So Stinkin' Cute!!!

I hope you guys aren't too sick of hearing about my new Silhouette!!  

I have  about 237,484 or so projects in mind with it so I hope not :)  Here is my latest!

I started with this little top and bottom I purchased at Wal-Mart for $2 a piece.

For this project I am using Silhouette's Smooth Black Transfer Material with my machine.

Here is my machine...

I cut a small piece of transfer material and put it in the machine with the glossy side down.  The picture below would be the wrong way to do it.  I definitely put the glossy side up first because I did not feel the need to read directions....

I downloaded a peace sign from Silhouette's online store.  I LOVE this feature of Silhouette.  It's very similar to iTunes.  They have a massive online store of clipart and designs fro $.99 a piece.  It takes just a second to pick, download and checkout and then it immediately adds it to your library.

After cutting the peace sign with the machine I peeled the extra material off.  You just want to peel away what you don't want to be ironed on.  Here's mine!

  

That leaves the clear part a bit tacky which is great because it stays in place while you are ironing.  I placed it on my onesie below.  You have to use a high cotton setting on your iron for 45-60 seconds.  I also poured the water out of my iron first.

Then, I placed a piece of fabric over my design and ironed it.

A minute later I was done and peeled the clear plastic piece from the design.  It pulled up super easy.

And I was left with this cutie! I was hesitant to post until I washed it to make sure it washes well and good news!  It washed awesome.  I hang dry many of my clothes and this said to hang dry for longer lasting designs so that was no problem.

Little Miss wasn't totally cooperating when I tried to get an action shot but here are a few anyway :)

Haha... Can't you tell she loves it??

I love how I turned a $4 Wally world outfit into a custom design for almost nothing!  Can't wait to make more!!  Go check out our friends over at Silhouette!!  It is the bomb and you will so not be disappointed!!

My Hall Wall

I hope you guys are sitting down because you are about to see something super exciting...

That is my hall.  Not a whole lot going on there... I know.

This is where we come in from the garage and my kids typically drop their bags on the floor.  After tripping on them way too many times I was finally inspired to follow in Ashley's footsteps.

I love the way her faux board and batten turned out for the baby's room so I thought I would do something very similar in this hallway.  Here is my very blank wall that I started with.

I started by measuring everything off.   I used 1x4 white wood pine so I would have a smooth finish.   I measured my top board first.   

I used my miter saw to cut all my boards.  For you guys who don't own a power saw I also love using my small hand saw.  It cuts super quick without much work and it was only $12 at Lowe's... Can't beat that!

I put Liquid Nails construction adhesive on the wall where my first board would be.

I then attached my board to the wall.   I marked my studs for this board and used finish nails to secure it into the studs.  I knew I would be putting weight on this board so I wanted it up there tight.

I then measured where each of my vertical boards would be and cut them with my saw.  I put Liquid Nails on each board and secured it to the wall where I had measured off.

First board done!

About 20 minutes later I had them all done!

For my shelf I couldn't go very big in this narrow hallway.  I was afraid someone would lose an eye on the corner of it.  I used a 1x2 in the same wood to create my shelf.  I added a line of Gorilla Wood Glue to the 1x2 and attached it to the top of my horizontal piece.

I secured it with very small finish nails.  Here it is drying...

At this point it was time to caulk.  Caulk hides all kinds of messes.  I love using it and for this project it covered up all my nail holes and seams where the wood meets the wall.

After the caulk dried I taped off my wall and painted the wood and the wall space in between with the same color as my trim.

I let it dry a few hours and then added hooks that I purchased at Lowe's for the kids bags and other junk. Here it is all finished.  My next project (Oh how that list keeps growing) is to make something for above the shelf.  For now, you guys get to see it blank :)  You should also know that I did move 2 very large baskets of clothes that need to be folded out of the way so I could get this picture.  It's funny how I seem to make time for projects and not laundry....

Hope you like it!  Thanks so much to Ash for tackling it first so I would have the guts to do it second ;)  I love the way it added some excitement to that very boring hallway!

On a fun and wonderful note...

Ashley and I welcomed our new baby niece over the weekend.  Our baby sister delivered this little cutie on Sunday and it was the best ever.

I love her to pieces and I was so blessed to be a part of it.  She is a lucky girl to have such amazing parents.  Thanks so much guys!  Ashley will be welcoming hers in a week so keep her in your prayers.

Have a great week!

~Whitney

Parsons Party!!

So I must introduce you to my new partner in crime...

This is Erin!  She is a crazy talented girl who I have been getting into trouble with lately.  You have to go check out her BLOG!!

She is a former graphic artist turned mommy who now spends her time painting and decorating just about everything... Much like myself :)  When she mentioned a fab idea she had to paint her parsons chairs, I couldn't pass it up!

These are her dining chairs...

They are very simple linen parsons chairs she purchased a few years back.  Very cute but in need of a little revamp...

She wanted to get the look of a grain sack without reupholstering which led to this project!

We started by randomly taping lines of painter's tape in different widths on each chair.  We did this by professionally "eyeballing" them... No tape measure needed :)

After doing this we started on the numbers.  I used my very favorite new tool to cut some stencils for us...

I used my Silhouette to cut numbers 1 through 6 in different fonts.  I loved that I could use any font that was on my computer rather than being limited to just a few cartridges.  I even went and downloaded a few free fonts just for this project.  I used white vinyl to cut out each number.  The plan was to peel and stick on the chair.  Word of advice... Vinyl is great, just won't stick on fabric!  I will cut these out of contact paper when working with fabric.

After taping off our lines we attached each of our numbers.  This is where we realized we were doing things a bit backwards.  We should have painted the numbers first but oh shwell!  Instead of re-taping we just used a craft knife to cut out the tape from the inside of the numbers.

We placed each number in random spots on the backs of the chairs.

Erin stenciled in the numbers while I got started on the lines.  She chose a dark taupe color for the numbers and a blue for the lines.

We stenciled using a stencil brush and kept it pretty dry to keep the lines from looking too perfect. 

Here is number 5...

Do you like our professional paint trays there on the floor? ;)

Number 4...

The best part was pulling off all the tape when we were finished...

I love!  What a fun project!!  Her house is super cute.  I was in awe of Baby E's nursery!  Her son is just a few days younger than my new baby and he is one lucky boy!  Not only does he have a great family but please check out this nursery!!

Go check her out guys!! Her style is so fun and she is a good read too!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  Go see Miss Erin, leave her a sweet message and tell her we sent you.  It will make her day :) And it's great eye candy too!

After that go check out Silhouette!  This is for real one of the coolest tools I am proud to own.  You gals need to add it to your Christmas list!!

Have a great weekend!!

~Whitney