Up-cycling an old office chair

New sewing chair

Second hand store, office chair

I found this office chair at my local thrift store for $5.00.

 Pretty ugly wouldn't you say?

But I could see it's potential, a little spray paint, some new fabric

and I would have a great sewing chair.

I took the seat and backrest off, then spray-painted the frame  a gloss black.

Off came the old seat cover.

The foam cushion was still good so all I needed to do make a new cover.

Since the seat frame was metal I couldn't staple a new cover on

 so I opted to sew one.

I cut a rectangle of fabric, hemmed the edges to form a casing, 

 inserted some elastic, 

pulled the elastic tight to form the fabric around the seat and then tied it off.

Kind of like a shower cap.

The backrest was in two parts, front and back, held together with screws.

The leather cover was in good shape so I just covered over it.

I cut a rectangle of fabric for each piece.

Using some embroidery floss, I did a gathering stitch around the edges

of the rectangles, then gathered them up around each piece.

 I also stitched from top to bottom and side to side, 

(kind of like tying up a corset) to get it good and tight. 

After cutting off the extra fabric in the corners,

I screwed the two pieces back together and re-assembled the chair.

I like the vintage vibe of the old steel frame mixed with the modern fabric.

Vintage office chair

What do you think?

Till next time,

Bonjour

Vintage Dresser Redo

Dresser body

 

Drawers



OK, having a few issues with blogger, moving on.....

I found this dresser at my local thrifty several years ago for $50.00.
Although it didn't have any hardware, I thought it was well worth the price,
well made, solid oak, heavy, just needed a little help.
I slapped some pulls on it for the meantime, put it in my bathroom
to house towels etc, and there it stayed, looking forlorn and neglected.
Time for a redo!

After a good clean up, I gave the body several coats of
white latex satin, then did the  drawers in black latex satin.
~~~~Yes, I am painting in my office, library area.
I just put down an old shower curtain as a drop cloth.~~~~

The hardware was an issue...
Over the years I've collected a few drawer pulls and knobs....
You know what I mean, the cheap, falling apart
cabinet or chest by the roadside on trash day?
Grab that hardware!

With what I had on hand, hardware wise,
and a little gold spray paint, I was able to stylishly open the drawers.

Now I have a cute, new dresser in my sewing area to store my fabrics.


Till next time,
Bonjour




DIY Craft Show Banner

SEW.....

Time is being spent preparing for the up-coming shows.

Making soap, sewing, all the things that come with running my own business.

This is the latest....

 

I needed a more detailed banner and

funds being what they are, I decided to make my own.

 

craft show banner

 Found the letter templates at

http://chubbiecubbie.com/abc123printables.htm

 

I bonded the letters to my fabric panel with wonder under

and then stitched them down as an added precaution.
 

I outlined the panel with bias binding and

added loops on the corners and in the center top and bottom.

 

 

The fabric panel was what I had left over from making my kitchen curtains.

 

 

The fabric flowers were free from my local thrift store.
The whole project was constructed with things I already had on hand.
 It was a bit time consuming but, worth the effort.

What great projects are you into?

Till next time,
Bonjour

 



Out For A Sunday Drive, Corsicana, Texas

 

Hubby wanted to go to Gander Mountain in Corsicana to

check prices on sausage casings.

I was like, yeah, OK, sure.

 

 

The ride in was on the interstate, lots of cars going way too fast!

 

 

When we got finished at the Gander,

we headed into town proper to hit the local Walmart.

 

 

My suggestion for the ride back was to take the back roads.

Out came The Roads of Texas Atlas.

(I love that atlas).

 

These photos were taken on FM 1126, just outside of Emhouse.

A beautiful drive back home, wouldn't you agree?

 

How was your Sunday?

 

Till next time,

Bonjour

Grill Up Bonanza



Market goodies

So...

This is the some of the produce I bought

yesterday at the market.

We did a grill up today with a sirloin steak, ribs, a small pork loin,

dogs, (no, not the pet kind) those beauties, Ý cantaloupe and bananas.

Here's the run down/method.

Hubby marinated the steak and pork loin in olive oil.

He also pre-cooked the ribs in the slow cooker with French's
Worcestershire sauce, (try to spell that without the bottle in front of you)

soy sauce, Louisiana hot sauce and some water.

When they were ready to grill he took them out of the cooking liquid
and put hickory smoked b-b-q sauce on them.

(I saved the cooking liquid in freezer containers for later use

in soups and stews this winter).

 

Dogs and cantaloupe

He cut and peeled the cantaloupe, cut into crescents and marinated 

one half (about 6 slices) in some juice from our canned jalapeños.
The other half of the melon, (also about 6 slices) 

were sprinkled with lemon pepper and chili powder.

I decided to cut the bananas length wise and douse them with maple syrup.

Maple syrup bananas

A couple packages of the dogs were coated in hickory smoked b-b-q sauce,

the others were left plain.

The tomato and colored bell peppers were sliced and grilled plain.

The critique...

Meat....
The steak, ribs and loin were good,
although,
 if I would have been grilling them,
I would have taken them off sooner.
I'm more of a medium rare to medium person.
Dogs were perfect!

Cantaloupe...
EXCELLENT!!!
I liked the jalapeño ones best!
You'll just have give them a go, they won't disappoint.
Easy to grill in the fish griller with no sticking.

Veggies...
Veggies were perfect, slightly crisp and sweet tasting.
No sticking in the fish griller.

Bananas...
OMG, so good you just can't imagine.
When I do bananas again I'll buy them a little more greener/firmer.
It was tricky getting them out of the fish griller whole.
Maybe oil the fish griller also?

The hubby did most of the work and I was so appreciative.
He's a pretty good cook.
The "pet" dogs were also appreciative for the rib bones :-)

I was otherwise occupied with making jelly.
I'll let you know how that turned out.

Till next time, grill,

it'll keep your house cooler/ save electricity.

Bonjour

P.S.

Twice, during this post when I clicked enter

to go to the next line, blogger posted instead of

moving to the next line.

I've been having nothing but problems

since they updated.

How about you?

Good Day At The Market



Mucho Soap!

So....

We were finally able to get back to the Waxahachie Farmer's Market

after two weekends of rain outs.

Not complaining... Just saying!

We're reaching a whole new demographic at this venue,

not just the handmade craft seekers. Actual customers that want

the more natural alternative to the store bought soaps and bath products.

Bon...

We've only been at this location a few months but we are

experiencing a repeat customer base here as well,

and as a bonus we're also getting more,

my sister, mother, friend told me about your products, referrals.

How cool is that?

You know you have a good product when you get referrals!

So I'm totally happy/thrilled/grateful about this aspect of our venture!

Eight years of serious dedication is starting to pay off.

On another note...

Since I am currently not employed/ punching anyone else's clock,

I've had more time to create in other ways.

I do love to sew, bead, repurpose, imagine...



Mini bag

Today I sold two aprons and a mini bag.

They are on their way to Japan!

Thank you lovely Japanese ladies,

who oo-ed and awed over my sewn creations.

I am so grateful!



Apron

The other apron didn't get photo-ed, that I can find, but thank you Sue

for the fabric/valance on this one!

Grilling tomorrow, still too hot for inside cooking.

50 cents each for large, colored bell peppers and 50 cents for a 12 ounce tomato,

$3.oo for the sweetest cantaloupe.

Still working through that half, grass fed cow!

Till next time, be grateful,

Bonjour

Lack of sunshine AKA I've been depressed!

Well....

I've been a little depressed....

Winter always does that to me.

Short days, lack of sunlight, working indoors?

All of the above?

Yep!!!

Anyway....

I was in need of a little brightness in my indoor home life so I decided to lighten things up a bit.

A few pieces of furniture were banished, a few rearranged and some renewed.

This dresser, rescued from a thrift store eight years ago,

functions as a sort of buffet/dining room storage unit.

Originally, I removed the mirror and painted it all white.

Bor-ing.....

Then I went through my dark green phase.

Then I marbled it a black/green/gold/white.

Today it's marbled blackish/red with the mirror re-attached

and has a new home in the hallway.

This is my vanity, rescued from the thrift store also.

I've had this baby since 1980.

She also has gone through several transformations,

Black on white, dark green on white, brown.....

Today she's sporting a bright, sunny yellow.

Hairstyler Barbie and Mr. Peanut approve of their new digs!



New kitchen window treatment

The windows needed a little help also!

The kitchen has two windows and the office/sewing room has three.

Needless to say, there was a lot of curtain making going on!

I used the fabric from the old office curtains to make a new

table cloth for the soap display table.



New office window curtains

And Soap, lots and lots of soap,

craft shows are right around the corner!

Soap curing

I feel a little better now.

 Thank you Better Homes & Gardens

for getting me out of my funk!

Maybe I need to do some canning too,

I'm a little low on jam!

Till next time,

Bonjour



The Gifts Just Keep Coming!



Welcome Fluffy!

So...

We found this little thing on our front porch New Years Eve morning.

A whining, crying, shivering, little fluffy ball of fur who stole our hearts.





We're guessing she's a Blue Heeler/Saint Bernard mix.

Big feet, big head, Blue Heeler markings on her snout.

Lots of straight fluffy fur.

Dang!

I was hoping the next dog that showed up would be short haired!

I think Fluffy wore Dad out!

Lady and Red are not so sure what they think about

this new little fur ball so Steve will be taking her to work with him for awhile.

Who abandons a barely weaned puppy out in the country

where Coyotes abound?

Are there brothers and sisters "out there" shivering in the night?

This is so sad!!!!

And how did she make it all the way down the drive to our house?

If you have opinions/suggestions

 as to her breed /mix please feel free to share.

Till next time,

FIX YOUR PET!

Bonjour



Need Some Warmth So I'm Making Biscotti

Oh My....

It's cold in this house.
I noticed it late yesterday evening and wondered,
why isn't the heater kicking on.

I'm thinking,

maybe the hubby programmed the thermostat too low?
I checked, it was 65 degrees. It’s suppose to be 69 degrees.

Still thinking…

Ok, I’ll bypass the preset and take the chill off.
The heater does not click on at all.
Not good.
Hubby is already asleep, no help there.
So I throw another quilt on the bed,
get into some warm jammies, snuggle under
and decide to worry about it tomorrow.

Tomorrow is today.

I informed the hubby of the dilemma this morning.
His advice?
Let’s just wait and see if it gets any better this evening.
WHAT?
Like I said,

OH MY….

My advise?
Call someone today and set up an appointment for tomorrow.

Geez.
See if it gets better?
It doesn’t have the flu.

By the way, it didn’t get better.
It’s still 65 degrees and the Tech will be here in the morning.
So I turned the oven on and made some biscotti.

My first time, obviously I need more practice.
It tastes super yummy but ….
I ate too much.
Now I have a tummy ache.

Till next time,
Trust me, it won't get better!
Bonjour

I killed The Mailbox

Yesterday my local market was advertising

chicken thighs and legs for .69 a pound and pork roast for $1.68 a pound,

both great prices so I was all over it.

Steve and I headed into town to take advantage.

We made it to the store, loaded up on the deals and

proceded to the checkout.

OOPSIE!!!

No checkbook, no ATM card, no cash.

Crap!

I explain the circumstances to the clerk and ask,

 "can you wheel our cart into the cooler till we get back"?

"No problem she says".

Well....

We get back home and hubby says

"just pull in the drive and I'll walk to the house so we don't have to open the gate".

10 minutes later...

Checkbook in hand, he hops back into the truck and I back out.

Let me just say,

I've never backed out of the driveway before.

Seems there's a mailbox right behind the driveway!

I know it only brings bills but let's have a little respect!

So what we ended up with was,

what should have been a 24 mile drive turned into

a 48 mile drive and one dead mailbox!

I guess we paid a little more for the "deals" than we expected.



Till next time, be kind to your mailbox,

Bonjour

Can Texas Be Saved From Stupid People?

So...

There’s a little town named Reagor Springs,

that I pass through everyday on my way to and from work .

It has a couple of beer stores and that’s about it.

This was the go to place back in the day if you wanted beer.

 Just a little town situated between two bigger, dry towns.

The bigger towns are wet now, so Reagor doesn’t have much going on anymore.

But, if you look at it from another perspective, it really has quite a bit going on.

In the early spring this town is a beehive of activity.

 Farmers are in the fields, riding in giant, cab enclosed tractors.

They’re tilling under the winter’s green cover

in preparation for the summer’s cash crops, corn, maize and cotton.

Round about late July, early August, they started harvesting

the corn and maize. Even with the drought, I still saw

18 wheelers in the fields loading up for the trip to the gain mill.

Cotton field, May I think.

Now it’s cotton harvest time.

Cotton strippers are in the fields along with huge rectangle shaped boxes.

The boxes are like trash compactors.

The cotton strippers feed the cotton into the box and the box squishes it.

Pretty cool!

So now the fields are filled with these huge bales of cotton.

Future blue jeans and t shirts I suspect!

Anyway..

Yesterday, 250 acres of these fields were caught up in a wild fire.

Nothing you could see from the highway, it was back in, on the FM road.

My oldest grandson’s dad, uncles and papa farm some of these fields.

I don’t know if it was their’s or not, or even if there were crops on the land.

Today I was driving to work looking at all those bales, and thinking.

I hope they get them out soon, before anything else happens!

The farmers are depending on the money these bales are going to bring in.

What the hell...

“Did you see that“, I asked my husband?

Before he could answer I said,

“I don’t believe it, whoever is driving that car just threw out a lit cigarette”!

OMG…

I’m thinking, are you stupid? Don’t you know there was a fire here yesterday?

I sped up enough to get a plate number, and then passed to see who was driving.

Just some random lady, 40ish, no one I know.

But then again, she could live in my area.

She might even be driving down my road on a daily basis.

Her lit cigarette butts flying out her car window toward my house!

````````

Steve and I both have a bug-out-bag in the cab of the truck,

clothes, toiletries, passports, etc.

I pack the laptop in the briefcase and take it with me to work everyday.

We’ve even packed a medium size cooler

with about 2 weeks worth of non-perishable food,

that’s locked and chained in the pickup bed.

You never know!!!

Till next time,

Bonjour

P.S.

Just heard thunder, went outside to see,

 there's a big black cloud over the house and I felt raindrops!

Could it really be?

Wildfires



My landscape



Really...

The dogs were acting crazy yesterday,

there was no bad weather, just wind.

I went out with them several times to "check on things"

but didn't see anything, Lady just kept pacing.

I just figured the tropical storms were blowing in rain.

So I went about my day, making soap, blogging ETC. 

When Steve got home from work he asked me,

"have you been outside"?

"Well, yes I said, sort of, why"?

I followed him out back.

Oh crap!

Fire towards Ennis, about five miles away,

fire towards Alma same distance away.

I had been going out the front door.

The wind was blowing the smoke and smell away from our house.

I never even heard sirens!

Sunday there were wild fires in Corsicana, about twenty miles south of us.

Our area is all open land, no farming going on up here,

lots of cattle, some mesquite and cedar trees and brush, lots of brush!

Pretty dry up here.



This is how dry we are!



I went outside this morning. (I'm On a vacation day).

Hazy, smoky smelling. I don't hear any sirens.....YET!

Steve just called from work,

said they got an automated call from the Sheriff's office stating,

yes,

 all of Ellis Co. is smoky, hazy, don't call unless you see flames!

Wildfires are everywhere, Fort Worth, Austin, Oklahoma!

On my drive to and from work, (Ennis to Waxahachie to Red Oak)

I see patch after patch of burnt grass on the side of the highway.

What?

Are people throwing lit cigarettes out their car windows?

There was a roadside fire on Thursday, 

about a quarter mile from where Steve works. (Waxahachie)

The nursery is surrounded by about a five acre mini forest, so you

can imagine how ugly that could have been!

The fire department put it out before it hit the trees.

Anyway...

Lady's not acting crazy so I guess we're ok?

But, I do have a bug-out-bag sitting by the front door!

Till next time, stay safe,

Bonjour

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The Lion , The Witch and The Wardrobe

OK...

So I lied, there is no Lion or Witch, just "The Wardrobe"!

*** :) ***

I found this lovely piece in an antique store about five years ago.

$1oo.oo

We had "house guests" at the time and needed more closet space.

It still has the original hanging rod, 

with weird hook things that slide across the rod,

 kind of like bathroom robe hooks.

(wasn't sure how to use those) 

We just slid them to the side and used wire hangers.

There wasn't enough clearance between the rod

and upper shelf for plastic hangers.

Anyway...

"House guests" are gone, so now it's a pantry.

I didn't want to alter the piece so we just put a shelving unit inside.

When things are on sale at the market I buy extra and store in  "The Wardrobe".

Those cans of tomatoes, tuna, and such were really a good price!



I've had these forever, cheap, Wally World bookshelves.

There's one on either side of the kitchen island.
I don't know if you can see but,

 I had to put a piece of wood between each shelf for support.

Still room for a few more jars!

(Ignore the 5 gal. buckets in the background, that's just my soap oils).


This is the only closet in the house, although it is pretty big.
No, we don't have that much coffee,
I save coffee cans for food storage silly:)
More on sale food items in here also.
Bulk purchases are divided up into smaller containers.
Beans, rice, sugar, flour.....
I scored a large, laundry basket full of jars, canisters
and popcorn tins for $5.00 at the thrift store a few months back.
Plastic shoe boxes also come in handy.
YES!!!

Weird...
Something I have noticed at the market as of late.
Staple food items?
Not really being put on sale.
 It's mostly, what I like to call, "the garbage food".
Pre-seasoned, pre-cooked fast food, just heat and eat.
Then there's the plastic packages of meat swimming in marinades,
and the plastic tubs of pre-sliced veggies and fruits.

I don't know, I guess if you work, have three kids with after school activities,
get home late, ETC, ETC, ETC,
maybe this is your only option besides Mickey Dees?
But...
Seems to me, for the price of the fast food stuff,
you could probably hire a sweet, grandma type, retired person
to come over and cook wholesome food for your family.
I'm just saying....

Please, don't tell "The People Eater" or "The Food Police"
about my food stash!!

Oh yeah, weird again,
have the check- out clerks at your market been
commenting/asking about your bulk purchases?
They have at mine!

Need to go make soap, shows start in October.

Till next time, happy hoarding,
Bonjour

The Attack Of The Vacuum Cleaner

Lady, being mad at me. Red, after the alien abduction, they made her eyes aqua!

Well....

 Let me just start this with,

yes, I did get around to vacuuming the rugs and floor.

That said, next would be.

The only reason to have dogs in the house is,

you live in a Igloo and it's a three dog night!

OMG!!!!

I had to empty the canister three times,

yes,

 I said three times.

So much dog hair, under the beds, on the sofas,

every nook and cranny, crammed with dog hair.

No wonder I have allergies.

I'm vacuuming, shooting the evil eye at the dogs,

the minute Steve opened the door to go outside they were gone.

They understood the look!

I'm thinking to myself, just wait until you come back in,

I have a surprise for the two of you.

Evil laugh here.

I finished vacuuming the house and then,

 ever so sweetly, called the dogs to come back in.

Evil laugh again.

First I caught Lady,

(those collars are good for more than a few things). 

I proceeded to vacuum her.

I'm using the hose attachment with the bristle thingy,

 not actually running the vacuum over her,

Please, give me some credit!

Only thing was, her hair kept clogging the bristles.

I'd have to stop and clean it out, at which point she would run and hide.

After about three or four times of cleaning, catching, I was done with her.

During all this, Red was investigating  the goings on.

I'm thinking, you just wait, you're next!

 Red, look at yourself,


Love those aqua eyes Red!

 have you been rolling in that dead grass?

Geez!!!

Caught Red too.

Oh wait,

that makes four times emptying the canister.



Really Lady? Get over it!

Let's just say,

there was a reason Mom never let dogs come into the house!

 And please don't call PETA on me.

Till next time, happy vacuuming!

Bonjour

More Canning? More Cooking? Why Yes, I Beleive So!



skins be gone - pizza, pasta, stew starter - turkey roaster waiting station





OK....

Remember those tomatoes from last week?

The ones I had to put in the freezer?
The ones from the farmers market? ($7.00 for about 20 lbs).

 Well yesterday we had  time.

 Let's get them canned up, I said!

We left them whole, more or less, and used the pressure canner.

I was running short on jars so we used a combo of quarts and pints.

Would have preferred to use all wide mouth, but....

We used the hot pack method,

keeping them between warm and hot in the turkey roaster.

Everything went well and we ended up with,

3 quarts, 8 pints and 3 juice.

The juice was the left over liquid in the roaster.

I'd say, we have quite enough tomatoes now!
(Remember, I canned some in January)...

 Anyone needing some of the "said tomatoes"

is welcome to come over and help themselves!

Let me back up!
Before we started on the tomatoes, I put a brisket in the electric roaster,
(about 10 1/2  lbs. for $1.49 a lb.)
and some dry (soaked overnight),  beans in the slow cooker.

OK, moving on....



Brisket waiting to be trimmed - all packaged up - meal size

 The Brisket
Typically, we don't do meat as a main course,
 use it for soups, stews, casseroles, tacos ETC.
I guess I get that trait from my mom, she was
trying to feed 9 people on a limited budget!
She did some wonderful recipes with very little to work with.
(Wish I would have told her, I love you, more often).

So, we packaged the brisket into meal size portions and popped them into the freezer.
(When I say meal size, I mean, big meal, several servings).
I would have rather canned it but I was low on jars, and by this time it was 5pm.

The Beans
My grand-daughter Lauren was over last weekend and
she was watching Nate and I make the crispy breakfast tacos.
(Not that Nathan was really helping, more like,
in and out of the kitchen while playing video games and watching a movie.
I guess he gets his multi tasking from me).

We were tossing around ideas for different fillings and she suggested
using re-fried beans as the binder, chorizo as the meat, and adding scrambled eggs.
Sounded good, might be ugly though, I'm not sure how the eggs will look.

And, as soon as I get my butt away from this laptop,
I'm going to smash some beans and give her idea a try.
I'll let you know how they turn out!

OH, and Sue,
I did at least manage to get the laundry done.
I might even get the dog hair swept up!!!

Yes, my grass is indeed that brown!

What are you guys going to do with your long weekend?

Till next time,
Bonjour