Getting ready for Christmas

This weekend we worked around the house getting it all ready for Christmas. We have lots if evergreens around so what could be better than getting fresh bows from our own lot?

I trimmed our white pines and some of our blue spruces

I went antiquing in the summer and got myself a sap bucket. I stopped and picked up a string of clear mini lights

I have an old window frame (about 100 years old) from a church which helps frame the view walking to our door. I went to the dollar store and picked up some plastic red balls

A wonderful inviting way to decorate 'our welcome into our home'

Tis The Season

Have you started thinking about the Christmas holidays yet??? I have. It is one if my most favorite times of the year. Having a 8 year old son helps with the spirit as well

I have come up with these trendy stockings for this year 

 

I used coffee bean burlap bags, cut then the shape of the stocking I wanted

I really enjoyed the different stamps on the stocking. This makes each sock unique in its own way

I had some material from my quilting days. This scrap material allowed me to add the finishing touch on each stocking

Each family can have their own colour

Now is the fun in finding the right gifts to fill them ..........

The Stool Facelift

Do you have those wooden stools around an island or countertop and need to do something new to them? 

Why not get some fun fabric (I used burlap) and fashion them up?

I took some Annie Sloan chalk pain to the body of the chairs; got some foam for the seat.

It's an easy and fun Saturday morning project. 

Awesome Burlap

Check out these wonderful burlap fabrics I found. How much fun will it be to get started on projects for these beauties!

I found this simple chair that needed some fun elements to it

Can we say boring??

If we take off the fabric (plus I like to have my behind sitting in something fresh),

paint out that wood (a punch of colour is always a great idea)

Now when placing material onto any surface you must make sure the part of the pattern you have chosen is centered

Measure the overall chair to find the centre point. Find the centre point of the fabric. I'd add 2" per edge to allow for folding over and stapling. 

Measure twice, cut once

(I've looked and there isn't any fabric stretchers out there. Lol)

Staple away. Screw the seat back in place 

Voila

Wine Bags

Check out these cute wine bags. 

How fun are these? 

Perfect for that woman who has everything and you just want to bring a unique hostess gift. 

For that rustic wedding and favours!  Making your own wine for the holidays and using them as gifts? Perfect idea

A Step Up

Here is a sweet little stool that I found at an auction. 

Solid wood. 

Fabric, not bad but needs a lift. 

Using the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint again (so fun to work with), I took off the old fabric, gave the wood a quick sand, painted it up the legs, added new fabric and here she is:

Borrowed Time

Here is one of my first projects. This was my mother in laws favorite chair. When she passed away this was the only thing my husband wanted of hers

Really, it still looks beautiful but over the years the material had cracked and it was time for some TLC. We had a dog at one point as well that thought it would be fun to chew off the front of the feet. So I had to do a little repair

So what I used were these files for the repair. So for us woman think of it as filing your nails. Work in one direction. Start off with the heavier grit. As you get the shape you want move to a lower grit. This helps with a smoother finish 

I finished it off by trying to match up the stain.Voilà  

Next I took an upholstery course. I had to make sure that this was perfect. It was such a special thing to my husband that it had to remain special. The other bonus to the course was that I was tought the tricks of the trade. 

Once I got the old material off we discovered the it was full of horse hair. This is something we wanted to keep. The 'guts' were in amazing shape that they should be left that way

When working with materials, location of the pattern is key. The new fabric I choose had a large floral print to it. I wanted to make sure that the large flower was centred on the seat but as well on the back of the chair. This step is to be considered before you cut your fabric. 

Last but not least. Staple the fabric onto your furniture. 

Voilà. 

This is such a wonderful new piece in our home. My husband is pleased and it gives the beautiful solid rocker a great facelift. 

 

Something to Tweet About

I found this cute little gem in Napanee On. There is a place that sells antiques and outside they had some items that they wanted to get rid of. Things that just didn't belong!

So I thought, 'Why not.' Great solid wood. The seating/guts are over kill with springs. I know I can do something with this. 

So I picked r' up. 

I had some really cute material at home. I looked at it and I had a vision. I'm going to pull out some of the colour in the fabric, paint it up and then my master piece will be complete. 

I took some time and sanded it down with my handy palm sander, painted her up; added my upholstery and bam!!Voilà

As my grandma would say, ' isn't that tweet'

A Great Find

Going through the small town in Bath On; I come across this consignment store with the cutest Scottish couple. I'd say they'd be close to their late 70's.

They were chatty. Just lovely

Looking around I see this cute stool that needs a little lovin'.

Why not, right?? It has some good bones. 

So I took another Saturday morning to come up with my plan. 

I sanded the legs and skirt of the base. I took off the not so pretty fabric. I decided to add more padding. Just for comfort. 

Again I used the Annie Sloan paint. Love working with this product. It's so forgiving. Quite flat when it goes on but once you get the wax finish ontop. Bam. It gives it the destressed look you want. 

Enought about that. Back to the top. Again burlap, although I did get it from the local fabric store. Why not. Looking outside of the box is where I like to look. 

voila 

As you can see I did some of my own distressing on the legs. 

So much fun. It sold in 2 weeks.

Fun morning project

So I thought one morning that I should try to clean up some items we have instead of buying, fixing up then selling. Why not right? I love following shanty-2-chic. They are creative girls who have teamed up and have come up with some fantastic ideas.

So here's what I came up with

On the left is the before picture of our stool. What I did was painted the legs with Annie Sloan paint, got some burlap from our local coffee supplier and done!!

How cute is that??

It took maybe a total of 3 hours. 

Some good bones

Speaking of good bones. Check out these bones. She is need of some lovin and something to start a conversation. 

Just to give you a sneak peak of what I'm thinking. 

Check back to see what I've come up with

Fantastic Find

So yard sales can be a wonderful way to find some really great hidden treasures. I went out and found this beauty. I have some ideas about how to transform her into something real special. 

I thought for now it will look great at the entrance of my home. It protected by an overhang so I don't need to worry about any weather

Working with great bones of something is always the foundation of any great masterpiece

To dress it up look at what I have done. How inviting. A perfect spot to sit with a book and a glass if wine