latest make do and mend



My latest make do and mend projects have been to rework the
family photos over the sofa. 
I reframed a few of them and added some mirrors. 
It still needs a few more frames and another mirror to finish it off
so I will keep looking at yard sales.
We also moved the oak rocker and ottoman in the living room and
I sewed a simple slipcover for it. 



wonder where Elizabeth has been?
she enjoyed a week at the North Carolina beach
with her parents and other relatives.
She did give this rocking chair her
seal of approval,  it is good for
wiggling and wallowing on!

Join the party or read about more make do and mend projects at Heidi's
http://thecranberrychronicle.blogspot.com/

Staycation

We have enjoyed a staycation part of this week. 
One day,  we took grandson Gavin to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks.
Gavin liked this fish display the most.
The fish were at ground level, right where Gavin is. 

I think this was the Oklahoma bass exhibit.

A life size Oklahoma alligator bronze statue
Gavin was very bothered by the rocks inside the gator's mouth
He was not happy until he took
everyone of them out. 

Me,  Grandma Rhonda with Gavin
No, my hair does not always look quite this wild
but it was a windy Oklahoma day. 

All in all,  a staycation has been very nice.  We took care of a few projects around this house,
ate out a couple of times,
did a little shopping and took several naps.

What are you doing this summer? 
I hope whatever it is that you are enjoying it.

watching Gavin grow...with a patriotic theme

the little flag quilt is staying the same but the boy keeps growing!

2009

2010

2011

Gavin,  looking so grown up this year.
He is 2 years and 5 months old. 



Gavin and his Grandpa had lots of fun waving the little
American flags and saying
woo woo   over and over!



Really good cole slaw

sorry this post is wacky - Blogger is not letting me do things like I want to !
this post is all out of order but the recipe is at the end......


I used the exact ingredients as the recipe called for
except I hand cut and grated the vegetables as I don't have a blender.
I also mixed the dressing ingredients in the cole slaw bowl
before I added the vegetables. 



a full recipe makes a lot - this bowl holds 13 cups and and it
is all the way full. 

I've talked about Jo Ann York before.  I read at least one magazine article about her

 and remember seeing her on TV back in the late 70s.  

  http://healingwoman.blogspot.com/  left me a comment last week

 and asked if I by chance had Jo Ann's cole slaw recipe.  

Well,  I did not but it got me thinking about Jo Ann again.  

I've looked for this little paperbook book of hers for a while 

but it usually is listed for a crazy high price.   

When I looked last week,  I found one

 on Amazon for less than $8 so I bought it. 

The seller got it to me so fast too.

Anyway,  I tried the cole slaw recipe first. 

 I only had 1 pound of cabbage so I made just a half batch

 and it is a great recipe, the kind of slaw we like.

It is not a heavy-dressed or super sweet slaw,

 but is dressed just enough and the vegetables are just right. 

We liked it so much,  I made a half recipe on Thursday and then a full recipe today. 

A little more about Jo Ann York, 

 this book was about how she fed her family of 4 for just

$16 a week,  that translates to about $67 in 2011 dollars.

She has some great basic recipes and lots of money saving tips. 

I plan on cooking more of her recipes and will let you know how it goes.

Yard sale fun

We went to just a few sales on our side of town this morning and found  a few goodies. 

a fleet of construction vehicles that Gavin will just love
and a doggie pull toy for Elizabeth
$3 for all

2 childrens books  50 cents for both

vintage linens - still in their factory packaging
3 pairs of pillowcases and 1 twin sheet
$3 for all

stack of Corelle plates $2
I think there are 6 dinner plates
and 8 sandwich plates.
We saw a similar stack of Corelle at the Antique Mall
today for $24. 

still in their original package and shrink-wrapped
a set of highly scented bath oils. 
50 cents!

Nap Time

baby Elizabeth - pooped from all her playing this morning.

little Gavin
his first nap in this little red bed. 
He was so excited when he saw this bed and has
never been so eager to take his nap as today. 



They both sleep more on their tummies,  not sure why they are both sleeping on their backs today.   Maybe they are just so tired from all their morning activities. 

About the toddler bed,  it was given to us and has been in the active for about 18 months.  Gavin likes is so much, I am glad I took it and kept in the attic until he was ready for it.
The cute quilt was made by my fraternal grandmother for one of my children,  they all used it and I can't quite remember exactly who she made it for. 

Make do and mend Monday

Elizabeth has a couple of cute long sleeve shirts here.
It is way too hot for long sleeves and these shirts will be
too small for her by the time it is cold again.
So, my make do and mend project today
was to alter these shirts.
I just cut off the sleeves....

turned under the edge about 3/8 inch and pinned it up.
then I just machine stitched with invisible thread.

I think the whole project took 15 minutes.



2 re-done shirts
perfect all the hot days to come



If you've done a make do and mend project or you want to read about more projects like this one,
pleas visit my friend Heidi
at
http://thecranberrychronicle.blogspot.com/

our "pool"

The grandchildren love to play outside but it is so hot here
so I rigged up this pool in the shade for them.
Anyone recognize what it is?
the lid from the Little Tikes turtle sandbox

They also have a great time playing with this watering can
that belonged to their great great granddad. 

I expect in a few years that they will need a fancier pool to keep them happy
but I am sure enjoying that simple things are fun and keep them interested and active.

front yard flowers

Crinums in full bloom!

hydrangaes
not as covered with blooms as some I've seen on other blogs
but this more blooms than they ever done

a rose bush from Aldis

red roses on a bush that was already here
when we bought this house

Make Do and Mend - 4 new skirts

the finished skirts

I made the first one, the shorter one on the right, in less than an hour.
I liked it so much that I looked in my fabric storage
and found fabric and elastic to sew up 3 more.

I know 3 of the fabrics were bought at yard sales,  I can't remember where the last one is from but it  is probably from a yard sale or thrift store too.  

they all have simple elastic waists

and simple machine sewn hems.  

have you done any make do and mend projects?
then tell us about them
and join Heidi at 

http://thecranberrychronicle.blogspot.com/

this is the pattern I used,  I am pretty sure I bought it at a thrift store
a while ago for 10 cents.  I only made the skirt but I do like patterns
that offer more than one garment like this one does.  

This project is about using what I had to make something I need and want.
I will be wearing these skirts often this summer and am very pleased that I did not have to go shop for them or spend.  

what a difference a year makes

Granddaughter Elizabeth
12 months old yesterday! 
or 1 year, however you want to say it

just one year ago - it went by very fast. 



My brother Rex shares the same birthday with Elizabeth,
he is a few years older. 



Make Do and Mend Monday

 I made these patchwork potholders almost 2 years ago.
 You can read about them on my old blog if you are curious :)
I usually cook several times everyday and those once cute potholders were getting worn, you can even see the insulbrite batting poking out in  one corner.
I used the last of  my potholder batting for the pair of bird potholders yesterday. 
Make do and mend is about using what you have - and since the insides and back of the potholders are still serviceable,  I just made them over. 

 I like the robin fabric on the back and it was still in good shape so I found a scrap of heavy weight checked fabric.  I cut it a little larger than the potholders, turned under the edges to just fit on top and pinned them down to cover up the worn patchwork.

Then I just machine stitched around the edges to seal them up.
I tried out several of the decorative stitches my machine makes but I could of just used a regular straight stitch. 
Now, I have 4 more very useful potholders,  I think I spent just 30 minutes on this project. 

I used up 2 little spools of thread on this project. 

Can you see the original price was just 30 cents for a spool?

Thread costs at least 8 times that now.

I look for bags of thread at thrift stores and yard sales and have found some real bargains this way. 

thats my finger,  got that burn when I moved a pan of full of corn on the cob in boiling water to drain it.  The  pan was really full and the lid was not tight fitting and some the water splashed on my hand and the floor.  

I put it cool water right away and sprayed it with Bactine several times, and after the Bactine, it never hurt again. 

So, if you boil some fresh corn this summer,  use a potholder and a tight fitting lid. 

I hope you will join the Make do and mend party at Heidi's Cranberry Chronicle.   I think you will like seeing how another blogger posted about the cutest sewing basket that she lined with old blue jeans.
 http://thecranberrychronicle.blogspot.com/

a painted bed, double knit quilts and silly potholders

This bed belonged to my paternal grandparents.  When it was passed on to us,  it went to Nina's room.  She then took it to her college rent house and then she passed it on to Jimmy while he was in grad school.  While it was in their possession,  it had several paint jobs.  We just got it back and it had brown paint in some places,  white paint in other places and then a weird attempt for gold antiquing finish it others.  I know, I should of taken a before picture.

It also needed some new bolts. 

Anyway,  Jeff worked on in yesterday.  He sanded it down and gave it 2 coats of dark red paint.  This morning,  he moved it into one of the guest rooms and added some L brackets for good measure. 

I am so happy with how it turned it out!

I think it looks like a picture from some the Early American decorating magazines my mom had in the 60's and 70's. 

The quilt was made by my maternal grandmother.  It is all double-knit fabric and will probably never wear out. 

Another Rhonda, also in Oklahoma,  just posted a picture of  a double knit quilt her mother made about the same time my grandma made this one. 

 patchwork pathways

I made new potholders a while back, but I cook so much that they are getting rather worn out.  I did a few swagbuck searches for potholder tutorials and found one I think is darling, 

 Betsi's Darling Starling potholder tutorial 

I made mine a little differently than Betsi.  She used a retro pattern for her inspiration and uses felt and stuffing for the insides. 

I updated that part and used potholder batting instead,  several manufacturers make it and most fabric departments carry it.  It looks almost like quilt batting but has a silvery side that does a very good job  of heat blocking.

There is a open pocket section on the belly just right for picking up pot handles and pan edges.  I also used a narrower bias tape than Betsi as the narrower kind is what I had. 
Thank you Betsi for the cute tutorial.

mini Make Do & Mend

 Before

After

I bought this little sofa-flip chair at a yard sale for $1.50.    I thought about completely recovering it but it would be very time consuming and I didn't want to invest that much time in something that will be outgrown in a short time. 
So I took the Dora slipcover off and washed it.  Then I thought maybe I could just cover up the Dora parts since I don't hate the lavender/butterfly background.
I looked in my stash and  found some patchwork looking fabric that has lavender and gold in it.  Then,  I just pinned the patchwork fabric over the Dora parts (with all the raw edges turned under)  and machine sewed it to the original slipcover. 

Now, it just looks like a child's sofa and not like an advertisement.  I know the grand babies will like it.  Elizabeth liked it with the awful Dora cover and Gavin liked it when he saw it without any cover on it. 

They will both be here soon,  and maybe they will pose on it and I can take a good picture of them. 

I am attending Heidi's party for Make Do and Mend at the Cranberry Chronicle

If you are making do and mending something,  I hope you will join us at the party too. 

from our backyard tonight

trust me,  this rainbow is much prettier in person
than this snap from my camera

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of a covenant
between me and the earth.... Never again will the waters become a flood to
destroy all life." (Genesis 9:13,15).
The Rainbow... God’s Promise. TM