A Rocking Redo

I'm back! This time I have something really spunky and fun to show you...

So I took it upon myself to repaint a rocking chair that has belonged to my family for a far longer time than I've been alive (don't worry it's not an antique!).

First, I took the whole thing apart, screws and all.

I did this in order to give better attention to the sanding and eventually to the painting. The whole taking apart step really isn't a must, but I felt that the chair wouldn't look as good if I didn't.

The next step was sanding. Which was tough. I don't own a mechanical hand sander, so my own hands went to use... And man, did they hurt afterwards.

After rubbing the sanded pieces with a dry towel in order to remove any leftover sawdust, I began my painting. I invested in the new Behr Marquee paint, because I want my project to last quite some time, and because it was $4.00 for two quarts... What a steal for such good, hi-tech paint!

 

I did a few coats... Just be careful with this paint and the amount you use. Also, it is important to note that outdoor paint has to be maintained at a specific temperature range while you are painting with it (it should give the range on the product itself). It's not a huge deal if you do it in a temperature higher (and I would assume with lower too), but with the higher temperatures, the paint doesn't set as well. So if you have the opportunity to do it in your garage, or if you're brave enough to do it inside, then I would recommend doing so. 

When selecting my paint, I attempted to match the colors of the pattern from my post How to Recover Round Ugly, Old Chairs , and while the colors do not perfectly match, I think that the rocking chair ended up being a spark that our deck needed. Overall, the project took me about a day and a half with the drying time... But keep in mind that every paint is different and won't act the same as this project did. 

Here's the finished product!

The picture doesn't really do it justice... It looks a bit odd here. It doesn't look as crazy with the rest of the mellow furniture on the deck. I also took some extra fabric from my last post and made a pillow to tie the chair in to the rest of the deck. 

And, of course, I couldn't escape unscathed...

Well, that's all for now folks! Please let me know if you have any questions! <3 p="">

How to Recover Round Ugly, Old Chairs

Welcome to summer! It's about time I got started updating you with my crafty life!

First, let's talk about this outdoor table set my parents have. One of the ugliest things out of the nineties I've ever seen... And as a child of the nineties, trust me!

Here's just a sample of what I was working with.

Definitely not pretty, and definitely not in good shape. So, I set off to improve them. I found myself some fabric at my local Joann craft store (on sale and the last of the bolt!=X2 discount) and I went to work.

I started my task my taking the cushion off the chair frame. Everything went smoothly until this happened...

Not to worry, though. You can choose to get them out, or take the easy route (which I did). Since they're what I call "spinner screws"-which means they still spin, they just won't come out of the whole-they still function correctly. When I was finished I just placed the cushion on top, applied pressure while twisting the screw with a Phillip's head, and eventually the cushion was reattached.

After taking off the cushion, I proceeded to remove the old material with a flat head screw driver, pliers, scissors, and a staple remover. Please remember safety while doing projects like these... Gloves, glasses, and long sleeves are a must!

Be careful with the staples, as if you're not careful, they may fly off. You may want to do this outside or just somewhere not in your house.

Once finished with removing the old fabric, it's time to put the new one on! I choose to make my own seat covers, but I'm sure you could buy some as long as you have the measurements for the seat if your not a sewing person. With fabric in hand, grab your staple gun. Remember your safety gear, glasses and gloves are important when using a staple gun.

Next step is pretty important... I messed it up a few times! Make sure that the seam of the cushion is alined with the back of the chair. In my case it meant that the seam was alined with where the back screw was placed. Next, pull the fabric over the cushion. With the chairs I was using, I didn't have to replace the cushion, but be warned that if they're in bad shape you might have to!

Once the fabric is in place, grab your staple gun. Start with one side, pull it tight, and staple away. Mind your fingers, and don't forget the glasses and gloves. Once your finished stapling, grab your fabric scissors and trim the edges.

Once it's nice and pretty, go ahead and start to reattach the seat. If you didn't line up the seam as suggested, you can pilot a new hole in the bottom of the seat. Though, it is fairly easy to just skip the piloting part and just screw into the seat direct, but not highly recommended. It's always better to pilot first.

Repeat three more times, and voila!

You have beautiful new chairs!

Hope you enjoy, email me with any and all questions!

Crafting While I've Been Away...

I have been up to so much crafting in the past few months that it's absolutely ridiculous. So to save time--for you and me--I'm just going to upload pictures of all the crafts that I've done, and if you want the tutorial, you can message/comment and I will find the link for you. Otherwise, I'd be typing this for eternity, and you'd be reading it for even longer. So here it goes!

Cherry Blossom Lights (off)

Cherry Blossom Loghts (On)

Mini Bow Tie Necklace

Necktie Cuff

Book Clutch

Etched Glass Coffee Cup

Chalkboard Paint Wine Glasses

Daguerreotype

Etched Portion Control Wine Glasses

Anthro-inspired necklace made of a men's tie

Earring holder... Smaller frame that I made for a friend.

As autumn is in transition to winter...

I have successfully turned in two college applications, and I have another to do in the next couple of days. I decided to apply Early Action to Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. (Don't worry, it's non-binding... But even if it wasn't I would still want to go there!)

Anyways, I've been gone for a while, and I apologize. I thought life was going to slow down senior year of high school, but that definitely isn't how it works.

So, to catch you up on everything you've missed, I've started singing with a women's choir at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Again. I just couldn't stay away too long ;]

I've also been working my butt off with my school's musical-- School House Rock Live-- anyone remember the cartoons? Songs like Conjunction Junction, I'm Just A Bill, or Circulation? There are at least twenty-one songs in the entire show, so I'm sure you know at least one. We're running the show this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Nov. 17, 18, and 19). We're also doing a matinee for a couple local elementary schools on Wednesday.

Now that you're all caught up... I made an earring holder for one of my friends for her birthday. So here it is!

This is what it would look like on a wall:

And this is the little note I wrote for her on the back, and you can kind of see how I put it together from this shot.

Hope you enjoy! I'll write soon this time, I swear.

Summer of 2011

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry that I've been gone for about fourth months--I sooooo busy! I hope that you're summer is going as fantastically as mine is. When I'm busy playing soccer, I'm constantly reading, hanging out with my friends... Basically, I'm being a teenager.

So, about the second week of July my family took a vacation to Washington D.C. and Boston, Mass. I loved both cities, although I think I preferred Boston. I love all the American pride that they've got going on up there.

Washington D.C. at Night

Pretty cool, huh?

While we weren't sight-seeing and feeding my older brother every, oh, two hours, we we're looking at some colleges! Which is really exciting since I'm heading into my senior year and I'm starting the application process.

Washington D.C. Capital's Dome

I fell in love with Northeastern University. I didn't especially love them campus-- I struggle with intercity campuses because it's hard to tell where they begin and where they end-- but I loved the program that they have in their school of media. They have this co-op program for ALL degrees, which is awesome and you should definitely look into it. They also have this program called "Music Industry", which is basically a publishing degree except for the music world, and it is really impressive. I think Northeastern is one of three--or something to that affect- schools that have the music industry program.

So for all you musicians, that's a great idea!

Boston from the harbor

Speaking of music, I recently took up piano again. Okay, recently being a very operative word. I actually took it up about the end on June. I didn't realize how much I actually missed piano, and being fairly adept in a musical instrument besides my voice. Once I master piano (or at least get moderately good) I will move on to guitar. Because my parents got my a guitar about four years ago, and I definitely never started lessons on it.

As you all know I'm a very veracious reader. And I've been reading. Reading for enjoyment, reading for school... Reading basically because I am privileged enough to have the ability. For school I have to read:

Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Sadly, I'm about three weeks out from school and only one book finished. Basically, I'm screwed.

I've also read the Nightshade series by Andrea Cremer... HIGHLY recommended. So good. Also, a cheap find for my Kindle on Amazon was the Grey Eyes novels. They're like a dollar, and if you don't have a Kindle, you can still read them on your computer. They're very interesting, although similar to some others I have read.

Here's some more books that I recommend:
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Illusions by Aprilynne Pike (part of the Wings series; one of the characters--Tamani-- is basically my ideal future boyfriend.)
Matched by Allie Condie (Dystopian novel= as awesome as The Hunger Games)
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (cute protagonist, first book in the series. Second one came out about a week ago but I haven't read it yet.)
Passion by Lauren Kate (part of the Fallen series, which is excellent!)
Sirensong: a Faeriewalker Novel by Jenna Black (Third book in SUCH a good series. I really like these books. And lately I've been obsessed with faeries, so if you know anymore faerie novels let me know!)
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (she's a fantastic writer, these are faerie novels too.)
Entice by Carrie Jones (this novel is about pixies... the characters and the mythology are fun)
Awakened by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast (part of the House of Night Series... I adore these books. The narrator is so much fun, and a typical teenager. The mother-daughter duo really hit the nail on the head with this one. The mythology is new and exciting- like nothing else I've read. **Must-read, because it's WAAAAAAY better than the Twilight Series, or any other YA vampire novels.)

Well, I hope that keeps you all sated for a while, can't promise I'll be back soon, but I'll do my best. I have a craft project that I'm thinking about doing, so long as my mother gives me permission-- but you'll see it soon enough!

"Date a girl who reads..."

My lovely, amazing brother decided to share a link with me today that he found on stumble upon. So, the credit goes all to him, but I get to do the sharing! Enjoy and leave your comments here!


http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1h4nfq/themonicabird.com/post/3273155431/date-a-girl-who-reads-date-a-girl-who-spends-her

"Which hand should I hold the baton in?"

This is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen! Thanks to my brother for sharing it with me...

I hope you all enjoy!

SO CUTE

Which hand should I hold the baton in?