Bunkie Board Make Over

 Okay, I would totally show a before of what this bunkie board looked like before Emi and I re-did it. But, quite frankly it was gross, beaten up and just a plain old mess.  If you don't know what a bunkie board is...well it is the board that lays over the slats of the bunk bed and the mattress sits on top of it.

Emi cut away the old gross fabric. 

Here is what it looks like all cleaned up. It is ready to be covered. 

After putting our extra helpers outside it was time to get the fabric out. Which I got for free. It was curtain liner from some old movie theater curtains that were given to me. I cut them apart and saved the liners. I just knew they would come in handy one day. 

I laid it all out then laid the naked bunkie board on top. 

No stable gun here! I had to find another way to attach the fabric. I used small nails. They worked fabulously. 

Here I am taking my time going around pulling the fabric snug. 

Viola', it is finished. Just needed a little trimming of the excess fabric. Which was easy to do. 

Here it is all done and ready to go! Like I have said before. I would show you the finished bed, but I am going to save the revel for later when the room is done. Happy Hump Day! 

Childhood Bed Makeover

This was one of my weekend projects that I did with my daughter Emi. This is her first bed after sleeping in a crib. It is the bottom bed of a bunk bed. We decided to give it a grown up look. We used grey spray paint to give the whole bed a base coat. 

Then we laid lace over the areas we wanted to give texture. I bought half a yard for 2.50 at Walmart.  Next time I would have bought a bigger piece. Because after spray painting over the same area 3 times, there is a little bleed through of spray paint in areas I did not want it to bleed. It all still turned out just fine. We used back spray paint for this process. 

It looks darker when wet. It does lighten up when dry. 

We love how it looks! Wish I could show you what the bed looks like all put together. That show in tell will just have to wait until the big reveal of her room. Which could take a few weeks. I am now a weekend warrior or DIY'er. There is so much more to do, and share. 

Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to show the bunkie board make over. We redid the whole bed. I loved ever min of it. Great way to relax over the weekend. 

Vist To Salt Lake City

My sister and her cute family came to Utah for a visit.

During her visit we got to do many fun, fun things together.

One being a chance to ride the new Trax train in our area. 

We rode up to Salt Lake City, from Lehi. It was a blast. 

We went to temple square. 

Then to the City Creek Center. 

Never been before. 

My first thought, was this could be  Horton Plaza in Downtown San Diego. 

Same feel. 

Oh,  I love out door malls. 

Most of all I was amazed at the tall, tall buildings. 

Architecturally speaking, I was impressed enough to take a few photos.

It was such a fun way to spend a day. 

Bonus, Bradley was totally worn out. 

So, you know our evening was very chillaxed. 

Placemats

 I simply love hanging out and pinning all my favorite Pinterest inspired projects.

Instead of just pinning all those great ideas, I thought it was time to start giving some of those ideas a try. First idea up: Fridge Mats. Which really are placemats in the fridge. They make those nasty spills a little easier to deal with. My placemats are very special. They come from a day of thrift shopping and only cost me $1.50 for 6. Mine are so fun, they are miss matched. Which might bother some people. But, for now they work nicely as is. My favorite are the sun flowers. I will keep my eye out for some that will match my sun flowers a little better as I yard sale and thrift shop. Just this small little change has made my fridge more organized and easier to clean.

Jean Rag Quilt

Here it is! 

 It is heavy, which is a great comfort to Bradley. I have been wanting to create a weighted quilt for him, for sometime. I have read that children with autism like pressure or to have heavy things on them. This seems to be the case with Bradley, he loves to carry heavy things, and hold heavy objects. Anyway, no matter what the reasons behind this quilt were to make it. Bradley loves it! That is all that matters. It seems to give him some great comfort when he goes to bed. Bonus, I made it and filled it with my love. 

This was one of the toughest quilts I have ever sewn on or made. 

It was just awkward to sew the long strips together. 

Front Side

Back Side

Bed Spray Painted Pumpkin Orange

The weather has been to windy to do any kind of spray painting. But, finally this weekend  I just took a chance and went for it. This is one project we have been anxiously waiting to get done.  We (as in Bradley and I ) pulled the bed outside into the back yard. Grabbed our cans of pumpkin spray paint.

Here is what happens when you allow a 10 year old to spray paint a bed frame. 

Ya, get a few drips that totally capture his heart and he decides that is the new look of the bed. 

Later, when the bed is "suppose to be drying",  I sneak back outside to do a little touch up. 

Which he then thinks it"s amazing what has happened while it was drying.

 "Hey, mom you can't see the drips as much now that it is dry".

When he first told me that he wanted the hand me down bed to be painted  pumpkin orange I was a tad unsure if that was such a great idea. In the end I think it looks great. I have a plan to make those hearts disappear. Can't wait to show off what I am going to do. But,  ya have to wait. Bummer!!!

Once it was dry and had time to set. Bradley helped me carry it back into his room and put it back together. Right now he is sleeping very happily on it. After all he thinks that changing the color makes the bed sleep better. Oh, the new quilt I made looks amazing! Another, ya gonna have to wait moment. 

It delighted my heart to get this bed painted over the weekend. It gave me a chance to take my mind off other things that are happening right now. If by chance you want to see my design plans for this bedroom, go here. 

! 

Jean Apron

Well, I book marked this pattern over 2 years ago. Finally, I got a chance to make it and I love it. If you click over and look at the pattern. You will notice that I left off the pocket. I was not fond of the pocket. So, I left it off. 

(note: it is late at night when I modeled for this photo and I never like having my photo taken. I also needed to mop the floor from all the snowy boots that walk through my kitchen from the garage during the day. But, I decided to sew before doing it. Bad on me for not mopping up before taking a photo for this post. So, forgive my imperfections.) 

I had already sewn the jean legs together to make the apron when I realized that I for got to take photos. 

 Once I pinned the waist ban on, it seemed like sewing the rest of the apron when pretty quick. It took a total of 2 hours, with interruptions included,  to make this apron. 

Ironed it flat. 

Then pinned my ties on. Which I made our of bias tape. I made everything from scraps that I had. The idea of spending money did not thrill me. So, this cost me nothing but time. 

Finally I was almost done. Checking the clock to make sure I stopped to get children tucked into bed. I had this all pinned on the way I wanted. Not much ruffle! 

Top stitched to give a nice finish. 

Done! 

Honestly, if you want to make one go here, Lucy of My Byrd House gives great instructions, they are easy to follow and I am grateful that she shared this fun pattern. It was fun to make! I won't be keeping it, I will be giving it away. 

How To Make Toilet Paper Flowers

My weekend has been a tad stressful. Crafting for me is therapy. Believe me I needed some Sunday therapy after one of my worst nightmares as mother happened. Late Saturday night as we were just getting ready to go to bed, Hubby and I received a phone call from our son letting us know that he was in a car accident. Police were on their way and the car would need to be towed. We were just grateful that he and his girlfriend were going to be fine. It caused a little stress for us on today. As I type and show off my lovely creations, I am totally relaxed finally. 

HOW TO MAKE TOILET PAPER FLOWERS: 

Pre-cut the toilet paper rolls 1/2 inch thick or so. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Personally, I have a shoe box full of lids from all kinds of drink bottles. I know, what a weird thing to collect. For this project I preferred using water bottle lids. But, I think any kind of lid would work just fine. 

Then I like to plan my flowers before hot gluing them together. It really is a time saver to match up 4 -5 flowers at a time. If you are at all like me, time is very precious/limited and needs to be used wisely. 

Glue carefully please, as blistered fingers are not fun. I had a couple of close calls. 

Place hot glue around the edge of the lid you decided to use. Careful once again of your fingers. 

Viola'! You have a flower ready for some color. (spray paint)

 I do make a 5 petal and a 4 petal flowers. Just to have a little variation. 

Here is a 4 petal flower. Which looks just as fun as the 5 petal one does. 

Here is a peek at the madness taking place on my dinning table. 

One of my kiddo's came along while I was taking care of something else, and organized my bottle caps. It made me giggle when I saw it. 

Can't wait to show off what they look like all painted and hung up in my bedroom. 

Such great therapy! What do you do to relax when you have stress happening?