May Recap

Clark's having a second open house on Sunday- you should come!  12-1:30, all the cool people are doing it!

He's a charmer just looking to adopt the right family.  Check out the listing HERE.  Be sure to share the info if you know someone house hunting in the Worcester area!

Ok, that's the end of today's shameless self-promotion.  I'm heading over there today to do some minor staging to (hopefully) dazzle the hoards of potential buyer that'll come by.  Yes, hoards- I'm being optimistic.

Shockingly, I haven't attacked any additional items with spray paint since the chairs: I've been trying to get ready for vacation- laundry, cleaning, ya know, the usual.  After my college roommate's wedding this weekend, we're off to sunny (and HOT) Florida with friends- should be a fun time!  Even though I'll still be blogging next week, I don't think I'll be DIYing anything down there.  I do plan some adventuring, thrifting, and hard core relaxing, though.

Looking back at this past month, I'm shocked at how much I got done!!

Most notably, of course is the aforementioned Clark.  During the first few weeks of the month, we finished flipping our first ever flip house and got him on the market!

For the Spring Pinterest Challenge, I baked cakes for Cutest-Nephew-Ever's 1st birthday...

AND made a custom copper dot pillow.

I got some amazing finds treasure hunting at the Brimfield antiques flea market,

set my sights on my previously undesigned front porch...

...and went spray-paint-happy (here AND here).

DIYed a stylish ipad sleeve,

And last, but not least.... Launched this new, redesigned website!

I think I've earned a vacation, don't you?

Go Speed Racer

Can somebody please take this spraypaint out of my hand before I paint Hubby or the kittens!  Just kidding, don't take my paint away, I might cry. But seriously, it's so much fun that with just a bit of painter's tape and a can of spray paint, you can transform something in a matter of hours.

Last week, I procured 2 of these bad boys from Craigslist for $50.  Not my best Craigslist deal, but I've been looking for the right scale chairs for the porch for a while and you can't even get 2 new ikea chairs for that price.  The scale was perfect (yay!), but the color looked a little drab on the porch.

Bring on the frog tape!  I also decided to add a bit of interest with a racing stripe.  I figured that if I wasn't a fan once it was painted, I could just simply paint over the stripes.  Luckily that wasn't the case.

When I told Hubby I planned to add a stripe, he was scared (my design plans often have that affect on him).  But, since I kept the colors to simple white and natural- which are colors already present on the porch, the paint treatment added interest without looking over done (and Hubby agreed).

The best part about paint transformations is if I ever get sick of my speedster racing striped chairs, I can break out another can of paint and switch it up again.  That's not happening any time soon, though, these chairs are absolutely delicious.

Even though the backs will ultimately be up against my house, I just had to continue the stripe, I couldn't help myself.

I think this might just be my favorite view- nice rear!

I may have also attacked my black mail box with some satin nickel spray paint.  Now that my porch accessories and furniture are all set, I have the minor stuff left... like staining the floor, painting the trim and ceiling, and replacing the broken light... you know, the minor stuff.

Are you digging my porch transformations so far?

DIY Envelope ipad Case

My darling Hubby generously got me an ipad for my birthday last month (he actually caught all the hints I was dropping- go him!), but refrained from getting an accompanying case so that I could pick out/make my own.  With a Florida vacation only a week away, the ipad needed some travel protection. After scouring etsy, I absolutely loved all the felted wool and leather cases that were available, but I didn't absolutely love the prices.  DIY it is.

My favorite local  fabric store didn't have the thick felted wool that I coveted (didn't expect them to) or any luscious leather, so I improvised.  Soft leather-like vinyl would do just as well.

I've become addicted to the ipad, but I'm not the only one.  The only problem with the ipad is that a friend introduced us to Game for Cats (which is literally a game for our kitties to chase an on screen laser, butterfly, or mouse) and Bear now think the ipad is his and was overseeing this entire project.

My first, more complicated, padded case plan didn't go so well, so I cut my losses and simplified.  (Do you see the cat shaped shadow hovering?)  The fabric needs to be just large enough to wrap the ipad with a fold-over flap.

For flare, I added a light blue strap down the center of the fabric.  This is also where my snaps will fall.

After the fabric was cut and the strap was sewn on, it was time to make it into a pouch with a simple stitch up each side.  Since I decided to use a magnetic snap, I put the snaps in as I sewed the blue strap.  If you use a traditional snap or button, it can be added at any time.

Once I sewed the sides and literally tied up all the loose ends, I had a one-of-a-kind ipad sleeve to protect my new toy while traveling.

I love the results- just enough protection for traveling, stylish, and it came to less than half the price of some of my favorite etsy cases!