before & after

I'm sure this isn't going to be nearly as thrilling to you as it is to me, but ...




So. Much. Better. We can actually close our closet doors now! Hallelujah. I was on a super roll, which lead to clearing out our coat closet and tearing apart the spare room, too. Bascially organizing is my middle name.

project in progress

At any given moment, I've got a couple dozen projects floating around in my head. Surprised? I didn't think so. There's one popular concept all over blogs I love, and I've been dying to try it: gallery walls.

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I love the idea of a collection to represent our family. I'd like to update it over time to include school photos, artwork from our kid(s), and old or new family photos. For example, in the first edition of our gallery wall, I'd like to include J-mans hand and foot prints.

So I'm keeping my eyes peeled for unique frames and small art pieces to build a collection for our hallway. I also don't want to spend a bundle, so I've been scoping out Value Village and Frenchy's. Any idea where else I could look for stuff like this?

getting my craft on

Oh, how I missed crafting! As of late, my projects are more of the baby-food-making, diaper-changing, wheels-on-the-bus-singing variety. This project has sparked my creativity though, and I have a feeling that this little blog is going to be seeing much more crafty action.

This wreath is not going to end up on my front door like I had originally planned — it's not exactly weather-proof and it doesn't coordinate with our red door. But I must admit, this is one of my favourite projects to date, and probably the cheapest.

It all started with this wreath for $1.99 from Value Village.

I decided to cover it with yarn. Seemed silly to buy anymore supplies when I've got all kinds of stuff in all kinds of crafty totes and drawers. I picked the chunkiest yarn I had, and it was dark grey.

It took a while to wind it around and around the wreath. I cut long lengths of yarn and did it in small sections, hot gluing the ends until it was totally covered.

Then it was time to embellish my fuzzy little wreath. First, I ripped strips of fabric.

I twisted and wound the fabric into tight spirals, using hot glue on the back to keep everything in place, to create these little fleurs.

Wait for it ... Ta da!

I love the yellow and grey! Now I just need to find a place for it in my house. My first attempt at fabric flowers turned out better than I evert would've expected. I'm going to be slapping these babies on projects of all sorts ... oh, the possibilities!

before and after

Thanks again to everyone who voted for their favourite fabric. I'm happy to (finally) share the results of the like a hamster on a wheel 2nd birthday chair makeover!

First, a quick refresher.

Fixing up this chair was one of my first blog projects. I picked this chair up on Kijiji. Well, here's the actual story. I emailed the seller and sent Husband to pick up his chair. If I had been there, we wouldn't have bought it. The metal piping had rust on it and the bottoms of the legs were sharp and unfinished. I had asked about these things when I corresponded with the seller and was told it was in perfect shape. Boo for dishonesty.

Regardless, I ended up with this chair for our office. I used cotton batten and a green and ivory stripped knit to cover it, used steel wool to buff the rust off (seriously, it worked like magic), and bought little rubber feet protectors to finish the bottoms of the legs.

I was pretty happy with the end result:

Nearly two years later though, and it's starting to look a little ratty. We use this chair as a spare at our kitchen table when we have company, so it also has a few little stains on it. Time for a re-do. I put it to a vote, and here's what you chose:

There aren't any specific how-to directions. I simply unscrewed the seat, folded the new fabric over and staple-gunned the edges around. I did the same thing with the back — wrapped the fabric and placed a few staples in the under side, where they aren't visible, to hold it in place. The trick is to wrap it nice and tight so the sides stay in place, too. Then I used my glue gun and ran a thin line of hot glue down the sides of the back of the chair, under the fabric, to keep it from shifting out of place. It was super easy — chair covered and photographed in one nap time!

Purty.

What do you think?

happy ayyam-i-ha!

We're celebrating Ayyam-i-ha in our home this weekend, so I thought I'd share some of my DIY decorations.

To all of you marking this special weekend, Happy Ayyam-i-ha from us to you!

the next chapter

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Like a Hamster on a Wheel blogiversary poll!

Soon this:

Will have a spiffy new look:

full circle

To celebrate my blog's second birthday today, I thought I'd go back to where it all began two years ago ...

This chair:

I picked this simple chair up on Kijiji and made it my first blog DIY project. Here's how it turned out:

Now, two years later, the fabric is getting a little dingy and tired. Time for a re-do! That's where you come in. I need your help deciding which fabric to use. Here are your choices:

Fabric #1: A soft, flannel cross between a plaid and houndstooth.

Fabric #2: A smooth cotton with a bit of stretch.

Fabric #3: Unfortunately, the flash doesn't do this sample justice. A soft, light blue/grey colour with a subtle ribbed texture.

Fabric #4: A heavy beige cotton with white floral pattern.

Please take a minute to vote in the poll located in the right-hand navigation ——>

I can't believe it's been two years! Thanks so much for reading!

it's beginning to look a lot like ...

CHRISTMAS!

I have a rule that I don't decorate for Christmas until after my birthday. Well, yesterday was my birthday and I decorated yesterday. Close enough.

I was flipping through the Michaels flyer and discovered a coupon dated for my birthday only! Fate? Yes. 30% off everything, including sale items!

That means, for just over $5, I picked up some of these shiny berries ($0.47 each) ...

And added them to a pre-made fir wreath ($3.25) ... TA DAAA ...

I also broke out lots of my favourite decorations. As lovely friend A pointed it, it now looks like Christmas threw up in my house ...

diy fall wreath

Oh fall, how I missed you. The changing colour of the leaves and the crisp feel in the air makes me so happy.

I really intended to do this project a long time ago. But I kept forgetting that the camera was packed in the hospital bag in the trunk and Husband would drive away to work and I would be left with no way to capture the photographic evidence of my latest seasonal project. Then Baby Jacob arrived and monopolized my time for a few weeks, but we're slowly working on a routine that allows me some mommy time for my cooking and crafting pursuits.

I picked up a plain wreath at Michaels for $2 on clearance. I wasn't sure what to do with it until I spotted these paper flowers on sale at Wicker Emporium.

I started by cutting the blooms from the stems and experimented on how I could arrange them around the wreath.

With a little hot glue, my plain wreath wasn't so plain anymore.

But I'm trying to decide if it seems a little too dull. I dug through my craft supplies but didn't find anything that coordinated. What do you think? Add a bow? A ribbon?

finally finished

Here's the last piece of the nursery puzzle.

We started with a hand-me-down, dusty rose, swivel armchair. But once we found out that our bambino is a boy, I knew I wanted to cover it to something more boy-ish.

Oddly enough, after searching high and low in stores and online, I couldn't find a slipcover to fit. So I got the closest thing I could find –

It needed to be nipped and tucked from all angles — sides, seat, arms and length. The bottom portion went smoothly, but removing the wings from the wing back was a lot easier said than done.

Halfway through, I actually considered leaving the chair pink, but my Mum convinced me that having a cover to protect the upholstery from baby barf would be a blessing. True. So, here's the finished product.

And now his room is complete. Did you hear that Baby B? Your room is ready for you! You can come out any time ... seriously. Any time!

i heart fall

I love fall, and even though the humidex was still reading 35C+ until Hurrican Earl swept through this weekend, I'm ready to start celebrating September.

Our red front door is bare and a wreath would be the perfect element to add a little fall flair. Since I'm on a mat leave budget, I want to make one myself using mostly supplies I already have on hand.

I Googled a bit of inspiration ...

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I'd also like to try something with a unique shape, like square or rectangle.

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So after digging through my craft stash, I decided that the bulk of my best fall-ish materials are in my fabric supply. So maybe some layered fabric flowers like these, but with Earth-tone fabrics?

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I've got my crafty thinking cap on. How do you decorate for fall?