Refinished Owl Stool

I picked up this stool at a yard sale last summer for a few bucks. It was the perfect size for Jayce and just needed a little glue, paint, and something else that I just couldn’t put my finger on.

I had a few little paint sample pints leftover from when we painted the living room, and one of them was a nice light sage color. I scraped the paper off of the top of the stool, sanded it a little and painted the whole thing.

One of the things that I have finally come to terms with, despite many failed attempts, is that I cannot draw or paint. I can, however, cut things out of paper. So I took my scrapbook paper, and made these little owls.

I glued the pieces onto the stool with Mod Podge. When that dried I did another thin layer on top to seal the paper, and then sprayed the whole thing with a few coats of polyurethane to seal and protect it.

Jayce seems to like it, though I would guess that I like it better than he does. (I’m very proud of my little owls!) But when I first showed it to him, he smiled, pointed to the owls and hooted at me, so that counts as him liking it. Furthermore, this project only cost me $4 for the little pad of paper, and I have tons left over to use again!

Have a great week!!

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Little Man Tie Applique

I have been itching to get my hands on a little tie t shirt for my son for forever now. (I blame Tiffany mostly, who has made a few adorable versions for her adorable son and I've been drooling over them ever since.) So when I got myself a sewing machine, I rushed out and picked out several different fabrics to make a perfect little tie t shirt. Unfortunately, the sewing machine has still never been turned on, (because of a missing bobbin holder), but with an upcoming beach vacation I decided that desperate times called for desperate measures, and I would just try to figure something out.

There are probably other tutorials on tie t shirt making, but I thought I'd share how I made mine with you today.

First, I got myself some Wonder Under at Hobby Lobby, and the lady assured me that it would turn any piece of fabric into an applique. Perfect!!

I made a little template for my ties by folding a piece of paper in half length-wise, sketching a little tie shape, cutting it out and holding it up to holding it up to one of my son's shirts, and then trimming it a bit until I was happy with the length and width.

I put my template underneath the Wonder Under, traced an outline on the smooth side of the paper, and cut out my little tie shape. I then put it underneath my fabric (rough side up), and ironed it on.

I trimmed the tie shape out of the fabric with the adhesive paper still attached. I then peeled off the paper...

placed the tie knot under the collar of the t shirt, covered it with a damp rag and ironed it for about 10 seconds.  I then finished by doing the same with the tie tail.

Easy and so cute!!

Once it was finished, I was so in love that I decided to try out my other fabrics too, just to give him some summertime options. Then I thought it would be cute if he had a little "The Killers" inspired skinny black tie. So I made...a few.

How many tie t shirts does one little boy need? As many as his mom feels like making!! And as many as will max out the solid colored t shirts in the house, luckily some are a size up so we can keep a few tie t shirts in his wardrobe for a year or so now. :)

I did try out a few different iron on fabric adhesives in this project, and the short run down on those is, the Wonder Under (both regular and strong hold) both will need further stitching to secure the applique, and are great options for some of the fabrics that would look adorable with detail stitching, especially in a complimentary color. For a complete no-sew option, the strongest fabric adhesive I tried was Heat N Bond's Ultra Hold.

Have fun with this! Especially if your little guy starts striking all sorts of smoldering Ralph Lauren-esq poses when the camera is out! :)

Is there a little guy in your life who needs a tie t shirt? Did you love one of these fabrics? These appliques, and a few others, are all available in my etsy shop here, with either light or strong adhesive options.

Here are some fun link parties to check out as well.

Have a great week and see you next Monday!

 

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Radio Flyer Big Boy Room

Will moved into his big boy room almost a year ago exactly to make room for his new sister (born in August). Since the extra bedroom was already painted taupe with a deep red accent wall (which we were not at all interested in re-painting!), we thought a Radio Flyer room would be perfect. You may remember my 1st blog post about his Radio Flyer 1st birthday party, so we already had lots of accessories to use. You might be thinking that is a really long bed--you're right, it's actually an extra long bed. The bed and dresser are hand-me-downs from my grandmother. It's nice to have free furniture still in good shape!

I used large pictures from Will's Radio Flyer birthday party along his bed wall. I found these red boxes at Target to hold toys and books. I found this last picture on Etsy--I couldn't resist! I loved the characteristic of a sketch drawing.

I bought this wooden wagon at a garage sale and decided it was a great home for his stuffed animals.

I couldn't find a bedspread I liked, so my father-in-law did some checking and found this wagon fabric online. Since I don't really sew (I can somewhat if I don't have to thread the machine), I asked my mom to help make a duvet cover. First, after finding 2 red flat sheets (let me tell you it's not easy to find just plain extra long flat sheets), we sewed on the wagon fabric to the top sheet. Then we sewed the 2 flat sheets together and left the end open. We used velcro so we could put the duvet cover inside. It works perfectly for his bed.

Will got a mini chair from Pottery Barn Kids one year for Christmas, so that fit nicely in his little corner. I used his wagon sweater from his 1st birthday to hang next to a wagon ball cap on coat hangers. Will received a little wagon as a gift, so I sat that on his dresser. Needless to say, he enjoys his little reading area, especially with his Radio Flyer book.

This is probably my most favorite spot in his room: his desk. My handy husband bought these shelves from IKEA and hung them in this corner to make a desk. I added some special touches with favorite pictures, a vintage wagon suitcase, a jar with his Lincoln Logs, another mini wagon with books and his piggy bank, and crayons--we keep those in his room under supervision so we don't end up with crazy colors all over his walls!

As you can see, this is a great little place just for him!

Thanks for coming to check out my little man's room! Have a great weekend!

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