This chair has been in my family for over 100 years.

It originally belonged to my great-great-grandmother who emigrated from Germany to New York. The chair was eventually passed down to my grandmother and now to me. Growing up, my grandparents lived with us and I remember this chair sitting in my grandmother’s room.

 She had the chair recovered in the floral fabric you see here, very early 90s.

 

To update the chair a bit I knew I needed new fabric. I bought two yards of upholstery fabric.

First I cut the current fabric to get it off the cushion. My intent was to take out all of the staples using pliers. That worked for some staples but many were rusted and stuck so I ended up tearing the fabric (which was much quicker).

 

Then I inspected the cushion and batting. I honestly expected it to be in better condition but after being in storage who knows what kind of water damage it may have gone through.

 

 

This meant I needed to buy a new cushion and batting. After I cut it to fit all I had to do was position the fabric and staple it in place.

 

 

At first I wanted to paint or stain the wood but I knew someone would kill me if I didn’t keep the original wood on this antique. It just needed a good cleaning and polish!

 

How to Reuse your Pie Stand as Home Decor

Since it’s the day after Thanksgiving, it’s officially Christmastime. After my baby shower I was left with three pie stands. If you’re wondering how you can use your pie stand year round to decorate your home rather than let it collect dust or take up storage space: here’s how you can reuse your pie stand as a centerpiece.

1.      Choose a color scheme for your centerpiece

2.       Buy candles of different heights and colors within your color scheme

3.       Assemble your candles

4.       Allow the scents to permeate your home (we are enjoying a mix of pine and cinnamon)

 

 

One Sewing Hack You Need to Know

I don’t know about you, but in our family we keep sentimental t-shirts for way too long. I’m talking about dance recital t-shirts from when I was 7 years old, or my husband’s football t-shirts from high school. The t-shirts I used for these nursery projects were especially important because we used t-shirts that belonged to my husband’s late mother. Since his room is space themed and my husband’s mother worked at The Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL, we knew they would be a perfect fit for his nursery.

My mom took the time to make the quilt for me while she waited for my son’s arrival. To try this on your own you will need t-shirts, border fabric, and quilt batting.

So the one sewing hack you need to know is….. buy a used bed mat for quilt batting! We paid $4 for a nice, full sized bed mat from a thrift store. Not only will you save money, you can get a good quality bed mat to make a comfy quilt (better than a lot of quilt batting).

 

 

 First, we cut the design out of the t-shirts we wanted for the front and back of the quilt.

 

 

Depending on how large you want your quilt or how many shirts you have the size of your quilt may vary. Then, we cut the bed mat to fit in between each t-shirt. We used a basting stich to keep the pieces together.

 

We did the same thing with the border pieces (2 yards for the front fabric and 2 yards for the back fabric, however depending on the size of your quilt and how thick you want your border pieces you may need more or less fabric).

 

Space themed fabric for the front of the quilt, bed mat, blue fabric for the back of the quilt.

 

We sewed one panel at a time (t-shirt, border, t-shirt, border, t-shirt).

 

 

Then we added a border in between each panel and around the perimeter.

 

 

The last steps are to stich the edges and take out the basting stiches.

She also made a special bear for him using a pattern. The aqua fabric is a pajama t-shirt my husband’s mother wore and the striped fabric are the pajama shorts. While you get your winter gear out of the attic, take a look at your old t-shirts and create something new for your home!

 

Grams with Wesley III

 

 

 Space boy

 

-=

Growth Ruler

Somehow, I ran out of room in my son’s nursery for everything I wanted to put in there. Then I realized this would be a great opportunity to dress up our otherwise empty hallway. Also, this will be a good spot for all of our kids to check their height because it’s in a common area.

 

For this project I used a 7 foot tall by 5 inches wide piece of common board.

I printed the numbers 1-6 to indicate feet and traced them onto the wood.

 

 

I used a paint pen to create the numbers.

Then, I traced the inch, quarter inch, half inch, and three-quarter inch marks.

 

The paint pen was too thick for the inch marks so I used a small paint brush and black paint.

At first I was going to seal the wood with polyurethane, but I decided against it. I thought it might be difficult to use a pen or pencil to write the growth if it was sealed.

 

 

Growth rulers are easy to make and a great way to get your kids involved in the project. Be on the lookout for a kid-friendly DIY Party after the new year where we will be making growth rulers. Don’t have kids? Make them as a gift for friend, family member, or teacher!