Rocking Chairs and Other Thrifted Finds

I've been searching for some rocking chairs to go on our front porch but most that I had found at thrift stores were either in poor condition or were just too much money in my opinion. I had seen these beauties at the Miracle Mart on Pete Hollis Blvd. priced at $75 each and loved them but didn't want to spend that much. Kept going back and one day they were down to $55 each. Well, I know the manager there, so I caught him and asked him if he could give me a deal and he gave them to me for $40 each. So happy! AND they both fit in my car so I didn't have to take an extra trip. =) Here's a list of the other adorable findings:
Mail storage—$7 (Salvation Army)
Pink bottle—$1 (Salvation Army)
Mini bread tins—$2.50 (Miracle Mart on Pete Hollis Blvd.)
Garland—$1.50 (Miracle Mart on Pete Hollis Blvd.) (I actually have 2 matching ones in gold and multi-colored so that's happy)
Rocking Chairs—$40 each (Miracle Mart on Pete Hollis Blvd.)

Fall Party

A large group of couples/families from our church came over tonight and we had a grand time carving pumpkins, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, playing corn hole, but most of all just talking and getting to know each other better. I love my church.

ready for carving

bamboo sticks ready for roasting

fireside

Friendly Critters

Love our little friends that live outside in our yard.
The adult black snake is the one that we rescued—see how he's caught in that netting? Jake cut him loose after I found him. Jake had the instinct reaction that most people do with snakes—he wanted to kill it. But when I showed him how he was caught and was sad that all the flies were all over him and how it was our fault because we hadn't cleaned up all the netting, Jake figured out how to cut him loose, and the snake slithered away. Such a happy ending.

adult black snake

praying mantis

lizard

pretty bugs

juvenile black rat snake

More Treasures

More treasures I've found recently thrifting and yard saling.

Tea tin—$1 (Habitat for Humanity on Rutherford)
Jewelry box—$3 (Goodwill in Hendersonville)
Cassette tape and bamboo serving plate—$2.50 (Goodwill in Greer)
Leaf candle holders—$5 (Estate sale)
Tea pot with strainer—$0.50 (Yard sale)
Designer copper and beveled glass lighting—$5 (Habitat for Humanity on Wade Hampton)
Juicer—$13 (Yard sale)
Vintage tree topper—$2 (Estate sale)
Vintage corn on the cob holders—$1 (Estate sale)
Star candle holders—$0.50 (Yard sale)

Reupholstering Dining Chairs

I happened on these chairs on Craigslist before we even owned our house, and somehow managed to convince Jacob to buy them. I talked the nice lady down to $20 each so $80 total. But I knew I'd definitely have to reupholster them—something I've never done before. So armed with a few tips from Pinterest and my mother-in-law and just some common sense, I went for it, and I'd say they turned out pretty well! They're not perfect by any stretch, but they did turn out better than I expected seeing as this was my first time undertaking a project like this. Disclaimer: I am by no means a professional with this sort of thing and in this post I'm just showing you how I did this.

Step 1: Unscrew the seats to remove them.

Naked Chair!

 Step 2: Remove the staples to remove the fabric.

Step 3: If your cushion is as nasty as this, chip away at it so you can replace it with a new one.

Step 4: Cut out new foam for the seats.

Step 5: Anchor cushion to the seat board with spray glue.

Step 6: Cut out fabric to fit the seats.

Step 7: Wear safety glasses while using the staple gun!

Step 8: Staple fabric to the seats. Use common sense on how to fold around corners and such.

Step 9: Screw the seats back on.
Step 10: Admire your beautiful new chairs!

Random Yard Findings

So in case you had forgotten, our property used to be a landscaping company. We have been clearing out so much junk and trying to find uses for some of it, but a lot of it just needs to go. Love how much we have found (and I know we'll find more), but seriously....anyone have any projects they could use this stuff in? Here's a list of free materials:
LOTS of PVC pipe: 1" and 1.5" diameter....bits from about 1' long to 20' long pieces (we have at least 20 pipes full length).
5 12' sections white vinyl siding with various channel and corner pieces—perfect for a dog house project ;)
2 rubber bobcat tracks
Pile of scrap metal (mostly fencing)
Green plastic netting

 

Building a Raised Bed with Bamboo

I'm really excited about this post. This was a project that definitely exceeded my expectations. Jake and I are wanting to start planting food as soon as possible and making our raised beds was the next step. We have SO MANY natural materials lying around our property, that we knew we could surely make something without spending a penny. Jake did some research, found inspiration for this idea and went with it.

Step 1: Clear some land area

 

We found some stakes just chilling in our yard

 

Step 2: Sharpen stakes with whatever means necessary (just be careful with those machetes!)

Step 3: Trim up some bamboo (save the thin ends for future marshmallow roasting)

 

We did a trial wall of the raised bed to see how it would work. At first I was skeptical, but as the wall grew, so did my excitement.

Step 4: Hammer stakes into the ground at each corner of planned bed and 1 or 2 in between the corners.

Step 5: Weave bamboo in between stakes. We chose a 5'x8' format for this raised bed. This trial wall is the 5' side.

Finished weaving!

Step 6: Trim off stakes

Finished!

The finished wall looked so great, we decided to build the full thing. But first, sharpen more stakes!

Measure for placement, then hammer into the ground

We added cardboard at the bottom for our base layer of the bed itself. Jake undid the trial wall, and started over so all the bamboo would interweave well.

Then he realized bamboo wasn't THAT bendy and switched to 4 stakes instead of 5 on the long ends of the bed.

 

Trim off the stakes at the very end.

Finished!!

So proud of him.