Thrifty Thursday: Rocking Horse for Baby's First Birthday!

We celebrated my little guy's 1st Birthday yesterday!  We kept it low key and just partied with the family at Fuddruckers!  

Earlier this week, while we were shopping at Goodwill, my older boys spotted this little wooden rocking horse.  They begged me to get it for the baby for his birthday. 

I really didn't want to get him, but I have SUCH a hard time resisting all those blue pleading eyes staring at me!!!  

Luckily he was only $5, and I remembered to print my 20% off coupon! 

I used Valspar's Shiitake, and restained the seat in Minwax's Special Walnut

Then I sanded and glazed:

He is pretty cute, and all the boys have enjoyed playing with him....even my 8 year old!  

Funny how that is!

Therena

Party Links:
The Frugal Girls, The Crafty Blog Stalker, All Our Days, The Pin Junkie, Love of Family & Home, Craft-O-Maniac, Huckleberry Love, twelveOeight, Sugar Bee Crafts

DIY Baby Gate

See this cute little guy...well, he turns 1 this month.  And that means he is crawling all over the place!  

We had to do something because he was driving me nuts!  We have a very open floorplan which makes it difficult to contain him, but we came up with a plan, and after 2 days I am happy to report that it is now complete!

The only room in the house that we can keep him enclosed is the playroom.  There are 3 hallways that filter into it, so that meant 3 baby gates!  I hate baby gates, so I knew I wanted to use the plans from the fabulous Remodelaholic found here for their barn door baby gate.

The first thing we did was go to Home Depot for the supplies.  We bought the cheapest wood we could find (which was probably our first mistake!), and all the hardware: drywall screws, latches, and hinges.  The total cost was about $120.

Here is one of them pre-paint:

 My hubs was concerned about the weight of these things, so he convinced me to leave out the 

middle "X". So unfortunately they don't look quite as pretty or as much like a barn door, but thats ok!

Also, because we used cheap wood, all 3 of them ended up being slightly bowed.  What do ya do?!  We weren't about to go buy more wood and start over, so we will live with bowed baby gates! 

We painted them with Valspar's Jekyll Grand Dining Sea Mist because that is the color of the playroom's accent wall.

Then we glazed them with Valspar's Antiquing Glaze:

Here's the hardware we chose:

These next pictures show how they look from the outside of the playroom looking in:

From the Laundry Room Hallway:

(yeah thats my son photo bombing!)

From the Kitchen:

From the Kid's Bedrooms Hallway:

 So that's all 3 gates!

This is a view from inside the playroom looking down the Laundry Room Hallway:

And how it looks open:

 This is the Playroom wall with 2 of the 3 gates open:

 I really wanted these 2 to look uniform when opened, so we made sure they both swung open to look like this.

(For some reason these pictures make these gates look totally different, even their color, but they look almost identical in person!)

 I have to admit, I was pretty intimidated with this project.  However, I was pleasantly surprised by how straight forward and uncomplicated it was!  And I have been SO happy with them.  They are extremely easy to use, especially for my older boys who have to use them constantly! 

 Thanks Remodelaholic for the awesome plans!!!

Therena

Link Parties:

Commona My House, A Diamond in the Stuff, Fluster Buster, Savvy Southern Style, Domestically Speaking, The Blissful Bee, Start at Home, Gingerly Made, House of Hepworths, Someday Crafts,

The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Crafty Blog Stalker, The Shabby Nest, Love of Family & Home, All Our Days, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk Interiors, Tatertots & Jello, Its Overflowing

Six Sisters Stuff, Living Better Together, VMG206, Keeping It Simple, Huckleberry Love, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Thrifty Decor Chick, A Stroll Thru Life, Love Grows Wild, Nap Time Creations, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Coastal Charm, Artsy Chicks Rule, Sugar Bee Crafts, Skip to My Lou, Mod Vintage Life, Not Just a Housewife, Lil Luna, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Embracing Change, By Stephanie Lynn

Thrifty Thursday: Cradle & a Chair

This week I found a few little treasures.  I ventured out to the Goodwill in Fountain Hills, which is about a 20 minute drive for me.  Although it was a small store, I was pleased with the purchases I made!

First is this adorable little doll cradle!  How cute is that!  I mean, how cute COULD it be?! It is solid wood and cost $7.00

I'm not really sure why I HAD to have it.....ya know......since I have 3 boys!  Funny how I'm drawn to little girl things!

Here she is before I transformed her:

And here she is now:  SO PRETTY!

I knew I wanted to paint her a pale pink (since I don't get to use pink too often)

But I just mixed some stuff up that I had to get this color.

I had some pale pink acrylic paint, so I just mixed some of my Polar White to it until it was as pale as I wanted it.

Then the usual Sand and Antique

Now I just have to figure out what to do with her! ha

I also found this antique chair.  I remember my Grandparents having one just like it when I was young.

So I couldn't resist!

It was also $7.00! 

The chair was pretty glossy, and I wanted some white to show through when distressed, so I decided to prime instead of using my chalk paint.  I used Cover Stain so I didn't need to sand, then used this Spa Blue color I found at Hobby Lobby:

So here you can see the white underneath:

I am very happy with the color and the way it turned out!

It matches perfect in my family room!

Party Links:

Miss Mustard Seed

20 Minute- 20 Dollar Blanket

You know these things? The Satin Blanket Binding?  

I LOATHE them! 

I have been sewing for many years and I still can't master them!  

But of course a baby blankie isn't the same without it.  My kids love them, and when I make them for other people they always request one with it.  

So I had to figure out how to get these things to work for me.

I am going to show you how you can use this satin blanket binding in a different way.

So Easy!

Takes about 20 minutes

Costs about 20 bucks (if you use minky on both sides, like I do)

First, gather your materials:

 You will need two coordinating fabrics (I prefer minky) and a package of the satin binding

*ok just a side not*

I always buy a yard of the minky fabric.  If you do, you can fold it in half and get exactly two good sized blankets out of it.  So it cuts out the "measuring" step

Cut your first fabric in half

 Then take your satin binding and line it up on the endge of the fabric.  You want to line it up with the open end of the binding (not the folded edge)

 Leave a few inches loose, then start sewing around the edge with a straight stitch.  I just line up the fabric edge with the edge of my presser foot.

*another note*

 you have not pinned anything at this point!

As you sew, take the binding and make small folds (or pleats) with it.  I don't measure, I do them randomly so it doesn't look so uniform.  I also do more for a girl blanket than I do for a boy one.

So it should look something like this as you sew along:

When you get to the corner, you want to do the same thing, only make about 3 folds, until the binding can line up with the next fabric edge

 Curve your stitching around the corner

 When you get to the end, cut off the excess, but leave a few inches.

Overlap the two loose edges

 Then fold it over, hiding both rough edges, and sew it down.  

Now your blanket should look like this:

Next, lay your blanket face down on your contrasting fabric, and pin in place.

 I always pin it with an inch or so extra room because minky always tends to creep, so it will give you a little wiggle room.

When you finish pinning, cut off the excess fabric

Go back to your sewing machine and line your presser foot up with your previous seam line.  This way you know your previous stitching won't show through.

When you get to each corner, lift it up to move all your pleats to the middle so you don't catch the end of one in your stitching.

 When you get towards the end, leave an opening big enough for you to flip the blanket inside out.

*I always double pin the spot for the opening, otherwise I ALWAYS sew it closed! You'd think I wouldn't have to always remind myself....but I do!

Clip your corners so they look like this, then flip your blanket inside out

Next you will need to sew your opening closed. 

I use a zig zag stitch, and I go around the entire blanket to give it a topstitch. 

You can skip this step, but I think it makes it look more finished.

Then, YOU'RE DONE!

You now have a beautiful baby blanket

with a satin edge!

 *another side note*

I have 3 boys, and have made one of these for each of them, which they love.

If you are worried that the edge looks too girly, let me tell you:

I have made and sold FAR more boy blankies like this than girl :)

Party Links:
Tater Tots & Jello: Weekend Wrap Up
Six Sisters Stuff: Strut your Stuff