The Throne! - Furniture Fashionistas Series

Our monthly Furniture Fashionista Series continues today with Jean, from Backyard Bungalow.

This is a chair that I did a couple of years ago.  I call it...the Throne!

I found this at an estate sale...or maybe I should say...Mr. Wonderful found it 'cuz I walked right by the sucker!  I thought I had a good eye for spotting furniture, but if it hadn't been for Mr. W, I would have missed this reedonkulously amazing find!  It was marked $10.00, but would you believe it was half-off day?  Score!!  This picture was taken in the parking lot directly after purchase.

Interesting, right?!!  I set to work tearing it apart.

It was full of straw, old panty hose, t-shirts and all kinds of icky stuff!

 Gross, right?  And those springs!  They were all wonky and crap...I don't know what the person was thinking when they re-did this chair.  Yuck!  Never fear...I was wearing gloves and a mask during the ripping apart of this nasty chair.  I was just short of a biohazard suit.  I mean, even I have my limits.

Almost done ripping it apart.  I removed an entire garbage bag of yuck from this sucker!

Nothing of this chair was salvageable except for the frame, so I was left to try to figure out how to replace the springs and what not.   I purchased webbing from JoAnn Fabrics and set to stapling  the webbing on the back and re-gluing weak points.  I decided to replace the seat and back with thick foam.

Skipping ahead...I guess I forgot to take pictures of the shell of it...or of me painting it.  Oops!  Oh, well...Gotta remember this was BEFORE I had a blog.

I purchased a piece of 7" thick foam for the seat and 2" thick foam for the back from DIY Upholstery Supply as well as a roll of dacron polyester.  I covered the foam with spray adhesive and then wrapped it in the poly.

 Then I tried a "dry fit" before covering it in fabric.  Yay!  It fit!  I also skipped the steps where I had to cut the foam in such a way that it would fit tight in the seat, but sit over the edge of the wood.  Obviously, I was too engrossed in my frustration to take photos of the step-by-step process.

Jumping ahead...again....to the finished product!!

I adore grain-sack upholstery!  So simple, yet so elegant and durable.  And that texture...yummy!!

I liked it sooo much, I decided to keep it!!

This is how it looks in the Guest Bedroom.

So there you have it.  What about you?  Have you tackled a ridiculously gross project lately?  What was it? 

Jean

The Backyard Bungalow blog

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Bloomin' Marvelous Series - Garden Envy

Hi Everyone!  It's Mary again, from Sweet Little Bluebird!  Today I'm sharing how my sister-in-law Annie's garden grows, for our "Bloomin Marvelous" series...and boy is her garden marvelous!

I have major garden envy.  Major.  Earlier this summer my family and I made a trip to visit family outside of Buffalo, New York, to celebrate a graduation. Good times were had by all, along with great food!  A good amount of the food on the table came directly from my my sister-in-law's vegetable garden.  For living in the suburbs, Annie has a pretty impressive garden!  I have never grown my own vegetables successfully.  I attempted to grow some tomatoes one summer and it was a complete disaster - not one healthy tomato.  After getting tips and a quick education on my sister-in-law's garden, I think next summer I may give it another try!   

This year Annie's goal is to grow enough vegetables and herbs to sustain her family through winter.  A source of her inspiration came from the book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by author, Barbara Kingsolver.  Annie found this book incredibly enlightening about sustainable living.  This summer and fall she will be busy canning, freezing, drying what she harvests.  She planned her garden wisely.  She takes part in a local CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture) and receives a huge box of locally grown produce each week for $15.  She plants opposite of what she receives from her CSA boxes - so no veggies like broccoli in her garden. For the most part, Annie tries to purchase the majority of her food that is grown locally.  If however, she needs pineapple or avocado for a dish, she'll purchase that at her local grocery store.

So what's in Annie's suburban backyard garden?  A lot!  She has veggies planted along her back fence and two seperate beds in her backyard.  Additional veggies and herbs are planted around the side and front of her home.  Here is a list of what she grows:  fortex green beans, black beans, Portuguese beans, edamame, onions, garlic, chives, scallions, sugar snap peas, spinach, turnips, carrots, variety of tomatoes (large amount of heirloom), hot peppers, sweet peppers, parsnip, winter squash, purple and yellow potatoes, pumpkin, watermelon, cantaloupe, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, two varieties of basil.  Additional herbs are planted in pots for easy picking right outside her front door. 

What I love most about Annie's garden, it's all 100% organic.  Not a single pesticide and she only fertilizes organically.  She achieves a beautiful, healthy and thriving garden by planting carefully (companion gardening).  To prepare her garden, she dug 8 inches deep, replacing her clay soil with yards of local compost.  She then added composted horse manure, more of her own compost (she has a compost pile in her backyard too), along with coffee grounds and sphagnum peat moss.   She is able to keep insects away by smart planting.  Onions deter a lot of bugs, so they are planted around the majority of the garden, except near her beans. Onions are green bean's enemies. To learn more about companion gardening, click here.   

Here are a few pictures of her marvelous garden and links to a couple of great recipes!   

During our stay we had a "make your own pizza" night!  

Annie picked turnips for pizza toppings and spinach for the salad.  

So good! 

Turnips were sauteed in olive oil...

Summer Spinach Salad... 

Annie was sweet and sent me a couple of photos 

and links to two great recipes to share with all of you.

First up, Vegan Pesto!  Click here for the recipe.

Next, Spicy Snow Pea & Sesame Stir-Fry!  

Click here for the recipe.

I'd like to thank my sister-in-law for sharing her home, garden and recipes...THANK YOU!  And thanks to all of you, for stopping by the Cafe for our Garden series!

Just a reminder, our link party is coming up on July 29th where we are asking for you to link up all your gardening posts.  It can be about your flowers, vegetables, fruit, recipes using your fresh produce or something that has been inspired by gardens or nature.

Saturday Weekly Wrap Up 26

Hey Everyone, 

Happy Saturday! We hope you've all had a great week. 

Time to catch up on what we've been doing ...

Natalie at NorthShore Days

 

DIY Fabric Candelier

Danni at Silo Hill Farm

Peach Granita

Mel at Mellywood's Mansion

Christmas Boot Centerpiece 

Quick Bag Upcycle

Soda Can Jewelry

Mint Tin - Key Chain Upcycle

Pillowcase Packaging - Craft Room Organiser

Heather at The Beating Hearth

Trouble Shooting Dresden Plate Mini Quilt

Mini Quilts for Christmas....Dresden Plate Tutorial

Mini Quilts for Christmas...Dresden Plate fun!

It was Heather's turn at the Cafe this week:

Basil, Basil, Basil

Have a great weekend

xxx

 Nat, Mary, Heather, Danni and Mel

 

Inspiration Cafe is looking for guest posters and contributors. If you would like to guest please let us know, we would love to have you. If you would prefer a feature instead, feel free to drop us a line. New or old posts welcome.
 

Pineapple Coconut Cream Mini Pies - Kreative Creationz

Kendra from Kreative Creationz is here today to share a delicious pineapple treat with us all...
 

Like I said before, I am not a pie baker at all. You can find the first pie I’ve ever made here. Now that I’ve made one pie I thought I should try my hand at other pies. 

I know, I know. The first pie I made wasn’t a traditional dessert pie, so what makes me think I should continue making pies? Well, I’m still up for a challenge and I still love learning new skills. I’ve never had a coconut cream pie. It sounded tasty, yet difficult to make. I researched quite a few recipes before even trying to make one. 

This is my first attempt and it came out pretty well. Of course, I had to add my own kreative touch. 

Enjoy! 

 Ingredients 

½ Cup Shredded Coconut 

1- 9” Pie Crust 

1 ¼ Cup Whole Milk 

½ Cup Sugar 

½ Cup Cornstarch 

½ Cup Chopped Pineapples 

1 Large Egg, Beaten 

3 Tbsp. Pineapple Juice 

2 Tbsp. Coconut Milk 

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract  

Directions 

Preheat oven to 375°. 

In even layer, place coconut on cookie sheet and bake until top is lightly toasted. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 

Roll pie crust out flat. 

Using flower-shaped cookie cutter, cut out shapes into crust. 

Place shape cutouts into mini-muffin pie pan. 

Place pan in oven and bake until crust is a light golden brown. 

In a medium sauce pan, over low to medium heat, dissolve milk, sugar, and cornstarch. 

Stir mixture. 

Stir in pineapples, egg, pineapple juice, coconut milk, and extract. 

Continue stirring until mixture thickens. 

Remove from heat. 

Allow mixture to cool. 

Scoop mixture into pie cups and chill in refrigerator.

Bloomin' Marvelous...Basil, Basil, Basil

Hi, it's Heather from the Beating Hearth here with you today for our series "Bloomin' Marvelous", and nothing screams gardening to me more than herbs.  They add a freshness and brightness to any recipe, and are a vital part of my cooking, especially in the summer.

They are the first green things...besides the weeds, growing in my garden, ushering in the warmth of spring and summer.  The king of herbs for me is basil.  I love how it tastes, I love how it smells and I love how pretty it is with its big oblong leaves.

Let me touch on the secret to successfully growing your own basil...now, I have this knowledge because I spent an entire summer a few years ago coddling and nurturing a basil plant, only to have it not flourish.  Are you ready for it...the grand secret to basil producing like mad...abuse it.  Be cruel to it.  Pick on your basil like you don't like it, even though you secretly have a mad crush and think basil's like, the coolest and cutest boy in school....and his name is pronounced Ba-sil ("ba" like hat or cat), not bay, but you can't possibly let him know you like him, so you pretend that you don't.  Side note, if I had a son, I might just have to name him Basil....I like it that much.

So, prune your basil and it will reward you.  Once you get several leaves (about 8), you can prune back to the first set of leaves and it will just grow back like crazy for you.  Don't worry about just plucking the leaves off, go straight for the stem.  Tear it off!  Make sure it's watered thoroughly and the soil's well-draining!  In the summer, make sure it has full sun, water it every day and pick off any flowers that grow because that will ruin your flavor.  Do all this and you should have a glorious basil plant and tasty goodness all summer long.

Now, what to do with your basils?  I like calling them basils (plural), because it makes me smile.  Okay, what to do with your basils?  Well, I was going to make homemade strawberry ice cream infused with basil goodness, but I decided to go on a sugar strike this week.  So, never mind.  Let's do this instead...one of the best mid to late summer salads, because you get to use your freshly picked, perfectly ripe heirloom tomatoes and bunches of glorious, deep green basil...adjust ingredients to fit the amount you need.

Caprese Salad

Bunches of basil
Glorious, perfectly ripe tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese (use the fresh stuff, it's so creamy and soft)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Balsamic Vinegar reduction (optional, but my drizzle of choice)
Olive Oil (optional)
Italian Vinaigrette (If you're my mom)

Slice your tomatoes nice and thick.  Slice your mozzarella.  Pluck basils off the stem.  Arrange in layers (see above).
Salt and pepper generously.  Tomatoes crave seasoning.  Nothing tastes better than a tomato warm off the vine with a hearty sprinkling of salt.

If you choose, make a balsamic reduction...Heat 1 cup balsamic vinegar over medium heat until boiling.  Reduce heat to a simmer, stir occasionally, and let reduce by half until thicker and more syrupy.  Let cool.

If you choose, drizzle the reduction, simple olive oil or Italian vinaigrette over the top and serve.

Not only is this salad delicious, but it's stunning to look at.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Heather

p.s. We've got our link party coming up on July 29th where we are asking for you to link up all your gardening posts.  It can be about your flowers, vegetables, fruit, recipes using your fresh produce or something that has been inspired by gardens or nature.

Shared here:
Create With Joy
Blackberry Vine
Try a new recipe Tuesday 

Saturday Weekly Wrap Up 25

Hey Everyone, we hope you've all had a good week, a wonderful 4th of July and are ready for the weekend,

Lets have a look at what the 5 of us have been up to this week...

Mary at Sweet Little Bluebird

Tried & True Tuesday ~ Fiesta Corn Salsa

Danni at Silo Hill Farm

Danni was a guest poster at 2 blogs this week:

From Grandma Loy's Kitchen - Olive Wall Plaque

The Enchanting Rose - Summer Flower Frame

Natalie at NorthShore Days

Beach Ready Toe Rings

NorthShore Days' Jewelry Winter Collection

Mel at Mellywood's Mansion

 Embroidered Mat

Bottle Cap Necklace...Take Two

Hot Chilli Woman

Heather at The Beating Hearth

 Trend Alert!!!

 Girl Ninja Turtle Party...The Games

 Girl Ninja Turtle Party Week!!! Turtle cupcakes!

It was Danni's turn at the Cafe this week:

Succulents

Have a great weekend

xxx

 Nat, Mary, Heather, Danni and Mel

 

Inspiration Cafe is looking for guest posters and contributors. If you would like to guest please let us know, we would love to have you. If you would prefer a feature instead, feel free to drop us a line. New or old posts welcome.
 

Rolled Flower Patriotic Pin - Clippie Dips

Happy 4th of July !!! Amy from Clippie Dips is here today to share a simple patriotic pin...

Happy 4th of July everyone! Today I'm sharing with you a really simple little pin that you can probably whip up within 20 minutes!

Supplies

-felt

-scissors

-pin

-glue gun

First you'll need to cut (3) 4 1/4" x 1" pieces of felt. I chose to use red, white and blue for the holiday.

Then, you're going to overlap the ends of your felt 1/4" and glue them together.

Fold the entire length in half and glue as you go.

Cut slits, about 1/4" apart all the way down the top of the felt strip.

 

Now, you're going to start at one end an roll it together in a sort of spiral fashion, gluing as you go. (The pin was just to hold it together for the picture!)

Once it's completely rolled and glued, cut a circle out of felt just big enough to cover the back of the flower.

Then, cut 2 little slits into the circle, just big enough to push the pin back through like in the photo below.

Glue it onto the back of your flower.

Let it dry and then you're done! Pin it to your favorite bag or clutch!

Pin it to your shirt! Or Hello Kitty nightgown ;)!

These are so versatile! Have fun with different colors for every occasion!