! Time for 2 LARGER Projects. That's right, I'm talking about things bigger and more involved than scrappy coasters ;)
We are making shelving for next to our fireplace, and a kitchen island. WHEW!
I'm tired already.
First is the shelving..

We bought the wood last night to build our first ladder shelving for the living room. Really excited to see how it turns out tonight.

And this weekend we spotted a "FREE OR SALVATION ARMY!" sign on our street and snagged what WAS the bottom of a hutch, which we will be re purposing into a kitchen island. Frustrating part is, we had the idea, I explained it all to JR so that he wouldn't think I was nuts, then he thought I was brilliant... then last night, I picked up a new DIY type magazine, and saw they had the exact same idea in the mag *banghead* so much for being original. LOL
Our soon-to-be island
GEDC0131

I'll be sure to post pics of the shelving as it gets done!


Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Dining Room + Antique Store Finds

So as you know I've been working on our Dining Room on the cheap. I'm finally making some headway on it, in between finishing Brendan's bedroom.
The color scheme for the Dining Room is black, white, and citrus green.

This wall may just be my favorite thing about the room. Check it out:
MAT_4707

Black Shelf on bottom: $15 bought NIP from a friend.
Black Shelf on top: Came in house - FREE!
Green Mirror: $1 unfinished from Michaels. Used Safari Green Paint by Glidden (sampler $2.98)
2 Glass/Green Candles: $1 bin at Michaels.
White Vase: $4.99 at Michaels. Clearanced.
Flowers: 3 at Michaels
2 White Frames on bottom shelf: $1 each unfinished from Michaels. Used some White paint I had lying around.
Pictures in bottom frames: Printed on home PC. FREE
White frame on top shelf: $1 unfinished from Michaels.
Paper in Frame: Scrap of Scrapping paper used for Dining Room Coasters.
White Metal Basket: $2 CCA Thrift Store, painted White.
Yarn: From my stash - a perfect color match!

That's a pretty cheap display right there! It's obviously not done (still a bit empty) but I love it anyways :)

You might remember that when I redid the table/chairs/side table, I also painted 2 large wood frames black. They were given to me by my dad and had no hardware or glass, which meant that until I could get some glass cut, I'd need a sturdy/firm mat to hold it all together.
Not only could I not find ANY mat for the 14x18 frame (what an odd size!), I also couldn't find any PRETTY matting for either of them, or artwork I'd want hanging in my dining room.
So, we did it a creative way. I spent $7.99 on a set of green pillow cases and sent JR outside with his jig saw and some luan. He cut me mats to the sizes I requests and using a staple gun, I covered them with the fabric from the pillowcases.
Then I printed photos I liked from flickr (check out their creative commons pics if you need something quick!) and printed them on my home pc.

MAT_4706
MAT_4699

And don't you love those candle holders? Yeah, they were a gift. I hit up Golightly's in NRH the other day with my mom, and she got me those candle holders, AND this beautiful white antique wash basin. Love it.
MAT_4710

Monday, July 13, 2009

scrappy panties

Lily is about to start PTing here in the next few months and my husband is way over having scraps of fabric strewn about my office/sewing room - aka. master bedroom LOL.
So I took the scraps from this weeks PJ's and made her a pair of Panties. and OMG, are they cute.
Using the pattern by That.Darn.Kat. slightly modified (there shouldn't be a seam down the back) due to not having any really large scraps of fabric.

MAT_4712

MAT_4713

Repurposed PJs

A friend gave me a big bag of handmedown clothes for Lily in the other day and in it I found an adorable knit fabric blanket that I knew Lily would never use (she has favorite blankets that never leave her side at bedtime)
So I chopped off the binding and made her a set of Pjs.

Pjs recon'd from a blanket

Pjs recon'd from a blanket

Pjs recon'd from a blanket

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Brendan's New Room!

Check it out! B got his room set up! Lily's is next, but for the time being, we are enjoying our space adventure of a bedroom :)

I'll start with photos, and below I'll note where we got each item, and about how much it cost us. Hopefully that'll help if you want to do anything similar!

MAT_4586

MAT_4588

MAT_4589

MAT_4594

MAT_4593

MAT_4603

MAT_4601

MAT_4605

MAT_4608

MAT_4609

MAT_4610


We have more vinyl on order for going over his dresser. Just waiting to get it now :)
And yes, there are three areas of paint that need touched up ;)
Oh, and the dresser will eventually be refinished to black.

Starting with the Chalkboard Wall:
Black paint on top half: Onyx Black by Glidden ($20 per gallon)
Bottom half: Chalkboard Paint by Rustoleum ($12.98 per quart, we used 2)
Rocketship: Hand painted using a Glidden red paint sampler ($2.98)
Numbers/Blast Off!: Vinyl by Samantha ($17.00)
Red Moulding: 1x2" (I believe) moulding from Home Depot ($2.99 per board, we used 1.5) painted with red Behr Paint Sample

Other walls:
Grey Paint: Classic Silver by Behr Ultra Premium (it really is worth every penny, that paint+primer in one stuff!) ($38.00 per gallon, we used one)

Furniture:
Bed: Ikea. Approx $450 including bedding and mattress
Bedding: Ikea. Reversible comforter, and separate sheet/pillow case.
Grey Blanket: Disney Store - CARS themed. ($19.99)
Space Pillow: Made by me. Pillow premade ($6.99) from Joanns, Fabric from Joanns ($7.99 per yard, I used a half yard)
Dresser: From Craigslist ($10.00) and refinished by my husband and I
Ottomans: Originally from Target ($19.99 each) in light blue, for my business. Recovered with fabric from Joanns ($2.99 per yard, 1.75 yards of each).
Bookshelf: Ikea ($6.99)
Red Toy Nest: Ikea ($unknown)

All in all this transformation cost is $132.98. We are not counting the things we already had (bed, dresser, etc) or things we repurposed from other areas of the house. This is simply the cost from start to finish of redoing THIS room.

So there's the rundown of his bedroom :)
Hope you enjoyed!!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Tutorial: Coasters

**UPDATED WITH PHOTOS*
Once the photos were added, I realized that i didn't exactly explain the steps to coincide with the photos I took. So I've edited the steps a little to make it easier to understand.

Get ready for the most disappointing tutorial of all time.
It's 9:44pm and my card reader just died. *bang head*
So, no photos with this right now, but as soon as I can access them, I promise I'll share.

How to make coasters for your home:

What you need:
Sharp scissors (fabric scissors are good, but you'll wreak havoc on them, so don't use spendy ones)
Several sheets of foam (99c from craft store. I buy the huge ones, and need 2)
Several pieces of pretty scrapping paper (I normally get 4 coordinating prints)
Double Sided Adhesive (the kind i bought came in like 5x7 sheets, so I could do 2 coasters - albeit one creatively, lol - per sheet.)
Laminating Paper (comes in a big roll, it's the peel and stick kind. be sure it's archival quality)
Pen or pencil
Something round that is the size you want your coasters to be (i got out a piece of tupper ware that was smaller, and used the top rim of it)
Here are the photos of the brands I used. I liked everything I used, so if yo want it to go super smooth, grab these from Michaels.
coasters (1)
coasters (2)


Take your bowl and put it on your foam. See how you are going to fit the circles onto that. With the big sheets, I did 2 rows of 3, so 6 per sheet. If that's the case, cut in half longwise, then measure out using your bowl into 3rds, cutting as you go. You should have 6 (per sheet) foam squares. Set aside.
coasters (3)
coasters (4)


Now you want to do the same with your scrapping paper. Cut squares that are a hair bigger than the bowl. You can use either your bowl as a template or your now-cut foam squares.

Now we will cut the adhesive. Same way
coasters (5)

And same with the laminate
coasters (6)

To assemble a coaster you will need (from top to bottom) 1 piece of laminate, 1 piece of paper, 1 piece of adhesive, 1 piece of foam.
coasters (7)

check both sides of your foam for flaws. If there is a flawed side, place it flawed side up on the table. If not, doesn't matter which side goes up.
Peel off one side of the adhesives backing paper. Stick to foam square.
Place paper face up, stick laminate paper onto to of paper. Be sure to press evenly to avoid bubbles on BOTH steps.
coasters (8)
You should now have 2 pieces. foam/adhesive and paper/laminate.

Now stick your paper/laminate onto the foam adhesive after peeling off the 2nd backing. Be sure to press it down evenly to avoid bubbles.
coasters (9)


You now have an oversize, unevenly cut square coaster. Congrats, you're done!
coasters (12)

I kid.

Flip coaster face down, take bowl and place on foam side of coaster. Using pen or pencil, lightly trace your circle shape.
coasters (13)

Using sharp scissors, cut out circle. Be sure to use long, smooth cut lines. Many short choppy lines will result in a messy looking circle.
coasters (14)

coasters (15)

Enjoy!

It's coming!!

My last week has been a blur of paint and moulding and vinyl! LOL
Today I'm going to be posting the coaster tutorial, as well as pictures of Brendan's new space themed bedroom, and probably pictures from recovering an ottoman (easy peasy, you should try it)
So please be sure to check back tonight to see it all!
And if any of you who voted have not gotten your comments yet, they are coming, I swear it. This week has just been crazy!