Perfect Porch Chairs

My front porch is finally coming along. For as long as I can remember I have had a crush on these vintage style lawn chairs. All metal, shell backs, they kinda bounce when you sit in them. They make me feel like I should be at a family BBQ, eating a hot dog, or watching fireworks. Not really sure why, but that's the feeling they give me.

 Anyway, this crush started long before we built our home and I have always known that finding these beauties was going to cost me a pretty penny and there was a potential for them to just be old and rusty. I had spotted them for upwards of $100 each for new remade ones and for the old rusty type so imagine my surprise when I found these (likely reproductions) for just $40 each at the Funky Junk show! I bought them immediately within minutes of walking in to the show and I couldn't have been more excited about it. The pair don't match perfectly, one has flat arms, the other rounded and the seats are slightly different as well with one featuring wholes and the other just a little ditch for water to drain out.

I actually like the blue color the flat arm chair came in but the black I hated! Either way they both needed to be sanded stripped and repainted. I decided to go simple and just do white. However I strongly debated a two two with a dark red to match the front door.

This was my first time working with metal that needed to be sanded and painted with many coats. It was a little more work than I wished it was, but thanks to a perfect weather weekend I finished them in just two days. :) I spry primed and spray painted each chair with a high luster paint. The curved arms were a little tricky but in all I think they came out pretty nice.

When I bought them I wasn't sure what I would do about a little table in between and I am still not sure this is the answer, but it works for right now. Jason made this little wooden beauty in high school shop!

Here is a good side view of the chairs. I just adore the lines they have and did I mentioned that they bounce a little when u sit in them. :)

I had to break this out as a reminder of my little porch projects and progress...

This was taken in March....{Besides being bare look how tiny the plants are..}

and this was taken last weekend! So much more personality and it actually makes me excited to have visitors. (and the plants have gotten huge thanks to my husband and his fancy fertilizers}

Burger Tour Stop #1: Frisco Freeze

 

 Frisco Freeze the first stop on our burger tour of the 2012 summer! A Tacoma classic on Union Avenue located across the street from Mary Bridge Children's hospital. Frisco Freeze has been in business for over 65 years serving up these American classics to the people of the south sound.

First thing about Frisco that you need to know is there is no indoor seating so pick a sunny day to take your lunch to a park or plan on eating in your car. After-all this is a classic American drive in. No public restrooms but they do take debt though so that is a HUGE plus! However at 2.40 for a cheese burger you can probably pay with cash.

Ok Now on to the food. 

Burgers are ranked on appearance - does it look appetizing and fresh, the bun, quality, taste & type, the patty flavor and juiciness, the beef to bun ratio, and the yummy factor. The sixth rating is for whatever side item is ordered.  All items are ranked on a scale of 1 - 5 with 30 being the highest score a place can get.

What was ordered:
Erin: cheeseburger, onion rings and a small chocolate shake $8.25
Tyler: Double cheeseburger and fries $6.40
Guest Judge Leiani -  Burger, fries, Chocolate Malt   $8.59


Appearance:
Erin -  4 
Tyler -  4
Guest Judge Leiani - 4

Bun
Erin - 3  "Average, plain bun"
Tyler - 3
Guest Judge Leiani - 2 " better if toasted, got a little mushy by the end"

Patty Flavor and Juiciness
Erin -4    "thin but not overcooked, still flavorful"
Tyler - 3   "overcooked but still juicy"
Guest Judge Leiani - 3   "lost the flavor in the mayo and onion"

Beef to Bun Ratio
Erin -5  "Thin bun, this burger patty, great proportions"
Tyler - 4 "Thin meat, thin buns"
Guest Judge Leiani - 3  "I'd like more meat in my buns"

The Yummy Factor
Erin -4  "good topping mixture"

Tyler - 3 "little heavy on the mayo and lettuce, good relish"
Guest Judge Leiani - 4 

Side Item

Erin - onion rings - 3 "little dry, possibly frozen type and not fresh. No fry sauce available."

Tyler - fries - 3  "nothing special"
Guest Judge Leiani -classic malt -  4  "thick and tasty"


Overall
Erin - 23
Tyler - 20
Guest Judge Leiani - 20

E-T grading score is a 21.5  
(we are hard graders I think. It really was good and I would go back!)

Bible Covers

Whoa! I have been a long time! Been busy with grad school and lots of projects though. Been sewing a lot, updating the house, celebrating new marriages and of course doing a lot of grad school work. Less about the grad school though and more about the projects. I started off this year by working a personalized Bible covers for each kid in my Sunday school class.

 This project took an unexpected turn when just as I was finishing my last few we found out that the Bibles we had been planning on ordering were no longer available. The problem with this was a size change in the covers with the new ordered ones making it so I had to go back through and adjust each cover individually. In the end I all got done and the best part is the covers are adorable and on the Bibles of all the kids in class!

This is the inside of the cross cover. Put some different fabrics on the inside to personalize them all for the kids.

 

 

Inside flaps hold the book in place. I love that cross fabric!

This one was for the class cougar fan.

All unique and fun. I am very happy with how this project came out and even more excited that the kids actually have been using them! I created the pattern using a few examples I saw online. The softcover of the Bibles was a bit of a challenge but lining the covers with batting seemed to be enough with strong seems.

Anyway, trying to catch up on my project posting. More to come tomorrow!

100!

This is blog 100! 

so I have decided to name 100 happy things!

So in no particular order 100 happy thoughts. :)

1. my entire family
2. special Google days
3. the way my ugg boots keep my toes cozy
4. sushi rolls with cream cheese and salmon
5. curly poodle hair
6. burts bees chapstick
7. hot coco with marshmallows
8. fresh snow
9. betsey johnson jewelry on sale
10. freshly brushed teeth always feel so good
11. bobbi pins- they can be used for everything.
12. highlighters - i like classic yellow
13. pretty smelling lotion 
14. that softballs are called optic yellow
15. Krusty Pups! yum
16. Maple scones - boarder days style
17. lemonade on a hot day
18. beer at the pyramid brewery 
19. a banana that is still green
20. jeopardy games with my husband
21. Sunday naps
22. Starbucks red cups
23. first daffodils of spring
24. parades
25. E-A-S-T-E-R-N Eastern Eagles GO-FIGHT-WIN
26. chocolate oranges at Christmas
27. sparkling diamonds
28. saving up for a big purchase and buying it
29. airports - i like them for some reason
30. amazon.com - its my all time favorite
31. new mascara
32. baby name website that generate funny options
33. sticky notes
34. koosh balls
35. red robin honey mustard
36. running in to a friend unexpectedly that you actually want to see
37. Dallas cowboys
38. free things like coffee on your birthday
39. parks and recreation - the show
40. happy hours
41. getting a dream catalog in the mail where the pictures are pretty but u will never buy anything
42. a perfectly ripe pear 
43. door chants on the first day of recruitment
44. matching outfits 
45. new shoes
46. changing fall colors
47. getting an A on a paper
48. getting surprise crafts to decorate my desk with
49. etsy.com
50. wine
51. vintage furniture upcycled
52. yankee candles
53. FABRIC! 
54. creating something that was once just a vision in my mind
55. a yummy piece of pie
56. a Sunday school class of laughing kids
57. a good hair day
58. a hot black dress
59. the Sandlot
60. Lew and Clark cuddled together
61. babies in tutus
62. a kid making their first hoop
63. wordfued
64. WRPA conferences
65. a clean bill of health
66. clam chowder
67. watching seaguls eat fries
68. nice hotel rooms
69. lazy rainy day
70. sleeping in front of the fire place with the Christmas tree on
71. family meals
72. a day on the lake
73. mariners games on clear Seattle days
74. a pretty manicure
75. wedding vows
76. bachlorette weekends
77. driving around new neighborhoods looking at houses
78. walks around deep lake
79. poodle skirts
80. championship tee shirts
81. kids jumping rope double dutch
82. camp sealth
83. ferry rides
84. getting take out
85. Hurricane Ridge
86. fresh flowers
87. people who write emails complimenting staff
88. winning dollar bets
89. iced grande no room white mocha americono
90. reaching a goal
91. saving a dollar
92. cheese samples at the grocery store
93. compliments on curly hair
94. seeing a play
95. finishing a project
96. having a clean house
97. trying a new recipe with great success
98. a perfect cheeseburger
99. collecting inspiration - (hence my pinterest addiction)
100. Keeping in touch with my most cherished friends

so happy 100! to me. That list really didn't take very long. Another quilt post coming soon. I am working on quilt 10 of the year!!!  Goal is 11! lots to do.

why i like babys being born

Ready to be gifted this quilt started with an attraction to some pretty cute fabric picked up on a whim with a certain baby in mind.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the six fabric choices I had made. I would like to decribe them as modernish-vintage- kid-but not to baby. Together they all look great and bottom line is I had to have that animal print!!

The fabric features a random collection of some pretty cool animals. Giraffes, lamas, camels, penguins, elephants and more. But of course I had to add one more.

A poodle! My favorite animal and quilting buddies.

Clark wasn't so sure why I wanted him to move. I kept getting the sweet little head tilt.

Making this quilt I wanted a little vintage feel, so I decided to quilt it by following the seems on either side creating a great boxed effect. I love the way the back looks too!

My new machine was a life saver! the Machine still needs a name, but the first time using the walking foot and I adored it. Made the stitching during the quilting stage so much easier. I now understand why the walking foot hype is so big in the blog world.

Lastly, the poodles were sad to see the quilt go, but it found a great home and is just waiting for baby Richardson to arrive some time around Christmas.

I must say, people having babys is the best for someone who likes to make quilts. So hints to all my friends who read this....make a baby so i can make more cute quilts!

The HUGE MONDO white wall

If you have been to my house you know that there is a HUGE MONDO white wall in the middle of everything. The wall extends from the first floor living open space, up over the balcony in to the family loft and all the way down the hall on the second floor. Maybe you remember the wall from our Christmas card last year. I had purchased a huge vinyl cling on the wall for the holidays.

Needless to say with the vaulted ceiling going on in this house its been hard to decide what to do with it.

For a long time now I have toyed with the idea of a gallery wall. But in my true fashion I have felt very indecisive on what to put on it. Do I do black and whites, a mix of art and photography, just photography, just natural photos of nature, maybe a collection of my favorite parks. Yeah I couldn't decide. About the only thing I had decided is that the frames needed to be different. So ...after 1 year and 3 weeks of living here I etsy searched gallery wall...and so the transformation was inspired.

and here it goes....

 than a few more...

 and another...

 and a rectangle white...

 and the cool oval one...

 the biggest of the bunch...a black rectangle...

  and last but not least..a while little slight oval. :)

 So what do you think? Does the HUGE MONDO wall look better now! (well except for the pillows, I am ready for something new and already purchased the best new fabric from Michel miller)

From the entry way... ahh my house is finally coming together :) already have my next project planned.

and yes..that is a gray poodle whisky decanter.. :)

ugly 6

I have posted ugly dresses before but this time I think I found some new winners. Here are six dresses decribed in six words each. Enjoy.

 grochry bags tied in a knot

 Pollyanna gets married while in Dollywood

 aspires to be a layered cake

 walmart had sheer curtains on sale

 Amish gone wild marring a Quaker

She wants to die right now