1 Shirt + 1 Pair of Jeans = 3 Aprons

I read a post off of Pintrest on how to make an apron out of a shirt gabrielsgoodtidingsmens-dress-shirt-repurposed-to-apron .  I thought I would add some pockets and trim for my version.  A few months ago I had made an apron out of an old pair of jeans, and thought maybe I could use some of the left over fabric from the shirt to make one of these.  Well that still left the whole back of the shirt, so I thought what the heck, let's go for a third apron out of the front of the jeans and the remaining shirt.

1st Apron

 Here is the 1st apron of three made from a shirt and a pair of jeans.  This one only uses the shirt front and collar.  Sorry that the instructions are so detailed (I worked in a document control department in a different life).  It seems like a lot of steps, but it really is pretty simple.

2nd Apron

This is the 2nd apron out of the three made from a pair of jeans and a shirt, it was also the most time consuming.  The ruffle really kicked my butt.  First I had too little fabric for the ruffle, then too much.  Then I found out after I was all done that some sewing machines have an automatic ruffler, well wouldn't that be nice.  Oh well I think it turned out pretty cute.  The only shirt fabric you use for this is the sleeves.

3rd Apron

 This 3rd apron was the easiest of the three once I figured out what I wanted to do with it.  I had such a time with the ruffle on the second apron I knew I didn't want to mess with it on this one.  I thought that I was going to have more fabric to work with on the back and was going to have just a little of the jean featured and more of the shirt.  Instead I ended up pleating the shirt fabric and covering the seam with the ribbon.  I love the way this one turned out, I think it is my favorite.

Fruits of the Harvest

A few days ago I wrote about picking raspberries, well here is the first batch of jelly.  I hope to sell some in the Paris Flea Market booth at the Junk Salvation show August 4th.  As I said in my last post, I'll be working it with my sister.  I'm so excited!  This is the first show I've ever been a part of.  I'm finding out just how much work it takes to get ready for a show, even with the few things I'm putting in.  First I have to get two or three batches of jelly done, three more aprons made (upcoming blog), research prices for my Franciscan apple ware that I hope to sell, make labels and tags for everything, and see if there is anything else that my nephew and sister want me to bring.  Whew!  How do people who do this regularly get it done?  Well I have to go pick some more berries before it gets too hot, make some more jelly out of the juice I strained last night, and hopefully get something done around the house.

Old Chair - Great Planter

Last week I wrote about my picking slump and how I finally found some good sales, well this is one of my little gems.  When I first found this chair it was in pretty rough shape.  I toyed with the idea of restoring it as a chair (OK, only for a few minutes),

Welcome To My Jungle

Welcome to my jungle of raspberries.  A few days ago while I was working in the shop I thought I saw some red in my berry patch.  Sure enough I went out and picked a handful of berries.  I had my husband close his eyes and open his mouth, then popped in a few.  Mmmm.. don't the first berries of the season taste the best?  Well I knew that meant they would be on strong in a few days.  I went out this morning with my camera and little plastic bucket to pick.  The only problem with this scenario is that we had a torrential rain storm yesterday.  Oh well, when the berries call they have to be picked.  I came out sopping wet but got a half gallon of berries.  This is just the start, I'll be picking for probably two or three weeks and making lots of jelly.   Thank you God for the wonderful harvest!
 

La Bete Noire "The Black Beast"

There is a classic French chocolate cake called Le Bete Noire or The Black Beast.  It is a decadent, dense, delicious flourless cake that I kept thinking about while I was working on this chair,

My Picking Fix

Have you ever been in a garage sale slump?  Well I have for about a month now.  It seemed like all that was out there was kids clothes, books, and miscellaneous junk.  Honestly I must have just been hitting the wrong sales because other people I know have been getting great stuff.

A Mixed Bucket of Paint

     So, you know how it is, you've painted a few rooms, maybe some furniture and who knows what else.  There is a little bit of paint left from each project and you just hate to throw it out, so your husband decides to mix them all together and see what you get.  Usually it turns out to be some type of brown, but this time it became a really interesting pale gray green.  I know, this picture really doesn't capture it very well but I'm not a very good photographer.  The final picture is closer to the color.

  First let me tell you about this table.  The garage sale I found it at was run by a guy who used to have an antique business, but now just wanted to reclaim his shop.  What a great time I had that day!  I fell in love with this table.  I think mostly I love the lines of the base.  I even liked the old weathered, almost burnt look of the base.

I wish I had taken a picture of it before I stripped the top, it was pretty horrid.  It was some type of mustard yellow glaze or something.  It was a thick gloppy mess.  So anyhow, I stripped it, then my husband puttied in where the top was screwed to the base.  Of course after I bought it we discovered that the top wasn't the original.  Oh well, I'm not selling it as an antique, just a cool little table.  A little rough sanding and I was ready to paint.  OK, it sat this way for a over a month.  I just couldn't decide what color to paint the top.  I had used our mixed paint on an old plant stand that I bought at the same sale and loved it, so what the heck, it's only paint, it can be re-done.  I brushed it on because I kind of liked the streaks (plus I didn't have any roller trays left). Then I scratched back some the paint on the edges.  Next was glazing.  Here are a couple of tricks I learned.  First, you know those 400 plastic knives you have left out of the 500 pack that was such a bargain at the warehouse store, they make great stir sticks for your small cans of paint and stain.  Second, you need to use a very, very dry brush when you use stain as your glaze.  Just use the little bit of stain left on the stir stick, then brush it off on some scrap wood, then dry brush your piece.  I cleaned up the base with some paint thinner, then sprayed on a satin poly.  I'm taking it in next week to sell, but don't know how much to ask for it.  Any suggestions?

Gaudy to Gothic

This mirror is the first thing I ever sold, and probably one of the easiest things I ever revamped. I have one like it at home that I love, so I knew exactly what to do with it.  It is an oval mirror with a fancy plastic gold frame.  They are pretty common, I found mine in a pile of stuff marked free by the side of the road,