Dining room facelift

I get my inspiration for things at the strangest times. I was laying down after dinner the other night, hoping for a 10 minute snooze and was staring at our entertainment center. It is a very nice entertainment center, but ever since we had to get a new TV, it just didn't work. It looked too big, and it was made for one of those older big screens that sit right on the floor, so the new flat screen just wasn't working, for me anyway!

That was when I was suddenly no longer tired and got up to grab that tape measure. My husband reluctantly asked what I was doing, because he knew it would for sure involve him, I can not really do much yet, so he and our son get to do all the hard work!

This was the dining room before my big brain storm. It was fine, nothing fancy. Cute enough, right?? Well  picture that entertainment center on each side of the windows...

You now get this! But wait, I had more up my sleeve that includes fabric, you see I hate the windows, they are just ugly! You could see that if it were not for all the back lighting!I drew out my design and went to Wal-mart, they do have some really nice fabric. I had bought some last summer when I re-did my front porch, I knew I wanted to bring the same prints inside.  Lucky for me, they still had it in stock.

 

Sorry about the backlighting, but I can't complain about the warm sunshine, and I was too excited to wait to take pictures! I may take some this evening to see if I can get a better shot, this does not do my curtains justice! I bought the ivory sheers, only $4 for each panel, I only needed 2. Then I made the panels and the valance, they turned out exactly like I had pictured! I made a table runner to match, and then I re-covered my kitchen chairs. 

Before Tan, plain, very simple. After is below, just enough color and print!

I love how the whole room looks like it goes together, there is even room for one of my little tweety birds!

The buffet came from an estate sale last year, I don't have the before pictures , but it was a really dark wood, I cleaned it up and gave it a fresh coat of antique whit paint and then sanded the edges.  

I think now our dining room looks much more put together, the cabinet also has lights in the top. I can't even believe what a difference this made! I love the new look, and all I had to buy was fabric! Now keep in mine, we just took the entertainment center out of our living room, so what happened to that room? Stay tuned, there is more to come! Happy Saturday! 

Here are the better photos! 

 

A celebration!

My Baby turned 5 today! We started the day out for coffee at Caribou, yes, he LOVES coffee, no worries I get him decaf! Then I took him to Michaels thinking I could get off cheap an let him pick out some little candies that he could put on a cake. Then he saw the sponge bob cake pan...and said Mama will you make me this cake...I can't say no, especially when he calls me Mama. So I bought everything to make the Sponge Bob cake. Decorating it took me 2 hours, my fingers and my teeth are pink, and I think I gained 10 lbs from all the frosting I ate.

 

He was very excited about his new fish! They were a huge hit!  

He also got some new mostertrucks, parts to his hotwheels track, and his very over kids digital camera!

 

He and Nichoals ate their cake without a fork, can you tell that they started with the shoes??

Happy Birthday little Zach! 

Burlap Bunnies & 2 WINNERS!

First things first, you guys are totally awesome! Thank you all so much for your sweet comments and for liking my blog enough to become a follower! I hit 303 by the end of the day yesterday, so as I promised, we will have 2 winners! YEAH!

I have been working on a new project this week, just in time for Easter! about 10 years ago my friends mom made these really cute bunnies. I was looking at it the other day and thought, I wonder if I could make some out of burlap...So I started drawing out my pattern, and began sewing. now for those of you that have made things out of burlap, it can be kind of tricky, so it did take a few attempts, there will be no turning the ears inside out, trust me here!
Here is the gang! I had an antique cup that I put the first one in, and I am not gonna lie, I am keeping that one! Then I began looking around for other containers for theses cute little guys, I had an empty candle holder, and then I found my stash of sweet potato cans! SCORE! I knew just what i had to do to make them cute enough for the little bunnies to live in! Burlap, twine & wire! Tuck a little spanish moss inside and you are done!
Now I totally have spring fever! I plan to decorate for spring this week! These little guys will be available in my shop a little later today!

Now drum roll please......

We have 2 winners! I let my kids do the drawing, the 1st winner is:

Recycled Rita said...

I love them all but think Betsy is my favorite! Happy 100th! karen....

Congrats Karen! Please email me with your shipping info and Betsy is on her way to you!

And The bonus winner is:

Denise said...

I love George the little coo coo. How cute. Great give -away.

Congrats Denise! if you could also email me, I will have George all ready for you!

Thanks so much everyone! You really make me smile every time I see your comments!

A tweet, A Tute & A Giveaway!

It's my 100th post!!!! Wow! I am so excited! So I have been working on something special just for today. I have been working on a project inspired by Denise over at Living life Creativley, she made some of the cutest birds. So I have been working on my own little bird pattern, and sewed at least 10 before I was happy with my little birds.

It is a bit tricky to get the legs to wok just right, so some I glued to twigs to give them a more stable base ( my brilliant hubbies idea!) I also wanted to make some nests for one bird that I made and liked, but he had just a bit too much junk in his tail feathers if you know what I mean, and would not stand for nothing, so he needed a nice place to rest. Here is how I made the nest. I wanted them to look as real as possible, and since I live in northern MN, ans we have lots of snow on the ground, I couldn't exactly go out and get leaves, mud and twigs. So I stared with an old enamel wear cup that was the perfect size for my nests.

I then took a small hand full of spanish moss and molded it to fit in the cup. Leaving the middle open for the bird. Once I had a basic form, i removed it from the pot, and covered it with some super 77 spray adhesive, then used my hands to mold it together and to help it keep its shape.

Once it was dry, I added some dark and light brown spray paint to the inside and outside of the nest to help it look a bit more realistic.
Once the paint was dry I was able to add my final little details, burlap, fabric, and twine. I wanted to wrap something around the outside to give it a little more stability. But still looking very natural. I added a little more spray paint to the outside and it was done! Very natural looking, and you can make them any size you want. I have a feeling I will be making a bunch more! Well on with the giveaway! I am posting these fun little guys to my Etsy store, but I want to give my readers a chance to win one! Here is what you need to do to win! You can earn more than once chance too!

1. Become a follower if you are not already, if you already follow just leave me a comment! If I can reach 300 followers by Sunday, I am going to Giveaway 2 birds!

2. Go to my Etsy store and look at all the birds, then just leave a comment here as to which bird you would choose if you won.

3. Spread the word! Tweet, FB, or Blog about my giveaway!

You have 3 chances to get your name in the drawing! I will draw a winner on Sunday Feb. 21 and post the winner on my blog!

Thank you to all my followers and readers, you make blogging so much fun!
Good luck and thanks for stopping by!