Projects I've Been Working On!

I've been busy with end of school activities, schedules, kids, and PROJECTS! Here are some pics of the things I've been doing.

Sewing over 20 hot pad bowls for teacher, bus driver and other "thank you" gifts for the end of the school year. Hot pad bowls are made of 100% cotton batting and fabric so they can me placed in the microwave, along with any bowl or mug being heated up, and not melt, and fingers won't get burned when taking the hot dish out. They can also be used to hold cold bowls of ice cream (as my girls like to do). I make mine reversible. Super useful and fun!

Hot pad bowl next to a small/medium glass bowl that I use for heating soup sometimes.

Our collection at home to match all the things my girls like:
Chickens, Star Wars, Minecraft, Pokemon

All stacked up! We place them by the microwave so they can be grabbed anytime.

Reupholstering my old, ripped computer chair:

The old ripped secondhand computer chair.

Reupholstered using a fuzzy fleece blanket I had. I sewed two separate covers. 

I took the arms off the chair before sliding one cover onto the back and

the other onto the seat and then reattaching the arms through the covers. 

Buying two weathered, secondhand entertainment center end shelves, taking them apart and using the pieces to make a custom-fit cabinet that will go under my extended island that I'll also be making soon: 

I didn't take a picture of the used end shelves I bought for a total of $20,
but they were similar to these pictured here. I cut one horizontally in half to use as
my main cabinet and then disassembled the rest to use the pieces as needed. 

Extra pieces to the left. Holding the sides together on the
future cabinet using a giant rubber band.

I sanded each piece and then applied 2-3 coats of polyurethane onto each.
I used the trim from the old shelves to decorate the doors.
Doors were cut from from the other shelf pieces. 

Installing the hinges and getting the doors straight took some time, but it turned out nice.

This is our current island countertop.
Not a lot of room for the six people in our family. 

This is a cardboard cutout giving an idea of the size of the new

countertop that I'll be making and installing. The cabinet I've been

working will go underneath to support the larger counter.

My 11-year-old daughter is giving me the thumbs up.

So there you go. The projects that have been keeping me busy lately.