A New Sewing Room

Hello all! Last weekend, Linwood and I moved into  a different house in Yuma. The August/September months here are NOT ideal for that, but it cooled down a little bit because of the rain. I am so tired of boxes that I could scream! We are definitely not finished yet, but today I've gotten a lot more done. We are now living in a house that belongs to a couple that are serving a mission for our church. They have been given the assignment of family history/genealogy in Budapest, Hungary. They are pretty amazing and will do a fantastic job! They didn't know what they were going to do about their house while they were away, but it ended up that we were invited to live here to care for it while they were away. So Linwood and I didn't buy a house like we thought we would, we waited till now and moved. Pros- No rent and we can save more money for a down payment. We can also get our student loans paid off, and third- if there is a transfer opportunity, we won't be stuck with a home. Cons- I can't personalize my space, because it doesn't belong to me. Yep, only one con and it is SO not even comparable to the pros. So, I am trying to figure out my new sewing room at this point and I have finally put my fabric into my Beatrice Amoire! I know, it's so exciting! If you don't remember, this is what it looks like!

 

 

So, now it's in the new place and the bottom two drawers are how I want them, but the top is still a bit of a mess. My in-laws came and I was just trying to keep things out of the way, so I filled it up.

 

 

I painted a desk with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint a while back and I was so prepared to love it. However, I hate it so much that I've invited Haley to come over in October to help me strip it and re-paint it with Miss Mustard Seed, like this amoire. I followed the instructions and read so much about chalk paint that I thought it was going to be a breeze. I used it and the texture, the finish, the wax, the process- I hate it all. I say kudos to anyone who likes it and uses it though! Well, that's it for today, I need to get in that room and sew, but its hard when my house needs to be organized and things still need unpacking!

~Rachel

 



Rocking Chair Refinish

So when I was little, I had this little cute rocking chair that was all mine. I loved to sit in it and look at books or whatever it is that little kids do when they actually sit down. My parents got it for me whenI was was like, two (seriously, has it been THAT long). I called my mom to ask and it was when we were living in a tiny trailer while my dad saved up money to buy our land and our house. I was two or three years old. So this little chair is almost 23 years old. Aww! I wonder how many hours I sat sitting in it... When I moved to Arizona I had it shipped because I just couldn't get rid of it. I usually don't like to save things unless they are small, I'm definitely NOT a packrat. Anyway, I've been stripping, sanding, and sanding this little chair (I even used a Dremel to sand in the little cracks). I used a wood conditioner to prep it for stain and then stained it with dark walnut color to give it some new life. In the end, I used a polyurethane to finish it up and seal all the lovely walnuttiness it! Eventually there may be some other tiny kid that loves it, who knows?! For now it's going to hang out and get a little break from being sanded and stained :)
~Rachel