The Ultimate Re-Purpose

I saw a show on DIY network last night called Home Wranglers.  They take old barns apart and use the old barn lumber and build a new house or whatever with the wood.  That is the ultimate in re-purpose.  I would love to have an old barn to salvage all I could out of it.  But since I am probably not ever going to be able to have this, I'll just stick to re-purposing furniture instead.

Thanks to Craigslist, I have acquired 3 new chairs this week.  I can't wait to get started on the new chairs.

Sometimes We Need to Change Horses in the Middle of the Stream

I went to class to work on Bess and Tess and as I said before I was not happy with how they were looking.  I wasn't totally sure what I did not like, but the more I looked at them the more unhappy I became.

Tess is Out in Front

The ladies are not necessarily in a race, but as of today Tess is out in front.

They got the inside wing foam.

Potatoes and Winter Garden

I love potatoes.  Until recently my favorite thing was potato chips.  I guess I have had enough, besides they are not good for you.  But that being said  I still love potatoes.  Today the husband planted a lot of organic potatoes.  I'm so excited.

Uninspired Part 2

Somewhere between the stagnant water,

...and the fast water, is where I am.  I am a bit closer to the first picture.  Halfway in between is the place to be unless you have floaties ,  then you can get closer to the fast water.  

Winter

Here are some signs of winter.  Winter is still here, just taken from our sight for a time.  But when winter like weather returns here is what you will want to have.

Lots of firewood.  I love a well stocked stack of wood!

The Ladies, Bess and Tess

The ladies got names tonight.  # 1 is Bess, and # 2 is Tess.  How can I tell which is which?  I have my ways...

Here they are with their seats on.  

The Ladies

The ladies are going to be a challenge, but it's a good challenge.  I get to find out what it takes to do two chairs instead of just one.  Every class I learn more and more about how to do this thing more efficiently.  The ladies only got their petticoats tonight but before that we put legs on one chair.

Who remembers watching this?  I thought of this after putting petticoats on the ladies.

Inspiration: Where Does it Come From?

What inspires me?  I guess there are several ways to inspire my self.  One of the best ways to inspire me is to experience the finished project.  A half finished project is sort of like torture to me.  But for some reason taking this class and knowing I have 3 plus hours per class doesn't feel like an unfinished project.  Another inspiration for me is to take something that looks like it might be ready for the trash, put some thought into it and then some time and effort and see how beautiful it can become.  I know I have already shown this chair but this is the perfect example of inspiration for me.

Uninspired

I am uninspired and yet I want to keep up with this blog.  So, this post is just for me so I keep it going.  I'll put up a few pictures and tell the world how I don't like valentines day.  It seems like a waste of money.  Sorry if anyone actually reads this and is offended.  But I suspect the hordes that were reading my blog have all taken a hike.

The Twin Ladies

I am now working on "the ladies" or " the girls".

Here they are sitting together at the thrift store.  They did not smell bad but that tufting!  That's horrible.

Son-in-law Chair

So M got a great chair.  In it's previous life it was a grand expensive chair.  I love how the design on the back is pretty centered.  That is not always easy.

Bailey's Chair Goes Home

Well the Bailey chair is done.  I really like how it turned out.  What was left since the last picture was the double cord to finish it off around the woodwork at the bottom of the chair.

Here it is.

Son-in-law Chair

I was having so much fun doing these chair art projects that I decided the next one would be for M.  I went thrift store shopping.  If you know anything about thrift store shopping  you know you have to do it often and don't expect to find what you want right away.  So planned my day, something I do often (OCD),  and wouldn't you know at the third store that day I found not one treasure but two!   So that's how I found the Bailey chair.

Yes, that is $9.98, but don't worry it was half off that, so this chair was basically $5!  It was pretty old, but one of the best chairs I have ever done.  It was super heavy and when I stripped it down we determined that it was oak.  So the staples were harder to get out.  

My Best Friend

My best friend comes home today from an extended time away due to business and caring for his elderly mother.  I am more than happy!

I think he might be happy too!  But his schedule is busy with traveling kind of a lot this spring.  But while I will miss him, it is good for business.  The "little" boys will just have to keep me company during that time.

Sister Chair #2

The exact same chair as sister chair # 1 but different.  I wanted them (the chairs) to be sisters but as individual as the sisters are.  They both have curly red hair, but different.  They both have brown eyes, but different.  They are both beautiful from the inside out, but different.  Of course the outer beauty is not to be overlooked but I think we all are trying to stay away from the over attention to outward beauty.  But I can truly say that if the heart is beautiful the outside just reflects the heart.  Then you can say they are beautiful, which my daughters are.

The red headed daughters.

Weather, a Roll of the Dice

They rolled the dice on Tuesday and predicted 3-6 inches, we got 1.5 inches.  They predicted a dusting today, I believe we got 4 inches here.  Schools closed today.  The temperatures are brutal, still single digit but we will climb up into the teens later.  We actually warm up to 39 on Saturday then another storm Monday...  Oh, Oklahoma, you surprise us all the time!

First Sister Chair

The first sister chair is for the oldest sister.  These chairs are probably from the 40's.  They are channelback which makes them more of a challenge.  The first time I re did them, I tried to kind of "cover" the channels because I did not know how they got that way.  Luckily my instructor taught me how to reupholster channels correctly.

So this is the before that is actually my work before taking the upholstery class.  Not horrible but it will look a lot better.

Indian blanket chair

I'm pretty sure NO one is reading this blog, and that's OK.  This is an exercise for me to make me keep up with something on a fairly regular basis.  So here goes another post in my "diary/journal" open for the world to see.

                                                
This is my son's chair.  It was actually the first chair that I stripped down in class.  It was a bear to strip.  There lots of tacks and staples.  After I stripped it I left it behind and did the brown chair with the colorful dots.  It seemed like an easier chair to do.  I came back to this one after I decided those Indian/Mexican blankets were not doing anyone any good stored in a closet.  I decided to make a chair for each of my three children.  I had these 2 thrift store chairs that I had attempted to recover years ago and actually did an ok job on them but they were in need of a re-do.  So I decided I would make them the sister chairs and this was the brother chair.  Each one picked the blanket they wanted and I set out to make repurpose them a piece to remind them of my love.  After a different iPhone and a new computer and accidentally deleting precious pictures, the before and after is all I have of my son's chair.

Bailey's chair

...continuing with the latest chair...

This is how the arms look.  This "loved" blanket had some holes and was a little worse for the wear.  I had to patch a place to have enough to cover the arms, but the patch which matches exactly is completely out of sight and reach of wear and tear.  The back piece is just laid up there, it will take A LOT of work to fit the back piece.