DIY Recovering a Chair

Instead of writing about my life this post I figured a DIY would be fun.  Husband found a chair outside last year in somebody else's trash.  His best thought was to bring it into our house.  I was NOT happy!  He uses this chair almost daily playing the Wii in our bedroom.  It wasn't in that bad of shape so I figured reupholstering it would make me like it a little bit more.

Supplies needed:
Chair
Fabric (enough to cover your chair)
Batting (optional)
Scissors
Pliers to remove staples
Staple gun with staples
Hammer

The original nasty chair that husband pulled from the trash.

Take the screws out of the backside and bottom side of the chair.  Then pop the back piece off. This is what you get.

Start removing the staples.  I think this is the most tedious part of the reupholstering process. 

You can use the fabric you remove to measure your new piece if you care to do so.

I wanted to add a little batting to create a little more newness feeling to the chair.

Once you have the batting to the correct size you can cut your piece of fabric. I try to leave enough room so that I can grab a hold of the fabric and not have to do a little dance of trying to hold fabric and not stapling my fingers.

Start with stapling the four centers.  Then staple opposite sides making sure to pull the fabric tight.  (I guesstimated how much fabric I needed at the store and barely made it on the seat of the chair!)

I may go overboard on the staples sometimes but I don't want to fabric to shift once it is put into place.  I hammer down the staples to just ensure that everything will remain flat where it is needed.

What it should look like once you have stapled all the way around.  For the corners I just leave them for last and then pull everything super tight to avoid wrinkles.

Trim off the excess fabric and staple the corners just a tiny bit more.  The extra stapling is pretty much optional.

Pop the newly reupholstered back into the plastic holder.  Reattach the back and seat back to the frame.

Lastly, enjoy your newly covered chair and surprise husband with the final results!  (He LOVES it!)

Close up of the fabric I chose for the back.

Close up of the fabric for the seat.

This reupholstering cost me a total of I think $20.00 and about 45 minutes of my time.  Originally I had hoped to find a really cool gaming fabric or something with Mario.  When I couldn't find that I found these nautical fabrics and couldn't decide which I liked more so I bought both of them!  I didn't tell my husband that I was doing this at all.  He is a good enough sport though to love me through my projects.  Coming up soon will also be my first door wreath for Easter!

I became a Mrs!

It has been quite a while since my last blog post but I was really busy planning my wedding!  Husband and I have been married for about a month and a half and everything is fantastic.  We had a beautiful wedding ceremony and reception.  I could write all about it but I know people have been wanting to see photos.  All photos are credited to Matt Addington Photography.  Feel free to save them and print them off if you would like but I ask that you please keep them off of Facebook for personal reasons (share my blog instead!).  Enjoy looking at the photos!

5 years to the date!

Jen, my sister-in-law did my make up.  She did such a fantastic job.  Ashley, a friend of my sisters did lovely with my hair (she gets to get married in one month!).  The hairpiece was part of my moms veil when she got married 40 years ago.

With the most amazing folks in the world!

My bouquet and shoes.  Loved my shoes!  They were not comfortable in the least bit though and came off while getting photos taken.
Word to the wise... break in your shoes.

My dress.

We did a superhero theme for the tables.  Our guest book was not a book at all but will be a quilt that is put together with squares signed by our guests.

Centerpieces of ornaments and snowflakes.

Captain America table card.

Feet.

Randy, Derek's dad pinning husbands boutonniere.

Me and my Papa Bear.

Mallery reading from 2 Corinthians.

Erica reading from Colossians.

I love this aerial view.

First kiss!

Me and the groomsmen.

Husband with the bridesmaids.

All the handsome men.

Me with the beauties.

Our wedding party.

"The Godfather" as our photographer called it.

Husbands family.

My family.

Siblings are the best!

Cutting our cake.

First dance as Mr. & Mrs.

Father daughter dance.

Husband and Sandy, his mom during the mother son dance.

Derek & Barbara, his stepmom is trying to teach him to dance.

Anniversary dance.

I like LOVE kissing him!

Currents

I have felt a lull in my blogging so I thought it would be fun to do something one of my friends at The Wink of an Eye did recently; a blog about her current likes.  So here we go!

Current book(s)

I am actually not a reader at all!  I find it hard to sit down and enjoy reading anything, even magazines.  The only book I am currently "reading" is my very useless math book.

Current color

Since is it supposedly "spring" and summer is only a couple of months away I am so excited about coral!  I have a new nail polish that is called coral reef and I love it!  

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE FACT THIS IS A NURSERY!  NO BABIES NOT ANYTIME SOON!  WEDDING AND HONEYMOON FIRST!

Current food(s)

This time of year all I want is watermelon!  I actually bought one as a gamble and was disappointed it wasn't quite ready yet.  Also, cucumbers!  

Hello, delicious!

Current favorite show

I'm not a big show follower all year long and Derek and I don't exactly have the same taste in shows but our show right now is Survivor.  Honestly, I don't know why because we get so mad at the contestants for being so stupid and voting off the wrong person.

Current need(s)

Vacation!  But more realistically I need to start job searching.

Current triumphs

A clean bill of health for our pup!  He got his shots updated so he is safe from harm and can go play at the dog park.  I also got him to eat his food again!!!!  

Current bane of my existence

Keeping our apartment clean.  Bentley is shedding like crazy, again!  Seriously, Derek used the furmenator on him twice this week and I can't tell the difference at all.  Other than that meal planning, I am the worst at it!  Any advice for planning meals?

Current #1 blessing

Besides life, family.  It is always family!

Current indulgence

Knowing that tomorrow I'm going out to lunch with a friend at a restaurant that has one of the largest menus I have ever seen! 

Current outfit

What Derek and I call, "comfy clothes".  Besides, does a pup count since he is in my lap?.

Spoiled and tired

Current excitement

Lunch tomorrow with a friend!  Working out with Derek after lunch!  And that I found material to make a swimsuit and had a 50% off coupon!  I call that a major score.

Current mood

Very content, although I should totally be in bed sleeping right now!  Wedding planning is going great and I got some good advice when it comes to registering for gifts and that makes me happy!

Current wish list item

A new wardrobe!  But since I'm losing weight and toning up (yay) I'm going to wait till closer to the wedding.  A new car too!  And while we are at it a new laptop.  :) 

Current favorite products

My Camelbak water bottle!  Seriously, one of the best purchases EVER!  It gets so much use especially with how much Derek and I are working out lately. 

Just add a neoprene sleeve to keep water cold!

Day 23: Childhood photo & 24: What I worry about

So it has been a while!  My attempt at this whole blog challenge well has pretty much failed.  But I might as well finish off the days that I have left with the exception of Day 22: The life of a student (because we have all been students at one point).


Day 23: Childhood Photo

Christmas 1994

Here is a photo of me and my mom from Christmas 1994.  How, do I know this with no date on the photo?  The pink gorilla.  I LOVED stuffed animals when I was younger!  That pink gorilla is the very last gift that I ever received from my Grandma Dorothy before she passed away.  I never got to know my grandma very well because she lived the majority of her life in a nursing home.  One thing was for sure though: She LOVED her grand-kids more than anything (even BBQ ribs)!


Day 24: What I worry about


I try my hardest to not worry but worrying is a part of life.  I believe that things happen for a reason and you shouldn't waste your time worrying.  There are times though that I worry about it money because there never seems to be enough of it!  Then there are the normal things that people worry about being a good enough spouse and mother when the day comes.  

Day 20: Photo and a bonus story to go with it!

My Engagement Ring!

Haha I told Derek that I would get engaged and have a huge bruise on my hand (and now a large cut somehow I got yesterday cleaning)!

The Proposal

So Derek and I are not really extravagant people and like to just do things at home and we have been together for over four years so I never really wanted anything BIG.  Valentine's Day I woke up to a beautiful bouquet and big heart balloon (that scared me half to death because I first noticed it when I was not totally awake and it was in the dark).  Derek had to work so I went on my day with going to see my trainer and home to play with Bentley and do some homework.  We had made plans to go see The Vow that night since he owed me for seeing Chronicle (don't go see it unless you want to waste $20).  Once we got home from the movies he asked if I wanted help taking my boots off which I totally did because I rarely wear dress boots.  Then he asked after he helped take off my boots!

I love my proposal because it is mine and done perfectly!  Nothing extravagant and just us (and Bentley of course).

Day 19: A bad decision I've made

So instead of writing about a bad decision that I've made I am going to defend a decision that others generally think to be a bad decision; tattoos.


For as long as I can remember I always knew that I would have tattoos when I grew up.  My grandpa (same one that did "drugs" from my previous post) has three of them and I always loved how artistic they look.  I even have a nickname after one of his tattoo, Little Della Devil (the tattoo is of a baby devil).  My mom had always given lectures about not tattoos and that we would regret it if we got one.

With knowing that I would always have a tattoo I never wanted to just go out and get one, I wanted it to have meaning.  I thought long and hard about what tattoos I would be able to love for the rest of my life.  Being that I am terrified of needles I told myself that if I made it through my back surgery and double lumpectomy surgery I would get a tattoo the following year.  The following year I got my first tattoo and I still love it to this day.  For me it is a gift of rebirth to me because I got my life back the previous year.  It is something that once Derek and I have children I will be able to put their initials or names by each dragonfly or add onto.


The second tattoo is a snowflake.  Now my mom didn't speak to me for a week after I got the snowflake, because it is on my wrist and is visible.  I knew that I wanted a visible tattoo but something that wouldn't offend anybody but would still have meaning to me.  A snowflake it was!


I love winter and snow!  Being out of Minnesota has been difficult at times but during the winter it was always a little bit more like home.  Snow actually fascinates me, perfect conditions are needed in order for snow to be created.  The first snowfall is always the most magical and beautiful to see everything shimmer from the sun.  And then it reminds me of Christmas time which reminds me that if you really believe and have faith, miracles are a real thing.  Finally, it is for Derek.  Each and every year including our first date it has snowed, kind of perfect I think.

Dec. 2, 2010

It's kind of funny really because people will see tattoos and judge me for having them.  I get comments like, "You will go to hell for having a tattoo" and "You are going to hate that when you are 60".  When in reality yes in Leviticus I believe there is a verse about marking your body and going to hell or something.  I don't believe this because the majority of people I know with tattoos have religious tattoos.  When it comes to the day I die I would rather be judged by whether or not I have been a good person not what I look like and what is or is not on my body.  I also have the perfect response to the second thing people tell me too!  "Then I will have until I am 60 to LOVE it!".  I don't judge people for not having tattoos and I don't judge people who do.  It reminds me of when Derek and I first started dating and people would always ask me if his tattoos bothered me or offended me at all. They don't, they are tastefully done (He has many tattoos, three of which are pin ups) and done very well.  I don't date him for his tattoos I date him because he is an amazing person.

Day 18: Funny story

So I am really bad at telling stories, I'm not kidding I am one of the worst story tellers.  It takes me forever to get to the point and finish telling stories.  Well, anyway instead of writing a super long funny story I thought it would be nice to just tell two funny things that my mom reminded me about a couple weeks ago.

My folks raised us kids to be honest and that drugs and drinking are bad.  With that said when I was little I would tattle on people who did bad things.  For instance I told on my Grandpa when I was little for doing drugs (he smoked cigarettes) and drugs were bad.  I also told on my dad once for drinking while driving!  He was drinking Mountain Dew though.  Maybe mom and dad should have clarified drugs and "drinking" to me a little better when I was about five years old!

Easy DIY menu/to do board

A while back I had seen a menu board on Craftgawker that I loved and wanted to make my own.  It probably can't get more simple than this...

• Find a frame
• Find fabric or scrapbook paper you love
• Cut fabric or Scrapbook paper to fit the frame
• Use a white board marker to write on the glass
• Don't crack the glass like I did :-/

I have been eyeing this fabric forever and finally caved.

Day 17: Most daring thing I have ever done

This topic I found to be a little hard to answer because I don't really see myself as a daring person.  I actually asked my mom and Derek what they thought was the most daring thing that I have done in my life.  They came up with a list of things (surprising to me since I didn't think I was daring at all):

• Rock climbing - There is danger in this especially if your belayer is not paying attention to you while you climb (I have had that happen before).
• Para-sailing - So incredibly fun!
• White water rafting - also incredibly fun!
• Stopping on the side of a road to drive a guy home when I was in my teen years - okay maybe that wasn't the brightest idea Mom but he was nice.
• Flying and airplane without any lesson.
• Cheerleading (mom's idea) - I guess it is true.  As the base it was my responsibility to ensure that the flyer was caught to prevent them from getting injured.
• Chopped all my hair off short - you may laugh but that is super scary to somebody who has always had medium to long hair!
• Took a weekend trip to meet a friend I had met online - She was a friend of a friend, I'm not that crazy!
• Competing with my brother to see who could get closest to the edge in the badlands without falling to our death - Sorry about freaking you out mom and dad!
• Moving to Illinois with Derek - I knew him and only him.  Neither of us knew anything about IL other than Chicago was located in the state.

The one thing that I really want to do though is go swimming with sharks!

What is the most daring thing that you have done before?

Day 16: Funny photo

So I don't have many of my photos in Illinois with me as they are still in a tub at my folks house.  This is one of the funniest photos on my laptop though.  Mom had sprained her ankle like the week before on a cruise (first night of the cruise too!).  She was stacking rocks or something and Dad came along and I guess tried to put one more on it and they all fell right on her sprained ankle.  We were all cracking up as mom fell to the ground holding her ankle and laughing (even though you can't tell by the photo).  I managed to capture the moment well.

Trip to Duluth