The Arbor Swing set

You know those large swing set/slide/clubhouse/sandbox/jungle gym systems that allow a kid to have a whole park in the comfort of their own backyard? We were given a wonderful gift from my husband's parents (my daughter's granny and poppy) that they wanted our little one to have a swing set/ slide combo for her second birthday (coming up in August). I was really impressed with this offer (as those are a rather large investment).

We have a city-run and maintained park just two blocks from our house with a plethora of slides, but no swings (it must be a thing as we have been hard-pressed to find a park with swings - I would guess because of liability (like the long-gone teeter-totter)) so I was really excited about the prospect of having a swing in our backyard.

We ran into just a few issues (some physical, others personal). The first physical issue was our yard's landscaping. We have an extremely hilly backyard- which meant the area for this swing set is very limited. Not only did the footprint of this swing set need to be small, but it also couldn't be too tall (we have a phone line under our oak tree on one side of the yard, and a power line on the other. This meant that after searching the only swing sets that would fit in our yard were the little cheap metal ones.

The designer in me personally hoped to be able to find something a bit more aesthetically pleasing than the metal swing sets, the mom in me was hoped for something more sturdy/safer and the frugal part of me wanted something that would be useful well past my daughter's swinging years.

Here's what I came up with- I would design a swingset that would be able to convert into a porch swing holder in the future. It would be an arbor-style for the beauty as well. So I read all over the internet regarding building techniques/fastners/wood types, swing set safety and such; drew up a sketch of what I wanted; went to the hardware store with my father-in-law to purchase all the pieces; and came home and began cutting, drilling and bolting items together to create the set. Then I went back to the hardware store to exchange items that I discovered didn't work for my design and get ones that would.

I wanted to finish (from buying the pieces, to digging and pouring concrete footings, to hanging the swings) in one weekend- and that was a tall order. My husband and I were finally checking the swings at 10:17pm (with some worklights on). It was a good thing we finished because it poured rain the next day and that would have made my project very delayed and swampy.

Here's what my daughter got!

I kind of love it :) I also look forward to bragging to my daughter that I built it myself as I rock on a porch swing attached to it several years from now.

Projects from the wedding and a toddler pillowcase

I've been fairly busy since the last post. Several projects of various sizes and materials.

As you recall I was hiding some jewelry pictures from before the wedding in the chance that my sister (the bride) or my mother would see them prior to receipt. This is the major issue I have with a craft blog where I make gifts...

 The first item was for my daughter. She was a flower girl for the wedding and had to wear a lovely wreath (I made a while ago) as part of the outfit. The difficulty arose in that she in not quite 2 and wasn't too thrilled about the "hat" for more than about 2 minutes. We practiced all the time trying to get her to wear it, but she just wouldn't do it. Enter puppy. Puppy is my daughter's lovey. She sleeps with it and carried it around everywhere we went for months. Puppy came everywhere with her- so I decided to make puppy a wreath too (with a little elastic band to keep it on his head). From that moment on my little girl would wear the wreath as long as puppy would. So she wore it through all the pictures and walking up the aisle (with puppy of course in tow). Win-win for everyone.
The next item is a bracelet I made for the bride. This was with champagne-colored pearls similar to the bridesmaid jewelry I had made. These beads were from old necklaces my mother had been given or acquired over the years (some of which were my grandmothers) so it definitely counted as a something old, it also was a new to her and newly created, and I used blue seed beads on the wire so it would be her something blue too. It looked lovely on her and she seemed to love it too.

The third item I created as a gift for the wedding was a necklace for my mother that matched the wedding party a little bit. She seemed to really like getting some of her necklaces back and it was a nice addition to her outfit as well. Kind of fun having all the women in the family wearing matching jewelry (oddly enough I don't remember being fond of it as a kid...don't tell mom :) )


So the wedding was lovely. One thing we learned from the trip though was (since we were sharing a room with our daughter- her being in a pack-n-play at the end of the bed) that she used her puppy as a pillow. It hadn't occurred to us that she might want one, but from that moment on I had noticed she puts her head on stuffed animals or balls up her blankets under her head when she sleeps.

This called for a trip to Target to pick up a toddler sized pillow. We ended up purchasing a travel sized pillow (same size as the toddler pillows, but 1/3 the price and they don't come with a character-themed pillow case). I was completely fine with the lack of pillow case as I intended to make my own anyway.

Here is what I did- I created two pillowcases that were the pocket variety (where the end has a flap that prevents the cover from falling off the pillow) that match my daughter's quilt I had made her (that hangs above the crib (mostly because she has several crafty friends and family members who gave her beautiful quilts that are on her bed and we used for play surfaces) as a large art piece. These pillow cases are two colors each (the top is a green with a white and yellow floral pocket end. The other is the white and yellow floral fabric with a different green patterned fabric pocket end.

Both turned out pretty well (though I did have to resize the pillowcase once after I had put it on as I wanted a pretty snug cover for the pillow and the size listed on the package made a much to large case).

Then I started on a BIG project which I will discuss in another post. (I know...so cruel to make you wait- but I'd hate to not have anything for you to read later :) )

It's been forever- Sorry!

I know, I know. I haven't posted in ages! It appears I haven't done any crafting since March...well that isn't strictly true...but overall I haven't done a whole lot...

I've mostly been focusing my efforts on my sister's wedding. I made the jewelry for the bridesmaids, painted her a picture for her shower gift (I thought better to send a painting than the items I bought for a shower gift, all of which are various breakable materials and heavy), and then I have managed to be rather busy with additional work/efforts around the area that are not quite exciting enough to blog about.

But enough with this talk- I'm sure you want to SEE what I've been up to:

Here is the jewelry:

 First portion I made was the earrings. These are standard pearl beads- nothing too fancy and actually off of an old necklace that had several different sizes (the color is a bit deceiving they are a little more champagne than the standard pearl. The flowers were purchased on Etsy (because- trust me- these are not easy to make...I tried, but mine looked like I made them...these don't). The colors for the wedding are champagne, silver and plum. The bridesmaids are wearing plum dresses with some detail towards the necks so it was decided the simpler the jewelry the better. Below is a close up of the earrings. Again, very simple. There are 5 bridesmaids (including a junior bridesmaid) so I made 4 sets just like the one shown and 1 with a medium sized pearl for the necklace and small stud earrings (as the junior bridesmaid just had her ears pierced :) )

They should look lovely and understated with the flowers in the hair and bouquets.

Then, just for fun...I made a few gifts for various individuals...but you have to wait until after the wedding to see them - sorry :)


Here is the painting:
My sister has a very romantic style and has sayings all over her walls when I was there, she also loves working with kids- so I decided to paint her a very colorful and fun painting that would go with her style.

Here's what I came up with:

I'm sure you've all seen those paintings that use crayons melted on them...similar concept here. I originally had only purples and blues as the "rain" but it looked too depressing so in came the yellow, green, red and lilac. I also originally had white silhouettes, but that looked odd, so they became classic black. The details on the silhouettes are actually my sister and her fiance from one of their engagement photos, but "changed" into what they will be wearing at their wedding. The saying on it says "Being Soaked Alone is Cold. Being Soaked with your Best Friend is an Adventure." I was originally going to make the saying much bigger, but then decided there was so much going on in the painting that I should keep it small. 

It's not something I think I would hang on my walls because the saying is a bit sweet for me, but the bride loved it! So I was pleased. 

Remarkably that is all I can think of that I have worked on these last two months! It's amazing how time seems to both creep and speed forward isn't it?

Once the wedding's over, life will be a bit more calm around here...then I shall see about making some more items...or preparing for my daughter's second birthday in August...it'll be here before I'm ready I'm sure!

Project for the day: Another curtain

While getting the fabric for the curtains in the bow window, I found a gorgeous semi-sheer fabric with stripes and flowers on it that was also on sale! I always love a good deal and knew exactly where this fabric would look wonderful- in my black and white kitchen! So now I have a cool curtain over my sink (using the 6th rod from my bow window experiment). Excellent!

I've been extra crafty these last few days- be impressed :) This is rare to have that many projects in such a short time. What to do next? hmm....

Project for the Day: Curtains

 Remember that gorgeous bow window we had installed? If not, here's what it looks like with my normal curtains tucked behind stuff so you can see it. I like being able to see the bow window but this way there is no privacy... I've been struggling with how to fix this since I'm not a huge fan of being on constant display, but I definitely want to see the lovely woodwork on that seat. Here's the major issue- the top of the window is also oak and I really don't want to drill into it, but there aren't many options for attaching a window treatment to a bow window. Especially a vinyl window (because I don't want to void the warranty on the windows by drilling into them.

Remember how I said I love solving problems...here's what I came up with:
Magnetic cafe rods and dowels with command strip tape. The only magnetic curtain rods I could find were these (which were not quite long enough, but the rod portion was hollow, so I used a small dowel instead of the small portion of the rod. I then connected the magnetic edge to a command strip and attached it to the vinyl window (since vinyl isn't magnetic). This allowed me to attach the curtains with no holes in either my windows or woodwork. Yay! Also, a bonus - these rods come with two per pack, so I only needed three to do the whole window.

After I figured out how to attach curtains- I had to make curtains to fit these small rods. I decided on sheers since they give some basic privacy while still letting in lots of light and prevent the necessity to move the curtains to see outside in addition to being relatively light in weight so they shouldn't pull down my rods. I waited until decorators fabric went on sale at the fabric store and scored 6 yards of a sheer fabric perfect for my windows for less than $4/yard.

Sheer fabric is tough to work with, since it slips all over, but I got it cut and hemmed for each curtain rod and then put up the panels. I think it looks pretty good! And I love that I can see and use the window seat. I removed the other sheer fabric curtains that were previously on the bow window and hung those over the patio sliding door to give us a bit more privacy there too. Aren't they lovely :D

Project for the day: Recover the chair

Do you have any items in your house that you know you would feel absolutely awful if they were damaged? I do, and most of them are heirlooms (that probably are more sentimental than valuable, but still priceless). One such item is the chair cover for the chair I use at my desk.

The chair is an older style with a pink upholstery cushion which is the perfect height to fit at my desk at which I work (and is definitely a step up from sitting on the ottoman or an exercise ball (which were both, just a hair too short for typing comfort). The cushion was hand-embroidered by my mother-in-law’s grandma (so my daughter’s great, great grandmother) and is lovely.

I was rather nervous about accepting the chair when it was offered because I was going to be sitting on it every single day (instead of very rarely as it was accustom to prior to entering my home) and any sort of constant use is going to create wear and tear on an item, but my mother-in-law was insistent I take it, so it came here. The point where I decided I had to save the covering was when I began toilet-training my daughter. She has been in the process of training for a little over a week and has had about one accident per day on each of my other chairs (which are scotch-guarded and so more of an inconvenience than a problem). I wanted to be sure I could save the covering for when this chair isn't getting so much use and also so my daughter would be able to see the lovely work her great, great grandmother did. 

So the first thing I did was remove the cushion to determine if it was possible to remove the covering in one piece. It had the protective black fabric found under most chairs, so I had to carefully remove the staples to that so I could see that the cover was also stapled, but otherwise it came off very easily. Once I had removed it I was able to add to the batting under it (which mostly was in really good shape) and cut out new fabric (from a scrap of fabric I had left over from a pillow I made a few years ago) that was big enough to cover the area from the former cover.

Then I went out stretching and stapling the fabric over the batting and smoothing it out so it would fit on the chair. (turned out pretty good). I then scotch guarded it so I could clean up any accidents easily and maintain the batting looking good prior to putting it back on the chair (since you don't want scotch guard to get on the woodwork). So after waiting for it to dry (and only falling through the lack of seat once when I went to sit down- oops) I reassembled it. 

Here is the finished chair. Because the fabric matches pillows in the room, it looks a bit more cohesive having my desk in there and I have the piece of mind that if I use it every day I won't ruin a treasured family heirloom in the process. Double win!

Project for the day: Toy box

I’m playing catch-up a little bit today. I’ve been a crazy crafter as of late and wanted to be sure I covered everything that I have been doing.

First off, I’ve been in a bit of a funk the last few days- just a bit cranky and overwhelmed, but like most individuals with that sort of mood thing going I tend to take it out on those closest to me (so my husband) which is unfortunately not much fun for anyone involved. (I’m actually surprised he hasn’t started calling ahead before determining if he wants to come home or not. Anyway, not the most productive way to deal with crankiness.

You know what is productive? Crafting to take care of moods! I really do enjoy working on something that I can focus on and that I can look at later and say, “I made that” as it is a pretty rewarding feeling and gets those good endorphins flowing. I also love solving a problem when I craft, since it’s then an extra rewarding experience…hence the toy drawer.

see all the toys that were
under the loveseat!

We have a fairly compact house and since I work from home and watch my daughter full time, I wanted to be sure I have a lot of fun activities for her while I work. So, in the family room upstairs we have a lot of toys that have been hanging out under the loveseat in a makeshift drawer. Here’s the issue- we have way too much furniture in the family room (a china cabinet, an extra dining room chair (for company), two comfy chairs, a CD tower, an ottoman a kid’s table and chairs set, my desk and chair for work, an end table a floor lamp and a loveseat). This wouldn’t be a huge problem, except we also have an open staircase in the room which my daughter is fascinated with and a large bow window with a window seat. I don’t want to put large furniture in front of the window seat (as that would defeat the purpose of the window seat) and I don't want chairs that my daughter can climb in front of the stairs (as she likes to look over and isn't as scared of falling as I am). So that removes two whole walls of space and the room isn't large enough to have anything bumped off a wall...so the loveseat (which was in the least pristine shape of all the furniture) got donated to a charity - leaving a large mass of toys with no home.

I originally thought I would use the large plastic storage container that is in that picture to put the toys under the chairs- but that resulted in a lot of unused space, so I thought I would try my hand at making a custom toy drawer. I don't have a table saw, and no wood to do it anyway (and since I am on a huge budget saving kick at the moment (we're doing pretty good on that score- but that may be contributing to my mood...ah well, back to the box) I decided to make a cardboard box into a fabric covered drawer. Here is the spot that it needs to fit...here is the largest (flattest) box I had. Here is the tricky part. These chairs are not square.

The drawer had to be a quadrilateral measuring 25 inches in front, 23 in back and 22 inches long. It then could be up to 7 inches tall (if I wanted to make a handle on it) or 6 inches to allow for pulling out without the handle (I opted for no handle). Other issue- I have a cat...a long-haired cat. That meant I had to use a fabric that wouldn't automatically attract hair and was thick enough to be pulled across the floor without showing instant wear. So I seached through my bins and found a large piece of duckcloth that was in a mostly unoffensive pattern. 

I started by cutting apart the box into flat portions so I could measure out the perspective items. first I found a piece that was both 25 inches long and 22 inches wide. I then measured one inch off each side to determine the 23 inch side and trimmed accordingly. I then went about cutting twelve inch walls by the length of each side (and created a score line to fold the box sides and attach them to the bottom (while giving a little support). Once I had all the sides attached I temporarily taped it to make sure it fit (see), then laid it flat with the sides laying down on top of the fabric so I could cut the appropriately sized amount. After that I used Mod Podge to attach the fabric to the box, and some industrial duct tape (in a funky pattern) on the inside to prevent the box from being ripped apart when pulled by one side multiple times). 

Tada! Finished box in a black and white check pattern. that fits over half the toys (since I could only make one from the fabric/box I had available- I only made one (so the plastic bin will sit under the other chair until I have another large box come in) and can get some more fabric. 

Look for other project tomorrow!