Days of Chalk and Chocolate - All Post

Ottoman Slipcover #2

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Did you link up this week??


I slipcovered our large storage ottoman and it came out ok. It was my first attempt and I figured out what I did wrong.  We have a smaller ottoman and I slipcovered it this weekend. It came out so much better and I'm really happy with it!  Now they sort of match! 






Here is the story!  I started out with a brown leatherish ottoman that did not open. This made it so much easier than my first one!



I washed and bleached a 5x4 drop cloth.  I draped it over the ottoman and cut off the bottom to where I wanted the ruffle to be attached.




Next I pulled and pinned the sides. The drop cloth has a little give to it so when all sides were pinned I went back and pulled areas a bit tighter and repinned.  Since it was a drop cloth and both sides are the same it didn't matter which way I laid the fabric. But if one side had a pattern then I would have laid it with the pattern down, sewing the wrong side.







I trimmed the excess.


I sewed each seam by the pins and again trimmed the excess so it wouldn't be bunchy underneath when I flipped it right side out. Once it was all sewed and trimmed I turned it right side out and checked the fit.



I used  a few 3 inch wide pieces of material and sewed them together to make one long piece. I sort of measured and doubled it for my ruffle. I'm not a great measurer so I had to tweak it a bit but it was mostly right on.  I made the ruffle by sewing a seam with my machine set on it's tightest tension but the longest stitch. I also tried to use as many of the drop cloth's actual seams for the ruffle so it would look neat and uniform.  Let them do some of the work for me, I figure.




I sewed the ruffle into a loop and pinned it to the cover. Make sure to do it right sides together. Your right side for your cover is facing up now since it's on the ottoman. Don't do what I did and flip it inside out and sew it on. sigh.



Once the ruffle is on it's done!





So I tried to hang a large curtain rod in my dining room yesterday. It didn't go well. Apparently my heating duct runs up through the wall and it prevented both the drill and the anchor from going in properly. After I threatened to throw the rod through the window, Jim helped out. He got it up no problem and spackled my holes. Seriously, he always cleans up my messes!   But one piece of business I was able to figure out myself is that it is almost impossible to use a drill to screw in screws when the hardware is in the way. So I used one of these. If you don't have one get one. It's a super long bit and it lets you get into tight places. I used it to make lots of holes for Jim to patch! 




And lastly, I hung up the cruddy plaques I Mod Podged. I revealed the first two in this post but finished the third this week.  They hang in our playroom now.




It's rainy but warmer here. So glad to get a break from the cold that I don't mind the rain at all!

More project reveals coming this week, too!

Cheers!
Jenny           

New Online Shelter Mag--91

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Have you guys seen this magazine?  It's called 91 and it's launched quarterly. The next installment (2nd issue) is due out in February.  The magazine is created by Caroline Taylor who has a beautiful interior design blog called Patchwork Harmony .  91 has a bit of a vintage edge to it so it appeals to me more than some other shelter mags which tend to use such high end furnishings that there is no way I can relate.  I love the soft pretty fabrics, vintage details, and eclectic styles that are showcased, too.

Here's a taste
91 Magazine



91 Magazine

91 Magazine

This is just a tease. You'll have to check it out yourself!  I can't wait for the next issue to be released!

And as for me, I was wrestling this morning with hanging a large curtain rod in my dining room. The darn anchor just wouldn't go in. Jim discovered that our heating vent that runs through to our second story was the blocker. Sigh. Nothing seems easy sometimes!


Cheers,
Jenny

Love Note Pillows and a Question

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I have so many large house projects to work on that I haven't been taking on any little ones. But I couldn't let Valentine's Day go by (even though it's 4 weeks away) without a little something. So last night I made these pillows that I like to call Love Note Pillows.   One has a little pocket in which to stash some love notes and the other is just an ooops that turned into a companion pillow.  I was inspired to do the love poem script from Roeshel's drop cloth script curtains over at the DIY Show Off.



Measure and cut out two pieces of white cotton duck.   Secure to your table using blue tape to prevent the fabric from shifting as you write. Place a piece of cardboard under in case the Sharpie bleeds through.  Begin writing your words, poem, song, whatever.   I selected a love poem called  Love's Philosophy by Percy Bysshe Shelley that had lots of Valentiney words in it. I knew no one would read it but I wanted love words.

Sorry about the blurriness in some of the pics.






Cut out two red hearts from felt. I used a scalloped decoration as a pattern but then decided to cut off the scallops. Leave one heart intact but cut the other in half.








Place the half on top of the intact heart (creating the pocket) and stitch around to secure. I used a zig zag just to make it fun but as you can see my stitching isn't that straight. No biggee to me.


I guess you could sew it on the fabric at this time too but I chose to secure it using Liquid Stitch.  Let dry.

Right sides together, sew your two squares together leaving an opening for the pillow.




Stuff with your pillow insert, seal up either by sewing or by Liquid Stitching  and you're done.

The second, smaller pillow I made because my first attempt at writing the poem was a bust. I spelled "thou" as "though" and that wouldn't do. So I cut off that line and made a smaller pillow. I made a ruffle from red felt by setting my machine to the longest stitch but the tightest tension and stitching down the middle. I sewed the ruffle onto the front piece before doing the right-sides-together-sew-stuff steps.




Changing topics:  Can you have too much drop cloth decorating? I would really love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers!
Jenny                        

Felt Pads Tutorial

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My parents rocked Christmas this year with the best gift we received. A sweet pastel table and chair set for the girls. They live in a far away land so it was shipped to us and Jim put it together the night before Christmas so it was ready when they came downstairs.


Some of their friends were up
into the wee hours playing Bridge.

They use it every single day, especially Ellie. So instead of putting it in the playroom I've let it stay in the main living room.  Yesterday though something caught my eye. Something on my hardwood floors. My dark walnut hardwood floors. WHAT? WHAT? WHAT????

Gasp.

So I ran to Lowes to get those fuzzy felt pads to put on the bottoms but when I came home I realized the ones I bought wouldn't fit the chair feet (can't put a rectangle peg in a square hole) so I ran off for my supplies to DIY my own. Easy Peasy.


Grab your felt, scissors, Super Glue, and a Kit Kat

I eyeballed a strip of felt to the width of our chair feet. Then I measured against the chair foot and cut 4 rectangles.  I used the Super Glue to glue on the felt.



Then I used the scissors to trim off the excess so it would look neat.




Repeat with each foot until your chairs are all covered. Leave them in this position to dry for basically all day to ensure the glue is dry. No one wants scratched and gluey floors. Really, no one does.




My tongue is firmly planted in my cheek for this photo. All the chairs
lined up reminded me of those gorgeous photos of cupcakes
or brownies or candles or whatever all lined up in a neat line on a coordinating background.
So my pack-n-play and my "to be Ebayed" stack is my coordinating background. 
Keepin' it reals, y'all.


Happy girls!  Happy Mama!  Happy Floor!  Now you eat the Kit-Kat.  But do it in the kitchen so the 18 month old doesn't see you and beg for some. No share.

Doesn't everyone keep their bike helmet on the table?  And when will
Ellie ever learn to close her mouth for pictures?  I think she's
trying to be the next Kristen Stewart.  Oh and yes, I cut her hair myself.
I wither with shame.


Checking their notes. "Um, let's see. Eat goldfish crackers?  Check.
Refuse to wear socks in the middle of winter?  Yup, got it. 
Poop through 3 onesies?  Almost done!  YES!"

Molly did two fun things yesterday. She finger painted and she baked a donut in her Easy Bake Oven. You can see the evidence of those activities all over her.





Ellie put this whole ensemble together herself. She fancies herself
a younger, hipper Tim Gunn.

Can't wait to see your link ups at  Latest and Greatest Friday #14 this week!


Cheers and Happy Weekend!

Jenny

Latest and Greatest Friday #14

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Hi everyone!  I hope you are all gearing up for a great weekend!  Please link up your latest and greatest project, recipe, DIY tip, etc. and show us all what you have been up to!



Features from Latest and Greatest Friday #13

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This was the biggest party yet!  Thanks so much for taking the time to link up!  I hope to see you all this week. I'll post that later on. But without further ado, here are some amazing features!


Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Gorgeous picture, too

Barn Door Sign

Hand painted on an actual barn door. Like a door
that came from a barn. For reals.

Pin Tuck Pillow

So professional looking, aren't they?


Une Petite Pouffe

Thems is mad sewing skillz. If I had the
skills I'd sew one for each girl's room.

It's a dreary rainy day.  It's only 9:53 here in Jersey but already Ellie has whined herself into the pack-n-play with toys, eaten finger paint, gotten finger paint in her freshly washed hair, threw toast with peanut butter down side onto the floor, and been put promptly down for a nap which I'm not sure she needs but one that I need her to take.  Where did I leave that cup of coffee now?? 

Off to create a blogger, I mean help Molly use her Easy Bake Oven.

Cheers!
Jenny

Anchor Inspiration, China Cabinet Redo

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Jackie at Simple Home. Life is one of my new favorite bloggers. She makes everything seem so easy and accessible to someone like me who is a relatively timid DIYer. I always had the ideas but Jim was the brawn of our troop. But lately he's been working so much that he's just not around and when he is he's not interested in DIY. He is more interesting in R and R. So I have to be more proactive if I want things to happen around here and one of the things that have been holding me back was installing anchors. Yes, dumb, but true. I always felt like I was going to mess it all up, break our walls, etc.

So lo and behold today Jackie had a tutorial on installing anchors. I was inspired. I didn't have the same kind of anchors though. I had these (the red ones). So I grabbed the anchor, the matching screw, the big drill with a million bits so I could size it correctly, and a hammer.



First I figured out where to hang the thing I wanted to hang (chalkboard). Then I sized my drill bit to be a bit smaller than the diameter of the anchor. I drilled and then placed the anchor on the hole. Using the hammer, I sank it into the drywall. Next, I switched the bit to the screwdriver and screwed the nail into the anchor. I didn't screw it all the way in because my chalkboard had a wire and I needed it to hang.




Then I wrote a little blurb from one of my favorite poems about winter and realized that I CAN hang stuff up with anchors!!  I'm practically Norm from This Old House. Or Bob Villa. Or Bob the Builder.






Here's the whole poem entitled Winter-Time by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is so descriptive, isn't it? 

Winter-Time
Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.
Before the stars have left the skies, 5
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.
Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit; 10
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.
When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows 15
Its frosty pepper up my nose.
Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

20
Years ago Jim received a free hutch/china cabinet from his boss's father who was downsizing. We moved it from the dad's house to Jim's apartment, from our apartment (after we got married) to our first house, from our first house to the POD that stored our stuff, and from our POD to our current house. I finally have a place to put it and a place to fix it up.  Here are the beginning stages.



The glass for the left door is intact. It just
needs to be reinstalled and the muntins attached.

If we can fix that molding we will. Otherwise
we'll just use glass caulk.



I sanded it completely with my orbital sander and tonight I primed the doors and drawer.




I bought two yards of this fabric and I may use it on the inside of the cabinet top.



I'll keep posting the progress on this project. I can't wait for it to be done.  Are you working on anything right now? Any projects in motion?

Cheers!
Jenny