Reupholstered French Chairs

My first venture into upholstery and furniture refinishing continues!

When I saw these two dining chairs I thought they were adorable and would be an excellent project. I love the "bones" of these chairs, the turned-wood legs and arms and the nice design on the back of the chair.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep these white or paint them a bold color so I decided to find a fabric I liked first, then let the fabric dictate the paint choice.

The fabric I found was Waverly Modern Essentials "Solar Flare". I purchased this fabric from JoAnn's Fabrics. One yard was enough to cover both seats, and of course I waited for the 50% sale!

Waverly Modern Essentials "Solar Flare"

The "before" picture! (care of a Craigslist seller)

I found the chairs on Craigslist, $35 for the pair. They had a pale blue toile fabric that was stained and the paint job was a little sloppy and beat-up. There were only the two chairs, not a full set of six, but the chairs are so interesting that I think they make cute accent chairs, even if they aren't used for dining chairs. They could be an office chair or extra living room chair, or a new chair for my craft room.

The first thing I did was unscrew the seat, sand down the frames, dab on primer and then add a few fresh coats of white satin spray paint.

1 coat of primer, 2-4 coats of spray paint, 2 coats of Wipe-On Poly

The previous painter had clearly only sprayed the chair from the top down and missed a lot of spots on the legs so the first couple of coats I sprayed on while the chairs were upside-down.

When I removed the blue toile fabric I actually discovered the seats had been red velvet before that and even before the red velvet they had been this ugly brown cotton weave fabric.

I left the first two layers of fabric on since they had been nailed on; the blue toile had been stapled on so it was easy to remove with a flat-head screwdriver and needle-nose pliers.

I covered the red velvet with a layer of cotton quilting batting and then laid my fun fabric on top of the batting. Lacking a staple gun, I used upholstery nails to take the fabric in place.

The extra batting made the seat a little thicker so I ended up having to buy longer screws to attach the seats back in place.

The "after" picture!

Skeleton Leaves Necklace

These are real leaves that have had their pulp removed and what remains are the veins. These leaves are from the Rubber Tree (Ficus Elastica). They can be found randomly at higher end craft stores.

I dipped in an resin to give it strength, and fills in some of the gaps of where the pulp one resided. The three leaves are flexible.  They are attached to jump rings and strung on a wire.  Using wire helps limit any distractions from our gorgeous focus points.

-SmallRiniLady

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Leggings 0.7

Yay we've gotten to the last tutorial before having a completed Final Fantasy XIII-2 Cosplay

I found these giant rolls of Craft foam YAY. 

I wrapped cylinders around my thighs to get the right size, than trimed out the shape.

Than got the rough estimate around my caves and used elastics (used for waistbands) to hold it closed for my ankle area.  THis way you can strech it wide to put your legs without any ripping ations.  I was stupid and glued the elastic to the outside so here I'm flipping the foam.

Yay,I used a separate join for the middle to let the piece piviot.  It's connected to the thigh piece in the front, and connected to the bottom piece on the back.  Because the foam is flexible it allows you to bend at your knees.  And it's also costume accurate!

Closer picture after it's been painted.

Making some of the gold embellisments for her leggins

several photo series to hopefully visually explain as to how they get put on

Oh she's got this medallion thing on her legs.  So i just took a scrapbook chip art to use, you wont see the palm tree after it's been painted.

Ok i'll admit i didn't do the best job with the feet, but i tried.

I started by making a cover for my foot.  Two angled pieces on er. . . . I'm going to stop here with this one cause the foot wasn't well done, so let's not bother teaching you how to make the unsuccessful piece.

Here's a final picture of the legs.  You can bend and run and do all sorts of things with it.  Although warning, dont go climbing rocks with it.  THe foam isn't that strong so it will rip easily.  More layering or coating of a good sealent or a backing of packaging tape could reinforce it it you desire.

Till next time, when you get to see the compete outfit.

Congrats Pillowboxes

Nothing says CONGRATS better than a gift that says CONGRATS on it!

I made these for two cousins when they graduated from college.

Guess what fits in pillowboxes really well... gift cards!

This is a really easy 5-minute craft.

1. Start with a pillowbox - you can buy them bulk at OrientalTrading.com.
2. Measure the width of the box and cut out a piece of decorative scrapbooking paper that is longer than twice the width of the box and not quite as wide as the box.
3. Wrap the paper around the box and secure with double-stick tape.
4. Decorate!
5. Insert a small gift, like a gift card or money and fold over the ends.
6. Tie a decorative ribbon to secure it.