Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fairy-Fetti Cookie Bites


These cookies may look "little girlie", but I promise that people of every age will LOVE them (and they are so easy to make)! An 8 year old boy was at my house while I was making these and asked what kind of frosting wassandwiched in them. When I told him that it was cream cheese, he said that he knew he absolutely would NOT like the cookie... he ONLY likes buttercream frosting. I let him try a cookie, and then he asked me if I would make a whole tray of them for his birthday (haha).

My little girls love them for tea parties, and boys want them for birthday parties...adults even like them.

Ingredients:
cookies:
1 Pkg pkg Funfetti Cake mix
2/3 C shortening
2 eggs

frosting:
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
4 Tb butter, softened
dash of salt
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix the cake mix, shortening, and eggs in mixer until combined.
Shape into balls... big or small. Whatever you like.

Bake for 5-8 minutes. I make them small and bake for 5 minutes.


While cookies are baking make frosting:
Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy. Do not add milk. Add food coloring if desired.

XO,
Nancy

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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

How to Reupholster Kitchen Chairs {with Optional Piping}


I showed you the make-over of my "Craig's List" Dining set earlier this week. Here's the 2nd part of the tutorial I promised. If you want to learn to reupholster, then kitchen chairs are the PERFECT place to start!!!  It's easy, just beware of all those staples you're going to have to pull out {... grr!}  Thankfully, it's a satisfying project. The chairs make me happy every time I look at them :)!

Supplies: Upholstery fabric (2/3 yard per 2 chairs), staples and staple gun, upholstery backing, 
                regular or electric screwdriver,  flat head screw driver, disinfecting spray
               optional: upholstery fabric for piping, heavy duty thread, cardboard tacking, cording- if sewing new piping

1. Take the seat off the chair aka- unscrew the screws :).




2. Turn the seat over and start taking out the staples with the flat head screwdriver.




3. After you've neatly taken ONE chair apart (to later use as a pattern), let your husband, or whoever is willing, rip and pull the fabric off.





4. Keep the foam and batting. Spray some disinfecting spray all over it. Optional: cover with one more layer of batting... I did not do that in this project.






5. Again, make sure to keep one seat covering as nice as possible!




6. If your chair had piping, keep the piping strip!!




7. Put the fabric from the chair on your new fabric as a pattern, and cut out as closely as possible.





8. Lay down new fabric. Put seat upside down on that fabric, making lines or patterns as straight as possible. Pull fabric tight and staple hard all around. Pull and tuck especially tight around the corners. It really helps to have someone assist you in this part!!!



9. It should look like this: If you are not adding piping, then just trace the preexisting black upholstery backing, and staple in on the back. You're done!
If you are adding piping, keep on going!!!





10. Unpick 10 to 20 stitches, and then pull out the old cord. Keep the cord! Throw away the fabric.




11. Lay the cord down on the fabric. The length of the cord should be similar to the width of the upholstery fabric. { If not, cut strips on the bias to make the fabric as long as the cord.}

Eyeball how much width the preexisting cord was, and cut fabric as close to the same width as possible. You should have long strips of this fabric.


12. Test little pieces of the fabric on your machine before sewing the piping. It took me about 10 tries before I found the right tension and thread combination for this particular fabric.
What finally worked: I used upholstery thread on the bobbin, and all purpose thread on the top. Then turned by tension knob between a 7 and an 8.

Put the cord that you took out of the old piping in the middle of a fabric strip. Use the zipper foot attachment on your sewing machine. Make sure the needle is all the way over to the right or left- whichever you are sewing on. Keep the cord sandwiched in there and keep the needle as close to the cord as possible without sewing over it.




13. Sew all the way down.
I didn't get a picture of my finished piping... darn!!!





14. Staple the piping around the chair on the back, on top of the first layer of fabric. Again, tuck and fold around the corners!




15. Cut black upholstery backing the same shape as the preexisting backing. Lay down over the back of the cushion. Optionally put cardboard tacking strip on the top- it hold the tacking in place, and gives things an ironed or finished look. Staple it all in place!





16. Put the cushion back on the frame of the chair, and screw it in.



You are done!!! Hooray!

Now go admire your work :),
Nancy

P.S. For tips on painting wood furniture go HERE to the Dining Table and Chairs tutorial.


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Sunday, September 15, 2013

Dining Table and Chairs Make-Over


I've been on the lookout for months to find a dining table and chairs. I've searched everywhere from Pottery Barn to Cosco, and just couldn't stomach the money!!! The ones I love are wayyyy beyond my budget, and the ones that even sort of fit my budget just didn't make me feel happy.

Oh so luckily, as I was perusing Craig's list one day,I found this one for $125.00...




It was sturdy, and in great condition.

I had a vision of white, lots of color, and chevron come to mind {thanks to THIS ONE by Brooke}, and set off to work...



Fits in our little dining nook perfectly....




I know I'm crazy, but as I worked on the table and chairs, they took on a life of their own. I couldn't help but name them :)...

Seriously, it's made an awesome difference at meal times!!! My kids actually WANT to sit at the table. Hopefully that lasts :)!



Making over furniture is not hard, but can definitely be time consuming. Here are the steps I take:

1. Clean off the furniture

2. Optional- sand. I only do this if there is cracking paint already on the furniture. 

or

3. Optional- Cover furniture with liquid sander/deglosser. This helps when there is laminate or finish already on the piece of furniture you're working on.

4. Prime. I use Kiltz spray primer. Never go the cheap route on this part!!!


5. Lightly sand with 220 grit sandpaper and an electric sander (if needed). This smooths the roughness sometimes caused by primer and paint.

6. Paint 1st coat. I used Krylon Gloss spray paint on the chairs. On the table, I used a high gloss Ivory Bear brand from Home Depot-brushed in on. 
I like "gloss" because it cleans up a lot easier, is more durable, and  I think it looks more professional.
Also: NEVER EVER get the cheapest paint on this! Quality matters!!!!

7. Paint another coat.... and even another one. Three coats is the best. Then it's covered and durable. Let dry thoroughly between coats. 

8. If needed, sand rough spots with light 220 grit sandpaper with electric sander.

7. Optional: glaze or antique.

I used this Valspar Antiquing Glaze from Lowe's. It's already tinted black. With other brands, you have to tint the paint yourself.
Brooke from All Things Thrifty gives the best lessons on glazing HERE. Watch before doing!
HERE Brooke gives more answers about glazing or antiquing.

8. Optional- seal with Polyacrylic.

 It is available in both spray or a can. I used this on the table since I know we will use it and scrub it daily! I didn't use it on the chairs.



In the next few days, I'll give the basics of reupholstering kitchen chairs. 

I'll admit, I'm happy to be done with this project! Even happier that I did it! 

XO,
Nancy 



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Thursday, September 5, 2013

Speedy-Quick Taquito Enchiladas

We have Mexican food every Tuesday night at our house (we call it Taco Tuesday). I especially love making it when it's quick and easy! I love this one. It's adapted from a recipe in Paula Deen's Lunchbox Set.

Ingredients:
Package of 20 frozen chicken taquitos
1 14 oz can enchilada sauce (whatever kind you like)
1 1/2 - 2 C Mexican blended grated cheese
olives
tomatoes
sour cream
salsa


Directions:
Heat oven to 425 degrees

Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray and put the taquitos in 2 rows
cover with enchilada sauce and cheese.
(This part can be done earlier in the day, and covered until ready to cook)

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Add toppings, and enjoy! Serve with salad, rice and corn.

XO, 
Nancy Pin It
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