Chez Larsson

Basil

Spring approaching (still cold but days are getting longer) gets me in a growing mood. I’ve shown you this basil growing tip before but it’s worth repeating.

All the instructions with more images are in the earlier post but basically we get fresh potted basil in the grocery store, cut the stems off at dirt level and stick them in a glass of water for a couple of weeks. That’s the stage I’m at now. After the stems grow roots you plant them in potting soil in a large pot and you have fresh basil for the whole season. We’ve successfully grown basil like this for years as opposed to several failed attempts growing them from seeds. Try it!

Sheep Skin Pillow

Last weekend I finally got a lot of little sewing projects done. I hemmed a pair of pants and a skirt, I mended a pair of mittens and while I had the sewing machine out I made this sheep skin pillow. Here’s how.

 

I had a sheep skin that I’d already used a part of and cut a square the size of my pillow + hem allowance. Then I used another scrap piece of fabric and cut an equally large square out of that which I zig zagged and bought a zipper.

 

By the way, sheep skin should be cut with a razor blade from the back. That way the pelt stays intact on the sides.

 

Sewing was easier than I expected. I just used the “universal” needle that was already in the machine which worked well.

 

First I attached the zipper on one side and then the backing fabric on the other side and ended up with this.

 

After opening the zipper up I had the right sides facing each other and pinned the three remaining sides. Before I pinned I made sure the pelt was facing inward so I wouldn’t run over it too much with the thread.

 

To finish off I snipped the corners to make them less bulky when turning the whole thing right side out.

 

And hey presto!

Swivel Stool Makeover

I made over this swivel stool back in 2008 and the chartreuse gingham wasn’t really doing it for me any longer. When I was about to toss a too big T-shirt in the recycling bag I realized that it was actually  the perfect material to cover the old cushion with. I love heather grey.

 

The stretchy fabric made it really easy to pull it over the rounded edge and then staple it to the bottom of the seat. I used the T-shirt as it was with the double fabric over the gingham and when all the staples were down I just cut the excess off. Easy peasy.

 

 

And here it is in the craft room so I can sit at the counter top and work away at projects.

My Holiday Cards

Like I showed you on Friday I give an extra donation this month to Stockholms Katthem instead of sending out a zillion cards. I do send out a few, to extra special friends and to relatives that don’t read my blog. This year I sent out a snowfall on a silvery backdrop.

 

I was inspired by a card I got from my friend Anne many years ago where she used white dot office stickers of several sizes and let her then young dauther Märtha stick them on randomly to create a snow fall. I used hole punches to create my snow.

 

I’ve been in the process of trying to minimize and use up all my craft supplies, stationery and gift wrapping materials and not buy any new (and in the end be left with a set of mainly white material which I can then embellish with different ribbons and notions) so I determined the size of my cards by checking what size enveloped I had and cut cards to those sizes, I used the scoring board I got from “Martha” to make the folds and that worked so great.

 

Another Martha item I used was the alphabet stamp set. I’m still finding it hard to get those circles perfect ut again it might have to do with the fact that I’m still dabbing on the ink with a tiny ink pad instead of dunking the whole stamp into a larger one. Keep forgetting to buy one.

 

After stamping I signed each card with a red gel pen and Wille later did the same before we sent them out.

Two Top Tips

Q: So, how do you (as in I = one person) move a piece of heavy furniture without scratching the floor?

A: Brute force strength + 1 itty bitty towel that is normally used to dry off Mini and Bonus when they jump through the kitty door when it rains. You may also use pot holders or if you insist a human size towel. I’m easy going like that.

 

Q: How to resolve that ugly deep plunging V that annoyingly appeared between the two towel-schlepped Snows due to wonky 50+ year old floors? 

 

 

A:  With the help of two broken in two ice cream sticks of course! One set at either end.

 

Perfect. And so are the Snows.