Doin' it Up

Doin' it Up - Phase 1

So this weekend we are going to Lucidity, a music festival, as my partner Wayne is helping out there with rigging. For me, it is the perfect time to think about a new look, some new threads and how to gussy up this old camper.

…Not me! Not that it's a bad idea. These events tend to bring out the fashion forward artist. (Sometimes really far out!), and I could probably use some gussying up myself. ...But that's another subject for another time. For now, I'm actually talking about our trailer. It's in desperate need of a makeover. I haven’t done a thing to it since we got it. Shame on me. I'm going focus my energy, for phase 1, on curtains and coverings; as that is the simplest way to transform the look and feel. Replacing the awful the cushions and window treatments is my first priority.

The walls are covered with this weird wall paper, but maybe with the new curtains it won't be so bad. I considered giving it a whole new coat of paint, but as this first project will happen while we are actually at the festival, I'll wait on that for now. Also I want to see how the place feels with the initial changes. I have many ideas of what I'd like to do, but until I'm in the space, it's hard to tell what will really work. Sometime things that work perfectly in my mind, don't exactly translate to reality as intended. Such is life, right?! They say "you want to make G-d laugh, tell her your plans". I have this idea that I'd like an accent wall, so maybe at the end of our trip, if it still seems like a good idea, I'll prime it as we pack up to leave, so I don't subject my son to the smell. Tucker likes to help his daddy pack up the outside, as I clean and prepare the inside of the trailer for travel, so that could work out well.

I'll let you know what happens over the weekend. I'm bringing some crafts materials and my sewing machine in case I get divine inspiration for renovation while I'm there. Hopefully I'll have some fun things to report next week. :)

So here are some of the projects that I have prepared for this first round of renovations...

DIY Cabinet Knobs - A perfect first project (for you too!)

Seriously, this is the easiest project ever, and a great way to transform the look of any cabinet or drawer. 

1. Buy knobs with flat surface from home depot ($.99 each)
2. Get image - any image will work, you could even have your kid draw on a paper (I chose to upload digital paper I found on etsy called moroccan lotus tiles)
3. Print on regular white paper 
4. Use knobs to Trace circles and then Cut out the circles
5. Glue (with mod podge) paper to knob, press out air bubbles, and wait for it to dry (If you don't have mod podge  - use elmers glue and water, as that is what mod lodge basically is! Shocking right!)

That's it! I love quick projects like this. They are perfect for getting your creative and crafty feet wet, as they are instantly gratifying.

Covering it up... 

The obstacles:

I can't cut a straight line to save my life. Possibly, it's just that I lack the patience required to measure things out exactly. And while we're at the confessional, I'm also not a good sewer, my skills start and end at sewing a semi-straight line. Anything fancier than that is above my pay grade. However, what I lack in ability, I make up for  in ingenuity. As a kid, I watched duck-tales. There is an episode that has stuck with me all these years... The uncle duck was working in a factory and instead of working the line, doing one thing at a time, he rigged up a bike, so all he had to do was pedal. The lesson to the little ducks, was "Work smarter, not harder!" 

DIY Black-out Curtains 

Curtains are not hard to make, but to tell you the truth  - nice fabric is expensive and often you can find nice panels at stores like Ross or TJ max for a fraction of the cost and you can always amend them to suit your needs. Here's how I will turn regular curtains into blackout curtains in 8 quick steps.

1. Buy cheap panels (Cheap in price, not quality! if you don't really love them, it isn't a bargain!)
2. Buy thick fabric from fabric store (any thick fabric that you like will do, check the bargain bin.)
3. Cut and match up fabrics (if your panels have rivets, cut fabric lower, as to not cover up the holes) 
4. Turn inside out (so the sides that you want to go out, are towards each other)
5. Pin fabrics together about along the outside edges - go about 1" in. (Pin both sides and the bottom. For now you leave the top alone) * Here's a trick - if you pin vertically it's super easy to take out as the pins approach the needle of your machine
6. Sew along pinned edge for all 3 sides 
7. Turn right side out and pin the top edge (under rivets if you have them)
8. Sew top edge and done! 

An insight into my creative process...

Trouble-shooting Seat Cushion Covers   -  When you don't have a plan just sit on it

Seat cushions are tricky, since they are 3-d and not flat. So I did what I do when I'm stuck, I let it marinate. (I.E. I left the cushions in my living room corner for 3 weeks to taunt me.) Finally one day, Tucker was napping, I had 90 minutes!!, and was ready to do this thing. Since I needed to start somewhere, I took the foam cushion out from the old cover to see if I could just follow the pattern. ...Nope! That plan would require a lot of cutting. Moving on! Next idea - maybe I could use the machine to sew it directly onto the old cushion inside out or something? ...Um, no. I couldn't get the sewing machine around the fabric, that probably should have occurred to me. Dumb idea, but not entirely! Actually, I could reach the edge by the zipper and having that done, it would anchor the fabric to make stretching and pinning easier. Then it wouldn't be hard to do a simple stitch around the other 3 edges by hand. Sounds doable! Not to mention, I wouldn't even need an exact cut, just fabric cut a little bigger then the cushion, in order to tuck the edges underneath and sew directly onto the old fabric. Luckily, the bottom material was plastic-ish material that I liked, and wanted to keep anyways, so this plan was perfect.

The trick to the eyeballing it cutting technique, is to know where you can cut corners, and where you should not.. It is unacceptable to me that my work suffer, because I have an aversion to taking the time to cut straight lines. My secret…  pin, pin, pin! This way I can see what it will look like before making any big mistakes, or wasting my precious hour and a half of free time.

So you may think that it is time consuming and monotonous to sew all that by hand. That's a matter of perspective. It actually went by quickly as I found a nice rhythm. Also since it was pinned, I didn't need to think about it any more and could just sew away and enjoy my audio book. ("The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd - it's very good, I highly recommend it)  

If you decide to do any of my projects, I would love to hear about your experience and see a pic of how it came out!