Kitchen Step Stool Redo

I was so excited when I found this vintage kitchen step stool in mint condition, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it!It turned out exactly like I wanted and it was easy too. If you would like to redo a stool like this there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Make sure the stool is in good working shape, I’ve seen a lot of these stools covered in rust.
• Look to see how the pieces are attached, if they are riveted on you won’t be able to take them off to recover them.
• Get a good quality vinyl to recover the piece. I used glitter vinyl with a stretchy backing, it makes the vinyl easier to stretch and there is no fear of tearing it.

My stool was easy to recover, the back rest was attached with screws and was easy to remove, cover, and put back on. The seat was a little more complicated, there were metal tabs that were bent over holes in the bottom, the most challenging part was getting the seat back on, the vinyl I used was a bit thicker than the original.
I used spray adhesive to attach the vinyl on the back rest and tacky glue for the seat.There were a lot of curves that I needed to stretch around, using a ton of clips helped me work out all of the wrinkles. I let it dry overnight with the clips, did a final trim down and put it back onto the stool.
The chevron skirt is hot glued onto the bottom edge. Originally I had tried to install it under the seat, but there was too much bulk to get the seat reattached.
My kitchen is finally coming together, I really need to finish that giant silverware :D
Have a super crafty weekend!!!

Dealing with the Visual Clutter of the Craft Room

I love my craft room! there is so much inspiration tacked up on the walls and so many little do-dads stashed everywhere. There is a lot going on in there and I continue to add to the collection, while I LOVE all of that stuff it can be a bit overwhelming.As you can see, the craft room is right inside of my front door, so everyone who comes over sees my crafty mess first thing. Now I know that my clutter is not shocking to anyone who comes over, but that doesn’t mean that I want them to see it the minute they come in the door. The doors are also not in the best of shape, there are several panes of glass missing, the doorknob is gone and there is some weird burnt/melted looking part on the top right door and there is a “trick” to shut them. New french doors are on the list, but they aren’t a huge priority. I made some lined fabric panels for the inside of the doors using some of the Project Runway fabric I bought forever ago. It’s sooooooo dramatically different! I like it so much I’m going to make another set of curtains for the dining room side of the doors, I happen to have some more of the lovely fabric I used for the giant dry erase calendar. The added bonus is that I can now go into the craft room, shut the door, and be out of sight, out of mind from the kids.
After shelves, I think covering things with curtains is going to be my favorite way to fix things, oh I might even start covering my shelves with curtains! I can think of a few more things that would be greatly improved by covering them with curtains and I do have a good stash of fabric.

Command Center, Round 3

I have a confession, I have been having a shoe problem, it seems as if there are shoes everywhere and when it’s time to leave the house, matching shoes are nowhere to be found. We had a shoe rack in our hallway and all it really accomplished was blocking the path with piles of shoes thrown in the general direction of the rack, ugh! Bonus, it was also across from the coat hooks, so add backpacks and jackets to the pile blocking the hall (sorry, no pictures, it was really just too embarrassing).
When the Bed, Bath, and Beyond catalog arrived I saw this wonderful cabinet and when I checked to measurements I knew I HAD to have it. My local store was out, but I was able to order it and have it delivered to my door free (honestly, it was much easier that way). There are several different accessories that divide the cubes, I purchased 3 fabric drawers (Little Sir, Little Miss, and Little Man each get a drawer for shoes), 3 shelves and trays (to store mail and misc. stuff), and 5 cross frames(for the adult shoes) to make this the perfect unit for us.The cabinet and frames are easy to assemble and everything fit together perfectly. I put it all together and slid it into place. I love how it looks, it is just the perfect size and it looks awesome with the calendar. I haven’t even filled it up yet or organized the organizer (LOL), but I just had to share. I would also add, that for a piece of particle board furniture, it is really a lot nicer and sturdier than I expected. And just for fun, here is the evolution of the command center, slowly working its way from cluttered and busy to tidy[er] and functional. 
Up next, my solution for the visual clutter of the craft room…

Fabric Memories

I found the journal cover I made using Teesha Moore styled fabric pillows. It’s been almost two years since I finished the cover and there is no journal inside. I love the fabrics I used and all the stitched textures. I really want to make these into something I use, so I took my cover apart.
I saw these beautiful photo books and binders that PhizzyChic made over on Craftster and I think that is more the route I need to go. I will need more pillows, so I dug through my stash and found a good selection to work with.
I’m not a scrapbooker, but I got to thinking about all the memories I have in fabric and so I thought I would share some of them.Here are the new pillows that need to be stitched: 1. One of the first dresses I ever made (it was awful, wonky buttons, poor pressing, loose threads), 2. Little Miss’s toy sack, 3. Little Sir’s toy sack, 4. an apron, a top, and several other projects, this is a personal favorite of mine, 5. the sewing machine cover, 6. Little Miss’s bassinette, 7. One of my first hand dyed fabrics, and 8. I love this fabric, have made two different tops from it.   Here are the ones I finished two years ago: 1. Little Sir’s curtains, 2. Little Miss’s curtains, 3. apron for Little Miss, 4. Little Man’s car seat cover, swaddlers, and boppy cover, 5. Sketchbook cover lining, 6. Reconned caften fabric, and 7. another personal favorite fabric. These are the pillows I was working on while we waited for Little Man’s arrival. I was even working on them in the hospital.
What kind of crafty memories do you have? I think I might need a swatch scrapbook! Have a super crafty weekend!!!

Monogrammed Chore Charts

We have been wanting to start using chore charts for a while and since this is spring break week and we will all have plenty of time to get used to our new responsibilities I whipped these up.
I found these half sized, masonite clip boards at the dollar tree ($3) they take paint wonderfully! I lucked into the 6” stencils while I was thrifting last week for $1.75 (I never pass up stencils and these were unopened). The paint and cosmetic sponge I had on had.
I spent 5 minutes stenciling one letter on the back of each clipboard and spent another 10 making custom chore charts using a word program (but there are plenty available for free). I will be hanging these in the kitchen using command hooks with the simple letters showing. I think it will look nice and I won’t have to look at the visually cluttered charts.
I WILL get organized, one little project at a time!

Wookies for Everyone!!!

Well at least for my three kids. I fell in love with this Chewbacca stuffie pattern from Draw Pilgrim and have been wanting to make one for each of the littles. I used three different fabrics to make each wookie a little different, that way we all know which is which. There are all nicely cut out and ready to be sewn up this weekend.Do you remember that fairy tale about the poor cobbler who would cut out leather for shoes at night and find it sewn up in the morning? They discovered elves were sewing the shoes…I need some of those elves to visit me! I would make them some fabulous clothes if I could get them to sew up all my projects for a month!
I have been busy with other things too, we were lucky enough to rescue 2 vintage wood desks from the dump and there was a flurry of cleaning to make room for them in the much cluttered basement. They are huge and wonderful and luckily there was a 1/2 inch of clearance to get them in the door and down the stairs. I can’t wait to finish cleaning and arranging the basement, it’s going to be awesome.
Have a super crafty weekend

Craft Paint Storage

I have a lot of craft paint, and puffy paint, and now even inks. All those little bottles are hard to keep track of and it seems like they are everywhere in the craft room. To help corral everything into one place I bought these revolving storage bins from Harbor Freight Tools ($19.99).

Image from Harbor Freight Tools

The two bottom trays each have three dividers, so I can sort my paints out into primary and secondary colors. The top two bins have six dividers each, perfect for puffy paints, inks, and sprays (I have fewer of them and they are in smaller bottles). I can’t wait to get all my paints and inks put away!
Before you rush out to get yours, remember that it comes unassembled. It took me over an hour to put it together and I am pretty experienced assembling stuff. Every divider (there are 18) has 4 bolts, 4 washers, and 4 nuts that have to be put together. Getting all the dividers in was a little tricky, that’s a lot of parts that have to match up!
I also need to do some more tidying in the basement to make room for two giant wooden desks that my Mother rescued for us (they were going to haul them to the dump, who does that?) What are you plans for the weekend?
Have a super crafty weekend!