recovering chairs

We bought these chairs 6 years ago, when we had a 2 yr. old and a 1 yr. old.  The pictures don't do them justice as to their nastiness from the years of spilled milk, juice, chai, coffee, you name it... {Sorry to those who have sat in them.} 

So, I bought clearance fabric from JoAnn's {4 yards @ $4/yard).  It's been draped over the chairs for some months now, while I've been working up the courage.  This week, my parents brought the confidence and know-how, and we went to it.  

I'm so pleased with how they came out!  And am happy to share what we did.  I just don't know that I can write a tutorial right now.

Truth is, our chairs aren't the only things over here recovering.  
I haven't known what to say on here.  Between our middle one waking up at 6 all last week, crying all morning because he missed his dad...our 3 year old telling me you ruined my life {because we didn't make it to the library}...or the stories our eldest shares from school...oh the stories...it's enough to keep this mama inside for awhile.  Last night, I was leaving {for the first time in a few weeks} for zumba, and a child calls after me "Sorry for how mean we've been to you."  As guilty as I can feel for getting away, it was such a sweet reminder we all need it.  Just 1 hour to dance my heart out and let them miss me a little.  Did us all some good.  
We're gonna pull through.  Not by any strength of my own, but by the prayers of our dear family and friends, some even sensing a burden and asking to come over to pray with us.  By my dear husband's persistent love and care. By the power of God's Word and His Spirit that reminds us where to cling.  

For the Word of God is full of living power.  It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep  into our innermost thoughts and desires.  It exposes us for what we really are.  Nothing in all creation can hide from Him.  Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes.  THIS is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.  THAT IS WHY we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God.  

Let us CLING TO HIM and never stop trusting Him.  

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faces all of the same temptations we do, yet He did not sin.  

SO LET US COME BOLDLY to the throne of our GRACIOUS GOD.  

There we will receive His mercy, 

and we will find grace to help us when we need it.  

Hebrews 4.12-16 {NLT}

.:make do:. old doors

.: The making of our guest room with what we already have lying around :. 

We're revisiting .: make do :. today.  Because our guest room just got a new addition.  This is a special room to us - we want it to be comfortable for loved ones coming to visit, and yet practical for daily use.  

When I saw this, I thought it was the perfect solution.  

I thought we would put 2 mattresses on pallets in the shape of an L, which could be a sectional couch when the kids watch a movie, but would be 2 beds for guests.  I still love the pallet idea and hope to have it somewhere in this house...  

But, we still had some doors lying around.  One day Andy got out his circular saw and started cutting through some in our front yard.  {I’ll tell ya, we must be quite the entertainment for our neighbors - "honey, there he is cuttin' up doors again"}  Painted them with the leftover trim color, used a $6 pack of screws and we have a guest room daybed/couch! 

It's kinda hard to tell from the picture, but there's a mattress on top, and room for a second mattress that will roll out underneath.  
I made some cushions out of...can you guess?

Old bed pillows, leftover cream curtain fabric, and scrap material.  

There you have our design on a dime daybed.  Cost: $6.

Waste not, want not. 

Or, as a wise man once said:

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have.

Ecclesiastes 6.9a (NLT)

For more old door inspiration...








It's fall break!
Which means, we counted on our fingers 5 whole days I get to have my boys all to myself!!!  I'll be back here next week with handmade gift ideas {for you, Jules!}  
Until then, enjoy your days, 
and the beautiful ones you have to share them with!

.:make do:. old windows

We made it!  Thanks for venturing with me.  This is the fourth (and final, for now) adventure in trimming your home with what you already have lying around.

.: make do :.
--part four --

We replaced 36 windows in this house.  ThiRty-SiX!  You may have noticed I have a hard time throwing anything away...especially old windows.  We gave some away, kept some for other projects (some garden box greenhouses), made a wipe board in our kitchen, 

and hopefully one of these in our near future backyard...

But for now, we did this...

We'll fill that bottom right picture with something, as soon as I figure out what.  I'm thinking a collage of faces from places that grip our heart {Brazil, Cambodia, PNG, etc}.  So far, a print from Nikki McClure, some family pics taken by the lovely Kari McG and Micah 6.8 is perfect.  
You see, the thing I like most about this is that it reminds me that mama bird doesn't build her nest to blog about it...but to fill her nest with loved ones.  To make a comfortable place for *all* to gather.  It's so not about the stuff.  That will all pass away some day.  Yes, we press on to finish this house so it doesn't remain on our to-do list for the next 10 years as something we should be doing...

I look back on my week and all the beautiful faces that have gathered in our home...the neighbor boy who runs to our house after school and waits on our porch to be welcomed in for a snack and play as long as I will let him...those with whom we have zumba-ed...sat on basement floors chatting while kiddos played...eaten quesadillas or drank coffee sharing struggles and joys and life...met to pray together in the midnight hours at starbucks...field-tripped to the planetarium...
This is what matters. 
The projects have been fun.  The nesting is rewarding.  
But, lives are what lasts.
This is where we want to invest.  

Ok, this pretty much makes my day.  It may be the best thing I've posted all week - I just can't stop staring at it, and laughing :)


Happy weekend-ing!

Invest well, friends.

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice,

to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God.

micah 6.8

.:make do:. pillows

I hope you're enjoying our little adventures-in-trimming-your-home-with-what-you-have-lying-around.  These projects have been done for awhile (I did most of them in the evenings while Andy was in Mexico.)  I'm just now getting around to sharing them with you.  Aaaaaaand, that was the best opener I could come up with at 9.40 on a Tuesday night.  I tell ya, this posting everyday thing is harder than I thought!  

.: make do :.

-- part three --

I'm 33, and have never had throw pillows on my bed.  I've always thought they looked nice.  I just never could bring myself to buy them.  
You guessed it - I finally made some!  
Our king size pillows were needing replaced.  
So I bring you...
how to make 2 throw pillows out of 1 king-size pillow
{I don't read many patterns, so pardon my wording.  I added pics, so hopefully it makes sense.}
1.  Fold pillow in half {when it stays, you know it's time to buy a new pillow, and turn your old one into throw pillows}

2.  Cut straight through: pillow case, stuffing and all.  

3.  Turn cut edge inside and pin.  {Notice the handsome trio in the background rather than the drool marks on the pillow.}

4.  Sew seam shut.

5.  You made yourself a throw pillow!  Now is the fun part of making it pretty.  Keep looking at what's lying around...

Do you see it?  Curtains that need shortened = Fabric for throw pillows!!

{I take no credit for the 2 end pillows, other than finding them at pier 1 for $7 and buying them with a gift card - many thanks, H's!}  
Our very first throw pillows - I feel so grown up!!!  
Now if only it would help me make the bed more :)

I write these posts not wanting anyone's heart to well up with anything other than contentment for what we already have. Realizing stuff can never satisfy a soul. Because somewhere in there...my little sewing buddy, sitting on my lap, turns his head around, looks back at me and says “Momma, you’re my best fwiend.” And, I hear loud and clear 

The best things in life aren’t things.

.:make do:. bathmat

Thanks for all your fun comments!  I agree - she would look lovely in kelly green.  Now to research how to paint wood...  I know it may sound like we've lost our mind, painting perfectly fine wood.  But I kind of like the shabby-chic, chipped-paint look in there.  (And you can certainly say "I told you so" in a few years if I'm stripping off the paint :)

.: make do :.
-- part two --

We needed a bath mat upstairs. I tried to dye a dingy white one we've had for 6 years, but I shoulda bought black Rit-Dye rather than yellow.  I was hoping for light yellow.  Instead, it turned out looking like someone skinned Big Bird and made a rug out of him (my husband's exact words :)  Say hello to Big Bird-mat before he moved in with his good buddy Oscar the Grouch (a.k.a. the trash can). 

Back to the drawing board...
I found a white towel I had on hand to use for the backing of some homemade bibs and a yard of material I had lying around.  Cut the towel and material the same size.  {Which is always better to do in the sun.}  High-fived the little buddy across from me after every piece was cut (his idea :) 

Sewed the fabric to the towel.  {I just did a zig zag because it wouldn't be seen.}  Then, I sewed on a piece of trim....with the help of my little "fwiend."

Voilà.  Bath mat!

Something that was overlooked for years is now so special.  After helping with the making of his bath mat, Jude mentions it every time he wipes his freshly-bathed feeties on it.  And another trip to the store to pick up another *thing* is successfully avoided.

I write these posts not wanting anyone's heart to well up with anything other than contentment for what we already have. Realizing stuff can never satisfy a soul. Because somewhere in there...my little sewing buddy, sitting on my lap, turns his head around, looks back at me and says “Momma, you’re my best fwiend.” And, I hear loud and clear

The best things in life aren’t things.

.:make do:. rocking chair

I can't believe we have lived in this house 2 months already!  I started to write a list of how we have moved in and tried to make do with what we already have.  I went around and snapped some shots, and it turned into a week's worth of posts.  These may be brief; or rather, as long as Davey and Goliath can distract wee-one.  But hopefully they will help you see the hidden treasures in what you already have.  

And now...adventures in trimming our home with what is lying around.  
(Or, as Andy suggested...home ec-extravaganza!)

.:make do:.

-----part one----

Meet the 8 year old rocking chair that on many a night, we rocked our babes to sleep.  She looks tired, worn out, doesn't she?  She has "Goodnight Moon" memorized, along with any Over the Rhine song, and has probably heard a few botched renditions of old hymns in her day sung by a weary mama.  
If this chair could speak...  But it can't, so it was headed to Goodwill.  
Until a few weeks ago when Jack was headed down a steep slope on his scooter and took a giant spill.  We made it home, and he crawled onto my lap in the rocking chair.  The other two were gathered around, making sure he was okay.  Then, it turned into fighting over who would get rocked next.  It may never happen again, but I couldn't give up so soon.  

So, I bought fabric :)

It was much easier than I ever would have guessed, or I would have done this years ago!  
1. Place the old cushions over your new fabric.  Fold fabric in 2, make sure the inside is facing up.  
2. Trace around the cushion 2 times - an inner line for where the stitching should be, an outer line 1 inch from the 1st trace for where the cutting should be.  
3.  Cut on the 2nd line.  At this point, I pinned the 2 pieces of fabric together.  
4.  With right sides together, sew on the 1st trace line just around the top of the cushion.  (Leaving the back open to insert the cushion.)  
5.  Turn inside out and place over the cushion.  It should fit snug, or you may need to take it in some more.
6.  Fold the cut edges inside and sew the last seam shut.
7.  Repeat with the 2nd cushion.


She may get a paint job as well...as soon as I can decide between bright orange, kelly green, or dark brown.  Or, as soon as a whole lot of other things happen...  

I write these posts not wanting anyone's heart to well up with anything other than contentment for what we already have.  Realizing stuff can never satisfy a soul.  Because somewhere in there...my little sewing buddy, sitting on my lap, turns his head around, looks back at me and says “Momma, you’re my best fwiend.”  And, I hear loud and clear 

The best things in life aren’t things.

container garden

When we decided to make some garden boxes 4 years ago, I had no idea how much fun it would be!  I mean, once you step outside your back door, pick a sun-kissed tomato from the vine, slice it up with some olive oil, basil and fresh cracked pepper on it, you’re hooked.  Or, I loved how many times we would be out of lettuce, cilantro, onions...etc., and remember the organic produce growing in our backyard.  I quickly became an addicted gardener. 

We have plans for building garden boxes out of some steps we need to tear out at our "new old house."  But until we have indoor plumbing, it’s not really a priority right now...to some people :)

So, I started looking into container gardening.  I’ve been pricing out pots at all the “men's stores.”  (Including a trip to Ace Hardware in what I guess was a tornado warning Sunday – no wonder they looked at me funny when I was asking why their garden center was closed and when it would reopen – I was on a mission!)  Not wanting to go the plastic pot route, terra cotta pots seemed to be the best option.  

Until I spotted these.  

Good ole’ galvanized steel pails.  

Drill 3 holes in the bottom.  

Fill with potting soil and plants.  (I put a layer of rocks on the bottom to improve drainage, before adding the soil.)

We now have a garden!  One that can be carried wherever we go :)

I bought 6 steel pails Menards had at $5.98, which was the best price I could find.  It is enough to grow tomato, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, green bell pepper, basil, and stevia.  


I would love to do a bucket of lettuce, onions and cilantro.  But, I'll have to wait until we empty some paint cans...I think they will work fine for the rest.


We definitely need some more basil plants too, the way it disappears.  
Grilled tomato-basil sandwiches are a summer staple over here.

Eaten today in Jude's choice spot:  the entryway.