DIY - Lamp: A Right Bright Deal - Updated

I purchased this amazing lamp and lamp shade for $3!  What a steal of a deal, right!?!

I knew I couldn't pass this up so I bought it not knowing what I might use it for.  My sister, closest in age to myself, is redoing her room and I knew exactly what needed to be added to her decor!  With a few scraps of fabric left over from making curtains, I added some pizzaz to the lamp shade.

First, lay the lamp shade on the fabric and cut out around it leaving about 1/4" allowance.

 Next lay the fabric onto the lamp shade.  To make it easier, I did sides 1 and 3 first.  You will see why later.

 And then, using hot glue, glue the fabric to the top and bottom of the lamp shade.

 Pull the corners tight and glue into place.

 Then lightly glue the sides down.  No need to use a lot of glue, just enough to tack it down.  There is no need to hide the unfinished sides because sign 2 and 4 will hide them.

Now take sides 2 and 4 and tack down the top and bottom.   Do not glue the entire top and bottom.  First you want to fold under the extra allowance on the side, tack it in the middle and then glue the rest from top to bottom.  You will be gluing onto the unfinished sides of 1 and 3.  Once you have done that on both side, then finish glueing the top and bottom.  Don't forget about the corners.  This will make the edges look finished.

 And viola!  A finished lamp shade!

With the base, I picked a bright pink spray paint, that I already happened to have, to match the theme of her room.  Make sure and cover up all of the areas that you do not want to be painted.

Then go to town and spray away!  If you have a lamp that requires a finial, spray the finial to match the base color to tie it all in.

And there you have it!  A new lamp for $4!

DIY - Repainted and Reupholstered Chair

I found this chair at a local estate sale.  Saturdays are usually half price days and this was no exception.  We were about to check out when I saw this chair tucked under a desk.  I saw the potential it had.  I couldn't figured out exactly what I wanted to do with it until one day I was cleaning up my fabric stash and found the perfect fabric!  You know the excitement you get when you can see the amazing picture in your head of what it could look like.  I was all giddy inside!

 First, I unscrewed the cushion from the chair and got to work taking out all of the staples.  Make sure and put the screws in a safe place.  Keep the finished covering on the bottom.  We will use it later.

 To make this job easier, I used a screwdriver to get under the staples and would pull them out with pliers.

 Next, take the cushion, scissors, and the fabric and lay out the fabric.

 Place the cushion on top of the fabric and cut around it.  Pull the fabric up the side of the cushion so that you can figure out how much allowance to leave.  It's always better to have to much than not enough.

Once it's all cut out, if your fabric is anything like mine, you will need to iron it.  You are probably thinking that you can skip this part....ironing stinks....blah, blah, blah.  Trust me.  It will look ten times better if you iron it.

 Now that your fabric is all ironed, lay it out onto the floor and place your cushion on top.  Since I am in my garage, I laid out a sheet first so that my fabric wouldn't get dirty.  And p.s. I hope you like my beautiful blue toes, because you will get to see them a lot.

 To get started staple the front and back.  Pull just a tad.  You don't want the fabric to be too tight or too lose.

 Now comes the corner.  Staple the end...

 And where there is an inside corner pull the fabric up into the corner and staple.  Flip it over several times to be sure you like the way the inside corner looks.

 Once the inside corner is pulled and stapled the way you like it, slightly pleat the outside corner and staple. I only used two pleats.

Now it's time to finish stapling around the rest of the cushion.  Slightly pull and staple.  Remember not too tight, not too lose.

 Around the back of the cushion, where it curves, you will need to pleat the fabric slightly.  Then go to town stapling around the edges.

 Once you are done stapling cut the extra fabric and staple some more if you see fit.

 Remember that piece I told you to keep, well now you can reuse it and staple it back down.  I just followed the old staple marks and only stapled in those spots.

And now you have a beautiful new recovered cushion!

To redo the chair, I lightly sanded it down with my new palm sander I got for Christmas.

I really wanted to do this project right so I used a primer from the local hardware store.  I actually like the color but I still need to paint it a lovely glossy black.

I let the primer completely dry overnight and started painting the chair the next morning.  It took two coats to paint the chair. Gloss spray paint needs to be applied in light coats.  If you spray to much on, it will run so keep it light.  If it does happen to run, use a paper towel and lightly wipe the run in the direction of the wood grain.  Then, when you go to apply your second coat it will cover the paint that you lightly took away.

And after a few hours of drying time and screwing the cushion back on, I now have a finished chair!

This one is listed for sale. Check out our Facebook page to see pricing!

Ode to the Frame

One Saturday morning we spent garaging, we were not having the best of luck but we stumbled upon a sale.  The items for sale weren't that exciting but I did find a bag of frames and you will never guess how much I got them for....$0!  That's right, FREE!  The backs and glass were missing so the lady just gave them away.  I brought them home and used my spray paint magic on them!  I can't wait to use them in the girls room!

The High Chair

After I had spent the morning garaging with Shannon, I was on my way home when I saw a sign for a yard sale.  Those types of signs always leave my heart with an exciting flutter in it.  I went to put the car into park and saw this amazing vintage high chair. I expected to hear $20 but the words "five dollars" rolled out of her mouth.  I instantly screamed "SOLD!" and drove away with my new find!  I can't wait to paint it to match my new table!

From Lame to Super Awesome Frame

We started out one Saturday morning at a garage sale for an elementary school.  They had some amazing finds!  I instantly found a vintage school desk and a hand crafted wooden frame.  I still need to paint the desk but as soon as I saw the frame I instantly knew what it's destiny would become.

I picked out a beautiful aubergine spray paint and got to work.  We had an extra piece of  MDF, which the hubs cut to fit for the opening.  It was then painted with chalkboard paint and nailed into place.  It's perfect for my girls, especially knowing that chalk can be cleaned off almost everything!  As you can see they have already gone to town.

Garaging of all Garaging

The first time I went garaging was with my best friend Shannon.  It was amazing!  The possibilities are endless and I can honestly say that in heaven there will be a garage sale everyday!

Here are a few items we found that day and a few over the next month:

2 yards of black with white polka dotted fabric for $1!

3 wreaths and pink yarn for only .10 cents a piece!  What a steal! And Buttons!  I love buttons and this lot we got for about $4!

I am absolutely in love with children's books, especially vintage ones.  These were .50 cents a book.

An apothecary jar and light blue bud vase for $1 each.

My two oldest daughters fight over the small camping chair we have.  So for $2 I found another one they can still fight over.

One can always use a mail/paper holder.  This one was made by Home Interiors and I got it for just $5.

Love me some mason jars.  These were a special given out by Jack in the Box as a cup.  $1 for both.

One of my most amazing finds was this vintage Kodak Duoflex II Camera.  I got the camera and the old fruit crate for $15.  The guy I got it from drove a hard bargain but I stuck to my guns.

I love halloween and am always looking for items to use.  I bought the Jack O'Lantern for $1 and the lady through in the pumpkin candle holders.

Always remember that to get a better bargain, you want to bundle.  Bundling can lead to mega savings!

DIY - New Table Mable

We have had the same table for the last 4 years and it was in desperate need of a makeover.  It's an Ikea table set we bought off of craigslist for $75.  Not knowing when we will be purchasing a home, I didn't want to buy a brand new table for a space we didn't have yet, so it was time for another project.  I did a little research on Pinterest to see what designs I could find, along with what designs my hubby might enjoy.  We finally decided on a design similar to this countertop idea.  I wanted to change mine up a bit and came up with a different idea on creating a similar design.

First, you will need to pick your colors.  I chose an off white for my pattern and a light grey for the main color.  I missed this step due to laziness, however, I would prime everything first.  If you don't it will just take extra coats.  Paint the top of the table with the color you would like the lines to be.  Due to the lack of primer, it took me three coats with the off white to get it perfect.

When the paint is dry, you will need to create a grid.  My hubby came up with the idea of drawing it out with a pencil instead of using painters tape.

Then take the painters tape, and using the grid, place your tape along the lines to create your pattern. (I used the 1/2" wide painters tape.)  Remove and reposition as much as you need until you create the desired pattern.

Next, seal the lines of the paint by taking a brush and painting along the tape line.  I read about doing this when using tape on the wall.  It's supposed to prevent less bleeding under the tape.

Now using a mini roller, paint away, using your main color. It took four coats of paint around the entire table to get the effect I was looking for, although it would probably take less if I wasn't so ocd.

It is now time to remove the tape!  Look at the beautiful design! A-Maz-ing!

Next is the million coats of polyurethane!  The wood on this table is VERY sensitive and easily allows scratches.  Since we have three girls, three and under, I wanted to make sure that it was super protected.  We ended up applying about 10 coats of poly and it took FOR.EV.ER! Then sanded the top with a super fine sand paper to polish it.  It's now as smooth as glass!

Oh and don't forget the chairs!  The same steps apply.  Paint a few coats, apply poly(however many coats you are willing to put up with) and viola!

A new kitchen table!

It's so nice to have our kitchen table back!