everyday lovely: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wednesday Walkabout (in a pink dress)

Loving my girlie in this favorite dress.

Loving those little, happy feet.

And that little tongue.

Oh, and this little man very much, too.

Loving these remaining barefoot, sundress days.

{Linking to What I Love Wednesday}

Monday, August 29, 2011

Pretty Chairs All in a Row {A Seat Cover Tut}

A couple years ago my sweet mother-in-law passed along this set of four chairs.

Here's one of them in the cover she put on herself a good while back.

It was time for a bit of a change, especially when it needn't cost much change. ;) I found this fabric on Clearance at Hobby Lobby for $10 a yard. I love this fabric - it has kind of a sweet, traditional, almost vintage feel that seems work naturally with the look of the chair.

Only needed one yard for the four chairs. Also needed a heavy duty staple gun, kindly lent by Sister and Andy.

Taking off the old upholstery was as simple as turning the chair over and taking out the screws holding it down. Then I just pulled up the fabric (with my hands but pliers would be helpful). Then I used the old piece of upholstery as a template for cutting the new.

The batting was still in good enough shape, but you could easily add or replace a layer of cotton or poly batting if needed.

Here it is stapled all around. Be sure to pull it snugly about the sides.

Then fitted back on the chairs, with screws back in.

I was so surprised with how easy this project was. Why, oh why, didn't I do this long ago?
My sweetheart even pronounced that it's my best DIY project to date... not sure what that says about my previous efforts, but I'll take the compliment!

See other simple-lovely tutorials {HERE}

{Linking to Tip Me Tuesday , Blue Cricket Design, Bowl Full of Lemons
Just a Girl, Funky Junk Interiors}

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Wear-Ever Lovely Wherever

Found this Wear-Ever pitcher and tray at a garage sale the other week. $5 for both.

I'm not so sure about using the pitcher other than for a vase those as Wear-Ever is made of Aluminum. Anyone know if this would be a good idea?

I love using the tray for serving - like here at the twin's party .

(Yes, I know I just showed you this picture - promise this is the last time :)

And on an unrelated note, has anyone had a perfectly ripe peach lately?

These are some organic lovelies that Sister shared with me and they. are. heaven.

I had quite forgotten something this wonderfully sweet grew on trees.

Hope you had a lovely-sweet weekend!

{Linking to Southern Hospitality & Life Made Lovely}

Saturday, August 27, 2011

A Tidy Cup & Plate Cabinet

Here's one of the first spaces I went after this first week of my 20 Day Challenge:

My Plate & Cup Cabinet.

You can read about the challenge {HERE}.

{Before}

Quite jumbled.

{After}

Nice and neat, with some attention to taking heavier things off of lower shelves and making things look as pleasing as possible, of course.

{My Bag}

These are the things I'm getting rid of.

First a couple random plates that were inhibiting neat plate stacks.

And some compote bowls that never get used...at least I think I'm ready to get rid of them!

Also my last 5 wedding glasses. I can't remember if I started out with 8...or 12, but they've broken really easily and I don't really need to keep around 5 random glasses that I'm likely to shatter at any moment. Replacing them with - wait for it - Mason Jars. Pretty classy, right? But ever since using them from the twin's party, I've been pretty smitten.

So there's my little update - off to tackle another space and toss another bag!

Friday, August 26, 2011

What I Came Away With & Friday Miscellany

Thank you much for all your kind well wishes for our first IKEA adventure. Of course, I loved IKEA, and we had so much fun, as Sister said, it was "better than any kind of entertainment".

Fortunately since we went on a weekday the crowd wasn't too bad at all, but it was still a bit of a shopping/sensory overload - so much to see, and take in, and consider!

I didn't come away with much in my bag...but plenty of possibilities in my head!

Here's what did make it in my bag. So happy about this blanket - pretty for the bedroom but especially great as a prop for baby pictures. ($20)

Sweetest little timers for $1.99 - these are for my kiddos. They love funny little things like this and will carry them around for days.

Also these dish towels for 79 cents a piece. These will be a simple, fresh addition to my kitchen linens
(and replace some stained, busy towels).

Oh, and a little chocolate managed to make it's way in as well.

Quite the bar of yum for 99 cents.

Oh! it was such a wonderful day out!

Now enter today refreshed and zealous for housework, husband, and little people. :)

Have one more thing to show you, and a 20 Bags in 20 Days update I'll add later today.

Are you making some progress too? Of course, it's not too late to start!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Girls Day Out + IKEA

Tomorrow I not only get to have the day out with my mom and sister - BIG FUN - I also get to go to IKEA - for the first time ever! Just opened this month an hour away.

Not that I really have a clue about what I should or could be looking for at IKEA.

I'm not sure I'm hip enough for IKEA.

Though if this little cabinet number is a taste of more to come, I think we'll get along well enough.

Also found this Ikea image via Pinterest.

How cute are these little shoe cupboards?!

But I don't think I'll be doing any major purchasing

... maybe a little something like this,

Or this.

Or maybe some of this fun organizing type stuff?

Eh, probably I'll mostly be going for the IKEA experience - I hear it's something else.
Do you have any favorite IKEA buys??

Mainly it will just be a superb treat to be out with my mom and Sister and have ourselves some girl fun - So Excited! and many kisses of gratitude to my sweetheart...who will so kindly take care of our little people.

xoxoxo

{Linking to What I Love Wednesdays}

Monday, August 22, 2011

Where the Birdies Perched

Last week I wrote about these sweet little bird paper clips -

- from a thoughtful friend.

This week I put them up on some ribbon (my favorite ribbon), draped about the mirror by our back entry.

I'm working to tweak this whole little entry area, but power tool issues - actually just basic measuring inability - kept me from finishing. Hopefully, I'll show you pics later this week.

For now here's the mirror.

I printed out some black & white pics with a "Polaroid" frame of sorts (a "frame" option Picnik offers). Walgreens cropped of the sides. Silly Walgreens.

Ah well, the effect is close enough to what I was going for -

Polaroid-like, happy photo display with birdies to boot.

{Linking to Bowl Full of Lemons & Funky Junk Interiors}

I Like Pink

- very much indeed.

So imagine how tickled I was to find that this favorite brand of hand soap now comes in pink "grapefruit" scent.

Isn't the bottle so lovely?

I've written about this exceptionally prettily bottled soap before. My Target sells the whole line and often there's $1 off coupons available, making it a sweet gift for a friend's or your own kitchen or bath for $3.

It lasts a good while, smells so delish and looks lovely to boot.

{Note: this is not a paid advertisement ;) }

Oh, and the Challenge Starts Today! Quite exciting.

Friday, August 19, 2011

New Challenge and Bit of Miscellany

First a pretty picture:

That ceiling color is perfection. Love the blue with the mustard shades.

Now, where have I seen these colors before? Ah yes, my boy's room inspiration colors... really going to get going on that project soon!

Also isn't this the loveliest, pretty shirt? Selling way too quickly over at Old Navy of all the wonderful, reasonable places.

Recent favorite pic of my little people.

Also, completely smitten with this fabric - where oh where can it be found??

And yes, I am giving myself a new challenge:

You may have read about the 40 Day, 40 Bags of Unloveliness Challenge I gave myself last Spring.

And you may have read that I didn't quite complete the challenge.

However, the challenge did get me focused and actively doing something about the messy, disorderly, unlovely, no-good-dirty parts of my home. And I learned Two Things that I hope will make me more successful this time around. Thing #1 is to Break Down Bigger Tasks Into Small 20 Minute or so Tasks. I did this with somethings - like when I listed a particular drawer "Cup Drawer" in the kitchen instead of just listing "Kitchen Cabinets". And those were the fun days. But I got into trouble when I listed things like "Twin's Closet" and "Pantry" - got completely bogged down when faced with those tasks. So this time I'm breaking it down, keeping it simple, minimal.

And if I feel like I can breeze through Two Days on my list instead of just One because they're "so easy", well then, I will just get to feel like a bonefide-ahead-of-the game-Superwoman!

The other change is that I'm going for a 20 Day instead of 40 Day Challenge, because I apparently have a short attention span and 40 days was just far too many days for me to keep up my focus, momentum and enthusiasm. So, I'm opting to celebrate having completed a 20 day challenge in 20 days and then start up a fresh spankin' new 20 Day Challenge directly after, rather than hang my head in shame on day 60 of my 40 Day Challenge. ;)

Pretty much I'm trying to make this a fail-proof deal. ;)

So, without further ado, my List of 20 spaces to clean, organize, declutter - and toss out the bag!