Last week I showed you the ottoman I recovered. The photo I posted did not show the damage…or the gray Duct tape.
After I made the cover, I found some Duct Tape in my basement that matched it. I taped it over the gray tape.
View of the base of my ottoman.
Now if the skirt on my ottoman cover ruffles in the breeze there will not be any gray revealed.
When I am using the chair the ottoman slides right out.
This weekend I decorated for the summer using patriotic decor. I tried several different centerpieces for the kitchen table, but was not satisfied with any of them.
In the summer, I do most of my writing on the kitchen table. I wanted a smaller centerpiece.
I have a collection of cobalt colored dishes that I display from Memorial Day through July 4th. I tried two different sizes and didn’t care for either one.
Then I started thinking of the other items in the kitchen that were red, white and blue. I ended up with this centerpiece.
My summer centerpiece.
It started out as a Christmas decoration, wedding decoration, July 4th decoration, and cobalt dishes.
The pieces of my centerpiece.
The stripes on the Christmas tray mimic the stripes on the flag. The tiny light was from my nieces wedding. When I told her I was looking for some like them, she gave me two leftover boxes for Christmas.
One cobalt dish was a Christmas gift from my sister, another was from Wal-Mart and the third from a garage sale.
I placed the tiny light in the center of the tray. I turned the small bowl over the tiny light. I put the medium-sized bowl over the small bowl.
Using “Candle Stick-Um” on the bottom of the medium bowl, kept the large bowl from sliding off when I set it on top.
Candle stick-um on the top of the medium-sized bowl.
I placed the flame-less candle in the center and my centerpiece was complete. When I have company, I lift the medium and small bowls up to turn on the tiny bright light for an added glow.
If you stop and think about what you have on hand, you may create something beautiful, too…without spending any money.
I shared on Tuesday how I reinforced a bed-skirt of my mothers. She didn’t want the material I cut off and I decided to use it to make an ottoman cover.
The material I cut off of the bed-skirt and the ottoman I wanted to cover.
The first thing I did was to pin the bed-skirt material directly into the seam of the ottoman. I formed corners the same size as the original corners on the bed-skirt. This way I did not have to hem the cover.
Pinned bed-skirt around base of ottoman.
I basted the seam at the top and basted all of the corner pleats shut.
Side of the ottoman cover after basting.
I lay a piece of fabric over the top of the ottoman and cut it a few inches larger. I used a scrap piece of quilt batting to strengthen the top fabric.
Pinned quilt batting to the top piece of fabric.
I took the side piece off and placed it back on the ottoman inside out. Then I pinned the upside-down top piece to the basted seam on the side piece.
Pinned the top to the side pieces.
Moving the ottoman up on a table to make it easier to handle, I basted the pinned seam on the top piece to the basted seam on the side piece.
I basted the top piece at the pins to the basted seam on the side piece.
I turned it right-side out to check the fit on the ottoman.
Sewed along the basting.
I trimmed the excess material off.
I used a zig-zag stitch on the edge of the seam to prevent fraying.
I sewed the pleat shut where the material came together.
I removed the basting on the pleats.
I pinned the seam to face under the top piece and top-stitched it down.
I washed it to make sure it didn’t shrink and then sewed the top seam to the seam of the actual ottoman with my curved upholstery needle.
I kept this ottoman because it fits under this chair when I don’t want to use it.
When I am using the chair the ottoman slides right out.
I made this over the course of two days. I had fun because I was watching John Wayne movies while I worked on it!
My mother gave me a sewing challenge this last fall. She had a bed-skirt that matched her fall/winter bedspread, but the center of it was made out of a paper-like material. One corner had ripped a bit.
My mother’s bed-skirt with a torn corner.
She found an old-fashioned mattress cover that was made out of a heavy, thick flannel. People used to put them under the sheets to protect the mattress. She wanted me to sew the mattress cover to the bed-skirt.
I didn’t rip the old one apart. I just pinned the mattress cover to the bed-skirt. It was several inches longer, but I folded the end over and sewed it down.
I folded the extra material over and sewed it down.
It was the correct width and worked nicely. I used the zigzag stitch in the torn corner to sew the paper to the cover.
I sewed the torn pieces down.
She had another bed-skirt that matched her spring/summer bedspread. She couldn’t find another mattress cover, but saw a bed-skirt that was the same size with heavy center material. I cut that skirt off and sewed the center material to her spring/summer bed-skirt.
I liked the neutral color of the bed-skirt material, and since she didn’t want it, I stuck it in my closet. Wait until you see what I did with that material!
You have to come back this Thursday!
I admit it. I was on Prednisone and my words kept getting all turned around. But I was so excited after my shopping trip that I told my son, “We bought a key-less keyboard.”
He looked at me and said, “What good is that?”
To make matters even more confusing, we were just getting ready for practice and I play a keyboard! It took a few minutes to get it all cleared up.
I had purchased a cordless keyboard for the computer. I move the keyboard up and down, from the desk to the keyboard drawer, depending on whether I am typing off of notes or working with numbers.
I also like to read Facebook while I eat lunch. We have gone through two keyboards with the cords either pulling loose at the computer or at the keyboard itself.
I had a coupon that covered most of the cost and splurged on it. I was amazed how removing that one bit of frustration made the day go more smoothly.
I no longer had to shut the computer down, pull out the CPU and check to see if it pulled loose. I stopped worrying about the cords coming completely off of the unit. I was free from frustration!
Time is money; removing a frustration will save you time, and in the long run, money.
I put the keyboard on the desk while I eat lunch.
I am a choc-holic.
When I do mending for my sister-in-law, she pays me in candy bars.
When I host extended family dinners, my mother brings an extra-large, dark chocolate bar in gratitude.
I have homemade trail mix, complete with M & M’s, made up at all times.
I have a stash of chocolate hidden in my bedroom. (Unfortunately, my youngest son found it.)
Every once in a while I get a craving for a certain kind of chocolate…like chocolate covered raisins. Since I am trying to control my weight I look for a substitute. I satisfied that craving by sprinkling raisins over a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles!
More filling, fewer calories.
An alternative to chocolate covered raisins!
I ended up making files for different categories of my warranties. The most important part is to make a copy of your receipt. Cut the copied receipt and staple it to the warranty. The ink on the receipts fade, but the ink on a copy will not.
File your warranties.
I had my eye on a set of a stainless steel salt and pepper mill last Christmas. When my daughter asked for gift ideas I mentioned the set.
I found this under the tree Christmas morning.
A gift from my daughter.
They were not stainless steel, but they had the magic words on the package – lifetime warranty.
Flattened package for my warranty file.
I cut the flaps off of the top and bottom to make it lie flat in my warranty file.
Every year, when there is no danger of frost, I have my husband set out my houseplants. They are rejuvenated over the summer with the warm weather, sun and rain.
I keep them on the back steps so I can monitor them. Some plants are too delicate to go outside and you have to be careful or they will get sunburned.
I put my plants on the north side. They do not get the intense summer sun through the day. It reaches them late in the afternoon.
Houseplants spend the summer on the back steps.
You may be surprised at the end of the summer with blooms!
By the end of the summer, this snake plant had bloomed.
frugalfish.org 