Trash to Treasure

Second-hand stores are one of my favorite things to visit as often as I can.  You just never know what you will find.  My daughter and I went browsing today just for something to do.  We didn't really have any intentions of purchasing anything.  But when we saw this little beauty, we couldn't resist.  My daughter has a very nice, very old vanity that we have yet to refinish, but is also sans stool.  I saw this stool at a local second-hand store and instantly saw it's potential.  At $3.99 it was a steal with what I could create with it!  Here's a "semi" step by step process of how we turned this item from trash into treasure.

**If you click on the pictures a slide show will appear and the pictures will be quite enlarged so you can see more detail of the project.**

This picture is how it was found at the store.  Yup, you're grossed out thought is correct.  It is indeed a toilet seat cover that some misguided individual deemed appropriate to "re-cover" it with.  Eeewww.

First thing's first.  Get rid of that nasty toilet seat cover!

Found this little treasure at the first second-hand store we visited today.  Yeah, we went to more than one in one day; that's how I roll.  This cute little fairy jewelry box is what inspired the fabrics that I found at my last errand stop at the local Wal-Mart to re-cover the seat.  The fabrics total, including trim, was $7.29.  (The "pink" on the fabric is actually the same color purple that's on the jewelry box.  The camera tainted the color for some reason).

I cut what would be the ruffle skirt into a 5 1/2" width.  I forgot to measure exactly how long it was to make the ruffle, but it was well past 45".  Probably into the 60's.  I first sewed a nice hem all along the length.  Then the opposite edge, I sewed on the elastic and trim.

Outcome after sewing:

For the side panel I used the same fabric that I chose for the top.  I cut it into a 2 1/2" X 45" piece then attached it near the top by the trim.  I suppose some people would have chosen to sew directly over the top edge of the trim, but I liked the "roughly chic" look of the open edge.

I measured the top of the seat to be just over 14" so I used an allowance large enough to make it 15" in diameter.  My super clever husband rigged a compass for me complete with one of my kids' colored pencils and iPod headphones.  Yeah, we're resourceful =P

Once cut, I carefully and tediously sewed the circle to the side panel, then finishing by matching up the ends of the skirt to complete it.

Viola!  A removable, washable seat cover for my daughter's vanity that I hope she will take very good care of once we refinish it to pass down.  Such an unexpected, quick and easy project for tonight.  And all for under $12.00!

Oh, she LOVES it btw ;)

Support your local second-hand store and happy treasure hunting!!

Ever Entertaining Emery

Our life is never dull with Emery around.

A Colorful Easter

So this year, to save money, we decided to dye Easter eggs with good old-fashioned food color and a splash of vinegar.  Thanks to a clever tip I saw on Pinterest, we integrated a clever technique.  After hard-boiling all the eggs and letting them cool completely, we gently cracked the eggs all over the entire egg.  Having already put several drops of food color in individual bags, we then smothered each egg in the baggie color of choice, rinsed them off with vinegar, then set them in the fridge the night before Easter.  In the morning, after de-shelling the eggs, we discovered this:

So this made eating the deviled eggs fun this year!

Here's some pictures of the kiddo's earlier this morning shortly before their egg hunt in the living room.  Darius found 6 gold dollar coins in his basket.  He's was pretty stoked about that.

Abbie was excited to discover that the basketball was indeed intended for her and not her older brother.

Emery LOVES his cars! (and candy too...)

Naomi was caught off-guard by my photo-op, but she was super excited to see the colorful ball was hers!
(btw, she was the first to down her entire chocolate bunny)

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

Super Capes!

So Emery has been running around the house lately with any given throw blanket tied around his neck to be a super hero.  Years ago I made a super cape for Darius but it has long since disappeared, not sure why.  In the midst of cutting some strips for Darius' eventual quilt, I got the urge to make Emery a cape.  Since I am making Emery, I can't ignore Naomi, now can I?  So of course I had to make her a cape too!  And not just any cape, but a full fledged "princess" cape.  (I apologize in advance for the blury picture.  I couldn't keep them still for more than a microsecond).  Here's what we accomplished today!

And some close-ups:

I love having spare material and embellishments :)

And that's it!  Hope you liked them!!

Emery's Fun with the WiiFit

Emery got to play the WiiFit for the first time today.  He was doing the obstacle course and fell in love with it.  Mostly from making his character fly from hitting the giant cannon balls.  He got a big kick out of that.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy Naomi! - Our big little 2-year old =]

Yesterday was Naomi's 2nd birthday.  I can hardly believe she's already 2!  Seems like she should only be turning one.

A couple weeks ago she decided she would try walking and now she is up to about 20 steps or so before she falls.  She's doing so good.  There are ankle braces we're looking into that has been strongly recommended for her joints as she ventures into walking.  There's two we have found that we really want to get for her.  One set is perfect to wear any shoes she pleases and the other is perfect for indoor shoeless walking.

Here's a small recap of yesterday's festivities.
Abbie helped decorate the cake.

Naomi was so proud of her very own birthday cake.  She was very excited as you can tell.

Just so you can pretend you were there ;)

This was her "big" present.  It was a babydoll that has a really cool action when you stick the binky or bottle in the mouth.  There's rubber on the head and the mouth can move like it's sucking and the eyelids close and when those actions happen, the rubber on the face move in reaction, just like a person.  Oh, and when the baby "falls asleep" the chest rises and lowers and it makes a breathing sound.  Pretty cool actions.  Kinda creepy actually...

 

This next short was caught this morning.  We discovered last night that when the baby cries, so does Naomi.  Thankfully she's not quite as dramatic about it anymore, but she still gets upset, which I think is cute.  She is still playing with it as I type this.  Naomi is such a good mommy.

She Did It! YESSSSS!!

Here's a progressive set of short videos of Naomi.  Hope ya'll enjoy them as much as I did witnessing it!

So frustrating...

Almost there!!!...

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You did it Naomi! =]

We are SOOOO proud of you Naomi.  You are our precious little angel.  Keep up the good work and you'll be a fluent walker in no time.  Love you! <3