This Little Chair of Mine...

Last summer I was given this chair.  We happened upon it at the end of a garage sale and they wanted to get rid of it.  So in to our truck it went!  FREE!  I have been wanting to re-upholster a chair for a long time...what better way to start!  Over the following months I looked and looked for a fun fabric to transform the chair.  Finally, at a little antique store in Langley, I found it.  A coral and off white, houndstooth design...perfect for making a statement!  I will post the how-to soon.  But for now, here are the before and after pictures.  Fun project...my fingers HURT however.  I still have A LOT to learn...but I will get there.  Challenge Accepted.

Before

After

Planting time...oh so close!

 This is just an excited post about the time of year...the time of year that it almost is anyways!  It is almost planting time:)  YEAH!  I have not decided on the colors for the year yet...but boy oh boy am I excited for some color.  Get ready people...spring IS coming:)

Last Year

One bouquet from the garden last year

Bathroom Update...because we had too...

Two weeks ago while cleaning the sink in the bathroom I noticed something...we had a crack across the top of our guest bathroom vanity.  Upon further inspection I realized that the crack came from the bottom of the vanity buckling.  Not good.  This is a lesson to all those who have older houses and young children...check and see where water ends ups during and after the bath time splashing fun ends. In our case it was cleaned up after every bath...well, this is what we though was happening...when in actuality it was making its way under the vanity (out of sight) where over time it destroyed it.  Shoot.  By that evening we had the vanity pulled out and a plan in place.  At one point we were going to replace the floor, vanity, baseboards, paint, and cabinet...we ended up not doing the floor.  Maybe some day.  But for now the floors look good and work great:)  So after a search for vanities that would fit our space and our decor we ordered one that I loved.  It arrived a week later and as a mixed blessing it had a faulty top as well.  That one was on its way back and another one (took this as a sign that I needed to go in a different direction) was in my car waiting to be installed by my ever patience husband:)  It is now complete!  New paint, hardware, vanity, faucet and cabinet.  I love it!  Color scheme inspired by my collection of all things seashell and starfish.  

Here are the before, middle mistake and final product.

Before.  Nothing wrong with it, and I liked the purple while we had it...but it had other ideas for the timing of things.

Middle mistake...way to tall (kids would be 18 before they could reach the faucet) and it had a cracked top.  The wall color I loved but it was meant to go with a different floor.  In keeping the floor we changed the wall color....again.

Love the rectangle sink and the new faucet:)

Ignore the white towel on the wall...it is gone now....drove me crazy.  But I love the round brown rug:)

I love Jeremy's arm in this pic:)  The bathroom turned out cute and neutral.  The house is all starting to match!  Woohoo!!  

Sneak Peak...Updated!

Tables are done and DELIVERED!  Learned a lot during this project.  Circles, routers, attaching legs...all different when working in the round;)  These are not perfect but they were a great project and I really like the completed look.  I have learned we need a few more tools to really take flight with this project and a bigger budget.  Oh wait...more tools fall in to the budget category too huh? ;)  The lottery is still not working in our favor but maybe soon:)  Really I am trying to win the HGTV dream home and have been for years.  Come on HGTV I am LOYAL! ;)  And I ramble.  Not called "Babbling" Brooke for nothing;)  Anywho...here is the final look.  I will try and have the new owners send a picture over to post in the space they were made for.

Routed...not a perfect circle...but perfect is boring right?

Primed and ready for paint!  Excuse the sofa in the hallway...waiting for the truck to arrive to take it to its new home:)

And here it is.  One of two:)

What the Hutch?...

Last weekend we headed across the pass to our friends house.  They are pregnant with their third child so besides just wanting to see them we also were there to help out with projects around the house just to help with some of the load for a few days.  Well, one of the projects that was found was an old hutch just waiting for some much needed assistance:)  The house that this hutch resides in is over 100 years old and I believe this hutch has the same birthday;)  But like everything I love...the potential was just around the corner:)  Removal of old boards, a good cleaning, new trim, new paint and new hardware made this piece functional again.  And pretty darn cute.  With more time and resources, double doors could be added, more shelving and some decorative pieces (bigger hardware etc).  Plus I would like a large crown molding on the top.  Maybe some day I will sneak in and do these things;)  But for now it is adorable, usable and a fun little project!  

Before

Before

The back panel is covered in fabric for a softer and whimsical look:)  The door open is our favorite.

The side of the cabinet could some day hold a chalkboard, corkboard, maybe a hook etc:)  Possibilities are endless with this piece.

What have we learned?  Don't throw away pieces that seem like burning is the only option to make them work:)  Just get creative and allow the rustic beauty to shine:)

Homemade Soap Challenge...how do these suds bubble...

This was after the first cycle.  Both still have serious stains but the homemade soap has removed a better portion.  Note to self...DO NOT get mustard on clothes:)  In the end the homemade soap was the winner.  It came out soft and the stains were greatly decreased. 

A week or so ago a friend of mine posted (on Pinterest) a recipe for homemade laundry soap.  The claim was that it was easy to make, inexpensive, you needed very little for each load and it worked great.  Well, I just had to try it for myself!  And being the crazy person that I am I had to do a "controlled" study on the case.  I made the soap following this recipe.  I have to say that this was pretty fun to make and I was excited to see what happened!  Once the soap was made I put all sorts of stains on an old white shirt (it is the same shirt just split in half).  I let the stains dry before putting them in the wash.  And as we all know, you would normally use a stain remover (even with the best soap) before washing...but that was not what this study was about.  So one at a time I washed both the garments.  Both on cold.  I should mention that I have a front loader...don't know if this makes a difference or not.  In the end I washed each garment 4 times the final with a treatment for stains.  And in the end, and really from the beginning, the homemade soap WON!!! 

A few things to note:

1.  While the homemade soap smells nice while washing it does not leave an scent on the clothes after it is rinsed.  For some this is great as scent on clothing is not the best, for others who like scents I would suggest adding scent to the mix or maybe a fabric softener.

2.  These stains were crazy set in.  Normal everyday stains would (and do) wash out great with both products.

3.  The whole mix cost under $20 to make and you only need 2-3 TBS per load (it makes 4 gallons).  This will last a LONG time.

4.  Since this was an isolated study I do not know the long term effects on clothes or how it works day in day out.  I will report back on the findings there.

5.  For us who want to save a few bucks...this is a fun project and one that works!  Enjoy!!!

Sneak Peak...

Remember the table we have been working on?  Seen in THIS post?  Well we are almost done!  Here is a sneak peak...I would show more but it is a surprise for our friends!

Hard to even tell what you are looking at here;)