For one, it didn’t have elastic to hold it onto the frame and I was constantly readjusting it and the foam beneath it. Second, it was a dark blue and showed everything.

It was time for a new one. I was tired of complaining about it… to myself! Anthony would have used his “selective hearing” feature and wouldn’t have listened anyway!

I guess I kept putting it off because I thought it was going to be hard. That, and I couldn’t find any fabric that I liked.

One day I was walking through Walmart and I noticed that they had an entire section of $1-$3 / yard fabric. In that section they had a lovely black & white striped fabric.

Must I tell you again how much I love stripes?

You’d better believe I grabbed it up. I mean, at $2.00/ yard how could I have walked away? So not going to happen!

I drove home proud! I knew exactly what I was going to do with it.

Contrary to what I thought {and nervous about my beginner sewing skills}, it was quite easy to make a new cover!

Here’s how:

First, wash and iron the fabric. Mine is a cotton blend, which works perfect for this project. I used about 2 yards of fabric, but bought 5 yards for a few other projects too!

Once it’s ironed, lay it face up on the floor and place the ironing board on top.

Cut around the ironing board, adding about 3 inches to each side.

Flip the ironing board back over and iron the fabric over about 1/2″.

Do the same thing on all the “curves”. It’s ok if it doesn’t look really pretty. You won’t see it.

With your sewing machine, sew around the entire thing.

Then, go back to the ironing board and fold the fabric over another inch and iron in place.

For the narrow end of the cover and the bottom corners, fold the sides and top over, but leave the top corners open.

Go back to the ironing board and place your elastic over the folded fabric. Move the needle to the proper position and width for the elastic. My elastic is 3/4″ wide x 3 ft long.

Remove the elastic and sew all the sides. At the narrow end of the cover, sew to the corner joint, making sure NOT to sew the corner. If the corner is sewn, the elastic cannot go through the pocket.

With the sides sewn, fold the top over and sew the top part, making sure NOT to sew the corners!

Push a safety pin through the end of the elastic…

And begin working it through the fabric pocket. It should be snug. The elastic will be really tight and the fabric will start to bunch. Keep working your way around.

It will look like this with the elastic.

Remove the old cover from the ironing board and place it over the foam. Pull tight in all directions.

To secure the elastic in place, use the safety pin to secure both ends together. If there is extra elastic, trim it off, or tuck it inside the frame.

Once it’s snug and the stripes are straight, it’s finished!

Seriously, it’s easy! And you’re left with such a lovely finished product!

I just love it paired with my hanging ironing board rack!

I can’t help but love the stripes…

It’s such a simple and light pattern, but it’s just what I wanted. I like soft and simple.

It’s definitely added style and functionality! It’s an all in one package!

It’s so much better than the regular old blue cover…

Sigh… it’s looking just lovely in here!

I can’t wait to get a few other things finished up! Then, it might just be one of my favorite rooms in the house, which says a lot considering how I first felt about it…

P.S.- Here’s a few more laundry room related updates:

New Paint

Washer & Dryer Surround

Pottery Barn Knock Off Side Table

Every time I needed to iron, I would have to pull it out of the very back of our guest bedroom closet and move it to the kitchen, which is just about in the middle from the laundry room and guest room.

You see, Mr. Iron didn’t want to make the looong trek to the guest room and the ironing board was too stubborn to live in the laundry room. Meeting in the middle worked for them.

Lately though, they’ve both decided to live in the same room. And, logically, it’s the laundry room!

Yes, I finally got my act together and made a hook rack  for the laundry room so that I could hang my ironing board.

Why hadn’t I done this sooner? It was such an easy project!

First, I started with a scrap piece of wood that we cut down to size, (20″ to be exact) and two hooks from Hobby Lobby.

I wiped down the board, filled the holes and painted it with a free sample I grabbed a while back, Kingsport Gray by Benjamin Moore.

I knew that I wanted it to have an element of texture, so after the paint dried, I decided to cover it with burlap.

I pulled the burlap tight and used my staple gun to attach it.

Then, I attached a few sawtooth picture hangers to the back and attached my hooks to the front.

I couldn’t wait to hang it up and have all laundry related items in the…. wait for it…. laundry room!

I’m a thinker! Yes I am.

I absolutely love how it looks on the wall!

And I’m soo happy I covered it in burlap. It’s the perfect punch of texture. The black hooks look great against it too!

It looks fabulous with our knock off PB side table too! They balance each other nicely.

I’m still debating on spray painting the actual ironing board frame black… I’m indecisive. But it needs something!

AND, it’s beyond handy to have this in the laundry room.

One minute it’s up:

The next it’s down!

Look out, my life just got easier!

Later this week, I’ll show you how I made a new cover for the ironing board. I was beyond tired of the old & boring blue cover!

We have a few things left to do, but installing the plank wall behind the ironing board, building crates for underneath the washer & dryer and installing cabinet hardware are at the top of my list!

Stay tuned to see how I made the ironing board cover! UPDATE: See how to make an ironing board cover here.

See you then!

Linking up to:

The 36th Avenue

House of Hepworths

Design Dining & Diapers

Liz Marie Blog

Jennifer Rizzo

It’s Overflowing

We’re in and out of this room so often, that I was tired of looking at all the unfinished projects and a miss mash of items.

I must say, it’s looking so much better!

It all makes me smile.

I love my farm sign! And those numbers only look expensive… really they’re made out of cardboard.

I used Microsoft Excel to make my own artwork… and I absolutely love how true it is. We CAN do anything together!

I’m still loving the latest bench makeover… those stripes!

And I can’t forget my linen lined rope basket! I love that thing!

Our mudroom isn’t very big. But for what it lacks in size, it makes up for in character.

I’d love to say that it’s finished and I won’t change or add another thing, but I know that’s not true. I really want to add bead board, but I know that’s a project for a rainy day when the farm is too muddy and Anthony’s stuck inside.

In the mean time, I’m loving the progress this little room has made:

That’s progress I’ll take any day. It’s so. much. better.!

So instead, I’m veering off course and showing you our pretty little garden shed…. HA! What a laugh!

You see, we have this sad, sad, sad little garden shed. It was on the property when we bought it, and I think it’s safe to say that it hasn’t seen a coat of paint in yeeaarrss.

See what I don’t show you?

Ya… You’re not missing much!

But the good news is, I have big plans for it!

Here are some of my favorite garden sheds, all of which have given me an extra jolt of inspiration!

Source

Source

Source

Source

 Source

Aren’t they pretty? There’s hope for our little shed after all!

Now I just need to pick the paint colors and decide if it’s going to match our house or be daringly different. Ha! And, I’m pretty sure paint isn’t the only thing I’ll need.

Let’s just add a new roof and trim to my list….

Here’s to transforming our garden shed… wish me luck!

When I ran across these baskets in a Ballard Designs magazine, I instantly fell in love. They’re entirely versatile and I loved everything about them, especially the lining.

I made it my mission to figure out how to do a re-make.

And I must admit, I’m absolutely loving my version!

To give it a little different look, I gave mine stripes, which I love, love, love!

Here’s how I made it:

I apologize in advance for the pictures… I made this a while ago (notice the breakfast nook before the bench & plank wall!!) and my photography skills have gotten better… thank goodness!

First, these are the supplies I used:

-Laundry Basket, from Dollar Tree

-Remnant Fabric

-Jute Rope

-Nylon Rope

-Hot Glue Gun

___

I started by prepping the laundry basket. The top of the laundry basket has a curved plastic band that wraps around the entire top.

In some places it’s wider than others, so I used a razor blade to remove the excess plastic and to make it as smooth as possible.

It won’t be perfectly smooth when you’re done, but you want it to be pretty smooth the entire diameter around. We will hide this later.

Next I moved onto the liner. On the table, I spread out a roll of wrapping paper with the face down.

I laid the laundry basket on its side and rolled it across the paper, making sure that it would roll the entire diameter on the paper. Then, I grabbed a pen and traced it as I rolled.

It took me a couple of times to get it right, which you’ll notice below.

I traced the bottom of the laundry basket too…

Then, I used scissors to cut my shapes and I placed them in the basket to make sure they fit.

I placed the side piece inside the basket and marked where it connected.

Next, I grabbed my piece of linen and laid the wrapping paper template on top.

I used pins to attach the paper and fabric, then I cut around the fabric leaving about half an inch on the sides.

Then,  I removed the wrapping paper and folded the linen in half, like so:

I then sewed the two sides and the bottom together. I’m sorry I didn’t take better pictures…

I put the liner in the basket and used hot glue to attach it under the plastic lip that we trimmed earlier.

I used scissors to trim the extra fabric.

With the liner in place, I grabbed my nylon rope and started by first making the handles.

I wrapped the end of the rope around the bottom of the basket and hot glued it in place.

Then I decided the length of my handle…

With the proper length, I cut the end of the rope and attached it to the bottom of the basket with hot glue. I made sure to leave enough space for it to look like a handle.

Then I did the exact same thing, making it a double handle.

I did the exact same thing on the other side, making sure the handles were the same length…

Ok… I stopped taking pictures at this point… BAD! I’ll try to explain as best I can…

I started at the top of the basket and used hot glue to attach the rope to the basket. I hot glued the handle rope to the basket, then placed rope over that.

Once the entire basket was covered in rope, I hot glued a single string of rope around the top of the basket. That hid the area where I had wrapped the fabric over the plastic band.

I wrapped the handles with the jute roping… Then added jute stripes over the nylon rope.

Done!

I just love it!

Those stripes… they get me every time!

It’s perfect for holding shoes in the mudroom…

And I love that it’s lined with linen. It gives it such a classy look!

You would never know this was made from a dollar store laundry basket!

I think it’s just about perfect!

I especially love how it looks with the mudroom bench and rug.

I am so happy with the way that it turned out… I want to make one for every room! And I’m not kidding when I say that!

I can’t even tell you how happy I am to NOT trip on shoes every time I walk through the mudroom door. It’s life changing! And oh so stylish!

Def- Def- Definitely stylish!

P.S.- Is it noticeable that I like stripes? Ha!

Linking up to:

The 36th Avenue

Young House Love

House of Hepworths

Design Dining & Diapers

Love of Family & Home

Jennifer Rizzo

Tatertots & Jello

It’s Overflowing

Home Stories A to Z

DIY Show Off

Rain On A Tin Roof

That’s exactly what I have in store for you today!

I’ve been practically obsessed with this picture since I stumbled across  it on the BH&G website.

If it were possible, I would totally copy and paste that into my kitchen. But since we just built our home and didn’t do white cabinets (My hubby refused. He likes wood grain, remember??), I’m just day dreaming. I can, however, take aspects of what I love and make them possible in my own home.

And what I love, love, love, just happens to be something easy to re-make and bring into my own kitchen. The lettered pots.

Lucky for me, I do have the same glass door cabinets on the very top, so I’m pretty close to the real deal!

In our small town we have a really nice craft store. They carry an entire aisle of potting supplies and pots. And on that aisle, they have an entire section that’s dedicated to terracotta pots. Ranging from big to little, short to tall, they have them all. And they’re so reasonably priced!

I spent $1.00 each for the larger pots and 75 cents for the smaller ones.

I grabbed some left over white paint and started painting 4 of the pots.

I didn’t even bother to paint the inside. I knew you’d never know since they’re going in such a high cabinet.

While the paint was drying, I started playing with my silhouette machine again. I can proudly say that I didn’t have a single problem this time…. I think it’s warming up to me!

Or, it’s tired of watching me make a complete fool of myself as I scream, shout and pull my hair out…

In my silhouette design program, I chose 4 letters that meant something to me: A M S N. They’re our initials.

This was honestly the hardest part. I played around with several different letter combinations, but it seemed all of them were too much like actual words. I wanted random letters.

On my silhouette, I cut the letters on black vinyl.

I cut around each letter then removed the excess vinyl. With a razor blade, I lifted up the letter and placed it on the pot.

Easy, I tell ya! And they look wonderful together…

I used a couple cardboard lids for a riser. It was the perfect height and the cabinet door trim hides them.

I just love, love, love how they look!

Those letters… they make me happy.

I’m still on the hunt for other white pottery, but I love how these little pots tie it all together.

This simple project has left me smiling from ear to ear. And, you better believe I asked Anthony if he “noticed anything different in the kitchen” as soon as he came home. When he said he did I was happy and went on and on and on about how lovely they were and how happy they made the kitchen.

He just looked at me and said something like, “They don’t spell anything…”

EXACTLY!

After I told him that they stood for our initials, he totally got it!

So, there ya have it! An easy project that only takes a few minutes and adds that character we all love!

I’m off to stare at my lettered pots… just kidding… kind of!

April, Jen and I have some fabulous projects in store for you today! Oh how we LOVE $30 Thursday!

Here’s mine!

A while back, I had a great idea pop into my head… an outdoor side table made from a split stump!

Bingo!

And it was pretty simple to make!

Here’s what I did:

First, I started with a regular ol’ stump. My sweet uncle volunteered to chop it up for me while I was at work, so I don’t have a picture of this step.

Just imagine a stump being chopped into several pieces…

Once the stump was chopped up, I started putting it back together. Yes, yes, I know that sounds weird. Let’s chop it up just to put it back together.

I’m positive my uncle thought that I had completely lost any remaining marbles I might have had. He’s just too nice to say that to my face.

Putting the pieces back together was pretty simple… through the process of elimination it fit together perfectly.

Let me tell ya a little bit about this here stump… It’s been sitting on my uncle’s property for about 40 years. True story. Needless to say, it’s aged and weathered to perfection.

Once the stump was put back together, I used utility twine and wrapped it around the stump.

(I apologize for the slightly blurry pictures. I was using my phone to take pictures, and one handed to boot!)

I pulled it as tight as possible and tied it in place.

Then, I did the same thing to the bottom.

To remove some of the excess bark, I used sand paper and lightly sanded it off.

Then, I started pulling the string tight and used a staple gun to secure it in place.

As I pulled the string tight, the logs started to “shape” back into the original stump, and the gaps on the top and sides became smaller. You can see the slack I was able to pull out of the string:

Once I had it pulled as tightly as possible, and the string secured in place with the staples, I cut off the extra string and stapled them in place.

Then, I started working on the metal strips.

Like I’ve mentioned before, Anthony is a welder. He has access to lots of metal. For this, we used 16 gauge sheet metal and he ripped it down at work to 3″ wide. To figure out the length, I wrapped a tape measure around the stump and then added a few extra inches. I had him cut these at 59″.

They came as raw steel. Raw steel is dirty and this steel was rusting in a few spots. To start, I gave the metal a nice cleanin’.

Then, I laid them out on cardboard and gave them a solid coat of this:

Once the primer dried, I sprayed on a couple of coats of this:

I let it dry, then drilled two holes in one end of the metal.

And just a little FYI for ya, you can drill metal fast, which is unlike stainless steel because it has to be to drilled  s l o w. You’re welcome.

Then, start wrapping the metal around the stump. It does a pretty good job of contouring to the stump, but it’s not perfect and neither is the stump.

With the side that has the drilled holes, attach the metal strip to the stump in a solid piece of wood. The last thing you want is for the screw to strip out of the wood because it’s already split! I used      2 1/2″ drywall screws.

Be sure the metal strip covers the twine!

And here’s where it gets a little tricky… you really need two people to make it work…

After you’ve shaped the metal to the stump, use your drill to make another hole at the opposite end of the metal.

Now, wrap your metal around as tightly as possible, and use a sharpie to mark through the open drill hole.

Drill the hole… you can see that we moved ours over a smidge from the actual sharpie mark….

And then, because I was freaking out we couldn’t get the metal to wrap around tightly enough, my hubby came up with a brilliant plan (seriously) and grabbed a ratchet strap to tighten around the metal. Worked like a charm!

He’s so smart!

I held the metal strip in place and we removed the ratchet strap. While I held it in place, he used a few more screw to attach it to the stump.

We used a hammer to get the metal straight around the stump and then used a few extra screws to hold it in place and prevent it from slipping.

Even though the metal strips were dry when we started handling them, they still scratched. This is a very hands on project and could really benefit from a little thinner metal!

I used a couple pieces of sandpaper to cover the stump and gave the metal another coat of the hammered spray paint.

After I let it dry, the stump was ready to be moved.

Let me just tell ya, I’m absolutely positively loving this stump side table.

The split wood makes my heart happy.

And all that texture on the top is pretty amazing too! It’s aged to perfection!

It’s flat enough that you can actually set things on it… This summer it will probably have a tea glass for its companion!

The weathered look of the wood with the metal is perfect…

Goodness… I can’t wait to put it to good use this summer!

I must tell ya, I am head over heels loving the split sides… It gives it so much dimension… and I’m not even worrying about the wood. Chances are, if it’s been weathering for 40 years it’s probably just fine to sit outside a few more!

Oh ya… I didn’t spend a single dime on this project… If I would have though, it would have been about $12.00 for the metal strips. Because I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have a welder & metal working hubby, I browsed through Home Depot and Lowes and found some metal flashing that would work great too. It’s in the roofing section!

The finished side table dimensions are: 17″ tall and 15″ diameter.

Lucky me, I have another aged to perfection stump that’s just waiting to be made into a side table! I better get on that!

And now, be sure to check out April & Jen’s projects too!

April, made this fabulous DIY Pallet Plate Wall Art.

And Jen did an awesome makeover on this Pottery Barn chair.

Isn’t it great knowing that you can do any of these projects for under $30?! I love that! Be sure to check out our $30 Thursday Pinterest board too. We’re getting quite the collection of great projects and all of them are easy to do on a budget!

P.S.- Have you missed any of my past $30 Thursday projects? If so, here they are!

DIY Stackable Fruit Crates:

DIY Garden Globes:

DIY Spoon & Pallet Hook Rack:

. ENJOY .

Linking up to:

House of Hepworths

The 36th Avenue

Liz Marie Blog

Crafty Scrappy Happy

 Miss Mustard Seed

Tatertots & Jello

It’s Overflowing

DIY Show Off

Thrifty Decor Chick

Rain On A Tin Roof

Young House Love

Savvy Southern Style

Just in case you missed anything, here is April in review!

I kicked off the month with my 3rd $30 Thursday project, a Spoon & Pallet Hook Rack:

Then, I built a fabric wrapped frame with things that were laying around.

After that, I decided to give our mudroom bench another makeover.

I also shared my home on A Woman’s Haven.

Then I put my stash of cardboard to good use and made cardboard numbers for our mudroom coat rack.

I scored big time at the thrift store with my new headboard and footboard… PB Style!

I also put my sewing machine to work and made this a-dorable grain sack inspired burlap pouch.

Then, I decided it would be fun for YOU to ask me questions for an upcoming “About Me: Q & A” post.

I added this lovely sunburst stick wreath to our powder bathroom…

We finally finished our new PB style metal & wood side table for the laundry room.

After having a major crush on boxwood wreaths, I now have my very own!

To end the month, and to keep with sprucing up our mudroom, I made a PB inspired sign, farm style!

I love each and every one of them! What’s your favorite project?

I’m already looking forward to May… and this week brings another edition of $30 Thursday, which is tomorrow!

See you then!

So, one night around the dinner table I started casually asking Anthony some questions.

Just in case you’ve ever wondered what a normal dinner conversation with me is like, here’s a little sample:

—–

Me: How many miles do you think our house is from our farm?

Anthony: What?….

Me: You know. Is it like 1 mile, 1/2 or 1/4 of a mile?

Anthony: Ummm… the house is on the farm….

Me: Well, yes, I know that. But how many miles? Do you think like half a mile?

Anthony: What?…

Me: From like, the mudroom to the field. How far is it?

Anthony: Which field?…

Me: Well, my arrow will point north, so the north field. Maybe like 1/4 of a mile, you think?

Anthony: It’s right beyond the back yard…

Me: Yes, I know that. But how far is it?

Anthony: Well, maybe like .06 of a mile?

Me: Ok. You sure? It’s going on a sign. It’s permanent.

Anthony: …. sigh….

——-

Poor guy.

But all that questioning was worth it:

Here’s how I made it:

I grabbed an extra piece of wood from the breakfast nook plank wall, then we built a frame for the back.

We nailed the top in place…

I grabbed a yard stick and pencil.

And used the width of the yard stick to trace around the frame.

Then, I taped off the center.

I filled the holes and gave the outside frame a couple coats of white paint.

I pulled off the tape and let it dry over night.

The next day, I taped off the white painted section.

And painted the inside with a few coats of black paint.

I pulled off the tape and waited for the black paint to dry.

Meanwhile, I attempted to make friends with my Silhouette machine again. In case you’re new here, I would really like to be friends with my Silhouette machine. Problem is, it doesn’t want to be friends with me…

After another very mature screaming & fit throwing session, I was finally able to get the darn thing to properly cut my wording on card stock.

…sigh…. It wasn’t my finest moment and luckily I was home alone… the darn thing is suppose to make life easier!

Finally, I traced the words onto the sign.

And was left with a nice outline of each letter…

A few years ago (yes, years), I picked up a couple of gold-ish tester paints from Hobby Lobby. I used two of the colors to get it right for the sign.

With the first color, I used a small brush and painted each word.

Then, I used the next color, which was a little more brassy than gold, and painted it over the first color.

While it was drying, I touched up all my “oops” with black paint and freshened up the white paint too.

It’s a lovely little sign…

The simplicity is perfect.

And, you can see that the gold & brass paint has a little sheen to it…

I couldn’t help but take pictures with it against those lovely tree blossoms… sigh…

We’re FARM PROUD!

It’s real home is in the mudroom, but this proves to be the hardest room to photograph since sun light shines right on the glass of my coat rack.

Goodness, this sign makes me happy. It warms my heart in such a meaningful way. Since growing up on a farm and ranch, and now having our own small farm, I am beyond happy to bring that love and honor into our home.

AND, I’m so glad Anthony and I were able to agree… the house is about .06 miles away from the North field…

P.S.- I fell in love with these signs, and they were the inspiration behind mine.

P.S.S.- If you want to see a few more of my Pottery Barn knock off’s, see here, here or here.

Since then, I’ve been on a mission to find something to put with it. The options are endless, and I’m sure that I’ll be changing it up from time to time, but I had to add a boxwood wreath to the kitchen. I’ve loved them for soo long!

It’s added the perfect punch of color, texture and warmth!

Be still my heart…

It adds such a lush vibrancy to the kitchen!

And it’s perfectly lovely against the fabric frame and spoon hooks.

I’m completely in love with it!

This little wall has added so. much. character to the kitchen. I’m loving everything about it! Did I mention that already?

Have a great weekend! I’m hosting a birthday dinner for my mom tomorrow night, so I’m off to get everything ready…!

P.S. In case your looking for your own reasonably priced boxwood wreath, I found this one at Target.