Peshtemal Towel Pillows!! With DIY Piping.

So, do you remember the Turkish Towels I purchases HERE?

Well, I loved the material and the stripes so much that I decided to make a few pillows out of them!

Here is what I started with:

Now, you may ask, "why cut up a beautiful towel and not just purchase some striped beige and white fabric?"  Well, 1)  I really hated cutting it up.  2)  I love the feel of this fabric.  And, 3)  I could not find this size stripe for the life of me.  Specifically wanted about a 1/2 inch stripe....not a quarter and not an inch or 2 inch.  I am using the excess towels scraps to make two hand towels and a few wash cloths.....

I wanted to give them a little more of a tailored look with some piping.  The piping was also useful in drawing a distinct contrast between the differing back (a white Walmart Mainstays Flat Sheet) and front material (The Towel).  I chose to go this route because of cost.  The towels come out to be about $15 with shipping from Turkey and the flat sheet was $4.47.  I used a total of Two Towels and One Flat Sheet for Two Throw Pillow and Two Euro pillows, which comes out to be about $9.00 per cover (total cost, not including inserts). 

The piping is made out of another Mainstays Flat Sheet in beige.

I cut about a (4) 2 1/2 inch wide strips on the flat sheet.  No need to cut the whole length of the strip, just cut about 4 inches up from the bottom and tear the rest of the way.

Fold your strips around the cording.

And, sew as close as you can to the inner cording.

I used about 10 yards of cording.

We then look out the dining room window and see this: 

Look closer.......DUCKS!

Back to the pillows:

Then I pinned and sewed my piping around the towel fronts.  If you need more of a detailed tutorial on piped pillows view my post HERE.

I made these pillows "envelope style" because I didn't want to deal with zippers.  There are many great tutorials out there on easy envelope pillows.

What is great about these, though, is I did not have to finish those inner seams.  I just used the existing factory seams on the sheet.

And, here are the throw pillows for our bed.

No Shams on those three Euro pillows in the back.  Those will be coming up in my next post.

And, Here are the Euro pillows I made for the boy's beds.

Here is a shot of the back.  Can you see the finished factory seam on there?  Easy!!

I think he likes it ;)  This was immediately after I finished up late at night.

Start with This:

End with This.

Up Next are some coordinating Duvet covers for the boy's beds.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend, Mommas!

Dipped Captain's Chair

Hey Y'all!  We have about five projects completed and I'm just now getting some time to post.  

So, we picked up two of these captain's chairs about 7 years at yard sale for $2 a piece.  I did not ever want to paint them.  Then, one Saturday my husband and kids were out cleaning the garage when I walked out to my sons painting one of the chairs white.  WHAT?!!   My husband thought it would be a fun project for them.  The half painted chair sat in the garage for about a year....we really only used them when extra seating was needed for guests.  I had been using the non painted one as a landing point for the things that I needed to take from inside of the house to the car.  Returns, library books, gifts etc.  I admired the dipped furniture look and was planning to paint a small campaign side table so I thought to get to work on the white painted chair while I had my oil based brushes out.  My 5 year old painted about 95% of the main coat (my husband and I helped with the drips).

Here is the non-painted one.  This is where the dipped one sits now.   

They gave about 3 coats of Rustoleum Gloss Almond that I had left over from here.

I let it dry for about 3 days and then taped off the legs.

Have you seen the line of Valspar Spray paints at Lowes??  The array of colors is vast compared to the limited color selection at Home Depot.  The is just one half of the cage.  

I was overwhelmed and came home with more than I needed.  The two whites are for another project to be revealed soon.  They had about 4 different shades of white.  Awesomeness.

I wanted a satin finish to contrast with the high gloss of the Rustoleum.  I was looking for a deep bluish gray.  I went with Indigo Streamer.

Isn't this moment like opening a present?

And, now for a plethora of pictures.  And, you get a somewhat of a campaign reveal.  

I whipped up a little pillow cover for the pics hehe.

I'm on a beige kick, I know.  Nice to be back for a bit.  I hope to post another project next week.  

Have a blessed weekend, Everybody.

Kitchen Makeover (Well, Little Play Kitchen)

Since we are not quite at the budget line to gut and remodel our home kitchen (but maybe next summer, y'all!), to satisfy my kitchen reno urges I made over a beat up wood play kitchen for a very good friend.....well, her toddler daughter, that is.  And, Here she is!!  Not her daughter, the play kitchen.....  

There is a pretty funny story behind this one.  So, I'm on the look out for a wood play kitchen for my friend.  This one pops up on Craigslist for $25.  I send her the link and her hubby goes and picks it up.  It's night time, he's tired from work, he hands the gentleman $25 (or was it $20?) for the play kitchen and lugs it home.  Upon arrival and wife's inspection, to their dismay, the kitchen was in bad, very bad shape.  We are assuming the seller put up a different photo for his listing, but whatever.  I felt pretty awful sending them a rinkidy old kitchen link and went over to see the damage.  The kitchen itself is really solid and very heavy.  I thought it would be a fun, worthwhile fix.  Here are some before pictures.

This thing was bad.  Wood trim missing, broken knobs, and diiiirrrrty.  

We start off by giving the whole piece a good scrub down.  My two assistants below.

Next, I used some Klean Strip Liquid Sander and Deglosser which proved to be very useful for the laminate wood.  Will definitely be using this product for future projects.  

Next, I had an old can of Rustoleum spray primer that I wanted to finish off.

Now, I commissioned my dad to make a new wood surround for the sink with his fancy tools.  Worked out like a charm.  He also picked up an old sink soap dispenser and attached that as a play faucet.  So resourceful, Dad.

A bunch of paint and glue annnndd.........Here is the new sink.

Another before.  Plexi-glass was missing too.

I really love how the colors turned out.  For the inside shelves and burners I used some left over black chalkboard paint.  The wood trim is painted with a bit of leftover ocher yellow I had from a previous project.  I scraped and spray painted all the knobs with Rustoleum apple red paint. And, the main surround is Sea Anemone by Martha Stewart.  I love the scheme because it is really gender neutral which was a surprise.  I actually thought it would look really girly, but it looks great in our more neutral decor.  So, if down the road when my friend wants to donate or sell it to someone, it can be used for boys or girls.  

I actually made two sets of curtains.  The black and white fabric is Ikea and I honestly just made those for the blog pics as the graphic black and white pattern stands out more than the original fabric I chose.  The other curtains are below and you will know what I mean.   

Here are the original curtains.  These are what I based the whole color scheme upon.  See what I mean about standing out in the pictures?  They are super feminine and cute in person though.  I also whipped up a little matching linen dishtowel and apron.   

This was such a rewarding project.  Each new step with this one I kept thinking, that there are but a few things in this life that are greater than seeing a work be completed before your eyes.  Rewarding, indeed.  Enjoy little, E.  Miss Ashley loves you very much!   

It is spring break and we have been crazy busy with projects, inside and outside the home.  Coming up are a campaign side table and captain's chair redo.  Also, some throw and euro pillow covers, twin duvets out of sheets and some monogramming!  Wowza.  Have a great weekend, Everybody.