Upholstered Headboard

We've been working on a small project with a very small budget.  Mind you, we're really not the decorate-on-a dime kinda people.  Those decorating shows that teach you how to make a volleyball net out of the plastic canholders?  Or ottoman out of empty Coke bottles?  No thanks.    However, there are ways to make your house look nice on a budget, and having a colorful, pretty headboard for your bed is one of them.  It's really pretty when you choose a striking fabric that's colorful and fun.  The headboards cost about $500-600 to make, and usually you can have a good local, upholsterer make it for you.

If you are looking for headboard models, here are some good ones from Budi.    You can go to the site and download a tearsheet (you can order from them too, but it's kinda expensive).

Bring this to your favorite upholsterer along with your favorite fabric and voila...

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Tale of a Kitchen Make-Over...Part Two!

 

Remember a few months ago when I promised to show you photos of my sister Wendy's kitchen makeover?
Well, I drove three and a half hours for the reveal (and to be served the most elegant lunch in her new kitchen), only to realize I forgot my camera! Lucky for both of us, she has a good friend with a great camera and photography skills who snapped a few so I/we could share.

You might remember the before photo I showed you:

 

Well, here is one of the after shots:

Isn't is so fresh and pretty? My sister has an unfailing eye for putting together what the rest of us might think won't work. I always liken her style to that of an artist's; because don't they always have the most fantastic spaces? Sometimes more daring, but always edited with a knowing vision.

She and her hard-working (and handy!) husband did this make-over on a conservative budget and stretched their dollars as well as Wendy's design muscles.

It involved mostly paint, new counter-tops, HARD labour, one new appliance (an over-the-range micro-wave), and a new faucet.

And a whole LOT of style!!!

Small details can mean so much:

The new kitchen faucet is from ATG Stores.com  (which I love for its one stop shopping when doing home renovation!) for her review, and you can read about it here. She is still on the hunt for her dream sink but was happy to find that a thorough buffing to her current sink was all that was needed to make it shine again. Another savings!!!

Head on over to Wendy's blog and check out all of the other photos and details of this make-over. Be sure to say hi and check out all of her other renovations at  The House She Calls Home

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Unique house

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Pumpkins and Spice...

What a busy Halloween!

For some reason I was taken over by some crazy drive to pull everything out of my Halloween bag of tricks like some kind of superwoman. Not sure where that came from or what I was "possessed" by!

This is what I took on as my way to celebrate:

1. Craft time with the girls in my family:

2. Caramel Apples: using Werther's Originals and Honey Crisp apples...yum!

3. White Chocolate Ghosts for Sophie's Halloween party: (it was supposed to be treat-free, but when her teacher told the class that, Sophie piped up that I already had all the ingredients and would be "disappointed" if I couldn't send them in. Lucky me!

4. Craft time with some of Sophie's friends (too busy to take many photos!):

We made little Halloween trees with paint and glitter!

Annual Pumpkin Carving Party:

We had my spicy chili, rolls, delicious chicken soup and apple crumble pie made by one friend, and this decadent chocolate cake made by another friend:

 And the annual stoop shot, posing with their pumpkins:

 And last but not least, Halloween itself!!

Busy, but happy...

Happy Halloween!!!

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Free Lighting...made by me!

 This year, I resolved to make many of my gifts - at least the ones I could - and this gift is my favourite yet!

My sister recently did a make-over on her kitchen and eating area but decided to wait until she found the perfect light. I know what kind of lighting she likes, so I decided I would plan a way to make or buy her what she wanted. 

 While on a walk with a friend recently, we were discussing lighting and she told me she had seen an HGTV (I think) feature on how to make your own sphere-style light. She told me it involved a beach ball, some glue and heavy string. Well, she lighted a fire under me and I vowed to make one for my sister. It took me several weeks to finally gather all of my supplies and take the time to make it but it is now complete! Remembering her brief instructions, I used an exercise ball (one I had used when in labour with Sophie), some sisal twine and fabric stiffener.

 I purchased the twine at the Dollar Store and had some fabric stiffener kicking around. So, for less than five dollars I made a replica of this beauty from here (retailing for ~ $160!):

 I also used a light kit I had from one of those paper lanterns, so the cost to me was literally next to nothing! I do wish I had bothered to Google the instructions, though, as I found out later on you should run the sisal through a dish of glue or stiffener as you wrap it around the ball. I didn't do that so I slathered the stiffener all over the ball and hung it up to dry for ~ 36 hrs. Mine isn't perfect, but I think it is pretty good for the price!

I will also assure her she doesn''t have to hang it in her kitchen if it isn't what she had in mind, but I think it will still make a fun light for another area in her home. 

Because I love my sister and LOVE making/buying her things!

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A Tiny Party...

 Sophie turns ten this Friday but we celebrated early and threw a party for her and her friends. The theme? All things tiny, which together added up to BIG fun!

The invitations: 

I topped a little gift box from the charms I collect for my Chamilia bracelet and topped them with a pretty scrapbook paper, filled the inside with some pink glitter and this tiny message:

A tiny party      

for sophie

on december one,

proving small is all

you need to have

a lot of fun!

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1:30 – 3:00 pm

It was so much fun to think outside of the box and imagine tiny interpretations of typical birthday decorations, games and fare:

 Clockwise from center photo:

A tiny birthday cake from the grocery store with a miniature flag bunting made from scrapbook paper; playing the memory game and writing their answers; cake pops and mini ice-cream sandwiches; teeny tiny breakfast food made from...; cheerios/doughnuts, white candy wafers and mini M&Ms/fried eggs, stick gum/bacon, cinnamon toast crunch cereal/toast; memory game items: tiny items from around the house to be memorized and recounted later; the girls; table is set; tiny canvases from the Dollar store awaiting soon to be tiny painted masterpieces.

**(miniature breakfast idea found here)**

These cake pops gave me grief. I followed the directions exactly, but lo and behold if your cake is very moist, you need to really cut back on the amount of icing added. I found the how-to here. 

I truly am not a gifted baker...

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Holiday Mantel...

Lo and behold, I got some Christmas decorating done! I conquered my mantel, which can sometimes be a challenge with  its large scale/depth, and I hung my holiday "subway" sign, a gift from Matthew Mead for my holiday photo shoot. You can order one like it (it also comes in red) here on his website. I also picked up some glittery stags to flank it on the wall. 

Who knew I'd ever have a deer's head on the wall? Hah!

Happy decorating! 

I am off to do more and will be back to share it all soon!

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