My Version of the Phoebe Bag

In my fabric stash, I had a remnant of a lightweight brocade upholstery fabric in beautiful fall colors that I bought a year ago with the idea of making a bag. (Yes, I am a fabric hoarder.) Looking at my Pinterest board for purses and bags, I noticed that I had pinned more than one bag made from the Phoebe Bag pattern and I decided it would be an excellent choice for using my fabric.

The Phoebe Bag is a free pattern from Artsy-Crafty Babe that you can find here. I am always amazed at how generous bloggers are with their free patterns and tutorials. This is a downloadable pdf with a full-sized pattern and clear instructions. I can see why it is so popular and why there are so many finished Phoebe bags on Pinterest. Thanks Artsy-Crafty Babe.

I made a few minor changes to customize the bag for me. I adjusted the width of the bag to make it just a bit wider so that I could easily carry a notebook in it and I made the strap a bit longer so that it would be a shoulder bag for me. I skipped the optional interfacing since I was using a fabric with some thickness to it and I wanted the bag to be a bit slouchy. Also, I used Velcro, which I had on hand, instead of buying a magnetic snap.

The lining is a green-on- green, cotton print that was actually a skirt that I made years ago and couldn't bear to part with when I couldn't wear it any longer because I liked the fabric so well. (Told you I was a fabric hoarder.)

It took me a couple hours, at most, from start to finish to cut out and sew this bag together. For a finishing touch I added a filigree broach that I found at a rummage sale for 50 cents to the flap.

Replacing Window Glass

Our exterior painting and sprucing up project just seems to go on and on. Will it never end?

We have a small garage that we use to store garden tools, the lawnmower, a ladder, and interesting things that I find in other people's trash. I am about half finished painting the garage and because we have had cold and rainy weather this fall I think this project will, sadly, have to be continued next spring.

I was able to take advantage of a warm, dry afternoon last week to replace a broken window in our garage that needed to be replaced before the window sash is painted. This is a fairly quick and easy job. To get started I gathered up the following supplies:

• Glazier or glazing points -- these are little metal triangles that push into the window frame and hold the glass in the window frame.
• Window glazing--this is the putty that goes along the edges of the glass.
• Glass--my local hardware store has many standard sizes of glass already cut.
• Putty knife--I have a handy, dandy putty knife made for just this purpose. It is v-shaped at the end to make it easier to smooth out the putty at the proper angle and it also has a little notch at the end for pushing the glazing points into the wood.

To get started, I carefully removed the broken glass by prying out the old putty and pulling out the glazing points. It is a bit hard to tell but the picture below shows the window after I removed the broken (top right) windowpane. Obviously, I have no idea how to take a picture of glass without getting a reflection so you get to see me and the neighbor's garage as a little bonus.

The next step was to put in the new glass and insert the glazing points to hold it. Then I put in the putty and smoothed it to form an angle between the glass and the window frame.

I couldn't figure out how to take pictures while I was doing this and I am not exactly an expert at it, so I don't have a tutorial but I found these good, step-by-step instructions on how to replace window glass on the ACE hardware website. This is not an advertisement for ACE hardware. It is just a coincidence that I bought my supplies there. I do have to that everyone at my local ACE store is very helpful and knowledgeable.

So here is is with the new glass installed. Wow! With the replaced glass, the reflection of the neighbor's garage is even better. Now the window sash needs some paint and the window needs a good cleaning. A curtain would be a nice touch. And, I have a plan for that.

It will take up to 2 weeks for the glazing putty to dry. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will find one dry, warm-enough day to paint the window sash before winter really sets in. I am so not ready for winter. I have too many outdoor projects that are not finished.

Binge Watching HGTV On Netflix

We don't have cable television at our house but we do have Netflix that we can watch on a tablet, computer, or phone. For a long time my husband has been urging me to make more use of the Netflix subscription (if we don't use it we are wasting our money). I resisted because I could really see myself getting caught up in a show and spending a lot of time watching Netflix when I should be doing other things.

Well I finally succumbed to the temptation when I heard that some HGTV shows are available via Netflix. I always try to catch HGTV anytime I am staying in a hotel so I have seen a few episodes of several of the current shows.

Since beginning binge watching a few days ago, I have tried Love It Or List It, which I had previously seen a few episodes of. The premise of the show is that a couple is trying to decide whether to remodel their current home or move. A real estate agent tries to find them a new house while a designer works on their new house. The show ends with the couple making the decision to "love it" or "list it". This show is very scripted and formulaic. Even though I enjoy seeing the remodeled spaces the bad acting gets on my nerves and I can't really binge watch. Most of the homes that are featured would benefit from a good de-cluttering and the picking up and putting away of a lot of stuff. If they did that many of them wouldn't need the extra space that they all seem to be looking for.

A show that I just started watching yesterday is Flea Market Flip. This one is definitely binge-worthy. I have already watched 3 or 4 episodes. Teams compete to buy items at a flea market. After revamping the items they sell them at another flea market. So far I have seen some surprising ideas for making over flea market finds. I love to explore a good flea market even if it is just vicariously.

My favorite show so far is Rehab Addict. I had never seen this one and I blew right through all the episodes from season 1, all that are available from Netflix. I love old houses so this show is right up my alley. It features Nichole Curtis rehabbing old houses in Minneapolis. I like that she tries to save as many of the original features and as much of the old materials in these houses as possible. She also makes use of materials that are reclaimed, recycled, or found on the side of the curb or in someone's garbage. She uses salvaged materials when she has to replace something in a house--doors, windows, floor boards, kitchen cabinets, bathroom fixture. Yeah, I just might be addicted to this show. Don't tell my husband but I just might have to get cable so I can watch the new episodes.

Photo from diynetwork.com

Better Nesting Book Club : A Sudden Light

The Better Nesting Book Club recommends:

A Sudden Light

by Garth Stein

Garth Stein's previous book, The Art of Racing in the Rain, is one of my favorite books from the last 10 years. I have also had the privilege of meeting the author, so when I saw that he had a new book, naturally, I was excited to read it.

There is no dog in A Sudden Light (If you haven't read The Art of Racing in the Rain, which you really should, the book is narrated by the dog.) but there are ghosts. The Riddell family is haunted by several generations of unresolved issues and secrets.

For the first time in his life, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell's father takes him to the family mansion, which was built by a timber-baron ancestor. The mansion is a huge, rustic building built from whole trees on an estate overlooking Puget Sound. With hidden staircases and secret rooms the the house sets a dark and secretive atmosphere for the story.

While Trevor's father and his sister are working together to sell off the house and property and send their father to a retirement home, Trevor begins to explore the house and surrounding property. Trevor's exploration uncovers long-buried family secrets. His willingness to face his family's past, ghosts and all, changes his family's future.

IKEA Virgin No More

Until last week I had never been to an IKEA store. I have been aware of IKEA for years. I see so many bloggers posting about visits to IKEA and using IKEA products in their homes. And, I have enjoyed the eye candy in a few of their catalogs. I had been wanting to go to IKEA to see for myself what it's all about but with the nearest store 2 hours from where I live it wasn't all that easy. Until recently I was working 6 days a week most weeks and I didn't have time to go across town to Target much less make a 4-hour round trip to satisfy my IKEA curiosity.

We were on a long-weekend trip away from home and were close by so I had the opportunity to make my first visit to IKEA. I planned to have my husband to snap a picture of me outside the store to commemorate this momentous occasion but it was pouring down rain, so I took a few pictures inside the store just to prove that I had been there.

Here is the famous EKTORP sofa. This would fit well with my vintage, eclectic decor and the price is good but it's too large for our vehicle.

Another well-known IKEA product, BILLY bookcases. The quality seems a bit better than other build-it-yourself bookcases that are available and the option to add doors opens up so many possibilities. I can certainly see why they are so popular.

The navy and white fabric used for these curtains and pillows caught my eye. It reminds me of vintage book illustrations. Navy and white is a classic for a good reason. This is not a great picture but the pattern is called BLAVINGE and you can see it better on the IKEA website. I think they have ready-made pillows made out of this fabric and the fabric itself is available.

So for anyone else who has never been to IKEA here are a few things I learned about shopping at IKEA:

Give yourself plenty of time. We were in the store over 2 hours and we were just browsing and not doing any serious shopping. 

Eat before you start shopping. I knew they had a restaurant but I didn't know there was a snack bar near the entrance. If I had figured that out, I would have had a cinnamon roll or an ice cream cone to fortify me for the shopping. 

As you go through the displays make note of the location information of any item you are interested in buying, even the small items. In the display area all the items are tagged with the location where you will find them if you wish to buy them. We weren't buying any furniture or large items so I didn't make note of any of the location information as we were browsing. I assumed that it would be easy to find the small items that I wanted in the Marketplace area but it wasn't as easy as I expected. There is just so much and you might forget to look for something until you are halfway through the Marketplace when it's not easy to go back.

For the most part, the quality seems better than expected for the price. I had heard this but wanted to verify it for myself so in the future I know if it is worth making the 2-hour trip for something I am interested in.

Are you wondering what I bought? The only furniture we need is a new sofa and otherwise our house is really pretty full, so we limited ourselves to just a few practical things: an inexpensive rechargeable drill (because our's died a couple days before our trip), 79 cent dishtowels, a hanger for the iron, a strainer, and an umbrella. The only purely decorative item I bought was a lantern that holds a candle to use on the front porch. My husband picked up some light bulbs and batteries for his business. 

Although our purchases were on the boring side, I had a blast looking at everything. Even my husband, who usually hates to go to big stores, had fun (I think he did. If not, he was pretty convincing pretending to enjoy himself).

Farewell, Old Fridge

Our old refrigerator finally gave up after 20+ years of faithful service. It had been making a strange, loud noise for about 2 years, so it wasn't sudden or unexpected. I had been expecting its demise at anytime for the past couple years although my husband was of the opinion that the noise was just a vibration and nothing more serious. The old refrigerator served us well and it even had the decency to stop working when there was very little food inside. We had just returned from our vacation the night before and had pretty much eaten everything edible before we left.

We had been home for a couple hours when I noticed that it was no longer making the almost constant really loud noise that we had become accustomed to but was now making a different strange noise .

I said to the husband, "Have you noticed that the refrigerator has stopped making that loud noise? And, now it's making some other weird noise."

To which I received no response.

The next morning, I got up, went into the kitchen and opened up the freezer to get an English muffin. It was then that I noticed that there was water in the ice cube trays instead ice. A bad sign. I might or might not have said a bad word. I decided that the best response was to just go back to bed.

We were leaving again the next day, so I put off shopping for a replacement until this week and the new one was delivered today.

I haven't talked much about our house yet, but it is a small (under 1,000 square feet) cottage that was built around 1929. The size of the kitchen and the placement of the kitchen cabinets, as well as the size of the entry doors to the house really limited the available choices for a replacement fridge.

The old refrigerator and all of the other appliances are white, so I wanted to stick with white and that narrowed down my options even further because so many models were only available in stainless steel. Stainless steel is so popular and I have nothing against. If I was doing a whole kitchen I would likely choose it. My frugal ways prevent me from even considering replacing appliances that are still working and I want all the appliances to match so I'm sticking with white.

The other thing that really eliminated a lot of choices was the height that would fit under the existing cabinet. Evidently, refrigerators have been growing taller over the past 20 years and many would not fit under what was once a standard-height cabinet.

I ended up with a Whirlpool from Lowe's. It was on sale (not sure how often appliances are on sale but I felt lucky that both Lowe's and Home Depot had them on sale the very week I was shopping for one)  and there was free delivery and they took the old refrigerator for no extra charge (not sure if they always do this but it was great).

It's a pretty basic model but it fit through our front door and it fits in our kitchen and it should meet our needs, which are pretty simple--cold food, ice. Four days of living out of a cooler and shopping for groceries and ice every afternoon were enough. Glad to have all the modern conveniences again. So here it is in a quick cell phone photo, making the kitchen cabinets look decidedly less white.

Pillows for the Porch

One of my current projects is to spruce up our front porch. The front porch is enclosed with windows that we keep open from spring through fall so that it functions as a screened porch. I didn't get started on the project in time for enjoying the spring weather this year but I did get the wicker furniture painted (you can read about that here) and back on the porch in time to take advantage of some lovely summer days and I hope to add some finishing touches just in time for fall.

After painting the wicker furniture and sewing some quick and easy cushions for it, I decided that some throw pillows were needed, both for comfort and for style. Since I have given myself a budget of around $100 for this project I went to my fabric stash to see what I could find to work with. I paired some vintage ticking stripe fabric for the fronts with a blue print on a red background for the back.

I was inspired by this photo of a pillow made out of ticking fabric that I found on Pinterest to turn the stripes in different directions. That simple idea really adds a lot of interest to what would otherwise be a pretty plain pillow.

For more inspiration follow Better Nesting on Pinterest.