Trial and Error

You know how you can imagine something in your minds eye but then when you actually turn your idea into reality sometimes things just don't turn out as you expected?  I have had this happen to me MANY times.  And one thing that really frustrates me is having to go back to the beginning and starting all over again.

I find that this is especially true when it comes to all the faux wall/ceiling/floor treatments out there.  Having learned the hard way, I now usually find an old board and create a sample before I apply this technique to a large area.  So, for my woman cave, I am planning on trying out the paper bag flooring technique I saw on

 Lovely Crafty Home

Don't these stairs look amazing?  Well, in Rachael's instructions, she warns of having a light hand when applying the stain.  Whenever I hear instructions like, "be sure to use a light hand," I worry.  This tells me that finesse is required and if I am rushed or stressed....yes, you guessed it....I'll be ripping things out and starting all over again.

I also saw online where people did not stain their bags and that they were very happy with the result.  This would eliminate a step and there is no longer a " light hand" needed.  But I really like the darker look.  Think, think, think.

Okay, so went out to look for water based polyurethane that has stain mixed in.  No luck...bummer!  Plan B, what can I add to my glue/water mix to tint it?  I begin throwing ideas out to my husband, the engineer.  Could I mix in stain....he says that an oil based stain won't mix with my glue emulsion.  Okay, how about I brew some tea and then mix it in.  His response, " if there is any nutritional value, we will have bugs eating our floor".  Okay, final idea, What if I add RIT dye....he say, "could work"!

So, I first mix 1 4oz bottle of elmers glue all with 1/4 cup water and 1 tsp of RIT liquid dye.  It looks purple, not brown!

Okay, deep breath.  The bottle said brown so I am going to keep on going.  I also mixed a second batch of 4 oz glue plus 1/4 cup water (I am going to do a sample of non-dyed paper bag treatment as well).  Out comes the board and time to apply the paper.

Here's the non-dyed sample...will need to dry overnight

Here's the dyed half.  Still looks purple but we'll let it dry overnight and see what morning brings

You will NEVER guess what happened overnight.  The dyed half went from purple to brown!  It's amazing.  Take a look!

The dyed half

The half with just glue/water

Side by side comparison

Okay, now it's time to add some polyurethane to get a better feel for how this will look in the end.  I decided to just put on two coats.  I placed the board on the ground and took a picture...keep your fingers crossed!

You can see where the glue was left on a bit heavier but I'm thinking I like the dye/glue mix.  I may add a bit more dye to my mix as well.

As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  I hate waiting for a project to be done but when it comes to faux finishes, I swear by sample boards!

4you

Recap of Week 3 of the 5 Weeks of Kindness

source

Well guys, I've been so busy with my chair project along with getting my woman cave/craft area together, I haven't done anything majorly "kind" this week.  Knowing I'd be busy, I decided to make this a week of little things.  For example, you can't do much with just one penny, right?   Wrong!!  What if everyone in the world (approximately 7 billion people) donated just one penny?  This modest penny would add up to 70 million dollars!  This modest penny could do some amazing things!  So, little things do add up. So here's what I did this week.

1.  Whenever I went through the checkout, I made sure I smiled at the cashier and greeted them by name (they always have a name tag on).  I then made sure to wish them a wonderful day when I left.

2.  For every comment I received on my blog, I replied back (I realize I am starting out so I don't have tons of comments but everyone's support and feedback is greatly appreciated).

3.  Whenever I visited someone's link on a "link party", I left a comment to let them know I enjoyed their posting.

4.  I made sure to thank my husband and son profusely for all their support in my woman cave transformation.

Now, for the most important, I want to thank YOU for all your wonderful support!  I'm so amazed by the generosity I've encountered in the blogging world!

4you

Blogging Tips #1

Well, it's a crazy weather day here in Ohio.  I don't think mother nature knows what season it is!  Today it is 35 degrees F and it is spitting snow.  We have only had one snow this year with any accumulation and only about a week of really cold weather.  This is very odd.

Anyway, my focus is still working on my woman cave/craft area.  I am making progress, believe it or not.  My husband is finishing up the wiring this weekend.  I am hoping to plaster holes and paint.  I've chosen my colors but it's a surprise!  You'll see soon enough!

The two big projects that I have completed are my

Decoupaged Desk

And my Reupholstered Chair

Since it's a wonderful Saturday where I will be busy painting and such, I thought I'd share a couple of links with you that have great blogging tips.  I'm new at blogging and so I greatly appreciate any assistance I can get.

This first link is one I found when I linked up to a wonderful linking party.  The blog is .http://stardust-decorstyle.blogspot.com and the specific post is

Useful Links and Tips for Bloggers

The second source of information is from a blog I follow, http://blissfulanddomestic.blogspot.com.  Danielle had a whole series full of information on how to set up your blog and make it your own.  Check out these links!

How to Create Your Own Banner

How to Revamp Your Tab Section

Just saw this post from another blog I follow, http://romanceonadime.com.  These items don't affect me, I'm way too new to the blogging world. Perhaps this may be of interest to all of you who are more wordly or "blogly" then me.

Alternatives to Picnik and Google Friends Connect

I really need to sit down and revamp my blog so it is not so "off the shelf" and more my own.  It's on my to do list.  So, while I'm painting, and hustling to finish my room, take a look at theses two sites and see if they have anything that will make your weekend special!

4you

The Chair Makeover - Part 3

Okay, I've been busy with my first ever upholstery project.  Here's the newly transformed chair!

But do you remember how it looked before the transformation?  Ugh!

I did it!  I feel like I have can do anything now! :)  It's been a really fun learning experience!  Click here to see how I took the chair apart.  Then, if you want to see about painting the fabric, you can click here.  Here is how I put the chair back together!

Remember, this is how the chair looked when it was all taken apart.

Next, I plugged the holes in the back of my chair where the buttons had gone through.  I also cut out batting to fill in where it the chair needed additional padding.

I then turned the chair around and stapled the batting to the upper back of the chair.

I forgot to take a picture but I placed the fabric pieces that cover the seat and the bottom of the chair and stapled the fabric to the bottom of the chair.

Turning the chair so that the front is facing forward, I placed the back piece of fabric on the back and attempted to slide the bottom portion between the lower back and the seat to the chair (there is a slit here).  

See the slit?  I stapled the fabric to the chair.

UGH...how messy is this???   So I unstapled the fabric.  I then decided to  baste some pleats in the bottom portion of this piece of fabric to make things look a bit more uniform.

Much better.  Then I turned the chair around and stapled the top edge of this fabric piece to the chair.  I then took one arm fabric piece and slid one side in the area between the seat and the bottom of arm.  The other side I pulled over and stapled onto the outside of the chair arm.

Next I put the buttons onto the back of the chair.  When the chair was pink, there were 13 covered buttons. I decided to use just 5 brown shank-style buttons.  I first used an upholstery needle and poked it through the old hole from the back of the chair.

I then thread the button onto the needle in the front of the chair.

I then pushed the needle back through the chair to the back.  I also pushed the needle through a wad of batting.

I tied the two ends of the thread together tightly and then pulled both tightly and stapled them to the chair frame.

I then put the fabric on the lower outside arm/side of the chair. 

You are looking at the arm of the chair from the outside.  The side piece of fabric is draped over the arm right side down and stapled directly under the arm (the brown strip creates a straight crease).  Then the fabric is folded down and secured on the underside of the chair.

The upper side is next.

I had some leftover pieces from the other chair that were used to secure the fabric in this location.

The only area still exposed is the back.  You need to cut a piece of muslin to stretch over the exposed back of the chair.  Then cut a piece of batting the size to cover this area and staple it to the back of the chair.

Then, like the lower sides of the chair, drape your back fabric, right side down, and staple the top of this fabric to the back of the chair (use the brown paper tape).

Then pull the fabric down and staple to the bottom of the chair.  The last step is to staple a piece of fabric over the exposed bottom of the chair.

I also recovered the chair cushion.

Hopefully I took enough pictures throughout this process so you feel you can do this as well!  I attempted to take a lot of pictures throughout each stage, but remember that each piece of furniture will have its own "set of rules".

The supplies I needed to complete the re-assembly of the chair include:

1.  Staple Gun.  Look for one for women. I used the "EasyShot" that I purchased from Home Depot. It is very light weight and rather than squeezing the handle to staple, you push down like you would a regular stapler.  I felt this would be better so that my hand would not become so fatigued.

2.  Upholstery needle. They are very long and you will need one if you are attaching buttons so that you get through all the layers of batting and fabric.

3.  Once again, if you are attaching buttons, you will need some very heavy duty thread.  I purchased some waxed upholstery thread.

4.  Some upholstery paper tape.  This is attached to ensure a nice straight fold when stapling an area where your fabric folds on itself.

5.  Batting to fill in areas where the old batting has fallen apart

6.  Muslin or some other light weight cheap fabric if you need to replace any area where your chair had thin fabric that you could not salvage, like the bottom of your chair.

7.  Some good sharp scissors.

I believe that is all the supplies I used.

I learned a lot.  I think I just may do this again!  Are you up to trying to update an upholstered piece of furniture?

4you

Get Your Crap Together Party #5 Decisions Decisions

Well, I'm still working on getting my woman cave/craft area together!  I'm sweating bullets that I won't get it done by Jan 31....but I am making progress!  To recap, I am participating in two challenges.  I found this one first.

I then decided to join this other challenge, as if one is not enough!  But I thought why not try to kill two birds with one stone!  

My challenge has been that I am not only trying to organize my space, but I have decided to renovate it as well (new floor, adding outlets, changing lighting, painting walls & ceilings).  My poor husband.  He has gotten dragged into this project and he is one busy man.  Being small business owners, our life gets crazy and I have just made it even crazier.  My husband is a very patient and wonderful man.  I am so blessed to have him as a partner. 

My big decision , which I always think is the hardest, is selecting paint.  The color scheme for the room is brown & turquoise.  But now the walls.  I am thinking brown and I purchased some "sample sized" paint in two different colors.  I painted both colors on the wall and then draped my four fabrics on a ladder to try to get a feel for how each will look.  Take a peek.

This is so hard.  I think I am leaning toward either the lighter of the two or perhaps going even darker...yes, picking up a third color to choose from.  Or should I get a very light turquoise?  What do you think?

4you

How to Fold a Paper Grocery Sack for Storage

I realize in this day and age that many of us are bringing our own bags to the grocery store rather than using the store provided plastic or paper bags.  Now be honest, how many of you own reusable shopping bags but find yourself using them as a general tote more than a shopping bag?  My problem is I have a lot of those bags and I bring them inside with my groceries but forget to return them to my car!  So....you guessed it, I get to the store and end up using some of their bags!  I definitely have to work on this.

When this does occur, I like to get paper whenever possible. Why, you ask?  Well, I feel that paper bags have more secondary uses:  wrapping paper, paper mache, and recycling sorting to name a few.  The problem with paper bags is they are fairly large when the lie flat and if you fold them, they tend to flop around.   When I met my husband, he had a very quick and easy solution to this problem!  Here's how he does it.

Okay, here's my grocery sack.  You first fold it back down like it was at the store before it was opened up to be used for your groceries.

Next you will fold your bottom section.  There is a natural crease there already (you can see it in my first picture...it goes through "right store")  Your bag should look like this one below.

You then fold the top "flap" over the bottom portion that your folded up previously.  Use the edge of the bottom of the bag as your guide.

 

 I am only holding down the corner of the bag so hopefully you can better see how I made the  first two folds.

Next, you will open up the top flap so that you will be able to tuck the bottom corner into this flap.

Tuck in one corner

Now the other corner

Press down and your bag should look like this!  A small self contained package!

Don't they stack nicely?

 

Look how nicely they lay on the shelf!

 Pretty sweet...and EASY! 

4you