One Hour

smile letterpress poster by roll and tumble press

There are many things that can be accomplished in one hour. A massage. A car accident. A chapter in a thrilling novel. A friendship destroying fight. A batch of homemade cookies. A vandal who decides to break your car windows. A mysterious envelope on your doorstep filled with money. A pile of vomit on your freshly cleaned carpets by a dog that sneaked homemade cookies...

paper pompoms by partypoms

But in this hour, I decided to give my bed a makeover. Yesterday, my absolutely stupendeous sister in law came over to my house and helped me organize my room/craftacular disaster of a space. That most definately did not take only one hour... I love my little craft and jewelry and hair businesses on the side, but storing all of the STUFF that goes with them can get a little daunting, and we really needed our room to be a bedroom again.

before

So, in my one hour, I put the little one down for a nap, I spread a posterboard on a blanket with paint for my toddler to occupy him, and I got out my paint. Just plain ole Apple Barrel acrylic craft paint in white. I mixed a little water on it for a nice thin (not watery) consistency that would be thicker than a white wash, but not as thick as a nice layered coat of paint.

after

The headboard paint job was easy, no primer, no sanding (though so some light sanding would be better first). I just cleaned it well and let it dry, then did one light coat, let it dry and then put another light coat on top. I love how it turned out!

The mirror also got a fresh coat of black paint. (Though I need to replace this with something else... I do have a larger mirror I could use or perhaps a portrait? Ideas, anyone?

unsigned vintage portrait via ebay I neeeeed this!

I shopped my house for some pillows to bulk up the bed. Ahhhh so much nicer! I still have lots of plans for this room, but this one little step (and the hours of organizing yesterday) helped the vision become possible.

My Aunt who is an amazing professional seamstress (she has worked on movie sets costuming even), made me all of my glorious pillow slipcovers you see on my bed. She has an Etsy shop of little girls dresses, and all sorts of goodies, so check her out at Twigs.

reversible pinafore top by twigs boutique

Once I am ready for my living room reveal, you will be able to see the other pillows she made for me. Yeah, I can hardly wait!

See more diy projects at A Soft Place to Land's linky party.

Damask Lampshade Slipcover How To

The Shabby Nest inspired me to post this project I did the other day for her Frugal Friday Linky Party.

I wanted a new look for my lamp, but I really love the shade. Every other lamp covering tutorial required sewing a slipcover (I don't sew), or required desecrating the shade with copious amounts of glue. I love glue, but like I said, I wanted a cheap and easy way to update my shade without altering it.

Above is a quick before shot from my Spring Decorating post

I got a yard of fabric and used iron on hem tape on the very bottom (ignore the top). To know how much material you need, measure the bottom circumference of the lampshade. You will need the same amount, maybe an inch or so more just to be safe.

I flipped over my lampshade and used small pins to attach the hem-taped part to the rim of the lamp. NOTE- if you are wanting to use fringe, sandwich it between the fabric and lampshade during this part.

 Next, I pulled up the fabric and cut it a couple of inches above the top of the lamp. I just pulled and softly pleated the fabric, folded it over the edge of the top of the lamp and pinned away until all was in place.























Ta da! Now, I have a lovely damask shade with a bold pattern and soft pleats that only cost me a few dollars.

I took a .50 cent garage sale mirror, splashed on a fresh coat a paint and gave my new lamp of reflection window. I take a matching fabric (that I found for sale in the remnants section at Joanns), and tape it to the inside windows of my television cabinet to tie my new fabric in the room. Photos of that coming soon!

 

While on my hunt for lampshade ideas, I happened upon this gorgeous shade project from Alchemy Fine Living. The creator has an Etsy shop, BrickBasement. Bedazzle your shade frame with fabric and ribbon shards, photos and other baubles for a truly smashing look.

Now, because I want to infuse more art into my home, I am going to print off a couple of *free* (personal use only) prints from A Print A Day! Go check Yasmine's site out, tons of cute stuff.
 

 

ps. ways to keep your toddler entertained while you do this quick project: