Cover Up

I finally sat down and cut out a cover for the serger that was getting quite dusty between uses. I had enough of the dress form fabric leftover from making the sewing machine cover to make the front and back pieces but had to supplement with the goldenrod stripe in the middle.  I love how it turned out!

See! These fabrics are a perfect pair and the baby blue piping really accents them both.

Galvanized Buffet Display

A couple of months ago I was driving home from the store and stopped at a garage sale at the home of an elderly couple and a very obese dachshund. The items left late in the day when I stopped included mostly old tools and garage items. I spied a galvanized storage unit that had a lovely patina but had definitely seen better days. I told the man I would take it for the $5 price he had written on it with a permanent marker. He was beyond thrilled and told me he thought that it would be one of the first things they sold rather than one of the last. He went on to list all the ways I could use it (mostly in  manly garage sort of ways). I think he would be shocked to see it now.

I sanded off most of the rust that was loose (and the $5.00 price written on top) and then used clear matte spray varnish to coat the whole thing. Once it dried for a few days and the smell from the varnish weakened I slapped felt pads on the bottom and set it on the buffet.

Now rather than housing cotter pins and nails it displays those little items that look like clutter when they are left by themselves. It has a tiny baby picture of my mom, bowls from Japan, a little painted shoe from Amsterdam, and many other things. As you can see I have room for future trinkets looking for a home.

Ruffled Runner

The antique Mongolian chest we have in our entry way was looking rather dark so I sewed up a runner with the fabric I had left from the table skirt in the previous post. It was exactly what the space needed.

I also recently found this great turquoise lamp at a thrift store for $5.99. I already had the lamp shade.

It is a ceramic lamp base with ribbed lines. It only has one tiny crack and just needed a good scrubbing. The original wiring works but I will replace it for safety reasons.

A skirt and a table

We needed a cheap but attractive option for a table between the love seat and couch. I decided on a skirted table to give a more cozy grounded feel to the corner and to help hide lamp cords.

Ballard has great round tables with skirts that can be purchased in many wonderful fabrics. These are not the round decorator tables of the 80s or 90s with the dowel legs that easily tipped. There are several other companies that also sell the basic tables. Of course purchasing from Ballard would not qualify as cheap as I mentioned was a requirement. What's a girl to do? Well make one, that's what!

                                                                  Above Image from Ballard Designs

I picked up this fabric because it was cheap and had a rustic linen look to it. I think it is around $4 a yard. For the size table skirt I made I needed about 4 yards I think. I can't remember exactly. I used a tutorial I found by googling round table skirts and it came out beautifully.

Using scrap wood and mdf we had leftover from other projects I made the table and shelf base. This table is extra sturdy and has been holding up well to run ins with a 70lb Labrador.