Auntie Kate has left us for her clean, quiet, child-free home, albeit not without first giving my living/dining area an Extreme Makeover (well, as extreme as you can get with only a sewing machine and a few yards of decorator fabric).Voila! Re-upholstered dining room chairs (with a matching cover for the built-in bench where we hide our
rain boots, recycling, roller skates, and other items beginning with the letter "r"); plus, coordinating throw pillows for my beloved Ektorp couch!I heart Auntie Kate. This decorating project, though relatively simple from a seamstress's point of view, was beyond my wanna-be crafter's ken. Even Larry had to get involved, as the chair coverings required a staple gun. "I have a staple gun," said he. "No problem!"
"Are you sure?" I asked. "I can run out to Home Depot today and buy one."
"No, I've already got one," he assured me.
What he didn't tell me was that he had looted this particular staple gun from his deceased father's belongings. At least 45 years old and unused for over a decade, it was missing a crucial piece. Well, maybe crucial is too strong a word; but it seems to have been the piece that prevents the staples from shooting randomly across the room when the gun is used.
Have I mentioned that we live less than 2 miles from a Home Depot? And that staple guns are really not that expensive? Meaning, less expensive than our emergency room copay?
For the sake of our marriage, I absented myself during the actual operation of this piece of crap. I went to work (after depositing all the children in the basement in front of the TV with strict orders to NOT GO UPSTAIRS), leaving Larry and his sister to intrepidly affix the fabric onto the chair seats with the malfunctioning stapler of death.
They both thought it was fun. There's something wrong with that family.
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Homemaker Man (in the comments yesterday) contributed his thoughts on just what books the father of our country would have taken out of the library in the first place:
- Wood Craft and Dentistry
- What to Expect when you're Expecting to Father a Country
- The Pelican Brief
Okay, I'll admit it - I don't get the last one. But this did start me wondering: What Would George Washington Borrow? (or, WWGWB)
Thoughts?
Pretty fabric. The chairs and bench turned out lovely!
ReplyDeleteThe chairs and bench look great. Nice work Larry and Auntie Kate. I have a brand new staple gun here btw. Don't mean to brag. Thanks for the link'n'shout-out. You're very nice. I don't really get the Pelican Brief one either, honestly.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
ReplyDeleteYou are wise to have left them to it, since they love it so much.
No ideas on the books, but I reupholstered my chairs with virtually the same fabric. So of course I think yours look stunning.
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing too hard to worry about George, I'm still guffawing over that staple gun. With memories of how much delight a carpenter we knew took in using his nail gun on our basement in New Hampshire, and just how much noise it makes when metal suddenly explodes through concrete so that you can build a wall there.
ReplyDeleteLove the seat cushions and bench fabric! Now it reminds me I should be doing the same for my own.
ReplyDeleteOh the staple gun story--that is PRICELESS! I can just picture it!
ReplyDeleteI want an Auntie Kate.
ReplyDeleteI love the Ektorp sofa - we need a new one, maybe I'll get one! And in RED! I also like the upholstery fabric. It looks like something that can transition to all seasons.
ReplyDeleteWWGWB:
The Help: The Ability to Read is Overrated
Teakanomics
Eat, Pray, Chop