Another Pallet Sign: Happy Halloween

I had such a good time fooling around with the Silhouette the other day that I wanted to play with it some more this week. I had some pallet wood leftover from the last pallet project and went about painting it up.

I knew I wanted candy corns as embellishment. I totally lucked out that the day I went to look Silhouette download of the day was candy corn! I know there not that expensive to download but I still like getting the free ones when I can!

This was a fun little (free!) project to get us further into the Halloween Spirit!

Linking to

Reupholstered Cane Chair

Ok- I am so excited to share this chair makeover with you! It was truly a labor (a lot of labor!) of love but the end result is totally worth it.

(I hope you don't mind that I showed you the Ta Da!! first.)

I found the dilapidated chair at the Goodwill a while back. An older gentleman was sitting in it and I thought he wanted to buy it- but when I asked him he said that he was just lounging while his wife shopped. Score!

It was tagged for $15 but I haggled for and got it for $10 (every dollar counts!). It had some problems of course. Torn, dirty fabric and ripped cane. 

I knew it had potential because I had seen Mandi at Vintage Revivals save a similar chair a while back. So I set to work taking the chair apart, starting with the upholstery first and being careful not to tear it so I could use it later as a template for my new pieces. 

This chair had some serious staples in it. Whoever put it together did not want it taken apart. I had to pull out the pliers and flat head screwdriver to get them all out. It took FOREVER!

There were some casualties.

But I triumphed in the end!!

The next task was taking the cane apart. And if I thought the upholstery did not want to come off, I was not prepared for this cane. Seriously- it was a beast. Good thing I took it outside because if was incredibly messy as well.

And when times get tough it's nice to have someone around to "help" you out.

Once I FINALLY got the cane off it was time for spray paint. I choose to paint the frame a glossy white.

Then I webbing back on. I was lucky to find some white webbing at our local craft store (Walmart). For better instructions on this part check out Mandi's blog.

Once that was finished it was time for upholstery. I had some fabric leftover from my Slipcovered Lounge Chair project that I thought would be perfect for this chair. I used a similar technique from when I redid my dining chairs. I traced the original fabric scraps onto my new fabric, leaving about an inch extra around the edges. Then stretched the pieces and stapled them into place to secure them.

To finish it off I hot glued fabric trim around the edges to cover the staples.

Then finished!

This project was good practice for the other upholstery project I have been trying to build up confidence for. It was tough but the end result was worth the hard work.

Yay!! What's the toughest project you have tackled? Was it totally worth the end result?

Linking here

Makin It: Halloween Costume

Halloween is fast approaching and I have yet to make Con-Man's Halloween Costume. I'm such a slacker! Last year I was inspired by Pottery Barns animal costumes:

I sewed my own version of this for the Con-Man. He refused to wear the ears I made for him though. :/

The year before that I made him a pumpkin costume:

Part of the reason for my sluggishness on getting started is that I wasn't sure what he should be. I was completely stumped. I mentioned this to the Hubs and he of course had the perfect solution- Mater! Of course! Why hadn't I thought of this? Con-Man loves the movie Cars and loves Mater.

I did some searching for a Mater costume and came up with this one at Walmart:

Problem: It doesn't come in toddler sizes. Lame! So I'm going to try and make one. Hopefully it comes out alright. I like making Con-Man's costumes, it's fun and my mom made most of our when we were younger. I'm going to try and get away with it for as long as I can; until he starts begging for the ones in the store. ;)

And while I'm at it I might "Put a Bird On It" and make a costume for myself. "The Birds" anyone?

Do you try to DIY your Halloween costumes? 

From Boring to Beautiful

One thing I've been loving about our Walmart here in our new town (I know- it's a stretch to say "Love" and Walmart together but it's the only grocery store around) is the clearance section! They have a ton of stuff on clearance all the time. I've been able to stock up on toys for Con-Man's Christmas presents and a few things for around the house.


The other day I saw they had  a bunch of office supplies on clearance and I grabbed a few of these dry erase cork boards for $3 each. And I don't know about everyone else but I could really use some organization in my life.

They're ok as they are but I thought they could use some jazzing up. I've been saving more wine corks lately and decided it was time to use some more of them. I've found that sometimes when you glue the whole cork onto something they have a tendency to pop off over time. So this time I decided to slice the corks in half and glue them on that way:

Once I had sliced up a bunch of them I glued them around the frame. I finished off the rough edge with some decorative rope trim. And in no time my wipe off board went from boring to beautiful!

And since I had bought a few of them I made one of them a chalkboard instead of a wipe off board. Just a few coats of chalkboard paint did the job:

Yay! This was an easy way to update an everyday item. Which one do you like best? How do you personalize everyday items around your home?

Linking up to The CSI Project!

Dremel Saw Max Winner!!

Thank You! Thank You! To everyone who entered the giveaway. I really appreciate your taking time to enter and visit my blog. And a huge Thank You! to Dremel for hosting this giveaway in the first place! I had a lot of fun meeting new blog friends and I hope you had a good time as well.


And now without further adieu the Winner of the Dremel Saw Max according to Random.Org is:

Drawing #7,787 PRIVATE

Dremel Saw Max Giveaway 4th drawing held by Rachelle Falcon Completed on Wednesday, 5 October 2011 at 13:33:20 UTC 95 entrants, 1 winner

Winners (1)

1st: 3

And that is Rachael who said:
Rachael said... 3
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
September 27, 2011 9:05 AM 
Congratulations Rachael! I'll be contacting you shortly about your win. 
Thank you again to everyone who entered!

Hello Indigo!

With the seasons changing, fall being in the air- It's put me in the mood to shake things up around the house. Our living room in particular. If you caught the New House Tour you saw some of these pics:

Credenza refinished- Check! Everything else..... not so much. This is partly because I've been busy doing other things and partly because I wasn't sure what direction to take this room in. In our old house green was the scheme. We've had the same green curtains, green pillows, greenish rug for about 5 years. I've since moved all the green accessories to other rooms- new house new color scheme.

To decided on how to proceed with this room I thought a lot about what colors I really like. Green is one of course, but I've always loved blue. It's been my favorite color for about forever. So why not incorporate it into the room I spend the most time in? 

Clicking around on Pinterest gave me a lot of ideas- but what I was really drawn to was deep blue; Indigo.

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I'm thinking of mixing it with other blues. Possibly lighter ones in the winter time.

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Or keep it neutral for a summery, natural look:

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Maybe punch it up with a shot of yellow:

Either way I decide to go it needs to get done quick. My walls and windows are lonely and the floor is bare. We've been in our new house over 3 months and it's about time I stop neglecting this poor room!

How do you decide on color schemes/ direction for the rooms in your home? When decorating a room do you try to do it all at once or let the room grow in style over time?