Carriage-style Garage Doors Hack Tutorial

So far we have worked at beautifying the inside of our 1971 split level rancher. But this week I finally got around to my first project outdoors (besides pulling weeds, that is! LOL). I have been thinking at how to hack some fencing gates' hardware for a while now, in order to give a little more something-something to the garage doors. In fact, I even priced it for our previous home, but it was neithr cost nor labor effective, so I abandoned the idea. Regular garage doors look so oddly naked...like something is missing!

Then one day I got lost at Home Depot, I wandered out of my DH sight and that was it. Could not find him to save my life! LOL. So I just started to go down the isles in an attempt to find my lost love...and instead, low and behold, I stumbled upon THIS!!!!

I could not believe my eyes! Exactly what I had wanted and without hacking or costly expense! It was on sale for $14.99! Without even thinking about it, I just snatched up 3 packs and threw them into my cart! This set called "fleur de lis" is not your only option. Crown also manufactures other styles such as traditional...

Photo courtesy of Homedepot.com

...and premium with rings rather than door handles...

Photo courtesy of Homedepot.com

...As well as faux windows too!
Although, at $99 a pair, I would have certainly painted on my own windows! It's just black squares after all! And the effect would not change, you'd have the illusion of windows from the street!

Photo courtesy of Homedepot.com

With the hardware in hand, my next step was to get rid of the tan doors and dark brown trim. We had already gotten rid of the chocolate trim around the windows when we installed them last summer.

Here are two close up shots of the before and after for the single door.

I always love to see what a difference a can of paint makes! Aren't they already SO much better?

The installation was very easy. After deciding the placement for the hardware, DH drilled some pilot holes and then it was just as easy as screwing them in. 

Here is a close up. Pretty cool um? 

I think they look awesome! I can't wait but giggling with pleasure when I see them ^__^

We ended up only using 2 kits instead of 3, as my DH thought two kits on the double garage door would be overkill. I am not opposed to the look of the two kits per double door, but I am fine with this look as well. What do you think? Nice update for a $50 investment, right? 

Kitchen Valance Tutorial

I have been pondering what to do with my sink window for a while now. I am not fond of valances, but I did not have many choices considering the location and usage of this window. I needed something to filter the morning sun rays, yet something that would be light and airy. I really like cafe' curtains but I didn't think them practical for this location (with all the splashing and such). I also considered plantation shutters, but they are very costly and they would open inward not allowing me to use the sill for my herbs garden...so I tucked my tail between my legs and proceeded with the valance project -__-

So here it goes. I laid the fabrics out (the white for the valance, the pattern as a trim) and cut them to size. I had initially thought of using a wooden strip, secured to the valance via velcro, and some corner brackets as hanging system (you can see the wood trim on the counter) but that didn't pan out.

Again, due to the thickness of the fabric I had to sort of hack this sewing project. I hemmed the short sides of both fabrics individually...first the patterned fabric...

...and then the solid white.

At this point I laid the two fabrics, right side facing each other, and pinned in place.

I straight stitched them together...

...and flipped the patterned fabric over...

...to blind stitch the top in place.

I then singed the remaining raw edge of the print fabric...

...and folded it back onto itself (wrong sides touching each other) like this, and straight stitch them into place. Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of that step, but hopefully you get the jist of how I made the pattern fabric fold over to make a band looking at this photo.

At this point I pressed all of the hems flat.

Then I proceeded to make a regular hemming stitch all along the white fabric. The only difference was that I kept the 'hem' much wider than usual...about one inch. That gave me the right size pocket to insert my tension rod. Since my original hanging system plan did not work out the way I wanted, I bought this cafe' tension rod from Home Depot. It's nothing fancy but you don't really see it once it's hung ;)

Photo courtesy of homedepot.com

And this is my final product. Very simple indeed, but it ties in with the rest of the fabric from the table.

...and here is a wider shot.

I know my mom would probably cringe if she saw the way I stitched this valance together, quite unorthodox to say the least, but there is only so much I can do with a cheap sewing machine and thick fabric ^__^

The kitchen is almost done. Stay tuned for the before and after reveal. Thank you for reading!

'Granite' Vitamin Water

Living in a super dry, desert-like, climate it is imperative for me to keep hydrated. A few weeks ago, my bestie S.K. shared a post, on Facebook, on home-made vitamin waters and I was hooked! Since I don't really drink much on my own, I thought this was a great idea! 

This is my first try using what I had in the fridge this week. I will be posting more, as I experiment, and give you my feedback on flavors. This recipe is called 'The Granite' the ingredients are Strawberries or Raspberries & lemon or lime. I had lime leftover (from a tex-mex night with friends) and my bff S.I. brought me organic strawberries, so I was set. 

Here are my mis en place: 8 cups of filtered water (better if you have a 10 cup pitcher) a few strawberries, one lime and several mint leaves (I wish I had more).

You can see that I chose the ugliest strawberries, since they will be soaked and look wilty anyhow ;)

I sliced the lime very thinly and dunked it in the H²O

Then I halved the strawberries and off they went into the pitcher too.

Then I added the finely chopped mint. The more the merrier ^__^

And this is what my pitcher of vitamin water looked like after being assembled. Unfortunately I don't have a nice clear pitcher, so I used my Pampered Chef batter bowl instead...but a pitcher would be much easier to pour from! Tjmaxx here I come ;)

The fruity water has to sit in the fridge overnight to soak up the flavor of the fruit.

This is what it looked like the next day...

...the water got a bit red once the flavor was extracted from the fruit. This is a glass view...

Conclusion: I loved this idea! I drank all of it in 2 days (which for me is astounding). The flavor of the lime is WAY too bitter for me! I don't usually buy limes, in fact, this was brought over by a friend and left in my fridge. I always prefer lemons, as they are much sweeter and I am more accustomed to the flavor. But since I never waist anything, I used this lonely lime instead ;)

To cut some of the bitterness I added a cup of water to the pitcher each time I poured me a cup. That way, I actually ended up watering it down to double it's original volume. It was a win-win for me, I did not have to make 2 pitchers, but in reality I did drink two! I really enjoyed the flavor of the water-soaked berries too, so I ate them. 

I will definitely make it again, using lemons instead of limes, and I may try raspberries (if I can ever find them organic for a good price) just to switch it up. I also think that the mint is absolutely necessary. So refreshing! Also if you have a pitcher with a strainer of sorts, that will work best in keeping the fruit from getting in your glass. Not everyone may enjoy eating the mint leaves or wilted strawberries like I do ;)

I can't wait to try the other 7 recipes! Stay tuned for more, and enjoy this delicious and natural vitamin water ^__^

Table Runner Tutorial

Here is the table runner tutorial that I had promised to post. I used the same fabric I had chosen for the chairs, plus some remnants from my patio slider's curtains (up-cycling is the name of the game in my household). Make sure to check out my chairs upholstering tutorial here.

The process was pretty straight forward, really, and quite simplistic too. I decided how wide I'd like the runner to be and I cut out my fabric allowing for seams.

Here are my two fabrics cut and ready to be sewn. Rufus, as always, is dispensing some much needed advice! ^__^

Given the super thick fabric, from the curtains remnants (as well as the thickness of the new outdoor fabric) I only folded the fabric over once for the hems. To avoid unraveling, I first singed all edges with a zig zag stitch. It's a bit hard to see on this textured fabric...

...but it is clearly visible on the patterned one.

Once all the edges were properly finished, I proceeded to attach the two solid bands to the two narrow ends of the patterned fabric.

I then turned the solid fabric over, and did an invisible stitching to the top, to keep everything neatly in place.

At this point I just proceeded to hem the entire rectangle, which was now longer thanks to the two solid bands at the edges. As I mentioned, I only folded the fabric over one time, this was all my cheapo sewing machine could tolerate (notice that the zig zag is visible, if I had made a traditional hem -folded twice- it would just be hidden).

And that's all folks! Pretty easy. The whole project took me a total of 2 hours. It is a very doable craft for even the most novice sewer, and it does make any chairs reupholstering job look more complete. 

And this is how my dinette looks now. Awwww, much nicer I think.

I am planning to add a band of this patterned print to the sliders panels as well. Just to tie things together a bit more in the kitchen. So I will add the tutorial to the blog when I do. Thank you for reading and happy up-cycling :)

Chairs reupholstering tutorial

My poor dinette has seen better days. It's been with us for 12 years now, through 4 moves and still going. It was in dire need for a makeover and today I gave it one! I found the fabric at JoAnn's for 50% off of $19.99 a yard. It's outdoor fabric so it should take well to wear and tear.

Here is a shot of the old cushions. The fabric was still nice, it just didn't go with the colors we chose for this kitchen. So off goes the old, in comes the new.

First off I unscrewed the chair pad from the frames.

Then I carefully removed all the old staples and fabric. You can skip this step if you like, but since this is the 4th time I reupholster these chairs, I always take off the old fabric so I don't build up too much. Next I laid the old fabric on my new fabric, and cut a piece about 1 inch or 2 larger than my old ones (you can always trim but you can't add fabric!). I trimmed off a bit too much last time ;)

Then I laid my cushion over the fabric (wrong side up). If you have a directional pattern, like I did, you need to make sure that the pattern is also going the correct way (or my birds would have ended up upside down LOL).

From now on it was a whole lot of making sure the fabric is taught and stapling it in place.

I like to staple two opposite sides, before I move on to the 3rd and 4th side. Here I started with the front and the back of the cushion, but then I realized it was better to start with the sides, since they are a bit slanted.

Once the first two sides were stapled nicely, I moved over to the corners. I made regular pleats (3 per corner), gathered the fabric to make it taught and stapled in place. If you are new to this, you can staple down each pleat as you fold. I try to avoid over-stapling since I know that, sooner or later, I will be removing those staples and cursing along ;)

Once all your cushion is done you can trim the excess fabric.

At this point I cut some slits or holes where the screws would fit into. You can usually 'feel' the holes with your fingertips. If you don't do it, and the fabric you have is not super thick, you may end up getting snags in the fabric (screws pulling the weave). 

And that's all folks. I repeated the process 4 times and this is the final product. Same sad dinette, cuter seats! I am planning to use this fabric to sew a table runner, a window valance and possibly lengthening my current sliding doors curtain panels. I will keep you posted on the progress.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Happy reupholstering!