Custom chair slip cover in a day

Custom chair slipcover in a day; yes please and thank you...

Sometimes it's a great debate about whether to buy something new or to go through the effort to make it myself. This was one of  those times when I decided to put the time into something homemade.
 I bought this chair about 5 years ago at a yard sale, and it has been so well-loved the vinyl began to tear away. I debated for a long time about whether to toss & replace the chair, reupholster it, or simply cover it up. Duct tape can only hold for so long.
 A new chair like this would run me $90 - $300; I figured let's see what $60 and an afternoon with the sewing machine can do.

  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
  Sorry, no tutorial about how I made this one. This is my third attempt at a custom slip cover, so I'm not confident enough to offer advice. Let it suffice to say that a pattern was cut from tissue paper, followed by lots of pinning and unpinning to get it right.
   This will make a cozy spot in our office for study or prayer time.
  And it turns out that I had a lot of fabric left over, so we'll be able to make something else to match!

Upcycling a Crib into a Light (Tracing) Table

This crib/toddler bed was picked up at a garage sale for $5. We got our use out of it, then I was able to turn it into a light table for tracing, as well a place to stash my paper. I do a lot of tracing for craft projects, so this was a great way for me to keep an old crib out of the landfill a while longer (and save a bunch of money with not having to purchase a light table from an art supply dealer). 

If you're handy, you can make one, too!

 I cut one of the side rails in half. I made it into a pyramid shape. You could staple canvas or almost any sturdy material here, or use real hinges.

 Once my straps were on, I adjusted the length so it would stand at just the right height.

 Here it is with the pads of sketch paper. 

This could be fitted with tiny hooks or pegs to hold ribbon, thread, bobbins, 

or even mounted to the wall.

 I put an old TV tray under the glass to hold my lamp, but you could come up with infinite possibilities and types of lighting solutions.

 Using pliers to bend the hook parts, I removed the "springs" from the old bed spring; I found a piece of glass the right size and cut a piece of wood to fit into the frame of the bed spring. 

I mounted it at and angle with screws and wire ties for a temporary fix, 

but with the right hardware, it could be made to be adjustable to any height/angle.

 I love using this, and it cost me pretty much $0!

Nature Shelf for Kids

I keep learning so much about the importance of letting kids run around outdoors and be creative.
To encourage outdoor exploration for my preschooler, I hung up a "nature shelf" of his very own.
Ours is made from reclaimed wood with a couple of brackets to attach it to the wall. I also added a mirror above it just for fun (which is an old medicine cabinet door turned on it's side).
Now we have a place to put his little objects. He loves finding interesting little things in the back yard to display!