Reupholster Chair seat - Get Those Tiny Long Staples Out

I have been wanted to reupholster my chair seats in the kitchen for a few weeks now.  I ordered a pretty hemp linen fabric so before it arrived I wanted to get started on getting the fabric off the seats.
Well.  I turned the first seat over to start removing staples and this is what I saw"

 

 

Can you see those teeny tiny staples around the edges?  I tried my usual screwdriver and the head was too big. I thought I would be able to quickly find something at a fabric store or Walmart or Home Depot that would fit under that staple.  It was down in there and really tight.  I didn't know people used these staples to reupholster a chair seat.

 

 

 

I couldn't find anything.  So I gave up for a while.  I stumbled across the perfect thing one day while I was cleaning up some of my tools after a different project.  My 5 in 1 tool was staring at me saying.  "I can do it.  I can do it."  Ha!  I ran into the kitchen and tore into the seat.  That very pointy end did the trick!!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't as easy as I thought but they were coming out.  As I'm taking them out I see not one, not 2 but 3 layers of fabric that have to come off this seat.  That meant 3 layers of staples.  Luckily the other staples were the easy ones. 

 

 

I finally got one chair seat done.  It took about 2 hours.   But I did it and I did it right.  Now my chair seat won't have any fabric designs peaking through my new fabric.

I wanted to share this because I was so frustrated that I couldn't get these staples out and couldn't find anything out there that gave me any idea other than the usual professional tools that are costly and hard to find or the standard screwdriver and hammer.  I will never use those staples!

 

 

 

InBloom Book Club, A Million Little Ways by Emily P Freeman

 

I've been meaning to join this book club for a long time now. I read small bits of several books at a time and would love to actually finish a book for a change.

Just like the Big E word "Exercise" I need structure to be consistent.  On my own I will go in with guns blazing and all the best intentions of being totally COMMITED and a few weeks later I find excuses to put it off and put it off again!!  OOhhh. There's the ugly C word. 

This is all so sad when I think about it.  I am the one that everyone can count on when they need Anything!   I am the stable one, the sensible one, the dependable one.  I once took a seminar at church to find out about "my personality type".  I arrived early for class and the facilitator said "I knew you would be one of the first ones here" and gave me a big smile.

I had no idea why he said that.  We didn't know each other yet.  That night we all got the results from our "test".  I was apparently an "over-achiever" and he gave me an all knowing nod and that smile again. It turns out he was the only other "over-achiever" in the group.  We had a secret bond all of a sudden. 

I am not tooting my own horn, believe me.  I don't consider myself any of those things. More of a control freak would be how I would put it!

 As a mom you have to try to always be those things because usually somebody has to.  If you get my meaning. There is usually someone that is the glue that has to hold things together unless you are very lucky and have a wonderfully supportive partner who shares the burden of making a union and a family work.  I wasn't lucky that way and it was always me who had to make sure it all got done.  Another story, another time.

Anyway.  I have so much trouble these days committing to anything.  I don't make promises I can't keep anymore and I don't sign up for anything.  I tend to be late for appointments if I don't forget about them altogether.  I know it's because I have been overwhelmed with what has been going on at my house for the past year and a half.  Fighting furiously to get order back in my life I feel I am on track.

I am finally in a place where things have calmed down and I can breathe and do some things for myself.  While reading my daily emails I ran across a post from a blog called InCourage that was a reminder of their book club, InBloom's Book Club.  It was already in progress but we could still join up.  If you sign up make sure and go here for instructions.

The book is A Million Little Ways by Emily Freeman who as it turns out is the very talented blogger behind Chatting with the Sky, a blog I have enjoyed reading for some time now.

I watched the video "Meeting the Author" where the girls from Incourage describe the book and I was sure this was where I wanted to begin my journey back to normal life and feeling better about myself and my future.  Here is the trailer for the book.

Just a brief mention that it is about "uncovering the art you were made to live" and how we don't think we have anything to offer but hope that we are wrong about that.

It is just what I need and can't wait until I get the book and get involved!


Hope to see you there!

Easy Furniture Painting Tip / Swivel/Prop Plant Stand Idea / Furniture Moves Instead of You

I was beginning to get weary of walking around the pieces of furniture I wanted to paint.

I had seen a post on propping furniture legs to make it easier to get all the way to the bottom without some paint ending up o the floor and keep the paint from sticking to the floor and peeling when you move the furniture after it is dry.  There are all kinds of ways people do this but it still didn't solve my having to walk around the piece over and over.

Light Bulb!

 I thought of a great use for my extra rolling planter stand.  You can see one just like mine at Ikea here. One is being used for a large plant (my "Pineapple" which has gotten really heavy) and the other was sitting on a shelf.

 

Now I can sit or stand and just turn the tale as I go.  I am not missing any spots and my knees, legs and back are very happy!  Just turn and Paint!

 

 

It is true what they say about necessity being the mother of invention.  When you get to be my age (50 something) you find all kinds of ways to keep the aches and pains at bay!