not too shabby

I got these beautiful antique chairs at a garage sale.

I was intimidated to work on them as they seemed out of my league. I know how to paint and cover seats... but I've never had to reappolster the tops of chairs before. They sat in the shop forever and then my husband finally talked me into giving it a try and he lovingly REFUSED to help me in any way:) Thanks babe... you're a gem!

Well, I gave it a go and for my first time I thought, "not to shabby"
Here's how they turned out.

I think they are the perfect chairs for a little tea for two!

I love all the little details...

a very soft blue color...

the hand carved flower...

a slightly distressed finish...

and my mom helped me sew the perfect little seat cover:)

For those of you who are interested... here's how I did the tops of the chairs.
My supplies:

fabric, "sew perfect" batting, "sew perfect" nu-foam, trim, staple gun, glue gun, scissors

(burlap...not pictured)

First I used the old forms to cut out mine... I cut them out larger than the originals.

I applied the back fabric first with my staple gun and then trimmed the edges.

Then I turned the chair over and applied the burlap to the front with the staple gun.

Next, I trimmed a piece of the "sew perfect" nu-foam and placed it on top of the burlap.

Then I added some of the "sew perfect" batting.

Here's the layers...

Then, I applied my fabric to the front of the chair with the staple gun and trimmed the edges.

After that... all I had to do was glue the trim on (both front and back) with the hot glue gun.

Easy right? It did go much better then I had anticipated. I learned a lot and hopefully I will get better at it each time.


Linking to {primp} for her party:
http://micheleravendesigns.blogspot.com/
(I couldn't get her button....I need some directions as to how you do that)

Linking to French Country Cottage for her party:
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Linking to The Shabby Nest for her party:
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/

Knick of Time

Updated house photos... she's coming along

We had a great 4th of July here in the river valley. That's the old corn crib on our property. I think "Old Glory" looks great up there. Once the house is done....she'll be next on the list (big sigh).

I had of course hoped that we would be in our house celebrating this occasion but life is life and it often doesn't go as planned. My husband Brett had a bad fall over memorial weekend...just when he had started siding our home. No broken bones thankfully but it slowed him down for awhile. However, this weekend he was back at it :) Thought I should share some updated photos.

I think I will stick to the classic white cottage. I still have a little more time to decide before he paints it. The drywall is done inside. Once he finishes the outside he moves inside for all the stuff I'm excited about... doors, trim, cabinets, and flooring.

While Brett worked, I did my best to make sure the kids enjoyed this special weekend. Here's a little bit of what we did.

Little Miss A. got to go on her first horse ride.

Swimming was a must. At the farm, Bentley got to enjoy that as well. We just filled up a big black tub (an animal feeding bin of some sort) and we had our own little kiddie pool :)

Then late on Monday night we managed to get the dad loaded up and we enjoyed some fireworks!

We gave him lots of LOVE for all he does for our family.

Just want to say a little "thank-you" to all our troops and their families who work so hard as well and sacrifice so much so that we can enjoy our freedom and liberty. God Bless you all!