The Chosen Pumpkin

I spent a good 15 minutes digging through the mound of decorative gourds at the grocery store.  I was examining all surfaces and carefully selecting the most unique one, of course. I imagined it sitting atop our table, daily reminding us of fall's arrival.


I finally narrowed my selection --passed up the wide, white Cinderella pumpkins, yellow squash-like gourds, and spotted petite green guys--and had the chosen pumpkin in hand, the one most interesting to me. 


As soon as I got home I placed it prominently in its position and waited to dazzle Caleb with my festive, perfect pumpkin. 

Minutes into his arrival, I hear him notice it. 


What I saw as charming and interesting and worthy of display, he saw as warty, ugly, and unappetizing.  It could be that the times we spend closest to it (admiring it...) are when we're eating :) Too funny.



We laugh a lot about our little pumpkin. (I think it's growing on him.) 


And I love that we each see the world through different eyes.  


Does anyone else find our pumpkin endearing? :)

October Calendar

The smell of fall is already in the air...And caramel apples are on my mind.

I'm thankful for a beautiful new month.

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Recovering our Chairs

It's funny to think about the family in Houston two years ago who threw these chairs on their curb for trash pickup. They have no idea that some lady (Hi, Mom!) would spot them, call her newly-a-homeowner-with-an-empty-house daughter to describe the trashy chairs that had "good bones" and potential once you looked past the faded purple-gone-brown stained and dog-furry fabric.


Here are the beauties before.
stained fabric (although awesomely geometric)

mysteriously sticky

and torn

But free :)


And...Fast-forward to when I get around to recovering these trash-to-treasure finds. Here's a peek at my process.


Demo and deep cleaning

primer & paint

meet fun Ikea fabric
staple guns

All arms and legs were used to pull the fabric as taut as I could.

Here's how they turned out. 

I decided to trim the chairs with double welt cording because I read it is the most forgiving trim since it's nice and wide. My favorite local fabric warehouse (remember, the place where I scavenged for my table runner pieces...) makes double-welt cording for a few dollars per yard. It turned out perfect...I love the quirky Tim Burton-y feel of the black and white diagonal stripes.





I love the hand-drawn quality of the Ikea fabric I picked for the seat of the chair and the backside. 




We're happy to have our old chairs a little bit freshened up :)