Projects

It has been project time around here lately- so I thought I’d share a few of our before and afters…

A few months ago Craft Warehouse’s flat folds table was full of cute, girlie fabric for 3.99 a yard, so (because I’m insane) I decided that I could make most of Laney’s summer clothes myself for cheaper than I could buy them so as of last night I had used up most of my fabric and here’s a sampling of what I accomplished, brought to you by a not so willing model.

For the skirts I used this tutorial from Made. I made half a dozen skirts using this tutorial and it is probably the easiest sewing I’ve ever done!

The purple dress and brown top are from this tutorial. It took me once to get the sizing right but then I really loved how it fit nicely without having to use a zipper.

Finally, the charm pack dress is a variation of this pattern. I also made a pillow case dress but I didn’t like the way it fit. You’ll notice it’s only dresses and skirts because my little princess still refuses to wear pants.

Phew- that was A LOT of sewing, but also a lot of fun.

 

Next we took on a flower bed in the back yard- this isn’t the real before it’s more of a mid-way. This bed used to have a tree in it and was full of rock. Ryan pushed down the tree (!) and we picked the rock, then Ryan outlined it in this tile and planed flowers.

Here’s the after- I really love how it looks now!

Here’s another project that’s been 6 months in the making- Ryan’s fish tank. Ryan and my brother in law Jake, cut a hole in the wall, then built a stand, plumbed and ventilated the back room that houses the supplies. Then Ryan built the frame for outside the tank, and began the extensive chemistry experiment that is a salt water fish tank.

Here’s Laney checking it out after we first filled it with water, and here you can see some of the equipment required.

Here’s what it looked like once he attached the frame (don’t mind the mess in the background)

And here are a few of our newest additions. You have to wait for awhile to let the tank get established before you can add fish- so these are relatively new and we’re hoping they live!

When we moved Delaney into her own room she needed a dresser, but I quickly realized that all the new furniture is not only expensive but made like crap. So my parents donated this old dresser for me to refinish. (this dresser was my dad’s dresser when he was a little kid- pretty cool). Here’s the before-

And the after- I thoroughly enjoyed the process and someday when I have more free time (ha!) I would really like to try it again.

Last one, I promise. In March I repainted our basement grey (if you look at the fish tank pictures you can see the before and after paint colors) . I was looking for curtains and my genius friend Jessica saw these tablecloths and suggested I turn them into curtains, which I did. It was a super simple and cheap project and I’m thrilled with how they turned out.

Okay- that’s all. I think we used up all our energy in the last 6 months, so we’ll take the next 6 off!