Coffee House Chair Makeover

Some of you already know about Denton Freedom House, but for those who don't, it's a non-profit residence program for men who choose to walk away from their addictions (drug, alcohol, whatever) and who want to become more Christ-like. I believe with my whole heart that it saved my son's life. As a result, I am, of course, very, very grateful to the Freedom House and am always willing to volunteer my time and talents (such as they are) whenever there's a need.

To accomplish some of their future plans (a Freedom House for women and the expansion of the existing packed-to-the-rafters men's program), they'll be opening a (for-profit) coffee house in Denton at the beginning of November. They've been preparing the location for awhile ... which includes receiving donations of chairs, tables, etc, some of which are in less than perfect condition. That's how I came to participate in today's project -- reupholstering two matching chairs. Super SASSY to the rescue!!

This is what the chairs looked like BEFORE. Really not too bad when you look at them straight on.

But this is what they both looked like from the side -- clear evidence of a CAT DESTRUCTOR at work , I think!

One of the volunteers had donated 5 yards of putty colored chenille upholstery fabric (she bought it at a thrift store in Roanoke for $1.00 per yard ... and YES she gave me the name & location) which would be perfect for this project. Since it was a pretty simple color and pattern and I didn't want to make my own cord, I picked up some corresponding braid (is it braid or gimp? TexNan will know) at Hobby Lobby and used it to spruce up the newly reupholstered chairs. If you add the cost of the braid and the cost of the fabric, that's $10.00 per chair. Not bad I say. They're going to use these next to the "fireplace" at the coffee shop. I used quotes around the word fireplace because it's a fireplace surround. I haven't seen the finished mantel yet, but they tell me this fabric will look great next to it.

Here's the AFTER shots. The braid is blue in the center and dark putty on the outer edges. The picture ---of course! -- doesn't do it justice, but it's really pretty in person.

If you make it to Denton, Texas, the coffee house is catty-cornered across from the civic center and it's called Zera's. Check it out!

Closet Rug

Today I bought an oriental runner for $15 at the thrift store (see the post below for another great buy). Did I score today or what? And these are not the only goodies I got, but this is all I have time to show you right now.

Okay, I know everyone doesn't need a rug in their closet -- they have carpeted closets. But I have a tile floor and I NEEDED a rug in my closet. The floor was cold and I don't want to step on a bare floor - I hate cold feet (I know .... what a Princess!!). When I spotted this one at the thrift store, I checked for stains and for quality --- it feels great! I'm okay with a synthetic rug for my closet, but I don't want it to FEEL like it's made of plastic ... know what I mean? It needs to feel like it's made of wool. This one doesn't have a tag stating content and I know I can test it to see if it's wool, but I don't WANT to. I mean .... after all, it's a CLOSET rug. It's just there to keep my feet warm and my eyes happy.

And my eyes ARE happy!

Thrift Store Candleholder

Just had to quickly share this thrift store find. When describing it over the phone to Nancy, I called it a Forrest Gump candleholder because it reminds me of Forrest's leg braces. Is that rude? Couldn't think of any other way to describe it.

Now the decisions -- polish or not -- paint it pewter or leave it brass. Whatcha think?

Another Creepy Critter!

Just had to share the pictures I saw at Let-It-Shine (http://let--it--shine.blogspot.com/2009/09/metamorphosis.html) -- they made me laugh. Now I would love to have one of THESE creepy critters in my garden!

Gives new meaning to the phrase "Cute as a bug"! Love it!

CREEPY CRITTER ON MY KILLER TOMATO

Remember my killer tomato plant? Several years ago I bought a tomato plant - yellow pear tomato - from Lowe's and planted it in the front flower bed. I have drip irrigation in the front so I thought that would be the best place for it - my job plus 3 hour commute left me with little to NO time for watering plants that weren't on the drip system. Well, that tomato plant was so happy in the front garden it had to be cut back drastically because it was trying to take over the flower bed and the porch ... hence the Killer Tomato nomenclature.

The following year, we had volunteer tomato plants ... I guess a couple of tomatoes must have fallen to the ground and seeded the soil before I removed the big-honkin-mother-plant in the fall. Well, I let one of the volunteers grow and kept it cut back so that it wouldn't take over. Hey -- it's free tomatoes. Then the following year I transplanted yet another volunteer to the newly created back garden. This year the latest round of volunteers is going gangbusters and I have a huge crop of tomatoes. YUM!

Having said all that, I come to the CRITTER part of the story. Today I went out to get some tomatoes for dinner and I saw this HUGE caterpillar walking on the cable system to which the tomatoes are tied. It's really creepy looking and GI-NORMOUS. So I grabbed my camera, took some pictures so I could do some investigating. Isn't he creepy looking?

Per my Google search, he's a Tobacco / Tomato Horn Worm. DUH! Now I notice some of the top leaves are eaten down to the stalk. Okay, I'm waiting till DH gets home to get rid of it 'cause I'm not touching that thing!

ICK!

The Price of Makover

We've been working on our master bathroom makeover for quite awhile (read years here). It just seems to go on and on and ON AND ....

But I thought I'd give you a teensy, teensy glimpse at the progress. This is how the master bath looked when we bought our house. Pretty uuuuugly, but it had possibilities.

This is the direction we're moving (courtesy of some unknown person with wonderful taste on Rate My Space)

The cost of getting there??

$150 for Jacuzzi whirlpool (thru a classified ad --a $3000.00 2-person Jacuzzi that was in perfect condition .... SCORE!)

$75 for 3 new light fixtures (on closeout at Lowe's)

$35 for paint (on sale)

$100+ for wood and molding

And ...... it looks like maybe $218 for masking tape??

And just forget about the cost of sore knees (ever painted baseboards BEHIND the porcelain bus?) and aching muscles. Maybe I need to start yoga again because I really needed the flexibility today. I ended up scooting around the bathroom on my patootie (felt like a doodlebug) to get the baseboards painted in a bright white. Poor DH kept making Michelangelo remarks because he was painting the crown molding. It's not the Sistine chapel, but oh my poor baby!

And we're not finished yet ... DH found some great travertine on closeout at the Home Depot last weekend, so we've got a much needed counter replacement in our future ... and perhaps new sinks, etc ... and we're thinking about tile around the top of the shower to match the tile around the Jacuzzi .... BUT that's part of Phase III. I'm just glad we're ALMOST finished with Phase II of the everlasting quest for the perfect master bath. I'll post pictures as soon as Phase II is complete.

Little Kitty Heaven

Ran across this blog http://www.brooklynlimestone.com/2009/09/chic-on-cheap-pet-bed-step-by-step.html and just had to share her great idea for a cat bed.

This is what it looks like from the outside -- a suitcase with feet.

This is what it looks like on the inside. She's made a wonderful reversible cushion for the bottom, a teensy matching pillow and a gallery of cat pictures!

This is what it looks like with the occupant curled up inside -- without the cushion she lovingly -- and painstakingly -- made!

LOVE IT! Looks like her cat loves it too.