Saturday, February 26, 2011

My Valentine gift from my Sweetie

For Valentine's day Mr C built me a bench I have been pining over (no pun intended cos it's made of pine)...well maybe intended...a little. I saw a bench on Ana White's blog that was a pretty little simple bench. Rustic if I finish it that way. You can see Ana's blog here and the instructions to boot! It was a sweet surprise when I came home from a long 12 hour shift at the hospital to a cutie-pie bench made with love :) hee hee!


Photo borrowed from Ana's Website

I am trying to 'fumble' my way through distressing it...I have primed, painted it Martha Stewart Sea Glass, sanded it to distress it and just now, put a coat of white on top of that. I read in blog land how to glaze with craft paint so I am gonna try that next. Call it my trial and error paint project...

Any tips (and I mean any) would be graciously appreciated! Hope you are liking the slow and steady progress of the mudroom! It's really coming along :) The bench will be going in there :) We have painted the walls now and put in a new door bell. Just anxiously awaiting the arrival of out new screen door :) Mr. C is going to put up board and batten too...he loves the look and of course, so do I!!!

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Part 2: Mudroom update

Bonjour! The mudroom is in progress as we speak and looking good! Mr Cupcake has been busy as a bee putting up dry wall, taping and mudding. It looks like a real room...a new build room sort of! Complete with drywall dust. Cough cough.

Here are some progress shots:



Notice the sad sad sad screen door? Yeah, well it is missing glass, weather proofing and is dented and dirty. Soo we have picked out a new door! Here she is! We wanted one that has some degree of privacy with the low panel and I think I will put a tie shade on it as well at some point. What do you think?







We had to self level the floor...what a job! Went well though. We have tile to put down and Mr C has made me a rustic style bench to put in there too! (more on that in a future post)

We have been looking at light fixtures and have some bright possibilities...I need some inspiration for this part tho. Here is one I like:


I can see the light at the end of the mudroom...

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Vestibule Mudroom Reno Part 1

What the world is a vestibule? Ok, call it a mudroom.
Vestibule: a passage, hall, or antechamber between the outer door and the interior parts of a house or building.

One of the things we loved about this house was the little mudroom (vestibule) from the front storm door leading to the real front door into the house. It is a cute little space (well it had potential and I could smell it)...it is 4 1/2' x 4 1/2'...so not a huge space by any means. Mr. C decided yesterday looked like a good day to start the demo process.

I have been looking at inspiration pictures for over a year and here are some of my favorites! I was a bad bad blogger and did not make the references way back when, so for that I am sorry. I give credit to whomever these belong to because they certainly are not my genius!








(pottery barn)

The top one is my favorite followed by the third image. I have so many great ideas swirling!



This screen doors days are numbered. We have a gift certificate to buy a new one!! Its all picked out! cannot wait! I need ideas and inspiration for a mailbox and a motion light of some sort. House number ideas as well...





All that is left now is the studs and insulate. Its an empty box! Let the rebuild begin!
Have a fantastic day and stay tuned for Part 2.

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Sunday, February 6, 2011

How pretty!

Did I share that my sweet hubby bought me a beautiful cabinet to be refinished?
I had to share, even if it is a craptastic iPhone pic! I cant wait for the completed makeover!



What do you think? Isn't she beautiful?????


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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Simple pillow cover tutorial



Bored and feeling unproductive, I took an hour tonight to make a cover for pillow form that was well, naked. I am going to try to do a super quick tutorial so you can make one yourself if you wish! My friend Rebecca at Painting the Roses White asked me long ago if I was going to do a tutorial after I posted this pretty little cover last summer. So, it's a little late, but here is a mini tutorial!

Supplies:
sewing machine
1 yard of fabric (I did not use it all for this size)
straight pins
measure tape or quilters ruler
Rotary cutter (or scissors)
Self healing cutting mat (not necessary is not using rotary cutter)


The pillow form I had was a 16x16" so here is how I measured and cut the fabric! The same principles apply regardless of the form size.

1) My form was 16"x16" So for the FRONT of the pillow cover, add 1" for seam allowance around all sides. Cut your fabric to 17"x17". Again, this will be the FRONT of the pillow.



2) For the back side measurement, you are going to add 4" to the WIDTH of the front size. This new measurement for the BACK now becomes 17"(h)x 21"(w). This additional 4" is for the extra fabric you need to make an envelope fold to slip the pillow form into.

3) Next, cut your BACK piece {measuring 17"(h)x 21'(w)} exactly in half to make the two pieces that will 'flap', making the opening slit for the pillow. So, I cut my back fabric at 10 1/2" at the center point of the fabric.

4) Now, take the front piece and place it PATTERN SIDE facing up at you. Then, place the two half pieces pattern facing down on top of that. They will overlap in the center, making the opening for your pillow form. Ultimately, the pretty pattern sides are touching now. Make sure your edges line up quite well.

5) Once you check that the edges on all four sides match up, take one of the BACK pieces and iron the inside edge (in the middle of the pillow) at 1/4" and then over again on itself again. Press press press! Then pin the fold before sewing with a simple straight stitch to secure. Repeat this on the other BACK piece.



6) Now you place the back pieces pretty side down on top of the front piece (that is pretty side up) and pin all around the edges (see my picture below-this is the overlapping flap the pillow goes in)



7) Now sew with a straight stitch at 1/4' all the way around the pillow! I cut the corners off (without cutting the threads!) to make for a nice crisp corner. Turned her right side out and stuffed my pillow form inside!

Oh man, I just reread that and I DO NOT claim to be a good tutorial-ist! SO terrible. If you have any questions, lemme know. In retrospect, next time I am going to add an inch to the measurements to make the cover a bit more loose. This one was too tight for my liking. I like it to look more relaxed. But it looks great on my guest bed in the Dolly Room!

Love and Light,

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