Chair Re-Do

I am without car again today, so I figured today was as good as any to finally re-cover my thrift store chair.
I bought this in the fall, and it has been sitting patiently while I found the right fabric for it.  Lucky for me, the blue velveteen on it matches my blue antique sofa, so it could wait out its time in the living room and not the garage.  Really I could have just left it alone, but I convinced myself the old fabric wasn't good enough, and where's the fun in buying a thrifty object if I can't have a little fun with it first?

You will notice this is the same fabric I used to re-cover my dining room chairs.  At four dollars per meter I could cover just about everything around here with it.  I used just one meter for the chair, so all in all a pretty good bargain.  I added a bit of extra padding, and it's much more comfortable.  The only thing is, I don't like the dark wood.  I wish I had painted the frame cream first.  Or maybe it's just that the fabric doesn't really go with the style of the chair.  Who knows; it's kind of hard to appreciate anything in the first few hours after you have been working all day on it.  I'll have to sleep on it. Not the chair, but the paint decision!

While I have been home and therefore saving money because I'm not shopping, I notice on my Visa bill that someone else has been having a bit of fun with my card.  Like $1200 worth of fun from an electronics store.  It really makes me think it would be so much better to go back to paying cash for everything...

Have a great day!

Playing

Yesterday was bitterly cold, but so sunny.  I had a forced home day of sorts: one of our cars is not working so Mr. Crafty had to take mine.  The kids were in school; the house was clean; supper was all taken care of; nothing to do but play!   I had a great time sorting through my  beads and enjoying all the bright colors in the sunshine.

I took apart some older jewelry and "up-cycled" it into a new earring and necklace set to match a bracelet I already own.  I'm loving the turquoise: it makes me think of summer.

No crafting today as I have to walk to the local rink (no car again today) to skate with My Favorite Boy and his class.  Then  I have to walk back.  I will certainly be making up for any lack of exercise I have had lately!

Have a great day!

Pairs

A few stitchy - hooky finishes for the weekend:

(Pattern available at Loft Creations)

(Pattern available here)

Sweets

No calories :)

Cupcake potholder  pattern came from Stephanie's blog.  Felt doughnuts are courtesy of the newest Quilts and More magazine.

Have a sweet day :)

Valentine Stuff

I stitched some cross stitch hearts a few weeks ago and took ages deciding how to finish it.  I had thought of some kind of wall hanging, but the inspiration never really came to me.  Since any type of finish is better than a stitched piece lounging away in a drawer, I decided to make it into a pillow.

The cross stitched hearts were a free design from I got off the internet.  Unfortunately I don't have the designer's name or link to give credit to.

I also decoupaged these votive cups bought at the thrift store a few weeks ago:

I have lots of cancelled world stamps and thought an all-red collage might look OK.  I'm happy with them- even happier at the price: less than a dollar for both!

I tried this recipe for Nigella's chocolate orange loaf, and it turned out really well.  Chocolate and orange is probably my favorite combination.   I think the recipe is in her Christmas book, though the recipe I have was reprinted in a magazine.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenn

Seats

I was told our dining room set is around 100 years old, and I'm pretty sure these seat covers (black leather) are original.  After seeing the straw stuffing and burlap webbing underneath, I have no doubt it is a very old set.

 I bought some fabric to recover a living room chair, and once I got it home I thought it might look nice on the dining room chairs as well.  At $3 a meter for the fabric it was kind of a no-brainer.

Three days later I had five much better looking chairs, plus a matching  table runner, for the bargain price of $4.50.  That's the kind of project I like!

CL Inspiration

I got my recent issue of Country Living magazine last week: despite being disappointed in the lack of red/pink/sugary Valentines Day items I was impressed with their 'New Way to Do Lace' feature.  I am totally in love with this bench, but sadly there isn't an inch to spare in this house for another piece of furniture.

Below that this pillow caught my eye:

One of those rare events occured where I just so happened to have ample linen in my stash to make my own version, as well as a vintage doily or two.  Not just any vintage doily, but one of many crocheted by my own grandmother some time in her past.  I even had a pillow form, so there was nothing to do but get to it.

The linen is a pale, pale pink.  I have never sewn with linen before and discovered what a treat it is to handle. It's so soft and drapey; I can only imagine it's going to wear well.
I looked up the artist who made the pillow featured in Country Living: their etsy listing is here and definitely worth a look.

I've been doing a fair amount of cross stitch lately and finished this freebie from A Mon Ami Pierre:

 
So there you have it; a few new decorations for Valentine's Day.  Now that my Christmas tree is finally down I'm even more eager to get more heart-themed stitching done.  I have a cute project to share hopefully this week that My Favorite Girl and I worked on: I'm just waiting for her to finish so I can take a picture.

Thanks for stopping by!

First Finish

I thought it would take me a bit longer to get back to creative pursuits after the holidays, but I was really missing my cross stitching.  I took advantage of the lazy post-Christmas days and started stitching a design while we watched the last season of 'Lost'.

I have always wanted to try a biscournou - which is what these eight sided pillows are called - and this turned out to be an easy first attempt.  I think it's something I would try again.

This design was a freebie from Miss T's blog: the actual chart is on this page where you will have to scroll down to the bottom.  She has tons of stuff on there and I plan on going back when I have more time to see all her charts.

Working with the pink fibres and heart motif got my creative juices running for February, so I stitched another heart themed project, but I'll wait until I have it completely finished before posting it.  I'm also working on a few other things: pink ones of course!

As always thanks for visiting!