File Cabinet Refinish

Apparently I don't have enough storage. Or I don't like the storage I have. Or maybe a combination of both. My basement is dark and drab, it has 'lovely' faux wood walls from the 70's. It needs color, brightness and lots of love. So... I found this awesome file cabinet fabric storage on pinterest. Off I went for a file cabinet to refinish. And I just happened to find one for $20. Perfect! I thought I would have an entire drawer left after I put my fabric in it. You should go ahead and laugh, cause man was I wrong. 

I also forgot a before picture. It was black. Your standard office file cabinet. Use your imagination. ;)

 

 

I spray painted them. The handles are silver, the drawers are a citrus green and the cabinet is blue (I was hoping for a darker blue, but I like it). Everything was primed and then got two coats of color. I used Valspar paint, its my new favorite spray paint. I love how well it coats everything.

Here is the finished project all assembled back together. I love having all of my large pieces of fabric in one place. Before there were some on a shelf, some in plastic tubs and some just thrown on top of my table. Now they all nicely fill all three drawers of my cabinet. They are out of the dust and the cabinet is nice and bright. :)

So look how cool the fabric is. Its all neatly wrapped around hanging folders. I should organize them by color, but honestly I was just so excited to get it all in there. It makes me really happy and I know exactly where to go find what I'm looking for! 

Now I need to get sewing and use up some of these fabric pieces. After all, I need room to make room so I can get more! :)

Mickey & Minnie Tin Dolls

Since my kids are so little and we have a LONG road trip coming up, I have been trying to think of ways to keep them occupied. Well, I found this post via pinterest and thought to myself... I should make Mickey & Minnie for the kids!

So I did... I picked up these tins from the dollar store.

Now, before you get all Judgie McJudgerson on me... They are for the kids to play with once, they are not my best work. The faces are off kilter, they are clearly NOT any representation of Disney, just something I thought would pass some time for the kids in the car. Hopefully it will bide us a little time in the car though, since we'll be stuck in there for 1/2 a day or so.  

Pinterest Inspired Projects

I know there has been a bunch of drama around pinterest, but I still like looking at it for inspiration. Some of the ideas on there are phenomenal - and it is cool that I don't have to scour the interwebs for projects individually.

I'm not into the make-up, jewelry, clothing pins... but I'm pretty sure you guys have seen my standard yoga pants & hoodie get up that I lounge into nearly every day. Plus I hate buying clothes, so there is no sense in me 'pinning' anything that would make me miserable trying to find.

However, I LOVE pinning recipes, crafts and stuff for the kids. It never ceases to amaze me how talented some people are. I don't claim any of these projects as my own, but I thought I would share some of the things I've made from inspiration I've found on pinterest. And because I try to give credit where it is due, I've included the links for you to follow if you are so inclined. :)

First up is a hanging hemp ball. Eventually I will turn it into a lamp, but for now it is just a decorative piece for Grayson's room. And just a note - when you can't find the needle to let the air out of the ball, it probably isn't a good idea to take a knife to it while the 3 year old is watching.

originally seen on crafty nest

Next is a sight word parking lot. I love this one and so does Grayson. Some days I pull it out while I'm cooking dinner and call out words to him. There are so many ways to do this. I actually want to make a new one and add pictures of the words - to give him more recognition of them. Plus I think it might be time for new words.

originally seen on Juggling With Kids

Next we have the toilet paper holder. The closet in our front bathroom is a distance from the toilet - and you know who always runs out of toilet paper?! Yup, me! If I left extra tp on the cabinet, no doubt a kid would run off with it. I didn't actually pin this one since every link I saw came from etsy, but I did keep the idea in my mind. And it was easy enough to put together. The thing that makes me happiest is that I can just throw it in the washing machine. :)


And of course, I have done multiple recipes...
Here are just a few of our favorites :)

Homemade Taco Seasoning from Smells Like Home
Cinnamon Butter from Fly Through Our Window
Chicken Nuggests from My Name is Snickerdoodle
Taco Stuffed Shells from Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour

I've been determined to try a new recipe every couple weeks, and I've been lucky on most of them I tried. A few we decided weren't worth having again, but for the most part... you pinners are making my life soooooo much easier!

So I challenge you... step away from pinning and actually create something you pinned!

I {heart} sewing!

Let me preface this by saying, I DO NOT have mad sewing skillz.

I have fumbled my way through some pants for Braelyn and a sweater vest for Grayson, I've even managed to sew some cloth diapers (which I may eventually share on my blog) and some clothes for myself (nobody wants to see pictures of me modeling, LOL). However, sewing has become a fun hobby for me and well, it makes me feel good to be able to create something.

So I really wanted to buy some baby legs for Braelyn, but I'm super cheap. I don't want to spend $10 on a pair of leg warmers. So... I started thinking that I could do it myself, and into the pile of refashionables I dug. :)

I think they turned out cute, the edges are leftover from a shirt I used to make Braelyn's pants. The inside are from a pair of baby pants that were given to us (don't you love hand me down's?). Since I had most of them done before we ventured out yesterday evening, I picked up a couple other things to cheaply refashion into leg warmers. And the greatest thing, I should be able to get more than one pair out of the pieces I picked up! Score!!

And since I don't have a picture of her wearing them, here is another pic... just cause I think she is a cutie!

Unexpected Blogging Vacation

Well, I wound up taking an unexpected blogging vacation. I wound up having a couple surgeries to remove some kidney stones. Apparently when they get lodged and cause your kidney to stop functioning properly - it is a problem!


At any rate, I haven't been scrapping at all so I don't have anything new to share. I have been doing some sewing. Braelyn is growing steadily, but newborn pants are still way too big for her and the preemie sleepers are too short. So I've made her a few pants to wear in the meantime. And I've been sewing cloth diapers.


Instead of sharing something scrappy, I'm sharing a picture of Braelyn at 6 weeks old (last week) - sporting a pair of pants I made from an old maternity shirt that was stained. They were the perfect color for this onesie and are great since they are super soft!


I've got the urge to scrap again, so hopefully I'll have some new projects to share with you soon. I think I'll be back to my daily updates this week - and I might even have a giveaway, so be sure to stay tuned!

I *officially* refashioned!

So I have had this sweater... prolly since high school, or not long thereafter, that I absolutely adored. It lived on me almost 24/7. I know I slept in it more than one time. It was ratty, had runs, it had the cuff redone (thank you grandma!), the neck had been sewn back together. It was my 'security blanket'. My mom hates it and has encouraged me numerous times to get rid of it, even threatening to pull it apart. But I've had it all this time, and I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away. And obviously goodwill didn't want it. So, I found this tutorial online about turning an adult sweater into a toddler sweater vest - bingo!! What a perfect idea, I can transform my old ratty sweater into something hopefully semi nice for my son. So, that's what I've done today...

My sweater - in all it's glory, well used and loved from over the years...

And here it is this afternoon, waiting to be tried on by the boy when he gets up from his nap (I think I'll have to take in the shoulders a bit, it seems big)...

Complete with ratty old run b/c I didn't pay attention to it when I was placing my cuts... oopsie!

When I find the link for the tutorial again, I'll post it in here - this was super easy and a great way to recycle my favorite sweater! :)