George Washington Slipcover

Hello Everyone, if there is still anyone out there reading this!  It has been quite a while since I not only felt inspired to blog but that I felt I had anything "blog worthy" to post.  I often wonder, and I have mentioned this in previous posts, why do I blog?  I know that I like to showoff things that I have accomplished that I am amazed that I have done.  But what is the real purpose, especially when I enter link parties, there is no prize, just an acknowledgement from whomever voted me "best of show" - as of yet I haven't been!!! Hahahaha that doesn't say too much about my posts and accomplishments, or does it?  We are all taught from a very early age not to look to the outside for acceptance and importance.  God has gifted all of us with special talents, I would like to think mine is in my hands cause I know it isn't in academics!!  Beauty is only skin deep, although I do strive to look my best by putting my face on everyday along with perfume.  I do that  for me - I feel better when I do that.  It doesn't matter what kind of car we drive, our address, the size home we live in, the amount of stuff we have., etc., etc.   God made each of us special and He gave us the gift of life and special talents to go along with it, it is up to us to figure out what these gifts are.  After doing so, what we do with these gifts is our gift back to God.   So even though I have never "won" any link party's, I know whatever I have entered I have done to the best of my ability and most times taught myself (including the whole computer thing).  What really matters is how I feel about myself and what I have accomplished.  Being a mother of 6 kids is not easy - especially when I've been home for the past 24 years.  I need to always remember to praise and thank God for all the gifts He has given me cause I will always pick my life over someone else's, always.   So, I praise and thank God for the courage to attempt this and the ability to just do it out of my head.   So on to the show:

I trash picked this chair from my neighbor's bulk pick up a few years ago, you can see it Here

I didn't think it looked so ugly until it was in the living room and I have begun to slowly transform the room, once again.   My mother, back in the day, made all the slipcovers for our living room.  She just winged it and they looked beautiful - I took that gumption and belief that if she could do it on a whim then so could I.  I have made custom cushion covers for my kitchen furniture and for my patio furniture so I thought I could do this too!  I picked up a twin sized George Washington bedspread at the local thrift store for $4.  My intention was to walk you step by step thru this learning process but the battery in my camera needs to be replaced..........so instead you have the end result.

 I am very proud of myself and cannot believe how well it turned out (not to sound full of myself, just proud that I was able to use God's gifts wisely!!)

I have not sewn on the bottom fringe because after I got it on to do the final adjustments and pinning of the fringe, I needed to move on to Shannon's prom dress hemming - For some reason I along with my kids think I can do anything and everything !  Thanks God!!

I remember my mom telling me when I did my first set of custom cushions to work inside out, so that is what I did - I did have to piece the underneath the cushion part as well as the bottom of the actual cushion cover and band around the cushion.  I used jute twine for the cording because that is what I had and didn't feel like going out.    The ironic part of all this is I did the bulk of it on the anniversary of my mom's death and know that she was helping me in the thinking process and I know she thinks I did a good job too!!  She always was my biggest cheerleader!!

Yesterday I was out to visit my dad and sister and took pictures of her (Louise's) place - I really do believe it should be in a magazine - my photography will not do the place justice....AT ALL!   So stay tuned for the log cabin................that is all for now............

Thanks so much for reading my post as I am once again on my soapbox!!

Trisha

I'm gonna keep on trying to "win" at these link parties:

http://diybydesign.blogspot.gr/

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upcycled trash pick :)

Hello!   Thank you so much for clicking on my post!  I sincerely appreciate it.  I have been busier than a one armed paperhanger getting ready for this December 14th craft fair - if you are in the Delaware Valley vicinity, it's at St. Pius in Broomall - Please stop in!!  If you mention that you saw this on my blog, I'll give you a free gift!   Sounds like Tupperware!  Bring a friend and you will get a free gift!!

Today I finished this chair I had found curbside during a walk many many years ago.  It was up in our attic and I forgot all about it!  Tom brought it down for the garage sale we had and I reclaimed it!  So then it became our computer chair and I was forced to upcycle it.  Here it is before.........

just a vision of loveliness! hahaha!

And here it is with the burlap and ASCP transformation......

I love the way it turned out and I really love the print of this burlap!  That black string is my camera, sorry!!  I did the cording because I feel it gives chairs of this nature a more finished appearance, hopefully who ever purchases this feel the same  (wishful thinking!)!!  I used JoSonya's non-yellowing clear acrylic varnish instead of waxing - faster, easier and looks great!  I usually use this brand in all my decorative projects - I have tried tons of brands and this is by far the best - I purchase it by the gallon.

I have a few more things to post before the big day....stay tuned to see what's for sale @ St. Pius!!

Until next time..............................Trisha

I will be joing these link parties:

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It's a  beautiful day in the suburbs of Philadelphia!!  Sun is shining, humidity is low - windows open - I got so much cleaning done today because of it!  When my house is clean and the cabinets are full I feel good - Calm, cool, and collected.   I love back to school time - I actually did food shopping and could contain my thoughts and stick to my list!  That only seems to happen from September thru June.

Well, as I was saying yesterday, since I have learned to scan the pictures from yesteryear, I will begin to show anyone who is interested some of the things I have done in the past - Looking at these makes me want to start painting this way all over again - I like the personal touch that these things have.  Since yesterday I showed the youth chair, today I will show another of the chairs that I have painted:

• Until next time!               :)    Trisha

joininghttp://littlebitofpaint.blogspot.com/2013/09/thrifty-thursday-thrift-store-wreath.html

This was painted long before chippy was stylish - So I'm sure that the lady I painted it for is now pleased that I didn't repaint the entire piece before painting on the picture!!  The pattern for this was from a Jamie Mills-Price decorative painting book.


Sorry for the weird layout!  Still haven't figured that out.  I still find navigating my way around to be somewhat stressful - I still don't know how to post a link-back - I guess with patience and utts

Hey everyone!!  Today was the first day of school for our kiddies - They are not kiddies anymore - our youngest is in 8th grade !! Where does the time go?  

Yesterday, I got a lesson in scanning photographs onto the computer - unfortunately they scan at the pictures original size - so I cannot write in the big white squares surrounding the pictures.

When I first learned how to decorative paint, I was pregnant with #4 - during nap time (when I wasn't sleeping myself) I painted -   My mom gave me this antique youth chair - it was brown - not stained brown - painted brown - I gave it an overhaul with the help of Maxine Thomas' decorative painting books and here it is - It is now 17 years old in our house and the arm is broken and nailed back together and sits in the attic awaiting our first grandchild!!  (Not in the too near future, I hope!!)

If everyone doesn't mind the quality of the pictures I will show more in upcoming posts - Until then.....

Thanks for viewing this!

Trisha

http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3653296/bebetsy-smashingly-good-living
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com

Stained Glass and Miss Mustard Seed painted bench

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faux stained glass window

This is a Donna Dewberry pattern that I traced onto a piece of plexi-glass.  After tracing on the picture with faux lead, I let it dry -- it looked like a page out of a coloring book.  When drawing on the lead, be careful not to have "peaks" with the paint - it needs to be put on smooth and when completed, bring the paint back towards the line you drew.  Once the outlining is complete and dry (about 24hrs) fill in the spots where indicated on the pattern with appropriate "stained glass" paint - careful to follow directions of Donna.  Sorry I was not blogging at the time so I don't have pictures of the step by step.

Oak bench painted with MMS tricyle red.

Another trash pick - I had originally painted this off white - like the dresser to the right.  I just discovered MMS paint and decided to give it a try in red.  It did not chip automatically, it just kind of took on an alligator like look in some spots.  I painted on two coats - making sure to let it dry in between - after it was dry, I lightly sanded down the roughness of the paint as well as other places to give it a worn look - then I waxed with Annie Sloan clear wax.