Since we’ve moved, I’ve been in major DIY mode. I have this great old cane chair that I love, but it needed a fresh new look. I have changed the colors and theme of my bedroom and that’s where I keep the cane chair. It was covered in a fabric from about 10 years ago’s look and colors of my bedroom back then. I took a photo of my new quilt and off I went to the fabric store. I found a great complimentary upholstery fabric and bought 2 yards. I wasn’t sure how much fabric I would really need. I ended up not needing that much, but it’s more than ok that I got extra fabric. I plan to make a matching pillow, so more fabric turned out to be great!
To do this project, I needed some other tools. I used an iron, ironing board, screwdriver, staple gun, staples for the staple gun, sewing scissors, and a hammer. Once I gathered all of the tools, I got to work.
Tools and fabric:
First I cut the 2 yards of fabric down to 1 yard. Then I ironed the yard of fabric I was planning on using to recover the chair seat. I turned the fabric upside down on my living room carpet and then figured out which direction I wanted the shape on the fabric to be. Vertical or Horizontal. I chose Vertical, just for aesthetics. I think it looked better vertical. Then I carefully started wrapping the fabric around the seat, rolling the edges of the fabric under as I stapled. I started on the sides first, as the corners a bit more difficult to navigate, especially if you haven’t done much DIY re-upholstery projects.
When you get to the corners, you may have to cut some of the excess fabric off and then fold it creatively. You may need someone else to help you hold the fabric taught so you can staple it into place. I managed to cut, then fold it creatively, hold and staple by myself. This takes a little practice though. Give it a try and if it doesn’t work, you can always use some pliers to take the staples out and do it over again.
Once I had the seat of the cane chair, completely covered and stapled to my liking, I then set the seat on the chair to see how it looked. I originally was going to chalk paint the chair, but I really liked the antique look of the chair color against the cream and orange of the seat fabric. I decided to leave the chair the color it was instead of painting it. I will use the chalk paint and wax for another piece of furniture soon, I promise!
Here’s the final outcome. I love how it turned out! If you’ve done a DIY project that you are proud of, please comment below with any photos of your project. I’d love to see what other people’s DIY projects are and how they are doing them, with any tips/tricks you may like to share.
Weight loss is hard, but self-love doesn’t have to be!
I have written about my personal journey with my own weight loss before, but I have never written or spoken of the emotional side of my personal weight gain/loss journey. I have struggled with my weight and have been “trying” to lose weight since I became an adult. I probably started struggling with my weight at about the age of 20. I moved away to go to college, which was a three-hour drive from my parent’s house. At that time, I wasn’t overweight or obese yet. My eating habits changed (for the worse) and quickly, my exercise habits were forgotten about. So, therein, my journey with my food addiction, binging, yo-yo dieting and trying to lose weight began. All of this has been my nemesis ever since. I have been struggling with gaining and losing weight ever since. Gaining weight is much easier than losing it. Full disclosure, it’s been 27 years or more since this emotional roller coaster started for me. I thought I was overweight and “fat” when I was younger than 20, even though I really wasn’t. I was “normal” and healthy looking up until my college years. Pictures don’t lie and as I look back at photographs of me during high school or younger, I wasn’t overweight or obese at all. I just thought I was. It turns out it was all in my head. I since have learned this was the beginning of the start of my limiting beliefs and self-sabotage to keep myself feeling “safe”. More on that later.
As a young child, I was told, mostly by my close family that, “You’d be so pretty if you just lost some weight”, “do you really want to eat that”, “haven’t you had enough”, and “are you really going to eat that”, just to mention a few statements that I can remember. Many others I have blocked from my memory. These phrases said to me by anyone, family or so-called friends, just made me want to eat an entire cake or a whole package of cookies. Usually, I’d get so upset that I would eat an entire cake, bag of cookies, or multiple bags of candy. I ate to quell my emotions more than eating because I was truly hungry. I usually wasn’t hungry at all. Eating sweets raised my serotonin levels and made me feel happier. For a short time, anyway. I would get very depressed, cry (in private, of course) and wonder how someone that supposedly loved me so much, could say something like that. It didn’t help me, in fact, it made me bloom to be (at my highest) 257 pounds. I never said anything about the emotional side of being overweight to anyone. It was my hidden secret. It was my super personal secret that no-one else had access to. It was my private thing. On the outside, I looked happy, and most of the time, I was. I appeared to be happy and the life of the party. Inside, I had negative thoughts and told myself what a loser I was if I couldn’t control how much food I ate and how much I weighed. I carried so much emotional weight and baggage around with me. It got way to heavy and recently, I decided I couldn’t carry all of these negative thoughts and emotions around anymore.
I’ve been doing some internal soul-searching over the past few months. During this time, I have discovered some truths that I didn’t believe until I started my personal soul-searching exercise. I have been a big fan and believer that you should always work on yourself to become the best version of you that you can be. I have read a ton of self-help books. I follow Oprah, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dwyer, Mike Dooley and others who I feel “get it” and share their wisdom daily on websites, blogs and in writing. When I took a deeper dive, and started meditating and treating my soul and body with respect, love and gave myself a break & more compassion and self-love, I discovered that I haven’t faced the emotional side of the years I spent miserable, as an overweight woman. I started meditating on my feelings around weight and amazing things started happening.
After a few sessions of meditating, eating better than I ever have before and moving more, I started losing weight and not just a pound here and there. Since the beginning of November, even with the holidays smack dab in the middle, I have managed to lose 18 pounds. That is the most I’ve ever lost in approximately two months…ever. Not only have I lost 18 pounds but I’m working on losing the past 27 years of emotional baggage about food, yo-yo dieting, letting other people criticize me, put me down, different relationships with loved ones around this topic that have hurt my sense of self and let all of this dim my light and affect my personality and spirit. These situations and thoughts have worked against me. They have fueled the negative thoughts and talks I have had with myself for years. The thoughts left me feeling worthless, not worth love, and caused me to NOT treat myself the way I should have treated myself, with compassion, understanding, and love.
Now since I’ve started doing the work, I feel lighter in my body and spirit. I have forgiven myself (really forgiven), along with those close to me who wouldn’t let the fact that I was “fat” go. I have let those people who threw the “fat” word in my face more than needed, off the hook of blame and shame. Easier said than done!
I felt like I needed to have someone to blame. Blaming myself was easy and felt justified. It isn’t true and justifiable anymore. No matter what weight I am, I’m beautiful inside and out. I have a large group of friends and family who adore and cherish me and all I give in those relationships. I don’t have to hide behind my weight ever again. As I look back, I’m shocked at some of my behavior and habits around food and exercise. I treated it like it was a game that I could win any time. I now realize my triggers. Boy oh boy, do I have triggers!
I have figured out a way to move on from all that was said casually and without much thought or empathy. One of the ways I have moved on…is by telling myself, “They (or he/she and I) would have done better if they knew better”. That makes it easier for me to forgive myself and others, then move on. I have also figured out that it really doesn’t matter what other people think of me. It’s really not my business to care about what anyone thinks of me. The most important person to care about their thoughts about me is ME.
I am 18 pounds lighter. My clothes are loose. I’m moving better and feel like I CAN exercise, do yoga, walk, and hopefully soon, start taking Zumba classes again. I have also figured out that to continue a good exercise routine and schedule, I have to like the exercise class or program I participate in. It turns out that I love yoga, bike riding, walking and taking Zumba classes. Those are the exercise programs that I’m going to focus on.
Yoga and meditation have played a huge role in my new weight loss success. They both have allowed me to figure out my “weight baggage” and have helped me figure out how to tackle all the baggage and live a truly healthy, happy and abundant life from now on. I’ve wasted so much time, beating myself up and being depressed over this one thing. It turns out that this isn’t all that important after all. Being healthy, having good relationships, and truly loving my life is so much more rewarding.
So, my plan for the rest of this year and beyond is to stop comparing myself to others. Stop caring or worrying about what others think or say to or about me. Remember…it’s not my business. I won’t talk about anyone else’s weight struggles EVER. I don’t know what their demons are. I have understanding and compassion for anyone else who struggles the same way I do. I will continue to put more love in the world and let my light shine as bright as it can.
If you have any comments or questions, please post them in the comments section. Let’s try to keep the comments clean and nice. I hope to hear from you sometime.
*Update…since posting this, I have become pregnant and am starting a new blog about that journey – www.50isthenewmommy.com. I also lost all of my images on Little Miss Idea recently – a silly mistake on my part. I am working on adding any images that I still have back to the blog, but I may not be able to recover them all. The content is still good, it just may not have the original image with it. As I post new posts, I will have images with each post. Thank you for continuing to follow along. I will be publishing more DIY and other relevant topics to Little Miss Idea in the very near future. With love and gratitude, Meg
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Is your hair broken, damaged or over processed from the sun, chlorine and highlights that you put it through over the summer? I have a friend who even went as far as to change her hair color to a medium brown from a dark blonde. Her hair was breaking from being over processed with highlights. It looks great and she makes a GREAT brunette…but there is a better way to save your end of summer broken hair.
I started doing this a few weeks ago and have noticed a huge difference. My hair is very blonde, thin and breaks easily. It often looks frizzy and I have fly aways that drive me nuts after styling. Do I have your attention? I’m sure you are dying to know my secret to softer and healthier looking hair.
What I’ve been doing lately, is conditioning my hair first. Yep…it’s that easy. I used to shampoo my hair first then leave the conditioner on while I did everything else in the shower or tub. Now, I have reversed that and I put the conditioner on and let it sit until the very end. Then I rinse the conditioner out and shampoo, making sure that I lather it really well so that I get all of the conditioner out. If I DON’T rinse the conditioner well, my hair can be heavy and look greasy by the end of the day. I have been doing this for three weeks now and not only does my hair look healthier, it’s shinier and and has more volume. It’s amazing!
Over the winter I paid $40 to have a deep conditioning treatment at a salon…I had dyed part of my hair blue and it bled, so I looked more like a smurf than myself. I had to go back three times to get the color right and get the blue out of the parts of my hair that I didn’t want it. The color remover was really strong. It stripped and damaged my hair. My hair was hard to comb and tangled easily. Talk about looking frizzy and unhealthy. It looked much better after the $40 conditioning treatment, but I wish I had discovered how to do it at home before I spent the money.
I now do the condition then shampoo routine and follow up with a leave-in heat protecting conditioning spray after I towel dry my hair. Then I’m able to comb through my hair easily and it styles nice and smooth!
Give this method a try and let me know if it helps improve the condition (pun intended) of your hair after a week or two. I think you’ll find it really does help. I’m a believer now!
I have been meaning to blog about my amazing wedding (aka The Best Day Ever) to my best friend, my husband, since before I actually got married. I had planned to blog about all of the DIY stuff that I did to get ready and save money for the wedding. In fact, a couple of my DIY things that I made for my own wedding inspired a new wedding business. More on that later…I have been waiting for the photograph’s, then once I got them, I was recovering from a second ankle surgery. I’m finally on the mend and so excited to share the story of our “Best Day Ever”.
We got married at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs in Nathrop, Colorado on Saturday, October 24, 2015 at 4 pm in the afternoon. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was shinning bright and the snow capped mountains made it feel magical out. There was so much love surrounding us that day (and all weekend) that we felt like nothing else in the world mattered, except the love that we shared with our family and friends that weekend.
Snow Capped Mountains above Mt. Princeton Hot Springs.Mt. Princeton Lodge Welcome sign at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs.
A little less than a year before our wedding date, I fell on the ice and broke my left ankle in two places. I had to wear a cast and be non-weight bearing for about 3 months, then I started physical therapy. About 5 weeks into physical therapy, I wasn’t getting better and actually was having much more pain. After going back to the doctor and finally getting a CT Scan it was determined that the bone wasn’t healing and I needed surgery to basically screw my bones together. I had that done in May and started the recovery process all over.
Fast forward to October. I’m in and out of the boot, did another round of physical therapy and still was having a ton of pain and not able to walk well. Another trip to the doctor and finally an MRI determined that I had a torn ligament, stretched tendon and some cartilage damage. This all needed to be repaired. It was way too close to our wedding date for me to under go another surgery. So instead, I opted for a cortisone shot and alternating between wearing the AirCast boot and normal shoes. The weekend of the wedding, I was in the boot more than normal shoes. I wanted to be able to walk down the aisle on my own. Which, thankfully, I was able to do, as my beautiful friend, Cyndee, sang “One Thousand Years” by Christina Perry. That song was perfect to walk down the aisle toward my future.
Walking down the aisle with blue shoes on!
We planned our wedding ourselves and I definitely knew the theme I wanted and how I wanted the day to play out. The theme was “Vintage Elegance”. I shopped many thrift and antique stores to find the perfect decor, linens and serving dishes all at bargain prices. We were on a pretty tight budget since I had been injured most of the year and not able to work all that much. Amazingly, being very resourceful, we were able to pull off a very elegant wedding for more than 100 people for much less than the average wedding costs these days. I did do a lot of the “work” myself with the help of my fabulous friends.
I made the boutonniere’s, corsages, my brides maid’s bridal bouquet and my bridal bouquet. I used vintage buttons and brooches for everything I made. My bouquet was very special to me. I used my Nana’s costume jewelry that she had given to me a few years before she passed away. She was a florist her entire professional life, so I know she would have loved how it turned out. Every time I look at it, even now, I think of her and smile. I also inherited her “gold tooth” and wanted to incorporate that into the day somehow. I put it in an organza bag and pinned it to the underside of my dress. My friends who were in my cabin with me getting ready found that pretty funny. I, on the other hand, couldn’t contain my tears. I so wish she could have been there to see me marry the man of my dreams. A man she loved very much too.
My beautiful bridal bouquet that I made out of vintage brooches and buttons!The groom’s boutonniere that I made out of vintage buttons.Bridal corsages that I made out of silk flowers, pearls, vintage & new brooches, lace and ribbon.Attendant boutonniere.My Nana’s gold tooth that I pinned to my dress!
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It was very important to us that our wedding was a family affair. We don’t live near any of our families and don’t get to see them nearly enough. Instead of having our friends stand up for us, we asked our niece and nephews to be our attendants. Their ages range from 4 years old to 12. None of them had ever been in a wedding before, so it was pretty exciting for them. They all did a great job and (I think) had fun. The location of our wedding is a resort hot springs with cabins and hotel like rooms. All of the kids stayed in cabins and really enjoyed the cabin stay along with swimming in the warm pools. Even though it was cooler out, the water was amazing. My husband and I are both avid hot springers and we love to soak. We had been to many hot springs during our courtship but Mt. Princeton Hot Springs is by far our most favorite here in Colorado. We are planning an anniversary trip back up there for our first anniversary!
Ring Bearer’s carrying an Irish Vowing stone & cute sign.
I have so much more to share about our wedding. I will be posting more photograph’s and more information about how I made and planned everything so that we and our guests had the best time ever on the best day ever!
Venue location: Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, Nathrop, Colorado
Photo credit: James Hoang of MHPHOTOSHOOT – http://www.mhphotoshoot.com
Bridal bouquet, boutonniere’s, and corsages – http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThatVintageBride
Wedding March sung by: Cyndee McGovern – she sang, “One Thousand Years” by Christina Perri
*Little Miss Idea is a personal blog written by Meg Meg also runs a bridal planning and creative business – That Vintage Bride. Email: ThatVintageBridge@gmail.com for more info or pricing.
March has started off very mildly here in the West. The weather has been warm and the flowers are already starting to bloom. Proving that a new season is upon us. Spring. Spring is one of my favorite seasons. It’s a time of rebirth in so many ways. It’s a great time to do some Spring Cleaning.
Many people use the start of the spring season to do the dreaded “Spring Cleaning”. This normally means cleaning out closets & cabinets, scrubbing blinds, baseboards, floors and cleaning up the outside areas so they are ready for the outdoor activities that are just around the corner. Most of the time, this is hard work and not all that enjoyable. I participate in the dreaded practice of “Spring Cleaning” too, but this year instead of the dreaded ritual, why not mix it up a bit?
I think Spring is a great time to get your personal house in order but it’s also a great time to get your business or work house in order too. When was the last time you updated your contacts and made sure the email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers and names (who in your network has gotten married or divorced and changed their names recently?) were all correct? No one loves updating their contacts, but if you just sit down and do it, it won’t take as long as you think.
Spring is also a great time to purge old files, clean out your desk drawers, dust and clean up your work areas (don’t forget the shelves and any work tables or credenza’s). If you don’t have a shredder, there are companies that will come to your office and pick up or shred your files onsite for a fee. Click here for info on local shredding companies. If it’s not relevant or needed information, get rid of it. Less paper is better these days.
Since Spring is a time of rebirth and flowers starting to bloom, I like to spruce up my work station and add a vase of flowers or a green flowering plant to my desk or filing cabinet. It makes me happy to work in a space that is neat, tidy and decorated with flowers and other inspirational things that bring a smile to my face as I’m working away. My view out my office window makes me very happy and when I’m working, I usually have my blinds open so when I look up from what I’m working on or just need a quick break, I can enjoy the view (see the photo at top of post – my office window view).
If you live in an area where the winter is harsh and you hunker down, Spring is a also a great time to reconnect with people that maybe you haven’t seen all winter personally and professionally. Make plans to get together with those people in your life that you haven’t seen since the Holidays.
If you are a small business owner, this is a great time to plan a March Madness Happy Hour or a St. Patty’s Day brunch or open house at your office or local pub. Connect with your clients and ask them to bring a friend along, you never know who may need your service or product again or introduce you to a new client.
I hope your Spring fills you with new fresh ideas that will translate into abundance for the rest of the year!
*Little Miss Idea is a personal blog written by Meg Does – Meg Does offers Marketing & Administrative Services to Small Business Owners, Real Estate Agents & Entrepreneurs. For more information on how Meg Does can help you with your professional needs, please email Meg at LittleMissIdea@gmail.com or leave a comment.
Lately my inspiration has been coming to me as I’m about to fall asleep. You know…that time when you’re floating inbetween consciousness & the deep restful sleep we all need. In my mind, the story and words are magical. I should get up and immediately write them all down. Instead, in my inbetween state, I tell myself that I will remember the words & write them the next day. The problem is…I don’t remember all of the fabulousness when I wake up. I remember bits & pieces but can’t seem to pull it all together.
To try to come up with a solution to this dilemma, I have put a notebook & pen on my bedside table. I’m hoping the next time inspiration strikes during my inbetween wakefulness time I’ll be able to capture enough of the story to retell it while I’m fully awake.
Here is my third guest blog that I wrote about AfterHours yearly event, Christmas in the Park. This event just gets bigger and bigger each year. This year, we were able to give out more sleeping bags. Hand out more coats. Give a little joy to almost 1,000 of our homeless friends. I’m proud to be a member of this organization and to be able to write for them. Read the post here.
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I have spent the better part of today writing three guest blogs for an organization that is near and dear to my heart. I loved writing the posts for them and since I’m passionate about feeding and helping the homeless in Denver, it was very easy for me to write three blog posts. It helped another member of AfterHoursDenver by saving her quite a bit of time. It helped me hone in on my writing skills more, get out of my own head, get away from my ankle recovery and think about how little it takes to help others in need.
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If I were as passionate about some of my previous jobs as I am about writing and helping the homeless, who knows what I could have accomplished!?! I know that people say if you do what you love, the money will find you. I’m hoping that is true for me in 2016. I’m going to write more…I have a few wedding blogs to post soon. I’m incorporating them with photos and giving credit to all of the vendors, so they are taking a bit longer. I’m planning to send more articles to other websites to try to get my articles published by someone other than me. I’m guest blogging for anyone who asks(as long as I’m knowledgeable about their topic) and I’m starting a new Vintage bridal business – That Vintage Bride. If you are interested in reading more about that business, please like and follow us on Facebook.
I was asked to be a guest blogger for an organization that I’m a member of – AfterHoursdenver.org. Please take a minute and read about the love and joy AfterHours Denver was able to spread on Thanksgiving this year!
