Dancing with Poodles

Blue the poodle and I went up to the post office to pick up our mail, and ran into a neighbor that I had not met before. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a few minutes, and then her young daughter joined us. She looked at me, and looked at Blue, and asked "Can your poodle waltz?"

The truth is that he can, as long as I lead.

The Deer Ate My Grapes

hungry deer

the last bunch

I have seven grape vines. Six of them have been eaten down to stubs by the deer for the past 2 or 3 years. One is inside the fence, and so it grows lushly and produces delicious grapes (I'm not sure what kind). Most bunches are outside the fence, but protected. This year there was just one bunch inside the fence, and I tried to protect the outside ones-with old boards, just a couple of days ago as they were approaching perfection.

Today I went out to check, and all but one bunch is gone. GONE!! 

I used to think the deer were so lovely and beautiful and sweet, and was happy to have them around. Reluctantly I have come to resent them at times - mainly for eating my grapes and my apple tree (they took the whole tree down and ate all the apples). One year they ate my little potted Christmas tree.


These are the only plants they have not decimated...at least I still have a garden!

Black Eyed Susans

Lavender

Gloriosa Daisies

DIY Cabin Lampshade

I know that mid century modern is very popular right now,

but it was never a style that really resonated with me...I always

hated that look. When a friend of mine bought a little house in Lake Tahoe, one of the things he inherited was a "swag" lamp with this gold flecked, pale pink shade.  I don't have a picture of the lamp hanging, but it had a big "antiqued" metallic chain draped across the ceiling and down the wall, and it was hanging from  a Victorian looking, ornate hook in the ceiling. Never my favorite look.

My friend was trying to keep a "cabiny" feeling in his decor, and a pink and gold flecked lampshade was definitely not what he had in mind.

He was going to toss it.

The first time I saw the lamp, I looked at the whip stitch trim, and the translucence, and thought "I can make it look like rawhide." Now, I agree that cabiny rawhide looking lampshades are just as kitschy in their own way as pink fiberglass "parchment", but even so, it would be the right look for a Tahoe Cabin.

Here's how I transformed it:

I cleaned the entire shade and trim with some mineral spirits, to get the dirt off and to remove any finish or sealer it might have had so that it could absorb the stain.

Then I applied Minwax, dark walnut (which I had in the garage) with a brush, and wiped it with a rag until I had a nice, warm, more rawhidey looking color (with no sign of pink).

With a black permanent marker I drew in bears (of course), and some landscaping.

 

And then, because it was still looking kind of bare, I added a few pine trees.

The final look was worthy of any cabin, and when it was placed on a tall brass floor lamp, it was just perfect.

Cost: $0

Time: About an hour

You could do it with any old lampshade...

5 Things I Really Want

I'm starting over, and trying to get a new business off the ground. Finally I'm putting all the ideas I have always had (you know, those "I could make that" ideas) into production, and trying to market them. Today is the day where I am trying to focus on one thing at a time, and add to my market by blogging.

1. A free and well stocked source for used pallets (I have so many projects in mind!)
2. A new work table, preferably like this one from Resto.
3. An old laser printer to use for image transfers.
4. Some way to buy a DTF printer
5. A higher comfort level with putting myself and my thoughts out there for the world to see...

My project for today is finishing up a couple of small duvet covers for a custom order, and I thought I'd share some of the details- how to print on fabric using freezer paper for a stencil. First, I printed out the text that I wanted to use, and then traced it onto the papery side of the freezer paper.

I taped the freeze paper down to a board, and cut out the letters with a sharp exacto knife. Then I taped the completed stencil down to my fabric to keep it straight (shiney side down), and ironed it onto the fabric using a dry iron at the highest temp (linen), paying special attention to the edges of the cutouts to make sure they are sealed to the fabric. 

                           

I mixed my paint color with regular acrylic paint (I know it is permanent on fabric because I've gotten it on my clothes many times, and it NEVER comes out!). Regular acrylic paint does leave a rough sort of surface which you could avoid by using fabric paint, but for this project it doesn't really matter. My chosen color is olive green, which I get by mixing a hunter green with yellow and hot pink-it works perfectly! Next, paint over the stencil.

When the paint is completely dry (about 15 minutes in this case), just lift the edge of the stencil and peel it off. In this case I did it very carefully so that I could use it again, because I am making two for this project.  Notes: for letters with centers like A or O, I place the centers and ironed them on in place separately.

I'm saving the letters and numbers for a while-
I might figure out something else to use them for-you never know!