Birthday Party T-Shirts

Sorry I've been MIA. I've been having a lot of fun lately and not blogging about the design things I've accomplished.

One big fun thing that kept me away from projects was my son, Rock's first birthday. My husband came with the Rock('s) On(e)! theme for his party and I spent too much time bringing it to fruition.

I thought that t-shirt would be a fun thing for the birthday boy, his father and I to wear on his big day. The first step was buying the iron on transfer paper. Then we designed the t-shirt 'logo.' My dear husband figured out how to get the image to print in reverse (I was totally baffled trying to figure this out!) and then we printed them off on the iron-on transfer paper.

Here's the back of Rock's shirt before I ironed it on. After the paper cools, you simply remove the backing from the iron-on section and your design is permanently on your shirt!
We tried to get a shot of the three of us and the matching backs of our shirts, but it didn't turn out so well.

Here's my favorite one year old boy showing off his age and the iron-on number one that I used to further the party spirit on the front of his shirt.

Sew Mama Sew

So, I've been hinting around about a new design project and some design 'attention' coming my way. Well, here it is folks.

My CUT-OUT CURTAINS tutorial is being featured on SewMamaSew.com. Sew,Mama,Sew! is a fabulous blog/store/forum of design ideas and how-to tutorials. You can see my tutorial at: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=572, but don't stop there! This site has inspiring ideas and detailed tips to help you fulfill your design dreams, and a store that sells fabulous fabrics and patterns to work with. Seriously, check it out!

So you don't lose hope...

The slipcover is on it's way!

Sconces

Okay so even though the slipcover rated #1 as the project you'd most like to see me complete, I finished the sconces first! Why you say?

Well, I was in the room when my husband cast his vote in my poll. As he selected the 'paint sconces and a tray' option, he said "I'm picking this one because I want those things out of our dining room." Yes, due to my extreme procrastination skills, the unfinished project had been sitting in our dining room for two months! So, for the sake of our marriage, and as a surprise to my hubby who was out of town, I finally completed the sconces last week.

Here's how they looked before I started. We bought these sconces shortly after we were married at a cool antique shop in Roanoke, VA. Although the shabby chic style worked with our 'look' for awhile, I felt it was time to update them! To give you a feel for the procrastination time frame, this picture was taken on 7/8/2008.
The first step I took was to sand down the edges of the tray.
Then they sat on the dining room table until I decided to do the first coat of primer on 7/28/2008. That's 23 days later. When the picture above was taken.
Then, on 8/5/2008, I did the last coat of primer.
Also, on 8/5/2008, I did the first of three coats of paint. I needed to do three coats because I used the same dark, dark, dark, dark green ('Nocturnal Green' if you will) that's on the wall in our bedroom and it took that many to make it look 'even' without all the white peeking through. Finally, on Labor Day weekend, while my husband was out of town, I did the last two coats of paint. I finished them off with two coats of semi-gloss Polyurethane and...

VOILA! My beautiful sconces are no longer shabby chic. I love how they tie in the Nocturnal Green wall in our bedroom, my husband is pleased that they are no longer in our dining room, and we both love the romantic element they add to our room.

See how there is only one curtain? That's a hint at one of my next design projects! And to those of you who are curious about the tray... Well, that sucker is still waiting for it's final coats of paint and Polyurethane. But it's not waiting on the dining room table. Sigh. You can't change a true procrastinator overnight!

The Results Are IN!

So, the poll is over and the results are in. When asked which projects you'd like to see me tackle, over the coming weeks you answered:

57% wanted to see me finish the slipcover on my living room sofa. What? You want us to cover this tacky 1970's fabric?!?

19% wanted to see the painted sconces and tray for my bedroom.

Painting and recovering the dining room chairs and making curtains for Rock's room each got 4% of the vote.

3% wanted me to do it all.

And 0% of you voted to make a bedskirt my top priority.

So, I've been working on the slipcover. To be honest, it was my top priority as well. My husband has been helping me with this project (yes, I am lucky enough to have a hubby that can sew!) and we hope to bring you the final project soon. No, this isn't the completed slipcover, but it IS a shot of the recovered pillows (in the same fabric of the future slipcover) on the sofa opposite the one we are working on. Seeing these completedgave my husband a lot of hope.