Friday's Featured Slipcovers

This post by Blooming on Bainbridge was the cutest post I've read about living with white slipcovers.


How gorgeous is this from Show and Tell! She did these in a weekend!


Helping my Fairy Blog Mother Slip! Because she makes my blog look so beautiful and I like her and she's my friend.


Strictly Homemade's cute slipped rocking chair with adorable teeny tiny knife pleats!

* If you've been featured...grab a button over there----> Also, don't forget about the Ugly Sofa contest! Do you know someone who has an ugly sofa and would like to win $50 to Fabric.com?

How to sew piping

I've had a couple of you ask for more direction in sewing the piping. I am a self taught sewer...well actually my Aunt Myrtle and my Aunt Pearl, both, taught me how to sew when I was young. Other than that, I've never had a formal class. A lot of it has been trial and error. I get better with each cushion and each slipcover. It just takes some practice. I think the first obstacle is overcoming the fear of cutting fabric. When you do that, MAN oh man...you're on a roll!

About piping...when I'm pinning around a corner, I snip the edge of the fabric to give it more flexibility to curve around said corner. I think this last slipcover cushion I sewed for my camper is the BEST one I've ever made! I love it! So here's a youtube video on piping. There are many more. Just go to youtube and type in "How to sew piping". You will get a ton of videos...even how to sew piping into a round pillow.

I was trying to make a video, but I have about 457 things on my list today before we leave for out Annual Camping Trip to the Outer Banks...and I have until 4PM to do it! But I wanted you guys to have this info. Hope it helps! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

**Also don't forget to enter the UGLY sofa contest! The winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to Fabric.com. And if you're local, maybe some slipcover help from moi!

Ugly Sofa Contest

I saw all these when I was out thrifting the other day, They all have great potential! The above could be painted black or white with a cute damask slipcover. Just close your eyes and imagine.


How cute would this little green monster be all slipped in canvas white with a pleated skirt? I can picture it now!

This is a perfect piece to slipcover! Box cushions with two little pillows...beautiful arms. Can you see it?

So...Link up your ugly sofa OR chair and you could win a prize! Let's see who has the ugliest sofa out there! There will be a prize for the ugliest...in the form of a gift certificate for fabric and maybe a little something else?

How to enter:

1) Take a picture of your ugly sofa or chair and post it.
2) Come back here and link up. I'll leave the link open for a couple of days.
3) We'll pick out the 3 ugliest sofa's and then I'll let you guys vote on them!

**On Tuesday, June 1st I will post the 3 ugliest sofa's and You guys will vote for the ugliest!

Kitchen Lights

New Kitchen Pendant Lights from IKEA.

Before {UFO interrogation light}

After

I still want to do something to my countertops?? Which is not at the top of the list unless someone wants to donate some countertops? Anyone? I'm thinking about painting the barstools white or making slipcovers for them. What do yall think I should do?

*Don't forget the ugly sofa contest on Tuesday! Link up your ugly sofa!

Upcoming Ugly Sofa Contest

Do you have a sofa that looks like it came from your grandma's grandma? Do you have clear vinyl on it? If so, please take a picture and share it with us...not so we'll laugh at you, but so that you can possibly win a prize. Prize is still undetermined as of yet...but it will be good, I'm working on a few things!


How to enter:
1) Take a picture of your ugly sofa or chair and post it.
2) Come here next Tuesday for the linky party and link up.
3) We'll pick out the 3 ugliest sofa's and then I'll let you guys vote!

Friday's Featured Slipcovers

I was at my Fairy Blog Mother's almost until midnight when our sewing machine's turned back into pumpkins. Yall! Her slips look so good! Wait until you see them. I'll show you when she's completed the room! She used off-white cotton canvas for both her sofa and love seat and sewed the piping with a contrasting amy butler fabric. She's going to cover her round ottoman with the same amy butler fabric! It is to die for! Until then....here are some gals who are also making it happen with their transformed furniture all sassy and slipped!

Shayla is a member of The Lazy Girl's Slipcovers and is rocking it with these cute club chairs and ottoman! Please go look at her before chairs!


I've been swooning over this periwinkle linen chaise slipcover by Tamerie! Look at the little ruffle trim she did around the cushions! It is so charming...makes me want to curl up with a glass of wine and watch the entire season of Glee!


Anne-Marie's linen dining slipcovers are so simply elegant!


Go see this sofa before Cottage and Cabin got a hold of it! It was RED yall! RED! Now it's as pure as white snow!

Also, check out this article: 'Going Green with Slipcovers'. We live in a disposable society, so when you slipcover old furniture, you're doing good and going green! Do your part...Slipcover and reduce your carbon footprint!

**Grab a Featured button over there to the right if you've been featured and link back so everyone can be inspired!

BTW: I decided on this Amy Butler fabric to slipcover my sofa! I bought it from Fabric.com and it was on sale! And I can still make a white one to switch it up whenever I feel like it!

Slipping at my Fairy Blog Mother's

Today I'm running off to help my Fairy Blog Mother with her slipcover's! And BELIEVE you me I owe her BIG TIME! She's the one responsible for making my blog look so lovely and divine and she make tons of cute buttons for me...like this one:


You, too, can make dress your furniture in new clothes for only $10 {+ fabric}...just by clicking on the button above! You can make a new outfit for every day of the week if you wish OR for every season! I just sold my white slipcover sofa and bought a new sofa...one that's a little firmer for my husband! And low and behold, I might not do white...shock I know! I'm feeling like adding a little print to my life...something like this:


Nickel Damask by Duralee Fabrics and it's only $33.98/yd! Let's see I only paid $60 for the sofa...so $33.98 x 15 yds = $509.70. I will not be buying this fabric that I have fallen soooo in love with. I will keep looking for a cheaper Mr. Right. Does anyone have any ideas? I have a gray fetish right now and LOVE everything gray!

Here's my new ugly couch and cute family! You know what? Next week we're going to have a linky party of ugliest couches. It will be a contest and we'll narrow it down to 3 and do an online vote! There will be a prize or prizes of course! I don't know what yet...maybe if you're local, I'll come help you slip your sofa or chair. So take pics of your ugly sofa or chair and we'll link up next Tuesday! K? K.

Re-fashioned T-shirt to Tube Top

This was a t-shirt I had in the box to go to goodwill. I've seen lots of re-fashioned cute tops and decided to give it a whirl. It's super cute and I love how it turned out.


I just laid another tube top over it as a pattern and cut along the lines and then sewed up the sides. I flipped the top over and sewed a seam leaving a small space open. I used a safety pin and laced a small piece of elastic through, sewed it together and finished the top seam. Then I used the scraps to make the little ruffles. Now I need to go do some bicep curls.

Slipcover Sneak Peek

Aren't they absolutely fetching for a camper trailer? So much fun! My husband agrees! Here's a tip when sewing cushions: Just do the piping on the front of the cushion. That's the part you really see and you save a little. See how I came around the corners and just tucked it into the seam? Just do the front on the top and the bottom of the cushion. It looks much more finished!

Random Question: Has anyone ever painted Corian countertops? How did it go?

Working on a few projects

...like hanging beadboard wallpaper in my kitchen


...putting up the pendant lights I got from IKEA.


Making slipcovers for the cushions in our camper trailer. Wait til you see how cute the fabric is! I adore it!


...and trying to find out who this mister fox hound belongs to. He followed us home from our walk yesterday. What are yall working on?

Slipcover Party!

Welcome to the Slipcover Party! Show us your slips...we want to see 'em! Even if you've been featured here on Friday's Featured Slipcovers, you can still link up. We want you to inspire us!

There are a couple of rules:

1) Make sure you link to your specific post with your slipcover or it may get the slip;0)

2) Grab a Slipcover Party Button below and link back here from your post...so other's can see all of your great talent and join in on the fun!

Have fun!

<a href="http://pinkandpolkadot.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s272/carriesue425/Pink%20and%20Polka%20Dot/125slipcoverpartybuttoncopy.jpg" /> </a>

Guess who's birthday is today?

Did you guess? Oh and just in case you're living under a rock or busy with your real life, he's on Oprah today! I'm recording it because I have to walk to the bus stop when it comes on. Dang buses!

**Don't forget about the slipcover linky party tomorrow!

Camping + Glamourous = Glamping

Glamping: the glamorous way to camp. Have you heard of this term? I just found out about it. We go camping every Memorial Day to the OBX. I found all sorts of articles about glamping. A friend painted the inside of her camper trailer and slipcovered all the cushions, so it would feel more like her home away from home.

So as we get ready for our upcoming trip, I'm going to be busy making treatments for the windows and I'm also going to slipcover the cushions. I always take my bedding very seriously...egg crates, my sheets, fluffy, cozy bedding and lots of pillows. Why not? This is your home away from home. This is your vacay. Why not surround yourself with the comforts of home? I would love to paint and do it all up. But I've already taken over the house in my girlie way...so I'll go easy on the camper. And did I say it had a full bathroom with a shower. hello? It just needs a little glamping up!


Here is our little home away from home.

I was inspired by Vintage Housewife's Pink trailer. Go check out what she did to the interior!

Oh, BTW...I was featured over at DiggersList today. It's a free online home improvement classifieds for all us DIY'ers!

photo credits: hat, chair, picnic basket, dot cups cath kidston. white bedding by shabby chic. Coleman portable grill walmart. citronella candle, galvanized beverage tub, condiment caddy sur la table. Red enamel serving pieces pottery barn

Make a List

We've sold 2 homes and bought 3. We always sell FSBO and always buy foreclosures. This last home we bought had been on the market for over a year and a friend told me about it. They were willing to negotiate drastically. When I sell a home, I go through and make a list of everything that needs to be done before putting it on the market. I am very anal about it! Ask my husband. So, I decided to make a list for my home, before we ever put it up for sale. NO, we're not selling or putting it up on the market anytime soon...never if I have anything to do with it. We've moved about 13 times in 13 years. I don't want to move again unless someone wants to give me a house on Kauai...or Maui...actually I'll take a house on any of the 8 islands of Hawaii.

So I made a list of things I'd like to get done. It helps me to see it in black and white and to be able to check off each project. It's an easy way to attack projects to be done. I simply get overwhelmed if I don't do this. I know...our homes are always a work in progress. I just want to get a few things done. I've yet to touch my master bedroom and bath. Those deserve notebooks all on their own...not lists.

How do you attack projects to be done? Do you go room to room and make a list?

How to Paint a Table

OR "How I paint a table." Usually I don't take the time to prep. This is what I know about prep work before painting:
1) I hate it
2) It's necessary...sometimes.

Especially for a table that you're going to be eating off of...crafting on and the like. First I dragged it out onto the screened porch and sanded it down. I sanded all the shiny shellac stuff off. My neighbor was afraid...he asked me the next day, "What was all that racket you were making?" ...of course...in his nice neighborly way. Then I dusted off the dust and wiped it down several times with a wet lint free cloth.

I use a Purdy Paintbrush...that I swear by! I love this paintbrush! I used it to prime the table. I also used the paint brush to paint the legs and lip of the table and a small roller to roll paint on the top. I put about 3 coats of paint.

I used Valspar Primer from Lowes and went with a cheaper white satin paint from Walmart. This is probably why I had to put on so many coats. When you go with cheap paint, you pay one way or another...time or money.

After, it was completely dry, I sanded the top with fine grit sandpaper...just to smooth it all out. Then I rolled 1 more coat of white paint on the top and sprayed a coat of polyurethane to seal everything. Check out Carrie's newly painted desk.

All the while, a little was creating her own master piece! Her room is bright green and turquoise. You would think she is the Ambassador for World Peace with all the "Peace" signs in her room. After a little spattering of paint...she proceeded with painting random peace signs all over it. It's truly a masterpiece! What are you painting this week?

Friday's Featured Slipcovers

Swooning over this Springy green ottoman from Ms. B.


Ahhh...be still my beating heart with those pleats! Slipcover by Simply Stylish Ideas.


A dining chair slip that even men make comments about by Luann Danzl Designs.

**If you've been featured, grab a button over there to the right----->


Also, next Friday, instead of Featured Slipcover's...we're going to have a Linky Slipcover Party! So get your slips on...there's still time! And yes, even if you've been featured, you can still partake!

Kitchen dining table Reveal

I found a little honey farm table at Goodwill for $40 bucks and snatched it up quick like! I was going to put it in my studio and make it all cute, but I really liked it in the kitchen. You probably have one right now sitting in your home. Paint it! You will fall in love with it again! I had a round pedestal table, but everyone kept hitting their knees on it underneath. It was a pain...literally. It probably fit the space better, but I am in love with this table now that it's been painted. Just like I envisioned.

I just did a few simple things...I painted the table white after sanding and priming. I found the chandy at Habitat for Humanity. It was ugly brass, so I spray painted it white. I found the lampshades at a yard sale. I ripped the black fabric off and wrapped jute twine around them with a little hot glue. I love the texture and they look so coastal! I got this idea from a reader...Melinda. Thanks Melinda!

I used burlap on a spring rod...just by sewing a seam at the top for the rod and then I used the same jute twine to tie them up. It's not fancy schmany, but I like the relaxed feel of them. We don't need the privacy, so they'll stay tied up and I like the sheer-ness of them.

I bought a set of 6 of these chairs at a thrift store. They are a vanilla cream color, so I spray painted them white and recovered the seat with the gray velour damask. I found this fabric at the local discount fabric warehouse. As I'm looking at this photo, I can see I need to add more spray paint to the back. Arrrg!

It just takes a little time to re-do a space so you'll love it. What do you want to re-do right now...that you keep putting off?

linked to Nester's table & chairs inspiration.