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Weekend Project: Recovered Accent Chair

I inherited a fabulous bedroom set from my Great Grandparents after they passed away. I love love love the lines of the furniture, but the yellow-white color...not so much. I am trying my best to hold off on repainting most of it to not upset my grandmother {for now}, but the chair that came with the set needed some help asap.

It was nothing a can of gold spray paint and some cheery fabric couldn't fix. 
I would say that this tutorial is for a chair that has separate seat and back cushions.
Supplies Needed:
Chair
Spray paint {color of your choice}
Staple remover
Screwdriver
Staple Gun
Fabric {yardage depends on the size of your chair}
Trim of your choice
Hot glue gun
Approximate Time= 8 hours

Step 1:
Disassemble. If the assembly is complicated, photograph the pieces as you take them apart. I unscrewed the legs from the back and seat.

Step 2:
I went ahead and spray painted the first coat on the the legs so it could dry while I upholstered the fabric pieces.

Step 3:
My seat and back padding were in good condition, and my fabric was a neutral so I left it all on. BUT, if the fabric or padding are in poor condition, then you will need to take that apart and replace it. If not, just do what I did and use a staple gun to attach the fabric {pulling it tight so there are no wrinkles}.

Step 4:
If the paint is dry enough, apply a second coat of the spray paint.

Step 5:
I needed a trim piece to hide my staples so I found a rope type of trim and simply hot glued it into place.

Step 6: 
ASSEMBLE! Now have a seat and sip on something yummy...it is the weekend right?!

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Weekend Project: Easter Garland


I love holidays and my mom always had a way to make them feel special. It wasn't necessarily the decor that she did; it was the activities that created the memories. The only holiday I really decorate full-out for is Christmas, but I like to put up a few things for the others that can be stored easily. I had NO easter stuff that wasn't a hand-me-down from my mom's "don't want" pile so I decided to whip up a couple quick and easy garlands to hang over the baskets this year. Who wouldn't love some yellow chicks and fluffy bunny tails for Easter!?

I'm not a fru-fru person so I wanted to keep it simple with these, and although I love paper garland, I have worked with them a bit on the photoshoots I used to design the backdrops for and they were sooo difficult to manage when not hanging up....enter the pom poms and foam shapes...so much easier.

I made these while Abram was napping and when he came downstairs he quickly pointed and said, "Balls" {his favorite}, then he sat there admiring them for a few minutes and it made the little bit of effort I put into making these worth it. He is the critic/admirer I care about the most.

Supplies:

  • Pack of any color {or mixed color} pom pom balls- got mine from Hobby Lobby
  • Foam shapes- You can either make your own or buy them from a store- I got these chicks from the  dollar section of Target, but have seen them at Hobby Lobby too
  • Some type of string- I used twine because I had it laying around, but any slim string will do
  • Scissors
  • A sewing needle with a hole large enough for your string
  • Hot glue if you feel like securing the pieces in their place
Approximate time to make both: 1-3 hours
For my target chicks garland: First, I poked Holes in the shapes with the scissors. I wanted the hole small and this was the easiest way. Then, I threaded the twine through the holes and spaced them until they looked good. DONE

For my "Peter Cotton Tail" garland: I threaded my twine through the needle, sat in my favorite living room chair, and just started poking it through each pom pom until the bag was empty...it was my most "old lady" moment in awhile and I sort of loved it! Then just space as far apart as you want and DONE!

If you feel like either garland has too much piece movement {or to store later}, just put some hot glue on each piece after they are spaced to secure.

xo, Nikki

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Weekend Project: Ikea Highchair Hack

I am ALWAYS working on projects. It is kinda like a bad habit because people will come over and be like, "I thought you had a degree in Interior Design; your house is a mess!" and I am like, "Ummm...I'm pregnant, have a toddler, oh and I have this horrible habit of doing five projects at once."

Being a busy working momma I totally understand the stress of doing nothing during the week, and then assigning the projects for the weekend. I always feel so much more accomplished when I can actually complete something in a weekend so I have decided to do a new series of posts that will show the projects I have done that can be completed in one weekend or less. I will try to post projects and crafts that only take a few hours, but some may take more...but let's face it, we want to ENJOY the weekend as well.

First on the list....

This is soooo late {blah blah same song, different day}, but I never did post about Abram's highchair and I am so in love with this thing that I feel it is a must! I had gotten one of those expensive, padded highchairs when I registered and was so excited about my registry score...but then I panicked hard! It was so padded and big. It would take up so much room in my kitchen and wasn't the most attractive thing on the planet. I could not afford those stylish expensive chairs though; it just wasn't in my budget at the time. Then I started reading reviews on padded chairs and how hard they are to clean EVERY MEAL, and then saw this post and my thoughts shifted as to what the perfect high chair would be for our family.

1) Easy to clean
2) My son was a hot baby, so extra padding= extra sweating= extra fussing
3) Affordable
4) As Compact as possible
5) Not an eyesore

Enter the $25 Ikea highchair from the post. I hated the legs so the spray paint idea was genius...not my genius {hers}, but everyone gets their inspiration from somewhere. I did a test of a copper, gold, and rubbed bronze legs. All three would be amazing so take a peek at this pic, but for our eating area I chose the gold. Just tape off the ball feet and spray.

After that was finished all I had to do was decide what decal would grace the back of the chair. I am obviously NOT a monogram person because it took about 3 seconds for me to realize that Abram's initials would be the Texas A&M logo and as LSU fans there was no way that was gonna happen. So the next 2 ideas were a fork and spoon decal {hard to find the right size}, or the "eat" decal which won. I got it from this etsy site, and had her do it custom, at 6.5" wide, and you can pick from her many colors to go with your decor {I chose mint}.

We LOVE it over 9 months later. Abram has had no problem sitting in this chair. The tray can detach, but we leave it attached most of the time. Whenever he gets older we can pull it up to the table without a tray. The legs come off if we have to bring it out of town. It is light as a feather so sometimes he gets living room meals if I feel lazy {don't judge}. I just clean it off quickly after every meal with the Honest Brand cleaner we have, but since it is white I sometimes have to bleach after foods like carrot juice. And for the big messes we swiftly carry it outside and  unleash the hose. AND since it is only $25 baby #2 can have her own ;).

Supplies:
$25 Ikea Highchair
Spray paint in color of your choice
Painter's tape
Vinyl decal of your choice
Approx. Time= around 4-6 hours depending on how long you let the paint dry
xo, Nikki

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