Slipcover Fix

So I purchased this cute little couch the first year we moved into this house. I bought it at a thrift store of course. The boys absolutely love it. It is pretty comfortable.
Look how little they were. Miss those days.

The blue ticking stripe does go with the colors in our house so I found a slip cover on clearance at Target a few months after I bought the couch. Of course the covers never fit exactly. Any time the boys sat on the couch the whole cover would be destroyed. It would drive me absolutely NUTS! Here is a picture of how messy it used to look. See the arms. I used to fold and tuck all the extra fabric. Such a pain.


So the last weekend I was determined to fix the darn thing. I found a tutorial made by Kelly at Much To Do With Nothing. Kelly is amazingly talented. I have been following her blog for a while now.
So anyway. I had some old fabric that I used to make a pattern. I just placed the fabric in different sections and outlined each form. Placed the pattern on the slipcover fabric and cut out the pieces. It all came together like a puzzle. I must say I am very pleased with how it turned out. It actually fits and I don't have to yell at the boys anymore to stop messing up the couch. Wooohoo!!!


So now my next project is to make slipcovers for these two green chairs.
My uncle gave them to me. They used to be his Mother in Laws. He was going to throw them to the dump. Can you believe that? I just love these chairs. But they need to be brought back to life. I thought about getting a bold patterned fabric and making pillows out of the same fabric to place on the couch. Tie the room together and make it feel more complete. What do you think? Any fabric suggestions for a resonable price. I want tans, reds, yellows and oranges. Warm colors.
Thanks and have a great day!

Compost Pile & Bits of my Garden

I started a compost pile a few months ago and just haven't been around to post. I kept waiting for my husband to help me out to make the perfect bin or spot. Well I couldn't wait any longer once I read Kelly Miller's post from the Tidy Brown Wren. Here is her post about Compost: making black gold in your own backyard. When I was researching on the Internet everyone kept saying you needed some sort of bin to turn it. Well those bins are quite expensive. Money I don't want to spend. Kelly's tips and advice are perfect for anyone who has a little 4 x 4 spot they could start a compost pile in. So I went out the next day (without my husband) and found some logs that were cut from trees we had down and sectioned off a spot with them. It's been a fun experience seeing everything break down. I have been teaching my boys about composting too. They like to help throw all the scraps in the pile.




As far as storing your scraps to throw in the pile I just use a big ice cream bucket that has a lid. Works great for me and I can store it under the kitchen sink. Kelly also has another post about a compost bin she keeps under her sink. Hers is very cute and made for composting. Thank you Kelly for all the tips and advice.

Here a a few peeks at some plants that are in my backyard garden around our fire pit. I started a lot of these from seed last year or a few years before.
Foxglove

Peony Tree I bought online. This was the first year it flowered after having it for two years. I bought it for $5 because it was an unknown variety. The flowers were so huge. Look how big they are next to my hand. I have pretty big hands with long fingers. Amazing.

Rustic Colors Rudbeckia from seed, Pixie Meadowbrite Coneflower from seed.

This is what it looks like right now. Rustic Colors Rudbeckia, Pixie Meadowbrite coneflower, Shasta Daisy, Snowdrift sage, Hosta, Limelite Hydrangea in the back, and more goodies throughout. A bit messy but I guess that's just the type of gardener I am. Plus the rain just squashed everything in a past month. Any tips on getting everything propped up again?



I will post some more photos later this week. I hope Kelly has inspired you to make a compost pile. She sure inspired me.

Inspired by BHG

My hubby had this ugly bench thing in the garage that he got from his old job about 15 years ago. It was taking up space in our new garage and he was going to take it to the dumps. Er, NO! I said,"Can I have it to make it into a garden workbench?" Yes sir eee, I got it. Well it sat all last year and this year I came across this article in June BHG.
It was the perfect plan for my ugly bench. It' not totally complete, still a work in progress. I need to get a new piece of wood for the top and cut a hole to place a grate for the dirt to fall through. But I was so excited to share the little bit I have now. I had the curtain rod laying around along with the clip rings. Bought some burlap & black spray paint from Walmart and she's almost complete. It just needs some eye candy now, then it will be done. I will post when I get around to making it look more pretty.
Before
After

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. This was my first little sewing project by myself (since taking a sewing class). It's so fun and addicting. We aren't camping for the next two weeks so I hope to get a few more things done around here. Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Happy belated 4th!

Hope everyone had a good 4th. This summer is just passing us by. I can't believe it. We have been camping every weekend and our poor house has been so neglected. I did manage to squeeze in a few projects during these busy times. I made these cute 4th of July pennants. I thought they were cute, but the peeps at the campground made fun of them. They said "they look like I clipped off my thongs and sewed them together." NOT COOL! Anyway, I wanted to share them with those of you at would appreciate them. I just found scraps of fabric at Walmart in the clearance bin and some scraps of fabric I had laying around the house. I didn't do anything fancy when I sewed them. Just sewed them across the top and done. I had two packs of bias tape so I cut those in half to get a little more out of them.



We camped the whole 4th weekend and stayed until Tuesday. Around the area all the camp sites combine and have a parade that goes through each resort. It's so great for our boys. For such a little parade they get tons of candy. Then later that night we went out on our pontoon and enjoyed some fireworks. Fun fun weekend! Hope you all were happy and safe.