Friday, December 30, 2011
Virtually Free Pillow!
So I've mentioned many times that we are basically on a pennies budget for redoing this old house. Everything I do to this house must be done with as little money as possible. Now, I do not know if part of this technique has already been used out there in blog land, but I think I came up with something brilliant (I'm sure I'm not the first though). So we really need some throw pillows for our couch and the chair I am in the process of reupholstering but even if I buy the most inexpensive, they seem to be at least $10 or more and the cheap ones generally don't go with my style. I saw a few different pillow covers I wanted to try that I saw floating around in blog world but I didn't have any pillows to cover. Then it hit me, my 3 year old son has an old pillow he refuses to use since he got a few drops of blood on it during a bloody nose episode. I was just going to chuck it......but wait, what if I cut it in half??? I would have two rectangular pillows that I could cover for my couch or chair. So last night after the boys were fast asleep, I cut the old pillow in half, made a quick pillow cover, flipped it inside out and sewed some strategic pinches to give it the gathered look. The best part is that this pillow was virtually free because I used scrap fabric. But it got me excited because I can buy these bed pillows really cheap ($3.50 at Walmart) and my Walmart also has a fabric section, with TONS of solid colors for only $1.50 a yard, I can make 2 pillows for under $10 give or take a little depending on how crazy I get with the fabric!! This really makes me happy!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Next Project
So having two birthdays, and Christmas has kept me busy so I have put the house stuff on hold. I also have this thing about the cold, I DONT LIKE IT! I find it really hard to motivate myself when it is so gray, gloomy, and cold. I have so much to do, but it requires working out in the unheated garage so for now, it will stay undone, unless someone can light a fire under me (ooooh that would be warm)!! Well I found a project that I can do inside and it is going to be virtually free!! It's great. When we moved here, the previous owner left a handful of chairs, so I am going to refinish this one...........
(Sad, look how empty my house is I can't wait until I can furnish and decorate it, but it takes time, when you have to refinish every piece because you got it free from craigslist or the side of the curb, so far the most expensive thing I've purchased was an $80 bench for my kitchen nook)
Yay, I am so excited, actually I am probably already half way done with her and she is a beauty! The chair was free, the paint was already on hand and I got the fabric for $3 and the trim for $5 so when all is said and done this chair will be refinished for under $10....I LOVE IT!
(Sad, look how empty my house is I can't wait until I can furnish and decorate it, but it takes time, when you have to refinish every piece because you got it free from craigslist or the side of the curb, so far the most expensive thing I've purchased was an $80 bench for my kitchen nook)
Yay, I am so excited, actually I am probably already half way done with her and she is a beauty! The chair was free, the paint was already on hand and I got the fabric for $3 and the trim for $5 so when all is said and done this chair will be refinished for under $10....I LOVE IT!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Birthday Cake Time
So I had to take a break from all the house stuff because my little guys keep growing and having birthdays, dang it!!!! Why can't they just stay little and innocent forever?? Well, I have this thing where I HAVE to MAKE their birthday cakes instead of buying them, and EVERY year I ask myself WHY????? I don't think that cake decorating comes naturally to me because I am not an extremely patient or detail oriented person and I think you need to be both to be a great cake decorator. Well none the less, I decided to keep with tradition and make their cakes (but this time I did them on the same day so they could have a combined party. My 3 year old's birthday was mid November, and my other little guy turns 5 in mid December). For now I don't think I'll do a detailed tutorial, because I am still in burnout mode but I will give the basic steps of each cake.
First the Angry Birds Cake, this one was actually quite simple, just a little time consuming. I made about 5 or 6 batches of marshmallow fondant (to use for both cakes, it's always better to have too much than too little) I then separated the fondant and made all the different colors I would be needing, then I went to town playing with the fondant like it was playdough and just had fun with it.
Ok my boys probably wouldn't say that I had fun with it because I get a bit stressed and was pretty grouchy when they tried to play with everything I made. Once I finished all the fondant birds and pigs I covered them and started working on the Lightning McQueen Cake, I stacked the previously baked and frozen cakes (layer of frosting in between to hold them together) and then attempted to carve the cake into the shape of Lightning McQueen, using a couple of my sons cars as a model.
I say attempt because the boys were really up in my business at this time trying to "help" I was so stressed out that mommy the "grouch" kept coming out. At this point I decided to put it back in the freezer and wait til the boys went to bed. Once the coast was clear and I could work in peace and that is what I did, I finished carving the cake, frosting it
and putting on the red fondant, then I added chocolate donuts for the wheels and decorated the cake board and called it a night.
The next morning I assembled the Angry Birds onto a cake.
Don't let me fool you by making this sound simple, it was not and thats why I still don't have energy for a full tutorial but the boys were so happy and loved their cakes and had a great party (except they missed their grandmas and cousins....sad)! Here are a few pics of the other cakes I have done for their other birthdays over the years!!
First the Angry Birds Cake, this one was actually quite simple, just a little time consuming. I made about 5 or 6 batches of marshmallow fondant (to use for both cakes, it's always better to have too much than too little) I then separated the fondant and made all the different colors I would be needing, then I went to town playing with the fondant like it was playdough and just had fun with it.
Ok my boys probably wouldn't say that I had fun with it because I get a bit stressed and was pretty grouchy when they tried to play with everything I made. Once I finished all the fondant birds and pigs I covered them and started working on the Lightning McQueen Cake, I stacked the previously baked and frozen cakes (layer of frosting in between to hold them together) and then attempted to carve the cake into the shape of Lightning McQueen, using a couple of my sons cars as a model.
I say attempt because the boys were really up in my business at this time trying to "help" I was so stressed out that mommy the "grouch" kept coming out. At this point I decided to put it back in the freezer and wait til the boys went to bed. Once the coast was clear and I could work in peace and that is what I did, I finished carving the cake, frosting it
and putting on the red fondant, then I added chocolate donuts for the wheels and decorated the cake board and called it a night.
The next morning I assembled the Angry Birds onto a cake.
Don't let me fool you by making this sound simple, it was not and thats why I still don't have energy for a full tutorial but the boys were so happy and loved their cakes and had a great party (except they missed their grandmas and cousins....sad)! Here are a few pics of the other cakes I have done for their other birthdays over the years!!
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