DIY: Dining chairs makeover

Hello all! It's been such a long time since I've posted something, after moving and summer happening I finally have a few min to share something I did in between trips to the pool, folding laundry, baking cookies...I could go on and on and on. You know how it is. 
We recently bought a small dining set from IKEA, It was the right price tag and the right size for our apartment. After a while every time I'd walk by it or setting the table for dinner, I would look at our table and chairs and think, wow this is a really boring looking dining set! Since budget is tight I knew buying a new one was out of the question, but what to do to make it more like us? It needed color, it needed to come alive. 
After deciding what color I wanted to go with and what fabric I wanted for the seat area, here's what I did.

This is what I started with..see what I mean when I say boring?!












I knew I didn't want to sand all the chairs, that would take days and honestly who has time for that, not a stay at home mom! Took a trip to Home Depot and purchased a primer and the color I had chosen.
I took apart the first chair, kept all the screws in a zip lock bag so I wouldn't lose them, I'm a scatter brain so this step was vital for me.

Here are some of the pieces primed and ready to go I used two coats just to make sure it was completely covered. Remember to always wash your brushes right after you are done, just warm water will do the job (if you are not using oil based paint, if you are you'll need pant thinner). If you didn't finish priming but want to continue later on and don't have time to wash your brushes, you can cover them up tightly in either tin foil or Cling Wrap, it will keep the moisture for about a day. If you don't think you can go back to it after a day, I recommend you wash the brushes.

Next day time for color!

 Two coats did it!

Now for the seat part. This took more work, I didn't have any padding on my chair and I wanted to add some for the sake of my bum! I bought this padding at Jo Ann Fabrics.

I bought Airtex Regular Density. They had thicker foam but it's a bit more pricey so I went with this one. Now that that the chairs are finished I've been very happy with this size. 

The foam was just a tad bigger than the seat area of my chairs so I just traced the shape with a marker and cut off the excess.

Once I had all the foam cut up to the size I needed I used wood glue to attach the padding to the chair.

Once I had them all glued down I let them sit and dry over night. My son wanted Timmy and Easter Mickey to be in the picture :)

Next day was time to cover up the seats. I had chosen and purchased the fabric I wanted at Jo Ann Fabrics. You'll need a staple gun and a hot glue gun, if you want to do it just like I did.

I laid the fabric print side down and the seat on top. I cut a square leaving about three inches of extra fabric to fold over. You'll need more or less depending on the thickness of the padding on your chair.

With my hot glue gun all heated up time to glue down the fabric. I folded the sides and corners  in as you would when wrapping a present and glueing down as I went.
You see the exposed wood? I stapled a piece of felt fabric to cover that up, but forgot to take a picture of that step :( sorry! Didn't I mention I'm a scatter brain?

This is what my corners looked like as I was glueing them down. The process takes a long while so make sure you'll have time for this step. Please be careful when using a hot glue gun!

Once my fabric was glued down and dried up, it was time to put the chair back together. All screws back to where they should be and done! I am very happy with how they turned out :) I hope you enjoy doing this project as much as I did. Remember safety first! So be careful when using the hot glue gun and staple gun. Don't let any little ones or pets nearby.

Till next time!

Easy and very cheap way to make new vases.

Ever feel bad about throwing out that really cool wine bottle or olive oil bottle. Turn them into vases! This is how I did it.

Remove all labels and wash bottle well. Great way to remove labels is with just good old soap and warm water. You can also use Goo-gone. Once your bottle is clean and dry, pick the color, make sure it's acrylic paint not oil based. Pour a small amount into the bottle, start moving the bottle around till the entire inside is coated. You wont need very much. Once you can tell that you are done pour out any extra paint. Let it sit to dry. It will take quite a few hours, I would recommend leaving it alone over night.

Ta-da!!! You now have new vases to decorate with. They look great if grouped together all one color or different shades of one color. Or mix it up!

Wall art, with home made stencil.

Hello everyone! Here is my first project that I will be sharing with you all. It's been a long time since I've done my crafty magic, but I think we are off to a good start! I wanted to make some wall art that wouldn't take too long to make. There's an empty wall staring at me screaming Hey lady!! I need something! Here's my Key Wall Art, I hope you like it, and try it! 

This is the finished product! You can use whatever 3 shades of color you want, and the background color can be different as well. It's your project! Make it your own.

Please be safe when using an xacto knife. They are very sharp. 

First, I went online looking for the right key. Just a design that caught my eye. I saved the image and "blew it up" on PhotoShop. Printed it out. Two separate sheets because of size. I only have a little regular printer! I used glue stick to glue it to what eventually would be my stencil. For the stencil, I bought a package of binding covers. I wanted something sturdy but that I would be able to cut out the stencil easily.

  

Very carefully and slowly I traced the key onto the future stencil with an xacto knife. Take your time when doing this. 

This is the finished stencil.

Once that was done, I moved on to the board I would be painting these on. I didn't want a flat surface, so what I did, or what my handy fiance did, was he glued floor boards together. You can go to any flooring place and ask them if they have any extra ones they can let go, or sample sizes they don't need any more. If not you will have to purchase them. I didn't want the natural color of the wood so I painted it. 

Once fully dried I used painter's tape to make sure my stencil wouldn't move while I was painting the key. I went to the paint department at my local hardware store, and chose the three colors that I wanted. You can chose whatever will match your decor. I didn't want to buy a whole gallon or a quart, I knew I wasn't going to use it all. You can buy sample sizes which are much cheaper and then you are not left with a gallon of paint that you're not sure what you'll do with.


Once the paint is dry, carefully remove the tape and stencil. You will notice that some of the paint has bled under the stencil. Oh no! No worries. This will happen. Just take a small brush, and detail any little areas that need correcting.

This is what I'm talking about when I say some of the paint will bleed under the stencil.

Be patient when correcting, don't want to rush it.

Your first stencil is done. Now just repeat two more times and you'll be done!

So that you don't make the mistake I did, start from the get-go with a stencil brush. I tried a regular brush then different size sponges and it was a big no! Also, I did three coats to get it to the green I want it and to cover as much of the white I desired. However, you can do only one coat and have some of background color show through, I think that would also be a really neat effect.
Once you are done with the last two keys, you are done! 

I hope you enjoyed the crafty process and the end result! Thank you for reading!