Childen's Handmade Rocking Chair

Today I'm so thrilled to share with you one of my Dad's latest projects (of many).  He is recently retired and is thinking of spending some of his newly acquired time making handmade furniture to sell.  If you have a moment to offer some feedback on this project (for ex. would you buy it, how much would you pay for it, do you like the design, etc.) he would be very grateful.  

Thanks so much!

In my last post I showed you a picture of an apple tree that was 'the before'.  This is the amazing 'after'!

My Dad needed to prune the apple tree and instead of throwing away the branches, he recycled them into a beautiful rocking chair that his grandchildren will enjoy for years.  If you look closely you can see where one of the cuts was made.

  

I thought it would be fun to sew a reversible cushion for the rocking chair (with fabric that would work for both boys and girls) although my kids told me after it was done that the rocker is so comfy it really didn't need one.

This side has a strip of green fabric sewn into the seam in front of the piping to add some contrast.  The green fabric and ribbon was left over from last years Winter mantel.  All of the fabric was purchased at JoAnn Fabrics.

Rocking Chair Features

*Made with 100% recycled wood:

Apple Wood (pruned apple tree branches)

with  

Oak Rockers (wood from a remodeled church)

and a

Shaped Pine Seat (from a neighbors cut tree)

*Curved Back

*Mortise and tenon joints

*Dowel fasteners

*All Wood (no nails or screws)

*Butternut Stain (Sikkens brand)

*Measures 30" tall, 17" wide, seat is 13" square

It's hard to believe that this chair was once part of an apple tree in my parents orchard.  A tree that was planted when I was a child.  My kids have loved rocking in this chair and it means so much that their Grandpa made it for them.  

Thanks for taking a moment to look at my dad's chair!

Today's Fabulous Find...

Handmade Children's Rocking Chair

with Recycled Wood

Linking to:  Not Just a Housewife   Thrifty Decor Chick   Lil Luna

Summer Heat and Guess the 'After'

Well Hello!  It's been awhile!  How is your summer going?  Mine has been hot, hot, hot!  We don't have central air in our home and try to get by with a small portable air conditioner, so when temps are in the upper 80's and 90's week after week, our little cooler just can't keep up with the heat. This means staying up late until it cools down outside so we can sleep and then feeling tired the next day.  It hasn't left me with much of a desire to craft.  Anyone else having the same problem?  

We took our kids to the zoo this week and when I saw this poor little sloth hanging precariously from his sling with that miserable look on his face I had to laugh because this is pretty much how I felt through most of July.  Okay maybe it wasn't that bad.  Pretty close though. :)

Moving on!

Recently my dad retired and has finally found the time to work on some fun woodworking projects.   I'm so excited to share one of them with you in my next post!    

  

 Any guesses on what the 'After' is???

Gallery Wall

I knew that I wouldn't be posting as often through the summer, but oh boy, I never intended to drag this project out for as long as I have!  I'm finally ready to show you my dining room/kitchen gallery wall.  When I started this project, my goals were to fill the empty space, add some color,  a little whimsy, and make it different and fun.

I tried and tried to get better pictures of this wall, but with poor natural lighting, glares on the glass, and the contrasts of darks and lights, I haven't been able to take a photo that really shows how bright this grouping is.  Oh well.

There were two things that I needed to work around, the clock and the thermostat. I decided to just pretend that the thermostat wasn't there and fit the frames around it as best I could. I tried to mimic the round shape of the clock with the monogram and the nest.

I pulled the colors from the fabric that I used to make my kitchen curtains.  I love this fabric and discovered it thanks to a post at I am Momma Hear Me Roar.  As soon as I saw it I knew it was just what I was looking for!

This shows where I'll add all of our personal photos...

...and this is a collage of how my wall would look if I had hung the frames up as they looked when I bought them.  In some crazy coincidence, all of the dollar store and thrift frames that I used were originally gold or purple.   I bought the tan frame on the bottom row on clearance a few years ago for $3.

I have very little experience with grouping frames, so I tried a lot of different combinations before I found one that I thought would work and in the process gave up on the whole thing--twice.

Click on the links for the tutorials of each project.

Faux Window with Vinyl

Fabric Covered Magnet Board

Vinyl Monogram Thrift Frame

Family Tree Branch

Painted Vinyl Thrift Frame

Fabric Embellished Frame

Key Holder

Rather than hang the key directly on the wall, I used a scrap piece of mdf and made a holder for it.  I painted it just like I painted the frame with the birds and branches and added a couple of hooks.  It's hung on the wall with Command strips.  I've been thinking about adding a stencil to it.

I could have just gone to the store and bought frames and hung them on the wall, but I'm glad that I didn't.  It took a lot longer to redo all of the dollar store and thrift frames, but for someone who loves to craft, that's the fun part!

Today's Fabulous Find...Thrifty Gallery Wall

Linking to:  Home Stories A to Z    Thrifty Decor Chick--Before and After Party   Under the Table and Dreaming    Funky Junk Interiors

$1 Fabric Embellished Frame

This is another part of the gallery wall that I've been working on for-e-ver.  

As I've mentioned before, dollar store frames are good bases to start with because if your vision for the frame doesn't work out you're only out a buck and some time.  Plus, it's so easy to make them look better!

Start with a frame that has a flat space, it could be a gold frame from the dollar store like this one, a new frame, thrift frame, or a frame that you already own that could use a little face-lift. 

Directions 

1. Paint the frame (I painted this frame with a foam brush.  I also sprayed it with a white primer first.)
2. Cut a strip of fabric that is just less than 3 times the width of the space you want to fill.
3. Fold the fabric in thirds and press.
4. With open edges down, start at the bottom of the frame and hot glue the fabric in place.
5. Fold the fabric at each corner.
6. When you come to the end, fold the end of the fabric under so the raw edge is hidden.
7. Cut a piece of fabric (if you'd like) to put in the frame to display pictures over.

I took a picture of the frame with a leaf in it just to show how easy it is to display other items over the fabric (osnaburg).  This frame would be great for displaying photos and mementos in a scrapbook style, like a photo at the zoo with a ticket stub for example.  No photo mat needed! 

Easily personalize the frame with paint and fabric choices.

The fabric matches the curtains I made for the room and helps tie in all of the colors of the other items on the wall as well.  I wasn't sure how I'd like a frame with fabric on it, but I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

 Today's Fabulous Find...

Embellishing Frames with Fabric

 

Linking to:  Tator Tots and Jello

Thrift Frame: Painting Vinyl Designs

This frame is another part of the gallery wall in my dining room.  I have two more projects to finish and then I'll post pictures and show you how it has all come together and move on--promise! :)  

I was waiting for an epiphany on how to finish this frame and I think I finally got it!  I wanted something round in shape to go with the monogram frame and that kept with the theme of my gallery wall--a nest made perfect sense.

The 'Before'--a $1 Thrift Store Find

Click here for the tutorial on how to paint the frames.  The color of the green frame is Valspar's Apple 4.  

The bird nest design started as an image from Microsoft clip art.  I followed the tutorial here at Sew Dang Cute to convert it into an image that could be cut with the Silhouette.

I applied the vinyl nest to the outside of the glass and then used paint to add some much needed color.

The color of paint I wanted to use (Rustoleum's Sage) is spray paint, so I sprayed some into a plastic cup and then painted it onto the glass using a disposable foam brush.  The paint went on very smooth and because it's on the opposite side of the glass from the vinyl it also gives it some dimension. 

I like how the texture of the burlap (on the backside of the glass) shows through in the nest. This picture best represents the actual colors.

Painting the eggs on the glass was so much fun and I can not wait to try this again!  In a way it reminds me of paint by number pictures. 

If you were to cut a vinyl design as your outline and put it on glass, you could paint it any color that you want and not be limited by the availability of vinyl colors.  Paint is less expensive than vinyl too. 

Additional Ideas

• For a boys room you could cut out the outlines of a train, plane, and automobile in vinyl, put the designs on 8x10 (dollar store or thrift) frames, and then paint the back of the glass in colors that matched the bedroom design.
• For a girls room you could use flowers, butterflies, princesses, crowns, etc.
• Other projects you could use this technique on include:  small ornaments, signs, or names (one letter in each frame and hung with a ribbon). 

I hope you're enjoying your weekend! 

Today's Fabulous Find...

Painting Vinyl Designs on Glass

Linking to:  House of Hepworths   The Shabby Creek Cottage    Creations By Kara    Lil' Luna    Home Stories A to Z    Under the Table and Dreaming   Skip To My Lou