Charity Pet Beds

Every year my church has a Christmas tree dedicated to pets. It's a thing that started many years ago when the pastor's beloved dog, Harley passed away. The tree was named after Harley and parishioners and visitors alike are encouraged to donate new pet items and make monetary contributions that will go to a local no-kill pet shelter. 

Each year I make homemade pet beds. I save fabric chunks and batting scraps all year in order to make them. I sew the scraps together to make the top then add old blue jeans that get cut into large pieces to make the back. The jeans add a nice sturdy base to them and the fabrics for the top are usually fleece or flannel for softness. 

Once the top is sewn to the back, I then take all my batting scraps and cut them up into small pieces. I also stuff the leftover fabric scraps inside as well. Nothing is wasted. What a great feeling. I love recycling and repurposing old things. 

This year I set one of the beds where my cat lays. I thought it would be a good test to see if a pet actually likes them. At naptime, he laid on it and stayed there most of the afternoon. Since I wasn't sure whether he laid on it because it was his space or whether it was the comfort of the cat bed, I moved the bed to a different location. He chose to seek out the bed and again napped on it. 

Now I'm in trouble. How can I take it away and send it to church when he likes it so much?

It's Garden Time

Over the course of the last week we made cedar raised bed garden boxes with the boards we salvaged from the removal of our deck. These boards are over 30 years old. Just look at how great they look.

We made a total of 5 boxes of varying sizes. It totally depended on the length of the usable boards, but in the end we made it work efficiently where we got the most real estate from what we had.

There's a box for beans and peas, one for peppers, one for tomatoes, one for cucumbers and pickles, and the last one has carrots and lettuce planted in it.

My garden has everything necessary for success - a rain barrel is in one corner and a compost bin in the other. And lastly, there's a section with a rock border that is holding back the ever-creeping strawberries. I am so happy with how it turned out. I just hope I can make things grow.

I stacked up the empty containers that held the baby plants from the nursery.  There's plenty of empties!

Once the garden was done, I started on some small projects, like re-painting the star that hangs over the shed doors. It was so faded you couldn't tell it was red. Well you sure can tell now. Ha!

We have some decisions to make regarding the space where the new patio is going. First of all we have to decide where to put the pergola posts. So I've taken my free-standing posts and moved them around to get a visual representation. I only have 3 posts so we will have to get creative to mark where the fourth post would go. I guess a rock will do.

Once that decision is made, my husband will have to run an electrical cable underground to the spot where the post will go before the cement can be poured. It's a serious decision that we don't take lightly so it's stressing us out.

Now that the plants are in, I can see my next project; I have to paint my garden fence. It's so chipped and faded it is very overdue. These fun outdoor projects are taking up my sewing time but I don't mind. I love the warm weather and the gardening as much as I love sewing.

Our (Once Upon a Time) Beautiful Deck

I have always loved my backyard in the summer. Especially my deck. It was a place of solace on warm summer evenings and a fun place to hang out with friends and family. Now it has become old and worn out, just like its owners. Haha.

We hired a contractor to make us a new patio. Although it will be beautiful I will still miss the nice feel of the deck under my feet. So today we have to start to tear it out. We were going to take this on last year but we had so many other plans (lots of travel) that we couldn't squeeze this project in. It was in desperate need of staining last year and we let that go and this year I actually fell through at a rotten spot. That's when you know it's time to say good-bye.

So here we are tearing it out. We still have quite a way to go but we're getting there. We are taking the cedar pieces that are still in good shape and saving them to make raised bed garden boxes. Nothing will go to waste.

Once the new patio is in, we will be putting in a pergola - a project that will take the two of us . I can't wait!

My New Bathroom

This is my ugly bathroom. It's the private bathroom off the master bedroom suite. Outside of changing the paint color over the years, not much else has changed in the room.

Then we decided to replace the bedroom carpet and include the bathroom, closet and hall so there was a consistent floor throughout.

As we worked through our options for floor, I found this piece of art. It is an oil painting from a local artist from the Lake Winnebago area. I absolutely fell in love with it and I instantly knew what I wanted to do with it.

Yes, it's going in the bathroom. My bathroom. So I took the painting to the store to pick out a new bathroom paint color.


My husband was taking the old sink and cabinet out so the new floor could be installed where the cabinet was. It was all good timing, then I could paint the walls where the cabinet was. And it was good I was painting before the new floors came so I could be messy.


Somewhere along the way my husband found a brand-new-in-the-box Kohler vessel sink at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. He had to have it even though he didn't know where he would use it. I think he wanted to re-do the powder room and make it fancy but I had other ideas. I drew up a plan where he could take the old cabinet, make it smaller in both width and height. I really wanted a new cabinet to have legs and not be up against the side wall. And I wanted a drawer on the bottom.

Amazingly, he did it. He cut the base off, took the doors off and made the frame smaller. We picked out milk paint to coordinate with the flooring and he sprayed the cabinet with our new custom color. I had some fun buying new crystal knobs for the cabinet too. We looked for antique ones but couldn't find any but that's ok, most of the project was a repurpose project.

We considered making a cement countertop but I think we were both ready to call this a finish so we went a shop less than a mile away and had a custom quartz top made for the sink to sit in. It is so beautiful.

Once the cabinet was finished, my husband took the old large mirror to local glass shop and had it cut down. He used scrap wood to make a frame and used the same milk paint to finish the frame.

I bought a waterfall faucet to install over the sink to finish the entire thing off. I love the end result and I totally enjoyed the adventure getting to this point. Now I get the fun of picking out new bathroom accessories and towels.

Pallet Christmas Tree

I came home from the quilt shop today to find this little gem on my front porch. Apparently while I was away my husband got a little creative. I showed him some pallet Christmas tree photos and mentioned that I would love to have one. He decided to whip one up and I love it. Monday we will go out shopping for lights to put on it. 

While cleaning the living room to prep for the Christmas tree, I discovered that we sure do get a lot of magazines. I was surprised at how many there were. I did order a few subscriptions for my husband when he retired and a few for myself as well. I guess I thought we would actually have time to sit down and read. Boy, was I wrong! 

An Earth Day Tradition

We always get a real Christmas tree. We are lucky to know someone who owns their own Christmas tree farm and all we have to do is just ask for a tree. We tell them we want a Frasier Fir, preferably a skinny, shorter version. Like a Charlie Brown tree. Of course, it's never like that. The trees are always very beautiful and we are grateful that all the fuss of going out in the cold to personally pick out a tree is removed from the process. Some people enjoy that ritual but not me, I am really not fond of cold weather. So this works out perfectly.

For me, the hard part about having a real tree is letting go. It seems such a shame to cut this beautiful living thing down for something so (realistically) unnecessary. But there is something to be said for the amazing pine smell that permeates the house. So I keep the tree up for as long as is practical. And once we take it down we place it in my garden for the duration of the winter where it becomes a refuge for the birds. It's amazing to see how many little birds protect themselves among the branches during bad weather. It's a beautiful thing.

Once spring comes I have to get the tree out of the garden. So we have a bonfire to turn the tree into ash. The ash gets turned with the compost that goes back into the garden. It's a great way to complete the circle and use every bit of that tree. So another year goes by and we feel good about renewing nature's gift and giving it back to the earth.

Repurposed Denim and Leftover Batting Scraps

I've been keeping my batting scraps for a year or two now. I don't what possessed me to start hoarding them, but I did. They make the nicest stuffing for large floor pillows and I guess I thought that since I have so many jeans to repurpose that someday I would put the two together.

Apparently today is that day.

As I sat sorting through my fabrics, I came across a few pairs of jeans that needed to be cut up into pieces. So I took out my jeans bin and started cutting then sorting. I was inspired to make a few new floor pillows just from going through that process.

I decided to make a floor pillow with the seams exposed to give it the rag quilt look. I had so many larger pieces left when that was completed that I sewed them together using some decorative stitches to make a second floor pillow. With this second one I chose to do some stitching around the edge to make a nice finished look as well. 

There were enough batting scraps to fill both of these large floor pillows. I did take the time to cut the long batting scraps into small pieces so the pillows will get a nicer contour. Once I had them completed, I felt very resourceful. I think the larger one will make a nice dog bed and the smaller one will look great once the seams are more frayed for that raggy look. Now I have two empty white plastic storage bins. I bet they won't stay empty for very long.

A Pallet Project - WIP

I picked up a few pallets last month and they've been hanging out in my garage ever since. I really wanted to take the time to take them apart however, I've been struggling with finding the time.

Last month my husband had his second round of rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder. Of course he is also left-handed. Since the surgery he is going stir-crazy considering his limitations.

So I decided to put him to work... sort of. I asked for guidance in taking apart the pallets. My husband immediately dug out the proper tools and taught me how to use them. So I hammered and pried the boards while he instructed me in the easiest way to disassemble the pallets. He was in heaven.

Once I got the boards taken off, he could easily remove the nails that weren't dislodged with his one good hand. He felt so productive that his mood totally changed for the rest of the day.

So now it's time to figure out what to do with the pieces. I really didn't think we would get this far this quickly.

Tin Can Wind Chimes

My granddaughters spent the afternoon painting their version of ponies on the sides of the tin cans I spray painted a few weeks ago. They love My Little Ponies and spend many afternoons drawing their favorite characters.

After they were finished painting, they worked with their grandpa to make them into wind chimes. He popped holes in the cans then threaded them with plastic coated wire. He used electrical fasteners to hold the wire in place. They were ready in time for the girls to give them to their mother on her birthday today.

Both the girls and their mama had a happy day.

Selvage Blocks

Lately when I am in my sewing studio I've been getting a closed-in feeling. It happens whenever my scrap piles start to run over and my unfinished projects stay unfinished. I really need to sort, purge and put things back in their proper places however I find that difficult to do when things are unfinished. The answer to the problem sounds so easy...just finish things but that's not how my mind works. 

Somehow clutter makes my creative juices flow. And I am staring at my selvage basket with its overflowing strips of pretty colors. I stop working on my current projects and decide to make a selvage block. I cut a 9-inch wide piece of muslin from the bolt and make 9 x 9-inch squares out of the strip. As I sort and iron a few of the selvages, I start to feel a sense of accomplishment just from tackling the overflowing basket. But I haven't even made anything yet! Not even a single block. 

I looked at a few blogs regarding making selvage blocks in order to pick up a few tips on how to get started. The best advice I could find was to make a straight line in the center of the muslin in order to keep the selvage strips straight as I build each block. Once one block was done I was hooked. Within two days I made 30 blocks and totally emptied my selvage strip scrap basket.

So now I have another unfinished quilt project to add to my angst but it sure was fun making those blocks.

Tin Can Wind Chimes - WIP

I am working on a project with my granddaughters where we will make some wind chimes out of cans. I've collected soup cans, coffee cans and other cans so I have a variety of sizes for this little project. The only problem I've had is weather. I needed to spray paint the cans and the chances of me having the free time and getting a warm, sunny day at the exact same time needed to happen.  Our Wisconsin weather has been terribly unpredictable this year so there hasn't been very many nice days.

I took the cans outside, shook the chalkboard spray paint can and got it done. I was starting to wonder if it would ever happen. Now I have to get some cording to string the little cans to the big cans. In the meantime, I will have my granddaughters paint some of their wonderful artistic creations on the cans. Once that dries we will use some chalk to draw some more on the cans before we string them altogether.

I think this will make a nice birthday gift for their mama. I will post our progress as we get the painting done!

Recycled Jeans - A Book Bag

My sister gave me a stack of her son's old blue jeans.  They were in pretty good shape so I thought I would take my time to decide how to repurpose them. I didn't want to cut them up willy-nilly then discover that I should have cut them differently.

I knew I was making some sort of tote bag out of the legs. I liked that the bottom hems were not frayed so I wanted to use them as the bag opening. I cut the legs off at the knees (where they were worn out) to see how tall I could make the bag. Then I left the French seams intact and cut the leg pieces next to the opposite seams and sewed the two pieces together.

I had a nice, large piece of denim fabric with two French seams running through it. I then deconstructed the back pockets and the belt loops. I reattached the pockets over the French seams.

Then I took the thigh parts of the pants and cut them into 3 1/2-inch wide strips and sewed them together to make the bag strap. Since the fabric was so thick, I just turned in each long raw edge 1/4-inch and sewed them down. I then sewed 4 more rows of stitching to give the strap a finished look.

I then squared up the main bag piece and sewed it into a tube, then sewed the bottom shut. I also added a gusset 1 1/2 inches from the corners to form a bottom.  Then I measured the bag to make a lining the same size.  I then figured out that my strap was way too long so I cut off a piece to make the bag closure.

I added a few doily details and some decorative buttons and viola!....a new bag - no pattern necessary. I really like how it turned out.

Recycled Wine Bottle Garden Border

I've been saving wine bottles for a very long time. I have a large plastic garbage can that I've been filling with the bottles over the past year and now the can is full. I have to do something with them in order to continue to collect more.  I really don't have the room to fill another garbage can so I decided to make a border next to the sidewalk at the back of the house.  My fear is that in winter while shoveling I might hit the bottles and break them but we rarely shovel that walk so maybe it will be ok.

Since it's been raining a lot the ground is nice and soft so it was easy to dig a little trench.  I set the bottles at random in the little trench then pounded them in with a rubber mallet. Then I filled the dirt back in between the bottles.  It was fun to read the labels and surprisingly, I remember where and when we drank the wine. It was like a trip down memory lane making it so much fun to install each bottle.

Wine Bottle Garden Border

Surprisingly, the giant bin of bottles didn't go as far as I thought they would so I guess we will have to work on filling it back up again.

Recycled Denim Stuffed with Scrap Quilt Batting

After all the time spent sewing, planning, pricing, packing up and advertising for my church's craft fair, one would think I would take photos of my booth all set up.  But no, I did not. Even with my brand new craft racks ready for the show, I still didn't take the time to snap a single photo.  My excuse is that I was busy chatting with potential customers and making sales all day long.  Not a bad problem to have, but now it's over, and I can get back to normal or my version of normal until the next show.  Whew, I'm exhausted.

With that said, I've been a little burnt out so I took a week off of sewing.  Yes, a whole week. I don't think I ever did that before. I love my sewing room and my fabrics and making stuff.  I will admit that things were in quite a disarray during that last week building up to the craft fair. While trying to do some last minute crafts to sell, I just piled up the scrap fabrics and kept going. So much so that I didn't even post photos of those newer items. Instead I just kept cranking out more. Maybe I will post them sometime but for now, I'm thinking about organizing my fabrics and putting the ones I pulled out away.  There's something about order that makes me want to start again. We shall see if it works!

For now I do have this photo of an over-sized pillow I made out of denim scraps. I love recycled denim. I also discovered that I have a use for those scrap strips of batting that I cut off of finished quilts.  Yes, I have been saving them. I find it difficult to throw away perfectly soft, long strips of scraps even though they are so narrow that I cannot even use them in a potholder. So I cut those long strips into smaller pieces and stuff them into the denim pillows, stitch up the opening and pop them into the wash machine.  After one washing, the batting scraps seem to fluff and fill in the pillow nicely. Even though it is made of denim, it is amazingly soft and cushy. I just love how they feel.

Recycled Denim Floor Pillow

I also made sure the back pocket from a pair of those recycled jeans were placed in just the right spot - I think we can store the remote for the tv in there!

Recycled Denim Fabric Baskets

Now that October is here, besides fall, pumpkins, colorful leaves and cool weather, it's time to think craft fairs. Pretty soon it will be time to sell some crafts so I think I need to start concentrating on making more. It's been in the back of my mind, but now it's time to get moving.

I've had a stack of old blue jeans just waiting for something like this.  I used a tutorial I found on threading my way's blog to complete these. The link for the tutorial can be found here. These baskets went together quickly and easily so I will be making more later this month. It was fun to pick out the lining fabric and I think I can come up with many more ideas for the insides of these.

I hope I don't run out of old jeans.

Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose

A co-worker of mine was crazy about his favorite pair of jeans but they were wearing out. He hated to give them up so he asked me if I could turn them into a dog bed for his precious pooch. He thought that since his little doggy weighed in at a whopping 10-pounds, that there would be enough fabric to make a nice little snuggly spot for the dog.

So I got the jeans, bought 3 shades of blue thread and a bag of fiberfill. It was most difficult to make that first cut into these jeans; if they were mine I would consider them still wearable. So I started slow, took the waistband off, then cut the legs off. As I worked my way around them, it got easier to cut them into logical pieces. Then the fun part began. I stitched them back together into pieces of fabric. I wanted to make sure the pocket with the Ralph Lauren Polo label was in tact and the focal point of the top piece of fabric. (It would also make a nice place to store doggy treats.) After I had a main center piece, I felt it needed contrast so I dug out pieces of jean fabric from 3 other pairs of old jeans I had cut up previously. It made nice little alternating shades of blue patches around the center fabric. I then reversed the fabric on the back, making a piece of darker jeans the center of the fabric and placing the Polo jean pieces around it.

Once I had a nice 25 by 25 inch square for both the front and back, I stitched them together, turned it, stuffed it and hand sewed the opening shut. I also had stitched my custom label on the back to give it a nice designer look. Doggy can squish down nicely in the middle of the soft, lofty cushion since I made sure not to overfill the thing with stuffing. It is much softer than it looks and it should be snuggly for his treasured pet.