Black Wicker Chair - before and after

For $1.00 at a garage sale, I couldn't pass up this chair.

Even if it had 5 cocoons attached to the underside.

Armed with my tools, I got to work. 

When I took all the upholstery off the bottom cushion, I found this tag. It references dates from the 1920s, but that's all I know. 

Chair: $1.00 at a garage sale

Kilz Primer: already had some

3 cans of black satin spray paint: $15

Grey fabric: $20

Hours of work: 6

Total Cost to Refurbish: $36.00 + 6 hours of work

If you're local, she's for sale for $65 on craigslist. Click here. 

Aloha,

Rebecca

Garage Sale Finds 8-24

Another successful weekend garage sale-ing!

1. vintage photo album - $1.00

2. embroidery hoops - $1.00

3. black plastic basket - $.50

4. a bunch of fabric and patterns, from a few garage sales - $6.00

5. the most adorable nail brush - $.50

6. a computer stand with room for the cord to go behind it, I'm using it for our TV in our bedroom, which I just discovered has been sitting on a brick... $.50

7. The Gospel of John in English and Hawaiian $.25

Here's some close-ups:

I also picked up this chair for $1. It had 5 old cocoons stuck to the underneath side of it.

Wait till you see what I've done to it.

Weekend total: $10.75

Not bad!

Aloha, Rebecca

Car Sales and Credenzas

Is it weird that I'm in the car dealership customer lounge and I want to ask them if I can take their credenza home and paint it?

Reality Show Friday

If my life were a reality show, this is what today's episode would look like. It's a mess in here!

Shoes on the floor... Laundry unfolded... Pillows strewn... Coffee cups everywhere... Drawers left open... And a dog doing absolutely nothing. 

Don't you like the typewriter desk being used as a computer desk? 

Could we possibly squeeze anymore chairs in this house? I counted... 6 dining chairs, 2 vintage kids rocking chairs, 2 wood accent chairs, and 4 kids table chairs, plus the 2 directors chairs outside! That's 16 chairs. Wow. 

Ivys room isn't too much of a mess. Moving on to our room. 

At least you can see carpet in here!

Our dining room is actually the cleanest spot in the house!

Last night Kit told me, "The Bible stays on the dining room table. Otherwise it won't get read." Haha I love it. 

And by the end of this post Ivy has gone from a red gnome to a pink Skipper. 

Just keepin it real!

Aloha, Rebecca

Pay It Forward - 1st 3 to comment get something from me!

Last October I commented on a Pay It Forward post over at Amy's Crafty Shenanigans. In June I received a gift from her! All the way from the UK, mind you. It's this adorable little pin cushion jar, filled with sewing goodies and washi tape. Ivy got a hold of it as soon as I opened it and was having so much fun organizing all of it. 

"Live Long. Laugh Often. Love Much."

I would love to Pay It Forward and send YOU a gift.  The first 3 people to comment on this post will receive a gift made by me. Here's what you do:

1. Comment on this post and say that you would like to be a part of a Pay it Forward!  The gift I make for you is a surprise, and will arrive to you anytime within the next 365 days.

2. If you're going to comment, you need to commit to Pay It Forward yourself. Once you receive the item from me, just post this (or something similar) on your blog so others can get involved.  You then make them something and Pay it Forward continues on and on!

3. You need to have an active blog of your own and be willing to ship internationally.

4. When commenting on this post, please be sure that I have a way to contact you so I can get your mailing address (do not leave your mailing address in the comment) so I can get your gift in the mail. 

After that, you just wait for your surprise to arrive! I'm looking forward to making you something.

Aloha, Rebecca

Garage Sale Finds 8-17-13

It's a new season here for me.

On Monday our Fall semester starts at work, which means summer is over and I more or less have a set schedule between now and December. For the first time in 8 years, I will have Saturdays off! I'll be working Mondays now (yuck), but my free Saturdays mean one thing to me: GARAGE SALES!!!!! I'm elated. Here's what I found today:

1. Urban Outfitters duvet cover and 2 standard shams. This was literally in my shopping cart at UO.com before it went out of stock! $30

2. Bamboo terry cloth fabric and some cat fabric. $4 (I talked her down).

3. Twin sheet for Ivy's bed. $2

4. 3 tins with cute spots for labels. $.50 each

5. Kitchen twine. $.25

6. Ukulele. Terrible condition. $.50. wait until I'm done with it. :)

7. Clothespins. $1.00

8. Metal clamps. 4 for $1.00. He had tons more and as I was driving away, I wish I bought all of them. Regret of the day.

If I had a garage to cater to my hoarding, I would have bought these things as well:

I'm in love with this vintage desk. It was only $50. It just was extremely heavy and I didn't like how they put those wheels with wood on the bottom. That's how I talked myself out of it. I want to go back and get it.

Garage organization/work table. -$45.

We have no room for this. One day. 

Till next weekend...

Aloha, Rebecca

DIY Felt Princess Tiara and Wand

At 2:30 a.m. my dog started barking. I got up to shush her, and an hour later, I'm still up. This has happened a few times this week now... I'm hoping it's not some new habit that's forming within Godiva, or my body's sleep pattern :( I'm hoping a little "screen time" will put me to sleep, though I'm sure the effect is counter productive. 

But, it has been a while since my last blog post, so my insomnia is a blessing in disguise. It's not like I've been busy or anything... I've just done 2 dance camps, finished out the summer dance semester and choreographed Fame. So while I work out my insomnia issues, I'll tell you about a little project that's been sitting in my archives since, oh, last December!

Ivy was invited to a birthday party, and I really wanted to give the little girl a homemade gift. So Ivy and I whipped this Tiara and Wand set out. 

Actually, we whipped out two, cause Ivy wanted one for herself.

Here's what I used:

-elastic

-felt

-bias tape

-vintage button

-ribbon

-small piece of netting

-dowel

-sewing machine

-glue gun

TIARA:

1- I made a "scrunchie-style" tube to encase the back elastic section of the tiara.

2- I cut a tiara front out of felt.

3- I threaded the elastic through the scrunchie tube and then sewed the ends of the elastic to the outer edges of the tiara.

4- I sewed the bias tape along the bottom edge of the felt, and used it to cover up the edges of the elastic/scrunchie tube.

5- Use the glue gun to decorate with ribbon and a button!

WAND:

1- I wrapped the dowel in ribbon, using the glue gun to secure it along the way.

2- I cut out 1 felt star and a felt circle (it's the yellow felt behind it).

3- I sewed long strands of ribbon and a piece of netting to the center of the star  (the button is covering the stitch)

4- Glue gun the felt pieces to the dowel, and to each other.

5- I chose to stitch two sides of the star to the circle, through the netting, just to make it more secure.

And that my friends, is what we did. 

My eyes are heavy now, so thank you. Here's to sweet dreams of princesses with their tiara's and wands. :)

Aloha, Rebecca