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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Recovered Mom's Chairs

Over the weekend, my sister and I recovered my mom's
dining room chairs.  The right side is the OLD cushion, and
the left side is the NEW one.
 
Mom uses her dining room a LOT so the cushions were in
pretty bad shape.  We had dad remove the cushions from the chairs.

This is the BEFORE picture:

 We decided to get upholstery fabric to recover the chairs in.
Mom wanted the fabric to still be neutral, but a little bit darker.  We had
a total of 6 chairs to recover, so we got 2 yards of fabric from Hobby
Lobby. We laid the cushions on the fabric and cut around each cushion.
Then mom ironed each piece of fabric.
 
 
When we looked at the chair cushions, there was an edging on
the cushion. We decided we needed to glue this down so
that the new fabric would be smooth around the edge.  We were afraid
that after recovering the cushions with the new fabric that it wouldn't
lay right on the chair if it wasn't glued down.
 

While we were doing this, we got a little busy
chit-chatting, and hot glued my shirt to the cushion!
 
We placed the cushion on the fabric, and stapled the back, then
the front. Then all four corners. Then the sides. The hardest part
was making sure the edges were smooth. Since there wasn't much
of a pattern, every crease was noticeable. So we wanted to make sure
to get the fabric as smooth as possible.  It really worked well to have
two people working on this - Rebekah pulled the fabric and held it
in place while I stapled.  Also, keep in mind where the cushion will be
attached to the chair so you don't put a staple right where a screw needs to go.
 


Dad screwed the cushions back onto the chairs, and
here's the end result. I think they turned out really nice!!! 

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

DIY Tile Coasters

My sister has made hundreds (not an exaggeration!) of these over the
last year for bridal shower favors, Christmas gifts, some for both of
us to have... and we were even able to sell a bunch of them!

You won't believe how easy it is to make these....
Buy tiles at a home improvement store - just plain
white ones (they should cost about .19 cents a piece).
 
There are all different kinds of things that can be put on the
tile - scrapbook paper, photographs, wrapping paper, etc. I like it
best when the paper is a little smaller than the tile so that there is an
outline of the white tile around the paper. Using a foam brush, put
mod podge on the tile. Lay the paper on the tile, and smooth it out
so there aren't any air bubbles. Brush more mod podge over the paper
and let it dry. Hot glue felt on the bottom of the tile so it doesn't scratch
the furniture. If it's a gift set, wrap the coasters together with some ribbon.
 
It's that simple!
 
My sister's friend helping to cut TONS of scrapbook paper. Thanks Kathryn!
 
Mix and Match Coasters
 
Sold a bunch of coasters at a craft fair a while back
 
Coasters as Favors at a Bridal Shower
 
My fall coasters that my sister gave me... I love them!!


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Pot Roast Recipe

Gotta love anything that can be done in the crockpot...
The hardest part about this recipe is going to the store to buy groceries =)
 
Ingredients:
shoulder bottom roast
1 packet of dry onion soup mix
1/8 cup of water
baby carrots, small potatoes, onions slices
 
Directions:
Put the roast, dry onion soup mix and water into the crockpot.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 6-8 hours.

If the roast is totally thawed when you start, you can add carrots,
potatoes, and/or onions from the beginning and put the roast on top
of all that. Just leave the potatoes fairly big so they don't get mushy.
If the roast is frozen when you put it in, wait a few hours before
adding them, and when you add them, put them UNDER the roast.
 
This is good served with brown gravy - just add a packet
of brown gravy mix to your grocery list, and follow instructions
to make brown gravy. By the way, thanks MOM for the recipe!
 
 

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

First Dance as Mr. & Mrs.

I've been a married woman for over three years now...
our anniversary was January 23rd. I knew my husband
wouldn't expect a present, but I decided to make something
that I personally wanted us to have... as it turned out,  he
thought it was a pretty cool gift too!
 
I saw the idea on Pinterest to frame a picture from your
first dance at your wedding, with the song lyrics around the picture.
I thought it was a cute idea, and figured it couldn't be too difficult
to make. It ended up being even easier because my mom helped me with
it, and she is much better with computers than I am.
The photo is a 4x6 and the frame is for an 8x10. We just printed the
lyrics onto thick computer paper, and I used double stick tape to attach the
picture to the paper. So simple! I think it turned out pretty cute!

Now I have to figure out a good place to display it. Not really
appropriate for the kitchen table, which is where it currently is!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Bowtie Baby Shower

My sister, Rebekah, helped with a baby shower over the
weekend... it was so adorable! One of her friends from Louisville,
Cherish, is having a baby boy soon. Cherish's mom and mother-in-law
were the ones who threw the brunch shower, and just had Rebekah help
them with some of the crafty touches =)
 
I love that it was a bowtie theme - so cute and appropriate for a baby boy!
Rebekah made bowtie's out of various blue fabric patterns and added them to
a few different things throughout the shower...
 
bowtie mason jar drinking glasses (with adorable striped straws):

bowtie frames (painted blue) with maternity pictures


bowtie guest book instruction frame

 
bowtie drink dispensers

bowtie candy favor jars

Gotta say thanks to Terri Owens for giving
us these jars - they were the perfect size!
  
Another way that bowtie's were incorporated into the shower was by cinching in
the napkins with ribbon to make them more in the shape of a bowtie. So cute!
 
And seriously.... how cute are the french toast sticks in shot glasses with syrup
in the bottom? I love it! The rest of the food looks delicious too. And the
mini chalkboards are such a cute touch to label all the food and drinks =)



One of my most favorite things about this shower are the
necktie bibs that Rebekah made! So stinkin' cute!!! 

 
Congrats Josh and Cherish... and we all can't wait til Baby Wilson is
born so we can found out his name! It's a secret!
 


 
 
 

Monday, February 4, 2013

Cherry Cheesecake Dip Recipe

Another Pinterest recipe! I needed to take a finger food  
to church for a meeting a couple weeks ago. When I saw
how easy this recipe would be, I decided to go ahead and try
it out. I love that it can pass for an appetizer AND a dessert! 
 
 Ingredients:
No Bake Jello Cheesecake
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 container of cool whip
cherry pie filling
graham crackers
  
Directions:
Combine the cheesecake filling and the milk.
Blend til thick.  Fold in the cool whip. Chill.
 
Pour the cherry pie filling over the cheesecake mixture.
Serve with graham crackers.

 
 


Sunday, February 3, 2013

"Pop" the Question to your Bridesmaids!

My cousin asked me to be in her wedding in the
cutest way!! She lives in a different state, so she couldn't
ask me in person. So she sent me a package - the box says....
and this is what I found when I opened it....
It was so adorable!!
I put the ring on my finger, took a picture of it, and
sent her a picture text that said MY ANSWER IS YES!!!
Congrats Joy and Brian.... I'm so excited for y'all to get hitched!