Getting ready for Sira!

A couple of weeks ago Eric and I made the decision to host an exchange student. Since then it has been a whirlwind of paperwork, emails and getting her room ready!

While I am by no means finished with her room, I am excited by the progress. I have even been sewing! I sewed the valance and a pillow so far, and have a few other projects waiting to be completed.

This is what the room looked like the day we submitted our application to be a host family:

Yep. We have moved the toys into the girl's bedroom and the room now looks like this:

The chair, headboard, nightstand and lamp have all been painted.  Here are some before/during/ after pics!

This are both really "during" shots.. there were spindles in the middle that I cut off. I plan on mounting a fabric covered panel in the middle.

 

Cheap Wal-Mart mirror.. of course after I spend the time painting it I find a navy blue one at Target for only $10.

I forgot to take a before picture of the lamp.. however I did take an after pic of it next to a very similar lamp. Before: Brass, After: silver!

 My favorite thing in the room so far,
besides my valance, is this chair. Of course there is no before
picture... but imagine it in a standard oak. The blue looks fabulous and
is such a statement piece in the room! I am going to make a small
pillow out of the same stripe that is in the valance to go on the chair.
I need to take a better picture of the valance!

I have learned a few lessons during this project.

1. Take "before" pictures!


2. Krylon spray paint goes on MUCH better than Rustoleum


3. Always give yourself more seam allowance than you think you need. Especially if you are a beginning sewer who can not sew in a straight line

Projects left to finish/ things to buy:

1. Pillows


2. Headboard (I am going to make a padded insert and the headboard still needs to be mounted to the bedframe)


3. Artwork


4. I need to find a rug!


5. Accessories for dresser


6.  iPod dock alarm clock

 

Wedding Cake Explosion Box

Ok.. now that the wedding is over I can show off the most awesome gift-card holder that I have ever made! My fabulously talented little sister Amanda made this explosion box as a Christmas gift for my Grandparents. Eric was so impressed that he insisted I make one for a wedding gift for his cousin Kathy. It took some time to figure out how to make a 3D wedding cake but I figured it out! The wedding colors were Tiffany blue, Black and White... so this is what I came up with:

 

The turquoise cardstock and butterfly die is from Stampin Up, the pearls are from Hobby Lobby, white and black CS and ribbon is Papertrey Ink, The "K" was cut from my Cricut (can't remember the cart...) and I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder in my Cuttlebug.

The other two gift card spots were filled by my FIL after I took the pictures, and he hand delivered the gift to the wedding. I hope that Kathy and Kel had a wonderful wedding!

I am linking this to