Rainy Day Projects

Trina and I live on the East Coast, and we are going to be hit with the aftermath of Hurricane Irene this weekend.

Does this stop us from being productive?

No way!

I am getting some crafts ready that don't require power... just in case!

In the meantime, I have been working on a few other things...in between adding to my Pinterest page and baking. :)

 I made a new cover for a tired little pillow.

The pillow inside has been in every state and country I have ever traveled to , so no wonder!

Here is a little sneak peak of a wedding gift I am working on.

Soap, drop cloth, damask print, hmmm...... Curious?

Pillow Talk

It's another late night here at the Lemon house, so I have been working on a little pillow while I wait for Mr. Lemon to come home.

I thought I would share a tutorial. I used leftover scraps of fabric and ribbon to make this little throw pillow. You don't have to use scraps for this project- I just have a bin of ribbon cut in weird lengths that I wanted to clean out.

This project is easy but a little labor intensive- if you can sew in a straight line, then you can do this!

You will need:

A pillow form

Fabric

Sewing machine

Ribbons or trims

Thread

A gazillion pins

Measure your pillow and add a half inch on all sides for seam allowance. My pillow is 13 inches square so I cut one piece of fabric 14 inches square for the front.

For the back I want to be able to take the pillow in and out of the cover, so I will make an envelope fold. I make this cutting one piece that is 14x 10 inches and one that is 14x6. Hem one 14 inch side on both pieces. Set aside.

On the front piece, pin strips of ribbons onto the fabric. The ribbons should extend past the edges of your fabric by at least 1 inch. I pinned mine on a diagonal, but you could go straight across.

Alternate ribbons of different widths and colors- have fun with color combos. Remember you are only pinning now, so you can move things around until you have a design or pattern you like.

After you are satisfied with the pattern, and you have pinned every piece of ribbon, it's off to the sewing machine! Take your time sewing onto the ribbons. You can match your threads to each ribbon or find one that will complement all of them. Wider ribbons will need to be sewn along both edges, but thin ribbons will be fine with one line of stitching in the center. You can even use a zigzag stitch if you want. I mixed mine up and used zigzag and straight stitches and used white thread for all the ribbons. Crazy- I know! Once you have sewn all the ribbons on the front piece, set it aside.

My pillow was looking really cute so far, so I thought a ruffle would be perfect.  I made a ruffle by cutting 4inch wide strips of fabric. I sewed the strips end to end to make one very long strip then ironed a crease to make the pieces 2 inches wide. Set aside.

 Now it's time for the back. Lay the 14x10 piece right-side down with the raw edge touching the left raw edge of the front piece, and then put the 14x6 piece (right-side down) on the right. You should have an overlap. I ran the overlap sections on either side through the sewing machine just so I don't go crazy when pinning all the parts together.

Next I pinned my ruffle onto the back, putting all the raw edges facing the same way. I sewed these two portions together so I wouldn't have to remove my pins, but you can just sew once if you would like.

Sew the front and back together, then flip it right side out. Check you work and if you are happy with the results, then insert your pillow.

 Ta-Da!

I think the rick-rack and cupcake ribbon are my favorites.

Can you picture this in a little girl's bedroom?

Mr. Lemon

Mr. Lemon has been working some very late nights, leaving me to myself until the wee hours. I try to take advantage of the time by getting some work done on some smaller scale projects.

One thing I have been working on is this felt poppy/decoupage initial. I had fun making this from leftover pages from the book Trina and I used to make our lovely book page wreaths.

Can you see my secret message on the "J"?

It says "High Society USA".  Funny stuff.

I have been crafting in my living room these past couple of nights so I can hear when Mr. Lemon gets home; my studio is kind of sound proof.  It probably isn't a good idea to decoupage in your lap or on a medium-pile carpet, but I live life on the edge!

Thursday night Mr. Lemon came home with this monster of a side table.

He was so proud about finding this table in the dark, and you know how much Trina and I love free stuff, how could I refuse?

I know it looks a little rough and off-style, but wait until you see what I am going to do with it!

The Big Reveal

It seriously has rained everyday which has made it difficult to finish these chairs - BUT today was a nice day so get ready for the reveal!

Remember what they looked like before:

And here is how they look now:I love them! What a HUGE difference paint and drop cloth can make!
I really wanted to upholster them in vintage grain sacks like these:

But didn't want to pay the price that they cost - so I made my own out of canvas drop cloth, masking tape [painters tape would have been best, but I only had masking tape on hand and wanted to get the chairs done], and acrylic paint. After washing the drop cloth I taped out the lines that I wanted and painted in between the lines with the blue [I used blue and muted it with burnt umber to get county navy blue].


I was really pleased with how it turned out - and it kept the cost low!I painted the chairs with a creamy white latex paint, sanded them for a distressed look, and then used antique glaze to give an aged feel. I love the look of chippy white paint!

Once again here are the before and after pics: I'm so thankful that I found these lovely hitchhikers along the curb - I can't believe they were out with the trash!
Now to convince my husband that we need to keep them...

Gettin' My Shop on!

I had a happy day of shopping and crafting yesterday.

I am thankful for this season in my life where I can get together with friends, and do what we do best- talk, laugh, craft, talk, snuggle with babies, snack on hummus, laugh, inspire one another, drink coffee, encourage one another, and did I mention laugh? Yep. We do a lot of that.

When I arrived at Trina's yesterday she mentioned that AC Moore was having a sale, so when I left her house after making these, guess where I went.

I bought these items to use on future projects... just wait and see!

Then I went to Old Navy: Score! I actually found a pair of jeans that flatter me. They say nice things like "Oh no your bum isn't big" and "Wow you look taller". Seriously, you should get a pair.

I also went to Target, where I got my all-time-favorite magazine. 

When I came home I found my Better Homes had arrived! Double score!!

I have already read them, dog-eared the pages and planning my next move- creating my own version! I love me some magazines- I get inspired by the projects, colors, and photos.

What inspires you? Leave a comment- we would love to know!

Magnetic Love

Today is Wednesday...which means its once again Project Wednesday! This week Johanna came up with a fun project for us to do: "Magnetic Piece of Scrap" hehe, ok that's not what they are called but I couldn't think of anything clever [Johanna feel free to use your cleverness here]. We both have a large amount of scrap book paper...Johanna's being in a tidy container [she hearts containers], and mine being in a plastic bag [I heart recycling - ha] and are always looking for unique ways to use them. This was perfect and easy to make!

These are my favorites: I also love the houndstooth magnet that Johanna made!

Today we also picked up some great stamps and are already brainstorming about next weeks project.

Confession: I have an obsession with anything french these days...

I really love the last one, it incorporates everything that we like - damask print, vintage sheet music, and poppies - thanks Hobby Lobby!

Rainy Day = Thrifting Success!

It has been raining here like crazy! Although it is good for the grass it is unfortunate for my crafting plans...I had hoped to finish up my chairs for the big reveal today but instead you will only get another sneak peak: Do you like the grain sack inspired seat? It is very "Miss Mustard Seedish"... Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post the makeover reveal!

Not all was wasted though - Johanna and I were able to sneak away for a trip to our favorite thrift store. We didn't even mind having to run from our cars to the store in the rain - we are very dedicated thrift store shoppers!
Here are some treasures that we found in the bric-a-brac area:
Not really sure what our plans are for these - but we couldn't pass them up! (please ignore my chippy nail polish)
This little frame was cute...I'm picturing it as a small magnetic recipe card holder - isn't Johanna a great hand model!

Matching ornate frames...possible future chalkboards

I really wanted to buy this giant fork and spoon combo but Johanna talked me out of it - something about it not really being the look we are going for (I'm totally kidding about wanting them). We also scored a shabby chic looking pot and two matching ornate oval table frames - we were having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures of those. So even though I wasn't able to finish my chairs we had a successful trip to the thrift store!

Come back tomorrow to see what we craft up for "What We Made Wednesday" (We're thinking about changing the name to "Project Wednesday" - what do you think?)

My New Scissors

I bought a new pair of scissors the other day- not just any scissors, mind you, but pinking shears.

Okay you might be saying- "Johanna, how in the world do you not have pinking shears already?" I confess that I already owned a pair I "inherited" from my mom (Ooops- surprise, Mom!) a delightfully aged and well-used pair, but with a slight problem: they are for lefties. Despite keeping my hopes up again and again that the next project would come out better with them, the pair just made me mad and my projects shred.

Enter Fiskars Finishing Shears and a Joann's coupon!

I was just itching to make something with my new scissors, so I grabbed some twine and some drop cloth left over from my slipcover, and made this cute banner! I love the crisp sound they make as I snip through the fabric.

Well, I couldn't stop there so I made a few for my favorite season: fall. However, a funny thing happened. I was making one of my fall banners while sitting on the living room floor, half-watching a "B" movie with Mr. Lemon  when I made the fatal mistake of attaching the "flags" on backwards, so the banner said "lufknaht eb".  Oh no, that's not German for "Happy Thanksgiving"- it's backwards for "Be Thankful". Yep. I wish I took a picture, but I was laughing too hard!

Fall Banner Take Two:

What are you thankful for today?

Sneak Peak

Remember these dining room chairs that I found along the curb a couple of weeks ago?

Well they are turning out awesome... I'm so excited to finish them tomorrow! But until then here is a little sneak peak:

I already mentioned to my husband tonight that I "may" want to keep them...to which he replied "you can't because we do not have a dining room table"...Hmmm? Trip to our favorite thrift store tomorrow Johanna? ABSOLUTELY!