Forever Decorating!

1/08/2011

Stools...I have a ThinG for them!

After

Before

Stools, simple upholstered stools...I have a thing for them. When I see one, the first thing that pops into my head is what it Could look like, the second thing is, where will I put it in my house or how can I sell it because I don't have room for another one in my house. Sometimes I even pass up these ugly little creatures Because,

I don't want to have to deal with getting rid of them. Here are some of the many that I have made into beauties...some with before pictures, some without.

This blue one, for example was all white when I found it. I adore MacKenzie Childs and so my vision was to paint the curvy legs in their style. I found a needlepoint that would fit as the top and upholstered it using brush fringe as accent.
This was one of my very first addiction to stools. I still have this piece.

This next one, I was determined NOT to buy. I knew what it could be IF it was given some love. Oh well, I lost that battle.

The lady kept going down in price and I kept going back and looking at it. So now you see the beauty it became in my green toile guest bedroom post here.

This next one is another inspiration from MacKenzie Childs. They were putting tassels on furniture that I found very attracted to. So with this having the space for such a treatment, I purchased this ugly duckling and...

Before

This stool is now used every day in my master bathroom post here.

This next one was another unexpected find. It had such attractive (sorry, no before picture) legs but again was unloved. I decided that toile was the way to go and gave it a shabby look.

Since I love how black and white check pops on my upholstered pieces, I added it as trim here. My girlfriend bought this piece from me as soon as I was finished with it. It looks great in her home and it is a versatile piece.

This stool is unusual because the lid comes off for storage. I purchased it for $6 at an antique store and upholstered it shown in this post on my blog.

Before

The next stools that I will show you do not have before pictures. Some are in my home and some have sold or are for sale.

This stool I made a slipcover for.

Sold this stool and table that I painted.

I made the stool, cushion and pillow. Now I am selling the stool, it has black legs.

I made this one for my daughter. It has a needlepoint top and I painted cat prints on the legs.

This was purchased for $4 at a garage sale. I put the needlepoint top on it.

This was purchased for $6 at a garage sale. I upholstered it.

I purchased this for $10 because of the cute size and great legs. I upholstered with my leftover curtain material in my kitchen and use it for a step stool.

Sold

You can see the red flower stool in my post about my kitchen here.

Like I said...It's just an addiction. Terry

I am linking up to these parties:
Funky Junk Interiors Sat. Nite Special
Be Different Act Normal Show and Tell Saturdays
Stephanie Lynn's Sunday Showcase Party
Denise's Re Party
Susan's Met. Monday
Carrie's Amaze Me Monday
Cindy's Make It For Monday
Cielo's Show Off your Cottage Monday
Sassy's Trash to Treasure
Linda's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Kim's Boring to Better Party
Gina's Transformation Thursday
Becky's Under $100
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday
The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday
Little Knick Knack's Everything but the kitchen sink
Cindy's Show and Tell Friday
Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Frugalicious Friday
Flaunt It Friday
Masterpiece Monday

1/04/2011

Old Wool Sweaters = New Purse

A dear friend (Gail, you know who you are!) makes the best wool purses...so she encouraged me to give it a try. First, I went to garage sales and thrift stores and looked for sweaters that were made of at least 90% wool. I didn't pay over $1 for each of them. I also picked up purse handles, but you don't have to have them, you could just use the sweater material. I washed them in hot water, then dried in the dryer. This shrunk them and 'felted' them. They were ready for cutting.

Today, I took these supplies above, along with fun material for the lining and turned it into this (below).

And the inside looks like this below.

I just made it up as I went along, so I decided that a tutorial would not be good since I really didn't know what the outcome would be. The leopard print fabric are side pockets (on each side, inside) to hold my cell phone, keys, etc. The three sweaters that I used cost $2. The handles were 50¢, and the rest, lining scrap fabric and buttons I already had on hand. So the total cost was...$2.50! Plus my time of one hour. And I have enough left over to make another purse! Pretty good, don't you think? You can enlarge each picture by clicking on it, then click again for larger detail. You can then use your 'back' button to return to my blog. Terry
I'm linking up to these parties:
Sassy's Trash to Treasure
Linda's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Kim's Boring to Better Party Wednesday
Kelli's ReStored It Wednesday
Gina's Transformation Thursday
Becky's Under $100 Party Thrusday
Wendy's Frugal Friday
Funky Junk Interiors Sat. Nite Special
Meg's Everything but the Kitchen Sink Friday
Cindy's Show and Tell Friday
Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday
Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday
Jane's Frugalicious Friday
Kate's Flaunt It Friday
Stephanie Lynn's Sunday Showcase Party