DIY BOBBER PIÑATA

June 25, 2021 by Courtney Barr

If you’re anything like me, your life is crazy and you’re constantly forgetting to order things you need in advance. This was my situation about a month ago when I realized my (now) 5 year old wanted a piñata at her fishing tournament themed birthday party… and I only had a few days to get one. Amazon is great for last minute purchases, but the options they had were limited in the fishing themed piñata department. Etsy is amazing, but nothing I liked would arrive in time. Party City and some other retailers had plain ones I could spruce up; but I figured why pay $30+ for something I’d have to do work to?? And that’s how we got here.

**Making a DIY piñata is actually super easy & very cost effective!!**

First things first - get your piñata supplies together. I had everything but the tissue paper on hand. Total cost - $2.

I used a ~very fancy~ pan lid to trace the circle for the piñata shape.

This is probably the “hardest” part of making a piñata. You can also buy rolls of corrugated cardboard if you’d prefer.

VERY important! Leave a spot near the top open for easy piñata filling!

I forgot to take pictures of how to cut the tissue paper for the piñata. Fold strips in half & cut every 1/4” or so on the open side of the folded tissue paper.

You can use your fingers to smooth the tissue paper all in the same direction. But just like that, the bobber piñata is done!!!

Memphis’ “Bag of 5” Fishing Tournament Birthday

If you’re looking for any additional “Bag of Five”, fishing themed, fishing tournament, or o-fish-ally birthday ideas - check out a few of the photos from our daughter’s day below!

DIY Homemade Stress Balls

April 19, 2020 by Courtney Barr

These super easy stress balls take only two ingredients and balloons to make. And the best part is you can make five or more stress balls for only $3+tax! Can’t complain about a cheap, mess free, stress relieving activity that’s great for toddlers, kids, and adults!

Mix 2 cups of cornstarch with 1 cup of conditioner.

Knead the mixture until it forms a dough (aka cloud dough).

Stretch the balloon open and add the dough a little at a time, periodically blowing some air into the balloon to help the dough settle at the bottom.

Once the balloon is filled to your preferred size, tie it off. You now have a stress ball! You can also add a second balloon around the finished stress ball for added durability.

This “recipe” yielded 5 stress balls for me!

I hope you enjoy this easy DIY! Let me know if you’ve made any of these at home!

DIY Christmas/Winter Kitchen Cabinet Decor

December 03, 2019 by Courtney Barr

I’m more of a minimalist when it comes to decorating because our house is small and clutter stresses me out. The holidays bring out my inner decor obsession, though, and I usually bend the rules a bit to celebrate. I’ve seen a lot of people deck out their kitchens with incredible Christmas or Winter themes. While I do love looking at other’s “over-the-top” holiday homes, I know that will not work for us.
Instead, I found a way to glitz up my kitchen, on a budget, that’s not overpowering and will take us through winter and not just christmas!! Boom!

And what’s even better is they’re super easy to make, totally customizable and budget friendly! I did all 12 of my upper kitchen cabinets for around $25. That’s roughly $2 each!! I mean, you definitely can’t buy any Christmas decorations for that cheap.

And you can make them too!! Here’s how:

**BONUS DECOR IDEA! Sick of everyone actually having the goddang audacity to use your decorative towels?! Move them up to the small cabinets over your stove!**

EASY DIY BOWS

November 30, 2019 by Courtney Barr

These super easy and cute little diy bows are perfect for embellishing wreaths, Christmas trees, presents, and etc! I hope this quick and easy photo tutorial helps you!
🖤-Courtney

From Crusty Concrete To Crafty Retreat

September 14, 2019 by Courtney Barr

Ahhhh! So a while back Rust-Oleum reaches out to me asking if I wanted to test out a new floor painting system From Rock Solid Home. In true serial-diyer fashion there was only one answer: YES PLS.

And then I had to patiently wait on my new goodies to arrive to tackle our 3rd bedroom remodel. For those of you who don’t know me personally, our 3rd bedroom is a guest room/craft room/home office hybrid. And it’s notoriously a cluster of totally disorganized chaos.

Recently we had some doggy accidents occur in said room that required us to rip out carpet and get rid of the queen size bed that was filling almost all of the available space in the room. At the time it was a bit frustrating, but looking back, it was the best set of accidents because it led to this fabulously refinished and totally usable space!!

Here’s a quick look at the project through a time lapse video 🖤:

I’ve gotten a few questions about how I redid the floor so I figured I’d make a quick walk through of the steps I took using the Rock Solid Home Floor Paint system to achieve this gorgeous stenciled finish concrete floor!

Here’s a good before shot^

As you can see, when we ripped the carpet out we were left with a pretty hideous concrete slab view. The floor had glue, discoloration, remnants, holes from the tack strips, etc. All in all just not a good look.

With any project - preparation is everything!

First, we patched the holes in the concrete using a ready-mix concrete patch & let it dry.

Next, we used a palm sander & 150 grit sandpaper to sand down all of the rough and uneven spots in the room.

Now I got to cleaning! I swept the floor about 15 times and then mopped all of the concrete dust up with a TSP solution, following the dilution suggestions on the box.

And then I mopped it again. And again. Concrete creates A LOT of dust when it’s sanded and you don’t want all of that crud junking up your paint or causing it not to stick.

Before I painted and in between each coat I used a homemade giant lint roller to pick up pet hair, debris, etc. that wasn’t coming up with a broom. I used my long arm paint roller wrapped with clear drawer liner. The alternative to this is going around the floor with tape and patting the floor.

Here’s the live video from my Facebook that goes over how I made the giant lint roller, what paint/roller/technique I used for the stenciled portion of the project, and shows the stencil I purchased from Cutting Edge Stencils.

Big Ol’ Stencil 😂

After the floor was totally free of debris I took a long armed edger and cut in all the sides of the floor with a white Adhesion or Bonding Primer. The Rock Solid Home floor paint system does not require a primer. But I’m the kind of person who doesn’t half-a$$ anything (lies) and I opted to use a bonding primer anyway. I used a long arm edger to cut in the sides near the baseboards first. Using an edger helps get clean lines & reduce the need to tape off areas of your floor.

Once I had all of the edges cut in I used a high quality shed-free paint roller affixed to a long armed paint roller and painted the remainder of the concrete floor in a nice thin coat of the bonding primer.

Now we move on to color!!

(Excuse the lack of better before photos with the paint cans, I suck and forgot to take them 😩)

I did one coat of the bonding primer and moved on to the Rock Solid Home Floor Paint System. I chose Grey Owl for the base color and Clear Matte for the sealant. The stenciled portion is done in Rust-Oleum’s Chalked Linen White. Basically at this point I’m repeating the same steps as the primer, but this time with the actual colored floor paint. I opted to do two coats of the Grey Owl floor paint using the following steps:

•Wait for the previous paint coat to totally dry (refer to the can for drying and next coat time)

•Sweep & Lint roll the floor between each coat of paint

•Cut in the edges using an edger or paint brush

•Paint a full thin coat using a high quality roller and a long armed roller handle.

Once you have the floor painted with two coats of the base color you can move on to stenciling

Once that stuff is dry, of course!

Okay so now the real fun begins!! I ordered a stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils. Their stencils are pretty convenient to use because they come preset with your “overlap” lines to help you keep your stenciled tiles straight. This is super crucial with a concrete floor because there are no existing lines to go off of. The downside to this stencil is, because of the overlap, it’s hard to get a nice butted up edge on the ends of your row. I opted to go ahead and cut one side of the stencil off so I could start with a clean edge line on the one side and only have to worry about cutting in the edges on the far end of the floor.

Stencil painting tips!:

•Use chalk paint to help reduce bleeds of paint under the stencil (it’s thicker and dries faster than latex or acrylic paint).

•Apply chalk paint using a small foam roller in thin coats with light pressure.

•Use as little paint as possible. The less paint on your roller the less likely you are to have paint bleeds.

•When applying paint to the roller, roll excess paint off onto a paper towel or similar before painting the stencil.

•Use tape on at least two sides of the stencil to help keep it from slipping during the painting process.

•In between tiles, set the stencil down on a stack of paper towels or cardboard to help wipe off paint that made it way to the bottom side of the stencil. This way, when you set the stencil back down for the next tile you won’t end up with accidental paint smears.

**Set stencil down on paper towels and dab off excess paint from the bottom of the stencil as you go.**

**Use a paper towel to roll off excess paint every time you reapply or as needed to help reduce paint bleeds.**

**Use the guides on the stencil to help keep your lines straight!**

**Repeat, repeat, repeat as you paint yourself out of the room. If you have any short edges leave them until the end.**

When you get to the point that you’ve done all of the full sizes of tile possible, start working in your smaller stenciled edges. For my ease of use I decided to actually cut the stencil to size for the larger edge tiles.

**You can see the trimmed stencil here.**

**On the smaller edges I simply folded what was left of the stencil and painted it that way.**

••NOT PICTURED•• I opted to take a small hand sander and rough up some spots to give the floor a more worn in look. This helps conceal any issues you may have with your lines or stenciled paint distribution.

Once you’re finished stenciling the whole room it’s time to apply the sealant. For this project I used the clear matte floor paint sealant that came with the Rock Solid Home system. It says on the can it only takes one coat and is super easy to apply!

**Starting back with my edger, I cut in all the edges at the baseboards.**

Working quickly to maintain a wet edge and reduce any issue with the sealant, I went straight to work on the entirety of the room. I used the same high quality roller & long arm roller handle I used from the primer and base coat phase.

**And it’s done!! The sealer takes a long time to cure, but look at that gorgeousness!!**

Filing Cabinet DIY Upcycle

September 02, 2019 by Courtney Barr

Filing cabinets are notoriously an eyesore.. and this monstrosity was no exception.

BUT!

It was easily turned into this industrial farmhouse beauty:

And you can makeover yours too!

What you’ll need:

•palm sander & sand paper

•spray paint and/or paint sprayer

•painter’s tape

•short hairpin legs (I got mine on Amazon)

•1/2”-3/4” self tapping metal screws (to attach the legs to the bottom)

•peel & stick wood flooring or any wood you can glue down, cut to size

Sand any & all rust spots down

**& sand over the entirety of the filing cabinet to help with paint adhesion**

Remove all hardware, hand sand it & spray paint it the color of your choice

Use a high quality spray paint that’s meant to adhere to metal (rust-oleum has a lot of color options).

Spray paint your cabinet the color of your choice!

I didn’t have any white spray paint on hand so I used my paint sprayer filled with white bonding primer!

Attach the hairpin legs with self tapping metal screws

Turn the cabinet over for the easiest application

Use Liquid Nails to attach wood or simply

stick on peel and stick flooring!

Put your hardware back on & check out your perfect industrial farmhouse filing cabinet!

I mean seriously… heart eyes!

It’s nice enough to show off instead of hiding it in a closet! I love this super cute filing cabinet. What do you think of this makeover??

DIY Stenciled Tile Floor Makeover

April 22, 2019 by Courtney Barr

I am hell bent on revamping some (okay all) of the 90’s builder grade details in our home. One of my bigger projects is our master bathroom - a dreary, dated, debacle of a master bath just begging to be loved.

I mean, really, where is the “master” in this bathroom? Trapped in that obnoxious over the toilet cabinet?? I digress.

So this post isn’t about the total bathroom, that’s coming another day. When it’s done. Pray for me pls.

Today we are only talking floors! And how I totally revamped our ugly, dated tile using paint and vinyl stencils cut with my silhouette cameo (or a Cricut).

Like your final AIM away message, this floor has G2G and it won’t BRB.

Fair warning - this is not a lazy person’s DIY project. You can maybe get it done in a weekend if you’re dedicated, well prepared, and great at decision making. I am not. It took me a long time. But the results are totalllly worth it.

Using vinyl stencils helps save you from any paint bleeds that may occur with textured tile & reusable stencils!! — **Using vinyl stencils helps save you from any paint bleeds that may occur with textured tile & reusable stencils!!**

SUPPLIES:

TSP cleaner

Tape

Foam roller

High quality paint brush

Vinyl for Stencils & Transfer Tape

Adhesion primer

Base paint color (if not using white)

Stencil paint color (I recommend a chalk paint)

Waterbased Polyurethane Sealer in Clear Matte

Patience

First, we prep.

Sweep and mop your floors. Follow the instructions on the TSP container and scrub your floors and grout well, making sure it is free of all debris.

Tape off any areas you don’t want painted. Use extra tape, transfer tape, or a lint roller to roll over the entirety of the floor to get up all hairs and small dirt pieces left behind.

BE READY - you are gonna be cursing every single dog hair on your dog’s entire body by the time this is over.

why does this tape look like Squidward’s house?

Prime Time

Using your foam roller, roll on a thin, even layer of adhesion primer. Adhesion primer is meant to, you guessed it, increase paint adhesion. It’s worth the extra $5 to make sure your hard work lasts long term!

Be sure to start in the far corner of the room and paint yourself •out• of the room.

I did 3 coats of primer to ensure I had a completely primed surface to work off of.

I tried a few methods (and failed on some tbh), but I found the easiest way to cut in lines at the carpet edge was to use a quality brush and some patience. Tape won’t stick to carpet so really you’re on your own here!

Base Coat (skip if you’re using the white primer as your base coat)

For my base coat I opted to use a really light grey. Unfortunately, light grey is a chameleon color and probably the most challenging color I’ve ever dealt with as far as getting just the right shade.

After too many failures to admit to (kill me) I ended up custom mixing my own paint color.

My custom paint mix is a 2:1 ratio of Sherwin-Williams Mindful Grey and Rust-Oleum Aged Gray Chalk Paint.

When I ordered the mindful grey shade at Lowes I literally asked for “the cheapest flat paint you have” I didn’t even know this cheap contractor coat was an option. $16 a gallon! I used measuring cups and a reusable container I had on hand to mix the colors & got to painting.

If you decide to custom mix your paint make sure you have enough for three coats, or save some extra from each batch to mix into the new batch to ensure color matching.

That light grey paint color is perfection!! Using the same foam roller I ended up doing three coats of the base coat.

Now on to the fun part - vinyl stenciling.

Ideally your tiles will be 12” wide or smaller. Mine are 16”x16”. I wanted a seamless grout line so I opted to cut & weed enough vinyl stencils to cover each full size tile on all sides.

Once you’ve found the design you want, create the cut file in your silhouette or cricut design software.

Make sure your cut file lines up so the design reaches the edge of the tile. A lot of the designs will include a natural border that may change the overall measurement of the cut file.

Figure our how many vinyl stencils you need by counting the number of tiles. Some of your tiles may be incomplete and you can cut the vinyl stencils in half to use one stencil twice.

I needed A LOT of vinyl so I opted to order this 40ft roll off of Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C7S3TSM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_cesVCbN9M68D0

After you’ve cut and weeded your vinyl stencils you’ll need to use transfer tape. I recommend buying the Clear Magic Cover drawer liner from the Dollar Tree or your local dollar store. Fun fact: you can order a case of it for $16 on the Dollar Tree website! ps - it works great for picking up those dog hairs, too. Which is what we are doing next.

After you pick up dog hairs again we move on to laying our freshly cut vinyl stencils.

I started in the far corner of the bathroom. Use the transfer tape to line up your vinyl stencil and set it in place. Use your burnishing tool or hand to smooth it out and adhere it to the tile. Remember that these stencils are temporary use so you don’t want to use the absolute best vinyl that won’t want to come up later on!

If you’re stenciling your bathroom tile, there’s a good chance you’ll have a lot of weird shapes and places to fill in. Use a box cutter or scissors to cut the vinyl stencils to size to fit these weird spots.

I recommend using the scrap from vinyl stencils you’ve trimmed to size to help reduce waste (and extra work).

Your vinyl stencils can wrap up the sides after their trimmed. This little overlap isn’t necessary, but it seemed to help me make sure I didn’t cut the stencil too small.

Definitely one of the benefits of vinyl stencils over a traditional reusable stencil is the ability to manipulate the stencil to fit any size space along your tile floor, including the weird curves of your toilet.

Another major benefit is getting to see what the pattern looks like in the room.

Make sure you don’t have gaps between your stencils & if you do, cover them with extra vinyl or make a mental note of where not to paint.

Now we paint! Again.

I decided to use Dixie Belle Dropcloth for the design. I knew I wanted to use a chalk paint for a few reasons - mainly because chalk paint is far less likely to bleed under the vinyl stencil than any other type of paint. Trust me on this. Secondly, because it dries really fast and I wanted to do two quick coats and get to weeding that vinyl again.

Using a foam roller, apply a small amount of paint and roll any paint gunk off on a paper plate or paper towel.

Starting back in the corner, roll on a thin layer of chalk paint over the vinyl stencils. The thinner the layer the less likely the paint will bleed and the faster each layer will dry.

Every 4 tiles or so I went back and did a second coat over the last 4 tiles. I did a total of 2 coats of the chalk paint over the stencils. you can see the first vs second coats above.

Once you’ve double coat painted yourself out of the room you’ll be looking at this kinda mess. But the VOILA moment is coming, so hang tight.

Now we peel that sh!t up!

Here’s a time lapse video of this process. I used a circut weeding tool and spatula. And some patience. Oh. The patience.

But wasn’t that just sooo satisfying?!

In the video I’m peeling away all of the vinyl stencils I meticulously laid down. I’m not going to lie, this part took me a couple hours. But the finished product is nearly perfect lines that look like REAL tile and not a botched paint job.

Seal it!

Using a high quality brush, apply even, thin layers of polyurethane. I did three full coats since this is, after all, a bathroom and will see a bit of water over time! Do not use a roller or you will get bubbles.

While sealing you’ll have a final chance to get up any missed vinyl and again... those dog hairs. Leave no hairs behind!!

Once you’ve sealed the floor, take a minute to really appreciate all of that hard work! I mean. Really! Can you even believe that transformation??

I am obsessed with the outcome!!

Be sure to pin this project for easy access in the future. You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook @seabeemarket to keep up with all of my DIY projects, tips, and tricks!

DIY Christmas Ornament Chandelier

December 13, 2018 by Courtney Barr

Please enjoy this DIY Christmas ornament chandelier / bubble chandelier tutorial. This will be a short and sweet post, please refer to the pictures and step by step directions at the end. Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have!

What you’ll need:

Inner portion of a wooden embroidery hoop.
Floral wire.
Scissors or wire cutters.
Thread.
Christmas ornaments in complimentary colors.
Greenery - I used a flock lamb’s war wreath from hobby lobby.
Spray paint if you wish to spray paint any of your ornaments.
A free hanging plug in light (optional).

Basic steps:

Wrap floral wire through the center of the hoop to create cross sections. This allows for ornament hanging in the center of the chandelier.
Use thread to create a 4-point hanger at the top and hang the chandelier base somewhere where you can work on it.
Paint any ornaments if necessary. I used Rust-Oleum brand spray paint and brushable glitter paint to create more color depth. Allow them to dry.
String the Christmas ornaments using thread.
Starting from the outside of the embroidery hoop, create a staggered pattern with your Christmas ornaments. I worked from largest sizes to smallest, outside of the hoop to inside, highest position to lowest position. I tied the thread to the hoop and wire cross sections as I went.
Once all of the Christmas ornaments are in place trim any excess thread.
Wrap the outside of the hoop with the greenery of your choice. Secure the greenery every 3 inches or so using more of the floral wire.
Lower the light through the center of the wire cross sections and secure using more wire along the 4-point hanger.
VOILA! You have a Christmas ornament chandelier.

Herringbone Round Table Top Upcycle

November 17, 2018 by Courtney Barr

A few weeks back I came across a garage sale find on a busted up round oak table. To be totally honest, it was in pretty gross shape.. but hey, I’ve been there before, and I never gave up on myself.. so why give up on the table?

Like ~most~ fairy tales, this round table was just waiting on the right princess charming to come around and hit it with true loves kiss - aka about 1000 nails.

I used 1.5” and 3” boards cut at 45° to create the chevron pattern. The center pieces were cut at points. I used a screw, pencil, and twine to draw the circle.. and a jigsaw to cut the overall round shape of the chevron boards. Then I sanded it smooth. To be frank I just sort of winged the process - like most things I do - and it worked out!

Bless it.

Anyway - here’s a timelapse video of the process! Thanks for watching this fun chevron/herringbone round table top makeover.

Pretty cool eh?

-CB

Modern Metallic Marble

November 13, 2018 by Courtney Barr

Recently I participated in the Modern Masters Metallic Paint Mini Challenge through Rust-Oleum’s creative community! I decided to build and paint a hexagon shaped modern style marbled paint side table with hairpin legs.

I was one of 24 participants selected to create a project using at least 3 of the 6 metallic paints by Modern Masters. It was hard to choose 😍.

How beautiful are these metallic paints?!

I decided to use Copper, Gold Rush, Pearl White, and Burnt Orange for my project.

The accent colors are acrylic paints you can find in any craft store. Violet, turquoise, and navy.

Started out by tracing a hexagon shape onto 16” wide pine board and cutting the shape out with a jigsaw.

Once cut, I sanded the hexagon’s edges smooth and stained with a mix of dark walnut and honey.

After the stain dried I used painter’s tape to tape off approximately one third of the hexagon.

Then I used Rust-Oleum Chalked Linen White paint to prime the exposed wood and allowed it to dry.

Using a few disposable cups, glue, water, and paint I started the paint pouring marble process.

I mixed 50/50 water and Elmer’s glue and then mixed 2:1 paint to glue/water to make pourable paints that are perfect for a marble effect.

watch a quick timelapse of the process here:

I poured the freshly mixed metallic paints and acrylic accent paints in a random marble inspired pattern. I then tilted the hexagon in varying directions to allow the poured paints to fully cover the primed surface.

Once the marbled paint was poured and fully covered the primed surface of the hexagon table top, I allowed it to dry for about a day and a half. Then I pulled the tape off!

I used more tape to tape off the edges and do a metallic gold accent line around all of the sides and along the edge of the marbled paint using modern masters gold rush.

Once the hexagon table top was completely dry I screwed in three hair pin legs to the bottom to create the base. As an added accent I taped off 3.5” on the bottom of the hairpin legs to paint in more metallic gold rush. I feel like this added to the modern feel of this side table.

What do you think?

Fingers crossed I win this mini challenge & thank you to all who voted for my metallic marble paint side table!

Upholstering a Wooden Rocking Chair

October 21, 2018 by Courtney Barr

A while back I came across the cutest wooden rocking chair find at a garage sale - & scored it for just 10 bucks! I wasn’t 100% sure what my plan for this piece was... all I knew was I had to have it.

It had great bones & needed NO structural help! YAS!

At some point I decided I wanted to upholster this bad mammajamma and set out to do just that. I mean, who doesn’t want the world’s cutest rocking chair? Upholstery isn’t really my “thing” - but what the heck!

Since the chair was not previously upholstered, I needed to create a base for the fabric and cushiony bum supporting goodness. Specifically one that matched the natural lines of the rocking chair and didn’t come across as a shotty novice (me) add on.

Read on if you’re interested in following this tutorial. Supply list is at the very bottom for your reference!

Let’s get started!

To trace out the true shape of the rocking chair bottom, tape down a piece of tissue paper and use a permanent marker to get a rough sketch of the shape. The lines won’t be perfect, but that’s okay - neither am I, but I’m doing JUST FINE OKAY?! I digress. Just trying to get a good idea of the overall shape before cutting the wood to make the upholstery base.

I transferred the tissue paper to a piece of scrap pegboard I had. You can definitely use any thin plywood or MDF. I used what I had on hand and didn’t mind “wasting”. Gotta save that money honey!

Use the trace lines as a guide to transfer the outline on to your scrap plywood.
Use a jig saw or scroll saw to cut along your trace lines, creating a thin replica of the seat base
Lightly sand any sharp edges and round out any issues on the cut piece.

Size up your newly cut upholstery base with your rocking chair and give it a visual once over for any major issues.

As you can see, my cut lines aren’t perfect, but it’s totally fine! The end result won’t even show these minor imperfections!

Are you noticing a theme here?? Lots of tracing & cutting & tracing & cutting!

Trace the outline of your newly cut upholstery base on to your 2” thick foam cushion.
Using an exacto knife, cut the shape of the seat out of the foam
Place it on the rocking chair to size it up and check for any major issues.

Now to start the actual upholstering process!

Measure out and trim down the batting material - leave plenty of overlap
Flip the wood cut rocking chair base with foam insert bottom side up
Start by pulling one section of the batting material tight against the bottom of the base
Using a staple gun, staple along the edge of the wood chair base about every half inch
Continue to pull the batting tight along the edge as you work your way around the entire rocking chair cut base. Periodically turn the piece over to check for any wrinkles in the batting fabric.
Once you have the batting in place, trim the excess fabric off and get ready to add the beautiful fabric you chose!

For this project I chose this beautiful floral navy fabric. Basically, you’re going to repeat the same steps from the batting.

With foam side up, lay out your fabric choice in the direction and style you want it to appear on the rocking chair.
Flip everything over and start by pulling one section right and staple about every half inch.
Once you reach a corner, pull the fabric on either side of the corner, folding in the middle to create an overlap and staple to keep a nice clean curve on the front side of you upholstery.
Periodically turn the piece over to check for any weird pulls or wrinkles in the fabric!
Once you’ve stapled all the edges of the fabric, you’re ready to size it up against your rocking chair and check out your handy work!!

Isn’t this floral fabric stunning?!

And I LOVE how you can’t even tell there were minor imperfections along the way!

I totally dropped the ball on photo-documenting this part. UGH!
Attach the now upholstered wood base to your rocking chair.

If you’re handy with a drill it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out though! I decided to use wood glue and screws. I’m sure there are other ways to acheive the same end result, do what works for you!

Working from the bottom of the chair up, use a drill bit to drill a few pilot holes where you’d like your screws to be.
Attach a generous amount of wood glue within the space that will have wood to wood contact.
Drill screws through the new pilot holes.
Place something heavy on top of the cushion to help “clamp” the wood to wood contact and ensure proper adhesion of the wood glue.
Allow to dry and admire your newly upholstered rocking chair!

You’re done!!

Before I attached the upholstered seat I painted my piece.
I color matched the lighter flowers from the upholstery fabric and did a full coverage paint job with some light grey dry brushing on the rocking chair. Now that’s garage sale chic, huh??

I’m totally in love with how this $10 garage sale find turned into a beautiful and cozy rocking chair fit for my tired mom butt to rockabye baby in!

What do you think?? Please leave a comment or shoot me a message if you try this tutorial! I would love to hear your feedback and see your pieces!

SUPPLY LIST:

Chair (duh)
1/4” scrap plywood/MDF
2” thick foam square
Fabric & batting - a yard was enough for my project.
Jigsaw
Drill
Staple gun & staples
Exacto knife
Scissors
Marker
Tissue paper
Drill bit & screws that are longer than the thickness of the seat you are working on, but shorter than the thickness of the seat +2” (you don’t want the screws poking through the foam cushion and straight into your booty!)
Wood Glue

$10 Custom Cut Chalkboard Mirror Replacement

August 28, 2018 by Courtney Barr

Missing or Broken Mirror to Chalkboard Upcycle

CHEAP & EASY DIY

Chalkboards bring effortless style to any room in your home.

You can dress them up with designer chalk art, style them low for easy kiddo reach, or use them to jot menu items for the week. The best part is they are functional and inexpensive!

A client provided this dresser and commissioned this funky pink paint job. When the time came to pick up she... uh... "ghosted me" like the kids say these days. Thankfully, I still had a really cool dresser to make up for the loss. Not as thankfully - she had kept the mirror and I was left with a really beautiful, but really empty, heart.. I mean HARP!

This tallboy really puts off a little girl's nursery vibe. It has tons of boho flair and that pink blend is so feminine. This was my motivation for adding a chalkboard to replace the missing mirror. Now I'll be able to add a sweet nursery themed message to this fun dresser! Plus, it's less than 10 bucks... yes please.

IMG_4210 2.jpg — Simple tools make
this project breeze!

What you'll need:

a frame you love
2'x4' pre made chalkboard available at almost any home depot or lowe's store
jigsaw & blade
med-fine grit sandpaper (I used 220 grit)
writing utensil of your choice

IMG_4200 2.JPG — Trace your empty mirror frame.

make sure to trace a wide outline to allow room for trim down & any cutting errors (don't ask me how I know, okay?)

Allow your chalkboard to slightly overlap a work table edge. Hold the chalkboard in place against the flat surface with one hand and use your other hand to control the jigsaw. Starting from the outside edge, slowly guide the jigsaw along the trace line. The blade will handle the work for you!

When the shape is cut out, the edges will be rough. Use a medium to fine grit sand paper (120-220 grit) to hand sand the edges and smooth out any of the minor imperfections!

IMG_4232 2.JPG — voila!

admire your handy work

In my case I didn't have the original backing and therefore had to use a staple gun to affix the newly cut chalkboard into place where the old mirror used to be. If you have all of the pieces you need, you can choose to skip this step.

Can you believe it was that easy?! Now I just have to decide what kind of chalk art I'm going to add. Let me know if you try this DIY fix for a piece you have lying around your home!

August 19, 2018 by Courtney Barr

Sea Bee Market was born in the fall of 2016. At the time I had a name and a couple small goals: make cool shit, keep myself from going crazy as a new SAHM, and maybe make some cash. I have no money in my bank account and I'm definitely crazy... but SBM is still truckin' along and I'm glad you're here!

IMG_2872 2.JPG — I'm Courtney Barr

The CB behind Sea Bee.

I am a self proclaimed serial DIYer. I spend far too much time on Pinterest. All of my free time is spent making things or thinking about what I could be making. I have a passion for woodworking, refurbishing, junking, and all things trashure. More importantly, I am a mother of a spunky & smart little girl, a wife to a wonderful husband, and a dog momma to a woman's best friend.

Allow me to introduce my family! My daughter, Memphis, is two years old, the light of my life, and a total weirdo (she comes by it naturally). My husband, Roper, and I found each other in 2012 and we have been inseparable ever since. Zeus, our family bear, is the snuggliest and most amazing dog I have ever met. I am blessed to have them as my support team!

The SBM Blog

Expect DIY tutorials, projects, for sale items, recipes, collections of interesting things, DIY, motherhood and family, my favorite home decor images, and did I mention DIY?😬