Savvy Chic Home: September 2010

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

From Brass to Class

I picked up this goodie at a garage sale for one whole dollar! I knew that with a little tlc she could be beautiful.

I got out my trusty Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and went to town.

Ahh much better. Now she just needs a pretty shade.

I found this shade over the summer at a flea market for $7. Looks perfectly new too. :)

And here she is in her new found glory.
She looks much more expensive than $8 right. :)

She adds so much to this little table and seating area.
There is now height and a beautiful and functional focal point.

From Brass to Class sums it up perfectly don't you think?

Friday, September 24, 2010

Fabric Pumpkins- Ohh the Options!

I don't know about you but I love decorating for fall because you can leave the decorations up for so long.

SO today I will show you how to make these cutie fabric pumpkins!

With all your fabric options your possibilities are endless!

A great thing is they are easy and cheap. No sewing machine required!

You can even make pink pumpkins for your little girls room. :)

So turn on your Scentsy with some pumpkin pie scent invite a friend over for 2x the fun and get craftin!!

Supplies:

about 1/2 a yard of fabric will make about 3 pumpkins. One Papa one Mama and one baby sized.
leaves to match your fabric
DMC Embroidery Floss/ needle
a BUNCH of plastic grocery bags. (for the stuffing)
Jute twine/ pencil
glue gun/ glue sticks
Sticks cut to about 4 inches
rubber bands/twisty ties (an easy option)

Steps

Wrap jute around pencil, bake at 300 for 5 minutes. let cool for 5 minutes. you know it's done when it gets stinky. ;)

2. Cut your fabric into 3 different sizes. one large about 16x30, medium about 10x22, small about 8x20. These are just guesstimates. Every pumpkin of mine is different which makes them all unique.
3. Fold the fabric in half with fold on short side. So if you are doing a large folded it would measure 16x15. Glue along edge with fabric right side facing in, like in picture.

4. Gather bottom of fabric. Tie with rubber band, twist tie or sew shut. I ran out of twisties and rubber bands. :<

5. Turn right side out and stuff with plastic bags until really full. (so that later when you do the lines with the embroidery floss it will poof.)

6. Put a stick in the top and stitch around top of fabric and gather.

7. With a long piece of floss tie a double knot in one end and stitch the lines from top to bottom going opposite of each other. Do 6 lines.

8. Glue on your leaves and jute, and secure stick with glue as well. And Wah lah you have a gorgeous little pumpkin!

This is a fun project to do with friends and make a little collection of pumpkins. I have been making these guys with friends for 5 years now. Fun every time.

Happy Fall Yall!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

$9 End Table Makeover!

I found a great table at Goodwill for $9 I knew it would look great in the new nursery. There is no real before of it because it was when I lost my battery charger.oops. But I found a similiar before end table on the web.

Before: (kinda)

and after:
Isn't she beautiful?

Isn't it amazing what a little primer paint and glaze can do?

From 70's drab to Fab!

I won't show you the ginormous recliner, because honestly 4 in the morning feedings it is all about comfort.
Anyways what do you think? Totally worth $9 right? :)

Monday, September 20, 2010

10 Inspiring Art Quotes

I needed inspired today, thought you might too.

Share your talents, for that which we willingly share, we keep. But that which we selfishly keep, we lose. -Thomas S. Monson

(Oaks (far right) with LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson (left) and US President Barack Obama (center) in the Oval Office on 20 July 2009, presenting a personal volume of President Obama's family history as a gift from the LDS Church.)
Always do what you are afraid to do. -Ralph Waldo Emerson- Writer/Philospoher with lots of great quotes
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. -Scott Adams
I dream a lot. I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious. -Andrew Wyeth
The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting.
-Vincent Van Gogh
Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know.
-Rembrandt van Rijn
Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.
-Salvador Dali
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.
-Edgar Degas
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
-Pablo Picasso
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
- Leonardo da Vinci

Ahh I feel inspired and ready to start something new! Like maybe the fabric pumpkin tutorial I promised you. ;)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A Custom Touch

When we moved in we had the builders add bookshelves flanking our fireplace. Well... they were definitely builder basic. I thought they could use a little something something. And after we added beadboard to our kitchen wall. I decided our bookshelves would look nice with beadbaord to tie the rooms together nicely, plus I has extra beadboard. Saa-weet.

Before- builder's basic:

After:
A little something goes a long way. It ties my kitchen into our family room perfectly. With an open floor plan this was key.

Now for decorating these bookshelves. Oh how I struggled with this. I think I have changed them around every week for the past year we have lived here. :) We are always in this room and I "study" it far too much!

Anyways I remembered a "Design Article of Faith" that I learned in college and it applied here.
It is called repetition with variation.

It is when you use something and repeat it though out the design while varying it slightly.
It creates interest and unifies the design.
For instance I used black frames in different shapes and formats and repeated them throughout.

(Sorry the TVs on. I didn't have it in me to turn off the home movies my girls were watching

I also repeated yet varied books, ceramics and antiques using black white red yellow and blue.

I am much more pleased with how it looks with using this design principle or "Design article of Faith" as my professor called it. The past year I had cute stuff in it but it didn't feel unified at all. Now I can have a peace of mind when I look at it. :)

And of course this was all done on the cheap!! This is Savvy Chic Home you know.

The frames were $3 at Wal-mart.
Antiques were mostly presents or Goodwill.
The books I already had.
And if you are a regular reader you know that I got the mirror on CL for $10.

Everything on these bookshelves I got for about $60 or already had. Even better, beat that Pottery Barn.

The official first day of fall is Wed Sept 22nd (it started on the 11th here ;). So the next post is all about fall decor and how to make these fabulous pumpkins, cause you know fall just can't wait.

P.S. Don't you love my little brownie box camera ?

Friday, September 10, 2010

A post worth waiting for!!

Ok sorry everyone. I lost my camera battery charger so I haven't been able to post in a while but I found it and an able to post again. YAY!
I have been keeping busy with projects. Here is the rundown of what I've been doing for the past few weeks. Hope it was worth the wait!!

I refinished my long dresser-now buffet. Painted bottom black, refinished/re stained the top, and raised it 3 inches.
Painted big mirror over buffet.
Accessorized dining room.

Painted office a blue gray.
In the process of painting futon (ran out of paint)
Rearranged office furniture.

Started nursery bedding. Found a Pottery Barn set on Ebay, and I an going to embellish it with more ribbon and make the quilt.- Oh and I got a new sewing machine!! Double yay!
Bought, painted, and glazed end table for nursery. Soo gorgeous!!

In the process of putting beadboard in our family room bookshelves.

Phew. So I am going to take this in strides and show you my new dining room/buffet today. :) You'll have lots to look forward to within the next few days.

Now on with the pictures! Before with no bench and a much too big armoire.
Also see(Craigslist table and chairs $50) and (reupholstered chairs)

Before with turquoise dresser. It so was not long enough! (Now it's a pretty changing table.)

Replacement dresser and mirror before I painted them:

Found on Craigslist for$30

Bored of the before's already?! Give me some good pictures!
Drum roll please- here are the afters!

See those legs? Funny story. I raised the buffet 3 inches by adding baseball end caps from the Louisville Slugger baseball museum. They are the leftover wood on the end of the bat after they carve the bat out. They were free and had tons of them- I knew they'd come in handy. :)

Long dresser and mirror fit much better here.
I decided to go a little more sophisticated with the black bottom and stained top.

Made the bench from scratch.

I love to decorate this during holidays.

Anyone up for a pinecone cocktail?

Found this silver tray at Goodwill for $2. Whoot whoot!

Oh and one more thing we use this dining room as my girls coloring/ craft room. The dresser has plenty of drawers and everything was so inexpensive anyways. They hop up on the bench and color away. I LOVE that it is getting used so often.
Oh did I mention that this ENTIRE dining room only cost around $200! Oh yeah.