School Projects with Salt Dough

So we have had two major school assignment with our girls this month and wanted to share the best ever Salt Dough Recipe I found from Rainy Day Mum.

Here are the girl's project....

We had to make a Habitat for a Dolphin we used Polymer Clay and Salt Dough.  Here is another great idea for Polymer Clay from Nancy.  We used the Salt Dough for the coral reef and added animals and seaweed with the polymer clay. She was awarded the "Most Colorful" habitat!!!

We also had to make a State Float.  My daughter selected South Dakota.

 The float had to have four major landmarks.  We chose Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Sioux Falls, and Mitchell's Corn Palace. After learning about these landmarks I want to go visit South Dakota.  Check out these sites for more information about these landmarks.

So when you have a school project and need a Salt Dough recipe I recommend Rainy Day Mum.

Happy Creating!

Jan

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.

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 

Riding in cars with babies

Is there anything more exciting than a new project? The adrenaline surge that comes from knowing you are going to take something lame and make it awesome? When I saw this sad weather worn car in the yard area at DI I knew it was meant to come home with me and be my new best friend for the next couple days. It was a yucky pink and I felt it should be candy apple red not only because red cars are so cool, but just in case any boy babies came our way and would want to ride it.

Sanding got pink dust alllll over

Inspecting the work

Had to make sure everything was taped just right especially those darling little headlights. So cute!

Finished! Ready to take the buddies for a spin. Don't worry when she felt the car was rocking to hard for their safety she put them both inside.

Have fun!

Maren

Reupholstering Your Dining Chairs

Finished Product

Furniture shopping can be overwhelming. One must consider many questions while battling a relentless barrage of helpful, smiling salesfolk. Will the new piece match my existing decor? Is it made of used packaging peanuts and will fall apart next year? Should I get this or 29 new shirts instead? Difficult. When we decided that our current dining set was in need of upgrading, we went to the store where my husband shopped while I raced around 12,000 square feet of toddler hiding heaven. Once he found the one pictured above (scratch and dent, good deal) he asked my approval. I nodded, seeing how it had four good legs and chairs and then raced off after the screams of delight that only a good chase can produce. 

When we got them home I found, much to my dismay that these chairs had FABRIC seats. Nooooooo! Why must the furniture fates conspire against me once again? Our last set had fabric seats and were a magnet for every grape drink and over-ripe strawberry in the county. My new set giving me equal if not more distress? This could not be. 

That's why in times of freak-outage, God in his great wisdom gave us friends. Wonderful Jenn said, "You know what? I bet it would be easy to recover those." With her encouragement and support I decided, yes I would take on this challenge because 20 years of dealing with dining anxiety when there are "real" problems in the world, just isn't worth it. 

I checked out a couple videos on YouTube (the one I linked is a good one. I'm not just linking to YouTube) and if you've never recovered anything before you definitely should watch some too. Here are the basic steps they taught me: 

1. Turn your chair upside down and unscrew the screws holding the chair pad to the chair. This part was easy, willing me to believe that the rest would be too. Ha ha ha so naive. 

2. Cut out your fabric so you've got at least four inches or so on the straight sides and six or so on the curvy ones. (If you have curvy chairs like I do) The chairs on the Tube tutorials were all straight sides so that is my excuse for why mine look a little crappy.

3. Staple one side in the middle of your chair pad and use all your hand strength to pull it taut on the opposite side and staple that side in the middle. Proceed to put one staple in each side.

4. Begin stapling the edges leaving a few inches around the corners. Make sure that you pull the fabric as tight as you can so you'll have a nice smooth surface on the other front side.

5. Once you're done with the sides you've got your malicious corners to deal with. I found this was kind of like wrapping a present. You want to get as many wrinkles out by smoothing the sides and getting them to fold on the bottom side of the pad. Use approximately 93 staples on each corner until every fold is nailed down. 

6. Trim the excess from the pad and flip it over to reveal you're beautiful handiwork. Screw it back into your chair and you're done. It just took a bruised staple hand, a few curses and some time but you did it! Now I can rest assured that all little wobbly hands are welcome at my table.  

I think the biggest thing I learned out of this project is that you can do anything. Really. What looks so hard and impossible can be achieved once you take the time to learn, break it down to easy steps and shove all your negative voices out the door. 

Have fun!

Maren

Linking to:

Redfly Creations   One Artsy Mama   Tidy Mom  This Gal Cooks Mad in Crafts  Craft-O-Maniac

Total Home Makeover

I love a good project, and this one was a big one! To get to know me a little bit, I thought I would open my home to you!

To give a little preface, the home that I bought was never actually for sale. I fell in love with when I was little (it was where my best childhood friend lived). They moved away and eventually it fell into multiple hands  and finally was a rental property with a landlord who could care less about the tenants and the home. So, we made him an offer. Everything is for sale for the right price, right?

As crazy as everyone thought I was for wanting the home, I knew it was an unpolished diamond. Basically, it looked like this when we bought it:

But, I knew there were gems like these hidden inside:

While still a work in progress, this is the before and after shot of the exterior of my home:

Stay tuned (while I do a little cleaning), I will take you inside my home for more of my projects and  transformations!

-Lauralee

How to Make Soccer Ball Cookies

My kids and I found a random bake shop as we were driving through a random town. I never pass up random bake shops. Ever. So we went in. They had scrumptious and beautiful desserts, but when I saw they had soccer ball cookies that were $4. 50 each, I wished we'd never entered the place. I knew those cookies were exactly what my kids were going to want. I was right, surprise :).

Since cute cookies are dear to my heart, I bought ONE for them to split.  I looked at the cookie and realized I could probably make the whole soccer team a cookie for the same price I'd payed for one. Sure enough!! (Well, pretty close). Here's how: 

Ingredients and Items Needed:
Sugar Cookies (see below)
1 bag powdered sugar
Milk
Light corn syrup
clear extract
black gel food coloring
food paint brush
food writer marker or exactoknife
piping bags
tips: sizes 4 or 5 and 2

1. First make the cookies several days ahead. Either use your favorite sugar cookie recipe, or use this one from Our Best Bites.  It's so yummy and keeps it's shape well.  Cut balls out with a 6 inch circle cookie cutter.
 
2. Freeze the cookies overnight, or leave them in an airtight container for a few days. Seriously, this seems to make these cookies taste even better. Weird, but true. This also makes it so they don't fall apart with the 2 layers of frosting that will come.

3. Next, make Glace Icing.(adapted from recipegirl)
 (Recipe girl has an amazing soccer cookie tutorial for a more patient and meticulous mom. These are a bit simpler. I love this icing from her blog.)
1 bag (or 2 pounds powdered sugar)
1/2 Cup + 4 Tablespoons milk
1/2 Cup + 4 Tablespoons light corn syrup
4 teaspoons clear extract (such as Wilton brand)

Mix sugar and milk together. Add corn syrup and stir until just combined. Add extract. Mix.

  Keep in a tight airtight container until ready for use. If not, it will turn to a cement like substance.


4. Frost the cookies:

Use a size 3 or 4 tip and outline the cookie. Remember it's OK if it's not a perfect circle. Kids will think it's cool even if your hand is not totally steady (as seen above :)).  Outline all the cookies. This gives time for the icing circle to harden just a bit and act as a dam to the icing in the middle.

5. Using the same or bigger tip, start filling in the cookie. Only "scribble" with the icing, as pictured above. Then use a food paintbrush or small spoon to fill in the gaps.

6.  Let the icing dry for 10-12 hours.

7. Save the rest of the icing in an airtight , and again, I mean very tight container.

8. Find a pentagon shape. I googled "pentagon" then traced it right off of my computer monitor, and copied it on to card stock. (It wasn't until I made these cookies that I realized that the shape on soccer balls is a pentagon, not a hexagon!)

9. With a food writer marker, or an exacto knife, trace your pentagon shape on to each cookie.  Remember pentagon shapes are not equal on every side, so don't freak out if it seems to look funny at first. Either trace the pentagon in the middle or a little off center- whichever you prefer.

10.  Then  get out the icing which has been in an air tight container and pour about 1/2 of a bottle of black gel food coloring into the white icing. Stir very well.
Put the icing in a bag with a #2 tip.

11. Trace the pentagon with the black icing.  Then draw lines from the points of the pentagon to the edge of the cookie. Then add triangles to the edge of the line... or make part of a hexagon shape.Like so...

seriously, just free hand it-no big deal  if a line's a centimeter off.

12. Add a little bit of black frosting to the outlined triangles and hexagons.  Then use a paint brush or tiny spoon to spread the frosting in the shapes.

13. Outline the whole cookie.

14. Let the frosting dry for at least 8 hours, but 10 is better.

15. Pack them pretty  because these cookies are a process!! Extra packaging shows people that Oh, are they ever lucky.

I made these for my daughter's soccer team, and even got huge hugs and smiles all around. Totally worth the time.

These cookies not only look cute, but they seriously taste good too. My kids even said they tasted waaay better than the ONE we bought at that random bake shop. YES!! 

 XO,

Nancy

Linking To:  Weekend Wrap Up Party   Tidy Mom   Whipperberry   Thirty Handmade Days   The Best Blog Recipes   Lady Bird Lane   Six Sisters' Stuff   Family Fun Archives
One Artsy Mama
Or So She Says    The Gingerbread Blog   Be DIfferent Act Normal   Too Much Time on my Hands
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