Ikat Medallion Print. Chevron. Imperial Trellis. Indigo.

I know that got your attention. And that's good, because I am in lurve with all of those. So if you lurve them too, let's be friends. Hey, Check out these cool pillow covers in ALL OF THOSE AMAZING FABRICS!

 

Guess who made those? Three guesses. Starts with an M, ends with a T, and has been a REALLY bad blogger recently. 

  

I  blame my manic sewing for my radio silence these past, oh, weeks. 

Oh my Jeebus, I love pillows. The best part, though, is that these are pillow covers! I can change my mind as much as I want! They have zippers! Zippers that are able to be opened! Whee! 

I really need to lay off this caffeine.  

( I made those pillows, by they way, in case you still haven't figured that out.)

Zach says I have to sell some because he can't see the couch. 

Soooo I put some up on my Etsy store!

I have 3 or 4 standard sizes up there now, but if you need something specific- I can do that! 

They're priced at $25 for those not in the 'know', but for you guys they are just $12 plus shipping. Just message me saying you are a Sugar and Spackle follower (if indeed you are. If you are not, well there's a fun little button just on your left there...)

Just a little way for me to say I lurve you guys. 

 

Cause I totes do. 

Four Words

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. You've heard of this, right? If you have not; it is this paint, right,  that gives you this rich, purty color AND 1. you don't have to sand, prime, or anything. Just slap it on, let it dry and distress to your heart's content.  Say whaaat!

It is Le perfect for an easily distracted individual such as moi. I can slap on a coat when I get a surge of inspiration without having to do all that stupid prep work. Prep work is no fun. I reupholstered this chair that I got at Goodwill:

 

Close up shots! 

Everyone is going OOON and OOON about chalk paint, and you know what, they should. I am sooo on that bandwagon. If you're going for the distressed look, look no further. The folding chair was done in the first color I ordered, Paris Grey (are we surprised?)

I have since ordered Aubisson Blue and Old White. Everything is getting painted. It adheres to everything.  Plastic, other paint, metal, wood, veneer, toothpicks, meatballs. You name it.

 I'm gonna mix and match these things like it's my job. 

On house news, I haven't updated you because there's nothing really to update. Still working through the process, so we shall see! 

your delightfully delinquent blogger bud, or DDBB: 

I am Dyeing To Try This

I love patinas. I might name my firstborn child Patina (Ok, not really. ) But there's something about a time-worn look that just rocks my socks. And the only thing better is something that looks gorgeous and old, is a way that you can MAKE it look gorgeous and old. Am I right, ladies?!

Whilst perusing Twitter today ( you can find me at @Rummage Living, by the way!), I came across a tweet by Design Sponge:

Ditto. 

So, I found this here tutorial by ToolGirl.

It looks super simple and I love that staining with tea is all-natural and non-toxic! 

source

The best I can gather, is you can use tea on its own to stain unfinished wood ( the lighter the better), or you can use a solution of steel wool (or nails) in vinegar to darken the shade dramatically. And each tea gives a different look! You can even get that turquoise shade by soaking pennies instead of nails/steel wool! So so cool.

 

 

 

source

Oh, and some of you may be wondering, "Hey, I wonder why Margaret's @Rummage Living instead of Sugar & Spackle". And that is a great question- with an even better answer....

Sugar and Spackle is becoming Rummage Living! I'm working with some super creative types on a really freaking cool new layout now and I am SO excited to launch it. All of you guys have really inspired me to push the envelope in so many ways, and my style, confidence and LOVE of doing this stuff has just grown enormously. Don't fret, I'll still be the same flippin' cool chick, just a different name and a kickass site! 

So that's my news! We've got some time yet, but I wanted to let ya know so you can start, you know, preparing yourself for the awesomeness that will ensue. 

P.S. don't you love that you had to read the whole post to get here? I'm tricky like that.

OH, and have you guys heard of Pinterest? It's an online inspiration/board swapping site, where you can "pin" items/articles/projects/ inspiration that you like to share with others, and to come back to when you want it! I think I have like, 6 invites that I can use, If you'd like, be one of the first 6 and I'll invite you!  

xo,

Margaret

Pillow Talk.

Guess what?! 

I made a PILLOW. It is the wonkiest thing EVER but I MADE IT. 

See? Terrible. 

It was my first time sewing ANYTHING. Can you tell? haha 

But that doesn't stop me from doing this    :D

That's me with a big 'ol smile. 

This pillow is phase 1 of my master plan to overthrow the lingering bachelor pad that is our living room. 

As you can see, our apartment is still suffering from a case of Leftover Bachelor Pad Syndrome, or LBPS. The only known cure for LBPS is to cover up chrome and black leather bachelor sofa with 1. pillows and 2. chrome on MY terms. 

And since the hubs (former bachelor in question) spent WAAAAY to much on them. They are here to stay (until I can figure out how to get rid of them).

And the chrome on my terms thing isn't so bad. Lately I've been embracing the Palm Beach/ Hollywood Regency thing. Good thing since we're in Palm Beach County, eh?

Take our friend,  New Mr. Coffee Table. Mr. Coffee table currently looks pretty awesome, and I bet he knows it. (Or, as awesome as I can make him while still going with our couches)

Before, it was this dude. Old Mr. Coffee Table. 

Not bad,  but I like the updated look.  Sidenote: I bet some of you out there have your guys peeking over your shoulder and just said "oh, that's not bad, I like that."

figures. 

  I also softened up the harsh lines and black leather with slightly feminine, vintage and natural accessories, and played off the chrome in items like vintage keys, mercury glass, and other shiny things. 

Oh, the best part? That chrome base was $5. Yeah. Five. Dollas. 

And that stuff on top of it, let's see- the tray is a vintage picture frame just with the glass ($2), the coasters are super heavy kind of bronze coral/bamboo texture ($4 for 6) and that other stuff is just pulled from other places in the house.

Balance and contrast is so key in any room but especially when you are trying to offset elephant-in-the-room peices. Oh well, they're comfy at least!

xo, 

Margaret

How to upholster over a cane back chair: Take two!

This method is seriously a big-time improvement.

 Before we begin, some notes and reflections: 

Reflection #1: Really take the time to cut your fabric as close as possible to where you want it to go. Trying to trim off the excess like a pie crust after you've glued it is pretty difficult. Plus, you've got fraying to contend with. 

Get your materials together: Batting, glue gun (glue gun sticks, obvi), Fabric and spray adhesive if you have it. 

I put two layers of batting down, using the spray adhesive to hold it in place while I worked. 

Then, cut your fabric as close to size as you can, and begin to hot glue it around the edges. My method for this is put the glue as close to the edge, directly onto the caning and carefully place your fabric over it. 

And it should look generally like this. 

Easy, right?! 

Now just add your trim of choice and you are done on the back! 

The front is just exactly the same thing. 

Two layers of batting, hot glue and fabric. The secret is to trim trim trim before gluing to get a really good fit. 

I have it shown here without trim so you can see. The batting really gives it a nice comfy-lookin' poof doesn't it?

Ah, sweet success! 

Does this not look wonky?

Well, it totally does, right? Gaaah! I tried to do the stretched canvas approach, whereby I streched the fabric across the opening on the back and stapled it in place, and used the gimp trim to cover up the staples. Bad idea. 

So, I cast that chair aside (for now) and focused my attentions on my pretty distressed gray chair of the set. Yes, this one chair is different from the rest of the set. I was in an experimenting mood. Don't judge me! 

I love how this gray chair turned out. The patina is just too pretty for me to paint over to just plain white. So I kept it. And decided to try another method for upholstering the back since the caned back was busted through. 

Oh, hey, what's that? Yeah. Totally looks like a chair. An awesome chair. Woot woot.

It's not trimmed, but is this not so much better? Forget what I said about using cardboard to upholster over a caned back. Well, no, don't forget it. You could still use it for simple shapes, but this is WAY easier when you have a fancy shape that you need to get exactly freaking right or else it just looks like it belongs on the short bus. Like this guy: 

Blerg. Anyone know how to remove trim that's been hot glued on? Anyone?

I'm working on the full tutorial on how to make your upholstered caned back NOT suck, but the gist of it is: 

You need batting,  your fabric, scissors and a glue gun and that is it. 

If you've got spray adhesive it makes things that much easier for you. I used staples at first. no. don't do that. Not necessary. Glue gets it so much more precise every. single. time.

P.S. The wonk-ified chair is the back to my ikat upholstered french chairs! I'm totally gonna do it, you guys. I have 3 of 4 chairs in various states of non-matching-ness, so I really ought to quit typing and start upholstering.

Toodles!

xo,
Margaret

Crafting Kabosh

Man, the crafting Gods really don't want me to get anything done today! Seriously, I was all crazy nervous about doing these chairs, and I finally got up the guts to start, and it was just not happening, folks. The method I wanted to use, that I used for this chair:

did NOT work for these. 

Cause of the fancy-schmacy back, I couldn't get the poster board cut quite right. So. Where does that leave us?

STAPLES!

Now, I've never used a stapler to upholster onto a frame, it's mostly been just upholstering around a cushion, but I know that the manual ones would kill your hand in 10 seconds flat. So I borrowed an electric one from my father- in-law, who has pretty much every tool known to man, and it was MISSING A PART. GAAH! 

Buzzkill.

Don't you just HAAAAATE when you get the balls/time/all the rest of the materials to do a project and the roadblocks crop up?

Anyway. Now I am sitting on my ass, giving my unfinished chairs a death stare and grumbling. Good story, right?

I fart on staple guns.

All I want to do is put 

THIS. 

onto THESE

grumble. 

Thanks for taking this ranting journey with me. 

On the bright side, I am going to cajole my hubs into getting me sushi take out for dinner tonight! 

Sweet, sweet consolation. 

Your grumbling, sushi-eating pal, 

Margaret