Chevron kid's chair (from a clearance find & a fabric remnant!)

I found this kid's chair on clearance at Home Goods a few months ago for five bucks.

Before

There wasn't anything wrong with it... except that it was ugly. (Seriously ugly.) And I do my best not to encourage the "princess" stuff too much.

I painted the body of the chair and started to do something decorative on the seat and the back, but I didn't like how that was turning out, so I primed over it. I thought about decoupaging it, but the seat is about 13 inches wide. Too wide to use a piece of cardstock like I did on this step stool makeover. So it sat for a couple of months until I figured out what to do.

Then I found this awesome yellow chevron patterned fabric remnant for $3. It wasn't quite a full yard, and I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but it was so pretty, I snapped it up immediately. It wasn't until I got it home that I realized it would be perfect for my chair.

I cut two pieces of fabric, each slightly larger than the surfaces I wanted to cover: one for the back and one for the seat.

I flipped the fabric over print side down and spread Mod Podge all over the back of the fabric with a large paintbrush. The brush forced the Mod Podge into the fibers in a way that a foam brush probably would not. I just used regular Mod Podge and it worked fine, though they supposedly do make a version for fabric. (The Michael's I go to didn't carry it.)

It's important to note that I did this on top of a piece of plastic. You don't want your fabric to stick to your work surface! I used a plastic bag I cut open and spread out, but you could also use plastic wrap or something like it.

After the fabric had dried, it was still very pliable, but slightly stiff, sort of like oil cloth or vinyl. This made it very easy to apply to the surface of the chair. I covered the seat with a layer of Mod Podge and smoothed the fabric out. I wrapped it around the edges and trimmed where necessary. So much easier to work with than paper, actually! You can re-position the fabric and adjust as necessary without fear of peeling or tearing.

After that was dry, I top-coated with two more layers of Mod Podge and a layer of water-based polyurethane. The texture of the fabric is still there, but it's sealed and smooth-ish.

Don't tell Elise, but her "chair" also flips down and becomes a step stool. She might get ideas about using it to get a leg up into my craft/office wardrobe.

We have this tiny corner in our dining room behind the wardrobe where she likes to sit and hide behind the curtains, so I thought it was the perfect spot to tuck this tiny chair.

p.s. I had never Mod Podged with fabric before and this video tutorial at Mod Podge Rocks was really helpful.


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Clearance step stool makeover

I found this step stool on clearance at Home Goods a few months ago. There was a small chip out of a corner, so it was marked down to $7. 

A great price, but I'm not really into the whole pastel pink with flowers kind of thing. It needed a makeover.

This project was really straightforward. A little bit of wood fill on the chipped corner. A few coats of paint I had on hand. Some scrapbook paper decoupaged on the treads of the stairs. Several coats of polyurethane on the treads to seal everything. 

And for less than $10, we have a new step stool for the upstairs bathroom. When we're in our upstairs playroom, Elise constantly requests to wash her hands, so I guess she's a fan.

Reversible pillowcase dress with bias tape

Please indulge me as I've made another pillowcase dress. But to keep things interesting myself (and you!), I've been trying to change up the design of the dress each round. This time, it's reversible!

The weight of two layers make the dress hang a little nicer. And I get to indulge my pretty fabric habit even more. I found these two fabrics on clearance. The darker purple was $3.49/yd. and the lighter tree-ish fabric was $2.79/yd. At these prices, the fabric is just begging to be made into something.

I pretty much made this one from memory. (My last two dresses were based on the directions from Prudent Baby.)

My decision last time to integrate the straps as part of the dress itself has worked out really well. They don't fall out, get twisted or lost in the wash. You don't get the cinching around the neckline, but I'm willing to make that compromise. I might even add straps like this to the first dress I made.

I could put together a tutorial if anyone wants one. I'm not a super sewer, but I'm willing to share what I do know! Leave a comment if you're interested. It will give me an excuse to make another one!

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Related posts

My first pillowcase dress

My second pillowcase dress

Super easy, super cute pillowcase dress

I've sort of been avoiding making clothes for Elise, mainly because I was afraid that it would start me on another creative path that I don't necessarily have time for, but Elise needed a dress for Easter. And honestly, making something seemed like the easiest option. I decided to make this dress while standing in the fabric section of Hobby Lobby, so that's where this fabric is from.

I bought a yard of the polka dot and a half yard of the paisley floral for the bottom band. If I had been using a print that needed to be upright (like, if it had animals on it that needed to be right side up and not upside down), I probably would have needed more fabric. Luckily, the dots were the same both directions. I followed the directions for a pillowcase dress on Prudent Baby, but added the bottom band myself. Once I was able to try it on Elise, I shortened it on the top a few inches because the given dimensions for arm holes turned out to be super long on her.

For the ties, I folded bias tape (leftover from the arm holes) and sewed it down the middle. Worked perfectly. This was a super easy dress to start with and only took around 2-3 hours to complete. I will probably be making her another!

I guess subconsciously I bought prints that had the same colors as those I was using for her birthday party. I originally planned to make her a birthday shirt, but was glad to let the dress do double duty as an Easter and birthday outfit.

But to give it that extra birthday touch, I made her a 2 pin by layering some circles of felt (leftover from last year's Easter basket project) and hot gluing them to an old pin button.

Drawstring bag / On-the-go playmat

I bought this super-cute fabric for my transportation-loving nephew, but wasn't quite sure what to make. After I made these small drawstring bags for Elise's toys, I thought a larger drawstring bag would be great for Karl to tote around his multitude of vehicles.

But what's even better, is that he can flatten out the bag and it becomes an on-the-go playmat for matchbox cars.

I started with a fat quarter (18 x 22 inches) of the vehicle fabric, so I matched those dimensions with my other fabrics. I used some black pin dot fabric for the backside and matching red pin dot for the lining.

The finished bag is approximately 16 by 20 inches when flat, so there's plenty of space to take the cars for a spin.

p.s. The vehicle fabric I used was Airport in Brite by Timeless Treasures. The pin dot fabrics were from Jo-Ann.

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This is part of my Handmade Gift Challenge.

Box-style floor pillow

Here's another creation for the playroom: a floor pillow! It's about the size of a standard couch cushion and was so simple to make.

I started out with nearly a yard of this chocolate brown minky fabric. It was a remnant from the bin at Jo-Ann marked at $6, but it rang up even lower at $3.78. Love it when that happens.

I cut two 24" x 24" squares for the top and bottom and four 6" x 24" rectangles for the sides. This pretty much ate up the whole yard of fabric except for some teeny little scraps.

I used one of the small strips to make a handle. If there's one thing toddlers love, it's dragging stuff around.

It took a giant 32 ounce bag of Poly-Fil to fill it up, but it was still looking too loose. So I made some fabric covered buttons to tuft the center. I was a bit intimidated never having done that before, but it was super easy.

It turned out so well, I just might make another one for our living room.

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Making faux mercury glass with "looking glass" mirror paint

I have found my new favorite paint! Krylon Looking Glass spray paint. This stuff is like magic. You can actually create a mirror-like finish! I had no idea mirror paint even existed until I saw this idea in this Budget Living book (which, by the way, is a great little deco book, even if it is a few years old).

It's a little pricey, but I used a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby which made it about $7 for a can.

I took some pieces of clear glassware that were languishing in a box in the basement. A couple were candle jars that had been used up long ago. Sometimes I wonder why I hold onto this stuff, but then I end up using things for a project like this and it bolsters my inner hoarder.

I masked off the outside of the glassware with some painters tape and paper.

Then I sprayed the inside of the vases with two coats. The paint is very very thin (and, incidentally, smells exactly like nail polish). After I sprayed, it quickly ran down the inside walls of the glassware and collected in the bottom.

I tried to swish it around to cover the glass and that worked somewhat, but you can sort of see how uneven the paint dried. It contributes to the "antique" effect, but additional coats might even that out.

I thought I was going to have to do some antiquing with black paint or the like on the inside before spraying with the mirror paint, but after my initial piece, I decided that wasn't necessary. Lovely speckling.

Because I only gave mine two coats, they look a little transparent when the light shines through. But from the outside, it's very reflective and fairly opaque.

I had less success with the small bud vase. Because the neck was so narrow, it was really hard to spray inside. But even the very thin coat still produces a reflection.

The shade is more of a deep platinum than a bright shiny silver, but I like that. I can't wait to experiment on a flat piece of glass to see how that works. I imagine it will be easier to get a more even finish.

Valentine button shirt

I had been looking for a cute valentine shirt for Elise, but wasn't having much luck. Everything I saw was either ugly or wasn't available in her size, so I decided to make her one.

I started with a plain white turtleneck onesie she wore under a dress for Christmas. I didn't see her wearing it again, plain as it was, so I thought we'd try to get some more use out of it.

I found these supercute heart buttons at Jo-Ann Fabric, supercute and supercheap! (For the record, the buttons were $1.38; that is $2.29 minus a 40% off coupon.) I only ended up using about half of them.

The assembly is pretty obvious; I just sewed the heart buttons onto the shirt. Simple and easy!

The hardest part of this project may have been the lack of cooperation I got from my model when I was trying to figure out where the hearts should go.

These photos don't quite capture the serious bed head she was sporting.

P.S. This should go without saying. These buttons are tiny and may present a choking hazard, so keep an eye on those babies.