The Lamp Re-Vamp HIS & HERS

When I found out that this month's Create With Me project at Ucreate was lamps I was so excited.  The CSI Project is also lamps.  I've had two of these lamps for a while now and I just haven't been motivated to do anything with them.  My friend Missy sold them to me at a yard sale (and by sold I mean she gave them to me, she's nice like that) a while ago.  I thought I wanted to use them in my living room so I started to paint them black but then I changed my mind and they sat.

I used the tutorials HERE as a starting point for my inspiration and this is the end result

His & Hers lamps for the kids rooms!  Jackson's theme is dinosaurs and Maggie's is birds.

How I did HIS:

I removed the outside fabric of the shade and used it to trace the proper shape onto grey fabric.  Once I had my fabric cut out I stenciled a "j" onto the fabric and free hand painted the dinosaur.  After letting the paint dry I then hot glued the fabric onto the frame, pulling as tightly as I could.  I finished it off by coating the whole thing in Mod Podge I felt it protected the fabric a little better and would be easier to clean.  I also felt like it helped tighten up any loose patches once the Mod Podge dried and shrank the fabric.  I then hot glued a little piece of ribbon in the inside to cover my seams. 

I may decide to paint the base red in the future but for now I like the blue. 

Looking for more of Baby Jack's decorations? You'll find them here:

Shag Rug

Wall Hanging

How I did HERS:

I removed all of the fabric from the shade and wrapped the top and bottom rings in sisal, using hot glue to secure it in place.  I then wrapped the entire shade horizontally in sisal again using hot glue to secure it in place.  The sisal gave it the nature feel that her decorations have but I also wanted to give it a little birdie so I cut out a tiny bird shape from fabric, sewed it and stuffed it and hung it from a chain to create a faux lamp chain look.

Looking for more of Mags' decorations?  You'll find them here:

Birdie Quilt

Bird Tree

Hope you feel inspired to do your own lamp makeover. 

It feels good to have them finished and it really ads a little something special to their room.

Thanks Kari @ Ucreate and The CSI Project for the extra push I needed to get these done!

 

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So Grateful Sunday: Ammonite Necklace from My Brother, Collin

I decided to start a new Sunday series called So Grateful Sunday.

So Grateful Sunday will feature something someone has made for me.  It's my chance to show off the great handmade stuff I've been given and reflect on how much I love the givers.  I'm surrounded by so many wonderful, talented people who inspire me  I hope they can inspire you too.

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My first So Grateful Sunday is about my brother, Collin.  Collin is 4 years younger than me (he has a twin, Ian) and is one of the most generous people that I know.  When I was in college he heard I didn't have a DVD player so he bought me one.  I once mentioned that I like the old school Nintendo games so he scoured thrift stores until he found me one.  He's so thoughtful.  He's always giving, and I tell you what, no one spoils my kids like Uncle Collin.

Collin works as an Explosives Ordinance Specialist for the US Army and served for over a year in Iraq.  He makes our country proud and our family proud.  He's a great guy. 

Oh yeah and did I mention he's totaly cute?  And single?  He's also a homeowner, has great investment skills, he's funny, smart and he even has read Twilight (thanks Collin, for letting me talk your ear off about whether it would be cooler to be a vampire or a werewolf).  How great is he?  Ladies, if you live in Washington and are looking for an excellent man, here here is.

Okay, enough pimping out my brother.  Let's get to what he made me -

For my birthday this year Collin made me a necklace.  Amanda, Ian's girlfriend, used to work at a place called Shipwreck Beads.  Collin went to visit one day and went nuts buying beads. 

He used heavy black and dark green stones as the main part of the necklace and for the main piece he got this beautiful Ammontie, wrapped in silver.  I majored in Geology in college which makes this even more thoughtful and special.

He didn't just stop with the necklace, he also made me a pair of earings with the black beads. 

 I forgot to take a picture though.  Oops.

This was his first jewelry making experience but I have to say, he did an excellent and professional job. 

It's a necklace I will treasure forever.

Thanks Collin!

A Dinosaur of a Shag Rug!

For this month's Create With Me over at Ucreate the theme was based off of the shag pillow tutorial at V&Co.  I just had to join in but I didn't want to do a pillow, I wanted a rug! 

Baby Jackson has just one measly decoration for his room, you can see it HERE.  But now he has two!

The rug is made using old t-shirts!  I love a good upcycling project!

How I did it:

I basically used the tutorial at V&Co.  The main difference was that I used a large piece of felt for my base.  I hand drew a dinosaur in the middle and let the lines and illustration guide me on where to go.  For the edges I sewed some "caveman" fabric straight onto the felt.  Super simple but also a bit time consuming.

The best part of this rug is that Baby Jack Jack loves it.  I sat him down on it and he just laughed and laughed.  It must have felt great on his fat little bum.  So worth it.

Dino Decorations

My kids share a room.  For over two years Mags has had her room decorated with birds.  I felt like Jackson had to have his own style.  Though the room will never make it to HGTV, I still enjoy making things for each child.  Here is the first decoration I created for baby Jack's theme - Dinosaurs!!

I was inspired by a wooden painting of a dinosaur in the Pottery Barn catalog.  I plan on doing a whole wall of different dinosaur and monogrammed things but so far this is my first piece. 

I hand drew the dinosaur using a pencil and then painted him in with some vibrant robins egg blue.  I added spots using a burnt red.  The "j" was created by cutting out a stencil with my Cricut.  Finally, I sanded the edges of the whole thing and dry brushed on the same red paint in an attempt to give it a rusty, aged look.  It will hang using an "alligator teeth" picture frame hanger that I will hammer to the back.  Can't wait to make more of these!