Buyer Beware

I took a trip to Joann's on Sunday to purchase some contrasting fabric for the pockets of an apron I'm making out of this fabric from my kitchen curtains.

On the remnants rack I can often find small amount of fabric at a big discount so that was my first stop. I didn't see anything that would work for the apron but I did spot a colorful fleece fabric, just perfect for a blanket for Chopper. This is what it looked like when it was all rolled up at the store. Cute, right?

Back in the quilting department I found a suitable fabric for the apron and I found an awesome flannel print that will be turned into a Christmas present for someone. (I'll post about that after the holidays) I took my purchases home and started to launder everything when I unwrapped the fleece for Chopper and discovered that it wasn't exactly what I thought.


OMG!!!

Even Danica had to get a look at it. I did not imagine there would be skulls all over the print. Skulls for my sweet little Chopper?! There is no way to return remnants so it looks like my bunny is going hardcore. At least he doesn't seem to mind.

Ugly Chair Becomes A Swan

Time to talk about Ugly Chair. Ugly Chair has been a fixture at our house for years. We found it beside an empty lot in downtown Mesa more years ago than I care to remember. It was peeking out of a big pile of junk that someone illegally dumped. We were driving by in the truck and I instantly recognized the sound bone structure and limitless potential in Ugly Chair. Ok, really - we just needed a chair for the porch where HuzBen could sit smoke his ciggies away from my asthmatic lungs. It fit our main criteria of not costing anything. I wanted to do the "green" thing by recycling someone else's junk. We took it home.

Ugly Chair spent the last several years going back and forth between the yard and the porch, depending on the weather and the need for space. It got to be sort of a joke that I never seemed to get around to refurbishing Ugly Chair. As rough on the eyes as the chair was, my husband put cardboard and newspapers on the seat, covered it with an old blanket and spent many confortable hours in Ugly Chair while reading on the porch.

When my mother would visit from New Jersey I would tell her about my grand plans to re-do the chair and make it presentable. Bless her heart my mother never has a cross word to say about anything but her eyes were saying "Seriously? Hello! Put that thing out at the curb where it belongs!" In direct contrast, my father actually said on many occasions, "Seriously? Hello! Put that thing out at the curb where it belongs!" And at least once he tried to do just that when I wasn't looking. If it wasn't for our superb neighborhood block watch I'm sure he would have snuck it off to the dump while I was in NYC.

That's all behind us now because this week Ugly Chair had it's makeover. I took a Home Depot gift certificate I'd been saving and I purchased some almond colored spray paint. Joann's had leather beading cord that I used to replace the leather strips that had rotted away. The folks at Mesa Sales helped me pick out a foam cushion and some marine grade thread for the seat and the pillow. The vinyl was found at a steal for 80% off when Hancock's closed a few months ago.

Ugly Chair is now back on the porch and HuzBen and the kitties are thriled with the makeover. While no one is going to mistake it for being redone by a professional, I think Ugly Chair approves.

Fab Fabric!

My kitchen is a mix of unusual colors. We inherited the soft yellow and country blue wallpaper from the previous owner. We painted the wall beneath the chair rail in the same country blue. The wallpaper has tiny pink/lavender flowers on it, so we continued the color of the livingroom (Still Shores by Behr) into the other walls of the kitchen to match the flowers.


I like it - but it's impossible to find any coordinating fabric. Or so I thought until I found this on eBay. . .

All the colors of my kitchen AND it has teapots, fruit and flowers on it. I bought the fabric and begged the seller for more. She had it! So, today I took down my old blue curtains (left) and made some snazzy new curtains (right).


I purchased enough of the fabric to make myself an apron, but then I found Roses and Tea Cups who sell pinafore aprons made with the exact same fabric. I can't wait to get my apron from them. Now I am going to use my remaining fabric to make covers for my Kitchenaid mixer and my toaster oven. It's going to be a busy week!

Green Grocery Bags

In our quest to try and be a little more "green" in 2008, I am now bringing my own bags when I do the grocery shopping. We have many free travel related bags from my job plus I bought a huge bag at Home Depot to haul larger things or lots of little items.

I love the reuseable bags I purchased at Safeway, but every time I check out the cashier tries to charge me for the bags again. I've been looking for a way to personalize the bags so I took my 40% off coupon to Joann's yesterday. I found some big white rick-rack that is just perfect!