Easiest Pillow Ever!!

Mangy mutts!  Sometimes a term of endearment for my doggies.  Today~not so much.  The little monsters have a fondness for chewing up my throw pillows, even though they are both well out of puppyhood.  And you know with kids and traffic in a family room, those pillows often end up on the floor where the little hairballs can easily drag them off to their lair (AKA the laundry room) where they will have them shredded before I notice they are missing.

You might remember these Faux Grain Sack Pillows that I did awhile back. 

They were the victims of my blood thirsty hounds.  So as I sat in my craft room the other day thinking about making new ones, I happened to see one of my grain sack tote bags hanging in the closet. 

Lighbulb moment!  What if I took the handles off of the bag?  Instant pillow!

I found these plain muslin bags at Michael's for $2.00.  I think they even have them at Dollar Tree sometimes.   You can dress them up using the Citra-Solv Method, paint with stencils or even do an iron on.  Take off the handles, stuff and sew the top~ BAM!  You're done!

Super Saver Tip:  When I was at IKEA a few weeks back they had bed pillows for 99 cents!!!  Cut in half, they make the perfect pillow form.  I got that idea from Gena at the Shabby Chic Cottage.   Big savings over the $6.00-7.00 pillow forms at the fabric store!

  

Thanks for stopping by!  Linking up to the fun parties below!

 

Shop Til You Drop~ For FREE!

I finally made it up to HomeGoods today to spend my $100 gift card I won on Kayla Aimee's Blogher giveaway!  It's about an hour up to Portland and this was the first chance I had to get up there. 

It was so fun!!  Spending money guilt free is so awesome but it also really makes you want to spend wisely and get some real bang for your buck.  It took me about and hour and a half to narrow down my purchases.  There were so many cool things.  Here is some of my loot piled up at the cash register!

I got this gorgeous beveled mirror~it's huge, about 30"x36".  The plan is to spray it white and hang over my bedroom dresser.

I also got these fun white cereal bowls (love the dots!):



The big pasta/serving bowl and love this little bird's nest sconce, which will also be sprayed white!

Two Eddie Bauer Home premium loft king sized pillows.  So plump!

 

And this fun over the sink colander/cutting board and spatula.

My grand total was $99.89 cents!  So fun!!  And I still have 11 cents left on my gift card!  ;-)

Our next stop was the IKEA next door for lunch and more shopping.  Found some great deals~  $3 for a king sized white bed skirt on clearance!   I also picked up a few more things for my bedroom makeover.  I am loving how it is coming together and I'll do a reveal soon.

Thanks for stopping by! Linking up to these fab parties! 

 



Winner! Winner! Me!!

Do you enter Blog Giveaways?  I do, pretty much any I see if it looks like something I would really want.  I have won a few fun things and yesterday I hit a again, a big one!! 

 

Kayla Aimee over at Slightly Neurotic had a giveway in cahoots with BlogHer and I won a $100 gift card to HomeGoods!   YAY!!!!  I love, Love, LOVE this store and am so excited!!!

 

Be sure to check out Kayla Aimee's blog.  She has the sweetest little baby girl, Scarlette, who was born at 23 weeks weighing just 1 lb 9 oz.  Through God's amazing grace and blessing she is home and thriving!  KA is hilarious and I enjoy her blog immensely. 

 

Project wise:  What can you do with an old end table and a discarded cabinet door?  Why, you make a coffee table, of course!   Come back soon to see the finished project!!

 

 

 

Do It Yourself Document Fabric!

Sorry I've been away so long!  It's that busy, crazy time of year with graduations, parties, end of the school year madness.  I have also had some computer issues.  I am currently blogging on my old laptop with a cracked screen.  Not good.  Hopefully my Toshiba will be out of the shop soon, I forgot how slow this one is!

I have found time to thrift though,  that's therapy!  I found a really cool vintage chair that I am redoing and decided to make my own 'document' fabric to recover the seat.  You know, that great fabric that Ballard's sells for $32 a yard! 

I created this image with photo editing software using graphics from The Graphics Fairy and wrote some of my own text using two awesome fonts called Byron and The King & Queen.  Staples enlarged my design to 18"x24" for just $1.99 and then I used Citra Solv to transfer the image to my 'burlapy' type fabric. 

The image is softer than the Ballard's but I love the look~ kind of like a faded grain sack.  Here's a close up.  Sorry for the poor pics, it's night time and I have a lousy camera!

I so hope you'll come back Wednesday to see the reveal of my chair makeover finished with this fabric!  Thanks for visiting!  Linking up to these fun parties!



Clock Makeover

I've been changing up the look in my dining room these past few months and have especially loved redoing the top of my armoire.  I really think of it as a mantle, it has such a nice big top to decorate.  

As it was coming together I was missing one item to be the centerpiece of the space.  I was wishing I had the perfect clock for the spot when I remembered I did have a clock, but not the RIGHT clock. 

  

This clock was a left over from my former life doing home parties.  I always loved it but it had broken second hand and had been up in the closet for years.  I decided to make it over for my new look.

Not such a bad little clock, you might say.  But the brown wood and aged yellow face was not working for me.  I popped off the glass face and removed the hands.  Never needed the that broken second hand anyway!

I then made this face in MS DIP.   The 'Broderick Clockworks' is a nod to my hometown of Broderick, California and the Roman numerals MMXI are for 2011. 

I printed the face out and then spray painted the clock black and added a little silver glazing on the legs, top finial and embossing on the front.  After reassembeling I have this new beauty for my armoire.

So happy with the results!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I would so love to hear your comments and would love to have you as a follower.  See you at the fun parties below~don't miss the fun!



Vintage Suitcase Table

About 20 years ago I bought a vintage suitcase at a rummage sale.  It was metal and funky and I really loved it.  I used it in my then  country style of decor with muslin bunnies and vintage linens.  When I fazed that style out (thank goodness!!) it sat unused for years.  



I had recently seen some really lovely white painted suitcases around blogland so I got motivated to paint it white and use it in a project.  But when I went to get it I found it had rusted through!  So sad!   I was really bummed but determined to find another suitcase for my project. 

Yesterday I found this old gem at an antique store.

It had a few issues: someone had written on it in pen and the trim was coming off but overall it was in pretty good shape.   I glued down the trim and wiped it down then got to work.  I primed it with white spray paint and then gave it numerous coats of satin white with a brush.  I also added a little metal name plate that says boudoir, since it is destined to be a side table in my bedroom.

I am using this fun piece to display it.

It's a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic luggage stand from Target.  My daughter bought it a few years back and decided she didn't want it so I snagged it.  I knew someday I would find a place for it.  Love it!!   So here is my table.  I am so happy with how it came out!  

Here's close up of my little tag:

Thanks so much for stopping by and  I would so love to have you as a follower!  Have a great weekend.  See you at these fun parties!

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