Just for FUN

So once we got all these projects finished that you have undoubtedly read about in the previous posts, Fall was over and the Holidays were fast approaching. I needed something to do that was clean, fast and didn't give off any dust in any form as a by-product of my labors. Can you guess what I came up with? If you know me you probably said SEWING and you would be right.

Yes I was still in denial about my work out buddy/therapist/BFF moving away and so I just had to keep super busy. Here are some pics of the fun things I churned out.

The little guy in the cowboy outfit is one of my favorite kids in the ward. HE is just so dang cute and such fun to be around. It was cool that I had everything in the house that I needed for the vest, down to every detail. That was cool

And that would be the end of my projects for 2010. Once Christmas was over I went into hibernation and didn't really get much of anything done except..reading and more reading and a trip to Utah see meet our newest Grandson and spend 2 weeks trying to get him to sleep at night and become his friend. I succeeded at the friend part, at least I think I did, we had daily chats where he confided in me he liked having me there. The sleep thing well that didn't really work out very well.

The Bedroom and Bath

After I got all the rocking chairs and dressers done I decided the time had come to re-new our bedroom. It had been years and the carpet was very worn, walls were really needing paint and we shall not dwell on the leak in the ceiling for years that caused damage there.
I think it was the original owners who put up this paneling but it was my quest to get rid of it. No small task not only did they nail it up every 12 inches they glued it as well. Uggg I thought I would never get all the glue off

Then it was time for a skim coat of plaster. sanding, priming and finally the lovely PAINT. I love what a coat of paint can do to totally change a room.

Next part of the project was changing our little closet into a walk in one. I have NEVER had a walk in closet and I had no idea how much we would LOVE it. We knocked out the little walls on each side of the bi-fold doors, framed in a new closet wall about 4 feet into the bedroom. And you know the rest, There is the drywall, tapping and muddying, sanding and finally the good stuff PAINT. I must say the people who built this closet thought no one would ever want to change it. They put everything together with HUGE nails. All the shelves in the closet needed to be taken out to allow us to add 2 rods. It took me about 4 hours just to get them out and it did leave behind more than one hole to patch. Uggg, so glad we use screws these days.

Our new closets! We love them and now we both have twice as much space as we once had. Our kids think Dan is a bit hoggish about it but really I have as much space as he does.
Dans Rod

My Rod

I found all these rods, cubicles and corner shelving spaces on Craigs list. They fit our closet perfectly and make it so nice to keep things organized. The shoe cubicles that go all the way to the floor, corner unit and then rod space for long things. Behind the door there is tie and belt racks and my jewelry rack.

This stool I had refinished back with the dressers and I love having it in my closet since I have to stand on it to reach any shelf and to hang up Dans clothes on laundry day. No more carting chairs from the kitchen.

We then had new carpet installed, painted the bath and put in a new vanity and sink. I guess I was tired of taking pictures buy then because I don't have any. That project took another week and was not as simple as I thought it would be. Oh the joys of being a homeowner!
Lastly I made a bedspread and curtains for the windows. I still have to hang up pictures and such to make it not seems so sterile. That will happen this week-end (I hope)

Where Did the Last Year Go?

What were YOU Thinking

I am usually my most productive self during the Summer and Fall. Winters seem to drag me down and I feel like a slug. So one Winter day earlier this year I started thinking "sheez what did I do this past 12 months." I couldn't remember anything except some sewing. It had been a rough year. My best friend had moved away and I was un motivated and a little, OK ALOT depressed. I decided I would try and pull my self out of my funk by organizing my pictures in Iphoto (they are a complete disaster) and started seeing all these pics, then I remembered all I had done so here is a quick re-cap. I hadn't been such a slug after all.

CURB Rescues
My neighbor was moving and had put out a bunch of stuff for the trash one afternoon. I saw these dressers and knew Rachel could really use one for Madison and I needed one for our down stairs bedroom to put Stacy's stuff in that she keeps at the house for when she comes home to visit. There is nothing special about these dressers except they were salvageable and FREE. I thought they turned our wonderful, wish I had thought to take before pics so you could see the difference.


DRESSERS
Many years ago when living in Aurora Colorado, we picked up a couple of dressers at a garage sale. They were in acceptable condition and priced right for our very tight budget. They were sturdy, well made with large drawers and drawer boxes. We desperately needed dressers for the 5 kids we had at that time. Time flew by and all the kids grew up and left home but now Dan and I needed dressers because I was planning on re-newing our bedroom.I shopped many stores and just couldn't find a dresser I liked and was willing to pay the outrageous price tag. Thus the thought of just refinishing these dressers. I tried hard to push that thought out of my mind cause I just didn't want to do the work. I couldn't shake the thought and now I am so glad I lovingly and sometimes cursedly refinsihed them. Years ago James and done the short one for a scouting project but there was still one left to do.


This is why you don't buy children new and nice furniture. I often asked myself when I would walk by these dressers "why didn't they just get a piece of paper and pencil to play their game." On every side of that dresser there were Tic-Tac-Toe games CARVED into the wood. Every drawer was labeled with a CARVED name denoting who's junk belonged in that drawer. Really did Stacy and Rachel have such a hard time remembering whos drawer was who's that they had to CARVE in their name?
Drawers all sanded and ready to be stained

The finished product.. I was so glad to have that finished. I ran into many challenges, wrong stain and having to start over, re-building the tracks for the drawers to slide on and rain falling on fresh varnish that ruined that coat and it had to be sanded off. I love them and now we have so much space in our room for our stuff.

CHAIR #1 & #2
FLASHBACK Rachel was expecting her first child Peyton in 2007. While I was out in Utah visiting my awesome Mother several months prior to Rachels due date my mom asked me to take this rocking chair to the dump. It was in pieces, upholstery was torn in many places and it really had

seen better days. This rocking chair was one my Dad had bought my Mom when my sister Annette was born. I couldn't bear to throw it away and asked my mom to keep it there until I
could fix it up for Rachel. The 2 boys in this pic are my 2 little brothers. They are so cute!! Same chair all fixed up for another 30 years

While Rachel was in the hospital after Peyton was born I spent 3 days making a old chair beautiful once again. My mother was thrilled to see new life and another baby rocked to sleep in this chair.

Once again Rachel was expecting another baby, yes a girl. They had just moved into their first house and she wanted a chair downstairs in the living areas of the house and also one in the babies room upstairs. I made her a deal that if she would give me back the one I fixed up for her a few years ago I would buy her 2 chairs (at garage sales or on Craigs List) She was happy to seal the deal and we immediately started shopping for chairs. Now you might ask why would I want a old chair verses a new chair. The answer is simple...this chiar fits me. Yes my feet hit the floor, my back hits the back of the chair at the same time, it rocks and swivels. What more can you ask in a chair.

We found this chair on Craigs List ( I LOVE Craigs List) The chair was in great shape but Rachel didn't like the color of the cushions so I made new ones for it. It turned out nicely . The 2nd chair we found for $10 at a garage sale and I also made new cushions for it. No pics on that one.

CHAIR #3
This is a rocking chair Dan bought me when we were expecting our first child Alan Grant. We were poor students and he found this unfinished rocker downtown on center street. He bought it and lovingly finished it. It saw us through all our 6 kids and countless hours of rocking day care kids as well. It was pretty beat up, the cushions I had made were trashed and i was ready to throw it out. then I thought maybe Alan Grant (who's wife Michele was expecting their first baby) might like it if I fixed it up. So began this project. I loved how it turned out and am so happy to see another generation rocked into this world.

To make this chair last another generation I stripped it down, re-doweled the joints and then reinforced with screws. I HATE wobbly arms on chairs. The rockers had flat places so I re-shaped them to a nice curve. Now came the fun part of staining, varnishing, designing a pattern for the cushions and making them.

I really like re-newing things and making something ukky look wonderful. Its a lot of work but I find great satisfaction in it. There are more things coming, check back to see what I did beside re-finish furniture.