First paper towels and windex...

We had a beautiful day yesterday with a temperature of 58 degrees and sunshine!  Wow!  I decided it was time to give the front room's windows and doors a good washing-up.  Between kids and dogs and weather and barn grime, the windows were really disgusting.  I decided to go back to the Good Old Days when I learned how to use newspaper and vinegar for washing windows.  I call it The First Paper Towels and Windex.  And do you know how effective these tools are?  Very!  No streaks.  Just clean and shiny.  I always make sure I'm drying the windows with a dry piece of newspaper for a streak-free shine.  The only downside to this method is that your hands will have some of the inky residue from the paper, but it washes off.  I don't know why the ink doesn't come off on the windows, but it doesn't.  Newspapers are also great for cleaning the glass on the wood-burning stove and car windows. Growing up at home, we used newspaper and brown paper bags for draining fried foods and for cooling cookies.

Here we are -- clean and shiny windows!  I feel like I just cut my bangs!  I can see!  Do you have any tips for washing windows or for any other cleaning chore?  What are some of your favorite cleaning tools or cleaners?

Retro Cosco high chair refurb #2...

 

Do you remember my first high chair refurb?  If not, click here.  It was a garage sale find that OnlyDaughter grabbed for me a few years ago, back when we were getting several grandbabies who could use high chairs.  I needed one for my house when the littles came to visit.

I just got another high chair to do a couple weeks ago.  I kinda like these projects.  JJo bought this high chair from Salvation Army Thrift Store for $2.  This one is a fold-up style, not nearly as heavy and sturdy as my first high chair project.  The seat and back of this one were covered in a black plastic table cloth.  I tossed the covering back on the seat so you could see how really UGLY it was.  I tore the chair down and stripped off the foam, but I could not remove the legs because they were riveted on.  That meant I had to tape everything before I painted the metal seat.  I repainted the chair back and tray too.  First I had to sand and strip the rust from the chair's seat and back.  The chrome legs and arms were in pretty good shape, but I used Bar Keeper's Friend on a damp rag to remove any rust or dirty spots.  I was thrilled at how well it removed rust and cleaned it up.  I used Bar Keeper's Friend on the rusty metal seat after I sanded it, and it worked very well on that too.  Good stuff!


For painting I used Rustoleum enamel metal primer and white enamel spray paints.  I finished the metal parts off with two coats of clear enamel spray paint to preserve the paint underneath.

I ordered Marine Vinyl from Amazon for just $11 per yard (including shipping).  This is the stuff you want if you ever want to replace vinyl seats on retro-style furniture or chairs like this.  I found that heating it with a blow dryer or heating it in the hot sun, gave it a nice smooth finish while applying it.  One thing I learned with this project since I didn't have anything to staple the vinyl to is to use Loctite Permanent Spray Adhesive (professional).  This was a life saver for me.  Since I knew the original high chair didn't probably have any cushy foam on the seat and back, I decided to use foam board.  I traced the seat and back onto the foam board, cut it, checked it, then used a lightweight quilt batting to put on the top of the foam board.  Then I laid my chunk of vinyl on top of that, flipped it over, and used the spray adhesive to glue the edges down on the backside.  It took plenty of fiddling and readjusting to get it just right, but it was SO much easier than using E6000 which I tried first.  I discovered you need the quick drying time of the spray adhesive to make this trick work!  Since there was nothing to attach the seat to, I used the same permanent spray adhesive to glue it down to the metal.  I stacked a bunch of encyclopedias on top of it while it dried so I was assured of good contact.  And it worked.

So, there you have it!  Number 2 High Chair Refurb!

Finished trunk...

 

It is finished!

And I'm really happy about how it turned out.

I tried to keep the trunk "as-is" as much as possible, minus the stinky wall paper, so after sanding the interior, I applied a MinWax penetrating oil stain in "natural" that revives the wood and maintain its true color.  There are many knotholes which makes the wood inferior and is why I think these trunks were wallpapered.  As I took the trunk apart, I noticed there was tape across the seams and over the knotholes to smooth it over for wallpaper.  I like the character and imperfection of knotholes, but they are a little rough and rustic.  The musty-trunk smell is now gone, but it has acquired the smell of the stain which is fine with me.  

On the exterior of the trunk, I rubbed some natural stain over the wood and oiled the steel exterior and leather with Nor-V-Gen oil -- a boot oil we use on our boots.  It helped to shine up the metal and removed dirt and gunk that was there and it deepened the color of the leather.  There is a blue-gray tinge to the outer wood slats that I wanted to preserve and of course, all the bumps and dings and scratches remain  -- the trunk earned them.   I haven't decided what I will store in it yet, but I have moved it to the living room as a side table for the big leather chair.  I think it looks smart and brings a lot of character to the room.

Scrappy little beginning...

I have a new craze.  String quilting.  Bits and pieces of scrappy strips are called strings, and they are sewn down, one upon another, to a muslin square or paper square.  It's addicting!   Nothing has to be perfect with string quilting -- which is my kind of quilting from time to time.  I like that I'm using up a gob of scraps.  I was beginning to wonder if I'd live with a huge bag of scraps for my whole life and then pass it down to my children who would think I was some kind of hoarder-packrat person.  But no!  My scrap collection is going to good use instead. Repurposed, so to speak. Some of the scrippy-scraps are from past baby quilts, dresses, totes, bibs, shirts and who-knows-what.  So there are memories built into each quilt. 

I promised myself I could start my day with an hour of sewing and then I would go on with the  *work* part of my day.  Most of the time, I put my sewing very last after all the work-y tasks are done. It was such a treat to put sewing first today!  String quilting is so addicting that  I went over my alloted time by fifteen minutes because I just HAD to finish the block I was working on.  (naughty me)  I got three squares done in my hour and just made one more this afternoon so I'd have a complete square (made of 4 squares).  Fun!  This quilt is going to be my own. Yes, my own baby quilt for the crib that is in my sewing room where my sweet grandbabies sleep when they stay with us.  I'm so excited to have my very own baby quilt once again.  ~smile~

If you want to watch a really good video on how to make string quilts, click HERE.  And be prepared to want to do nothing else for hours on end! 

Forever in blue jeans....

I've decided it's time.....

 ...to cut up blue jeans.  My mother-in-law used to say she "turned jeans out to pasture" when they were worn out enough to start cutting them up. You cannot imagine how many, many pair of jeans I have stashed for use in mending and for jean quilts.  I've made all of my kids blue jean quilts from our family castaways, and now I feel it's time to get cutting again and start making more quilts.  My main goal is to get squares cut in various sizes.  That task alone takes lots of time when you consider that you must take off all the seams and hems before you can even begin to measure and cut.  I figure if that part is done, the sewing will come easy. So far I've cut 6" and 7" squares and 8x5" rectangles, all with hopes of sewing them together into quilts.  While I've got the bug, I'm just doing it!  I
think picnic sized quilts would be the best since denim quilts are SO heavy and hard to handle on a sewing machine when they get very big.

 

(I couldn't resist adding this label from the pocket of a pair of old Levis)

Do you remember the days of the Shrink-to-fit, button-fly, 501 Levis?  I think they still make them, but those were the very best jeans back in the day.  If you had a pair that made it to nearly faded-white, you really had something.  Those jeans wore like iron.  Nowadays we are lucky if we can get a pair of jeans to last 6 months with hard wear.  And what's with the pockets in women's jeans?  You can't even fit a tube of chapstick in them let alone a pocket knife!  Now take a look at this Levis pocket label -- it's big enough to write a whole paragraph on it and add some swanky emblems and such.  Those were some real pockets.  And who doesn't love the Levis back pocket with the little red tab peeking out?

This past week I assembled a few of my squares into a small quilt -- baby sized.  I've decided I'll  leave it unfinished for now until I decide who to give it to.  It might be for one of my grandkids, but it might be for someone else.  I think it will be nice to have a few of these in my gift stash when a baby comes along or when someone needs a heavy lap quilt or picnic quilt, and then I can add the backing and the binding to match the person. 

Here are three of the five jeans quilts I made years ago.  Here and here and here.  My kids love them!

Because you asked....

This is a rerun recipe, but since some of you asked for the Lemon Cloud Pie recipe, here it is.  I had forgotten how delish it was. I had a bowl of Meyer lemons that were starting to shrivel and shrink, so I squeezed them and made pie.

Lemon Cloud Pie

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 cup water

1/3+ cup lemon juice

2 egg yolks

Combine above ingredients in saucepan; bring to boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.

Add ~ 4 oz. softened cream cheese

           2 tsp. grated lemon peel

Cool mixture to room temperature.

Fold in 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped.

Spread into 9" baked and cooled pie shell.  Chill at least 3 hours or overnight.  Top with sweetened whipped cream, if desired, before serving.

* Even better the next day; keeps well, refrigerated, for 2 or even 3 days.
*You may use a graham cracker crust for this pie too.

We've had three more sets of triplets in the past two days.  That means that three of them will go into the bum pen unless we can graft them on mothers with single lambs.  I'm  feeding six eight bum lambs.  One has a broken leg which we splinted yesterday.  His mother likely stepped on him.

Someone asked in the comments if triplets are typical in sheep.  No, they are not.  It does happen, but triplets are not the norm.  Twins, yes.   Trips, no.  Quads, no.

Since we are just one third of the way through lambing, I have a hunch that we are going to have lots of lambies in the bum pen this year.  Just when I was thinking it would be fun to "be somebody" and start a little Etsy Shop with embroidered pretties, I will instead humbly take my place in the lambing barn sitting on a bucket feeding the bums.  I really do love them, and it's only for a time.  HP said yesterday, "Gram, do you know who the bummies' mother is?  Me.  And you."  They like being rubbed under the chin after they have their bottles.  

I made Four Seeded Bread yesterday and it was my best batch yet!  However, I only had three kinds of seeds so it was just three seeded bread.

I'm contemplating a fabric for my kitchen and dining room curtains.  Here are some of my picks.

I think my favorite is the first one, but I love them all.  Love the red animal/trees print, but it's very expensive.

Another project I am about to do is to repurpose a closet  in the guest room so that I can make a little baby nursery in there.  I hope to start painting it tomorrow.  I'm going to put a used crib in it and decorate it all cutsie.  I'm not sure if I will be able to close the closet doors, but if not, I will have curtains to pull across it or tie back as needed.  I hope my grandgirls will like it.  Here are some ideas I found on Pinterest.

Pretty City Things

 

Apartment Therapy

Now it's time to go feed the bummies for the last time today, then I'm going to fall into my bed.  It snowed.  Bah!

Bathroom makover finished!

Bathroom before (with new flooring)

 

Vanity before my refinishing project

After stain and finish.

Bathroom after

 

Vanities redone in red oak stain finish.  I basically finished them right over their current finish using this process.  It saved me lots of time and effort and I really love the results.

I added an antique looking clock and hooks for towels

I'm really happy with my upstairs bathroom make-over.  The color on the wall is a soft brown called "Meadowlark" in Valspar paint.  I changed out the lighting too.  We have no natural light in this bathroom so I couldn't take a picture of the lights and make it look right.  I ordered these from Amazon.  Here's the pic from the site.

 

My goal in this project was to repurpose as much as I could and make it an inexpensive make-over.  The flooring was brand new and the most expensive part of the make-over, but we really needed new floors. The light fixtures were new, but I thought I got a pretty nice buy on them.   I used a small can of stain for the woodwork and finished off a can of my DIL's polyurathane.  I bought a can of paint for the walls, a can of spray paint for the knobs on the vanity doors, a $10 wall clock, $24 coat hook rack for towels and I bought 5x7" art cards by a local artist for $2 each and framed them for as wall art in the bathroom.  

I have one more bathroom to re-do, but it will have to wait until spring when I can be less distracted by lambing and calving.  My daughter thinks I ought to re-do all the kitchen cabinets now in the same red oak stain finish that I did in the bathrooms.  The size of that job intimidates me, but I know I'd love the look.

paper, scissors, glue

Tis the season to change calendars and buy new ones.  I still need to buy a new one or two.  I always hang the great big calendar that we get from Alerdman Oil because it has huge dates and generous squares to write in.  The pictures are always pretty too.  I love a large calendar to write in.  It's practically a journal of the year by the time we are done with it.

While visiting at Angry Chicken a few days ago, I found a nifty project to recycle those pretty calendars we all must eventually throw away.  I decided that I, too, would recycle my old calendars into greeting cards.  I hardly ever have my own clever ideas, but find brilliant ideas all over the place.  I hardly have to do any thinking this way!  Besides, they say that copying is the best form of complimenting someone....as long as you aren't stealing their copyright.  That reminds me of something Amy did with her cards.  She gave credit to the artist whose art was recycled onto her newly made cards.  I did that too even though Monet will never know I used is calendar art.  Here is Amy Karol's DIY project.  I followed her lead and did mine much the same way -- glue pictures onto the card stock and then trim.  I used a new-to-me glue by Martha Stewart called Create Gel Adhesive that I found in the scrapbook aisle at W-mart.  It's nice stuff.  I felt almost as if I was back in kindergarten today.....playing with paper and scissors and glue.  The best part.....I have some sweet greeting cards to restock my supply.

A pretty paper sack repurpose...

I am on Cloud Nine since visiting Trader Joe's in AZ.  I know to most of you, TJ's is part of your everyday shopping experience, but we do not have it out in The Boondocks or even in the cities nearby, so when I get a chance to go to Trader Joe's, I feel blessed.  Yes. Blessed.  Why, even the paper sacks that are packed with my treats speak to me.  I just love the graphics that some smart, creative, young mind designed to delight TJ's customers.  So of course, I saved my paper sacks with thoughts of repurposing them somehow.  I needed to write a letter and a thank-you note to our fine hosts, so I fashioned an envelope for my letter and a made a tri-fold-a-note for my thank-you.  I just used clear tape to close them, but if I had had some cute foodie stickers, I would've used those instead.   Amy from Angry Chicken has a very simple envelope tutorial. I just love to listen to her voice as she talks me through a project.

I have half a notion to cut up my other paper sack and frame it for kitchen art!

Treats from Trader Joe's:

Himalayan Pink Salt in Grinder (gifts)

House Spice in Grinder

Mini Ravioli (dried)

Whole Almonds

Sliced Almonds

Sesame-Honey Cashews

Salted Cashews

Dried Mangoes

Marinated Mozzarella

Frying Cheese

I could have chosen so many more things, but alas, I had to think of how to carry it all in the golf bags without being over weight.