No-Sew Seat Cushions

       

       A few months ago, we ordered a bistro set for the deck from Amazon, but we ordered the table and the chairs from separate sellers to get the best price.  The chairs arrived in timely fashion, but a few short days after ordering the table, I received an email saying that the table was sold out.  I eventually found the table from another seller....or so I thought.  I ordered the table, but to my surprise it arrived much smaller than I imagined.  That's because I didn't clearly read what I ordered.  The table that I ended up ordering was a matching coffee table to the bistro set ~ oops!  Soooooo, I had to return the small table and begin my search all over again.  After a two month wait,  I eventually settled on a table from Target.  I say all of that to say this ~ the table and chairs have arrived and are on the deck, which means I got to make cushions for the chairs last week!  Here's how I spent my afternoon this past Wednesday :)

I bought two of these foam cushions for $2.99 a piece at Hobby Lobby.

I already had the ribbon, but I bought one yard of outdoor fabric at JoAnn's for $9.00 after the 40% discount.  I also bought one packet of heat-n-bond for $1.99. 



After measuring and cutting two pieces of fabric to fit the foam padding, I applied the heat-n- bond to the backside edge of one of my pieces of fabric.



I placed the second piece of fabric directly on top of the first piece of fabric backside up, and then I apply the heat to the heat-n-bond.  I repeated this process for three of the four sides.

Once the heat-n-bond was applied to three of the sides, I turned the fabric outside-in.  On the fourth side, I created a hem on the top and bottom pieces of fabric using the heat-n-bond

I stuffed the foam in the fabric and cut four small holes in the edges of the fabric (left, right, top and bottom).  Then, I tied ribbon to the fabric using the holes.

 I hot glued the two hem lines together to seal the fourth side of the fabric shut.

The finished project......

.....fits perfectly!

I secured it to the chair by tying the ribbon to the chair.

This project was less than $20 ~ Love it!

The cushions definitely make the bistro set look better! 

And of course, we broke in the new table and chairs by having dinner on the deck.


Tilapia, shrimp scampi and peas....yummo ;)

This week I'll be linking up at The Thrify Home (http://www.thethriftyhome.com/2011/05/88th-penny-pinching-party.html) and all of the other link parties on my link page.

Placemats or Napkins?

   

        A few weeks ago, I ordered some fabric from fabric.com.  I LOVE fabric.com.  They have a fantastic selection of quality fabric for a fraction of the retail price.  I ordered fabric for a few throw pillows, some napkins for the dining room table and some fabric to redo my Craigslist dining room chairs.  Without measuring (not the smartest thing to do), I ordered one yard of this fabric thinking that it would be enough for eight napkins.  When the fabric arrived, I was really happy with the purchase.  The look and feel of the fabric was great, but when I divided the fabric into eight pieces, I realized that my little project was not going turn into eight standard sized napkins.  There was nothing I could do about the incorrect amount of fabric that I ordered.  I just had to work with what I had.  You know what they say though ~ when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 

Here's how I made my unintentional placemats/napkins.



First, I ripped the fabric into eight even pieces.



Then, I heated up the iron and brought out my secret weapon ~ heat-n-bond.   If you've read my blog, you probably know that I do a lot of no-sew projects, because I have yet to invest in a sewing machine.  For the little bit of sewing that I do, the inexpensive no-sew adhesives work great! 

Once the iron was hot, I folded the fabric 1/2 in. on all sides and applied the heat-n-bond.

When I was finished, this was the result.  The lack of measuring appropriately gave me eight perfectly sized placemats.....

........but it also gave me eight beautifully folded napkins.

placemats or napkins?

For now, I think I'll stick with the napkins, but it's nice to know I have options :)

A Growing Blog, A Great Find and A New Hair Color

Hello there dear readers!  I hope you all are having a fantabulous weekend!  This post is coming to you a little bit later than I intended it to.  I started writing this last night, but I got sidetracked and didn't finish it before going to bed.  I don't have much for you today, just a little bit of news from my Friday. So without any further ado, here are three pieces of Friday news.

Number One - A Growing Blog

 I've made a few positive changes to my blog this week.  My blog has been growing, so I added some pages to it.  I still need to add a "reading list" page and a "travel" page, and the pages that are already there need a little bit of tweaking.   We'll see if I get around to making those adjustments this week or not.  

Number 2 - A Great Find

While I didn't plan to go to any garage sales this week, this morning I found my car quickly turning off of the intended road of travel and onto a road that displayed a big bright garage sale sign.  I'm thankful I made the quick detour, because I ended up with a great find!  I've seen this lamp and curtain before, and if you're a Target lover like I am, you may have seen it too.  If that is true of you, then you also know this lamp and curtain cost a lot more than $7.50 at Target :)

This sign says it all.   I have a few changes to make to the lamp, and I think the curtains will become pillows.....



.....but for $7.50, what a steal!



Number 3 ~ A New Hair Color

  What was supposed to be one long relaxing "girl" day has turned into appointments here and there.  Eventually I will accomplish everything on my list: hair cut, hair color, eyebrows waxed, mani and pedi.....I'm just not sure when it will all get done.  I had an appointment to get my hair trimmed a few weeks ago at D:fine Salon, but I didn't have time to do all of my other "beautifying" things that day.  Last week, I was only able to fit a pedicure into my schedule.  This weekend, I made a point to get my hair darkened.   While I do only let Steve, my hair dresser from D:fine, cut my hair (he is really good, and ever since he started cutting my hair, I won't let anyone else take a pair of scissors to my long hair), I am usually pretty spontaneous about hair color.  That's one reason I love beauty schools ~ most of them take walk-ins.  Beauty schools are also inexpensive, and hair color is just that ~ it's color that can easily be fixed, if by some chance you don't like the way your hair turned out.

I got my hair darkened, because that is the way Matt likes it best.  It was dark when he first met me, and he says it makes my green eyes look very pretty.  He's so sweet :)

So which beauty school did I go to for my hair color ~ Aveda.  When I lived on the South side, I used to go to a beauty school on Southport Road.  I would get my hair cut and colored for less than $25; however, that school has changed over the years, and I wouldn't recommend anymore.  When I moved  \to the North side, I discovered an Aveda beauty school at the Castleton mall.  I'm sure many of you have heard of Aveda salons.  They are great salons, and I love that thier products are natural!  The Aveda beauty school is more expensive than other beauty schools that I have gone to, but the overall experience is so much better.  I still walk away paying a fraction of what I would pay in an actual Aveda salon, and it's definitely classier than other beauty schools I've gone to.  Another reason I love Aveda is because they give you a complementary hand and arm massage (if you are just getting a cut and not a color, you get a mini facial too), but the best part about Aveda is the blue room.  Oh my word, I love the blue room!  The blue room is where one gets the most relaxing hair wash they'll ever experience!  There's no talking in the room, the lights are dimmed and relaxing music is playing.  While laying on a table, you lay your head back into  the sink, and you get a scalp massage while getting your hair washed.  It's so relaxing!  While I am a fan of beauty schools, if you decide to go to one, expect it to take awhile.  They are students, and they take their time while an instructor checks all of their work.   I actually like that it takes a long time, because it gives me an excuse to catch up on some reading;)



At the end of the day, I'm happy with the color, and so is the hubs :)



It's A Goodwill Good Deal ~ Ugly $10 Picture Turned Into Cute Memo Board

I needed something to go on this wall, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I was looking for a large mirror or a frame that I could do something crafty with.




I bought this hideous picture at Goodwill for $10.  Although it isn't very attractive now, the frame had great potential and was the perfect shape for a memo board project I wanted to create.



First, I had to take the canvas painting off the front of the picture.  Then, I took the frame and board apart.

  (Ignore Chloe.  She wouldn't move out of the way.  She is always so curious when I do a project.)

Next, I set the frame aside and covered the board with batting.

For the next step, I needed enough fabric to cover the board and plenty of flat thumb tacks.

I covered the board in fabric, pulled the fabric tight, and secured the fabric to the back of the board with thumb tacks.

This is what the front of the board looked like after the board was covered in fabric.  I got my fabric on sale, and spent about $3 for one yard of fabric.

Then, I secured ribbon to the front of the board with thumb tacks.  I used a coupon for the ribbon, and I spent a little over $1 after the coupon.

Lastly, I hot glued fabric brad tops to the flat thumb tacks on the front of the board.  I found these on sale in the scrapbooking section of JoAnn's.  I had to buy two packs, and I spent $4 for both packs.

The finished project :)

Notice something on the table......

...... I had leftover fabric from the memo board, so I attached some to the burlap runner on my table.



I really like the way the runner turned out....especially since I didn't plan to do it :)  The board and the runner cost less $20, and you know I love that!



Mod Podge Monogram

 Last week, I did a super easy decoupage project with a cardboard monogram. 

Supplies needed: cardboard  monogram, one piece of scrabook paper, pencil or pen, paint, mod podge

Remember my $.25 paper from South Side Shopping Day.  Well, I finally got to use it for this project.

I bougt this cardboard monogram at JoAnn Fabric.  I can't remember the exact price, but it was less than $3.

Having done several decoupage projects in the past, I usually always have mod podge on hand.

Directions:

1.  trace the cardboard monogram onto a piece of scrapbook paper two times

2.  cut out the letters

3.  paint all of the edges of the cardboard monogram (both inside and outside)

3.  once the paint is dry, mod podge one side of the card board

4. firmly place one of the paper letters to the cardboard

5. continue by mod podging the entire paper letter

6. let dry and repeat steps 4-6 to the back side of the cardboard

7. mod podge all the painted edges of the cardboard and let dry

Before



After

       I'm loving the finished project!  Ignore the empty planter....that's just another project that I still have to complete.  This project was easy and inexpensive.  The entire project cost me around $3 since I already had mod podge and paint.  Even if I had to by those two supplies, this project is easily less than $10.  Over all, I'd say my $3 was well spent:)





It's A Goodwill Good Deal ~ $5.99 Lamps Get A Makeover

  
  

I bought two lamps at Goodwill for $5.99 each several weeks ago.  By now, you all know I love my Goodwill good deals.  I knew I was going to use the lamps in them family room, but I wasn't sure how I was going to "transform" them into lamps that would match the decor in the family room.    Well, the lamps have been sitting in the basement with the many other projects I need to complete for awhile, but last week I picked up my hot glue gun and went to work on these lamps with materials that I already had in the house.  I didn't take any pictures of this project while I was working on it, because I wasn't really sure what I was doing or how it was going to turn out.  This was one of those "just wing it" projects.  I'm not sure that these lamps will stay this way, because I'm not convinced that I'm in love with them yet.  However, I didn't spend any money on the supplies, so if I change these lamps up in the near future, it's no biggie.  Anyway, below are the steps I took to transform these lamp shades. 

1.  spray painted the base of the lamp
2.  traced one side of the lamp shade onto cardstock to make a pattern
3.  cut the pattern out and traced it onto 4 sheets of scrapbook paper
4.  cut the four pieces of scrapbook paper out and hot glued them to the lamp shade
5.  hot glued thin black ribbon around the edges of the lamp shade
6.  hot glued thick decorative ribbon to the top and bottom of the lamp shade

BEFORE

AFTER

Monogram Pillow Case

  
          If you've been around the blogosphere very long, you've seen several versions of monogrammed pillows.  I've been wanting to make one for awhile, and when I ordered this chair from Overstock, I knew that the pillow would look great with the chair.  I didn't take any pictures as I was working on this project, because I made this pillow the same way I made the Napkins Turned Into No-sew Pillow Cases.
           First, I bought two napkins at Burlington for $1 each.  Then, I made a stencil from cardstock.  Next, I used black fabric paint and a sponge paint brush to stencil the "A" on the pillow.  Once the paint was dry, I used no-sew glue and a zipper to form the pillow case.  Lastly, I stuffed the pillow case with a pillow that came with the purchase of our sectional and wasn't being used.
          This is the finished project.  I spent $2 on the napkins, $2 on the zipper and $2 on the fabric paint.  Since I already had the no-sew glue, card stock and pillow, this project only cost me $6.

Farmer's Market and Quality Time

I love a great farmer's market!  I love the freshness of the whole experience. Although he farmer's market is better mid to late summer, because the selection of the produce is better, I still love opening day at the market.  It's a sign of the beginning of summer, and I love that!  Matt and I had actually planned to go down town this morning to City Market, and then grab some lunch on Mass Ave.  Plans quickly changed when we discovered that opening day at the down town farmer's market isn't until next week.   Instead of going down town, we went to opening day at our local farmer's market ~ Saxony Farmer's Market. 

It's the beginning of the season, and there wasn't a great selection of fresh produce.  Although it was slim pickins, we managed to find some great looking corn on the cob and tomatoes.  Can't wait to grill out for the first time this year!

The farmer's market always has several different vendors from the community.  We enjoyed a raspberry-lemon scone from the Bakery at Geist vendor. Yum:-)

After the farmer's market, we took a short drive to Hamilton Town Center for some lunch and shopping.  It turned out to be a beautiful morning for some outdoor shopping.  I love this mall especially in the warmer months.  I also love that it's so close to home:)

Matt decided he was in the mood for Noodles and Company.  He ordered from the Asian menu, and enjoyed the Japanese pan noodles .....

....while I stuck with the American menu and enjoyed the hamburger mac & cheese,

~ although you can't tell I'm enjoying it, because this picture is awful.  Matt really needs to tell me when he's taking a picture:) ~

After a week apart, taking a Saturday off of work was just what the doctor ordered.  It's not very often we both have a Saturday off of work.  In fact, it rarely ever happens, because I'm committed to working Saturdays unless I specifically ask off in advance.   I'm so glad I requested today off, because an enjoyable morning of quality time was exactly what we needed.  By early afternoon, we were back home where a walk in the neighborhood, an afternoon nap and a lazy evening on the couch awaited us.  What a great way to spend our Saturday!