Saturday, July 9, 2011

Kitty Loves Pillows!

We recently got a kitten and he is full of energy and loves to get into stuff, but when he is sleepy he quite enjoys being up high, on our pillows in bed, or on top of the couch. I figured why not make him a pillow for himself! 
I purchased the fabric at a second hand store for $1.00 and it was just over a meter of blue with darker blue pinstripes. Perfect for a little boy! 

I cut the fabric about two feet by two and a half feet. After cutting it folded it in half so the total pillow is about 2.5 feet by 1 foot so it can lay comfortably across the back of the couch. I folded the nice side in and did a quick stitch almost all the way around but enough to put my hand through and pull out the inside once sewed up so that it could be filled with stuffing. The pillow didn't need a lot, just about 2-3 inches tall. I am in the process of other pillows so have quite a bit of stuffing bags here and there. You can always take apart an ugly couch pillow that just is cutting it for you and use whats in there. Then once stuffed I did a quick stitch to sew the hole up and voila! This project only took about one hour from start to finish. If you had a sewing machine it could possibly only take about 10 minutes. It was quite easy and could be a fun project to cure some boredom during a rainy day. We don't know how big our little "Jupiter" is going to be so I made the pillow quite long. It will hopefully be great for him, and a lot easier for us to deal with a pillow instead of fluffy hair stuck in the couch come shedding season! Hope you all get some kitty love! Nothing beats a purring kitty on your lap.. :)

Cost including stuffing - 3$
Difficulty - Easy 
Needed - Fabric, Sewing needle, thread, stuffing, scissors

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Out with the old, in with..... the old?

Ever wonder what to do with that old painting, or dull old mirror that just doesn't look "good" anymore? One of my favorite things to do is to make the old look new again. I have a couple of little finds that have been spiffy'd up that will now be used as new pieces in the new house! I was given some old paintings and frames from a family member that just seemed blah, and had no life left in them, very "80's" even possibly. Yes, I know the 80's are making a come back, and YES I *love* some of the 80's things.. (like bangles, and some odds and ends.. but not the acid wash, that can stay back there ;) and there are definitely some lovely art pieces that are from back then, but this one just wasn't doing it for me!


 I forgot to take a photo of it in it's completely original state, but you get the picture. The frame was wood, with gold and then a canvas middle, that is a very common theme for canvas. I did see a lot of that working in a framing department for a little while, but just wasn't for me. So an easy fix up, probably one of the easiest for me! I ended up popping out the canvas and painting the frame black. Black is contemporary, and usually goes with everything! I painted the canvas over so it was white, and then just played with some colours! That style usually isn't what I do.. more of a tole paint kind of gal, but you can do whatever you want! A lot of times at the second hand stores, these types of paintings are dirt cheap (usually under 5$) so you are really saving a bundle! It is completely up to you what you want to do, and how to use your imagination! Anyway, this is what I came up with, and my husband seems to love it! So, to the living room it will go :)


For my second find, which is completely amazing that *anyone* would be throwing this away, is the new mirror.


 We have been looking for a large mirror for quite some time, and yes they are easy to come by, but all the ones that I came across in the last few months were either unframed, or had some sort of "fake" wood around them, or that weird plastic stuff with the punched in designs. Luckily enough I came across this wonderful find, the only thing that I didn't like was that it was brown. For 10$, I gave myself a huge pat on the back! This will also be going in the living room to help make it "look" bigger. (isn't that silly? Haven't even moved, and I've already got the whole house furnished.. dh thinks I've gone loony for sure ha ha ha!! we move in less then a month now, so I should probably not be getting any more furnishings until we have finished, but with this I just couldn't help it!) The whole project cost me hardly anything.. you can purchase black acrylic paint at any craft store, or even the dollar store. I do prefer the americana as it doesn't seem to peel off, and luckily the paint that was already on the mirror was acrylic so it will stay on just fine. It hardly used any paint so you will be lucky enough to have some extra kicking around for another project on a rainy day!


Total cost of both projects = 9.99
Tools - Paintbrush, glue (to glue canvas back into the frame, you can use finishing nails if that is easier for you)
Black paint ($1, at the dollar store, or about $3 at the craft store)
Difficulty- Easy (this is also something you can get children to help with if you wanted, the paint is safe for kids, so it can become a family affair. Be warned, messes WILL occur, but that is the fun part ;)


Cheers, and happy spiffy'ing up that new old item!