embrace the camera!

I decided to try doing an "embrace the camera" finally! i got the idea from this awesome mommy blog that i follow. 

it's such a great idea because i am ALWAYS the one behind the camera and almost am never IN the shots... i was looking in all my photos in the last few months, and there is not one good picture of me - 

i'm more in the background if at all! 

so here's me and my boys. it has been SUCH amazing weather in winnipeg lately which pretty much never happens this time of year. i am still resisting to put away my kids snowpants and winter things because i know once i do, the weather will go back to "normal"... but we totally have been taking advantage of being outside! on the day i took this picture, i was out with the boys and the wagon going for a nice walk. 

i am loving loving loving that wyatt is big enough to go for real walks now. he even wants to pull the wagon! plus, leo is actually listening more lately (maybe coming out of the terrible 3's?) and walks are enjoyable again and i don't have to resort to stuffing them both into strollers... i can't wait for summer!!!

i heart this picture of me and my boys.... 

everyone is smiling and even though wyatt isn't looking, it's so typical of him - 

always checking out what big brother is doing! he adores him so much!

and some more cute photos of our walk:

 Leo is a little big for the tricycle, but his bike had flat tires :(

did i mention already that leo is still in the "cheese face" phase of smiling for the camera?? 

it's so hard to get him to smile nice for the camera... 

it's almost always "cheese face"... 

 wyatt had SO much fun walking down our street - 

he was so proud of himself and he giggled whenever his feet slipped on the gravel on the road :)

Poang Chair Slip-Cover Tutorial

i am finally getting a chance to blog about the new ikea poang chair slipcover i made...  do you know how hard it is when the kiddos are awake to find time to blog? right now wyatt is pulling on my leg saying "mommy, mommy" and leo is trying to wrestle with him while watching cartoons... you would think i might blog when the kids are napping... but seriously there are too many other things to be done... or tv shows to finally catch up on... :)

 i apologize for not having pictures of each step by step process... i had originally meant to follow a tutorial i found online and not take any pictures, but when i started i realized that that chair tutorial didn't account for the attached head pillow like mine has... so i had to work from scratch... 

so it was easiest to do a slipcover that went over top of the old cover... no messing around with padding etc...  plus i could wash it easily (potty accidents and throw up happen you know!) and if we got bored of the new look, i could just go back to the old one for a while... i also found my fabric at an amazing price ... $14!!! i think a replacement cover at ikea is around $75... so if it turned out, it was definitely worth the try!

i actually got 3 meters of fabric for $14... but i think you only need 2 since i have tons leftover.
 fabric should be 54" wide.

i also used about a 20" piece of velcro for folding over the fabric at the end (under the pillow).

i started by laying out the fabric on the floor and placing my cushion on top.
cut 2 equal pieces of fabric with about 2-3" extra on either side of the cushion (not sure how much to account for thickness, i didn't want to cut too short).

lay out one piece of fabric on the floor, face up.
place the cushion on top and lay the other cushion face down on top of the cushion.
pinch the pieces together and pin.

remove the cushion carefully, then sew down the 2 sides - leaving each end open.
slide the slipcover onto the cushion to check to see how snug the fit is...
(i ended up having to pinch and re-sew an extra inch in to get the snug fit i wanted..)

with the slipcover ON the cushion - and cushion right side up -
pin the fabric at the bottom of the cushion, conforming tightly to it. (see the tutorial to see what I mean).
the idea to pin at the bottom of the cushion was so when it was turned right side out,
the seam would not be as noticeable.
you are pinning the corners at an angle - look at that tutorial to see how.

carefully remove the cushion again and sew the bottom.
try the slipcover on and see if it's a nice fit.
(i realize how annoying it is to take it on and off multiple times!!)

once you have the desired look,
then you can trim the extra fabric on the sides and bottom to about a 1/4".

turn right side out and put on cushion once again.
put the cushion on the chair and pull fabric tightly around the top cushion.
mark where the fold is and where you will need to put velcro..

i didn't leave enough extra fabric at the top for this part, so my velcro is lower on the pillow than i would have liked...  but it still looks great..

 here is where i did the velcro - this is the underside of the pillow..
when sewing on the velcro pieces, you should also fold under the ends of the fabric so that it has a "finished" look to the ends when you are folding and velcro-ing later.

 what it looks like using velcro - i just pulled and bunched the fabric tightly and velcroed it down...
there might be a better way of finishing this, but this was quick and looked fine. faster than a zipper.

 close up view of the underside of the pillow with the velcro done

and that's it!

this fun cord fabric feels soft and "cozy" as leo says.
our family loves the "new" chair in our living room!

wyatt loving the new fabric

side note : probably should have chosen a different fabric since our couch (to the left of the pic above), is also a cord fabric... a little too much cord for one room, but it looks great!