Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 6: New Dinette! Recover those cushions!

OK yes, this travel trailer factory direct diamond pattern fabric has GOT to go. I decided to attack the entire dinette cushion recovering in one day. Because that's how I do things. Nothing for a loooooong time then a huge flurry of activity. Remind you of my blogging schedule!? :)

So yes, these cushions:

 From this dinette:

Five cushions to recover, including two rather oddly shaped triangular corner cushions. Hoo boy. This is gonna be a big job.

First off I took off the old covers and measured every single bit of them to draw up my cushion patterns. Then I cut out the flat panel patterns from the chevron fabric.....taking pains to make sure the colors and zig-zags lined up appropriately with the other cushions. And making sure the fabric wasn't upside down.

Because if it IS upside down you may waste a good yard or so of fabric. {Ahem}

I had to seriously muscle the foam into some of these covers but wanted to make sure they were a snug fit.  I bought a cover button pack and covered them in parts of the chevron fabric. I used a long, upholstery size needle (see pic) to thread the button strings through the thick foam. Once again, lots of muscle used! My forearms were super sore the next day!

And now, confession time: I did NOT want to struggle with putting fancy, neat zippers on these five cushions so instead I closed up the openings with safety pins :)  Once again, saved a ton of time, and they are all hidden inside the dinette frame anyways!

All in all I was very pleased with how these came out. MUCH more fresh and fun. Here you go, the finished dinette makeover:

 And the before/after side by side shot:

Quite a difference, right!?

Next up: the dreaded COUCH project. OY.

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

• Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

• Part 2: The "before I tore everything apart" Tour
• Part 3: Bright Bold and Beautiful Fabrics
• Part 4: Wallpaper removal, A Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains 
• Part 5: Cornici Recoving! 
• Part 6: Dinette Cushions Madeover! 
• Part 7: Couch Slipcover
• Part 8: Master Bedroom and Privacy Curtains
• Part 9: Bunk Beds and Windows

Setting Diapers on Fire…

My husband and I set a diaper on fire last night.

It all started with a baby shower game. You know, the game where you melt different chocolate candy bars in numbered diapers and have the participants try to guess what candy bars are in each diaper. I call it the 'Sniff A Poo!" game. Baby shower awesomeness!

I was also planning on making cupcakes for this baby shower but found I was out of sprinkles, frosting, and cupcake liners. Pretty much everything except a cake mix. Off to the grocery store I went. I found oodles of sprinkles in bulk and had a mighty fun time choosing a huge variety of colors. You know, for all my future sprinkle needs. One can never have too many sprinkle options. And can I just say? Bulk is the way to go in the purchasing of candy sprinkles. I think I spent a total of $3.00 and have 7 new sprinkles.

WOW, I sure have a lot to say about sprinkles. I'm sure all three of you who are reading this are sitting in shock and amazement at the level of entertainment this post has achieved.

While shopping, some other bulk candies jumped into my cart as well. Don't really know how THAT happened. Not that I'm complaining. I was nice and let them stay. I'm in the car driving home (happily munching on some of those jumpy chocolate covered peanuts) when I realize that I forgot a KEY component in the cupcake making process.

The cupcake liners.

Back to the grocery store I go. However, I went to a different grocery store to avoid the shame and embarrassment of having to return to the sprinkle grocery store. Yes, I will call it the Sprinkle Grocery Store from now on. It has a nice ring to it, dontcha think!?

Fast forward three hours: Cupcakes are made and cooling and I'm in our office designing a 'Sniff A Poo?' guessing game sheet. My hubby is melting chocolate candy bars in diapers in the microwave. You know, for the game. Soon, he yells to me that he set something on fire. Um, what?

Turns out, there was a chocolo-diaper hot spot and it burned a huge hole in the middle of the diaper. Whoops. Turns out diapers can catch on fire. Good to know! I for one have never seen a warning on a diaper box: Do NOT Microwave Diapers, risk of fire.

Our house STUNK despite opening windows to air it out. This morning? Same yucky smell. I'm hesitant to use the microwave. If I reheat my coffee will it taste like a burnt diaper? Probably.

I'll let you know how the game goes. For your future baby shower hosting needs, here is a free printable of the Baby Shower melted candy bar 'Sniff a Poo!" game sheet:

Print off as many as you like.

Speaking of things being burnt, the Burnt Umber Blossom Infinity Scarf Giveaway ends this Saturday the 31st of March:

Get your entries in! Up to seven possible entries! See post HERE.

Off to clean my house...

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Keepin' it Real - Office Revamp...

Heyya there!

I am up to my earlobes with reorganizing/purging/cleaning/revamping our home.

We have a LOT of stuff that really does not enhance our lives. So, it's getting tossed out. Or rather, donated to our school thrift store.

Evidence of our madness:

I firmly believe in the ministry of mediocrity.

Aka: KEEPIN' IT REAL, GIRLFRIEND.

First up, home office.

My hubby does part of his office management from home and needed some more storage, filing cabinets, ya know....STUFF.

So that meant:

New furniture! YAY!

Shopped forevah and finally settled on Ballard Designs Tuscan Furniture Collection.
It FINALLY arrived, was set up, and I am slowly getting this office fully functional.

(Functional roughly translated: To have the ability to surf Pinterest at all times.)

Nah, not really (yes, really).

I've been looking (Pinterest, of course) and came up with a bunch of office organization ideas.

Our office is technically coded as a bedroom and has a nice large closet in it. Since our house has a shamefully low amount of storage we are going to maximize that closet.

One half of the closet will be for game storage. Yes....games.

Because we are nerds who have an insane amount of games that need to be stored. Carcassonne? Settlers? Dominion? With every single expansion you've ever heard of?! Yep, nerds like that.

Keepin' it real submission #2:

I tell ya, every time I try to ease a game or puzzle out of the pile three more smack me in the face. OUCH.

The other half of our office closet is for supplies and will hopefully look something like this:

Source: bhg.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Everything in its rightful place. Ah, the dream closet.

The reality:

I'll have you know I took this photo while standing on top of my large upright piano. Yep, risking my life to display my messy office. Keepin' it real.

And in closing, keepin' it real submission #4:

I'll have you know I took this photo well over a week ago...and that little orange snack bowl?

It's still there.

Like I said, keepin it REAL.

Off to sort through piles and pick up a little orange snack bowl...

Amanda- VintageDutchGirl

VintageDutchGirl is on Facebook...I chit chat over there when I'm not doing crafting to avoid my housework. C'mon over and say hi :)

Confession #1...

Came up with a random idea to do a "Confessions" series. Not too serious, but true confessions nonetheless!

First up:

Pin It


I KNOW I'm not the only one :)

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Hey, didja know VintageDutchGirl is on Facebook!? I chit chat over there when I'm not doing crafting to avoid my housework. C'mon say hi :)