When “easy” projects go bad ~ re-covering a chair

My daughter has been suffering thru the entire school year with a semi-broken desk chair; until fairly recently I had the brilliant idea of pulling one of our old chairs out of storage for her to use. Yeah, okay, that’s not like a flash of brilliance, is it, to use something you already own but forgot about? Our stuff has been in storage for far too long! Two trips across county and five years in storage… urrrrrr. Anyhoo…

What a great plan! So I took her to the fabric store to pick out some material she’d like the seat covered in because that’s easy to do. I mean, I’d done it before and it was easy.

I don’t know what went wrong. Well, first of all, the seat frame was broken (the thing is over a hundred years old, I don’t blame it) so I asked my dad if he could fix it. Well, would fix it… of course he could. And as expected, he did a better-than-necessary job. But. Whereas before I would have just tacked the new fabric over the old (which I had done once, and apparently, as dad discovered while pulling it apart, had been done 4 times previously!) well, he stripped it down to the hundred year old cotton stuffing, so I had to start from scratch.
Here you can see all the holes in the frame from the multiple tacks used over time to hold all that fabric –

Mom helped me sew some muslin around the inner wire frame, then dad put all the parts back together… I just needed to recover it. Just.

I got it started so nicely, all smooth front and back. When I turned it over to check it out, I realized the pad had slipped back so you could feel the wood frame in front – because that’d be comfy. Plus, there was a weird lump. I didn’t remember there being any lumps. So I had to pull out the tacks and start over! I hate that. Turns out it was a blessing in disguise though because that weird lump turned out to be an old rusty upholstery tack that somehow had gotten stuck up in the pad – someday some poor sitter would’ve gotten stuck in the bum! I decided, since I was back at step 1, that a hundred years of sitting had made it kinda wimpy, anyway, so I asked mom for some batting and put another layer of soft on the seat. Much better.

At one point my husband came out and tried to help me. Why? WHY?? He’d love to think of himself as “handy”, but he’s just not. I mean, he does a lot of good stuff, but he is no craftsman. So, after he messed things up, and lost a couple tacks on the shop floor (a shop I quite often go barefoot in) I kindly (sort of) told him I was done with his help…

By then I was cranky, and quite possibly having a hot flash, so I got in a big hurry and managed to pinch my finger with the hammer. I don’t think I’ve done that in… decades.

Of course for the life of me I couldn’t get the stupid corner to tuck correctly. I re-did it three times then used the old family cry of “good enuf fur who it’s fur”.

The back corners worked beautifully, of course.

I have this curse of perfectionism that causes me to quite often not do things at all, because I know I can’t do them perfectly. It’s why it took me weeks to get around to doing this chair once I had the idea. I hate little imperfections in what I make. I am working on overcoming that… which is why I will call this chair fine, even if the corners annoy me, and I wish the seat were firmer, or more stuffed. It’s fine. Dad will screw the seat back down for me tomorrow, and it will be just fine.

And Kiki will have a desk chair to sit at her school computer. Now that she has 3 whole days of school left in this year.

…sigh…

That’s okay. She’ll still have a desk in her room, and she can still use a chair to sit in.  If not I’ll recover it and put it in my room! Ha.

 

Hunting Christmas Trees in Idaho

This is how we get Christmas trees in Idaho.

We traipse through the woods.

After we find the (very im-)perfect tree, we strap it to the top of the car.

We have soup, sausages cooked over the fire, hot cocoa, and of course – s’mores!

We also have a bunch of fun with friends and family.

I need an identity… or, for others at least to see the one I’ve got.

I feel like I’ve lost my identity. And not because someone stole my credit cards or something.

One of the hardest parts of not having my own home is that no one knows my “style”.  That sounds sort of weird, I suppose, but it’s true.  I realized the other day that of the people who are my friends now, not one of them knew me when I owned my own home… they have all become friends since we moved back here to Idaho, and we’ve lived with my parents the whole time so far.  (I suppose that also says something about my lack of friends, but that’s another story for another time)  So, you know, people use to come to my house and say “oh, you are into horses” because of the pictures and statues and stuff; or “gosh, I love your purple couches” or the antiques or oddities, or the way I’d painted my walls, whatever. It said something about who I was, in a way.

None of these people knew me before I was fat, either. All I ever wear these days is jeans and shirts, flipflops in summer, tennies in winter… a skirt on rare occasion. I don’t hate fashion;  I hate how I look and just can’t abide spending money on things I will look crappy in anyhow.  So there is nothing that says “this is the sort of flair I have”.

Also, no one really gets that I am passionate about horses. I haven’t owned any in, well, over 10 years, so that seems like a part of my life that is so far gone that no one even knows it used to be the biggest part of my life. I don’t even do any horse-related stuff, like go watch shows or go to the big Horse Affair they have here each year like I used to; it’s just too depressing to be so far removed from that life that I try not to think about it at all.

No one really knows me, I guess that’s what I am saying. And I am beginning to wonder if I truly know myself anymore. Who am I? Certainly not who I used to be… I don’t think… and I’m not really sure how to find out.

It’s done ~ my Paper Tree

Well, on close inspection you can find plenty of flaws… pencil marks I can’t get erased, chunks and tears in the paper and foam core, and I even accidentally “pruned” a couple leaves off! However, at an ‘over all’ glance, it looks pretty decent. I hope my sis is happy with it.  I will try to get a couple pics tomorrow when it’s in use so you can see what it’s used for!

(the slits are so you can slip it together to stand up)

 

 

Another craft project – Paper Wish Tree

My sister is throwing a baby shower for her daughter-in-law, (her first grandbaby!!) and we were looking for decoration ideas. She found this tree thingie – it’s made of “heavy-weight” paper, and it stands up and you can put hand written “wishes” on it, or money, or, whatever I guess, as long as it’s lightweight.  This piece of paper, however, costs $40.!  Sheesh! So of course I have to open my big mouth and say “Gosh, couldn’t you just make this out of that foam-core posterboard?”

Yeah. Guess what I’ve been doing tonight?

Started with posterboard and some tree ideas…

  

Sketched a tree onto one half of the board…

Then I asked my dad if he had an exacto knife. Now, asking my dad if he has a tool is like asking Purina if they make dog food.  I mean, duh. So I knew he’d have one… but HOLEYCOW!! 

This is what he brought out…

My dad is da‘tool bomb! Really, who has this stuff??!

Look – it even has little saw blades!

So. Cool.

Well, cutting through that foam-core poster board was way harder than I thought it would be. Of course. I may never be able to bend my wrist again. But,  I have one side cut out.  Urgh. One more to go…

I’m having an Epiphany! (of the Feast kind, not the thought kind…)

(… although, I could probably use one of the thought kinds…)

An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something. The term is used in either a philosophical or literal sense to signify that the claimant has “found the last piece of the puzzle and now sees the whole picture,” or has new information or experience, often insignificant by itself, that illuminates a deeper or foundational frame of reference.

So, yeah, I could totally do with one of those!  Sadly, that’s not what I’m having today.  What I am having is the churchy kind, the last day of the 12 Days of Christmas. January 6th. This is a day that some Christians around the world traditionally observe as the day the 3 Kings (or Wisemen) came to visit baby Jesus and brought him gifts. In some places, this is the day gifts are exchanged rather than on Christmas Day. Some people do a little something on each of the 12 days.

Over the years since I’ve been married, we have observed this day more or less depending on what else was going on in our lives.  We’ve never made it as big a deal as Christmas, but some years we did have an extra gift on this day, read the Bible story of the wisemen, and one year I even baked a King’s Cake. Yeah, only one year.  But I always want to make one! Neither of us really had this day as a tradition in our family, and sometimes I think my main reason for celebrating it is to extend Christmas for a little longer, because it’s my favorite day of the year.   Also, to put off the inevitable mess of “packing away Christmas” for another year.

This year it’s probably less of a deal than ever, as we’re still at my parents house and I’m just not in the mood.  The most that we’re doing is not putting the tree away until tomorrow. Whoopee.

Maybe I should put my energies into having the other kind of Epiphany instead.

It’s all over but the carnage (also, 2 more Christmas gift craft ideas)

Welcome to The Day After.

 

Actually, it’s never too bad at our house.  As soon as the stockings are emptied, before the unwrapping begins, someone goes and grabs a trashbag and we clean as we go.  Still, at this point we are left with dozens of boxes that need to be put somewhere, and gifts and stuff that need to be put away in an already full house.

The space under the tree is empty. (My dream is one day to have a not-cheesy-tree-skirt…and a real tree.  I can’t stand fake ones, but such is life at the moment.  So no giggling at mine.)

Stuff needs to go someplace… soon…

One of my fave gifts this year is a new coffee cup!  I’ve been wanting one that is just mine and just right (I’m rather picky.) Living in my folk’s house, I’ve just used theirs; I mean, it’s not like we’re gonna unpack a kitchen box or 12 just to find my favorite coffee mug.  So here is my new one!  I actually picked it out; Kiki and I were shopping and I loved it, so she “snuck” it into my shopping cart, lol. We do that when she’s Christmas shopping for me.  (Gosh, at World Market this year she picked out a bunch of stocking stuffers for me, put her little handbasket in my cart, and had me look the other way while she placed them on the counter and the gal bagged the stuff!) Yeah, obviously I paid for my own stuff, but it’s the thought that counts..?

It’s beautiful, a white-on-white design.  The picture really doesn’t capture just how pretty it is.  I adore little wild birdies – the other gift she picked out for me (again, while we were together, this time at the tree festival!) was this little snowy, pineconey guy that I set with a couple of my other birdie friends –

Oh! Here are some pics of more craft – gift projects.  One is another ‘thrift shop plate and cups’ jewelry holder for one of my nieces.  Her room is painted with these huge circles on the walls, so we were so excited to find this plate!

The other is a stuffed animal (well, it might be an animal. I dunno) that is made from a sock. This was a last minute gift (for Kiki’s stuffie friend) so altho it would have looked nicer with an embroidered face, I just used a Sharpie and called it good.  It only took about a half hour or so to make.  Would’ve been quicker if I’d sewn it on the machine but everyone was in bed so I didn’t want to make noise (the sewing room is across the hall from my parent’s bedroom.)

Well, it’s nearly 2pm, so perhaps I should go take a shower now.  I hate to leave the quiet of the moment, as everyone else is out and about and I have a little time to myself – which is rare here.  I am loving it!  However, they will be returning soon, so I guess I should get dressed or something….

Hope everyone had a wonderful (at least mostly wonderful) Christmas!

Advent Calendar Wreath – post try 2

Alrighty – I will attempt to post these pictures so you can see what I did!  Here we go….

 

 

Look close – you’ll see all the glitter I dumped in the grass!  Sheesh…

 

 

 

So I spray painted the grapevine wreath silver –

 

 

I bought some ‘candy favor boxes’, 24 for only $4.35.  24 boxes – perfect!

 

 

After I numbered them, I realized they would be hanging lengthwise, so I probably should’ve written on them sideways instead –

 

 

 

I painted some and put a few stickers on…

 

 

It made the cat happy… then they were ready to fill

 

 

 

I used a hole punch to make a hole in each box, then hung the boxes from the wreath with ornament hooks –

 

 

Hanging it was the harderst part!  I used one of those 3M removable hook deals, but the ceiling there is over 9′ high… I am 5’2″… I had to use a stepladder AND a really long stick to put it up there!!  But it’s ready to count down the days ’til Christmas!

 

 

p.s.  Oliver is doing well, ya think?

 

 

 

Christmas Craft! Advent calendar hanging wreath

You’ve heard the saying “Necessity is the mother of invention”? Yes, well, you may be seeing a lot of crafts on my blog in the next few weeks, since Christmas is coming up and our funds are rather low.  I have some great ideas… we’ll see what I actually get accomplished.

Todays craft was also created out of necessity.  Kiki wanted an advent calendar.  We’d seen a few at World Market a couple weeks ago, but the ones they had left were a little… well, the ones in the ad paper were cuter, and we innocently assumed they’d get some more in soon. Well, when we returned on the last day on November they had one left… one that looked as though it had been run over by a shopping cart.  Shoot.  We went to a total of 5 stores searching for an advent calendar.  Each place either never carried them this year, or were completely sold out.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????  Christmas. No advent calendars. Weird.

 

So I promised Kiki I’d make her one.  But I had to keep it cheap.  I spent some time after dropping her off at the co-op wandering a few stores and finally came up with an idea!  See, I had some craft supplies I’d picked up last year after Christmas to make a hanging wreath

for this year.  So, I’d tweak it a bit. All I needed was a few boxes and some stuff to stick in them (mostly candy!) and “voila”! Advent calendar.

 Here are some pics of what I had and the process:

I started with a grapevine wreath

 

  

 OKAY!  I am really really really irritated!!  My picture uploads are not working at all!!  It all looks great until I actually get it posted, then it’s all wonky and missing stuff and mIxed up… i AM GETTING REALLY PISSED OFF SO IT’S TIME TO QUIT!!  I’ll try again tomorrow I guess…

 

Getting ready for a pirate (of the Caribbean) party! Awesome pirate flag/jolly roger cake

Kiki’s birthday is Sunday, and since her current obsession is Pirates of the Caribbean (or, more specifically, Jack Sparrow and Will Turner!) that is her party theme.

I really needed to not spend as much money on her party as I have in the past, (I tend to go a little crazy) so we scoured thrift stores and discount places for the things we needed… and did we luck out!  We found all kinds of stuff that looks like treasure and other piratey things.  Then we happened to have some other stuff in the storage unit (like dress-up jewelry) that we were actually able to find…  I am going to make a pirate sail, – a Black Pearl sail, of course!  – and if you can believe it, I actually found a black sheet at the thrift store!  How likely is that to happen??

So, the table is set…

(ignore the rubber bands on the top of the candleabra… I’m trying to ‘tweak’ it a bit…)

Then there is the cake.  It rocks!!  I did an amazing job, if I do say so myself. 🙂

I went the lazy route and used a (modified) cake mix, so of course it wanted to fall apart… unlike a good scratch-made cake… oh well. It worked.

Here was my inspiration ~

So I covered the cake first with buttercream icing:

Then fondant ~

added the details ~

put silver lustre dust on the coins ~

Pretty awesome, huh??!