A Very Hungry Caterpillar Baby Shower

This past weekend I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law. It was themed after Eric Carle's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  I was very thankful to have my other sister-in-law and friends of the Mom-to-be helping me with this.  We divided up duties, and I got to do all the decor!  Thanks to Pinterest, I found several cute ideas I was able to copy.

This post may contain affiliate links.

We invited guests with these cute on-theme invitations.

I made this Hungry Caterpillar welcome banner using cardstock and my Silhouette Cameo to hang behind the chair where she would open gifts.  I even found a font similar to the one used in the book!  The red circles are 8" and the green circles are 6".

The paper lantern caterpillars are made using 10" red lanterns for the heads and 8" mismatched green lanterns for the bodies.  I found the most affordable lanterns at the Paper Lantern Store.  These sizes are fine for a smaller space, but I wish I had used larger ones for these large rooms.  I used command hooks (3 lb. strength) to attach the caterpillars the ceilings so I wouldn't have to poke holes with tacks.  The lanterns are strung onto fishing line.  I used cardstock and my Silhouette Cameo for the face pieces and feet!

I made the giant fruits by painting large swoops of paint onto posterboard (a glass of wine helped me be extra swoopy with my brush strokes, lol).  I used the paintbrush I normally use for painting trim and baseboards, and several colors of acrylic paint I had on hand.  After making all the swoops, I flipped the posterboard over and drew out the fruits, then cut them out.  I traced a roll of blue painters tape for the holes.  These were a great way to make large decor for a big room.

The diaper cake is made from about 60 Size 2 Earth's Best diapers (because they're plain white, the larger size helps make the cake larger, and I just really love this brand).  I used Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny for the book layer, and clipped them together with paperclips.  I managed to find Hungry Caterpillar ribbon to wrap them up, and topped them off with a few Eric Carle toys!  I tried accessorizing the cake with mini versions of baby toiletries, but it looked too busy.

We asked the guests to sign a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, as well as address an envelope for the Mom-to-be to use for her thank you notes.  With 45 guests worth of thank you notes to write, she needs all the help she can get!

We also asked guests to bring a book to build the baby's library!  I think he's going to be quite literate!  The quilt is made from an Eric Carle 10 Little Rubber Ducks panel.

A family member made this amazing caterpillar cupcake display!

My other sister-in-law developed a delicious menu: yogurt bar, croissant bar (she MADE them at the house which made the house smell so yummy) with egg salad and chicken salad, pinwheel sandwiches, mini muffins, Duck Donuts, and a popcorn bar.  She complemented the spread with a cocktail we named Peach Sparklers, which were made from peach puree, orange juice, and champagne.

Friends of the Mom-to-be created a draw-your-own bingo board where guests first filled out items they thought might get opened, then marked off squares as the gifts were unwrapped.  They also broke up the gift portion of the shower with two games, one with nursery rhymes and one with children's books.

I really couldn't be happier with how the shower came together!  It was cute, had great food, and fun activities.  But most of all, it brought together this amazing community of women who are super excited to welcome this sweet baby into the world.

Hopefully some of these ideas come in handy if you're planning a Very Hungry Caterpillar Baby Shower or Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday!

Bonnie Projects

Tips & Tricks for Slipcovering a Recliner

I am five weeks from my due date, and trying my best to finish up projects before the baby arrives!

I wasn’t dead-set on anything particular for the nursery, but I did know that I wanted a comfortable upholstered recliner!  I shopped around last fall, and was shocked that 1) upholstered gliders are really expensive, and 2) they don’t usually come slipcovered.  I wasn’t prepared to spend upwards of $800 for a chair.  I also couldn’t believe that a piece of furniture used primarily for nursing didn’t come slipcovered!  Wouldn’t the fabric get gross over time?!?

I perused Craigslist for several weeks, and eventually came across a $50 glider/recliner.  When I went to check it out, I found it to be the perfect size for my petite frame, and super comfortable.  Sold!

Now came the hard part…making a slipcover.  I’m not going to walk you through making a slipcover here - there are very talented people out there with excellent instructions.  But I do want to share some tips and tricks I came up with along the way that took my slipcover from “gets the job done” to “pro-style”!

Don’t say I didn’t warn you: making a slipcover is not easy, or fast, or even cheap (8 yards of fabric adds up quickly!).  But if you have the skills and patience, it can be very rewarding!  This project cost $80 in fabric, another $20 in supplies like velcro and elastic, and about 15 hours of work.

1. Buy more fabric than you need

I googled the suggested yardage needed for a recliner slipcover, and ultimately ordered 8 yards.  I had a little over one yard left over, which I plan to use to make a matching dog bed.

If your fabric is directional (mine couldn’t be turned 90 degrees without losing the pattern), and especially if it can only be placed in one direction (up must be up), you should order more fabric than suggested.

 

2. Pre-shrink your fabric

The reason you’re making a slipcover is so that it can be washed.  Many upholstery fabrics recommend dry-cleaning only, even though they are 100% cotton.  This is because they shrink.  A lot. 

Cut a sample of your fabric and run it through a normal wash and dry cycle to see what happens.  If it comes out OK, wash and dry all of your fabric to pre-shrink it.  I cut my fabric into two 4-yard pieces to wash it.

My fabric shrunk 5%.  If I hadn’t pre-shrunk it, it probably wouldn’t fit on the chair again after its first washing!

3. Start with the largest pieces first

The smallest pieces can be made from scraps at the end of your project if you're running short on fabric, but you can never get those large yardages back once you cut them up!

Cut the pieces for the largest parts of your slipcover first.  You won’t regret it!

 

4. Decide on a centerline for your fabric

I had two options for my fabric - the shapes with the flowers inside, and those without.  I photographed the fabric with both ones on the centerline of the chair, and the shapes with the flowers just felt right.  I made sure to use those shapes as the centerline for all the largest pieces of the slipcover.

5. Pin your pieces together on the chair

Why take it off and on a billion times?  Just fit the pattern to the chair!

I wasn’t quite sure how to handle the odd-shaped back of the chair, so I pinned the flat back on first, then draped the front piece until everything looked right.  I never would have designed a pattern this way, but it just felt right when it was all pinned in place.

Also, start with huge seam allowances.  If you have 2-inch seam allowances to start with, you won’t be short on fabric if you have to make adjustments later.  You can trim these down once you’re happy with the entire slipcover.

6. Use any removable pieces as patterns

The seat of my recliner is removable, and even had a zip-off cover.  I removed this and used it as the pattern for the slipcover. 

On top of that, I salvaged the zipper from the original seat cushion and reused it in my slipcover.

Having a separately-covered seat cushion makes a slipcovered piece look much more professional.

For the front “legs” of the chair, you can make a paper pattern by holding up a piece of paper and lightly tracing the edges with a pencil or creasing with your fingernail.

 

7. Make a separate cover for the foot rest

The downfall of many recliner slipcovers is in the foot rest.  If you have a snug slipcover, the foot rest won’t want to function.  You can fix this by creating mini slipcovers for the foot rests.

Mine looked like hairnets, essentially long rectangular boxes with an elastic band around the edge.  They still didn’t want to fit nicely, so I also added straps that secured with velcro around the back, to hold them in place.

  

 

8. Use velcro instead of a hemmed skirt

My chair didn’t seem like a good candidate for a skirt around the bottom.  To give it a clean edge, I velcroed the fabric around the bottom of the chair.  One side of the velcro was attached to the slipcover, and the other side of the velcro was stapled to the inside of the chair.  This gave the finished product a beautiful and clean edge, but the slipcover is still 100% removable.

 

9. Secure all your seams by zigzagging or serging

All those raw-edge seams hiding inside your slipcover are going to ravel when you first wash the slipcover.  You can prevent this by going over all the raw edges with a zig zag stitch or with a serger.

10. Take care of problem areas

One reason the people listed this chair on Craigslist for so cheap was that the recliner lever had torn through the cushion seat.  This was because the rubber cover had torn, leaving raw metal exposed.  I fixed this by making the lever it’s own padded slipcover.  Look, it's camouflaged!

If you notice problems like this before you purchase the furniture, make sure you have an idea for how to fix them.  I knew I could fix this, so I wasn’t worried about it!

 


Look how well it turned out!  Snug-fitting, clean lines, the pattern matches up - you can't even tell it's slipcovered instead of reupholstered.  I can't wait to spend many hours in this chair with my baby girl!!!
 

Hopefully these tips will help you make an awesome slipcover for a chair in need of a little love!  I’m so pleased with how this one turned out - for a fraction of the price, I have a comfortable, custom recliner/glider for my nursery, and it’s washable!!!

You might also be interested in these posts:

Facelift for a sad sofa
Overdye a comforter for a new look

Bonnie Projects

Striped Monogram Pillow Shams {West Elm Knockoff}

Happy Friday, y'all!

I'm over at Teal & Lime today sharing a tutorial on making monogrammed pillow shams.  It's a beginner-level project with big results, so check it out!

You might also be interested in these posts:

Dye your bedspread
How to shorten a flat-weave rug
Make a cute cover for your dress form

Bonnie Projects

Update Linens with Fabric Dye

Want a new look for your linens?  Check out my post on Teal & Lime today!  I overdyed a bohemian-style bedspread with fabulous results!

You might also be interested in these posts:

I dyed my wedding dress!

Bonnie Projects

How to Make a Reversible Table Runner on Teal & Lime

2014 is an exciting year for many reasons, one of which is that I'm now a contributor on Teal & Lime, an awesome blog about interior decorating and DIY design.  Every month, I'll be writing a series called Sew Your Decor, and will share a home decor project you can sew.

My first post went live today, and is a tutorial on making a reversible table runner.  This was a quick, inexpensive, and easy project (great for beginners!), and I'm so happy with the results.  Please go check out the full post!

Want to see the rest of the dining room?  I just posted the full reveal earlier this week!

Bonnie Projects

Dining Room Reveal

It's finally done!!!  Back in August we started working on the dining room, and now I can finally say it's complete :)

Remember how it started off?  Dark, dated, and messy.  We had already updated the chandelier from the brass one left by the previous homeowners, but the paint wasn't meshing with our other rooms, there was nowhere to put stuff, and the space simply didn't have personality.

I'll give you the rest of the tour, then explain how we got from A to B!

We were so lost with how to approach this room that we hired Jackie of Teal & Lime Interiors to make a mood board and source list for us to get us started.  She gave us lots of inspiration and some great ideas.  This room wouldn't be like it is without her help.

I painted the walls a cool neutral called Kestrel White.  It's more interesting than flat white, and meshes really well with the other colors on this level.  I also gave the baseboards a fresh coat of white paint.

Next I painted the built-in cabinets white.  I was worried the tile on top would clash, but it actually looks pretty good!

With Jackie's suggestions, I bought a small "buffet" to hold laptops, magazines, and the other stuff that was littering the dining room.  I also got those great lamps (so affordable!), the round mirror, the brass duck bookends, and the striped rug from her source list.  The rug was too long, so I came up with an easy way to shorten it.

I found the low-profile wine rack while shopping in Capitol Hill.  It holds the bottles sideways, so it hardly takes up any room at all.

We brought our family to dinner by getting a large print framed - it's a photo of both our extended families, taken a few days before our wedding.  Everyone is wearing coral and navy, and this was the inspiration for the room.

To complete the look, I made a reversible table runner for the dining table.  Check back later this week for the tutorial!

We are so happy with how this room turned out!  It's light, bright, and offers the functionality we needed.  It goes great with the adjacent kitchen and living room, and finally feels like "us".




You might also be interested in these posts:
We hired a designer
Painting the dining room
Painting the built-ins
A shoe cabinet as a buffet
How to shorten a flat-weave rug
How to make a reversible table runner (coming soon!)

Bonnie Projects

Christmas Craft: Scottie Dog from a charm pack

This craft was one of the I-must-have-that things I got at the Houston Quilt Festival.  He's made from two Moda Aspen Frost Mini Charm Packs.

When I bought the charm packs, the instructions came free.

I layed out my squares so the colors and patterns looked nice and random.

Then I sewed them into strips (turns out vertical strips work better than horizontal), and sewed the strips together.

Whoops!  Redo!

I attached the two sides with a strip of red fabric.  The fabric got all wonky the first time and I had to take it apart and redo it.  Lots of pins helped the second time around.

I finished his look with a velvet ribbon and a button eye!

Isn't he cute on our sofa?

You might also be interested in these posts:

Holiday Card Holder
Christmas Cocktails
No-sew Glitter Tutu

Bonnie Projects

Gift Idea: Easy Ticket Stub Frame

Last year I made a ticket stub frame for my husband out of an IKEA frame.  This year, I found an even easier way to do it!

Michael's sells a 12"x12" top-loading shadow box (they market it for collecting wine corks).  It's also perfect for tickets, and comes pre-made with a slot at the top!  Being 12"x12", a piece of scrapbook paper perfectly fills the background.  And it was 40% off, so of course I bought it.

I got a piece of black and white scrapbook paper, as well as another piece of a polka dot crimson paper with a velvety texture.

I ran the crimson paper through my Silhouette to cut out the logo.  I'm not an Alabama fan, but I sure do know a few!!! 

Then all I had to do was place the letter on the black and white paper, and load it all into the shadow box.

This project cost $22 ($20 for the shadowbox and $2 for the pretty paper), and took less than half an hour.  Most of that time was designing and sizing the "A" in the Silhouette software.



You might also be interested in these posts:

Frame a Ticket Stub Collection IKEA Hack
Holiday Monogram Wreath

Bonnie Projects