Great giveaway over on Rosemary's blog...check it out!!!

Villabarnes

Love how she used gesso....gotta try it sometime!!!

Mandy

Finally!!! Project Completed!!!

I posted about this slumber chair a while back...you can read about it here.

It has undergone quite the transformation...this was a "I am teaching myself something new" kind of project. I have upholstered over upholstery but I have never stripped a girl down to her springs before!!! Thank you google for letting me search and find out how to tie the springs back together and re-attach to the frame, attach new webbing, cover with burlap, foam, and dacron...then cover with the fabric...

The frame had come apart at ALL of the joints...this was just the beginning of the re-gluing and strapping..

And...here she is in her new dress!!! Very simple, kind of like a single strand of pearls, but classy at the same time.

I painted the frame in ASCP Old Ochre, sanded quite a bit and waxed with clear wax then came back and just highlighted with a little dark wax. 

 Then dressed her up in some oh so famous drop cloth that had been washed and dried and became really quite soft.

 The ottoman was done basically the same way.

The sweet little bird pillow is a Big Lots find...that place is definitely a hit and miss kind of store...It was a hit for the pillow and cute little bird under the cloche.

I have completed a few more projects...I will share those as I get good pics...still trying to figure out the photography/editing thing...that has been the hardest thing for me to understand so far!!

Mandy

Linking up with

(PRIMP)

Faded Charm

From My Front Porch to Yours

So Little Time

Since the New Year I have been project happy...There has been sooo many things I have wanted to do and realized no one else was going to do them for me :)....So I decided to get busy.

I took my drapes down in my dining room because I wanted to change up the look...I knew that going back with something pricey was out of the question since nothing was really wrong with what was hanging up there...(according to my manly man husband) :}

So, I got busy with my favorite drop cloth/burlap combo and here is what I came up with...

through a little trial and error...

I usually never have a plan...fly by the seat of my pants kind of thing

 My friend, and fellow craft supply hoarder (her house is a glorified Michael's), was given some burlap rice bags...she brought me a few and said, " I want some bags made out of these". She gave me an idea of what she wanted but also said..."just do what you want"...

How fun is that?...I ended up making 5. Four of them are kind of like shopping bags and one was a messenger type bag. I did not get good pics of all of them but here is a sample.



Finally....we bought new furniture...

which has prompted a whole redo of the living/breakfast room since we have an open floor plan...

It always snowballs, right?

Our furniture in our living room was 18 years old...yes, 18...

Of course, the pillows on the couch were not going to work with the whole decorating redo...so I made new pillows for the couch...planning on new pillows for the chairs and also new drapes....pics to come soon!!!

One of my desires for this year is to be a better blogger...I would love to post/link up to parties more often. How do these girls do it?

Mandy

Linking up with
Funky Junk Interiors
Metamorphosis Monday

Am I Crazy?

I am not sure where it came from...have not decided if it is a good thing...do others think I have lost my mind? Hmmm, so many questions.

I have this "thing" that is just part of me.

I think I can do most anything...

Now, there are things I choose NOT to do...

like change the oil in my Jeep, or rotate my tires, or maintain the chlorine level in our septic system...

But, I FEEL that I could do that...so is that a problem, sickness, an ISSUE?

anyway, on to this

I bought this chair several years ago(at Round Top) for my sons room, for him to lounge in, kick his feet up, watch movies, do some gaming. Of course, with the FULL intention of re-upholstering it to his liking.

Now, 3, 4 or so years later it is back in my possession. It was fine for about 6 months or so, then, it started happening...He started growing and his big ole 6' 5 1/2" body was not kind to my little vintage chair. It  was being held together with a bungee cord and when you sat in it your butt would slide to the right...so it is now time to do something with it.

 The little ottoman has been stripped of its fabric and painted with ASCP Old Ochre. The frame of the chair is in this state below. ALL of the joints needed to be glued and clamped...

oh...see the clamp on the arm of the chair? Yep, my manly man, always ready to help and I really don't deserve someone as wonderful as him, really I don't...

anyway, he had the rubber mallet beating around on the joints and actually just broke the arm of the chair in two...uh-huh....oh well.

It has been repaired...glued and screwed...after a little wood filler and paint...who will know...

except you? :)

 So, here is the chair, today....This weekend I stripped it of everything it has ever known to start a new life as some cutie, patootie chair that will grace the corner of my living room when it is all said and done.

I have ordered all the necessities...jute webbing, burlap, dacron cushion wrap, twine....

 So, back to the beginning of this post...

I have NEVER done ANYTHING like this before.

I sew...curtains, slip covers, bedding...

I paint...furniture, signs, anything I can get a paint brush on...

I bake....love baking sweets

But, I have never re-upholstered ANYTHING!

And...I believe that I can....we shall see...

I will admit...one of the most tedious things I have ever done is remove every staple, tack, nail, brad and nasty little things that get caught in the middle of a chair after years of use.

Oh yeah...I did a little research on this chair...It is a Streit Slumber Chair...found the name on the frame of the chair. They were produced from the late 19th century until the 1950's by the Streit Manufacturing Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. It has a wood piece on the back of the chair that allows you to recline the chair back to different "slumber" positions. The first recliner of sorts. The footstool top lifts off and has a "slipper compartment".  How cute is that? I also read somewhere that the top of the footstool would be flipped over to offer a tray for a drink...

I think I will love this chair...need a name for the chair...hmmm

get back with you on that one...any suggestions?

Mandy

Linking up to
From My Front Porch to Yours

Christmas 2011

I just love the Christmas season...For the past 13 or so years my family has come to my house for Christmas...No real reason other than my sister and I would watch our mom work herself to exhaustion to host us and all the grand kids. One year we told her we were moving Christmas to my house and we would let her know if we needed anything...and that is how it remains.

Here is the Christmas table this year. My dining room opens into my foyer so the boys bring in a table from the back porch and we just scoot everything toward the foyer. It is a little crowded but cozy...and it works...

Most everything on the table I had on hand. It did go buy Epsom salt for the mason jars to put my candles in and the 3 glitter trees. These added a nice touch . I do not have napkin rings...I would love to have a collection of antique silver ones...that will have to be another collection to start!!! I made these little cards to go around the napkins. I had the stamp and the Christmas scrapbook paper already, oh and the tulle ribbon... the stamp says:

May the Love

that was born

that Christmas Night

Light all your days

with Joy and Hope

I used red embossing powder for the stamp. They turned out really cute. Now the family will have to see them for the next 10 years or so :)

And this is my sweet Mom. My sister and I were 'makin it happen' in the kitchen and this is where we found her. I once asked her if she was upset that we made her come to my house now for Christmas instead of having it at her house. She told us that that decision was the best Christmas present ever!!! We can see why!!! 

Today was a day to totally relax...I was lost on Pinterest for about 3 hours this morning!!! So much fun!!!

Mandy



Your a mean one, Mr. Grinch

You know...there are some things that just happen that try to steal your Christmas Joy....

 After having the tree up and the house decorated for about a week....one day...we woke up to this...I know lights on a tree are minor, but, ooohhhh....

so, after fiddling with the light bulbs and seeing nothing happen I threw my hands in the air and said

@#$%^&*&^%$#

Enter the ever patient manly man husband of mine and within, oh, just a few seconds he says,

"Do you have one of these?"

 PRESTO!!!

The angels sang and Christmas joy was restored!!!

There is a ton to be said about patient, handy man husbands!!!

Here are a few of my favorite tree decorations...

On another note...

I made this recipe that Pinterest offered up and it was

WONDERFUL!!!

Lasagna Soup

You can find the recipe for it here.

That dollop on top is Ricotta and Parmesan mixed together, then sprinkled with some Mozzarella...it melts into the soup and makes it oh so creamy and deee-lish!!! Great for these cool nights we've been having in southeast Texas!!

Enjoy!

Mandy

Dress Form Giveaway

I love this dress form...and The Polka Dot Closet is giving one away..So many possibilities!!!

She covered this one with music..probably my favorite...

Go to The Polka Dot Closet to find out how to win one...

 

One section of lights on my tree go out then come back on...just at random times...grrrrr...

gotta get behind the tree to see what is going on...they are on right now so I am smiling :).

 

 

Mandy