Sunday, December 30, 2012

I'm Excited About Napkins - Shoot Me Now

At some point tonight I had a terrible realization - I'm an adult. Not just any adult, I'm an adult who owns napkins that require ironing. *Shudder* To be fair, I'm the only one to blame for this early onset lameness, I made the damnned things. They are lovely! But they require ironing, like with steam and everything. I often have pleated skirts dry cleaned to avoid having to iron them. But I guess I'll have to buck up and embrace my stuffy adult-ness, I guess that can go on my list for the new year.

These are embroidered tea towels, dyed with onion skins to make them subtly pink. I documented the process in this post last year, made with green thread and tea-dyed. So now there's eight iron-needing napkins in my house. Fabulous.

If anyone needs me I'll be in the kitchen drinking metamucil and changing my hearing aide batteries...

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Chair Re-fab

The number one way to get that vintage distressed look? Buy some beat-up chairs from estate sales, store them in your garage for a decade while you plan to do something. Find them while cleaning up, throw away the wonkiest one, then place them on a back porch in the sun thru a few snow storms.

No seriously, that's what happened. This were in my parent's garage until a major cleaning a few months ago. My father cursed under his breath and asked if I needed any chairs. They are, strangely enough, almost a matching trio. At first glance identical, then you notice the slight variations in shape on the back piece. Each seat is leather, of a slightly different shade and thickness.
I first took off the seat, taped the screw to the bottom, and attacked with sandpaper. Not pictured is Miss Pink the Bandito... I wore a damp bandana around the face to protect from inhaling decades old shellac.
When stripped the natural color of the wood appeared, with a gentle grain and a smooth surface.


Then I attacked the seats, the leather was cracking and dry, and held on with rows of petite upholstery nails. The stuffing was an odd mix of dirty cotton fluff and shredded wood.

I bought seat foams (in sets of two naturally, I will have to find a fourth for my collection!) and used a vintage mid-weight canvas from my collection. Notice the screws taped to the bottom? If you're like me and you don't always finish projects in one day, then that little detail is imperative.
The edges were stapled down tautly. I first stapled one spot on each side to keep it square, then worked all the way around.
The bottom edge of the chair hides the fabric edging, and if not for the "holy-shit-no-commercial-joint-would-ever-make-this" fabric, one might call it professional. The wood is currently lightly oiled but not stained, I might decide to color it up a bit in the future.
Looks dashing with my new walls ya? Now to ditch these ugly tan curtains...

Have you ever done a furniture project? It's easier than you think!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Finds - Winter Solstice

As the longest night of the year has passed, and the sun is once again growing in strength. May the light shine from within you in this coming year!
Lovely image by MoonlightPhotography, perfect for a cold winter's night!
We burned last year's Yule Log in our bonfire, but if you need something to add to your celebrations try this incense blend from DewberrysHerbal.
It's time for new beginnings and that includes new projects, how about some lovely yarn by ValentineArts?
The beautiful colors of this glass pendant remind my of the winter's sky. From FancyAngel.

Celebrate the returning solar energy! Adorable felt doll from PaintingPixie.

I hope you all have wonderful winter holidays, let's get crafty in the New Year!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Blog Break, I've Been Busy

Sorry for the lack of post lately, I've been doing hard corp cleaning and organizing, not to mention getting around to the painting I wanted to do when I moved into the house! I've got two rooms done in rich red and brilliant turquoise, I'm planning on a green room and and light green breakfast nook. I'll be back to my usual "light crafts" soon...

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Unfucking

 During this year's Holiday Break I've dedicated myself to getting some house things done. I have grandiose plans to have some rooms painted by Yule, and of course a house that's clean enough I can have people over and they might want to come back sometime....

I told these hopes and dreams to a Stitch-n-Bitch buddy and she said - " Oh, you're Unfucking."

I was disappointed to find out that unfucking is less fun than one might hope, but you feel every bit as good afterwards. Here's the Blog "Unfuck Your Habitat" with lots of motivational stuff to make you want to clean your house, and an article by the author on why it's good to do.

Now Pink, why do I need a website to tell me to clean my shit? Here's the genius, it's not about being fucking Martha Stewart and giving your entire house a one time awesome clean (those always assume your house is not a disaster to start with), it's about tackling little things and getting a pat on the back from the internet when you do. Here's the strategy - clean one small little part of your world and only spend like 20 minutes on it. Then go do something else, like knit, or look at lolcats, or sit on the couch like a vegetable. Then if you want go clean something else.

 I have lots I want to get fixed up in the next week and a half, but I'm dividing it into little parcels, and of course one then needs to be dedicated to keeping it clean. How do you get motivated to make your house work better?

Friday, December 7, 2012

Apples, Apples, Everywhere...

Seriously. I've been receiving apples as part of my farm share for weeks now, and even with apple pies and apple crisps and apples for lunch everyday I still had bags of them covering my counter tops. I've already filled my freezer with the fruits of our bountiful harvest, and my canning jars overfloweth (with jam and pickles and such.) So, I went to the oldest technique in the book (OK, it actually predates books and even writing systems by many thousands of years. Did you know archeologist found signs of deliberate food drying dating to 12,000 B.C?)

I've got some fancier equipment than our forebears, but the system stays the same. Slice the apple thin, dip it in a lemon juice and water mix, lay it out to dry. Apples were long prized in Europe because they are easy to dry and tasty to eat that way. 24 hours in the dehydrator is all I needed for these slicers, living in Colorado does help wince it's so dry here naturally.

If you don't have a dehydrator you can place them on a pan in a low oven cracked open, turning the oven off after a few hours. I've dried not just tasty fruits, but also chopped veggies and herbs with this method. It's nice to have some "emergency" stores for making soups and such all winter long. I also make awesome camping meals with dried stuff!

How do you preserve the good stuff from this time of year?

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Finds - Winter in the Rockies

It's time for snow drifts and starry nights (Let's pretend it hasn't been in the 60s here lately), here's a collection of wintery items all from local folks! This weekend is Holiday Handmade, and I intend to spend the day shopping the latest and greatest local goods.

Photo by AmeliaKayPhotography with all the lightness of falling snow.
Adorn your door with fluff and snowflakes from AshcraftCreations

Adorn yourself with sparkle and style by Paperfarm

These beautiful stones are a gift of the earth, shouldn't they also be a gift from you? By AncientSunJewelry

Need a vessel for your favorite steaming hot winter dish? Sublime ceramics from LightaFire.

The icy tones of winter always enchant me, hopefully soon we will have some of our own snowy fields here in Colorado! I'm off to shop local, hopefully I'll find some excellent goodies...