Ah HA! Moment...

Nothing like 10 hours in a car to give you an idea... Since we have been traveling I have not been putting a ton of effort into my hair do's... Plus its INSANELY humid here in SC and there is pretty much no point, my hair just goes flat.

Okay- so you know those Goody stretchy elastic headbands? The ones that keep your hair out of your face? (they sell them at Target) the ones if you wear them all day give you a headache? Well with the humidity I've resorted to using them... alot.... Yesterday on our way back from Savannah (day trip) I was thinking "there has to be a way to make this cute"... but there are several problems with this idea

- you can't sew on it- otherwise it won't be stretchy anymore
- you can't slip cover it- if it's not "sticky" it won't stay in place
- you can't glue anything to it- it won't stretch...

hmmm... then AH HA! I figured it out! And I'm so excited!

I made one tonight and it worked! When I get back I'll share a tutorial with you for it- but it's SUPER simple! I just don't have all my stuff here in S.C. to explain it all...I think I'm going to make a few more to help me get through the hazy hot humid days of summer....

sorry for the terrible picture... my hair is not orange (at least I think it's not ...)

Chillin' in Charleston

Somehow 3 trips in one month didn't seem like alot when I was planning them... but now I'm thinking I was nuts!
So here we are in Charleston... chillin' out for the week- I brought my sewing machine with me, we'll see if it gets used, I had a great idea today in the car.
Hope y'all are having an awesome summer! It's moving way to fast!

Make an upholstered headboard

We have a guest room in our basement. I'm so excited because this is the first time we've had one. When we finished the basement last summer, we just bought a mattress and threw it in there and that was about it... no decorating just utilitarian. Now it's time to get the room pulled together- most of what I have used in there is just taken from other rooms or saved. (I save way too much- it drives my husband crazy!)

I wanted an upholstered headboard for that room, but could not find one that I liked for the price I was willing to pay. With my parents coming to stay for awhile, I decided it was time to get a headboard in there.
Here is how we built ours--- just a note: this might not be the "right" way to do this but it's the way I figured out to do it...

Also- in the photo below do you see build out above the bed? Well it was not intentional.. the heater is on the other side of that wall and there are pipes behind it... When the builders framed it out I kind of went "ugh... what am I going to do about that bump out?".... After staring at it for a while, I decided it would make a great focal point for the bed...so our builder framed it out to make it larger (the width of a queen size bed)and run an electrical wire in there to add lights.

I LOVE the way it turned out and thought it was a clever way to make use of an unwanted ceiling drop.

(the bedding is from Target and Restoration Hardware)

Okay here is what you need to build your headboard:

1 piece of foam- I used 4" foam... You can get it at Joann's... just wait because it goes 50% off alot... The foam was the most expensive part. For a queen size bed you will want a piece 62x24. They cut it to size for you. If you cut your own use an electric knife.

2 yards of fabric. (or 70")Go with an upholstery weight. It's easier to work with and a heavier fabric will help hide flaws. You need to railroad the fabric ... so make sure it is a print that does not matter if it is used horizontally or vertically. I found mine in the remnant bin at my local fabric store.

4 mending bars- get them at lowes- with screws

1 piece of MDF (1/2")cut to the same size as the foam.... Now don't worry if you don't have a table saw- Lowes will cut it for you for FREE! You have to buy a bigger piece of MDF than you need- I am going to use the extra to build shelves in the garage.

1 8ft Oak 2x4.. I went with oak because it is a strong wood- and I don't want it to break with the weight of the MDF.

Quilt Batting.

Staple Gun & Staples

Screws-

Okay to start... lay down the quilt batting, put foam on top.Put the MDF piece on top of the foam.Begin stapling... pull the batting taught (don't over tighten) Put one staple in each side...Then working out from the centers, staple a few staples at a time and move to another side. (do NOT staple one side at a time).When you get to the corners, pull the extra up into a triangle... staple the batting as close to the corners as possible.Fold corner over- like you would do when you make a bed. Staple in place. Trim excess batting.

Lay main fabric out on the floor... Pull fabric over the foam and staple in place like you did with the batting. You will want 2 rows of staples to keep it secure. Trim excess.

At this point if you want to you can cover the back with a piece of canvas to make it look nicer- I didn't care so I just left it- no one will see it because it's against the wall.Measure the distance from the floor to the top of the bed. Cut the 2x4 to make the legs (you will have 2).

Screw 2 of the mending plates in to each leg.Measure in 2" from the side and screw the plates into the headboard. (you will need longer screws to go through the fabric/batting) Enjoy! (oh I need to move that picture higher by an inch!"

Messing around

Hey, just messing around for a bit today with the blog template,

Excuse the mess please :-)

A quick story to share...

I am HOME! And have a million little projects I want to get done around the house before my parents come. (they are cool... they don't care if they are done, but it gives me a good excuse). We are off to see Harry Potter today then hit Lowe's for supplies.. so I should have some good stuff to share the next few days.

In the mean time, I thought I'd share this funny story about my daughter:

Kari, like many kids her age (which is almost 14 augh!) texts all the time. I was wise enough to upgrade to unlimited texts on our cell plan to save any overages...and not to stress everytime she sends a text.

Anyway- one day last month, she was texting her cousin Brooke about some plans they were making together, when suddenly says "I need to call Grandma!"... Then proceeds to frantically look around house for a phone! (with her cell phone in her hand!)

I say to her "Kari, you can make telephone calls on your cell phone!"... she gets this astonished look on her face and goes "oh, yeah I forgot!"...

I thought it was soo funny... I guess she thinks that the phone is just a texting device- -- it's not all so bad- she doesn't use up all the family's shared minutes

On a somber note...

I got home and was checking in on my "blog list" and read that Stacey of The Thrifty Chick passed away suddenly. I only knew her through kind comments exchanged our blogs. She was so inspiring and creative. She leaves 4 children, the youngest was only 14 days old.

My prayers are with her young family at this time. If anyone hears of something being organized to help her family please let me know.

Time for some R&R

I'm with a dear friend visiting San Diego this week... We are off to see the site and get some well deserved R&R...
Feel free to ask any questions you have about the diaper bag. I'll make sure I get them all answered.

New Diaper Bag Tutorial

I have my 2nd project up at Moda Bake Shop! It's a diaper bag made from 1 charm pack (pad of pre-cut 5" squares) and 1 Layer cake (10" pre-cut squares) and that's it!

go check out the tutorial.


*edited to add.... hi... I feel terrible that I have to add this... but this skirt tutorial is provided for your own FOR FUN at home use ONLY, please do NOT take this and make or sell a pattern of it. I just saw today that someone took my patchwork skirt tutorial and is selling a pattern of it... not cool.. I want to keep putting this stuff up for free and to share, but only if everyone can play nice!****

Around the house... taking off a closet door.

Because of the location of my daughters closet the closet door had to open IN to her closet. This closed off one whole wall of her closet for storage. Plus it's a walk in closet and she is not the best with keeping it clean so half the time you could not even open the door.
So I took off the door. Another project my husband wasn't thrilled with. Sometimes I wonder if he thinks I'm crazy becuase of all the hair brained ideas I have.

Anyway- I hung pink drapes (bought already made) on a rod that was mounted inside the closet on a rod... then used drapery rings to the curtains would slide. Now she thinks it's a dressing room... Then on the wall that was freed up by removing the door, I added hooks... now she has a spot for her backpacks, jackets etc...

Sorry I know the pictures aren't the greatest, I couldn't get a good angle to take the pictures.

Happy 4th & Messing around...

I've been messing around with the schedule posts option in blogger... I thought it would schedule posts to go up while I was away, but it didn't work :-)

So I hit publish today on a few posts... so if you read this only in google reader or bloglines they may not have shown up, you may have to click on my blog to see them.

I've been gone to Utah for 10 days to visit family and came back with my head full of ideas. I'll have another tutorial up this week along with a few other ideas...

Hope you are having a FAB summer!

Around the house... instead of a frame.

So I really can't take credit for this one. My original plan was to tie some ribbon around the medallion and down to the painting. It was just a plan as the medallion was hung up months ago with nothing attached.... I went in my daughters room one day and my oldest daughter and hung this here.... Very clever! I like the words hung over it instead of the ribbon! My sister in law painted this for my youngest daughter, and I love it! It sits right above her play stove.

Around the house... Closet Organizing Idea

2 weekends ago I told my teenage daughter to clean out her closet. She made her "attempt" but it was still a disaster...So I went in an took EVERYTHING out of her closet... and I mean everything and threw it on a pile on her floor (such a good Mom huh?!?)...oh the things that were in there... gross!!!!!!!!!!!

I did stay and help her get the closet started. As I was hanging stuff up I realized that we had done this several times but it always ended up a mess in the end.

This time I decided to try some labels to help her keep stuff in the right place. I just used office tags, ribbon and a sharpie, nothing fancy.... I got the closet "laid out" then she went and filled it up. It worked pretty well. We'll see if it lasts... I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Around the house.... working with pre-made drapery

I can make drapes, this is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I save a bunch of $ vs having someone come and make them... and a curse because since I know I can make them, I won't buy them... thus most of the windows in my house still sit undressed....


I found these drapes on clearance... they matched my daughters bedding.. but I wanted a little more "umph".... All I did was glue (using wonder under iron on tape) pompom trim on them... I then added some drapery tape (I think that is what it is called) over the pompom trim. Super simple, no sewing required and I think it helped tie the green drapes into the pink walls.

Whole window (it's hard to get a photo of it...backlight and all)