The Patience of Upholstering

About 9 months ago, I decided I was going to learn how to sew.  I convinced my always supportive husband that we needed to get a sewing machine, and excitedly signed up for Sewing 101 at Joann Fabric.  The class was fantastic.  If anyone is looking to get a beginner's lesson in anything from sewing to cake decorating to jewelry making, I highly recommend going there first.  I left the class feeling empowered and ready to be the best crafty housewife I could be.

Let me back this up a little bit, the reason I decided I wanted to learn how to sew was because I had ripped the upholstery off of my favorite reading chair without even buying it a drink first.  I started with great gusto, immediately reupholstering the ottoman by wrapping it up like a lovely Christmas present.  After looking at the construction and old upholstery, I realized that the only way to finish her off and make her look like a classy lady was to learn how to sew.

Before: Dirty on  the outside, but gloriously comfortable on the inside.

Flash forward to 5 months after she was ripped of her dignity and 4 months after my Sewing 101 class.  There she sat, naked on my back patio, untouched.  The patient husband had been quietly (and sometimes not so patiently) trying to get me to straighten my act up and bring her back to full lady status, but I had lost momentum and knew I would never get the chair done.  I did not take any pictures of her in her compromised state on the back patio.  No lady should have pictures on the internet looking like that.

Here is one of those moments where all I can say is "Wow, I really got a good one."  I went to visit my grandma up in the Great Northland for Fourth of July (everyone "aw" at what a great grandchild I am), and the patient husband took matters into his own hands.  When he leaves me alone for a week, I sit around and eat junk food.  When I leave for a weekend, he spends 3 straight days sewing and reupholstering my naked arm chair.  Hero cape, anyone?

After!  Isn't she pretty?

I love her.  I love my husband.  I'm spoiled.  He opted not to add a skirt because it would have been too difficult and he just wanted to get the chair done.  No complaints from me.

Chair   $0 (hand-me-down from my great grandma)
Fabric   $6/yard  (a steal at a shop that was closing)  We bought 9 yards, which gave us a lot of leftovers
Staple gun & staples    $20
Blood, sweat, and tears    Priceless

As usual, it isn't perfect (the patient husband may have sewn the zipper to the outside of the cushion case), but it was far less costly and a much better story than if we had paid someone hundreds of dollars.  She's a classy lady again!

I have been working on my sewing skills, and a post will follow to show off my pillow case making skills.

Spring Sun & Greenery

I've been seriously enjoying this glorious spring weather.  I won't be so happy when it's 90 and humid down here, but 80s in March is unheard of in my world.  Because of this spring happiness, I feel the urge to share my joy with those less fortunate than I am, aka you crazy snowed-in Northerners.  My father recently bought us the best spring enjoyment gift ever: an adirondack table and chair patio set from Hayneedle.com.  They had been sitting in our living room in boxes for the past month waiting for me to work up the enthusiasm to stain them.

Boy, am I glad I finally found the enthusiasm button because they are fantastic.  I used Cabot Australian Timber Oil in Natural, and it only took about an hour last Sunday.  I'm no professional, so there are some drip spots and missed spots, but, overall, I am extremely happy with the outcome.

 Yes, my beer cozy is purple with pink fish.  Just bought it this afternoon.  The book is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.  I watched the film version a while back and really enjoyed it, and was super excited to find out recently that it was originally a novel!  Just another happy moment in this bright month of March.

On Wednesday, I took a quick jaunt over to Lowe's to find some pretty flowers to adorn the table.  I wanted vibrant yellow and blue flowers, but I wasn't seeing anything blue that made me jump for joy.  I settled on those gorgeous yellow dahlias and some nice white crawling flowers.

Tyson and I have been into plants lately.  Check out the greenery on our front stoop.  The first picture is of our exploding tomato plants and the second picture is of our blueberry bush (which has also exploded since we planted it a few weeks ago) and some fun pink and white flowers.

 We're starting to see tomatoes already!

So you know I'm not lying when I saw they've exploded, here's a picture I took February 27th, the day we planted them.

 Once again, the plants today!

Yay for plants and green and happiness!

Where Have I Been?

Dear Blog Readers,

My apologies for pulling a Harry Houdini on you. I'm back now with a new attitude, a new house, a new kitten, and a new DIY/baking/decorating obsession.

I know many of you have been wondering where this obsession desire came from. I can narrow it down to two key factors; cable television and our new house.

Until January 2011, I had lived without cable for over a year, and not felt like I was missing out on much. When we moved into our new house, we opted into cable tv, and I haven't been able to pull myself from HGTV. Glorious! As for the new house factor, this one has a much better layout and color scheme than the old one (brown walls and dark purple carpet don't brighten anything up). I could wax poetic about our new place for hours, so, instead, I'll show you a few of my most recent projects that it inspired, from completely from scratch cupcakes to chair reupholstering!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes (2.5 hours to bake & decorate with my new Wilton cake decorator!!)

Brass Spray Painted Geese, adding bit of color to my bookcase (I'm sorry, dear audience members, but I forgot to do a "Before" shot).

Before: Craigslist chairs ($50 for all 5!)

After: Reupholstered and lookin' good. Think I'll leave the wood as-is for now, though. Thoughts?

I have new projects on my To Do list, and will update my blog with them and many of my other life observations as they arise.

Stay Tuned!

**I'm officially on the hunt for new refurb/DIY ideas, so if anyone has something they've repainted, reupholstered, refurbished, handmade, poured their hearts into, I'd love to see it! And any blogs, websites, magazines, etc that can offer inspiration or how-tos pass along my way. One of my current faves is Young House Love. (Thanks to Stacey for sending YHL to me!)