Reupholstering My Chairs

I have been wanting to do this for years. Literally years, I'm not exaggerating. When my grandma passed away about 9 years ago, I got her dining room table and 6 chairs. It's a beautiful set, all the more special because I remember so many meals at it myself when I was growing up. When I first got it, I reupholstered the seats, since they were pretty dated. I loved how they turned out at the time and have enjoyed the fabric through the years. But after 4.5 years of kids eating in them and general wear and tear, I was ready for a change. Plus, I just love change. Plus, we're renting our house out soon and the renters looking at those dirty chairs was just the impetus I needed. If you know me, then you know that I. Am. Not. Crafty. But this is a super easy job that can be done in about two hours (that includes a trip to Home Depot and the "help" of a 3 year old boy).

Here's the chair before I started:

The first thing you do is unscrew the seat from the chair. Easy, peasy. 

Then you remove the staples (I sort of just pull the fabric up and it rips the staples out) and discard te old fabric.  Next you lay down (obviously, face down) the new fabric you want.

Then you just work your way around the seat, stapling (with a staple gun) and gathering the fabric so it's cinched and taut all the way around.

Trim the excess fabric off (it will be covering the holes you need to access to screw the seat back in) then just screw the seat back in.

Nothing to it! Isn't it pretty? As with every home project after I've finished it, I'm asking myself why I didn't do it sooner!

Jonah and Grandpa

We went to Disneyland a few Sundays ago, as we often do, and my parents joined us, as they often do. It is wonderful; time with family, lots of live music, tons of sights and sounds that spark our kids' imaginations, yummy snacks - we love pretty much everything about. 

But one of my new favorite things is that Jonah and my Dad have the same "Disneyland outfit." Everyone in our family has a Disneyland outfit -Ian and I have Mickey t-shirts (mine also has Minnie, Ian's also has Donald and Goofy), Ruthie has about 10 different princess shirts to choose from, not to mention the costumes she is sometimes able to talk us into letting her wear, and of course, Jonah has Toy Story and Cars t-shirts. My mom also has several Mickey/Minnie themed shirts in her arsenal. 

We've always wanted my dad to join in the fun (this tradition extends to both my sisters and their families) so not too long ago, we got my dad a Disneyland button down shirt, knowing he would never wear just a regular t-shirt. And then in the 3T bin that was handed down to us from Sarah's boys, there was a little "old man" button down Disneyland shirt in Jonah's size. It is so, so, so cute. 

Here are the two of them, in their button down Disney shirts, their khaki shorts, their white socks pulled up high and their black shoes, holding hands on the elevator. I think my heart might burst.