My Good Housekeeping Seal

So, when I got married my Grandpa got me a subscription to Good Housekeeping. At first I thought that he was trying to make me into the good stay-at-home-mom/wife and I just wasn't ready for that. But then I started to read the magazine. Turns out - I love it! Its a good one! Anyway, there's a section in the magazine where celebrities answer the question "What I did to earn the Good Housekeeping seal". Most of them say they cooked up a good meal for their entire family on Thanksgiving day with only 2 eggs and flour. Or some say they picked up all 4 of their kids from their different activities in 10 minutes. Well, this is what I did to earn the Good Housekeeping seal...

I did my first very crafty thing and reupholstered the cedar hutch. My Mom got this when she turned 16. So, its been around a while. Its a good, sturdy, and really heavy cedar chest. (And it smells like cedar! So good!) Well, here are the BEFORE pics.

I don't know if you really get the gravity of the print. One more here:

Man! That fabric is crazy. Haha, well, I'm attempting to turn my craft room/office into a relaxing place to be so I'm going with green and yellow. To make it a bit quirky I'm throwing in some different patterns, too. A few things I learned in the process: 1) I really like ripping things apart 2) I like the feeling of an electric staple gun in my hand 3) I enjoy doing these things with my husband even if we have different ways of getting it done, and 4) Reupholstering stuff is really simple!

Here we are in the middle of the process. This is my husband taking off that side of the old fabric. He was such a help! :) And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the NEW cedar chest! The anticipation was building, I know.

Now for a close up of the NEW fabric. Its so much better!

For the GRAND FINALE: we add the pillows I made a few weeks ago!

Its perfect! I'm so happy with the way everything turned out. Now I just have to clean the rest of the room and spruce it up to look this good!

Mel

Feeling of Accomplishment

I have that feeling, you know the one you get every now and again. Its that feeling of accomplishment. I spent this last Saturday afternoon relaxing around the house all day. After a few hours I got a little bored so I ran out to get some things I needed for some crafts at home. I got busy and made some wall art and even reupholstered that chest I've been talking about.

I saw the idea for this one on Pinterest. Its such a cute idea! I used a map to cut out the places my husband and I met, got married, and went on our honeymoon. I put them in frames and they're now displayed on our living room wall. We wanted/needed some sort of artwork to fill the space and this worked out nicely!

 Here are the frames and map I bought.

Here they are on the wall! There's actually three of them but I couldn't get them all in the picture. The top is Lexington, KY (Where we met), the middle is Atlanta, Georgia (Where we were married), and the bottom is New York City, NY - well, Manhattan (Where we went on our honeymoon).

Here's a close up shot of Manhattan. 


I think they turned out great! I've definitely got that feeling of accomplishment. :)

Mel

Pillow Fight

Well, I started a brand new blog about 2 weeks ago and I've only posted once. Hopefully I can keep this up and not completely forget about it! :)

During the weekend of July 4th, my husband and I went to visit my parents in Alabama. That's really when I decided that I wanted to be the next Martha Stewart. I asked my Mom if she could teach me the basics of sewing. Before that trip I, honestly, couldn't sew a button back on, hem a pant, or really do anything with a thread and needle. While I don't claim to be a pro yet I have dipped my toe in the sewing pool.

I'm making over one of our spare bedrooms in our house into a craft room/office. Its a mess right now and nothing has really been done in there. Its being used as an extra storage room while we get everything organized in the garage. Anyway, I have a hutch that I got from my parents (THANKS Mom and Dad!) that needs a little fixing. That project is next! However, I wanted to make some pillows to throw on top of the hutch for a more home-y feel. So, I called my Mom and begged her to show me how to operate a sewing machine long enough to sew some pillows together. Here are a few pictures of what I made!

For a first time sewer, I'd say I did pretty good! I did "cheat" and use a pre-made pillow instead of getting stuffing. So sue me. :) I did, however, find a sewing machine in the thrift store that looks identical to my Mom's sewing machine. Its not new - but it'll do. So, I can keep on with my sewing projects and not have to drive to Alabama to use my Mom's!

Next project: Reupholster the hutch I got from my parents. Hopefully that'll happen soon!

Mel