Earlier this summer I stumbled across one of the coolest blogs, little free radical, (http://littlefreeradical.com/2012/03/04/20-latt-childrens-table-chairs-makeover-d-i-y-ikea-hack-little-free-radical/)  She took a simple Ikea table and chair and turned them into a stunning personalized addition to her toddlers room.

Now that August has arrived and I'm in full get ready for school mode I finally finished my own version of this "hack". As you can see our set of Latt Ikea table and chairs has been used, scratched and stained in the three years we've had it.  It took me a week to paint, cover, sew seat cushion and talk my dad into cutting down the plexi glass to cover the top. Overall the finished product is great and the project was pretty easy. 

Cautionary notes:
1. Our Loews would not cut down the plexi glass to fit the table top
2. sewing cushion covers for the chairs was tricky to smoothly cover the one inch notch
3.  I would recommend priming the wood first to cover blemishes on the wood so they don't show though.  
4. gluing fabric to  a flat surface without distorting the pattern is not as easy as it looks. 

My bean is turning 5! I've still got a long list of things to make to mark the occasion but I did manage to finish this years party favors. I've been feeling more eco-friendly this year and wanted the favors to reflect that. So each of our party guests is going home with a jam jar drinking cup and reusable travel size chalk board.

 To create this project you will need jam jars, ( I found mine at Ace Hardware), paper straws and decorative lids also called daisy lids ( I purchased mine at Cupcake Express on Etsy) http://www.etsy.com/shop/CupcakeExpress.  A collection of these would look brilliant on a serving tray and patio party. 


The chalk mats were also easy and fast to sew. I purchased a 1/2 yard of oil cloth  and chalk cloth and box of chalk from target and some ribbon.  I tend to sew in assembly line fashion. I cut my fabric and ribbon first. The oil cloth and chalk cloth were 5.7,  the pocket was 3 by 1.5 and the ribbon was 16 inches long.   I attached the pocket first and used a small piece of scotch tape to secure it while i sewed. Then I sewed the oil cloth to the chalk cloth (wrong sides together and secured them with small binder clips ( a trick I read about on oilclothaddict.blogspot.com).  Once all complete I trimmed the exterior with pinking shears. The finished product is pretty cute. 

My Lavender Dots were featured in a lovely treasury! One of these I've got to figure out how to make these on Etsy.