Rocking Chair Revamp

It's garage sale season! I found this darling wood rocking chair for $10!!

It was pretty dirty and scuffed up and in need of some love. Since it needed fresh paint anyway I decided to take it from drab to fab! To make it perfect for a little girl I hand painted three sweet and simple flowers across the top and a big bold flower on the seat. 

It's the perfect place for a little girl to snuggle up with her best friends! She loves that it's a mini version of my rocking chair- now she can be just like mommy:)

I didn't take pics. of the process but I have some pointers for you:)

• Prime, prime, prime! The original paint was glossy which is super hard to paint over. A quick coat of primer takes care of that
• Plan out your colors and then just go for it! It's easiest if you start with the spindles and then do the seat, top, & rockers at the end
• The only portion I taped was along really detailed portions- see those tiny bits of orange at the bottom???
• To paint the flowers just start with the petals and work your way in. I'm definitely not a painter but this was pretty easy to free hand.

***Yes this post has been a long time coming- think I've had it ready since February. Just in case you were wondering why little miss looked so tiny and is wearing a big jacket***

This post sponsored by:

Aria Photography: Simply the BEST!

We just got our portraits done and I couldn't be more thrilled with the results!

All photos are courtesy of Aria Photography and she did an AMAZING job!

Our 1st good family picture:)

Little Miss is super stranger wary {clings to me and cries type of stranger wary...}, but she warmed up to Aria right away. She even held still...and smiled...a true miracle!

Oh...and she gives you all of your photos in Traditional, Vintage, and B&W. Yay!

She found an amazing location that had just feel I was looking for. And her photo props really made things come together perfectly

Aria gets all of the amazing candid shots that I love!

And captured what my little girly is all about right now...

her "woof woof"

And one of my very favorite things is you get every image on the CD with a copyright release so you can print them when you want, where you want, and as many as you want! 

I really can't say enough good things about her- she did a FANTASTIC job!!

Her Fall calendar is almost completely booked so make sure you hop over to Aria Photography right now to book your spot. Aria Photography is based in American Fork, UT

Oh...and in case you're not won over just let- here's a few of my favs from her gallery:

Thanks Aria!!

Toddler Dream Kitchen!

Could a little tot dream of anything better???

I don't think so:)

My amazing mother-in-law built this for little miss, so I don't have a full tutorial but I can give you the grand tour and some ideas to jump start your own dream kitchen! If you start now maybe you can finish by Christmas:)

My husband got a little carried away and added running water

Yup- running water

If you have a DIY gung-ho spirit and want to give a whack at it here's how we {I mean the hubs} did it:

1. Take a working faucet and block off either the hot or cold knob
2. Thread 1/4" tubing through the faucet and block off any other passages so the water has to go through the tubing (this increases the water pressure)
3. Mix and match brass plumbing fittings to fit your tubing to a hand water pump (we used a weed spray gun). This is the hard step- be prepared to fiddle

***Here's the big picture: under the sink is a reservoir that holds the water (what normally holds your weed killer). We drilled a hole in the counter so the pump handle sticks up. You just pump a few times and then turn on the faucet and it gives a pretty good stream for about 10 seconds. Which is enough to make a toddler very happy without flooding your kitchen:)

Now let me take you on a full tour!

Some fun tips and ideas:

• Sink: rimmed metal dog food bowl. Comes in and out easily so you can clean up when you're done playing
• Stove Burners: Spray painted junk mail CD's. Make sure you spray on a finish coat afterwards so the paint doesn't chip
• Microwave Buttons: vinyl to the rescue! Grab the SCAL file here
• Adding a valance over the sink and a curtain below only used 1 fat quarter and really dresses things up!
• Add a touch light (found ours at the Dollar Tree) to go above the sink. I forgot to take a photo, but it's adorable when it's on:)
• Buy some dollar store baskets to store your food in under the sink. Or...instead you can make the area under the sink into a little fridge
• Beadboard for the splash board makes things extra cute!
• Go to town with hooks! So fun for little hands and it keeps everything organized. We did some for her tea cups above the stove and some on the side for big utensils
• A great place to find cookware is the Dollar Tree: we got a mini pot, a loaf pan and a cookie sheet.

Now let's take a look at the side...

Can you tell we just couldn't stop embelleshing???

Some more fun ideas to get you going:

• Add a few vintage silhouettes
• Magnet Board: my MIL is great with clay so she made Little Miss a magnetic flower garden- all of the flower heads and the bees are magnets. This was a HUGE hit!
• Chalkboard: Add a little space for your little ones to write up a menu

Have fun! I'd love to see any toy kitchens you come up with! This one is the Grandma set and another one is in the works for our Apartment:)

Don't forget to buy a tea set! 

This post sponsored by:

Just a Peek: A New Perspective

The hubs started school again this week, and work, and is studying for the GMAT...

Which means it's just me and the Little Miss again- time to take a new look at things:)

I'm excited to get back into our routine, which of course includes lots of fun new projects!

Happy Sunday!

Guest Star: Sumo's Sweet Stuff

We're ending the Blogiversary Bash with a bang! Today's Guest Star is Sumo's Sweet Stuff!

Hello Naptime Crafters!

I'm so excited to be here today. I'm Sumo!

I blog over at a little place called Sumo's Sweet Stuff.

It started out as somewhere for me to keep my crafty projects, but quickly turned into something much more wonderful: a place to share tutorials, giveaways, and feature other bloggers!

I'm so excited to be here helping celebrate Amy's Blogiversary! It's so fun to support each other in these crazy blogging endeavors!

I got my first sewing machine about a year and a half ago, and haven't looked back since. I can't believe I was missing out on so much fun before I started sewing! My sewing machine is lovingly named Shirley, and we spend a lot of quality time together. I love making things for my two (soon to be three!) girls, and these lace ruffle skirts are super simple to make! Plus, they are really versatile, too!

Here's what you need to get started:

- knit fabric (enough to make your skirt)

- lace trim (I got mine at Hobby Lobby - 9 feet for $3, but 50% off like ribbon/trims usually are; score!)

- sewing machine/accessories

Let me apologize for the flashy pictures in advance. My camera was acting up the day I did this, so I was having a tough time getting pictures in the natural light.

I started off by using a skirt I had bought for my girls to measure the length. Of course, you can obviously just measure your little lady from her waist to where you want the skirt to fall, but this particular one is for my one year old, and she doesn't really care to hold still these days, so this was easier. Be sure to account for how much you will be hemming up for your waist band. I added an extra inch for that.

For the width, again, you could use a skirt that you have on hand. Or what I did was use the measurement from another skirt pattern that I have already. You could do this for the length, too. Sometimes I'm just lazy like that!

Cut your piece of knit according to your measurements. I believe this skirt for my 16 month old was 8" length and 18" width. I always cut my length on the fold and use my fold as one of my seams, instead of cutting two pieces of fabric and having to close up two seams. See, lazy! But easier!

Hem one long edge of your strip of fabric. This is where your elastic waist band is going to go. I did mine about an inch. (You don't have to do this now, but I like to because then I have a starting point for my first ruffle layer. You could just measure down and mark with a fabric marker or chalk if you prefer to hem your waist band a different way.)

Pin your first layer of lace trim along the entire length of your piece of fabric. I pinned it right where I did the hem for the waistband.

Sew it down.

I wanted to have a fun look with lace and fabric ruffles, so I measured a strip of fabric that was 4" length and 2x the width of my fabric, so 36". Do a gathering stitch along the entire length of your strip. Gently pull the bottom thread to gather your ruffle, and pin it down where you want your second ruffle to be.

Sew it down.

Do another layer of lace.

Pin your sides together, right sides facing in, and close up your skirt.

Measure the waist on your little lady, and insert a piece of elastic this length into the waistband, using a safety pin to guide it through. To close up the waist band, I just tucked the knit ends in, and overlapped them and sewed it down directly on to the elastic. It doesn't affect the give in your elastic.

Cute, right?

Put it on your little gal, and take her outside so you can chase her around while you attempt to get some decent shots!

I love this skirt, because, as you can see, you can wear it totally casual. But I'm also thinking this will be super cute in the fall with tights, boots, and a button up shirt with a cardi.

You could also add more ruffles if you want! Super easy, and super versatile. I told you so!

Thanks Amy for letting me share this with your readers today!

And she has a little party favor for you!
Winner's Choice of Clip or Headband

Ready to Win?

Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

• Stop by Sumo's Sweet Stuff and take a look around
• Pick out your fav clip or headband in her shop
• Follow Nap Time Crafters

Giveaway ends September 2nd

Word Whipped Winner!

The Word Whipped Winner is...

Megan said... 6

I would pick Family Rules subway art or the You are my sunshine typography.

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:6Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Lollipop Skirt & a Giveaway!

***This giveaway is now closed***

Are you loving the Blogiversary Bash???

I hope so:)

We're going to take a little break today and you get to hear from the Birthday girl- not nearly as exciting, but I do have a fun giveaway so stick around:)

I finally made something for me! Doesn't happen often, but I'm glad I went for it:)

Recognize the fabric??? It's a thrifted sheet and you might remember little miss strutting her stuff in the Sunny Day Romper

This skirt really makes me pretty happy! Happy enough to drag the hubs to this very busy street, so I could use this amazing wall for the photo shoot:) What will the lollipop skirt make you do???  Better make one and find out:)

Here's what you'll need:

• Fabric: I used a thrifted sheet
• Zipper
• Sewing supplies

1. For starters let's cut out the yoke. You need 2 in your main fabric- I tapered mine in a bit and curved the bottom to give it some more shape. Make sure you account for seam allowances- I used 1/2" seam allowance so the total width of both of my yokes was 2" wider than my waist measurement. You'll also need 2 pieces in a liner fabric- it's helpful to make these pieces a bit taller than your others

 2. With right sides together {RST} sew your yoke pieces and yoke liners together one one short end. Then with RST sew them together along the upper edge. Press flat.

 3. Decide on a length for your skirt. Remember to leave room for hemming. I did 4 inverted box pleats on the front and back and I made the pleats 1" wide on each side. So...you need to cut each skirt piece to be 8" wider at the top than the measurement along the bottom of your yoke piece.  I decided on a slight A-line shape, so I made the skirt a bit wider at the bottom.

***The skirt piece on the top is showing you the box pleats from the wrong side.

 4. Baste across your pleats to hold them in place and then sew part way down one side{I did about 4"} and back up the other side of each pleat. It looks best if you do a little point at the bottom instead of sewing straight across.

 5. With RST sew your skirt pieces together on one side and part way up on the other side- leave enough room to get it on and off.

6. With RST sew the bottom edge of the yoke to the top of your skirt.

 7. Install your zipper according to the package directions. Fold the yoke liner towards the inside of the skirt, tuck all of your seams inside, fold under the bottom of the yoke, and then topstitch down right along the bottom edge of the yoke. {please ignore my little uh oh on the one side- it's on the inside right???}

All finished! 

It's Giveaway Time!

3 Lucky Party Guests will win 1 Pattern of their choice 

from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop

Let me give you a sneak peek at some of the brand new patterns!

Olivia Pea Coat {coming soon! super soon- promise}

 

Evelyn Dress and Swing Top

Adele 3 Tier Ruffle Skirt with Yoga Waistband

Ready to win? Please leave a separate comment for each entry

• Pick your fav pattern in the shop
• Like Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop on Facebook
• Follow Nap Time Crafters
• Add a Blogiversary Button to your blog

Giveaway ends September 2nd