What a Wednesday!

So I think my new productive day is Wednesday. After work, I finished the nightstand YAY!!!!!!!!! But then kept going and put my bed together at my parent's place and attached my fabulous headboard, and then moved onto making some of the throw pillows for my bed! This took me about 5hours, and by the time I got home, I was soooo super tired I went to bed (hence the Wednesday title on Thursday).

For organizational and chronological purposes, I'll enlighten you all about my headboard and throw pillows in this separate post (we all know we like an organized blog). So stay tuned for my Nightstand Part Three post, but refresh yourselves on Part One and Part Two in the meantime!

I went to Joann's Fabric and I bought the fabric for the headboard and some throw pillows, and also got a few pillow forms. I want my bed to look like it should be in a magazine, that is my ultimate goal, I think it's doable.. right?

I already recovered the headboard, but just had to attach it to the bedframe. All you have do to is screw on two posts, and then bolt the posts to the bedframe. Super easy! Also, I recommend adding felt pads or something on the posts so it won't scratch the walls.

It looks even better with a real bed with it, see?!

My total cost of the HeadBoard was $19.23, which was the cost of the the Fabric. I know that's expensive for just fabric, but it's thick upholstery material and my only expense. A new headboard would have cost at least $100, so I think I made out on the deal.

Moving onto pillows:
I had two oversized pillows I bought from Linens and Things when it was going out of business, but they don't match anything I have and will not match anything in my new room. So I decided to take them and make new pillows! I bought the fabric at Joann's on clearance (cause I love a bargain) to make it match my new bedroom decor.

So the pillows from Linen's and Things look like this:

and I made one into the pillows on either end:

**The gray on the end has a pink backing**


The two pillow forms now look like this (close up):

I still have one of the big pink pillows to transform, but I need more fabric, so that will come soon!

Cost Breakdown of my 4 new throw pillows:
Two pillow forms (on sale): $8.48
Gray rosette fabric (on sale): $3
Pink Fabric (on sale): $1.75
Leftover Headboard fabric: $0
Filling from old pillows: $0

Total cost for 4 Pillows: $13.23 which equals $3.31 per pillow!! Throw pillows at cost are usually at minimum $12 each! What a deal! It was SO easy to make the pillows too!

All you have to do is lay the fabric together so it'll look inside out, and stitch (by hand or machine, I used machine, WAY easier) a straight line down. I went over each corner a few times just to make sure it wouldn't come apart. Then pull the pillow right side out, and insert the pillow/stuffing. To seal the pillow, stuff it partially then stitch the majority of the top, finish stuffing it, then seal it off. Again I go over the corners to make sure it won't come apart. And Voila, pillows!

Please note my Facebook FanPage "Autumn Mae's Road to the Big Day" please 'like' it on Facebook!

Stay tuned. Stay crafty and stay excited for the big reveal of the nightstand!!

Headboard and Hardwork!

In my quest to re-do my room, I decided I needed to re-cover the fabric headboard I have. My parents made it for me (see where I get my crafty-ness from?) when they re-did my room when I was 12. It looked great, but the fabric isn't really matching anything I'm going for now, plus it's old, a little ripped and it's just time for a change.. hence my whole room re-decoration project!

Here's the before picture!

Now I had help from my parents, which I'm grateful for. I had my ideas about how I was going to recover it, but their experience with the fabric headboard helped. I started ripping off the fabric, but it turned out that the fabric I bought could go right over the old, and you can't see it at all! Perfect cause ripping off the old fabric was a total pain in the.. you know where. Now, I was going tack on the new fabric from the bottom, and then do the two sides and finish with the top. It was easier to do the sides, so that way the pattern can be set straight on the headboard. Then I did the bottom and doing the top last worked great so I can fix any wrinkles, bunches, whatever.

TIP: Find a thick fabric, using upholstery would be best! This will hold together all the badding, but also hold up against the wear and tear it'll go through. TIP: Try using an industrial stapler, you need something that will go into the wood and hold it all together. A hammertack was too much to try and swing it while holding the headboard. It proved to be a dangerous situation. TIP: Lay it out across the front and try to make sure the pattern (if any) is straight, or how ever you want it.

Now to the top. Because of the heart shape, it was pretty hard for me to love this project. Also I was facing the back the whole time, so I couldn't see my work coming together but that also made the reveal even better!

Anyway. It was pretty difficult to get the fabric smoothed out over curve and not have it bunch together in the center. So I tacked the top of each curve, then snipped the fabric at the center and stapled it from the top of each curve and worked inward. Then did the top out to the corner.

This was pretty time consuming, and I definitely worked up a sweat! It was a ton of lifting, moving, smoothing, restapling, just a lot of hard and tedious work! But here's the finished product!

I LOVE IT! I think it looks really soothing and calm, and I just can't wait to make my bed and lay down and look at it day in and day out! I think it's very adulty, but also it's not too feminine so when James and I move in together, we'll be good, and I won't have to go through this again!

Stay Tuned, Stay Crafty and Stay Inspired.

No Rest for the Wicked.

The moving verdict. I'm moving back in with my parents to save some money. I really want to be out on my own, but I think right now, it is smarter for James and I to live with our parents, and save for a home of our own. So.. I've become minorly obsessed with redoing my room and re-furbing the furniture I have that has been in storage for several months, and making over my bedroom so it look more 'adulty' but also, this way we'll have things for when we move in together.

On Saturday, I had a whole list of To-Do, to do. I started out by running a few errands and the last stop on my list was to make a trip to the bank, and on my way I stumbled upon some lovely yard sales! Now, I love a good yard sale, and by love, I mean head over heels, L-O-V-E yard sales. Plenty of weird stuff you don't really need but for some reason want to buy, walking through the maze of tables on a front lawn, listening to the people try and barter with the host and the best part, getting great deals.

My yard sale experience was successful. I found a few pieces we can use for our centerpieces (details to come in a blog near you), but I also found a few real treats!

I got this baby for $10!!

and this was still in it's wrapping from Kohls, originally priced at $29.99, I got it for $3!!

So all I had to do was pack them in my car, and take them home!

So after I finished hitting the sales, I went to Home Depot got some paint and a bigger paintbrush, I touched up the paint on both items, and voila!!! I also threw a new coat of paint onto my bookcase from when I was a little kid (which desperately needed it).

and here's my after picture!!

Here is my cost breakdown:
Bookcase $0 (already had), normal cost $50
Paint (semi-gloss interior white) $11
Paintbrush $3
Mirror $10, normal cost $40
Frame $3, normal cost $30

So in total, I spent $27, when to buy it all brand new would have cost over $120, talk about Extreme Deal-finding!!!!

All in all, saturday was a successful errand day, with a few added bonuses. I'm really pumped about my new items, and ready to take the plunge to move back in with my parents.

SPOILER ALERT: I ALSO painted an initial coat on an upcoming project I'm still in the middle of working on. Hopefully I'll finish that sometime this week.
SPOILER, PART TWO: I made my plan on re-finishing a nightstand that used to be my mom's when she was a kid. Super fun and full of DIY flare!
SPOILER, PART THREE: Tonight (Monday) I spent an hour at Joann's Fabric for yet another project on my to-do list

So here are some lessons I learned this weekend:
TIP: Don't get snobby, and if there is something in particular you're looking for, check out your local Goodwill/Salvation Army/Yard Sales/etc. You can find great pieces, at awesome prices. Most of the time, the things just need a little love (and lysol) and you're good to go!
TIP: For more detailed items, use a smaller paint brush, but for big things (bookcases, bureaus, etc) splurge and save yourself (and your back) the pain!
TIP: Don't sell yourself short, you can do it! Just take your time and pay attention and you'll be able to re-fab (short for re-fabulous) anything! But also, you can do it on a limited budget!

Stay tuned, stay crafty and stay inspired!