the headboard

The last few weeks I've been working on sprucing up the decor in our bedroom, pretty much re-doing everything. I liked it just fine before, but it was time for a change & it desperately needed some COLOR.

Here is the before picture:
As you can see we never had a headboard.
Notice the lamp?

I decided we needed a headboard & I came up with this.

All I did was get the size of board I wanted, stapled a few layers of cardboard onto the wood (to give it a little extra padding, but isn't necessary) wrapped it with foam (I used an egg carton foam pad the hubs used in college) with the egg part facing the wood, I stapled it on the backside with a staple gun. Then I found some dark brown (color???) suede fabric on clearance at JoAnn's ($6) & wrapped that around the board on top of the foam and stapled it to the wood (pulling it tight!).

Definitely gives it a little extra...but needed more.

I found my bit of inspiration in the Pottery Barn Magazine
(sign up, they mail them for free, a great place to get great ideas!)

Last night, with the help of the hubs, this is what we did.

We bought this inexpensive

from Home Depot.

We measured it & cut it with a jigsaw into the sizes we needed.

I also picked up some crown molding pieces from HD to frame the headboard.

Here he is stapling the Eucaboard onto the frame.
We love the staple gun, can you tell?

From the front.

Then he used the drill & screwed the Eucaboard into the back of our headboard to attach it.It's as simple as that!

You just want to be sure that the frame is lined up & pushed close into the fabric. You'll want to hold it up to look at it every now & then.

For the corners, I decided to use these squares you can get at HD too.
You could also do diagonal corners, that would look fabulous! You just have to get it cut perfectly.

Here is the finished headboard:

Love it.

This little bit only cost $20.00 & gives it a professional look.
It makes such a huge difference in a room.

Notice the yellow walls?
Just wait for the big unveiling of the entire bedroom makeover!!!!
Stay tuned.

want to grow something lovely, easy, useful & most importantly SO cute?

You've probably got everything you need for this fun project sitting around your house.

Now, lets grow some wheat grass.

First you want to buy some unpolished wheat, if you don't already have some. I picked mine up at the Whole Foods grocery store. You can also use some wheat from food storage, just make sure it isn't too old.

Sometimes it helps to soak the wheat over night in a clean container of water.

Get the cute bowl, vase, jar or pottery you want & go dig up some dirt from your backyard.
Fill up your containers & moisten the soil a bit.

Spread a layer of wheat berries on top of the soil, completely covering the dirt.

Sprinkle a thin layer of soil on top of the wheat berries.

Give it a little water.

Cover your container with newspaper, each day spray a little water on it, until they start to sprout, like in the picture. Once they've sprouted you can take the newspaper off & let it get some sun.
You don't need to sit it directly in the sun, just in a room that gets some sun.

And in 5-7 days you will have some lovely blades of wheat grass.

Water it daily, but not with too much water.

Once your grass is 7-8 inches tall give it a little trim about 1/2 inch from the soil & let it grow again, watering daily.

With the clippings you can juice it, cook with it, or chuck it & just have your wheat grass as some fun decoration.

Isn't it cute?

This is a great activity for young children, because you get results relatively soon & it's so fun for them to water it & watch it grow.

Here I used a jar, a square bowl I had (I lined it with a plastic bag & trimmed down the bag) & found those two round vases at Good Will for $1.00.

Total for project: $3.oo
(for the small vases & wheat)

I need a little help on this one...

Remember how I said I was recovering a lampshade?

Well a week or so ago I did, but it really needs something else.
I'm keeping my eyes open for some kind of embellishment to go around maybe the top & bottom. The base is a really dark brown & the room it is in has yellow walls & mostly browns & soon will have some more yellows & light blues.

Here is a close up of the material.

If you have ANY IDEAS, please tell me what you think. I just want to complete this little project. I will post the tutorial on how I recovered this, an easy-peasy project, as soon as I finish.
Thanks in advance!

brb

We're heading out for a fun five day adventure.

Look forward to seeing this when I get back:

~a headboard revamp
~recovered lamp shade
~canvas wall hangings

Be back soon!

dresser handles

I've been a little out of the blogging world over the holiday weekend.
Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Some of you may have seen these pictures, but I decided to share for those who haven't.

We recently were given a broken, old dresser. I saw some beauty in it & was so excited to fix it up.

After gluing a drawer back together, sanding the whole thing & painting it four times we got this beauty. (That I think will be much more beautiful in a little girls room...someday.)

I love the antique style & the Queen Anne legs.
Even though the project only cost about 20 bucks, we didn't want to buy handles right away. The ones I want, are a little pricey.

So since it's being used in my little boys room I figured I could come up with something that I already had for now.
My mother-in-law recently gave me some great fabric that I am using to make him a quilt out of. I thought it would be cute to have the handles match the quilt.
Here are the handles close up.

They have little cars, boats & air planes on them. I stuffed some old denim inside to make them a little more sturdy. And sewed them, used a little fray check, if needed. I pulled them through the holes and left them about 7 in long on both sides so I could tie a not from the inside.

I've also seen rope (a decorative rope) & ribbon.
If you have any inexpensive dresser handle ideas please share!!!

homemade playdough recipes

Stuck inside on a rainy day?
We are.
Here are some good play dough recipes.

This one I got from my sister-in-law.
Peanut butter play dough:

1 C. Creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups powdered milk
3 T. honey.

I usually put in some powdered sugar and powdered milk (just divided in half; I just taste it till it tastes good enough to eat).

Just like store bought play dough:
2 c water
1/2 c. salt
combine and bring to a boil

Remove from heat and add:
2T powdered Alum (buy in the spice section of the store)
1/4 c. salad oil
2 1/4 c. flour

Stir until blended. Put on board and knead. Store in covered container.