Reversible Headboard Slipcover

We made a padded headboard awhile ago with an old sheet, using a tutorial much like this one. We would just swap out different quilts and coverlets, by pinning it using safety pins.  But as part of our bedroom makeover, I wanted a more permanent solution. So I rummaged in my fabric stash for some cool fabric. I found a cool (I know it's trendy) grey chevron and a piece of my daughter's dorm room curtain.  I thought I could create a reversible headboard slipcover using both pieces. It was really easy. I thought I could just slip this cover over, but I had to add in a zipper to make the slipcover fit nice and tight.

Before

After

After - reversed

1. Gather your supplies: two large pieces of fabric, and one piece of contrasting fabric (I used yellow), scissors, pins, measuring tape, sewing machine, 16" or longer zipper, and thread.

2. Measure the length and width of your headboard, and add one inch to the width and length. For example, if your headboard is 80 length x 36 width, you would have 81 x 37.  Using these dimensions, cut from each piece of large fabric. If you want, you can finish the bottom of each piece, but I didn't because it doesn't show.

Get off of there!

3. Measure the depth of your headboard, and add one inch.  For example, my headboard was approximately 3 inches deep, so I need strips that were four inches wide. So cut strips from your contrasting fabric 4 inches wide, sew the strips together so you have one long strip that is at least as long as two widths and one length of your headboard.

Contrasting yellow

4. To sew the strip to one of side of your headboard fabric, pin rights sides together, starting at the bottom of one edge of the width, along one side of the length, and then back down to the other width. I don't like to use pins, so I didn't, I just lined up the fabric and sewed, contrasting fabric on the top. When you get to the corner, make sure your sewing machine needle is down at the corner, turn the fabric to 90 degrees, where you would start along the length, clip the contrasting fabric from the raw edge towards the needle. Bunch up all the contrasting fabric on the left, but make sure the raw edge is almost lined up with the headboard fabric, then sew, trying not to pleat the contrasting fabric. Keep sewing all the way around.

5. Now attach the other large piece, and place where the zipper will go (the bottom of one side of the headboard fabric). Now sew the contrasting fabric to the other side of the headboard, but don't go all the way down to the last part. Just to the zipper.  Now sew in your zipper. (I am not great at it, so just look up a tutorial that will work for you). As you can see from my pictures, I had to unpick and resew in the zipper.

Zipper when chevron side is forward.

Zipper when teal side is forward.

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Bedroom Makeover

Our bedroom has never really functioned well, especially the bedside tables. We have a lot of books, so we had two low bookcases for tables. They worked great for storing books; but the tops were too narrow for lamps, jewelry, magazines, clocks, reading glasses, etc. So at our garage sale, we got rid of them, without anything to replace them. We just knew we didn't want them anymore. So this is what our bedroom looked like: with books piled up against the wall, a lamp on top of a stack of books, basically a mess. This is a before photo. I intentionally didn't make the bed, which is similar to a person's face for a before picture of plastic surgery. They are rarely smiling. So my bed isn't smiling. We made the plain padded head board from an old sheet to drape quilts on, and then safety pinned them in place, but it looked too feminine and a bit dated.

Before

So, since I like to be as efficient as possible, I made a list of all the things we needed our bedside tables for: reading, storing books/magazines/etc, storing jewelry, writing, charging phones/tablets, last minute work stuff (checking email before going to bed or making tomorrow's to do list), etc.  So that means we needed desks. Desks? Yes, desks. They provided everything we needed as well as making our bedroom a little more practical with another quiet place for working, writing, and reading. 

After

The Bed

I kept the head board, but I covered it with some scrap fabric I had around (tutorial coming). I know that the chevron pattern is pretty trendy right now, but I had a large piece that would work just fine. The black pillows are from Ikea, but I made the other pillows: the pocket yellow trimmed grey ones (tutorial blog coming soon), blue with black stripes, and the yo-yo black pillow (leftover from Zoe's dorm room). The coverlet, quilt and bed skirt are from Target.

The Desks

The desks I bought from Overstock.com. They look vintage, the top is glass, so it's easy to clean. When I made them I actually reversed the top, since it wasn't as shiny as the other side.  The lamps are from Ikea. I also got a little magazine storage bin for Scott's side, as he likes to go through his magazines at night: New Yorker, Bicycling, and Believer. The chairs are from Target. 

Most of the baskets/boxes are empty. I fill them up with items from my closet that I don't wear anymore so it's convenient to send off to Goodwill.

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Lounge Chair Redo

I saw this chair on Craigslist and finally convinced Scott to get it, it was also my birthday.  I liked that it was made of aluminum and had the retro look.

And this is what I turned it into -

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Gem Show Finds

I love the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. I try to keep to my list, but it's often too hard.  Here is a picture of some of my finds.  My favorites are the skull bracelets (50¢ each) and the scarf ($3).  But at least I kept my purchases to a similar color palette.

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A couple of cute accessories

Here are two quick things I made to add some details to Zoe's apartment.

This first one I made by finding a mesquite driftwood looking piece in the desert.  I then soaked it in water w/ a bit of bleach to kill off any critters inside of it for a couple of hours.  Then I scrub it to remove any dirt and loose bark.  I let it thoroughly dry for 2-3 days.  I then put three coats of polyurethane with a sponge brush.  And then let it dry. That's it.

They second thing I made is just a little air plant (bought on etsy), that I put inside a little candle holder and rocks (both from Michaels).  Air plants are easy to take care of, especially in humid areas. In drier areas you need to lift it from the container, dip the roots in water a bit, then let the roots dry and return it to it's container.  In humid areas, you don't need to "water" it as frequently.

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My bad...

With the busy holidays I have been remiss in keeping my blog updated, but as an excuse, a lot of my projects were gifts, so I had to keep them on the down low. I will try to catch up though.  Here is a quick fun project that can go in any decor.

Custom Fabric Tray

Materials:
Unfinished wooden tray (Michaels, Joanns, Hobby Lobby, etc.)
Acrylic craft paint in your choice of color
Coordinating fabric that fits inside the tray
Trim to go around the perimeter of the inside of the tray
Mod Podge

Tools:
Fabric scissors
Iron
Glue gun & glue stick

1 - Paint the tray, you don't need to paint where the fabric goes.

2 - Measure the inside of the tray and add an inch to both the length and the width. Cut your fabric that dimension.

3 - Fold the fabric a 1/2 inch all the way around and press with the iron. You can trim the corners to make the fold lay flat.

4 - Spread thinly some mod podge on the base of the tray.  Alternatively, you can spray the fabric with spray mount glue.

5 - It is possible for the fabric to shrink and not fit exactly along the edge.  If it works out, then you might not have to use the trim around the perimeter.  Some recommendations say to trim the fabric with an exacto knife, but when I tried, the fabric just frayed.  That's why I folded it, to make a neat edge, but I still had some gaps, so then I glued on the trim, with a glue gun.

6 - I then applied 2-3 layers of mod podge to seal the fabric.  That's it!

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My Refried Beans Recipe

I only have a couple of recipes I am known for: apple pie (my mom's recipe), clam chowder (Scott's mom's recipe), French onion soup, and refried beans.  After a recent party, where we had a tostada bar, I had several requests for the recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients:
2 cups of mayocoba beans (one pound bag) pinto can be substituted, but mayocoba beans are coming more and more available.  We even saw them at a Walmart in Arkansas. I heard that 1/2 of each kind of bean is also good, I haven't tried it yet.
2 quarts of cold water
1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
one can of evaporated milk
1/4-1/2 pound of shredded Mexican cheese (anything you can find, I even have used a "Mexican mix" of jack, cheddar, and longhorn)
salt and pepper

Dump the beans into a colander and pick over them and wash them.  Put them in a heavy bottom large pot with the water. Add garlic and bring to the boil. Immediately reduce heat and cook slowly, undisturbed, until beans are very tender, at least three hours. Make sure water just covers the beans, you can add more hot water to cover them. Salt lightly. I have also put them in a crock pot on high for about the same time and it worked just as well if not better. Note: Stirring the beans clouds the broth. This is not bad, but not necessary. Drain the beans reserving the liquid. Heat the lard, fat, or oil in a skillet, add the warm or cool beans and garlic in batches and mash them, you can use a bit of the cooking water to get them to your desired texture (I use an immersion blender to mash them). Mix well, and once they are hot, stir in the evaporated milk and then the cheese.  Add salt to taste and a lot of fresh ground pepper. Cook over very low heat, stirring frequently until everything is heated through.

Note: Beans sour if covered and refrigerated while they are still hot. If you made a big patch, cool them before storing by spreading them in a roasting pan.

Garlic and beans under water

Simmering beans

Melting bacon fat

After mashing them with potato masher

Creamy goodness with the immersion blender

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