DIY Recover Kitchen Chairs Makeover with Cute Vinyl Fabric

I'm so excited to show you this new project we just finished! 

Our kitchen table and chairs was supposed to be a temporary fix in our old house when it went on the market and we had a big empty space in our kitchen.  We bought the set for super cheap and planned to get rid of it within a year or two once we moved.  6 years later, we still have it in our kitchen and use it every day.  The microfiber chair pads have taken a beating from a messy toddler and they're not very easy to clean.  The picture below makes them look a lot nicer than they actually are.  They're dirty, crumbs stick to them, and there's more milk stains than we can count!

Here's the before photos so we can do a comparison after the makeover.

It took me so long to recover the chairs because I couldn't find fabric that I liked and would be easy to clean.  But when I saw this cute vinyl fabric from Hobby Lobby, I knew it would be perfect!  I had a little help from the husband with the staple gun and Caylee was a little spectator for the whole thing. 


You know your baby loves to sleep when she's passed out a foot away from a staple gun that keeps going off!

It only took about 2 hours to do the whole project and I love how they came out!

The fabric is perfect for messy kids and it looks really cute in the kitchen!

 I guess our kitchen set is going to last another few years until we finally decide to buy a new one!

DIY Sew a Chevron Vinyl Diaper Changing Pad / Play Mat

Newborn diaper changes are messy and they happen way too often.  If you have to change 10+ diapers a day, you might at well make it a little more fun by having a cute diaper changing area to do it on.  I found this adorable vinyl fabric at Hobby Lobby and knew I had to buy some for a fun craft.  

I tend to change diapers in our bedroom since it's the easiest for me and a little mat for the area would be a huge help to keep things clean.  I used to use an old hospital pad for the changing area, so I copied those measurements for my pad which was about 18" x 26".  I bought double that size so I could have vinyl on the front and back of the mat.

The vinyl is somewhat thick, but I wanted to make it a little stiffer, so I ironed interfacing on both sides of the pad.  You have to be careful not to melt your vinyl, but I put the iron on a medium setting and it worked great.

Basically, I just made the pad like a pillow, so I put wrong sides together and sewed around 3 sides.  The vinyl is a little harder to work with because it's a little sticky and thick, but it was workable.

I left the 4th side open.

Then I turned the fabric right side out and pressed all the edges flat using my hands.


Again, this was not the most simple thing to do with thick vinyl, but I pinned the 4th side closed and sewed it on the machine.

Caylee tried out her new mat later that day!

It also worked really well as a play mat especially if you have a baby that likes to spit up!

 My little model likes to move, but she's cute!

Caylee's Room Reveal!

Since she came 2 weeks early, we still had a little bit to finish up after she got home.  We finally put the finishing touches on the room and I'm excited to show it off!

Connor has a little door hanger on his door, so I felt like she should have one too.

The name banner was a big ordeal, but I'm happy with how it turned out.  I spent a long time looking for the perfect way to display her name on the wall and I wanted something unique.  For a few months, I was planning on doing a tree branch with birds and the letters hanging down, but it just didn't end up working with the design of the room.  When I found these personalized felt banners, I knew it would be perfect!

The paisley bedding was another challenge because Daddy and I didn't agree on what to get.  I usually pick out all the little home details, but he had more of an opinion on this.  He finally gave in and let me get my favorite paisley bedding and I love the use of aqua for little girls.  The polka dot accents worked really well as an accent pattern that I used throughout the rest of the room too.  The sad part is that when we went to put the bumper on (just for show, not for her to use now), it didn't fit!  The mattress height along with the height of the bumper doesn't work with the crib.  Once we lower the mattress, it will fit, but I'm sad that it doesn't work right now unless I try to revemp it myself.

The wall art was really hard for me to find because I wanted something that matched and worked with the proportions of the walls.  When I saw these girly animal canvas pieces, I knew they would be perfect.  The borders actually have the polka dot borders and that sealed the same for me.  There are bird and elephant accessories in her room, so the animals fit in well too.

Moving on, I added the yellow rocker and floor lamp from Connor's room.  I also got the same wall shelves that he has to display some special photos and trinkets.

I'm waiting to get newborn photos back to put them in the frames, but I also added her first doll from Grammy and Grandpa and the embroidered name sign I made (see below).

I'm so happy with how this turned out! I had a vision in my head and it came out exactly how I planned!  The bunting is made from little scraps of fabric and the name and bunting ribbon are embroidered by hand.

The pillow on the chair was another DIY project that I worked on while pregnant.  I picked up the polka dot accent pattern and sewed a felt flower on top.

The bookshelf is the same one Connor has, but with a girly flair.  I picked up light pink and hot pink storage totes and filled them with some toys and bedding.  Most of the little trinkets are gifts that she got from family & friends, so it's nice to be able to have a place to display them.

The bookends were a bargain at $2!  They were broken and didn't match, so I fixed them with some wood glue and repainted them to match the bedding.

In the other corner, we added the long dresser with the diaper changing pad.

The bird photo frame wall hanging was another great bargain I found.  I bought it for $4 and added new white ribbon to match.

A labor of love and many months of work came together to make the perfect room for our little girl!

Paisley bedding: My Sam Pixie from Kohls, Target, Babies R Us
Pink polka dot changing pad cover: Target
Elephant bookends: Homegoods and DIY
Name banner bunting: Deco Mod Walls on Etsy

Cupcake door hanger: Garden Ridge
Canvas wall art: Gordman's

Bird wall frame: Ross

Bird cage pillow: Homegoods

Flower pillow: DIY

DIY Easy No-Sew Upcycled Baby Headbands

The baby headband DIYs continue!  I used an old t-shirt to make both of these and they were super easy to do.

This knotted headband by Love Stitched is made from an old t-shirt.

I used the leftover pieces from the one above to make this little bow headband.  It's just a 1 inch wide piece of t-shirt fabric and I used hot glue to attach the bow.

Apparently, she got a little bored durng our headband photoshoot...yawn!

And a little tongue!

And back to sleep!

DIY Upcycled Baby Flower Headband

Here's Caylee modeling her new headband on the 4th of July!


I've been obsessed with baby headbands ever since I found out I was having a girl.  They're so easy to make and I love a quick craft that I can get done during a toddler or baby nap.

This tutorial is a flower jersey knit headband by Kelli Murry and it was super easy to make in just a short time while I watched tv and the baby napped.  I think I'm going to make them in more colors too!