An Old Prom Dress is Now a Flower Pin

Are you a crafter/DIY'er?  I am, obviously.  And I love reusing something old to make something new.  And I love flowers. I laugh when I look at my blog posts describing my rooms.  Every room is floral.  My poor husband...nah, I really don't feel that bad about it ;) I love flowers!

 

I found this old prom dress at St. Vinnie's, or should I be more proper and say St. Vincent DePaul's?  Nah, we aren't that formal around here...I cut up formal dresses.

 

 

 

The fabric should be satin.  Old prom or bridesmaid dresses are perfect.  And the netting can also be used.  Cut the fabric in multiple size circles. They don't have to be perfect. 

 

Hold the fabric about an inch or so away from the flame -- DO NOT touch the flame.  You will start a fire and if you live in my town my husband will have to come and put it out.  I will be pretty embarrassed when you tell the fire chief that I am the reason your house started in fire. Listen to me, do not touch the fabric to the flame. 

The longer you hold the fabric near the flame the more the fabric will curl. 

 

You can use a green dress to make leaves, or ribbon works well, too. 

 

The leaves can be folded and manipulated.

 

I also cut up some of the netting and melted the edges a bit. 

Layer your pieces together to make sure you like the look.  Make them as large or as small as you want.

I folded the leaf and hot glued it in place.

 

You can hand sew or hot glue the layers together.  Sometimes I'm lazy and I just use hot glue.  Sometimes I want to use tiny beads and I hand sew.  Today I used hot glue. 

The flowers can be put on headbands, pins, alligator clips, or whatever you can come up with.  I have seen a belt made of ribbon with multiple flowers attached to it for the waist of a dress. That would be adorable for a little girls dress. 

A little green felt and glue attach the pin to the back of the flower. 

 

And the finished product. 

This is a floral belt I found on Pinterest.  I think it would be so cute on a flower girl or Easter dress. You will notice that you can also use a sheer satin fabric, too, for a more delicate looking flower.   You can get creative with the beads or buttons in the center. 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/266275396692905624/

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/293226625708804136/

I have made these flowers as gifts and they do not look "handmade" to me. Craft on!

Yes, We Only Have One Bathroom...Unless You Count the Toilet that Sits in the Open in Our Basement

I think that someday soon we will feel the effects of having only one bathroom.  Emma is approaching her tween years and I imagine the fight for bathroom time is coming.  For now we manage pretty well.  I make sure I am up and pretty much ready before I get the kids out of bed for school.  I grew up as the oldest of 11 children and we had to have a "shower schedule" for the morning.  I was lucky to be the oldest because my younger sister used to get up at 5:45 to shower and then got back into bed.  If she didn't she was out of luck because the older kids and dad got first dibs at the better times.  It won't get that bad around here...I hope. 

 

My favorite part of the bathroom is my Lake Superior Upper Peninsula vintage map that I found on Etsy.  It was meant to be in this room. 

 

This bathroom has been 3 different colors since we moved in.  Originally it was a beautiful fruit and floral wallpaper (that was chosen by the previous owners in the 1970's), then I painted it a blue color, and then a pink color, and then I finally decided that I had to try to mask the ugly, old, faux marble sink and I painted the walls to match that yellow.  This room is our "someday" room.  It's going to take some money, time, and energy to remodel. I live with what we have until I am ready to gut it.

When we moved in years ago the vanity was a faux wood and it was UGLY.  My brother helped me reface the cabinet and it looks much better than it did. 

The shower curtain is fabric I found at www.barnfabriccenter.com.  I have found some great deals on fabric on this website.  I paid $3.99 per yard for this fabric.  I have ordered from them many times. 

The framed pieces are all scrapbooking "stuff."  Sometimes I am just too cheap to purchase "art" so I use what I have.  Scrapbooking paper comes in great colors and designs.  

 

There are no windows in this room, so no natural light.  I am not afraid to use fake greenery.  It helps bring life to a room and I don't have to worry about a plant dying.  

My poor husband gets a leg workout every time he takes a shower because the shower head is so low.  Whoever built the house must have been very short because I'm only 5'4" and I just fit under the shower head.  I found a shower heard that curved up and tilts and I think that helps John a little, but his leg muscles are definitely more defined after he showers ;)

I have had multiple different chairs in this spot over the years.  Old painted ones that broke, a stool, a slipcovered chair that I ended up putting with its pair in the living room, and finally this wicker chair that is sturdy and I think perfect for the spot. And notice that the scale is clear glass.  I hoped it would disappear more easily that way -- but it's still there telling me to face reality and step on!! 

The rugs are from www.overstock.com.  The floor is vinyl faux wood sticky tiles.  I put them in 10 years ago and they are holding up well.  Someday I will put in a vintage looking octagon tile floor.  But for now this one cleans up really well. 

 

 

I mentioned that we have another toilet, but I would never call it a "bathroom".  There would have been some major accidents if we didn't have this crazy toilet in the basement.  Someday I will show you my dungeon.  For an old concrete basement, I think I've made it cheerful with paint and fabric.

 

P.S. The skirt on the sink was attached to the sink with a hot glue gun :) 

 

I don't know if it's kosher to show my toilets on the internet, but hey...everyone has at least one.  And I've already shown you my outhouse, so I figured it couldn't be that bad.

DIY Shaker Style Cabinet Doors

I had a fellow diy home decorating friend ask my how I transformed our 1940's very plain, flat style kitchen cabinets into a Shaker style cabinet door.  I decided that if she was asking then others were probably wondering, too.  And I haven't shown my kitchen since it's as complete as it's going to get for now.  (I still have cabinet doors to finish above the fridge and the interior of the bottom cabinets to paint....seriously will this project ever be done??) 

WARNING: This post has a ton of pictures. 

BEFORE...I had already started painting the room the aqua blue/green, so the curtains were down and the room is in disarray. I had finally convinced John that he should let me paint the cabinet doors.  I had come up with an idea to make the flat, boring doors into a shaker style. 

We went to Menards and purchased pine trim that was 2 inches wide and about a 1/4 inch thick.  It came in 8 foot lengths.  I decided that to be more authentic Shaker style they should be cut straight at not at an angle in the corners.  I was VERY happy after we sanded the door to the bare wood and glued and nailed the trim onto the front of the door. It was going to work!  We used a pin nailer and wood glue.  I have had no issues with the pieces staying adhered to the door.

I could barely contain myself when we started to hang them back up.  I was practically doing cartwheels :)

I lined all of the drawers with striped wallpaper.

I stood at the sink for over an hours scrubbing each hinge with a toothbrush.  I used the original hinges and they cleaned up really well.

These are shots of my kitchen tonight. One of my good friends sold her house and she was selling some of her household "stuff."  I have always loved this braided rug and it went perfectly with my curtains.  We now also have a coffee station.  Our cabinets are too low for the Keurig to fit underneath and we find we still use our full size pot often.

I also painted the ceiling the same color as the walls - it eliminates the paint line at the ceiling.  The bead board on the walls and backsplash is wallpaper.  Yes - wallpaper!  I found it at Lowe's and Menards also carries it.  I have used it in 3 rooms now and love it. 

Not much has changed in almost two years...

After bugging for a year - and I mean driving him crazy and pestering until he couldn't take it anymore - my husband agreed to put up my new light above the sink.  We also had to hide the previous huge hole from the old light and bead board tongue and groove worked perfectly.

The tall shelf and baskets are from Target.  I glued the pompom fringe on the baskets.  Every kitchen needs pink pompom fringe ;)

 



I think the hard work paid off and I love my kitchen now.