Chevron Chair

I have this darling chair that was handed down to me from my parents. It is wood, it has a diamond shaped seat, and was made in Missouri. Umm... I know I have a few "before" pictures of it... but I can't seem to find any. Sorry!

Unfortunately, one of the legs is broken a bit and I know that it should never hold the weight of a person again. It really is a useless piece of furniture, it being a chair you can't sit in... But it is too adorable to get rid of... but it also doesn't really *go* anywhere in our house.

Rather than getting rid of it, I decided to paint it. GASP. I know there are wood finish die-hards who say to never paint beautiful wood... but this was the one way that I was going to be willing to keep it... so. there.

I thought that the best place for this darling beauty would be for the master bedroom in front of a glass front curio cabinet. All the (wood) furniture in the master bedroom is black and the textiles are sea blue and white. Beachy without being beach-cottagy if you know what I mean (is cottagy even a word? No? Oh well.)

SO I decided to paint the chair white with a blue chevron pattern on the seat. I began by taping down a pattern of parallel tape strips.

Then, I grabbed a craft knife/razor blade and *very* carefully cut away at half of the tape to reveal a chevron pattern. I wanted to be careful to not marr the white paint with razor cuts, but also keep the integrity of the tape (Frog tape worked great for this!)

It was a bit like an optical illusion, so I did mark the chevron with a pen to help me cut the right rows!

Once all the trimming was done, I was left with this:

Then came the paint. I used a Martha Stewart latex paint aptly called Sea Glass.

I also added a single chevron to the back rail. In hindsight I should have left it white.

The finished product:

It is adorable. I love the chevron pattern and I am proud of the technique.

The only thing? I don't like it in my bedroom. It just doesn't go. Too cute or something... Not sure. It has moved into my craft room and now I don't know what to do with it. It doesn't really go in there either. So, repaint it? Sand it down and stain it? What to do!?

UPDATE: This adorable chair found a home in my craft room after the re-org. I'll post about it soon!

November...!?

So, I went back to work in September. Apparently it has consumed my life.

No, not really, it just seems that every spare minute that I have while not at work is filled with other fun stuff. My "free time" is still around, but I have to be very selective about what I choose to do with it. I am still squeezing in projects here and there- though clearly not at the speed that I can keep up with over the summer!

I find myself doing "mini-projects." Like when I realized that Little Man was not going to wake up at his usual 5:45AM and I had a few minutes on my hands. What to do? Maybe write a list. Except, this is where the paper is found:

Hmm.. guess I could clean the junk drawer.

Much better!

So this is life during the school year. Squeeze things in. Isn't that the truth for us all!?

I also played around with my Silhouette. I have to admit that I have a HUGE list of want-to-do's for this crafty craft tool...

My first project: A laundry jar

It was my first attempt at using vinyl. I have to say that I was pretty darn pleased with myself! If I were to do it again I would have made the font a bit smaller, but I love the red and teal together!

I feel strongly that your "first" attempt at anything is worth keeping. Even if it is a bit wonky. Such good memories!

Our current "BIG" project is redecorating Little Man's room. One night, when we went to check on him after bedtime, we found him all squished up in his toddler bed. It was clear that although he is only 3 1/2, it was time for a big boy bed! So, out came the convertible bed directions again and presto-chango- Little Man is now in a full-sized bed!

I love it because there is enough room for me to crawl in next to him for snuggling and story time! I also love that we have given his room a more finished decor. When we first moved in I slapped some wall stickers up and called it a *room of transition*... but it bothered me that it didn't feel really pulled together.

And it still isn't fully pulled together- but almost! I am working on collecting the last few precious pieces before I give you the full reveal. Stay tuned! I promise I will try to post a few more times this month ;)

Back to School!

Back-to-school time is upon us. In our house, our son isn't old enough for elementary school, but since I am a teacher, it is a special time for me! I have the privilege of working during the school year and having the summers off- and I love the leisurely time that the summer brings. However, each August, the butterflies sneak in and I begin to get excited about school starting again!

This year, I was inspired by some cute back-to-school displays over on Pinterest. So, I decided to create a little arrangement for the kitchen.

I picked out the large scissors from my craft room, a dictionary, and a few books. The little hedgehog just seemed to join the party!

 On the other side, I used my FAVORITE pencils (Ticonderoga) to create a back-to-school vase.

 The book covers were plain paper that I had saved from a shopping trip. It's just the paper that the shop wraps breakables in. I flattened it out, folded it around a book for size, and then used a light blue and red pen to create the "paper" effect. I used my best "teacher writing" to inscribe the cover.

 Before I know it, I will be coming home and collapsing on the couch from a long and exhilarating day of teaching. This little display sure gets me in the mood!

Glass, Glass, Baby!

To finish off my list of summer classes (here, here, and here) I recently took a glass blowing class at Uptown Glassworks! I made this:

No, really, I made that! Well, the master glass blower led me through the process and was by my side the entire time, but I made this!

This was, by far, the most intimidating and exhilarating class yet. Mostly because I was constantly in fear of burning a finger or two off! The furnace is kept at a cool 2700 degrees, after all.

First, I picked the colors I wanted to incorporate into my bowl.

I chose two greens; Grass and Irish.

Starting with a small glob of molten glass, I rolled and rolled to get it nice and smooth and round. 

 It was HOT!

Then we dipped it into the small colored shards. Grass on two sides and Irish on the other two.

Did I mention I was a bit nervous!? 

Then, rolling to swirl the colors.

Back into the fire.

 More rolling and swirling.

 Shaping with a wooden form.

Getting instructions for the "blowing" part of the glass blowing.

 Blowing the bubble. Phew. I had to work hard not to pass out! Not only was that a lot of breath- it was HOT in there!

 Blow, Blow, Blow the glass...

 Ridging the end with a metal jack to make the foot of the bowl.

 Starting to really feel natural at this! Ok, not really.

 Then, my teacher used a blow torch to heat the end even more while I blew to "pop" the balloon. This would make it open to make the bowl.

 I did it!

Then, you have to trim the very thin lip of the bowl so it won't shatter. I let my teacher do the cutting. It was too close for my comfort.

 Using the jack again to open the rim up.

 Finally a spin to get it to open up like a flower.

 It started cooling down quick and you could see the color change from the molten orange to the green that it would become once room temperature.

My teacher pulled a "button" of glass from the furnace for the base of the bowl.

 After setting her down on the button, she was all done!

 I was SO proud!

It had to immediately go into a "cooler" (that was set for 1000 degrees) so it would slowly cool to room temperature and not shatter. I was able to go back the next day and pick it up.

A beautiful addition to our kitchen, don't you think? (House tour to come...)