Ohio Round-up, A Pizza Box Slipcover and Sofa Makeover

Wow, so much happened in the last week of our stay and I am about a month behind on blogging, so buckle in...

Heather and Jenny headed up to Columbus for a day of fun chaos at Firefly.

Heather is a new mom, but you would never know it. She is so laid back, much more than I ever was, and her daughter Maggie is such a sweetheart.


Jenny's twins Elaine and Ethan took a snack break.


Tommy joined them.

Khera and Elle were too busy to stop playing and pose.

Maggie was excited to see all the kids and action.


The kids all played really well together aside from the usual meltdown or three. It was difficult to have a real conversation, so we didn't get too much time to catch up. We headed to Panera for lunch and after bumping heads on light fixtures, Tommy eating dirt off the floor, a lot of playing and not much eating, we headed our separate ways.

Khera and Elle spent a couple days riding Uncle Ryan's horsey.




GJ also taught them how to wash windows.


I celebrated a thirty-something birthday. Brandon and GJ treated me to a last-minute 24 hour trip to Chicago to visit my friend Sara, where I took no photos (sniff, sniff).


Aunt Brooke took me to see Keith Urban.


What a great show, I need to download some of his music, NOW.


Her tickets were AWESOME, thanks Brookie!


We finished up a couple of sewing projects. Brooke inherited a table and chairs from Bumpa and Kathy this spring and we decided they needed a little makeover, what do you think?

Great bones, just a little 80s.

We added a pizza box.

St. Pete NEEDS a Donatos Pizza.

Then made slipcovers out of Home Depot drop-cloths.

TA-DA!


GJ's sofa also got a little bit of a makeover. Here are Nana and Tommy having some QT on the "old" version.

The cushions were over 20 years old and needed a little freshening up.

We replaced the 2 bottom cushions with one large one, and 2 back with 4 loose pillows.


Whew! What a whirlwind, we packed it up on Friday night and got on the road Saturday morning. We were so sad to leave, we had such a fabulous time catching up with family and friends. It always seems like no matter how long we stay (this time was for 4 weeks) it isn't enough time. We are so thankful that GJ opened her home again to us for the entirety of our trip, she helped us immensely with the kids, and gave us some freedom to go out with friends, on dates and sleep in! I think next summer she will probably wise-up and lock her bedroom door so the kids have no choice but to wake up Mom and Dad first thing.  Thank you again GJ for making our summer memories sparkle!

Stay tuned for part 2 of our road trip!

Bye, bye summer decor!

Let me begin this post by saying "SORRY G.J.!" I know I told you I would wait so you could see my summer decorating when you come and visit in 2 weeks, and I've TRIED and tried harder to not break out all of my fall decorations, and I simply couldn't help myself!!! So, I snapped some photos so you could see what is now shoved back into the closet until next spring/summer:

My new seating area by the front door:

It is really bothering me that the little handle on the coffee table is flipped up, stop looking!!!

My budding model wanted to pose in some of the photos:

Entryway, that's my grandpa Fecher's old record cabinet, but this entryway seems so blah to me, that's a project for another day though...

And the mantel, I really, really, really need to paint that brick, I'm not sure if I should paint it white, or maybe a grayer shade of white, your thoughts? I really wish I could tear it out and put something modern in there, but that's not an option right now...leave a comment if you have any suggestions:

Here are two (free) armless chairs from my parent's old house that are slipcovered in taupe twill I scored on clearance at Calico Corners, also note the gorgeous table in between those chairs is from GJ's basement, in it's previous life it was white and had a water stain on the top, we had it refinished and have since found out it is a Stickley piece, Stickley started the Art's and Craft's movement in the US many years ago. GJ says now that it's fixed up that it's on loan to us and she wants it back, I'm hoping she'll forget...

And after 2 years, this project was finally completed thanks to preschool and Tom-T's morning nap, I am addicted to grasscloth, I think it really gives the kitchen some texture and depth:

Alright, I've got to get back to my fall crafts/decorating, stay tuned for my next post. Thanks for stopping by!!!