Upholstered Wing Back Chairs

I finished upholstering my green couch and said, "I'm done with that for a while!" but the more I looked at my sitting room the more I wished we had slightly more seating. It's really not a couch, it's a love seat that only fits two so if anyone else is over we have to go up to the messy family room. I think it was meant to be when I came across two wing back chairs on a buy and sell page. They were $50 though and I was trying to be responsible. When my Mom offered $15 for one and they accepted though I couldn't help myself and I became the owner of this chair.

Again, trying to be responsible so I only bought one. I figured I'd regret it one day but for now it was the right choice.

I knew I wanted a grey fabric with lots of texture and I'm super happy with what I found (though I took pictures at all different times and it looks different in all of them).

Like the couch I stripped it down to the frame

Here's a look at just how many staples needed to come out (my magnetic dish is my new favourite tool, it so handy for holding staples).

and I'm learning there's a point in every reupholster project where it gets really gross. All those crumbs that disappear into the couch over the years end up somewhere and you're going to find them. Notice the penny, a sunflower seed and the pin? Such nice treasures hey?

The bottom and arms were first to be re-covered

Next was the wings, love the piping.

I finished the rest of the chair and then moved onto the box cushion... oh box cushions. They are not fun. My first attempt was horrible, the second was okay. It's still slightly loose but I've left it for now.

And the finished chair.

And a few before and after's

Okay, now is where this post gets extra long. I was being responsible and only bought one chair but then I finished this one and I had enough fabric, minus 1 meter, for the second chair. It seemed silly to do nothing with all this fabric when the other chair was still available and only $15 so I bought that one too and re-covered it to match. I'm not sure both chairs is the best fit for this space but I think down the road I'll be happy for the matching set.

The ottoman is missing from these pictures because it's in the middle of a re-do and that white pillow is just a form, waiting for a cover but my supplies are still in the mail. I'll post those together when they're finished.

Chair one. Notice my new coffee table in there? Do you love it or hate it? I super love it but others haven't been so into it :)

And Chair two. I think I've finally got the hang of box cushions after this one.

I think I'm actually taking a bit of a break from upholstery for a little while (not too long though, I've got two more wing back chairs in my garage waiting for a friend).

Pictures of the Girls

It's been such a long time since I posted any pictures of the girls so here's a bit of a recap.

We spent the summer going to the zoo where we saw a huge turtle that Eden was in love with

We played in the pool on the deck

We went to Grandma's house and saw these cool birds

That one behind her is real, not stuffed

And saw bunnies at the petting zoo

Both girls had birthday's, Eden with giant cupcakes

and Catie with an Elsa cake

We went to Calaway Park with Grandma

and Catie started school

She likes riding the bus the best

It snowed

And then turned really beautiful again

We spend ridiculous amounts of time at the park since Catie's bus stop is at one. 

We play there almost every day

We moved to a new house that the girls love

And Catie got two new cousins (though we haven't met Cassidy yet). She loves baby Beatrix though and wants to hold her every chance she gets

We've had a great summer and fall so far.

Halloween Bunny

So Halloween is coming and every year I dread making costumes. But then I start and realize that Halloween costumes are hilarious. They're easy to make because they don't have to last and you can skip steps.

That being said, Catie wanted to be Sofia the First this year and it would involve a big sparkly ball gown, that I could buy at the store for $40. I can't make the dress for less than that so we bought her costume this year.

That just leaves Eden.  My sister made the cutest My Little Pony costume for her daughter using a great tutorial on Sugar Tart Craft but Eden's a little young for My Little Pony.

My only goal for her costume was for her to put it on and think it was cute so I needed something recognizable. I also think toddlers with painted whiskers are super cute. I decided to go with a bunny, using the same tutorial but altering it. It was surprisingly easy, came together quick and it turned out great.

Eden thinks it's very cute and I can't stop chuckling about that big bunny tail.

She was hopping like a bunny here

She thinks her tail is funny too

Caramel Apples

We've discovered a new favourite treat... the caramel apple. Nothing revolutionary but I'd never really made them before (okay, I did make these caramel apple bites but those are different, though also delicious)

I've never been a big fan of caramel apples because they're so tough to eat but I though Catie would think they were fun so we made them. I did the caramel and dipped the apples and Catie rolled them in the toppings .  Now before you start thinking, "whoa, those are tough, Laura's amazing". These apples are attempt number three, the first two being completely unsalvagable.

You know what would have made these easier? A candy thermometer. I don't know why I don't have one but I never remember to buy one until it's late at night and I spur of the moment make something. I figured no big deal though, I'll just use the cup of water trick and cook it until a soft ball, no problem. Everything seemed to be going fine, we dipped the apples and they were even more beautiful than these ones, except when I tried to test one once they'd cooled you couldn't even take one bite they were so hard. I figured I'd try to cut them instead but they caramel just cracked off, and I could barely get a knife through it. Not a soft ball stage.

Catie was really disappointing though so I thought we'd give it another try. I wanted to take the easy route this time and go for pre-made caramel and as I was grocery shopping I came across a display of Macintosh caramels with a pamphlet on how to make caramel apples. Perfect. It called for two packages so I bought them, mixed it with water according to directions and melted. Then we went to dip and this caramel was so stinkin thin! I still feel mislead because it turns out the package size I was supposed to use was not the one on the giant display beside the instructions. I was supposed to use one much larger and now there's too much water and it rolls off the apple and isn't ever going to set.

So now Catie's disappointed twice and I figure I can handle a homemade caramel so I tried again. I used this recipe although I'm pretty skeptical on the directions. It says you're supposed to cook it on high, without stirring for 30 minutes. My super hard first caramel was not cooked that long or that high so I just skipped the directions and took it off when I though it was ready, after maybe 7 or 8 minutes. It was perfect, nice and soft and super delicious.

I can't stand how hard they are to eat so I cut them up for both me and the kids though.

Eden likes to eat all the caramel off and leave the apples which makes me crazy but I'm trying to let it go.

We dipped them in mini M&M's, skor bits and round sprinkles and surprisingly my favourite are the sprinkles. I bought them for Catie but they have a super yummy crunch. Most recipes say you should use granny smith apples but I just grabbed a bag of whichever were the smallest which turned out the be Gala, yummy.

We've already made two batches of them, and hey, they're apples so they're a perfectly nutritional lunch right? (not that I ate it for lunch yesterday or anything...)

Updated Kitchen Lights

Well here is a little more proof that together Mom and I can do anything.

She had a ceiling fan in her kitchen above the table and if I'm correct one day the lights started to spark and smoke.  It wasn't any good anymore so she decided to replace it with something she liked more. Unfortunately my Dad. who was desperate for some light, beat her to it and she ended up with a bulb with a shade on it. It was not good.

I somehow managed to lose the picture but it was this with a very small shade that clipped to the lightbulb.

In his defense he had planned on it being temporary.

So Mom picked out something she was much happier with and together she and I tackled an electrical project which was new to both of us.  Things went smoothly, no one was electrocuted and now she has this lovely fixture. It's quite the improvement.

Since I left she's gone on to replace 3 more by herself.

So moral of the story, if there's something you want done don't be afraid, you can do it!  Watch a YouTube video or two and you'll be good to go. Also, electricity is no joke. Mom didn't trust her electricity panel labels so to be safe she shut off power to the whole upstairs, and then double checked there was no electricity.

New to me Dresser

And here's a project I have yet to start but it's a nice piece of furniture so you can see it now, my brother found it for me for $20.  It's old, has cool castor wheels and the drawers slide smoothly.  It sits in the kitchen, underneath our tv and holds all the girls crafty things.

I don't love the shape of the top, it looks like it should have a mirror attached but I can deal with that.  I'm already working on a plan.

It's in pretty good shape but the top especially is pretty scratched up so I think a makeover is in order.

Paint is my go-to but I think for this piece I'll try my hand at re-staining.  We'll see how that goes though because that's a lot of sanding.

I've already ordered these cute knobs to replace those ugly ones though.

Mom's Upholstered Love Seat

I've mentioned in my Love Seat Re-upholstery post that we actually worked on two couches at the same time and since we finished Mom's I can show you her finished one.

So the process was the same, we took apart both our couches at the same time and added foam to the arms and batting to the bottom.  Everything was going really well and we got her couch to this point (see my couch in the background?) and then I made a mistake.

We put her back piece on and then ran out of time and she took it home as is but I couldn't stop thinking about how much I disliked her back piece.

When I cut the three pieces on the back I forgot to add seam allowance and it looks so tight and stretched.  I felt bad that I loved mine so much and hated hers so I convinced her that we needed to fix it even though it required her to remove the piece on the back of the couch and we had to make a new cushion cover. It was for sure the right idea though because it looks so much better now!

Before you see the after picture I'll give you a couple in progress.

I love how putting on the back makes it look so professional.
You first add burlap

Then batting and then your finished fabric goes on. Each corner will get one drapery tack to hold them tight but we didn't have them yet.

So to remind you, a before

And an after

See the difference on the back? It's all cute and puffy now.

The stain she did on the arm is so pretty and look at her cute little legs

The couch fits in her room so nicely

Since I left she's put even cuter pillows on it

And since I can't help myself, one more before and after