Sunday, September 29, 2013

What should it be?

We have this corner. 
It has been the "music" room ever since we got the piano.


We inherited the piano in 1995. 
No one died but my mother-in-law downsized.
The piano has been out of tune this entire time. 
A few years ago I called a piano tuner and asked him to come out fix a hammer and get an estimate on getting this thing in tune. 



He basically said that this piano was destroyed by the old fashioned swamp cooler. 
My husband grew up in a 1930s story book cottage. The author, Sandra Brown now owns the house and uses it for her office. 
I am sure she has added central air because when my husband was a kid it was cooled with a swamp cooler. 



Evaporative coolers just dumped water vapor into the air and it was disastrous for this piano. 



A tuning company did some sort of fix to it in the 1970s and it involved injecting something into it. 


Basically this piano is ruined except for it's decorative value.
My oldest son plays the piano but he doesn't live here anymore. 
When he was over the other day, he said that it was okay with him if we gave the piano away. 


That is okay with me. 
I know how to play the piano but I literally only play one song.
Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. I don't really care to play any others and have no desire to learn.


So this morning I started entertaining the idea of giving the piano away and I'm wondering what I would put in it's place. 
So blogging friends,
should I keep the piano for aesthetic reasons or should I use this corner for something else?
If so, what?
The plans for this house called for a wet bar in this corner but we aren't wet bar type of people. 

I don't think I have any pieces in the house that I think would go. 
It would give me the opportunity to shop for something old but new. 
Let me know what you think,
Katie 

Friday, September 27, 2013

Two Halloween Mantels


I love the neutral backdrop of my new mantel art piece.
Read about it here.




I was inspired to create some Halloween mantel designs.
I used a cute raven figure that I found in Alaska on our trip.



The candelabra was a thrift store find a few years ago.  
I only use it for fall decorating. I love it with the orange tapers. It looks like a 60s piece.   


I pulled out a piece of my black transferware. It mimics the lacy quality of the new mantel art and the netting. 
I got the netting at Dollar Tree.  

This second mantel is inspired by owls.
I love owls! We have a pair of Great Horned Owls near our house and if we are lucky we spot them in the woods. The pair talks to each other. 



I found this darling vintage owl lantern at one of the thrift stores quite a few years ago. It was before owls were all the rage so it was only 99 cents.


I love this little thing so it usually gets a place of honor around here during October.
I added these little owl die cuts from Dollar Tree.


I just taped them onto my new mantel art. 



I made the owl banner out of a Robert Stanley craft kit from Hobby Lobby. 



The feather owl also came form Dollar tree.


I can't stand how cute this is.....



so now I have two to choose from.
I may keep one up for a week and then put the other one back up.



 I am having so much fun, I think I have another one in mind.
Black, white, vintage with a dash of orange.  

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Apple Cake

Apple Cake or Apple Kuchen
My grandmother made apple cake when I was kid and it brings back such warm, happy feelings.




I don't know what it is about this cake, but it just feels good to make.
It is a breakfast cake but my family doesn't eat it for breakfast.



It is delicious and apple-y without too much cinnamon. 
I love a cake or pie with a crumb topping.
Make it first.

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tb. butter
Mix together until crumbs are about the size of a pea or smaller.
Set aside



Apple Cake

1 1/2 cup flour
1 /2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup half and half
2/3 cup water
1 egg 
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. double acting baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt



Combine ingredients and pour into a greased 9 x 9 inch square pan.
Spread half the batter into the pan.
Sprinkle 1 cup apples on top of batter.
I used a Honey Crisp apple but you could use Granny Smith for more tang.
Sprinkle apple layer with some of the crumb topping.


Cover with remaining batter and a final layer of crumbs.



Bake at 375 degrees.

I baked the 9x9 pan for about 40 minutes or until the tooth pick came out clean. 



When my oldest was in school this was what he shared for family heritage day.
We were hoping he would bring the leftovers home...


That did not happen. 
Katie   
Linking with,
The Charm of Home 

Monday, September 23, 2013

The Easiest Slipcover

Do you have a parsons chair?


I had one in a blue and brown color scheme and I was 
 over it! 


I have methodically tried to recover everything so my upholstered pieces are predominately neutral. 
I made a slipcover for this chair in an unbleached muslin and it was by far the easiest slipcover I have ever made. 

Lay the fabric right side down on the seat and up the front side of the back of the chair. Loop it up and over the top and down the back all the way to the bottom of the seat. 
Custom cut this piece a little wider and longer than the seat, sides and the back of the chair.
With the right sides together pin down the sides with straight pins.


The head of the pin should be down and the point up. 
It is easier to pull the pins out this way as you are sewing.


Sew the seam from the top down on each side.
Turn it right side out and try it on the chair. 
If it fits, turn it right side in and put it back on the chair. 


At this point pin the "box" seam at the top of the back to give it a tailored, crisp and custom fit. You will be pinning perpendicular to the side seam. Sew on each side. Your perpendicular seam should be the depth of the back of the chair-2 inches or so.

Put it back on the chair right side out and check to see if it fits. 
If it doesn't fit turn it right side in and make adjustments.  


 Pin and sew the corners. 

Turn it inside out and fit the slipcover on the chair. Trim around the bottom of the seat so it is even on all four sides. At this point you could hem the bottom or make a ruffle. 
I made a decorative ruffle.
 You can read about making an easy ruffle here


I love this chair. 
I keep moving it back and forth between the living room and kitchen now that it is neutral. 
I had all the supplies for this project so it made me feel a little better about covering up an almost new chair.





I like it. 

Katie   
Linking with,
Between Naps on the Porch  
The Scoop   
Savvy Southern Style

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Super Easy Fall Banner

This banner was super easy and it is no sew!
You gotta love no sew!



 I saw all those fabric pennant type banners that were floating around Pinterest last fall.
 I decided to make one from my stash of drop cloth material.

Here is what you need.

Fabric, glue gun, twine, scissors, paint, brush and stencils.
I bought a set of Alphabet stencils at Walmart for about $4.00 and I have gotten my money's worth out of these.
Blue Hawk is my favorite brand of drop cloth, 8 oz. weight not 10oz. They are $5.96. I will buy 3 or 4 at a time, wash them up and have them ready for projects or tablecloths.  
I used the sewn edge of the drop cloth as the top of my banner because I was feeling too lazy to get out the sewing machine.


I decided that I wanted a fall banner so I cut 4 triangles near the edge of the drop cloth. 
You may want to use a piece of paper as a pattern to get the triangle the size you want it. I had a do-over with my first attempt. The triangles
 were too wide at the top and too far apart.  



 I didn't cut it all the way to the sewn edge of the banner. I left an inch or two for a little more strength. 
The first triangle became the template for my second, so they would all be the same size.



I stenciled the letters and let it dry.



Dab the paint in the stencil in an up and down motion, using a semi dry brush. If the brush is too wet, paint will leak underneath the stencil and ruin your piece.


I tied a knot at the end of the twine and hot glued it to the banner.


The other poofy garland is just a length of twine with strips of burlap and dropcloth tied to it. 

I looped both around some nails in the mantel and added a string of halogen lights.
I made another one that says boo.



Wouldn't this be fun for a child's birthday party?
A custom pennant banner with the name of the birthday child. 
Easy, custom and new sewing!!



I will be making more of these.