Sunday, February 23, 2014

Chandelier Makeover

It's finally here the chandelier makeover! Like I said in my last post I LOVE sparkly things so this was a really fun project.  I forgot to take a before picture of this beauty but lets just say my hubby almost threw it away he thought it was so ugly.  Luckily for me he didn't and now its the perfect addition to my daughters room, and for under $40.00 who can complain.


Here is a list of the things you will need.
Primer for metal
Spray paint
Ugly chandelier (found at your local thrift store)
Glass Crystal ( found here and here )
On this chandelier I used about 100 of each
These are also fun ones to add
Craft wire (found here)
needle nose pliers ( found at your local craft store)
fingernail clippers ( yes you heard me right they work the best to cut wire)

 This was white and gold when I got it.  First thing you are going to want to do is give it a good cleaning.  Wipe the whole thing down.  I just used water and a microfiber cloth.  I had my husband drill holes around the top above each arm of the chandelier so I had somewhere to hook my beads to.  It already had holes in the parts around the lights, if your doesn't you'll want to drill holes there to.
 



 Spray it with a primer made for metal.  The hardest part is next and that is picking the color you want your chandelier.  I decided to go with turquoise for my daughters room.  Spray it with a light coat, let that dry and then repeat.  If you do several light coats and let them dry in between you wont get runs in the paint.


Now that everything is cleaned, drilled, and painted we get to the best part the SPARKLES!!
Did I mention how much I love sparkly things.

Cut a piece of wire about 12" long.  Hold it between your pliers about an inch away from the end.  Wrap it around your pliers once.




Add a bead through the loop.  Twist the wire around like the picture below.  I find it easier to hold the wire right next to the crystal with my pliers while I twist.  My hands looks so dry in these pictures.  I need some good lotion. 




Clip the extra wire off with the fingernail clippers.  I make a lot of jewelry and these really are the best wire cutters.  The ones made for babies are perfect.


Slide on a round bead.  Make a loop again with the pliers and slip on another crystal.






While holding the loop with your pliers wrap the wire around to secure.  Clip the extra off wire off.




  Make a loop with you wire and thread it through the end of the crystal.  While holing the loop with the pliers wrap the wire around to secure.  Clip the extra wire off.






Add a round bead.  Repeat the process of making a loop, threading on another crystal, wrapping the wire, and clipping the extra off.  You will continue this process until you have a strand long enough to swag from the top of your chandelier to the part that surrounds the light.  I hope that makes sense I'm not sure what to call it.






Once your crystal strand is long enough you'll hook it to the top of the chandelier.  Thread your wire through one of the holes.  Loop it around and wrap the wire around to secure it in place.  Clip the extra wire.



You'll do the same thing attaching the other end of your crystal strand to the part around the light.  Repeat this process all the way around the chandelier.  




I also made crystal strands that went from one light to the other. You can also add a crystal to the bottom. This is where you can get creative and add as many crystals as you want to.  Also cute little lampshades are a fun way to dress up a chandelier. 


This one we made from our old dining room light.  I love the round bulbs it gives it a totally different look.  We also added a few pink  crystals as well.


I hope this gets your creative juices flowing.  Send us pictures of your chandelier makeovers.  We'd love to see them!

-Lauralee-

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The Midi Skirt PDF Pattern

This is my very first post on our new blog.  Chelsea has been helping me out because I have no clue what I'm doing.  She is Amazing!  Hopefully as we keep doing this some of her talent will rub off on me.  So here goes.
I know it's not Friday, but with the holiday weekend and family visiting, well... you know how it is. So this is our belated Fashion Friday post.  I designed this skirt for Valentines Day, but really you can wear it any time!

One of my favorite things to do is search pinterest for amazing outfits and then recreate them for myself.  This is one of them and  now you can make your very own.  Its a great skirt gathered onto a flat waistband with a zipper and pockets!!  I know I love pockets too!  Dont be afraid of the zipper I have included tons of pictures on exactly how to do it.  I wore this skirt for our valentines photo booth pics. It was so comfy and fun to wear.  I think I need it in more colors, maybe a floral print.  That would be awesome! 

Here is a picture of my inspiration from Pinterest
Pink, Stripes + Leopard
This step by step pattern has full color pictures that will have you sewing this beauty in no time at all.  You will learn how to custom fit this skirt to your body measurements.  It can be made for you or for your daughter.  And as always our PDf Patterns are only $2.  So hurry on over to our etsy shop and grab yourself the Midi Skirt Pattern!
Stay tuned our next project up is how to bling your own chandelier. I love anything sparkly, so this project is one of my favorites.  It is so fun taking something old and ugly and turning it into something Fabulous!!

Happy Sewing
-Lauralee-


Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope your day has been filled with lot's of love and yummy sweet treats. If you haven't had enough sugar yet, try these Sugar Cookies from Our Best Bites! I've made a hundred different sugar cookie recipes and this one is by far my favorite by about a million miles.



I honestly have no idea where I got the frosting recipe, but I've used it for years.  I'm sure I just googled it and found it, but I can't seem to pin point where it's from so if it's yours let me know and I'll link back to you. 

I love it because it goes on easy and a little runny, but starts to harden as soon as it hits the cookie and then has this glossy affect when it dries. You can get pretty creative with it and best of all it tastes A-mazing!  Make sure you put the sprinkles on immediately after or they won't stick.

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tsps of milk (add more if the frosting is too thick)
2 tsps of light corn syrup
1 tsp of  real vanilla
mix together with a fork or spoon until smooth

YUM!

Have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you back here on Tuesday for a skirt tutorial and on Friday we'll tell you how to make the chandelier from Chloe's bedroom makeover .

XO - Chelsea


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Ruthie Be Maude Banners...


 We hope you enjoyed our bedroom makeover post and the
striped curtain tutorial.

Now onto the next one! Ruthie Be Maude Banners.
These banners are so much fun and a piece of cake to make. The possibilities are literally endless. We've got three different examples here to get your creative juices flowing...

Chloe's Name Banner - for bedrooms or birthdays
This banner cost us under $20 for everything


 LOVE Banner - for valentines or weddings or even a photo shoot back drop
This banner cost us $28 to make and that includes the burlap ribbon


PROM Banner - for dances or other special events. You could do
Sadie's, Morp, or for Graduation 'Class of 2014'
This banner cost us under $10 for everything

 We have 4 different frames to choose from and 2 different fonts. We recommend using paper that is firm for the frames like card stock or poster board and use ribbon or twine to hang it. You can also use fabric! We'll probably come up with some more examples in the future too. 

The banners are pretty self explanatory so we don't have a tutorial, but here's a brief explanation:

 -Cut out the frames and letters from the templates provided
 -Trace onto your choice of paper for both the frames and the letters
-Glue the letters to the frames.
-Punch holes in the top of the frames (there are marks indicating where)
-Thread a ribbon through

Download Ruthie Be Maude Banners HERE


Thursday, February 6, 2014

Bedroom Makeover and Striped Curtain Tutorial...

We'll be doing a lot of this kind of thing on our blog, making stuff over. Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms, refrigerators and the list goes on! Just a few changes in a room that is starting to get on your nerves can make all the difference in the world, but a full on makeover feels like a million bucks! 

With our makeovers we hope to not only inspire you, but to teach you how to do it yourself and do it on a budget. With our easy to follow tutorials and videos, downloadable patterns, and tips and tricks, you'll be making over every room in your house and your neighbors house too!

So without further ado, here it is! Our first bedroom makeover for Chloe...


 Chloe is a darling 9 year old little girl who is full of energy, personality, and is loads of fun. We decorated this room to fit her style and boy does it ever. It's over flowing with colors, patterns, and prints that are absolute eye candy for a girl her age. We also added a few personal touches to make it feel like home.  Needless to say, we are absolutely in love with her room and she is too!


Over the next few weeks we'll be giving free tutorials on how to achieve this look. Our tutorials will include how to make custom striped curtains, a quilt, removable and washable pillow cases, a lamp shade, a covered bench with a custom painted fabric seat cushion, a ginormous wooden picture frame and wall collage, a personalized name banner, removable/reusable polka dots wall decals, and yes even the chandelier. The total cost of this room was under $250 and the best part is, you can do it bit by bit as you can afford it. Using fabric remnants helps cut down costs as well as old picture frames and a thrift store chandelier.




 

Make sure you sign up for or mailing list or follow us by email on the right side
bar, so you know when we've posted our next tutorial. 


Here's the Before and After comparison...Wow!



Our first tutorial is for the darling striped curtains you see above. We bought the most inexpensive cotton fabric we could find at Joann's and used a coupon, so the cost for these was between $20 and $25 per panel.  Not too shabby.   Enjoy!

How to make your own striped curtains...TUTORIAL

-Chelsea

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Valentines Pillows - 3 PDF Patterns - FREE

It's almost Valentines Day! I have always been a lover of hearts. If I see a shirt, a pillow, dishes, or anything else that has a heart on it I swoon and more often than not, I cave and buy it. Call it an obsession or maybe I'm just a girly girl at heart. Whatever the case, I can't get enough and this time of year is especially tough to resist. Where will I put it all?


For our Ruthie be Maude debut, we had something really big planned (and we're still doing it) but we were sad that we would miss out on making something fun to share for Valentines. So here's some pillow patterns we made to brighten your front porch, entry way, or couch!

These patterns are FREE! Click on the links to be directed to each tutorial.

               xoxo, Chelsea and Lauralee

 Hearts a Flutter

Love Notes - You can actually put love notes in the envelope!