Repurposed Shoe Box- Fabric Covered Storage Box

I always seem to have a lot of small toiletry items that I need but I don’t use every day. It works better for me if I can keep those corralled rather than scattered all about my bathroom closet. A fabric covered shoe box serves the purpose very well.

I had previously purchased a couple from Tuesday Morning that my daughter uses for storage. One of the ones that I purchased is pictured below.

I’ve always hesitated to throw away a sturdy shoebox with an attached lid!

When I ran across this one in my closet I suddenly had a bright idea!

I was able to find some fabric scraps leftover from my duvet cover. Ideally, I would like to have covered the box in one big piece of fabric but I had to use what I had. I ended up covering the box with one piece and the lid with another but you can’t even tell by looking at it. I used Elmer’s glue and covered the box like wrapping a present.  I did use a few paper clips to hold the edges until they dried. It was a quick and simple project.

I attached a little ribbon to use for the tie.

I love it when a plan comes together!

The fabric is Summerlin by Robert Allen.

I hope your fall is off to a great start!

I’ll be linking to Tips, Tidbits and Tutorials at Stone Gable, to Grace at Home at Imparting Grace to the Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, and to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Bamboo Blind Deal Alert

I ran into Lowe’s yesterday to pick up a couple of items. As is usually the case, one item that I needed was at the front of the store and the other item that I needed was at the very back corner of the store. On my stroll to the back of the store I completely accidentally passed through the window covering department. Some bamboo blinds just happened to catch me eye. Then a yellow clearance sticker really caught my eye.

What??? Was $58 and now $11.60!! If my calculations serve me correctly that is 80% off!!! It just so happens that I could use a blind but not one that is 48 inches wide. I decided to take a chance. Our front door at our summer cottage usually stays uncovered but sometimes I would prefer to have a little more privacy.

 

It’s hard for an amateur photographer to take a picture of the door because the camera goes toward the light but I think you get the idea. The window is about 28 inches wide so my blind needed to be 30 inches. Thus I needed to cut 9 inches off each side. I decided to take another risk. I put a bungy cord around the blind to hold it together and took it to my chop saw. It worked very well. It is slightly rough in a few spots but good enough for me.

Most of the roughness in the photo above brushed off. I proceeded to install the cut blind.

When left open it still lets in plenty of light. It is a little too fat rolled up to install completely above the windows.

The color blends well with the color of the floor. If you need a blind, get to Lowe’s ASAP. And, I have a new self-imposed rule. I am no longer shopping with a cart when I go to Lowe’s since I always find stuff that I “need” to fill it up!

I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Homework at Worthing Court. Click the links for lots of great inspiration.

Towel Bar from Recycled Piano Parts

I needed a towel bar in my laundry room at our summer cottage and I found the perfect “object” to adapt.

Obviously it is made from a part of my grandmother’s piano but can you tell what the part was?

I’m sure that you have guessed by now that it was one of the pedals!

I left it attached to the original hardware and just used screws to mount it to the wall. It swings out to hang the towel.

I gave it a good cleaning with steel wool and mounted it. Quick and easy!

I still have enough piano parts for several more projects. If you missed the others you can see headboard #1 here and headboard #2 here and my little entry table here.

I’ll be linking to Tips, Tidbits, and Tutorials at Stone Gable. Click over to see some great inspiration!

 

Another Headboard from Recycled Piano Wood

Since I wanted to keep my son’s room at home intact so that he would have a place to stay when he comes home, I needed an inexpensive headboard for his apartment bed. Last summer, he and I disassembled my grandmother’s old upright piano and I have been recycling the parts (except for the very heavy metal soundboard that he and a friend cashed in at the scrap metal yard!) Sorry, I don’t have good pictures again but as I stated in my last post, after hauling the goods up to the third floor I was too tired to fetch my good camera!

I can’t remember exactly where this piece of paneled wood was located inside the piano but it was just like it looks now. I simply wiped it down to get the dust off and purchased one 1 by 4 piece of lumber and had it cut in half which gave me two legs three feet long. I used wood screws to attach the legs to the back. It could not have been easier. It was the perfect length for a queen size bed. I didn’t even have to get out the saw!

This is what it looked like before. I left the hole in the upper left corner and it is now the lower right corner of the headboard. The hole sits just below the top of the mattress. I did use just a little bit of Citrus Paint Stripper to remove the shiny part from around the outside edge. The other small screw holes were left for the added character.

I love it when a plan comes together! If you missed my other posts of the recycled piano parts so far you can click here to see the headboard I made for my daughter and here to see the little entry table that I built from piano parts.  I’ll be posting another very quick and easy recycle for my next post!

I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Homework at Worthing Court. Click over to see lots of inspiration!

Making a Slipcover for Grandma’s Sofa

Several weeks ago I took on a quick project of updating my grandmother’s sofa so that it could be used in my son’s apartment.

Sorry for the grainy picture, but after hauling all of his belongings up to the third floor my energy was spent and I didn’t want to look for my good camera! I know that it takes away from the “big reveal” to show the “after” pictures first, but my “before” pictures are often so unappealing that I’m afraid no one will read the post if I don’t give you a taste of the reveal first. Let’s take a look at the sofa before the slipcover.

Some time ago I upholstered this sofa in this beautiful fabric and my mother had it in her living room for a number of years. In the last couple of years my mom decided to eliminate one of her two sofas so she gave this one back to me since I had invested the work in it. It is still in excellent condition. Not having a use for it, I was going to get rid of it, one way or another. When my son saw it sitting in the garage, he asked what I was doing with it. When I told him, he protested saying that he likes that sofa and that I should not get rid of it! A few months ago, when he got a permanent job and started looking for an apartment, he asked me to do something “non-permanent” to the sofa. He said that he likes it just like it is but that it doesn’t look very masculine so I needed to do something. I lucked up by finding a bolt of 10 yards of navy fabric at my local Walmart for a whopping $2 per yard!!! I had them measure to make sure that it was indeed 10 yards. It was just a little short so I took it and got to work. It took every bit of fabric!

Whenever I am making a slipcover, I lay out the cut pieces of fabric and do lots of pinning before I sew then make adjustments as needed.

Because the navy was so plain, I added a band of natural linen around the bottom and made a couple of throw pillows of the same linen fabric. He and I are both pleased with the outcome.

Next post, I will show you what we did for his headboard.

I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Homeworks at Worthing Court. Click over to see lots of inspiration.

Microwave Corn on the Cob

I saw a pin this summer about cooking corn on the cob in the microwave and gave it a try. I was not disappointed. I have heard so many people say that they only use their microwave for popcorn and for reheating leftovers. Others say the food just “doesn’t taste the same!” If you are one of those people, you really need to try this. I use the microwave often. In fact, I only used a microwave and small appliances such as a slow cooker and electric skillet for the first 6 years of our marriage. We lived in an apartment with a nonfunctioning stove for the first 2 years and in a relative’s home without a stove for the next 4 years. We received a new microwave as a wedding gift. It was purchased from a store that only sold microwave ovens, Mr. Microwave.  Included in the purchase price was microwave cooking school which consisted on 6 sessions. I attended the sessions and learned to use the microwave for a lot of recipes. Many of them I still use 33 years later! The microwave is generally more energy efficient than heating the stove and often quicker and it does not heat up the kitchen as much as a traditional stove. The corn on the cob recipe is new to me but it was delicious and easy. While you would not want to use this method if you were cooking a lot of corn, it is great for a few ears. Step one is to simply put the corn in the microwave for 4 minutes per ear.

It can go straight from the stalk to the microwave, no cleaning necessary!

Cook four minutes per ear at 100% power.

Carefully remove the ears of corn. I used an oven mitt because it was very hot!! Then cut the stalk end off. Be sure to get all of the stalk.

Next, hold the ear of corn by the silk end and shake vigorously. I had to coax mine a little to get it out. I even had to wiggle it a little.

Then out she comes!

Clean as a whistle! No silks left on the corn! It was delicious and my family thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you will give it a try.

I’ll be linking to Tips, Tidbits and Tutorials at Stone Gable. If you missed the other summer recipes this week click here to see my Tomato Pie and here to see my Blueberry Crumble.

Tomato Pie

If you read my last post then you know that I am attempting to be very ambitious this week and post 3 recipes for enjoying summer’s bounty! I have to hurry before summer is gone. Hopefully you will still have time to try these out. If you missed the recipe for Blueberry Crumble you can read that post here or you can go directly to the printable recipe here. Today I am sharing the recipe that I use for Tomato Pie. Several years ago my mom made Tomato Pies and I never even tried one but lately I have thoroughly enjoyed this recipe. Actually some friends took us to a great restaurant, West Cobb Diner in Marietta, Ga, and my friend had Tomato Pie as a vegetable. Of course I tasted it and it was delicious so I had to look for a recipe to try. The rest is history.

The photo above was taken as soon as it came out of the oven so it’s still a little runny, but delicious all the same.  We have had friends to share their fresh tomatoes with us this summer and this was a great way to enjoy them.

I start by filling a ready to bake pie shell with sliced fresh tomatoes. The recipe calls for 4 but I just  fill the shell without counting.

Next, I sprinkle on salt, pepper, seasoned salt, basil, oregano, and use my McCormack Italian Herb grinder. Again, I did not measure.

Next I added  a layer of green onions and followed that with a layer of cooked bacon.

The final layer is 1/4 cup of mayonnaise (I use Hellman’s with olive oil) mixed with 2 cups of cheese ( I used Borden’s 4 cheese mixture of Mexican cheddar, Jack, Asadero, and Queso Blanco).

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for 30 more minutes. This pie reminds me of deep dish pizza.

I know this sounds like Hoggy Mae, but I get hungry just looking at this picture! I hope you will give it a try and enjoy it as much as I have!

Click here for the printable recipe.

Check back for my last recipe for enjoying summer’s bounty.

I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Homeworks at Worthing Court.