Padded Bench Amazingness

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a year since I last posted! Don't worry, I'm back now!
I've been doing a lot the last year, but they've all been small enough to not write about. Until now.

A while back, I purchased a Living Social gift card coupon for the Habitat ReStore. In January I purchased a padded bench there! I loved my experience at the ReStore. AJ got some wood working supplies, and I got my bench. All for an amazing price! I'd been wanting a bench for years. I always envisioned the end of my bed to have a nice, comfy bench to sit on while getting ready!

Enter, the bench:

It was perfect. New, but unique. Not disgusting like many benches I saw at thrift stores. It was just what I had been looking for. The white cover was so-so. I could live with it until I found something better.

This week I was at Hobby Lobby looking for the final touches on the Mother's Day gift I made for my mom (more on that later) and I decided to stop by the fabric aisle. The fabric I chose was originally $10/yard, but was on sale for $4/yard! What a steal! :) I bought all that was left and went home to do some research. I found myself back at Hobby Lobby the very next day finding upholstery nails (I went this route instead of buying a staple gun. I'm happy with the result, however I'm sure my neighbors would have much preferred the staples. There was a lot of hammering going on!)

After doing more research, I decided to go for it! The old fabric came off nicely, and I was happily surprised to find the padding to be in perfect condition! Not a stain or water mark on it at all! That being said, it was a very easy project from here!

I photographed most of the steps, and then you can find the finished product at the end! I am so happy with the result and love how it looks in my room. I wanted it to be a fun pattern but still in a neutral color so it didn't become the focal point of the room. I think I succeeded! :)

Fabric off!

Bye bye plain white fabric!

Fitting the new fabric!

Here we go!

As you can see, I almost didn't have enough fabric for the short edges!

Here's the fabric I went with! :)

Screwing it back into place

Ta-Da! Finished product!

Here's how it looks with my bedspread, pattern mixing is "in," after all!

Before & After!

I still have enough fabric for either one large or two small pillows! That will just help tie everything together so nicely! :)

After sending some finished product photos to AJ, he informed me that I get the honor of reupholstering his dining room chairs! I am so excited for that. He bought a beautiful dining set off Craigslist, but neither of us were crazy about the seat patterns. More on that to come in the next few weeks!

I have a few fun/big projects in the near future I am really looking forward to! Excited to share those when they're finished!

Rompin' Around!

Alright, I got photos every step of the way with this refashion!

Last Saturday, my friend Amanda and I spent the entire day at different thrift shops around Denver. 2 Goodwills, Goodwill Outlet World, and Buffalo Exchange. It was one of the greatest days.

This number I pulled out of a bin at the Outlet World, so paid maybe $1.50 for it? (At the Outlet, you pay by the pound... it's incredible!)

It is a pretty ugly old romper. Vintage, probably from the 80s I'd say? It was in perfect condition, though. Doesn't look like it was worn even once! :)

It was a perfect fit size wise, but just wasn't my style.

light denim, lots of pockets, WAY too short to be a full romper.

What's with the knee pockets? Hmm, those have to go.

So, with a little work and lots of hope... 

The legs had to go!

Bye bye ugly knee pockets! I'm sure I'll be using you for something else soon!

Alright, chopping done. I thought about just sewing the legs up and calling it good, but I also purchased an old white lace curtain from Goodwill that same weekend, so my brain started working on what to do next...

I decided to cover the back panel of the romper with lace! I considered taking the back off completely and having an open lace back, but thought this was way more practical for me.

Complete!

Awkward pose, but here's the front!

Don't mind my sports bra... but there's the back!

Ta-da! I love the lace pattern on the back... flowery and swirly! It fits so nicely now! I am really pleased with how well it turned out and am excited to wear it soon now that it's sunny and warm! :)

If you're curious about Goodwill Outlet World, here's a nice blog with all the locations around the country! LINK HERE

And here's a video of what to expect! It's very accurate, and is actually filmed in the Outlet World I shop at! LINK HERE

Dress Refash!

Of course I always forget to take before pictures... but imagine the dress to have looked similar to this when I bought it, turtle neck and all!

 

It was black and white, however I wanted a bit more dimension, if you will. I was already dying a few things so threw the dress into a blue dye bath. It didn't take the blue on as bright as I had hoped, but it worked out well anyways!

So the first chop I made was getting rid of that awful turtleneck. I wanted a high-neck dress so cut, sewed, and tacked that in place first!

High-neck, check!

Next I decided I wanted to swoop the back and make it an open back!

Done with that!

Here are a couple other photos, overall I was very pleased with how it turned out and am so excited to wear it sometime soon! 

Front and back in this one!

Don't mind my messy room! It was a busy week...

So there ya have it, another refashion in the books! :)

Enjoy, and stay crafty!

New Year, New Goals

2014 is bringing many new and exciting things to my life. One of those things is a goal of mine. It's a very general goal... but I hope to start blogging more this year!

(Random recent climbing trip photo!)

I know my blogs are usually just photos of what I've come up with recently, so I hope to keep uploading more frequently. I don't know who all will read these, but it is a goal for myself! (If you do read this ever, you should tell me next time you talk to me! Otherwise I look like a goof just typing away to myself over the interweb.)

So my first photos today don't necessarily deal with a craft or refashion like normal... instead it is a outfit recreation that I ended up loving!

Here was the inspiration I found on glitzandgold.com

And now for my take on the outfit!

Pearls and Camo!

Even paired it with my new thifted boots! (Brand new Target stud boots for $6 from ARC!)

Now for the fun stuff:

I got some paints and canvas for Christmas so made a wall hanging for my very bare-walled bathroom! I had a lot of fun with this. I painted, Modge Podge-d, painted some more, then took out my sharpies to write a lovely quote from Walt Whitman:

I made a bunch of my Christmas gifts this year, but unfortunately can't find all the pictures from those gifts. Here's what I made my father though! I bought an old, ugly, falling apart cabinet off Craigslist, stripped all 3 layers of paint off, sanded it down and found beautiful oak planks underneath it all! With a little help from dad (yes, I gave it to him in the ugly state first so he could decide what he wanted to do with it), we added some reinforcing pieces to the front, underneath, and back and came up with this:

Two or three coats of stain/varnish later, here is the final project. Ready to fill with car part and engine books, and strong enough to be a nice bench for the front office of Dad's car shop )where he works on the race cars!)

TA DA!!! I was very proud of the result. I wish I had a picture of it before I started... it was hideous, to say the least.

Oh, and as a closing giggle, here's a photo of me shooting a pistol over winter break!

Stay crafty, everyone! :)

Oh, Lordy Lordy.

WOW. All I can say.
It's been a long while.
Moving to (& living in) Denver.
2 months down.

You guys, I've found the best deals on stuff here, I can't wait to get them all up on the blog... but the Goodwill Outlet here is 500 x's better than the one in Des Moines. (soon to come: Columbia soft shell jacket... for $1.39/pound, making it like a $3 jacket!!!)

I've kept my crafting up, but the pile is almost beginning to consume me. I just need a weekend without homework so I can catch up!

First off, some tasty treats I've made recently. Let me tell you... Warm treats have been my weakness... I've definitely been falling off from my dietetics roots recently. Not to worry though! :)

Homemade vanilla chai tea mix! (SO GOOD!)

Crockpot Monkey Bread! (Thank you, Pinterest!)

Homemade granola bars (2 bananas + 1 cup oats. Mix, add add-ins such as craisins, nuts, chocolate chips... then bake at 350 for 15-17 min!!)

YUM! I have done a couple small refashions such as take pockets out of a dress (you may be thinking "WHAT? WHY!??" well, they were in a jersey fabric dress and just made my hips look lumpy. Cue the "ohhh, good thinking" response!). I also have begun working on refitting a blazer. I have dyed a few things, just to spice them up a bit (cobalt blue and purple!!) And refit an old demin button down of my mom's.

Here's a shot of the denim button down with a dyed purple skirt that I shortened a few months back:

I love the look of the two together. The purple skirt was blue at one time so it almost has a marbled appearance now. I'll get a close-up of it sometime!

I'll leave you with my to-do shots

Can you find my sewing machine buried in there anywhere?? :)

You should be able to find: polka dots, aztec, paisley, the blazer I referred to above as well as a pair of hiking pants to refit, jeans to patch, and sweatpants to make into capris!

This is my "someday" box... but lots of fun prints to get to, hopefully soon! The items above are higher priority at this point, however!

Well, as soon as grad school dies down a bit, hopefully I can get to some fun refashions! :)

Stay well,

Mary