Gallery Wall Welcoming You In

Come on in ya’ll!  Okay, I am no where near a southern bell, but seriously come on in and check out my new and improved gallery wall.

Since I moved to the nice state of Utah I have had to find new ways to display my photos.  I had a place for everything and everything in it’s place in San Diego.  I felt a little lost starting over.  But! I am glad to say I am pulling it together.

First things first- the entry way.  I want people to feel welcome in my home.  And I want to also display what I love and what is important to me.  I am always telling my husband (as I beg for more furniture usually) that I want my house to reflect ME.  I want you to walk in my house and say, “Yeah, that’s Lynn alright.”  LOL it might be corny, but it’s what I want.  

Here is where I started 6 months ago when I moved in.

Since this picture I have redone those chairs and I had added a ton of pictures.  The wall felt heavy will all the pictures.  I wanted to add a letter M for our last name, but I wasen’t sure how to rearrange everything.  I was a little nervous to play around.  But! Fear Not! I got some inspiration over at my new buddies BRAND-SPANKIN NEW blog The Rooster and The Hen.  She has a beautiful display wall with a jute clock in the middle. Check out their blog, it’s filled with great home decorating ideas.

I decided jute was the answer.  I also had “The Hen” come over and she suggested adding mirrors. Great idea, I was off to search for jute, a letter, and mirrors.

Well I could not find a letter I liked anywhere.  I made my own out of a piece of card board then wrapped it in jute.  Probably cost me about 50 cents with the jute, hot glue, and free card board.

I used a ruler and a piece of mail with the letter M I liked, to reference while I drew it out.  I cut it out, then started wrapping the jute around it.

My search for the mirrors was rough too.  After trying Ross, Pier One, Hobby Lobby, ect. I came up with nothing.  Savers.  Yup, I love me a thrift store.  I walked in and the first thing I saw was these three mirrors.  Sweet-mother-of-pearl! So I wrapped those bad boys in jute too.

Here is how it all looks

Jesus AND Buddha welcoming all 😉

I love this sign that says, “This is our happily ever after.”  Says it all

My favorite two people are front and center.

The Road to LaLaLand

We have a huge unfinished basement that was being unused.  A total waste of space.  The hubs and I decided to make it into a playroom for the time being.  We put up half -wall dry wall all the way around the room, to keep the kiddies safe.  And now we are beginning to make it a fun room.  The first step so far was our road.  Now that we live in Utah and won’t be able to play outside everyday like we could in San Diego; I wanted a place to ride bikes in winter.  Hence, “the road.”   Here is the duct tape road I made in the basement.

Making my space work for me and my fam-a-lama.

There’s a curvy and straight side to the road.

Utah Houses with Halloween Style

It’s time to decorate your house for Halloween!  These houses have style without their Halloween decor, but they are even more amazing with a pumpkin or two or ten.

I drove around the other day to photograph two houses that I think have style.  When I got to both of the houses their Halloween decorations where up.  It was even better.  I then decided to find more cute houses.  So… here are some of the houses around me that I vote stylish and fun.  Enjoy the pictures! I hope you feel inspired, I know I do!

This first house was simple, two pumpkins sitting on beautiful teal ceramic planters.  The colors where amazing together, loved it.

Simple green wreath with burlap.  This is a classy-clean look.

This second house is one of my favorites in my area.  Whenever anyone is in the car with me I have to point out it and it’s green shutters.  I think this house has tons of charm!

I love old houses, especially when they are taken care of so well.

I love the black and orange sheer strips of fabric hanging from the front porch.

This house is a beautiful bungalow.  I would love to have an old bungalow to fix-up someday.  Houses with character are the best in my opinion.

I am going to find me a cute flower pot this weekend and stick a pumpkin on it.  So fun!

I loved all of the pumpkins and hay bales on the porch of this house.  Lot’s of clever little touches.

Even the bird feeder was ready for Halloween.

Putting little pumpkins in the window box was one of my favorite touches.

This house was simple and classy too.  Just decor on the door and those fun aqua chairs.

Now that I am inspired I need to go bust out my own Halloween decorations!

Big THANKS to all the homeowners that let me take pictures of their houses.

Making Envelope Pillows

Today I made two envelope pillows and I am going to show you how to do it too.  It is easy! And no zippers to bother with. I have been putting this project off because I was a little intimidated.  But, thanks to my new sewing machine and my sewing classes that came with it I am feel’in good ladies!  These pillows took me 3/4 of Toy Story 3 to complete.  Sooo…. yes, I bribed my children with a movie today, lol.  No worries I took them to the park before nap time.  It’s all good.  

Here we go!

I like to buy pillows at Ross then take out the insert.  It is a cheaper way to buy a nice feather pillow and you get a cover to use at a pattern.  I can then just lay down the original cover and cut around it about 1/4 wider that it is.  If you already have a pillow insert, measure it and cut your fabric 1/4 inch wider as well.

I cut the front piece following the cover.  Then for the back fabric I cut them the same width, but added 8inches to the length.  I then cut these pieces in half making them 19.25 by 13inches.  I have 2 of those per pillow.

On the sides of the back envelope pieces that will be showing I folded them under and sewed them to have a nice finished end.

Now I laid down my front piece face up, put the trim on that sitting inside the pattern, and then laid the back envelope pieces face down overlapping each other.

All the parts you want to see when you are finished will be hidden inside your little fabric sandwich.  Pin it all the way around. Make sure your trim stays in place.

Sew all the way around make sure you are catching your trim evenly.

Then cut  your corners down just a bit.

Flip right sides out.  Insert your pillow.

I if you have trim like mine, make sure you pull out the tread that it is holding the little treads together.  Best to do this after you sew; to keep it from getting sewn under in the wrong places.  You can just snip the tread and gently pull it off.   Then play with it a little to get it to be fuzzy.

And… da da da YOUR DONE!

These pillows will go on different chairs, but I am not done with the chairs yet…  soon hopefully! Check back to see where they will be going.

Finishing Wax- Blue Hutch

When I first moved to Utah six months ago I called my best friend to complain.  That’s what best buds are for right? 😉  Actually they are there for helping you get out of your funk.  And that’s what my buddy did.  I whined about how my stuff didn’t fit in this house and she kindly listened.  Then she wisely said, “Why don’t you go buy a cool hutch and paint it a fun color. You are good at that.”   I looked over the wall where this future hutch would go, imagined it, and said,  “That is why you are my best friend!”

I started my search on KSL that day and found a hutch for $80.  Bought some paint.  Then…. let it sit in the garage for a month or three, lol, then got crack’n.

Half way into priming it I realized I didn’t take a “Before” picture…oops

I primed it with a gray primer I had left over from painting my kitchen cabinets in my CA house.  I used a regular wall paint brush to apply it.  This gave it heavy brush stroke marks, which I wanted.

Then I painted a blue over the top with a foam brush.  Foam brush does not leave marks.  But you could still see the ones underneath a little.  I put two coats of blue on.  Then….

I went crazy with my sander.

But after my craziness I realized I really didn’t like the light wood showing through.  So I stained it green.  I took green paint brushed it on, then wiped it off after a second or two.

I also willy nilly brushed on some color to different spots.  And then went over the whole piece with a navy blue glaze.

After I was done I decided to try using a wax instead of a polyurethane; which I usually use to finish furniture.

I loved it!  I will definitely be using it again.  Super easy.  Just get a rag, wipe it on.  Wait until it is no longer tacky to the touch and then with a dry clean rag, rub the piece till it shines just a bit.

This is how it turned out.

I am still trying to figure out what to put on it.  I want to get some fun frames and put our family pictures on it.  But for now, my parents grace the shelves.

I bought some fun glass handles from Home Depot for the doors.

It will all come together soon.  I hope

Leave me some comment LOVE

Rag Curl Tutorial

When I was little my mom put my hair in rags all the time.  I would beeeggg her to do it.  I loved how curly my stick straight hair got.  When I was old enough I learned to do it by myself. I did it for crazy hair day and even some school dances.  The other night I was going through my fabric and found some strips of fabric; which totally took me back to the “old days.”   Then thought how much fun it would be to try on Charlie’s hair.   She loved the rags in her hair too, she thought it was a fun way to sleep (kids are crazy lol).  And she was even more excited when I took the rags out to reveal her “Crazy curly hair!”    It’s easy to do.

-Rag Curls-

First cut strips of fabric 1 inch by 8 inches.  Depending on your hair thickness cut between 10-25.

Then get your hair wet.  Have a spray bottle handy in case parts dry while you work.

Then take sections of your hair and twist. I like to start when I would want my part to be.  Twist all the way to the end of the piece of hair.

Begin to wrap hair around the fabric rag.

Wind it up the head and tie in a double knot.

Sleep in  rags

And the next day….

Unwind rags

Now use a pick or your finger to pull curls apart

A whole lot-a curls!

Style your hair and waa-laa

Curls!!

Please leave me some comment LOVE on my blog!

I love to hear your thoughts and know that you stopped by

Posing for Family Photos

This is the beautiful B-family.  I had a blast photographing them last week.  I was a little worried about posing.  So, I did some research online.  I looked up photographers and photo’s of families I liked and took notes!  I think these poses turned out great!  And I think these were the best kids to photograph, they were so awesome.

Thanks for letting me practice on your family Whitney and Dustin!!

(look to bottom of post for links to some awesome and inspiring photo blogs)

Fun times!  PS I bought that couch for $5 at a garage sale.

Check these guys out:

http://ashleeraubachphotography.blogspot.com/

http://averystory.com/

http://lacidavisphotography.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-to-wear-for-your-family-photos.html

Upholstery Part 3- Buttons

I was a little worried about the buttons.  But, it was actually one of the easiest parts.

Here is the Chair before we started

Sorry it’s so small, pic was taken on phone.  These are my sister-in-laws chairs that we found on KSL.  She got them for 25 each and her fabric was free from a designer friend of her’s. There was a million upholstery nails and buttons on this chair. It took 6 hours to take the upholstery nail out of this chair.  Yikes!  Pay attention when you buy a chair to redo.  We were first timers. Also, we bought these from a super creepy old man who wanted to ask me on a date lol.  He could have been my dad.  CREEPY!  He told me he liked my freckles hahaha…eww

We bought some metal buttons from Jo-ann’s and covered them.  Using the existing buttons holes in the back, we mapped out the placement of the buttons.  Then started putting them on.

Used upholstery wax thread and a large needle.  Wrap the thread around the button shaft a few times.  Then pull needle again through to the back.

We then pulled as tight as we thought looked good and tied a knot in the back.  If we could get it tight enough we put a tooth pick in and twisted it till it matched the other buttons in the front.

Then place the backing on and finish up the chair

BUTTONS!!

The white paper is my “chair to do list”  Good to have one of those.

Done!

Upholstery Part 2- Tricks of the Trade

Are you feeling overwhelmed with that chair you bought that is still sitting in the garage?!  And the hubs is like, “Can we please get that piece of junk out of here.”  But then your like…”I have a dream for that ugly old thing.  I WILL make it new again!”

And then I say, “You GO GIRL! Get crafty with your bad self!  Yahhooza!”

haha, ok ok let’s get down to business.

When my mom and I were feeling a little stuck we called an upholstery shop.  Thankfully we got a hold of the SUPER nice gentle man who owns the shop.  We told him we were redoing some chairs and were having a hard time with a few things.  He told us to come on down to his store and he would show us what to do.  So kids and a DVD player in-tow, we headed over to the shop.  And these are a few of the awesome things we learned in about 10 mins.

Tip 1

When you are trying to end a piece of piping trim out the rope from the inside of the fabric cover.  This will help the piping to hide under the top fabric with out a bump.

See no bump!

Tip 2

Use finishing nails to hold certain pieces on to the fabric.  You will need a bit of card board behind the fabric, like in the arm end. (see picture below) Then use an ice pick or other sharp pointy poker to pull/pop the top of the fabric up around the nail.  The fabric will stay in place, but the nail won’t show.

I used a bead making tool to pull the fabric up over the nails (very poky tool).  This fabric is wrapped around a piece of cardboard to help it hold it’s shape and to help nail it into place.

Tip 3

Use cardboard to help keep bumps in fabric to a minimum.  It comes in handy if there is a lot of bulk, like batting, pipping, and fabric.

Tip 4

When you upholster you really need to pull the fabric tight before you staple it down.  In some places this can be a bit tricky.  You can sew a piece of thin pellon to the sides where you need something to pull.  Like in the picture below, see where the white fabric is sticking out?  That is where we pull and then staple that to the chair.

Here are some pictures of the arm as well.

inside of chair

outside of chair

You can see the white piece sticking out the bottom.  We didn’t pull it yet.

Tip 5

This one was and IS a life saver.

This metal piece is called plygrip.  It is used to clamp the fabric down around curves.  It is awesome!  Below are a few pictures from my phone when the upholstery guy was showing me how to use it.

This is the example the upholstery shop owner showed me.

The plygrip is like a clamp.  One side you staple to the piece and the other has teeth that hold the fabric in place.  Once you fold/push the fabric edge into the inside of the clamp and hammer it down, it makes a nice clean edge.

Tip 6

This metal piece is called tack strip.  You will probably see this in your chair when you are taking it apart.  You wrap it around the fabric (spikes going through the fabric) and pound it in to the wood.  It is usually on the back two sides.  It is the last step in putting together your chair!

Upholstery Part 1- Tools and Tips

Welcome to Lynn’s Upholstery Class!  Haha… I am definitely not a master of upholstery. But, hopefully I have some helpful tips for your project or can motivate you to try your hands at upholstery

This is one of my two red chairs.  I bought them on KSL for $40 buck-a-roonies.  Sweet deal!

This is what I turned this lovely find into.  Meet Mr. Blue Chair.

Here are the tools and tips that helped me get from red to “Mr. Blue”.

Tools!

Upholstery hammer

Rubber Mallet

Needle nose pliers

Flat head screw driver

Air compressor and an upholstery staple/nail gun

Tip! You can get a upholstery gun at Harbor Fraight  Tools starting at $50.  The best one you can get is called Rainco.  These are around $150-200.  This is the brand actually upholster’s use.   I HIGHLY recommend at least getting the $50 dollar one.  The staples are much better to use, especially if you mess up and need to take a staple out.  The guns/staples used for wood will be really hard if not impossible to take out.)

Staples and finishing nails

Upholstery tack strip (I’ll show to a picture of this below)

Plygrip (Picture of this above “tools list” and explained in Upholstery Part Two)

Roll of cardboard strip. (Can get at Jo-Ann’s)

Depending on chair- Sewing machine

Scissors

Pen- for marking old fabric pieces

First Step:

Getting Ready

My Tips-

1.  Before you take apart your chair, sit in it.  Does it feel comfortable?  Will you need more padding in certain areas?  How firm is the seat and the back?  Decide if you want to add more padding and where.  Write it down!

2. Set up a work station.  A place you can cut fabric, sew, a table to set the chair on, and to sit and breath

3.  Take a before picture.  You will want to show off your transformation!  And say, “Look what I did with my bad-self! Yooza!” ….yeah you know

4.  Buy some caffeinated soda.  I never drink caffeine, but I drink 1/3 of two cases of diet coke during this process.  

Second  Step:

Taking apart your chair

My tips-

1.  Just go for it!  But…be kinda gentle.  You want to take pictures along the way and keep all the pieces intact as best you can.  This will be your pattern for putting it all back together.

2.  Take note of the hardware that is coming off your piece and where it went.   In the picture above is a piece of tack strip.  You can buy this from an upholstery fabric store and sometimes straight from an upholstery shop (if they are nice and share that stuff).  It is usually a better price there than at a fabric store.  Jo-Ann fabric’s does not carry this stuff ladies. Call around!

3.  Needle nose pliers and your screw driver will come in handy here.

4. Label each piece as you remove it.  Keep notes of the order pieces are coming off.

Third Step:

Before you put it back together

My tips-

1.  If there is anything you want to change about the wood legs or arms, do it now.  Paint, sand and stain.  Do it before you start putting fabric back on

2. Get all the staples out that you can.  If you can’t get them out pound them in.  You don’t want any sticking out that could snag your fabric or poke you.

3.   Cut out your new fabric pieces and set them in a stack with it’s labeled old fabric piece. Watch which direction your are cutting your fabric, you will want it to all go the same direction.

4.  Add any padding you feel you need.  I added a little on the arms, the seat, and the back.  I bought some heavy quilt batting and used a glue spray to adhere it.

Fourth Step:

Putting it back together

My tips-

1.  Hopefully you took note of how it came off.  Check the last thing on your list and start there.  For me it was the arms and the wings.

2.  Lay your first pieces on.  Check how they are laying and make sure the direction of your fabric is the same on both sides.

3.  Start to staple!  Pull fabric tight!  AND be very careful!!!

4.  If something needs pleats/folds, make sure you are doing the same number of them on both sides of the chair.  Like the front of my chair arms.

There are a lot of tips to give! Yikes!  Too many for one post.  Sooo, to finish your chair click over to

Upholstery Part Two- Tricks of the Trade

to learn the rest.

« Previous Page — Next Page »