Life gets so busy sometimes, that you have to celebrate the little things…
…like the face that the kitchen is clean and there are three lemon meringue pies on the counter!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Shabby Apple Winner!
Thanks to all who stopped by to enter the Shabby Apple Giveaway!
The winner of the beautiful Nantucket dress is:
Congratulations, Joy!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Girasole
An alternate title for this post would be:
“And now…for something completely different.”
I use it every once in while…just to keep things interesting!
In addition to making things out of wood, I also like to make things out of yarn. My knitting mojo has been absent for the past year or so, with only a few tiny little projects coming off the needles. However, back in April I went into a cute yarn shop in Mt. Vernon, WA, with a friend, and it was one of those good yarn shops, you know? One that had all sorts of sample projects out to ooh and aah over, and to fall in love with.
Well, fall I did…and I fell hard. The shop had a sample afghan made up from Brooklyn Tweed’s Girasole pattern. It was gorgeous, and I wanted it!
Wanted to make it, that is!
If you’ve ever knitted, you know that good yarn doesn’t come cheap. I bought about the cheapest good yarn I possibly good (Cascade 220), but it still cost over $80 for this project.
I justified it by making this afghan as a gift for my mother’s birthday (she doesn’t read blogs, so I’m not spoiling anything here).
I am so pleased with how this turned out. It took me about a month to knit, but I didn’t get bored of it because the pattern changed frequently. It’s just over 5 feet in diameter, so a nice lap- or back-of-the-couch size.
Am I tempted to keep it for myself? Yes, ma’am.
But I won’t.
I think!
Do you knit? You can find me on Ravelry as RedHen6.
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Linking up here:
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Handbuilt Bedroom, pt. 4: The Bed!
Time to get back to the Handbuilt Bedroom again, don’t you think? With the chest of drawers built so his clothes were off the floor, it was time to tackle the bed so the boy could get off the floor!
I used Ana White’s plans for the Farmhouse Storage Bed, with only a few modifications. For one, I used a plank-style headboard more like the plans available in her book, The Handbuilt Home, rather than the on-line version. It’s measurements are slightly different, but not enough to worry about.
I was able to put the head- and foot-board together in a morning, and then I snapped a cell phone picture and sent it to all my friends!
I recruited my son to help with the “distressing.” When you turn a hammer, screwdriver, and a chain over to your teenager with permission to beat up a newly-built piece of furniture—you enjoy a “cool mom” moment!
I’m not sure why I don’t have a better picture of the drawer boxes. This is the part of the bed that gets expensive, as you have to use 3/4” plywood, and it ain’t cheap! But for my son’s tiny room, I knew we’d need all the storage we could get.
I did choose to use iron-on edge banding for the exposed plywood edges. None of the plans mentioned this, but it’s an inexpensive way to get a much more finished look, I think (bottom left box has the veneer; top right does not).
I used a mix of Minwax Antique Walnut and Weathered Oak stain, same as I’ve used on several tables.
Since I sold my table, the dining room makes a convenient finishing spot!
The day of “bed assembly” was an absolute madhouse around here—it was good to have a project to escape to!
Here you can see one of the drawer boxes on it’s side. Now I’ve added a long rail and two extra legs for mattress support.
There’s a lot of “extra” space in between the drawer boxes, and I couldn’t stand the thought of not being able to access it. I’ve seen some really cool alterations for this bed that either included deeper drawers or a hinged footboard. Deeper drawers weren’t an option, as you never would have been able to pull them out in his room, plus extra plywood gets pricey! And I didn’t feel adequate to the whole “hinged footboard” idea.
So what I chose to do instead was to make the mattress slats “removable.”
See? I made three separate panels of slats, and they rest on a 2x2 rail screwed into the backs of the plywood boxes.
It makes a good space to store things like sleeping bags or off-season clothes.
It was fun to get out the new bedding and make up the bed—word to the wise, though—DO NOT buy IKEA sheets for a non-IKEA bed! They don’t fit, darn it!
If you look at the next picture, you’ll see that there are no drawers yet! That will be our next installment
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Linking up here:
Monday, June 3, 2013
Shabby Apple Giveaway!
I get the urge for new clothes two times a year—in the fall (I still think I should get to do “back to school shopping”) and of course—in the SPRING! The change of seasons always makes me want to change up my wardrobe a little bit, too….how about you??
So naturally I was delighted when the kind folks at Shabby Apple offered a giveaway for Red Hen Home readers! Shabby Apple has a terrific selection of skirts and dresser modeled after vintage clothing, but with up-to-date appeal. And the other thing I love about Shabby Apple clothing? The necklines aren’t too low, the skirts aren’t too high, and the fabric isn’t too tight!
Here are some of my favorites
And my favorite…
To celebrate spring, Shabby Apple is giving one of my readers the Nantucket dress from their vintage clothing line!
For all entries, please include an e-mail address, and please be a follower ofRed Hen Home!
There are two easy ways to enter!
Leave a comment telling me which dress is your favorite from Shabby Apple’svintage clothingline.Leave a comment telling me when was the last time you treated yourself to something pretty to wear!
That’s it! Winner will be chosen at random on Friday, June 7. Good luck!
This giveaway has ended! Winner announced here.
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