Amanda Hawkins

DIY dining room table inspiration

We’re in the process of buying our very first house. I haven’t written much about it (don’t wanna jinx it), but I just have SO many ideas and plans running through my head I need to get them out! Get ready for all-house-all-the-time around here, for a year at least.

I started putting together flickr galleries and even started a tumblr all about home workspaces.

But today I have dining room tables on my mind.

Since moving to Phoenix 4 years ago we haven’t really had much of a dining room. Our plan is to really work on this one and make it a comfortable place we want to hang out and entertain in. Here’s the space that will hopefully be ours in t-minus 18 days, I used a photo from the MLS listing and did a little before & after in photoshop!

First things first, LOTS of paint – I daydream about paint almost every waking moment. Dear awesome folks selling the house, can I just go over there early and start please?!

The table is the Big Sur, of course it is. But who can afford it? I mean, we could, but who wants to spend all their money on one piece of furniture when there’s a whole house to work on? We’ve searched craigslist too, but guess what? People don’t get rid of awesome furniture – they keep it.

I was looking around on flickr and came across an amazing IKEA hack by Something’s Hiding in There (above right). The colors and warn-out-ness are exactly what I was picturing for our dining room. The look reminded me of the recycled wood dining table tutorial by ReadyMade last month (above left) – hmmm, how about we combine the two!

Once the table is put together it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out how to make a Big Sur style bench to match. Then thrifting for some sturdy mismatched chairs, more paint and Voila!!

More inspiration

Almost There by Yvestown

Pallet love!

DIY Project: Pallet Daybed from Apartment Therapy

chairs for christmas

Two weeks ago I was in our alley and saw three chairs a couple houses down, waiting to be picked up by the dump truck. Sure, they were an awful warn out metallic gold but so solid and sturdy! I needed to get a present for my sister and brother ‘n law (who just got a new house and need chairs) and had been looking for an excuse to use the hand-me-down sander I got from my folks. Chair refinishing!!

First I sanded down the chairs, cleaned them and spray painted them white.

Then, I scuffed ‘em back up and painted the back red to match C and Z’s red and frosty blue kitchen.

I cut out a piece of cardboard the shape of the seat and very quickly (and roughly) made up some little chair cushions.

And here it is, my very first before and after! :)

diy, rushmore beekeepers

My brother ‘n law Zach, (aka Rushmore Beekeepers) released a brand new cd the end of October. I helped him out with the design and in true diy-fashion printed, cut, folded and sewed the booklets together myself! Zach and Carrie (most-awesome-sister) folded all of the cd cases together drew the RB on the front with a handmade stencil and stamped ‘Rushmore Beekeepers – Throwing Mud at Your Streetlight’ on the case and printable cds.

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Square Bag Tutorial

Supplies
Fabric: 2 pieces 34.5″x 17.5″ – 1 piece 48″x 4″ – 2 pieces 22″x 11 (or scraps for the pocket squares)
Thread & Sewing machine

Personalize it!
All of the sizes can be changed depending on what size you want the bag to be – so nothing has to be exact! The great thing about this bag is that measuring just isn’t that important, don’t tell anyone but I’m a pretty sloppy sewer! I never match the thread to the fabric either and love going back and forth with the thread so that it looks like scribbles!

Directions
To start you’ll need 2 rectangles of fabric 34.5″x17.5″ – one piece will be the outside body and the other will be the inside. Fold one side of the fabric in 12″ – from the unfolded piece measure in 1″ and cut the fabric away on each side (pictured below). This will be the flap of the bag.

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DIY Wedding Invitations

I love weddings. I got married last year and so did my sister, both weddings were amazing and most importantly – totally DIY. A few months ago one of my best friends announced that she was getting married the end of June outside of Chicago! I built them a wedsite and this weekend I finished their invitations, so fun!

The design, paper and everything came together so well I wanted to share – in case anyone else is looking for a simple, affordable solution for an invitation/rsvp!

I used blue 12×12 scrapbooking paper cut in half (12 x 6) – this image is of the front and back:

The bottom section is a detachable post card that people can personalize and mail back – made easily with a scoring attachment for my cutter bee (super cheap, especially if you have 40% off coupon). Then it just folds up, closes with a clear seal and it’s read to mail!

Download the template:

ILLUSTRATOR: DIY Wedding Invitations ()
PDF: DIY Wedding Invitation PDF (513.79 KB)

Here’s a short timelapse of the whole process!

Unfortunately, the clouds were too messy and didn’t make the cut… I still love the way they turned out and will definitely be using them on future projects! Oh, and thanks to my husband Sam for all the help – you’re amazing!