In previous posts, I have been sharing with you all how I am adding new colors to my living room. I have previously felt very restricted as to the colors I could use, due to the fact that my couches are a dark hunter green and our big chair is a huge red and green floral print.

We recently got rid of the huge red and green chair and temporarily replaced it with a brown recliner (my sister and brother-in-law purchased it at a thrift store the last time they were in town and had no way to get it back home with them, so we are hanging on to it until they can get it).

Now, the big chair also had a matching ottoman which I decided to keep since it was still in really good shape.

Here it is...



Now it matches great with our green couches...but not so much with the new color scheme I am trying to give the living room.

I have seen tutorials previously where people make their own slip covers for chairs, couches, ottomans, etc. So I decided to give it a try and....



I am very pleased pleased with how it turned out!

To make one of your own all you need to do is...

1. Pick your fabric. I happened to have this great upholstery fabric that my mom gave me a while back that I decided to use. I think a thicker fabric does work best for this project as opposed to just cotton, but you can go with whatever fabric makes you happy.

2. Measure the length and width of the top and sides. Add about 1/2" to each side to allow for enough seam allowance and a hem on the bottom. If you cut your fabric to the exact measurements of the ottoman it will be too tight and not fit properly.

3. Cut out fabric to measurements above.

4. Pin fabric right sides together. The easiest way to make sure seams line up is to pin it together while it is on the ottoman. Like so...



(This pic shows after I had sewn it together...but you get the general idea.)

I also found it easier to sew two opposing sides on first and then pin on the other two.

5. Hem the bottom.

6. Finish off any inside seams so they do not fray if you decide to wash.

7. Try it on your ottoman, and stand back to admire your work.



The new cover goes so much better with the new color scheme! Plus I love that I can take the slip cover off and throw it in the wash!

Hopefully the steps were not too terribly confusing and you can make one easily.

What We Did Today

Today we..



...played in the snow for the first time ever!



...it was only a light dusting...



...but Jack was so excited...



...he especially loved...



...throwing snow balls...






...we had so much fun...



...and can't wait for the next snow day...

What did you do today?

Rainbow Garland

About a week ago I saw this New Year's Garland on The Purl Bee and fell in love with it!

I thought it would actually be super cute to hang in Jack's room. So I quickly grabbed a pile of colorful felt and went to work. (You can find the tutorial on the link above)



The only thing I didn't have on hand was invisible thread. But oh well....I still think it turned out great!



And it looks super cute in Jack's room! I think he really likes it too because every time I put him in his bed he starts pointing at it and saying "ooooo".

Sweetness

Just a little bit of sweetness to brighten up the day! Have a wonderful weekend!

(Can you believe that red hair?!)







....and coming soon...Valentines Day decor ideas :-)

Love One Another

Here is another something I made the other day to add more color to my living room



(sorry for the glare on the pic, I just could not get rid of it!)

I have been inspired by a lot of the subway art that I have seen recently...

here, here, and here are a few I really liked.

However, being just black and white did not fulfill my color need. So, I decided to go a slightly different route.

Here is how to make your own...

1. Paint your canvas...any size canvas and any color you choose

2. Choose what you want it to say. I decided to keep it sweet and simple "LOVE ONE ANOTHER"

3. Next I measured out the canvas' height and width to determine how tall and wide each letter should be, so that everything would fit just right. My letters are 5" tall x 2" wide each.

4. Next you will want to print your letters off on your computer to use as a template, or simply free hand them like I did mine (when you don't have a printer you do what you gotta do!). Cut them out.

5. Pick out fabric that you want to use for your letters. If I did this project again though, I would use printed scrapbook paper instead of fabric- this way you have sharp clean edges. The fabric tends to fray just a bit and doesn't look as clean. Plus the dark blue paint kinda shows through on the lighter fabrics.

6. Trace paper templates onto fabric or scrapbook paper and cut them out.

7. Grab your handy dandy Modge Podge and a paint brush. Brush a coat of Modge Podge onto the canvas.

8. Place your words onto the canvas, lightly pressing down. Then cover with a layer of Modge Podge over the entire canvas.

And you are done....let it dry, hang it up, and admire your work!

Where Have I Been?

So I have been mia from here for the past...oh...six months or so! I definitely did not plan to just up and disappear, but sometimes life just happens like that. After my last post back in June I figured life would slow down just a bit. But I was wrong, wrong, wrong! After our VBS and Revival week at church, we then had two weeks of camp that were just about back to back. Our son Jack had his first birthday, and we went on vacation with my family for a week. It was a really fast paced and busy summer! Wonderful, just busy!

Then just when things were finally starting to slow down and return to normal we found out in September that we are expecting our second child! We are extremely happy and excited to be adding another member to our little family. Riley Grace Kearbey is due May 29th, 2011 (just 5 days before I need to be in Texas for my sisters wedding!). I am very excited to start sewing more girly things....dresses and bows....I can't wait! So after a lovely 12 weeks of morning....scratch that...ALL DAY sickness and not being able to pick my self up off the couch I was finally feeling better.

Then...the holidays :-) This year my husband and I did a Christmas play with our kiddos at church. I made all 25 costumes! Talk about a labor of love. All free time was put into completing the costumes on time. Thankfully the costumes were all done in time and the kids did a wonderful job. We were so proud of all their hard work!

I finally have some free time now that summer, camps, vacation, morning sickness, and the holidays are over. I have already started on several new little projects and can't wait to share with you all what I have been up to lately.

I am redoing my living room walls. I need more color! We have dark green leather couches, and up until recently I have stuck to decorating with browns and reds to go with them. However, I have decided to become just a little more brave and add more color to brighten up our living room.

Here is a look at a few of the things I have added to my walls...

My mom helped me with this one...I painted the frame and picked out the fabric in the background, but my wonderful mom put it all together for me :-) She cut out the flower from pages from an old book and started gluing. I LOVE how it turned out! Thanks mom!
(after looking at this pic I realize it needs a few touch ups!)

So the picture for this one is kind of dark so you can't really tell that the frame for this one is actually navy blue not black (that is what you get when you use an iphone to take a pic at night!)

Any way...the background for this pic is actually a really beautiful yellow and cream crocheted doily that my Grandmother made. I have had the K for a long time but it has always been gold; I like the white much better now! Once again my mom helped me with this one. She simply staple gunned the doily to the back of the frame and to the K. Super easy!

This is a mirror I found at the thrift store for only $9 :-) I have been wanting a mirror like this for a while now and was excited when I found it. It does have a flaw sadly...the left bottom side of the spindle is broken off. I think I may eventually just find a way to remove the spindles from both sides. Not sure how to do that yet so in the mean time I painted it white and hung it up. It is just too pretty not to hang it up. And now...the picture that inspired my living room redo...




My mom painted this for me! Isn't it gorgeous!!!!!! I love love love it! It is a palette knife painting so it has tons of wonderful texture to it. I am still working on quite a few more things for my walls, so this redo is not done by any means! When I have it all done I will take a pic of each completed wall so you can see how it has come together.

I am excited about this new year and all that is to come!

Making A Mess With Some Paint!

Wow, it has been a while since I last blogged. Now, tt's not that I have been doing any thing that is not worth posting, but rather, I can't seem to find the time to finish even one of the five or six projects I am currently in the middle of.

Lets see...

I am currently working on a few birthday presents for my littlest sister Emma...she is going to get two special homemade books (details to come).

I am making a bean bag toss game for Jack.

I found two small wooden baskets...crates...I cannot think of what to call them....at the thrift store the other day that I am going to repaint for Jack's toys.

I am making a homemade "I Spy" book for Jack, and also have an awesome new quiet book that I finally finished the pages of and now just need to assemble it.

There are a few more odds and ends things I have been working on as well that I will hopefully be able to post soon.

The last two weeks have basically been non stop... we had our VBS Sports blast, then our church revival, then went to visit hubby's parents for a few days. So now that things have slowed down a lot, I will hopefully been able to finish most of the projects.

Tonight however, instead of using my free time after little man went to sleep to finish up one of the many projects listed above, I decided to paint.

I am not sure why, but I seem to go through these phases of wanting to paint a lot, and then I don't paint again for a few months.

But since I am my mother's daughter I have become a little bored with the pictures I have had up for the last four years and need a change!

So after just 3 hours here is the finished product...





I just love projects that only take a few hours to complete!!!! It is already framed and hanging on my wall :-) (I wish the picture quality was better, but picnik is not working (UGH!) and that is what you get when you take pictures with an iphone!)

This kind of painting technique is called under painting (my friends from Mrs. Beuchley's class will remember this)...and it is so much fun!

To make your own under painting you will need...

Watercolor paper
Wipe off board, cardboard, or anything to paint on that can get messy (VERY messy)
Pencil/Crayon
Acrylic Paints
Paint Brush
Spray Bottle
Damp Paper towel
Inspiration Picture

Okay so here is how you can paint your own Under Painting

1. Grab your inspiration picture and get to drawing on your watercolor paper. Use a pencil or crayon to do this since it will disappear a little better when you get to the real painting part (pen is harder to cover up)

2. Now Take your damp paper towel or wash cloth and thoroughly dampen both sides of your water color paper then lay your paper on your wipe off board (card board, etc)

3. Next choose three colors of paint (I usually go with primary colors-red, blue, and yellow but for this one I did red, blue, and green since my flowers were going to be yellow)

4. Take your paint brush, dip it into one of the colors and then very messy like make about three "blobs" of color randomly on your picture slightly rubbing them in with your paint brush. Do the same thing with your other two colors.

5. Now comes the fun part- fill your spray bottle with water and get to spraying your picture. Try to use the mist setting...it works better. You can spray as much or as little as you want...
I like for my picture to still look a little "globby" (probably not a word). But if you want the under painting to not be so harsh use lots of water. Spray up, down, sideways.
Warning- This part is messy!!!! You might want to put an old towels under the board to catch the dripping paint water.

5. Next let your picture dry standing up.

6. Once it is dry you can start painting. The key to an under painting is to not completely cover up the first layer of paint but to let it show through in different areas.

7. Let it dry, frame it, hang it up, and then brag to all your friends that 'yah, you made it'!

That is it!

What is great about an under painting is that you really can't go wrong with it! It doesn't have to be perfect since you make a mess of it to begin with.

So GO!...get a little messy and make your own under painting! Don't worry about making it just right... have fun, relax, and in the words of my wise mother, go for
'Completion Not Perfection'.