Who Am I Foolin'?

No.

Of course I don't "hoard".

I stockpile.

You see, I'm just very prepared.

I'll be in good shape if there's ever a junk shortage.

My rationalization is fed, as it is for many of us, by an I'm "gonna need that some day" mentality. Meanwhile, living space dwindles and decisions mount. In my case, my friend and I are intending to open a shop, and the mounting stash of treasure that's growing as if someone's fertilizing and watering it has the potential to become valuable product in some iteration or another. We're counting on it. If I ever get to the store for some of the supplies I need, I will continue to transform the elements of my stash into other life forms. Unfortunately time and circumstance are often fickle and rude. They find ways of interrupting me and changing my mind about what I'm going to be doing next!

Now, this past weekend was no exception to the hunt and gather phenom that fuels my junk stockpile.

Despite the approaching tropical storm (Isaac), and the driving rain that began on Friday, the thought of missing out on something that might be out there, and the hope that the rain would deter others (thereby providing me with an advantage!) prevented me from staying inside and enjoying the dark day inside where the atmosphere was devoid of blustery winds and raindrops.

I donned those fantastical "Raspberry Red"(okay, you can call them pink if you like) Rain Boots, which have become a sort of soggy Saturday staple, (see, I DID need them!) and I set out to run the gamut of stops on my list.

 "Raspberry Red", the friend of a soggy day yard-saler - they did me proud this weekend.

Early on, I happened upon a couple who was selling quite a few items they had from a shop they were closing. There were a lot of things made with wood and seashells. Two ladies had arrived just before me and scored some items I'd have wanted, but they were pricey, so perhaps the timing was just as well. I got this for 50 cents because some shells were missing. It's actually a nice heavy wood frame, and I intend to take the shells off anyway and see what comes of it.

Spotted this old fashioned looking gumball machine on my way into their garage, but the owner wanted $25. Too rich for my blood, so I just glanced at it in passing and continued the hunt.

...whereby I found this and snapped it up for $10.00.

which is odd considering my $5 limit.

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity and striving after the wind...so it felt while sanding down this paint job.

This is a new piece (and not any special quality). The owner had just painted it to look like this. I justified the $10 by considering that each piece was $5. That, my friends, is how rationalization works. I also figured the straight lines would make it easy to work on. Flat surfaces don't provide much character when painting/distressing, but they are easier to sand to bare wood (and I rarely find character pieces around here anyway) and I like to get the old finish off as much as possible if it's not going to add to the character of the end result. I wanted the purple outta here so that when I distress it later, the wood will show through here and there. With a white basecoat, it's already a new creation. And maybe me too, as I listened to Matt Chandler messages while I painted. (He's the pastor of the Village Church in Dallas, Texas. Cally sent me a whole bunch of his older podcasts, and I listen while I work. So yes, it's holy work I'm doing. 

What? You find that to be a stretch? Well, he is an excellent speaker. His Biblical messages are also quite timely and engaging.)

So while I got somewhere on that piece, it now sits in furniture limbo. That's the place where so many of my projects go to dream of a quick renewal and recovery (they dream with futility, I might add, but they can dream). I made a deal with myself to come home and immediately get sanding and to get the first coat of paint on it. Surprisingly I did. Unfortunately it was raining, and that left my sanding efforts to fits and starts, since I do such work right outside of the back door on the porch step. Then I didn't have the color of paint needed for the final coat. I also need to create a stencil I can use to paint the fabric, which I intend to use to cover the seat. I intend that this vanity will no longer resemble its former self when I'm done with it. 

I got this fish net thrown in with the vanity.

So, I left with my vanity and the net and also with soggy hair from the time spent in the rain trying to wedge the vanity into the backseat as water fell freely from the sky (the guy ended up having to unscrew the mirror for me after my futile attempts.) Because of that mirrored vanity, I had to sacrifice hair vanity for the rest of the morning. So it goes. However thanks to "Raspberry Red", my feet and the bottom of my jeans were spared a soggy saga! Perhaps I should become one who dons her little plastic rain bonnet like my mom and her generation used to pull out of their purses, unfold and cover their heads with back in the day. 

Ummm...let me think about that...

Yeah...no.

I think I'll pass. 

. 

Yes! 7 feet of longboard goodness! 

Well, this is South Florida, so I was thrilled to score this.

This is meant to become a sign or some sort of display piece. It's got a bit of fiberglass damage at the bottom, but since we don't intend to use it for surfing, and it's not noticeable, it is perfect. The guy wanted $10 and that was too much for me. Mind you, around here, used surfboards often go for between $150 and $200. Even so I am very conservative with my expenditures. Can't be spending $10 on just anything. I called Casey when I first found this because she's been wanting a long board. I had to wake her to ask, but through a sleepy fog, she declined despite my proclamations that it was a great deal. Then she promptly returned to the land of nod. I wasn't sure I wanted to blow my own cash, so I left, however, as usual, I began regretting the uberthrift and hesitation with which I had operated. You know that feeling; it's the opposite of buyer's remorse. 

I shall henceforth call it "uberthrifter's remorse".

I ended up on the phone with Lynette and told her about the gumball machine and the surfboard. She thought they were great ideas even at asking price and gave me her approval. So off I took in a hurry, pretty sure both would be gone. I arrived at the house only to realize that a 7 foot board might be a bit tricky to fit in my car. 

Ha! By now, you (and I!) should know my car has skills. The board was still there (woohoo!) and the guy selling it managed to fit it through the back car door, over the passenger seat and the dashboard, with the back resting on the back window space. Guess what, he took $5.00 for it! Nicely scored! And guess who came home from work later and promptly fell in love and proclaimed it to be hers?! 

Uh, uh, sweet thang. It's a shop sign now. Casey told me that I should have known not to listen to her when she's sleepy. 

Oh brother.

When I went back for the gumball machine, it was still there too. It's not authentic or old but has enough of a look, and I got the seller to go down by $10 to $15 and made the deal. The owner and I had quite a time trying to get it apart to see how the money would come out (she had never used it the correct way) and then we had to try and get it all back together. Glad I asked her to be sure it worked first because it was a bit tricky. In the process, she went in her house and managed to find the key, which I would have been sorry not to have. She thought she had lost it.

So there you have it. I have added to my stockpile and actually worked on some things. By this weekend I hope to have not only the vanity done but to also have a few other little projects at least in the works.

Wish I had it all ready to show you, but I'm a dabbler. I have to work around my job, the yard work, repairs of many kinds, food prep and clean up, laundry, house cleaning, blogging and such the like. A little time on this, a little on that, and one day soon I'll have something to show for it all.

In the meantime, I'm working on distributing the ever-multiplying junk throughout the house so as to trick the eye into believing it somehow makes sense.

Think I'm gonna fool anyone?

I'll be sharing this with:

Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer
Mop It Up Mondays @ I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Pink Saturday @ How Sweet The Sound
Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things
Sunday Show Off @ Twigg Studios
Freedom Fridays @ My Turn
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday @ My Romantic Home
Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage
Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Cheaper Than Thriftin'

With my trip to the Birmingham area behind me, my longest yard sale posts pretty well wrapped up, my life back to its usual routine, and work always calling me to leave my comfy spot on the couch and remove my fingers from their one on one connection to the keyboard, I'm longing for a connection to the escape that was my recent road trip to the Mountain Brook/Homewood area of Alabama.

Luckily, I took some photos along the way. I've shown you most everything already, but there are a few shots that I haven't set before you quite yet. Today seems like a prime opportunity to infuse a little bit of color and joy from that journey into a weekend plagued by Tropical Storm Isaac. The weather is hampering my desire to go to the store for the painting supplies I need to finish something I started yesterday, and it's preventing me from sanding a pallet I want to make into a sign.

Yesterday the rain was more sporadic so I sanded the two windows I scored at the longest yard sale, and I sanded a piece I found while I was out on the hunt yesterday. (I'll show you those later.) What a mess I made. It kept raining here and there and turning the green, blue, purple and silver paint I was sanding into dust.

Since I can't sand today, despite the wind and driving rain, thank goodness we at least still have power, because that means I can justify putting my feet up and blogging! Sometimes, and I just mean sometimes, it's good to have decisions made by weather default.

Boy is it storming out there. Yikes!

How sweet is this street scene! 

Took this while Cally was driving us around looking for yard sales. 

Loved this neighborhood! I'm sure Cally had to get so tired of me oohing and ahhing over the homes and flowers and everything, but she humored me, shuttled me around and stopped to let me snap pictures.

This is the walkway in front of Anthropologie at The Summit in the Birmingham area. 

The baskets of hanging flowers really caught my eye.

Here is Leaf & Petal in Mountain Brook. I saw two of these shops while we were out and about. Both were just gorgeous, and they have everything set up so you can see if from the street. We were out walking when we passed this one.

It's a different world in Mountain Brook, compared to South Florida. The architecture alone holds appeal for me because it's got so much more character than most of the buildings around here.

Quaint details get me every time.

One of the things I love about Mountain Brook and Homewood is that so many of the shops have flowers in planters flanking the shops outside and they have them in pots at the corners by the street. It lends softness and color and is very inviting.

Lots of cute places to set up shop in this town!

Check this out!

I made Cally go back and find this while we were looking for yard sales because I wanted to be sure I remembered it. This is at someone's home in the same neighborhood as above with the Devon Drive sign. What a great display! I wish I had also taken a wider shot so you could see this in relation to the whole house, but it's awkward shooting photos of people's windows with a huge lens on your camera from the street. Felt a little stalkerish. Glad no one was in there at the time. 

I snapped and we rushed on.

Sorry for the fuzzy shot (we were on the move), but I still think it's a sweet street scene.

After we got stuck in Hobby Lobby during a rainstorm and thought we'd never be able to go out on the roads again, the rain relented. It was sunset so Cally drove me to a "secret" lookout above Mountain Brook that overlooks the city of Birmingham, hoping for parting clouds, and we got them! It was a sweet spot with a beautiful view!

Birmingham City Lights at Sunset

The people who live in the house to the left sure have the view!

Then the night before I left, Cally took me to another lookout in the Homewood/Vestavia area. I believe this is looking over Homewood. 

(Cally, correct me if I'm wrong.)

You can see the outline of the sun if you look carefully.

There you have it, my weekend diversion and a little reminiscing.

It's fun to enjoy beautiful sights through the photos you've already taken.

It's cheaper than thriftin'.

 I think I'll go read a book now and eat the Chicken soup I made last night... 

...maybe have a Cherry Coke. 

Now that's livin'. Despite the tropical storm that's raging.

Hope your weekend is lovely!

I'll be sharing this with:

Cowgirl Up @ Cedar Hill Ranch
Sunday Show Off @ Twigg Studios
Freedom Fridays @ My Turn
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Link Up With Me @ Liz Marie Blog
Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage
Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Open Call Tuesday @ Salt Tree
Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Mod Mix Monday @ Mod Vintage Life
Tuesday To-Do @ The Blackberry Vine
Metamorphosis Monday @ BNOTP
Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer
Inspire Me Monday @ Create with Joy
Mop it Up Mondays @ ISBMTF
Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things

Cast of Characters

Well, as you can see, I haven't posted since Monday. I have been pretty busy, but I have also been plagued by a blogger issue whereby they decided to tell me (while I was uploading photos for a post) that I didn't have any storage space left. I have already dealt with this once, but had to spend hours trying to delete images and resize others, only to have it continue to tell me I was past my limit when I clearly wasn't. Frustrating. However, for the moment, I have the problem remedied. If you ever find me MIA, that could be the reason.

Friday's cast of characters.

On to the fun stuff!

Last week I went to Goodwill and found all sorts of silverware; wide soup spoons and various forks for 10 cents each. They also had a couple of larger silver pasta serving spoons for $2 each, as well as the usual selection of a bit more expensive silver trays, butter dishes, teapots, etc. I came home with the soup spoons and some of the forks that day. I wasn't sure if I should get the pasta spoons, so I passed on them. Those $2 items add up fast. 10 cents I can handle. There were other larger items as well, but I've had a hard time trying to work out whether or not to pay Goodwill's prices for some of the silver that goes from $8 to $12 because if I find it at a yard sale I can probably score it for less. You know... me and my limits. Thing is, you just don't know when you'll find any at a garage sale.

I got all of this for about $2.00 last week. Love the huge soup spoons!

Then, my friend Lynette and I were getting together today to discuss our ideas about opening a shop. She saw some of the silver I had found so far that I had already cleaned up and she felt spending $10 or $12 for a beautiful piece of silver was a great deal, especially seeing it after it was cleaned and looking all sparkly and pretty. While she's a great bargain hunter, she does not place upon herself the $5 limits that I do. So since I was going to head over to Goodwill, she gave me some cash in case there were any of the silver pasta spoons left and in the hope there might be some other special pieces available that I could purchase for her. Off I went on a hunt for inexpensive tarnished silver.

Many of the larger pieces were still there from the week before, but there were some I just wasn't sure were worth taking a chance on. Sometimes they are so very tarnished, you don't know whether or not there will be a blemish or some unrelenting pitting hidden under that mottled grunge. So after a phone consult with Lynette, wherein I described the pieces and gave my opinion about which she might like, I made my choices, deciding against a few of them because they seemed like the cheaper silverplate. Since Goodwill seems to price based on size of the item, the chumpy silver was the same price as those which I thought might be nicer pieces. I did manage to come away with two pieces for her and one for me, plus a few other items.

Here is the gravy boat I picked up for myself, or eventually for sale. After spending a good deal of time cleaning this, I was carrying it oddly and it accidentally flung out of my hands landing end first on my Mexican tile. The end got slightly bent and scruffed up, although nothing too noticeable. Oh well, it's not like it's valuable. I'm just lucky it wasn't something made of glass.

Now this guy was another story. What a bear to clean. Took about half a container of silver polish and about half the day, but you have to love such a cool ice bucket with a hinged lid.


There is a fixed glass liner inside.

Worth the loving effort, I'd say. This did have a couple of pitted areas that still might clean up, and one dot of a place where the silver was knicked, but a gem no less. Still needs a bit more polishing in general as well, but my fingers were cramping up and my fingernails were stained with tarnish, so I let it go for the time being.  The pasta spoon came out beautifully!

Take Time to Take Care

I think if you keep the pieces polished once in a while, the cleaning is not so time consuming or taxing. I was literally working up a sweat polishing this. Plus your piece will last longer and you can avoid the pitting. The tarnish actually seems to start to eat through the silverplate after a while in some spots. So take care of it and give it a little attention. It will reward you with a bit of glitz that will go a long way toward brightening your spirits!                                                          

Bought this tray with the intention of completely redoing it because I liked the shape and the fact that it had handles. Thought I'd either make it a chalkboard tray or repaint it some other way, but it's kind of growing on me.  I just don't like the cake graphic or the font of the words at the very top. I might just try repainting the edging first and see if that helps, because I still don't like that. It's a flesh color. Ick! I may also try weathering the part with the lettering and design. Then if it still doesn't suit me, I can cover it over. We'll see. The aluminum (or whatever these are) pots caught my eye and they were under a dollar, so I snagged them. I have an affinity for aluminum kitchen items. They are so shiny and cute.

Lynette also said she has some of that looking glass paint that she wanted to try out but didn't have a shapely bottle worth using it on. I found this one at Goodwill. Since the spray paint is pricey, we need to make sure the bottle is worthy. Not sure if this one is or not. She will have to be the judge of that.

Before I ever went to Goodwill, and on our way to breakfast this morning, we stopped at a Friday yard sale someone was having. I picked up these two goodies for $3 each. 

Because of the weather, I almost didn't bother with yard sales today. It has been wildly stormy. 

This was taken last night through my front door window.

It's been raining off and on all morning, but it's likely that any minute it will be thundering, lightning and raining with a fury. We have a tropical storm threatening. I really should be checking on that and moving around some of my junk that's piled up outside so that it doesn't get flung into windows if the winds pick up. Last night was crazy enough and things are a mess out there even from that storm.

For now, I have lots to keep me busy. I found some great treasures this morning and one of them needs an overhaul. So I will be off for now and hopefully back with an update on my latest acquisitions. That is if blogger doesn't shut me down again. 

Wish me luck!

I'll be sharing at:

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday @ My Romantic Home

Wow us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

Open Call Tuesday @ Salt Tree

Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Mod Mix Monday @ Mod Vintage Life

Tuesday To-Do @ The Blackberry Vine

Metamorphosis Monday @ BNOTP

Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer

Inspire Me Monday @ Create with Joy

Mop it Up Mondays @ ISBMTF

Sunday Show Off @ Twigg Studios

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Diabolical Mosquito Potion - Part One

Now, I'm not usually one to try what seems like a kooky remedy, especially one passed around on the Internet. Yeah, you can probably guess what the word "usually" foreshadows. Despite what I usually do or do not do, I AM going to try a kooky remedy. Fact is, I just did, and I really hope it works so I can show you some stellar results after a couple of weeks.

Here's the deal. We were minding our business at work when my employer, who is also my friend, received a forwarded email from one of her French friends. It was a recipe for catching mosquitos. She thought I might be interested in trying it. She knows they are after me.

My ears perked up. You see, this topic touches me where I live. Where I live meaning, you know... that couch where I plant my rear and work on my blog in the evenings. Because in the vicinity of that couch, a steady stream of mosquitos also seem to find great joy in tormenting me. We have been having a lot of rain all Summer, which is common in South Florida; water puddles, mosquitos multiply and I am their favorite treat. Don't ever let anyone tell you I'm a sourpuss. It's all in who you ask. The mosquitos find me quite to their liking, thank you. My ankles and arms are evidence. From the looks of the welts, I'm better than candy. 

Like clockwork, around sundown each evening, through some secret gateway to their sinister hideaway, they come for blood. I invariably hear the approaching buzz and I groan, because I know my trials are about to begin. I'm about to be annoyed to within an inch of my precarious sanity, and I am also going to be their dinner. Good thing the mosquitos at my house have not been carrying any fatal diseases, because I often end up with welts galore and anyone nearby who isn't also their target gets an earful. I shake my head wildly to deter them. I flail and shoo and slap and yell at them to leave, but I'm unsuccessful in deterring their quick flitting taunts and bites, or that incessant buzzing. 

A diabolical plan is in order.

I chomped at the chance to bite back, and my friend Kathryn began to read me the French recipe so I could write it down. Stop, whoa, un uh. French measurements in ml's and grams was not going to cut it. I'm American through and through. I need good old fashioned American measurements. Heaven knows I have enough trouble even with those. It took a bit of doing, but she got the general equivalents and rounded to workable measures, hoping that 54/65ths or whatever it was could be rounded to one cup, and so on.

So here's how the preparation went. 

Find a two liter bottle and cut the top off.

Cover the base of the bottle in black fabric or paper. The top that you cut off will be placed inverted into the opening of bottle. Tape it in place on one side and then flip it out of the way until you are ready to pour the mixture in, after which you will flip it back in and tape the other side so it holds. If you don't tape it, the top will fall in. (Sorry, I don't have a pictures of that. Thought I did. Just look at the first picture of the cut bottle. Imagine that top piece placed point down inside (at the top of) the bottle and taped to the side of the bottle so it stays. Best I can tell ya.


Mix together the potion. Best we could figure in American measurements (and I hope we got it right) the recipe called for:

1. One cup of water
2. 1/3 cup of brown sugar
3. 1/2 teaspoon of yeast

Warm the water and add the brown sugar, stirring to dissolve.

Stirring and stirring and stirring my brew...

Oooooh, oooh! 

Ooooooh, oooh!

Tick - tock 

Tick - tock

Tick - tock 

Boo!

Thanks for humoring me. You were humoring me, weren't you? I've always loved that fun little song. We used to sing it (with feeling) as kids and I've not had a a good reason to use it in a very long time.  This brew was a great reason.

Once the sugar has dissolved, cool that mixture.

 Measure out a half a teaspoon of yeast.

When the sugar water is cool, add the yeast, mixing well to dissolve.

Don't you love the way the little granules look falling in the brew? Apparently the combination of these ingredients will create carbon dioxide. So Kathryn tells me. I'm not the scientist here. I'm just doing what I'm told.

Pour this mixture into the bottle.

Flip the top back inside the bottle opening so it is upside down with the pointy part of the top facing down. Tape it in place and set the bottle in a corner in your house.

I have placed mine near where I am routinely bitten, although I wonder if I shouldn't place it so as to catch the mosquitos attention before they get to my own alluring scent. What good will it be if my black magic potion never has a chance to lure the pesky pests because they found me first? Unfortunately, I have no idea from which direction they come for my blood.

Apparently, this mixture will beckon the mosquitos through the small hole to get the tasty treat. Once inside, they will be caught in the building carbon dioxide and be unable to get back out. What do I know. Such science is foreign to me. I'm not sure some sugar mix will beat me out in the hearts of the mosquitos, but I'm willing to give it a try. That unrelenting buzzing in my ears is enough all by itself to drive me to it!

I have a feeling that the image presented in the email of a bottle full of captured mosquitos (which is my hoped - for result) is unlikely to be what I will witness in two weeks. Maybe I'd rather not find that there were THAT many in my house, although I wouldn't doubt it. Maybe the results shown is a scam or they set their bottle up at a mosquito breeding ground outside and adjacent to standing water. I dare say, it was not likely somewhere that a sweetie like myself with fresh warm blood is nearby to compete with it.

I'll be sure to share the results, although I'm not sure I can wait two weeks to look. I'm not gonna lie, I will really, really want to peek. However, I'm pretty good when I offer myself a challenge. I'm competitive like that, even with myself, especially in trivial matters like luring mosquitos to their death. Did I say "trivial"?

Bite my tongue! Or should I say, suck my blood.

I'll have a clue in a couple days if none of the little tyrants has been around to zap me. I'll even be happy with the capture of just one or two of the bad guys. Sometimes I feel like it's the same mosquito who just comes back every night for dinner.

Whichever it is... let the countdown to their demise begin.

I'll be sharing my diabolical recipe (although I don't even know yet if it works, it may not be diabolical at all, but rather just a tastey treat.) at:

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner

All Star Block Party @ New House, New Home, New Life

Share It @ The Winthrop Chronicles

Cowgirl Up @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Open Call Tuesday @ Salt Tree

Cure for the Common Monday @ Lines Across

Tuesday to Do @ The Blackberry Vine

Not a Stitch of Fun

The time has come when I've been trying to get back around to making a few things. I've had a pile of burlap awaiting my scissors and sewing machine for some time now. The plan was to make a couple of burlap panels to go next to the white ones at my front window. 

Of course I never felt like hauling out that huge, heavy piece of fabric and cutting it. It's scratchy, messy...and there would be figuring to do. It was all such a gamble. I procrastinate when it comes to cutting fabric. Fear of results. It seems so terribly important that I get it right. Like if I mess it up, all the doors, as in the begining of the Get Smart TV show, would begin slamming behind me. And money would be wasted! And then, this is messy fabric. Would I even like the results for all my effort?

Today was the day I was to face the possibility of the clanking doors of failure, but not before I ran off to Goodwill to see if the midcentury dresser I want had been reduced to $20. It hadn't. Sigh. I decided to hit the fabric store since I had a coupon that was good today. (Are you sensing any tendencies toward procrastination here? Yeah, me too.)  I was going to purchase the yardage I want for a quilt so I'd have it when I'm ready to get started. However, as I was about to make a left in that direction, I realized that with fun fabric in the house, the burlap didn't stand a chance. The plan to work on the panels and be done with them would likely never happen. I would have yet another distraction in the form of cute, colorful and easy to manage fabric (no clanging doors) that would beg for me to drop that grating burlap and play instead. I do not need fun distractions while burlap is strewn about from living room to dining room awaiting my responsible and diligent efforts. So I made a deal with myself not to allow myself a stitch of fun until the irritating job was done. I'd be happier in the long run.

Last night I had already cut the burlap. Badly. I didn't measure well. With me the rule should be measure 4 times - cut once. I measured three times. I should have known. I always need extra room for error when working with measurements. And I should probably try harder. I was careless with my process. In the end though, I managed to make do with the poorly cut pieces. I didn't feel I needed to hem the sides or the bottoms either, just made a pocket at the top for the rod to go through. I did stitch all along the bottom and the edges to keep the burlap from fraying. Then, of course, I began running out of that thread, so I decided not to start on the other set of panels that was to go on the middle section. Probably just as well because adding the first two was already darkening the room quite a bit. With the sun moving to the other side of the house as the Summer wanes, this room will feel shadowy enough in the coming months. I guess the panels are fine as is, for now anyway.

The point of making them was that it might be a nice touch of texture and a little color contrast since the curtains, blinds and the slipcover on the couch were all so similar. So on one of our hottest days this Summer, I sat with scratchy, heavy burlap in my lap and finished the job. I was melting.

Good thing there is some Haagen Dazs Caramel Cone Ice Cream in the freezer to reward me. 

That's right. Don't be jealous. Anyway, besides being miserably hot, I also have a sore throat. So this is for medicinal purposes, you know. Hope I don't overdose! Good thing the carton is small and it's already half gone. Isn't ice cream beautiful? It makes me feel better just looking at it. 

But back to the nasty burlap. In the end, I think the new panels give the room a bit more weight, and a natural, textural feel. Anyway, I kinda like it. No, it's not love. Just like. A decent like. Nothing major, but nothing to scoff at either. And the messy, scratchy and very hot job is over!

After all that, I decided to go for gold and finish the edges of the burlap runner on my aqua coffee table. Initially I just folded and placed a wide piece of burlap there to see if I liked it. Once I got used to how it looked, I never bothered to finish it off. Typical. But I was on a roll today, and since there was no turning back from the mess I had made, I finally sewed and trimmed the edges so it no longer looks like a project in transition. Woohoo.

The fabric has now been been put away. Yea! I feel so accomplished thanks to my decision not to have a stitch of fun. Diligence served me well. Glad that heavy duty burlap task is behind me. Now maybe I can consider some more enjoyable projects.

So my house is pretty well covered in burlap fur, my scissors are dull, I'm a sweaty mess; I should probably get the vacuum out. I'm thinking the odds on that are slim to none. Then, after a beautiful blue sky and sunny afternoon, we had a huge and wild rain storm to finish off the sweltering day. It really did cool things off! Hallelujah!

Meanwhile, in keeping with the burlap theme, here's a little fabric flower pin I whipped up and used as the decoration for Cally's birthday card the other day.

I thought it would be cute attached to any number of things, even for someone who isn't the type to wear a pin.

For a first attempt at making one and after just winging it, it came out cute enough. Cally seemed to like it.

Next time I might try more layers so it's fuller, or try doing a rosette.

Now the day is done. Darkness is descending and the rain lingering on the orchids has been lit up by the patio lights. So I paused at the window and enjoyed the scene.

It was a good day. Ice cream and time with a few blogs will certainly add to a good night.

Happy weekend!

I'll be at:

Freedom Friday @ My Turn
Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner
My Monday Muse @ Carter's Cottage
Twirl & Take A Bow @ House On The Way
Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage
Tweak it Tuesday @ Cozy Little House
Primp Your Stuff @ Primp
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Craft and Tell @ Cherished Bliss
Share It @ The Winthrop Chronicles
Cowgirl Up @ Cedar Hill Ranch
Open Call Tuesday @ Salt Tree
Cure for the Common Monday @ Lines Across
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
Tuesday to Do @ The Blackberry Vine
Mod Mix Monday @ Mod Vintage Life
Not a Stitch of Fun @ BNOTP
Newbie Graduates Party @ Debbiedoos
Thrifty Treasures @ Southern Hospitality
Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer
Mop It Up Monday @ I Should Be Mopping the Floor
Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things
Sunday Show Off @ Twigg Studios
Saturday Show & Tell @ Be Different, Act Normal
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
One Creative Weekend @ One Creative Mommy

Get Schooled Saturday @ Too Much Time
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home