Friday, July 5, 2013

Front Porch Makeover $4! ...for 4th of July

Here is what my porch looked like July 3rd.
My sons collection of driftwood and his kite.
The porch needed a good washing too.
I wanted some place to seat and drink my coffee while he was outside riding his scooter.

I had seen these two cafe chairs at the thrift store but they weren't selling-so I asked if they'd take less and they did! for $4!

There was a rip in the seat and they had some rust on them.

I unscrewed the seats first...

Wiped them down and then primed them.

And then gave them a coat of white paint.

I had left over thrift store fabric from another prior project...



I took the seat

Laid in on the fabric and cut out a circle around it.
Then I gathered it and duck taped it to the back (because I couldn't find the staple gun and it is temporary for the 4th of July.)
Look how beautiful -not-(I do not recommend this for regular every use)

I screwed it back onto the chair-it'll do.

Already had this little end table...


Put some blue fabric and a flag bandana over the top for a cover.
Added a 1935 songbook.


Added this metal vase and some white hydrangeas too...


Hung up another banner I made...



Now all complete!

Here is another before...


And another after.


Looking out from my front door.

I can sit and enjoy the weather.


Ready for the 4th of July!


Monday, July 1, 2013

4th of July Table with Uncle Sam Hat centerpiece

Hi! thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm so excited because today I'm a guest blogger over at  www.11magnolialane.com ! If you haven't checked out their blog (by three friends- Christy,Terry and Amy) please do! There are a TON of ideas!! Ladies-Thanks so much for having me!!

Here's how I used the centerpiece on my.. July 4th table!
I was inspired after I found this fabric (Old Glory Bandana and Applique Flag) at my local thrift store (around 5 yards for $4.50) and spent a couple days figuring out what to make.

After cutting it apart ....


This is what I came up with...


I ended up sewing place mats, napkins, and a table runner. I also cut out the flags for the USA banner.

In a prior post I showed how I made the centerpiece..inexpensively.


I purchased red striped straws from Michael's ...

I used the bandana squares to make napkins. There are alot of tutorials on napkin folding online... I used the "star fold" for my napkins. I used the larger flags for my place mats.

I used extra fabric to cover my votive and coffee can - I placed smoke bombs, sparklers ,and pops inside and a little dollar store fan.
The USA that ran the length of my fabric became my runner.
I sewed the star fabric in between the USA pieces.
Ready to celebrate!


The poor chairs looked empty so I whipped up some fabric pinwheels and used buttons for the center and tied them to the back of the chairs.




Have a wonderful Independence day!


P.S. I had so many extra flags I made a banner for my mantle!
Again-thanks for stopping by!