Sewing Nook Makeover -- Updates

I'm still working away little by little on the sewing nook makeover.  Most updates are pretty minimal at times, but this weekend I was able to make a few changes that are starting to make it look complete!

The last we saw of this space, the furniture had been put back into place and a lot of storage had been purchased and put to good use.

At this point, it was functional once again, just not quite finished. There were many additional touches I had on the list but some of the major items left included the doors of the china hutch which still needed to be installed and a much needed place to sit -- I'd had enough of the wobbly stool I'd been trying to use. 

After some online / on foot shopping and a few hours of sweat and handy work, my sewing nook is looking like this these days...

Some of the more obvious updates include the new chair...

...ahhh, finally a place to sit!  And yes, those are the puppies behind the chair -- it's nearly impossible to photograph anything without getting some part of them in the picture.  But back to the chair, it's long, lean legs are not resting on just anything...

... they have a super soft place to land on a new rug!  It's definitely less of a necessity, but I'm so so so happy with it and I think it does an amazing job of defining the whole space and tying it all together.  I love the pattern, the color, the feel, the size, EVERYTHING about it is perfect! 

Maybe I'm most excited about it because the rug hunt has not been an easy one -- I first ordered this one from Overstock.com (which now appears to be sold out).

Online, I loved the color and pattern and it's hard to beat $2.95 shipping. But when it arrived and I got it into place, it was all wrong. The color looked more muted and almost dirty, it wouldn't lay completely flat, and it was not at all soft underfoot.  I lost $15 sending it back, but I knew I would not be happy keeping it. And so the rug search continued...

I found the one I ordered at HomeDecorators.com and loved it immediately, but wasn't super happy about the price.  I had really wanted a 5x8 rug since it's pretty much the exact size of the nook, but was willing to order the 4x6 to cut down on cost. I continued to do some looking around, but never found anything I liked as much.  After going back to stare at the picture once again, I lucked out and stumbled upon a 20% off rug sale!  For a craft room, it still wasn't cheap, but it was something.  I decided to do some measuring and contemplating about which size to order, so I waited a few days before making the final decision. When I'd made up my mind and went back to the site, chairs were also 20% off AND there was free shipping for a limited time.  I looked through the seating options, and found the teal beauty you can now find me sitting at every night.  It wasn't what I had originally planned on purchasing, but at 20% off the chair and rug AND free shipping, it made my decision an easy one. With all the savings, I justified the 5x8 rug purchase and patiently waited for my goodies to arrive.

The chair arrived first and has already gotten a ton of use.  Then the rug showed up and as much as I wanted to roll it out immediately, there was one more thing I wanted to do which I feared might make a bit of a mess -- install some new lighting!

What girly crafting area would be complete without a new chandy hanging above?!  This one I found at IKEA and bought immediately because of the great price.  Despite my 10 foot ceiling and very limited knowledge of electrical work, I managed to take down the old, boring light and install this one myself. And even more shocking, it turns on and has not caused a fire -- not yet at least :)  The one thing I still need to do is shorten the cord. This light had a lot of extra length to it. Removing the extra chain lengths was no easy task, but I didn't fear shoty electrical work doing it. Shortening the actual cord, scares me a little more, so I haven't jumped right into that. For now, I just try to ignore all that extra white cord wrapped around and just enjoy the new look and extra light it provides.

The last and slightly less obvious update in the sewing nook are the doors which have been added to the china hutch.

Other than helping me out by cutting back on dust accumulation, it was a pretty minor change but was a long time coming. I dreaded doing it because I needed to remove the paint I got on the glass during the painting phase, redo the hinges/hardware that would show, and hopefully reinstall them so they hung level. 

The paint removal turned out to be pretty easy and just required some scrapping with a box cutter.  The hinge makeover took a little more time, but was also pretty easy and worked better than I thought it would. I started out with some very worn, brass hinges which I wanted to be nickel to match my hardware.  After a fruitless search for something to replace them with, I decided to just try my hand at painting them. I first put all of them in bowls, then let them soak in soapy water, gave them a good scrubbing and let them dry.

I then followed the directions on the Rub 'n Buff package and started to transform each piece.

They are by no means perfect, but since so little of them shows, I think they turned out just fine.  Once they got into place, they blended in perfectly with the new hardware.  Hanging to doors level turned out to be quite a challenge -- one that I'm still working on actually. The middle door is so uneven, it doesn't quite shut. If I have some "ah-ha!" moment where I figure this out, I'll be sure to share. For now, I'm living with the imperfection :)

That's the last of the updates in here for now! Still on the list is to add some color to those plain white boxes, the lamp shade and the cork board. It should be easier to make a decision on those things now that the rug and chair are in place.  Until then, this is where I'll be whenever I have free time...

Happy Monday to everyone! Hope your weekend was equally as productive :)

Sweet Sentiments

I did this project a few months ago for a close friend as a thank-you for helping out during a difficult time. It happened to be close to her anniversary, 10.10.10 -- how cool is that?! -- so I made her and her husband something sweet and personal to help them celebrate their first year of married life.  With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it seemed like an appropriate time to share and hopefully inspire some homemade, sentimental gifts.

Here's what I used to make Katie's Anniversary Art...

*a small frame -- found at Michael's  *a Texas road atlas/map -- which was surprisingly hard to find!  Apparently maps are no longer a necessity with our fancy-schmancy phones these days and when I finally found one on my fourth try, there were just a few left in the clearance section  *card stock of your choice for the background  *date label -- I printed mine on white fabric using freezer paper and my home printer, which I can explain in more detail, but you could simply use a marker, or printer, or stickers, etc.  *thread of your choice *scissors  *glue

First thing I did was cut my background card stock to the appropriate size. I did this by removing the glass from my frame, tracing around it onto the backside of the paper, and simply cutting it out with scissors. Now that I had my background, I could decide how big I wanted my label. I chose to try something new I'd heard about which allows you to use your normal home printer and print right on fabric using freezer paper.  I cut my freezer paper to 8 1/2 x 11 -- standard computer paper size -- and pressed it shiny side down onto the wrong side of my fabric. Then I cut my fabric to the same size and sent it through the printer like it was a piece of paper. Peel of the freezer paper and use your customized fabric however you choose -- in this case, for an anniversary label :)

Since I was using fabric as my label, I wanted a little stitch detail to highlight it.  I secured the fabric label with a very thin layer of glue just to keep it in place and once it was dry, began zig-zag stitching around the edges.

I wanted the stitch length closer than normal and as much thread showing as possible, so I chose these settings on my machine.

I worked my way around the label -- with just a few glitches -- and really loved how it turned out!

Now it was time for my map! Katie and Mike were married in Austin, so I thought it most appropriate to use in their anniversary art :)

I used some leftover card stock to make a heart template -- I didn't trust myself to get a perfect heart on my first try -- and traced it right on the front of my map, centering Austin as best I could.

Next, I cut it out and used glue to adhere it to my card stock.

All that was left was to let it dry, put it in the frame and wrap it up!

Other than hunting down a map, it was such a simple project and has so many possibilities.  Might be a sweet little gift for a special valentine :)

Sewing Nook Makeover -- Planning

Well, I decided to re-sign my lease for another year which means another 14 months in my apartment.  I LOVE my place and am so happy to be staying longer!  Plus, making this decision meant I could feel good about making a few changes I'd been contemplating.

The first thing i did was rearrange my apartment -- AGAIN! I'm somewhat indecisive on a furniture layout, if that wasn't obvious already.  It's back to the way it was from the very beginning with a few additions, but all that is for another post and another day. For now, know that it looks mostly like this once again.

Once the furniture swap was done, I set my sights on the sewing nook. I've been spending a LOT more time is this area lately, especially right before Christmas whipping up some gifts to give. It was becoming more and more obvious that the space was not working out so well anymore.  

Now that I'm able to complete things more quickly and starting more projects, I'm running out of room to store fabrics and things I typically use while sewing. Because of this, I have stuff stored in here, in my closet, in my bedroom, and random nooks and crannies around the apartment. It's exhausting trying to remember where each and every little thing is.  I am an extremely organized person and even I was struggling to keep up with where things were. It was clear, I needed more storage so everything could be in one place.

I remembered an old china hutch from my Dad's family that was being stored in a spare bedroom upstairs at my parent's house. We once used it in our 'craft room' at home to store things like glue, paper, scissors, markers, paint, etc. so I knew it could be easily transformed into a storage center for my sewing and random bits of crafting things. Lucky for me, my parents weren't at all torn about letting me have it. So, I did some quick measuring and it is an absolute perfect fit for my sewing nook -- I just needed to uproot the puppies' corner.

If you remember, a few months ago, I started a crate makeover to get this area looking more presentable while holding onto the much needed crates. I got this far, and haven't done anything since -- I'm also terribly indecisive when it comes to picking fabrics.



Since I never finished the makeover and the crates are portable, I wasn't too heartbroken to move them elsewhere. I'm still not ready to take those crates down permanently, so they have a new home in the living room -- and now that they're more visual, hopefully I will finally make a decision on some fabric and get them looking better! So, with the crates out of the way, I had room for my new storage.  Only problem, I wasn't happy with the current look of the hutch.  I loved the lines and shape of it, but wasn't crazy about the wood color, the knobs or the condition it was in. So, I decided it would need a new coat of paint -- luckily, my parents were also fine with me giving it a little makeover.

Knowing I was going to paint it, I started to think up a whole sewing/craft nook design scheme.  I thought the hutch would be most versatile in white -- here and later when I move -- so with that decision made, I started to figure out the rest of the area and landed on something like this...

I decided on a teal, yellow and grey color scheme so I could use a lot of what I already have and add in some cheerful pops of yellow. I picked out the grey as an additional 'neutral' so everything, including the walls, aren't white. The hutch pictured is similar to what I have inherited and will be white with a very subtle grey and white fabric background. There are three shelves in it and I plan to fill them with the grey and white storage containers (from The Container Store) along with some other pops of teal and yellow.  My black desk is being made over to a light grey similar to the one above and I would love a whilte lamp base with yellow shade to sit on top. The curtains are already teal and plan to stay. I haven't decided on a desk chair or a rug, but am searching for similar items to the ones above. The rest of the pops of teal, yellow and grey will be some fun accesories I have around and a few I've already found on random shopping trips.  Also, since the hutch has room for sewing stuff and more, I plan to store anything and everything that helps me be crafty and have therefore dubbed this little area my Craft Nook :)

Now, to make it happen... I have begun painting the hutch white and did manage to makeover my black desk to a pretty light grey and added some fun yellow knobs.  It's been slow, but I think it will be well worth it when I can have all my stuff in one place! For now though -- and all weekend -- back to painting!

Happy Friday!

Christmas Crafting

With the cold, dark nights creeping in so early these days, my desire to stay in most evenings has given me tons of time to cross a few quick and simple projects off my craft to-do list -- aka my 'craftiness' board on Pinterest. First up, some Christmas Coasters and Ornaments.

These two were super simple and I was able to do them while watching a Christmas movie after work one night. Allow me to demonstrate my process with the following equation:

Object with a smooth top + Pretty Scrapbook Paper + Mod Podge = Christmas Ornaments and Christmas Coasters

It doesn't get much easier than that! Okay, so a little more detail...

For the coasters, all you need are bathroom tiles -- I got mine for 16 cents at Home Depot,-- scrapbook paper, and mod podge.  I also added some cork to the back of mine so they would look more finished and not scratch one another, but that is totally optional. To make them, simply cut your paper slightly smaller than your tile, add mod podge to the back of paper and smooth onto the tile. I took a pencil -- or any other smooth object near by -- and ran it from top to bottom to get all the air bubbles out. After they dried for 20ish minutes, I added a layer of mod podge over the top to 'seal' them. Then, after they've completely dried you can cut cork board to the proper size and add to the back. And you're done -- rest your favorite drink on them and enjoy!

The ornaments followed the same process except that I used wooden letters from Hobby Lobby and painted them a subtle champagne color before adding the scrapbook paper. Once they were dry, I traced the letter onto my paper, cut it out and did the same process with the mod podge. I also signed the back so I'd remember who they were for and when they were made, added some ribbon to pretty them up, and hung them on the tree!

I also made a couple that I added to presents to make the gift a little more fun and personal.  They're so simple, there's still plenty of time before Christmas to make a few!