Living Room Chairs {Furniture Refab}

So  after I bought my vintage sofa and new rug, I was looking for some side chairs for my living room. I knew I wanted two of the same chairs to add some balance and I also wanted a mixture of old and new.

I've been seeing rattan chairs all over design blogs and magazines and something has really been drawing me to them.

One day, I spotted this one on One King's Lane. I love the open 'airy' feeling of the rattan and the comfort of the big deep cushions.  But I also love the fact that this one is a wingback, so it feels a little more like it could shine in a formal living room rather than being sent off to hide in a sunroom. Unfortunately, the $999 price tag made this one WAY out of reach, especially since I needed two.

It was around that time that I spotted these two beauties fixer-uppers on craigslist and snatched them up for $80 for the pair. As you can see, they need some work, which really just amounted to a little paint and some new fabric.

I tossed out the upper cushions and removed the lower cushions from their covers and tossed them in the washing machine. I had this yellow chevron fabric that I purchased almost two years ago, not knowing exactly when and how I would use it.

This is where my mom came to the rescue...She made the cushion covers for me when I was home for Thanksgiving weekend. I had planned to do it myself, but its always faster when she does it. After all, she's the expert and the one with the awesome sewing machine. One day I will get one. Anyway, I helped. Here is the cording that we covered with the fabric.

And here is a completed cushion.

I added large grey down pillows that I found at TJMaxx for the back of the chairs and also these adorable, decorative handmade pillows, purchased on etsy from Caitlin of Bright July. I love, love, LOVE these pillows. We got one that says carpe diem and one that says besos. Both sayings have meaning for me, but besos has extra special meaning in our family. Yes, I am a Spanish teacher, so there is significance there...but also...all three of my children had besos as one of their first words. We always use the word besos instead of kisses, every night before bed. In fact, right now, I am certain Cecilia knows what besos are but not so sure if she knows what kisses are.  I love filling my home with things like this that have meaning for us, and also supporting artists on etsy in the process. If you don't know etsy, than you are living under a rock and you must drop everything and go check it out. NOW. 

So here you can see how my two completed craigslist beauties add some light and airy punch to my living room. I actually think they rival the One Kings Lane high-end version. In fact, I think I like mine better. And at less than 5% of the price, they are a home run for this 'almost there' living room. 

More to come...Stay tuned for a coffee table and some ottomans.

Best. Christmas. Ever. | Christmas Traditions and more

UGH. I am SO behind with this post. You'll forgive me, right? If you're reading. I know there is only like one or two of you. That's okay.

This Christmas season started with a trip to see Santa. No one cried so that was good. Ladybug told Santa she has a very loooong list for him. Santa could barely hear so he just nodded at whatever they said.

A day or two after we put up the tree, we were all downstairs and it came crashing down. I cried. For about two seconds until I realized all the little eyes were on me, and Ladybug proclaimed, " This is the worstest Christmas ever." I reminded her that it's not Christmas yet and Santa always comes, even if your tree fell over. They were cool with that.

Several hours later, we had the tree back up and looking quite nice. I have no idea why it fell but it's been fine ever since. On Christmas eve day, I snapped these of the girls before we headed over to Mark's sister's house.  The little ladybird was doing quite well considering she was up sick all night the night before. 

Her eyes melt my heart.

And her eyelashes kill me. 

 

Coop got some things he really wanted...

And so did ladybug...

On Christmas eve night the kids got to open their first present from us...Christmas PJs. A tradition we started a few years ago and plan to continue every year.

The kids wrote notes to Santa and left them out with cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. We put them all up on the mantel so Santa would see them and Marley wouldn't eat them.

I saw this idea on my favorite blog and I LOVE it! What a fantastic idea! This is a new tradition for us but I know we will continue it each year. The presents from Santa are numbered, instead of having the kids names on them. In the morning they find a letter from Santa and when they see their gifts, they have no idea which one belongs to who until they read the letter that Santa has left for them. 

Here you can see some more living room progress. More on that soon! And you can also see my DIY advent calendar. SO simple and I just LOVE it!

It was so cute to hear them running out and screaming, "He came! Santa came! Hey! There's no names on the presents!??"When we came out of our room, they were jumping up and down with excitement...Despite the numbering system, Cooper had figured out which box contained the Star Wars Legos he had been hoping for. Lucia was squealing. When we pointed out the letter on the mantel, their eyes lit up. They half listened to me read it. The anticipation was oozing out of them.

And this was the aftermath....I was almost a little sad when all the presents were open. The joy and excitement in their faces as they opened each gift was worth every second of planning and wrapping and preparing and more.
Ladybug screeched "Oh my gosh! Just what I've always wanted!" about each and every gift she opened, which won her the award of best gift recipient for the second year in a row!

Cece loved her new 'baby' and her xylophone.

It was a musical kind of Christmas. Lucia's fave had to be the ukulele from mom and dad.

Little tired baby. We had to wake her up for this when the other two woke up!

 

Twinkle toes.

And there you have it. It sure wasn't the worstest Christmas, as Ladybug feared. No, far from it. It was very likely my best Christmas ever. And with this crew, they just keep getting better.

What are your treasured Christmas traditions?

A DIY Advent Calendar {DIY projects}

The kids have been asking me lately for an advent calendar. Of course they don't know that's what its called. I think the conversations have gone a little something like this:
"Mommy, can we get one of those things with the numbers on it with the candy inside?"
"What things with the numbers on it with the candy inside?"
"Those things with the numbers with the candy inside!"
"Honey, I don't know what you mean."
"Yes you do."
"No, I don't. Could you explain it another way?"
"Mommy, its kinda like a calendar, except it has doors and secret candies that you eat everyday."
"Oh, you mean an advent calendar?"
"Yes, I told you. Its one of those things with the numbers with the candy inside."
"An advent calendar"
Yes, an advent calendar."

So rather than buy one, I decided it would be fun to make one.
I bought the supplies for about $4 at Michaels. $1 each for the packets of stickers in the dollar bin and $2 for the pack of red envelopes. I contemplated buying some fun fancy stick on numbers, but I really didn't want to spend much so I decided against that. I already had the gold sharpie. I am kinda diggin' glittery and gold these days. So the sharpie fills that need with this project. :)

Anyway...when it was time to get started, Lucia helped me line up the red envelopes in 5 rows of 5. Then we worked together on sticking a sticker on each envelope. Pretty simple. Next I added the numbers with my gold sharpie.

When we were done with the stickers and numbers, we used mini clothespins to hang them from twine inside this frame, leftover from Cecilia's party and then it found a temporary home on the desk in our living room. 

I like it here. And it makes me smile. Did I mention that there is "candy inside those number things?" Yes siree. York peppermint patties. Mmmmm.

This was such a simple DIY project. It only took about 30 minutes and was such a fun way to spend some free time with my 4 year old. It kept her out of trouble for 30 minutes too. So thats two birds with one stone.

Oh. And that very same day, our elf, Plainty, found a temporary home too. Right inside the letter O on our Christmas mantle. Lucia got quite the kick out of that spot.