It's the finallll COUNTDOWN! (duh nuh nuh nuuuuuh. duh nuh nuh-nuh-nuh...)

I am very pleased to bring you up to date with the latest on the project makeover-my-hutch.

If you remember, I was given this very worn yet very loved hutch from my parents who are in the process of a remodel. 

 After two months of sanding, priming, painting, and nailing back together - we were on the phase of adding the fabric on the back. Here's my hubs showing his skill with gluing the fabric pieces on the back because I am just not patient. And after this grueling/not-so-fun process, here it is.

The best part is, you can't even tell that they were 3 separate pieces of fabric (and if you remember, they were Target body pillows...) And I just love them.

Following our success with the fabric, I went ahead and scraped out the old shelf paper and replaced it with something new. Very simple.

Of course, I have some touching up to do with the paint as well as new hardware (Oh yeah, I need to put the doors on too..)- however - I loaded her up with my beautiful things and just stare at her in awe. She's a beaut.

Inside my hutch, I've added some pictures, odds and ends, crafting pieces etc. In the following picture, you can see my left over fabrics, our wedding album, some yarn, two handmade books that I just adore, and some ribbon. Oh, and my dad when he was little - just because he's cute.

Here, my inspiration plate stands along with some more ribbon, yarn, a thank you card from my mother-in-law's 50th, and a card I received from my very dear, dear friend, Kara in college.

Towards the bottom, I have some home magazines, buttons, and a quote that I printed because I just liked it.

My room is feeling a little more complete now and now that everything seems to have a place, I'm off to make something new today!

Creating "the flow"

For the last several months, I've been staring at the dining room curtains. And not in a "wow-they-look-super-great" way but in a "man-those-are-really-hideous-what-was-I-thinking" way. To be honest, I really wasn't thinking. We had put those up the day we moved in just to have something covering up the window and they gave us some privacy from the neighbors.

They are purple. Sheer. And uneven for some reason. Bottom line - they just HAD to go. This is the best & last picture I could find.


Not such a "wow" factor, huh? They made the room feel closed in, dark, and dirty.

Off to the internet I went in search of some fabric to make my lovely no-sews.  I usually check out Etsy or Pinterest first and then scour other sites for the cheapest prices like any other frugal lady. After a long process and an a-ok from the hubs, I settled on Ty Pennington's Ivy fabric.

Cue the "ooooooohs" and "aaahhhhhs".

The colors are perfect. And I have found I have this thing for earthy/floral fabric. I just had to have it.

I have to admit, the first order I put in, it showed that I didn't measure correctly. I think I bought 1.5 yards which looking at the window, that's not even long enough for one panel (it came up super short...fail!). After my second order of 5 yards (about 2.5 yards for each panel), I have succeeded in making my dining room near complete!

And a few better shots of the dining room.

Aren't the twins lovely? I really feel like these pull in the colors of both the dining room & living room as well as bring in some more light to make the room feel airy & bright. 

And as full disclosure, the other half of our dining room has become a junk corner for the time being. Or shall I say, a we-don't-feel-like-taking-it-to-the-basement corner.  I'm half tempted to kick it all to the curb which would be near impossible considering that the TV weighs a ton. Seriously.

I still stare at the curtains now, but in a good way. I'm thinking if I comment on how much I love them to Ryan again, he may disown me.

Success! Sort of...

A lot of my time has been spent on baby shower items as of late - which I cannot post because the sister sees this. Therefore, I haven't been spending a lot of time on other projects. More or less, I've been just scheming...until today.

The hutch process continues! Last weekend on a Target run for nothing in particular, I stumbled across body pillow covers on clearance. I immediately fell in love with the fabric and wondered what I could use it for. Then my hutch came to mind - these would be perfect for the back!

The print looks like this.

Since they were body pillows, I had to cut the seams. This took a little bit of time because I am perfectionist.

Here was the tricky part, since there were two, I had to try & line them up. This was near impossible and wouldn't look good either way. So I figured since there were two shelves in the hutch, I could just hide the not-very-lined-up seams behind the thick wood and no one would know any different.

To paste these babies up there, I tried that starch & water method I had seen on Pinterest. I stirred up the mixture like is said, slapped it on there like it said, and let is dry like it said.

However, the next day the fabric only stayed up there by the two corner tacks I had pushed in and it was waving in the breeze. That method did not work. After more research, I bought the 3M 77 spray adhesive from the Depot. And boy, did that work miracles! 

I suggest asking a fine husband/boyfriend to help with this part because if you aren't patient like me, you may make a big, messy, frumpy mess. Ryan definitely did the majority of the gluing and smoothing and cutting process. So we are currently here:

 Sadly, we need another foot to complete this project. I could be in big trouble if Target sold all of those pillows- then I might have to rethink the ending of this baby. But so far....I-am-in-love!

I am on the hunt for some new hinges that are actually these sizes - so far the ones I have come across are too big or too small.

And we already made some scratches trying to get the shelf back in - but that can be fixed.

Lastly, the shelf still needs painted. Can you tell I have too much on my plate? I can feel it!

As of today, here she stands! What a beaut!