Spring Recital 2016

Elizabeth played Starlight by Mary Leaf first; this song is really pretty.

The second song is Close to You by the Carpenters. 

She played this song as a surprise for Pat.

All her practice really pays off.

Vintage Clipboard

When I first spotted this vintage clipboard, buried under a pile of old notebooks, I just knew I had found a treasure.

 I love the body of the clipboard, it's solid wood.

 My plan is to hang this in the kitchen to be used for listing meal plans or to be used for my grocery list.

A Thrifty Project

With fabric going up in price, it's getting harder to sew cheaper than simply buying from the store. 

Last week I was shopping at the thrift store and found a small white cotton tablecloth for a dollar. The fabric was thick and soft and good quality; perfect for kitchen towels.

 I took time to rip out the hem; which added more than an inch to the overall size.

 Next I folded the tablecloth in half and cut; then each half section was cut into thirds. I now had 6 pieces to work with.

 My idea was to add a bit of trim to one end. I decided to use some vintage reproduction fabric cut at 2 1/2 inches wide before hemming.

 Once hemmed the trim was placed 2 inches from the edge and sewn in place.

 Each towel measures approximately 15"x25"; not as large as I prefer, but still a comfortable size.

If I don't count the cost of the trim, since I already had the fabric in my stash, these dishtowels came out to roughly 17-cents each.

Creativity

There is no doubt in my mind that my husband is one of the most creative people I know.

 

In October of last year, my beloved Chamber Stove was hauled to Ft. Worth to have a small gas leak fixed and to have the inside refurbished. 

This job took until February of this year; imagine living without a stove for 5-months.

 When the stove was delivered I began to wonder how I would keep it looking new; especially the top, which had been newly polished.

 When I use my canner, an All American brand, it sits past the burner grate and forms a brown heat ring, which I think is basically gas residue. This brown stain can only be removed with a good scrubbing; which scratches the stove top.

 In order to solve this problem my husband decided to make me a new, and bigger, burner grate.

Now my canner sits up high allowing air to flow under and around the bottom.

When I tested the new burner grate, it worked beautifully. No brown heat ring formed and my canner heated up with no problems; I was worried it might be too far from the flame to build up heat and pressure.

It feels wonder to have my stove back and it feels amazing to be canning once again!