An Eccentric Burlap Chair Makeover

How was your weekend, friends?  Ours was good!  Husband was away, so there was a sleepover with a friend and her little one, a couple late nights and naps to make up for them, and spontaneous crafting revolving around my kitchen table chairs...

Back story: Fabric dining chairs are not for kids--or dogs.  So it wasn't long before I was embarrassed to even have guests sit at the table since on any day, there could be a stain, two or three waiting for them as they pulled out their chair.  Eww, right?  And the upholstery cleaner attachment--I'm still looking for that.  Regardless, the tan fabric covering the chairs had to go.

Much to my surprise and and excitement the seats screwed right off.

The set had been covered a couple times already, and since I didn't have the tools, and let's be honest--the time, I decided to cover the cushions right on top of the other fabric.

Insert fabric:

Collected burlap sacks. 

 Husband found one sack in the attic and the other two came from firewood

bundles on a camping trip.  I knew I could make use of them!

What's that I hear you say?  Yes, it is still "tan," but it's way more awesome!

Stapling six chairs will give you some serious wrist cramps, but the payoff is fantastic!

I've just decided to lay towels over the chairs when my sloppy kids sit in them.

A practical solution for what are impractical chairs for this little family.

Who wants to place bets on how long it takes for one to be completely ruined? 

I'm trying not to think about that.

Join me for dinner?

Time: 2 hours

Re-upholstery Cost: $0.00! 

Slowly but surely this place is coming together.

Good grief.

Now...if only this set was black...

xx, Cassie

a weekend recipe project

I need to turn this:

into this:

and the rest of this business:

into this:

and its needed to be done for far too long.

There are two recipe templates that I'm using that I found through House of 3.

I downloaded the template,

made them the size that I needed and chose my own colors

of cardstock.  And, if I ever need any more, I don't have to worry about not finding the same cards!

Hooray for downloads!

I also cut the dividers out of chip board and stamped on the words appetizers, breads and so on.

It's a very fun project if you are in need of recipe collection rehab.

Are you working on any projects this weekend?

xo, Cassie

a winter {penguin} baby shower

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to host a baby shower for my sister-in-law who is due in less than a month.  Since, it's not every day that I host a party, and never had I hosted any sort of shower, I was thrilled to seek inspiration and bring to life such a party for this lovely lady.  

Since it is January, and the weather is forecasting snow all over the map, I had to capitalize on the season. 

But of course, with snow, there should be penguins!

Penguins, penguins, penguins!

ice blocks and flurries of fake snow centered the table,

with decorative penguins

and edible penguins scattered about.

Husband made these little guys.

Aren't they sweet? And him, too?

He complained when I asked him to clean the bathroom,

but jumped on making edible penguins.

He can't resist a session of creativity.

There were chocolate and vanilla cupcakes topped with fluffy cream cheese frosting

and plenty of snowflake sugar cookies, too.

This black stemware was a must,

and I have my Mom's best friend to thank.

Now, if I could only get myself a set of 12 or 18!

I'm becoming my mother...but black is SO versatile!

The candles added to the winter ambiance.

I had such a fun time making this banner.  I just loved making the tiny snowflakes and the wee little 

paper-pieced penguin in the center.

It was inspired by one of Brooklynn's children's books.

The papa penguin on the mantle is my new favorite winter friend.  I eyed him at the store for at least a couple months, and finally snatched him up for $11.99.  Unfortunately, he only had two arms for about a day.  The kids were after him like a new puppy.

I hung glistening snowflakes from the light fixture above the table

to add to the snowy theme.

When I saw these pails, I had to have them for the shower.

I searched high and low for 22 of these white Target pails.

I had three people purchase them for me, and even had help from a friend in Arizona!

Filling them was the tricky party, but I finally settled on hot cocoa and marshmallows and a couple chocolaty treats.

We played a few games, including this

icebreaker game...

I think I made a few dumb jokes about the ladies preparing to get fast and furious,

and they didn't know what to make of me.  But by the end, an icebreaker it was.

We played the 'Dirty Diaper Game'

and the 'Name that 'Baby' Song game,' where you name the song and the artist of the song with 'baby' in the title.  Oldies are perfect for livening up the group. Ice, Ice, Baby, and Hit Me Baby One More Time are sure to spur a sing-along.

And of course, we showered the honoree with plenty of gifts and love.

It was a lovely afternoon and plenty fun to host!

Maybe in another post, I'll tell you all the things I learned not to do when preparing for the big day.

xx

a festive felt garland

In years past, I felt my tree was missing a layer.  It's needed more love, more texture, and a better garland.  I just knew when I saw this idea in Do it Yourself magazine, that I had found my Christmas tree's perfect match.  Unfortunately, the magazine vanished and has not been seen in weeks.  Very depressing.  However, I did find this sweet little blog's diy circle garland post, and found the circle template to be very helpful. 

I used two sheets of each five colors of felt.  If you make a garland, put on a movie, and/or break it into a couple of days, because it does take some time.  What is great, is that I was able to create 20 yards of felt Christmas tree garland for four dollars.  You can't beat it, and the intrinsic value of a craft complete and looking pretty, makes me smile.

Merry decorating!