Tutorial Tuesday: I Painted a Chair

Well, I'm back.  I was gone so long that I forgot the name of my blog (I could not, for the life of me, remember my Google sign-in).  Things have been rough for me lately, and I just have not been able to find time to make my fingers type this.  Things haven't been rough, like, 'Oh, woe is me' rough; I've just really been battling mono, and it's been winning.  And then what idiot goes and buys a puppy while suffering from mono?  This idiot.  So yeah, illness, chronic fatigue (because it wouldn't be mono unless it turned into chronic fatigue!), puppy poop, and work have consumed me... but I did get to meet Wilson Phillips the other day, so I'm really not complaining about my life (more on the Wilson Phillips story later).

Anyways, during my long hiatus during which I have developed what I like to call "mono brain" (it's a condition in which you forget everything - and it's very real), I decided to paint a chair.  Not just any chair - a chair made entirely of fabric.  This chair, which is giant and incredibly comfortable, has been in my family for years, and I'm so glad it has fulfilled all of my desires that I have for a chair to fulfill.  The only problem with the chair is that it's brown and cream, which isn't really that much of a problem, but when you have lack-of-color anxiety (also a very real condition), brown and cream make you sweat, especially when you are anticipating a new cream couch (read: too much cream in my living room).

So, I did some investigating and found this website, which is basically a huge advertisement for some really awesome, natural paint that is safe for painting fabric.  I had no idea there was such a possibility!  The only fabric I've ever touched with paint was every article of clothing I've ever worn while painting and a giant sweatshirt/dress that I decorated with puff paint when I was 5.

This paint by CeCe Caldwell looks amazing, but I'm way too frugal poor to spend $35 on a small can of paint.  So I did some investigating, and it turns out that Hobby Lobby sells Fabric Medium (found in the acrylic paint aisle).  Basically, this is a magic potion that makes any paint safe to paint of fabric.  This could be very dangerous for me to possess such important knowledge, because this now means no fabric is safe when in my vicinity.

My big, comfy chair was the perfect victim specimen for my first fabric paint experience, so I headed my happy butt over to Lowe's (with the pup in tow, since Lowe's allows that kind of thing) to pick out a quart of the cheapest paint they had.  I settled on a bright, asparagus green, and a coral color (please don't ask me the brand/color names, as that would require me to get out of my bed to find them) to go along with some fabric that I had lying around that I decided to use as a cushion cover.  Then I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 2 large bottles of Fabric Medium, and headed home to get started.

First off, I would just like to say, please make sure you properly read the directions on the Fabric Medium before getting started.  Don't accidentally read the numbers backwards and add twice as much Fabric Medium and half as much paint as is needed, causing the whole project to mess up and requiring you to redo it.  I mean, who would ever do such a thing, right (certainly not me!)?

Once you've mixed your concoction, paint away!  There's no need to prime or prep (just make sure your fabric is clean).  I had no method to painting - I just took my brush and starting slathering the chair (and the dog, and my boyfriend, and my hair, etc.).  Make sure you have plenty of towels nearby, just in case.

So, here is what my chair looked like before:

Please ignore the giant painting mess in the background and the top of my head attempting to hide behind the chair.

And here is the chair after:

Just ignore the fact that it needs another coat of paint because I can't read directions.

I am in love.  I feel like the green might be a little too bright (since I need yet another coat of paint due to my inability to read, I might get a little darker green next time), but there is so much color added to the room.  And the fabric really isn't crunchy; it feels almost like fake leather.  It's not uncomfortable to rub against, but I would do all of my pillows and cushions in paint.


All-in-all, I basically got a new chair for about $30 (if you don't include all of the "mess ups").  The supplies I used were:

• 2 large bottles of Fabric Medium
• 2 quarts of latex paint
• 2 paintbrushes (medium or large are fine)
• 1 large pizza (because painting makes me hungry)

That's it!  It was so easy, I even did it while my boyfriend was visiting and he didn't even say anything about me taking too long.  If you guys have any questions, leave a comment, and I'll try my best to answer!

sunday funday: i bought a puppy!

I should explain myself in terms of my relationship with animals: I hate them.  I think puppies are cute and all (only fluffy ones, though), but I have no desire to be around them so they can lick and jump on me.  Yuck.

Before you think I'm heartless, I've never hurt an animal; I just don't like them.  Don't judge me too hard on this - it's hard for a girl with a touch sensory issue who has bad allergies and a debilitating phobia of snakes.  I will look at your pet.  I will ooh and ahh in a polite manner.  I may ever reach down and touch it once or twice.  But don't expect me to actually like it.  I'll probably go home to my pet-free home and think bad thoughts about the animal you own.

You can call me bad names if you want, but I really can't help it.  I just don't have an animal instinct.  I have an amazing motherly instinct, and I've won awards for my natural ways with children, but I really prefer tiny humans to tiny other species, and that's just how I am.

So, naturally, I bought a dog this weekend!  "What!" you may shout at me.  'She's going to be the worst animal owner ever,' you're probably thinking.  Well, you're wrong.  I have fallen in love with a tiny Malti Poo, and he happens to be the second dog to have ever won my heart.

My mom's dog, Max, is a Cockapoo, and he's the most amazing creature ever.  I mean it.  You may think your dog is great, but Max would kick your dog's butt in an awesome contest.  Max has never chewed a single thing.  Ever.  Max potty-trained in three days.  If you told Max to stay in a certain place, he'd still be there ten hours later if you didn't tell him to move.  Max waits to get on the couch until you give him permission, and the couch is the only furniture in the house he will jump on.  Do you want to eat with Max snuggling next to you?  Go ahead, he won't even try to get your food.  He's the most perfect dog on the planet.  He's so perfect, in fact, that Max sleeps with me whenever I am at my Mom's house.  I can't stand to be on the couch without Max by my side.  If Max isn't listening to me talk to myself, I get all sad and depressed until he licks away my tears (just kidding, Max would never lick anyone in the face...unless you wanted him to, in which case he would do it, because he's awesome).

I miss Max so much when he's not around.  I get so lonely, and not even my boyfriend can cure my yearning for that little fluff ball to be snuggled in my lap (boyfriends do NOT make good lap dogs).  I've been even lonlier for a snuggle companion since acquiring mono, so last Friday I impulsively decided that I was going to get a dog after work.  Many phone calls, a long drive, and a very large amount of cash later, I found myself wandering through Petsmart with a tiny white ball of fur in my arms.

 

I love these two dogs so much that I even can't believe it.

Charlie has instantly captured my heart.  It's hard not to compare him to Max, especially since I gave the breeder a picture of Max and asked for a dog that would look just like him, but Charlie is his own quirky little self that makes me giggle at everything he does.  The poor little guy is so clumsy, and I swear he's so round that he just rolls everywhere, especially when he runs into things because he never looks where he is going.

Even though I have no idea what I'm doing with a dog, my background in Behavior Analysis has somewhat trained me in dealing with animals.  It's definitely not like being with a human baby, but I have to admit, the poop that I accidentally smeared into the carpet with the vacuum cleaner didn't make me nearly as mad as I thought it would.

No, I'm still not a dog person, or an animal person, but never say never.  I don't think anyone ever thought I would own a dog, especially one that I had to pay for myself, but here I am, clueless and happy.  Maybe you people out there with pets aren't so bad after all.

And for all you "pet people", if you have any advice for me, I'll gladly take it!

mani mondays: firecracker nails

So, I've kind of become obsessed with nail art, and I'm definitely way too poor and frugal to constantly have some really awesome nail guru design a work of art on my cracking toenails, so I've had to get creative on how I decorate my tips to turn some heads.  That's why I love The Beauty Department and the wonderful tutorials they have to offer.  Even though I usually end up bombing them, I always love to try new and simple techniques to make people "oooh" and "ahhh" over my nails.  I found a technique that I really wanted to try for the Fourth of July, so I set about try to recreate what the amazing nail artists at TBD designed.

This is what the tutorial over at TBD looks like:

 

 Of course I could only dream to have my nails look half as good as what is pictured, but I decided I would try some stars on my toes (on the big ones, because there is more room for me to mess up).

I started with my clean, unpolished nails and applied my Essie "First Base" base coat (I can't get enough of it).  I painted all of my toes with OPI "Sparkle-icious" and painted my big toes with Sally Hanson's "White Out".  I used my Seche Vite for a top coat (side note on Seche Vite: I hate it and really miss my Out the Door, but whatever).

After everything was good and dry, I used the TBD method of creating stars, using the same OPI color on my white toes.  I'm not quite as savvy as whomever created this little tutorial, though, because I used a ballpoint pen instead of a mechanical pencil.  Let's just say I ended up writing all over my pretty white nails and the ballpoint was way thicker than anything pictured on TBD.  Honestly, I'm just proud that I was able to finish in less than an hour, because using a pen instead of a mechanical pencil was about the dumbest thing I could have done.  Other than that, the process was not difficult at all.  I drew five points from a starting circle and created my version of a star.  

So, using this technique I was able to create this:

It is by no means perfect, but I received plenty of compliments when I wore my new sandals and sported my cracklin' toes on the Fourth.  Even my mom was impressed.

I hope you all were able to enjoy your Fourth of July, even if you had a rainy one like I did.  A thousand thanks to The Beauty Department for all of their wonderful tutorials!