Make It: Pottery Barn Style Kitchen Set Refinish

Check out this find!
Yesterday I was shopping for shower gifts and came across a wonderful resale shop, WINGS. The mission of Wings is to uplift women and children who were victims of domestic violence.

So if that wasn’t incentive enough I find this great oval table with newel post style legs and with four poorly covered ladder back chairs – for $90! Amazing I could even buy one PB chair for that cheap.

Check back in to see me and CAL’s progress on the strip and stain process.

And if you have any green, chemical and mostly sanding free stripping methods please do share!

Xoxo Jamie Lee

Make It: Seat Cushion

This is my most recent craft. I made this cushion as a Christmas gift for my father-in-law. This was my first time sewing a cover to go around 5″ thick high-density foam.

Most of the cushion was actually very simple and done on my machine how ever the closure in the back had to be done by hand. My favorite part of this project was sewing with the piping trim that went around the edge. This was my first time working with that trim material and I feel like it turned out really great!

Check out the pictures and let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions/advice for working with high density foam or the trim.

Xoxo Jamie Lee

Win It: Safety in Organic Baby Goods by The Art of Making Baby

Check out this fabulous giveaway of Organic baby goods sponsored by

The Art of Making Baby!

<3 Jamie Lee

Hallowen Haul – Part I

I am just your average girl but with any holiday there is always a reason to shop and try some new beauty products.  This Halloween CAL and I were “Greeks”, a nice little change since usually I would say we are Geeks! For the first time I had a reason to be into the color gold, which I generally shy away from since I am so fair skinned.

First, I purchased  Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Glitz Blitz. It was extremely easy to apply. CAL actually helped me in the car before walking into a bar on Saturday night. Peel, stretch, stick and file. We only had one causality in the stretch and stick process but it was an easy enough fix to rip the sticker off before it full adhered and find another similar sized sticker.  The thing my friends commented about it was that although it’s a glitter polish it is so smooth to the touch. It is relatively easy to take off for a glitter polish that is intended to last 10 days. Mine started looking like this after 5 days.I hit up the Ulta with an eye out for some new nail color since this Gold is flaky. Browsin’ the Butter bin for the first time ever I saw Butter London Nail Foundation & Butter London P.D. Quick Top Coat. I couldn’t find a Butter color that would look decent with my pallor so I decided to try OPI French Quarter for Your Thoughts from the Touring America Line, Fall 2011. It’s a really soft creme demure grey color – not too dark, not too light. I have to say the Nail Foundation is impressive. It matte-ifies and smooths out the nail surface so well I could see myself using it alone.

In the next post, <Halloween Haul – Part II>  I’ll be telling you about 3 new hair products I tried over the Halloween weekend – Morrocan Oil, Conair Infiinti You Curl Wand Styler and L’oreal Paris Elnett Satin hairspray.

Move It: aloveleelittlelife on wordpress!

Made the move to WordPress. I was aggravated with Blogger’s down times/outages which always seemed to coincide with when I was able to write or upload pictures. Don’t get me wrong I still love all things Google but sometimes it’s best to stick with a specialist that do one thing EXCELLENT than stay with the guy who can’t do a LOT of things well. Hope you enjoy the new home!

Fix It: Your Home & The Storm

Chicago-land homeowners if you reading this, congratulations you are one of the lucky ones! Commonwealth Edison says that roughly 400,000 households were without power.

On June 21st a powerful storm with hurricane force winds, rain and lighting tore through our area (Chicago- Park Ridge- Edison Park- Norridge- Des Plaines) with the North and West suburbs being hit the hardest. Even a tornado touched down for 2 miles in the Downer’s Grove area.

As a Real Estate Broker I want to warn you of what is to come! Be ware, in the days or weeks to come if someone knocks on your door offering you a “FREE ROOF” and all you have to do is sign here and give up a little personal information PLEASE JUST SAY NO! They are attempting to trick you with a free roof inspection and in reality you are granting them permission to contact your insurance company on your behalf and file a claim. These Storm-chasers are doing this purely for their benefit not yours.

If you do in fact believe there is damage to your roof contact me (your local Realtor ®), your family, friends or neighbors for referrals. Reputable companies will provide you a free inspection without signing away your rights. I recommend getting 3 estimates. Never feel obligated to go with a company simply because of the free inspection. If you feel uncomfortable or unsure do not commit. Remember they are earning the ability to provide a service and proving their ability to do so (just as Realtor®s do!) 

I would also recommend checking with the BBB of Chicago and checking with the IL Secretary of State that your chosen provider is a resisted corporation in Illinois, in good-standing, licensed, bonded and insured. A roof is a major investment in your home, don’t trust it to the storm-chasers who pursue you!

Make It: In the works…

We have two houses on our street that are rented not owned. Every few months the tenants move out and being the work from home type my desk sits neatly overlooking the driveway and the garbage day.

I found this mid-century looking bench last summer and failed to put it away in the garage. Thus, it was buried in Chicago’s Snow-magedon dried out, the top coat flaked off… I may just saved myself hours and chemicals.

I have started working on it and can’t wait to reveal!

Make It: Alicia Paulson’s Crewelwork Sampler

I’m so excited about this craft! I just pre-ordered Alicia Paulson’s Daisychain ABCs Crewelwork Sampler Kit, $25 & her other favorite notions too. I am particularly excited about the French heart shaped embroidery scissors they are so functionally beautiful for lack of better words.



Image courtesy of Alicia Paulson


I’ve been looking for something more handmade that I could work on sitting on the couch next to my hubby rather than trapped up in my sewing room/office. I came across Alicia’s work through a blog I regularly read about a crafty local girl (who I look up to), Nicole Balch of Making it Lovely. I think the colors are absolutely striking and the various techniques will really help me learn and broaden my skill set. I’m looking forward to sharing with you my progress. You’ll hear my blogged squeals when it arrives mid-June!


<3 Jamie Lee

Work It: Real Estate Salesperson Exam

Illinois Real Estate Salesperson Exam …. PASSED!

I am so delighted and feeling the warmth of loving encouragement from friends that weave through all parts of my life. I have a brokerage in place and am looking forward to meeting with HR tomorrow and being on the new hire side of that paperwork.

God provides faithfully.
<3 Jamie Lee

Make It: Burp Cloth

With all my girls out here in Chicago having babies I figured I could make them a more personal gift to go with  the diaper cakes I make them (which I will post later and link up).

So I picked 2 fabrics which suit my friends Mimi & K with minky backings. I even found Heart shaped minky plush.

A hard lesson learned as a new sew-er on previous endeavors was pre-shrinking! So I now wash and iron all my fabrics.

I bought this pattern (Simplicity 2924) online for $15.95…and later when I went to JoAnn Fabrics they had a sale for Simplicity patterns – 99 cents a piece!

Chopped up the pattern. Simple enough.

I purchased a rotary cutter since my last projects I had major poor quality cutting, fraying and all around crappy lines. It is a Fiskars 45mm.

  I LOVE how crisp and clean the lines are and how easy and quick I can cut patterns. This was worth the $10 to keep me interested in crafting.

Then I cut the backing. Unfortunately I didn’t have a middle layer but after experiencing how drooly K’s baby is that would be a great benefit. So in the future I plan to add an absorbent middle layer in honor of baby G.

I used brown thread for both the top and bottom stitch. Quick stitched all but 5 inches inside-out with a Basic Running Stitch. Ironed seams while inside-out. Turned it back right side, ironed once again. Pressed seams down on remaining opening and pinned closed to guide my finishing stitch.

Wa-lah! A contoured burp cloth! Made by yours truly!
<3 Jamie Lee