Soda crate plate rack

Is anyone else sick of those black iron plate racks? And in all of my scourings of magazines and blogs, I haven't really found very many good ideas I could steal for plate racks. My sister suggested using an old crate but my space was too small for that. Then I remembered these old soda crates were in my garage. I found them at a garage sale in Gilbert for $15 for all 3 (the other one is being used as a planter in my front yard). I used staples to hold the plates in place and screwed the crates directly onto the wall.

Blue chairs

Before

Here are the blue chairs I wanted to refinish. I got them off craigslist, of course, but didn't like the color blue they were sporting. When I started sanding them, I found they had once been black, red, green, yellow and then the original wood. Needless to say, I gave up on that and just slapped yet another coat of cream paint on the top followed by some stain.
After

I wanted them to be very neutral so I reupholstered the seats in some muslin and made these covers for the back. I am thinking about painting a design or some numbers on the back like I saw on someone's blog. What do you guys think?

"Manly" window treatments

My husband has been gone so long on this deployment it kinda feels like a man never even lived here. Especially because I've been adding so many floral things lately. So in honor of him coming home for leave in 3 weeks and 3 days (not that I'm counting), I decided to add a more masculine design to our dining room window treatments.

I wanted the project to be as simple as possible, including the number of stores it took to purchase the materials. So off I went to home depot where I got everything I needed. 10 L brackets, the wood, dark walnut stain, rope, and canvas drop cloths.

My kids LOVED it because they got to help a lot with this project. I cut pine 1x8's and gave them each a hammer and a baseball bat. They spent tons of energy beating up the wood so it would look more distressed before I stained them with dark walnut stain. The fabric is one canvas painters drop cloths cut in half and stapled on the back of the wood. I wanted it to be just long enough to cover the blinds when they're pulled up but not block out too much light.

Dining table

Before


After


I got this round dining table from my sister, Tara. She had been using it as a work table in her studio and I wanted a smaller one for my kitchen. I painted it off white and sanded it down. I really wanted to find some clock chargers to set the table with but couldn't really find them. Plus, it would be just one more thing my kids could throw on the ground. So I used my sisters idea and just painted them directly on the table where I would have put the chargers. I used different sized tupperware lids to draw the circles on and used the clock above my mantle as the design. Then I used provincial stain all over the cream and spray painted lacquer on the top so I could wipe it easier. Yes it took forever. Yes my hand is still kinda cramping. But I think it was worth it don't you?
I painted the leaf as well but I still have to refinish 2 chairs and do a little sewing before I put it in. Come back to see the final product!

shelf reborn

Easter Project

Before

Well, I went with the second fabric choice. I needed a project to do while I was watching 8 hours of t.v. (LDS General Conference) so I decided to recover Pattens car seat. Instead of doing a big bulky slipcover using 2 yards of elastic, I just seam ripped the old car seat, used it as a pattern for the new one and sewed it together. The old one was grungy and sun faded and had to go. I hope he doesn't have to go into counseling when he's older because there were flowers on his car seat. That way I can use it for the girl I'll probably never get again.
After




Tara here, as well. I was cleaning out my picture folders and found the last carseat that Nikki recovered as well, so I'm posting it as sort of a post-script.

Carseat Fabric

It's about time to start getting things ready for the baby. And as per tradition, I am recovering the hideous carseat I have for Patten. But I haven't decided on the fabric I want to do, so I thought I'd leave it open for a vote. I like them both equally, so whichever one gets the most votes, that's what I'll do.

The first is a vintage school print with blue and cream polka dots.

The second is a pretty ornate pattern with green polka dots. I wasn't sure if because it had flowers in it, it would be too girly for a boy. What do you think?