An Afternoon at the Park

Being on Vancouver Island at this time of year is a nice break from the snow at home at the Little Shack. Unfortunately, the weather is not always cooperative.  We've been here for over 2 weeks, and have only had 2 sunny days and they were windy and bitter cold.  After a week of rotten weather, including 'island snow' we finally got a nice day and were all eager to get outdoors and enjoy the sun.  We (my youngest daughter, Alley, my youngest son, Zac, my 3 year old granddaughter, Taylor and myself!) headed down to a lovely park that sits on a spit, so were able to enjoy the ocean views and the park at the same time.

Taylor loves to swing!

Weeee!

Under-duck!

Such a sweetie!

1-2-3 jump!

Climbing!

Down to the beach.

Chasing birds=fun!

Wildlife viewing dock.

Cats Vs. Furniture (Clipping Cat's Claws)

I know I'm not alone in this problem...furniture being shredded by our feline friends.
Last year, the kids and I found 4 abandoned kittens at our mailbox.  We ended up having them in our home, along with our 2 other cats, for several months before having them spayed and finding homes for 2 of them. We kept 2, one of which has since sadly disappeared.  As much as I love my kitties (we have 3 in total now) they can be hard on the upholstered furniture.  My leather love seat took a huge beating.  The kittens decided it was a wonderful place to play and scrambled all over it until they were exhausted and then fell asleep on it.  I covered it with a quilt, but this was just something for them to burrow under so they could fight each other through it!  Crazy cats!  The love seat was 2nd hand, but in 'like new' shape and I was so thrilled to have found it.  Now it is covered in scratches and snags.  Sigh...

The day I got my head smashed by ice (my concussion) we had been to town and bought another 2nd hand couch from the Sally Anne. It's in beautiful condition, as if it has never been owned, let alone used!  I'm anxious to protect my 'new' couch from cat attacks!  Our 2 older cats are fine and use the scratching post, but the remaining kitten, Sweet Pea, has to be chased off of it every now and then.  Time to take action before Sweet Pea gets the upper hand!
At the moment, I'm staying at my daughter's, who took in one of the abandoned kittens.  I am trying to dissuade this kitten, now all grown up, from wrecking my daughter's furniture.  She received 2 lovely arm chairs from my son in law for Christmas this year, and Tigger has already clawed up the fronts of the arms a bit.  Their TV room loveseat has had the back corners thrashed already!  Feeling slightly responsible for this, I went to a locally owned pet store and bought some cat repellent to spray on the furniture and a pair of cat nail clippers.  

The spray, called Shou, should put Tigger off wanting to scratch the chairs,
and some catnip rubbed on her scratching post will make it more interesting.

You can see the specially designed cutting edges
 that easily snip off the tip off the claw.
This particular set has a guide attached so you don't snip off to much

Having these on hand will also help both your cat (a treat!) and you (guilt!)

In the above photo you can see where you should cut and where you want to avoid cutting.  Cutting into the quick will hurt your cat and probably make it bleed, but it's not the end of the world if you do, and eventually, your cat will forgive you. Do this job when your cat is relaxed, like when it is napping quietly on your lap!

 To expose the claw, gently press down on the top of the foot at the base of the claw.  Quickly snip off the end.  Try to do this quickly as cats really don't like having their feet pulled on.  You may have to do a couple claws, take a break, and then try again.  It all depends on your cat.  A towel wrapped around the cat can help protect you from scratches.  You'll have to try it to find out just how cooperative your own cat is.  You'll only need to do the front feet, by the way.
If you haven't the patience to clip your cats claws yourself, you can have it done at the vets or a groomers.  But, saving money is a good incentive to try it yourself first!
Here is another alternative to clipping your cat claws...Soft Paws!!  Go check out this product, even if you don't have a cat!  They are like nail extensions for cats!  Really a neat idea and fun too.  Lots of great kitty pictures on their site, all sporting colourful claws!

*Just a note on declawing....DON'T!  It is inhumane and cruel. In many countries it is actually illegal. Click here to find out more about why you should not declaw a cat.  Think of it as having all of your fingers amputated at the last joint. Not a pretty picture.

Well, I'm off to snip a few more of Tigger's claws.  She was not too upset with me, but we're taking it slow as this is her first time.

Hope Chest Re-upholstering Tutorial

Quite some time ago, like when I was about 14 years old...(so that really does make it 'quite' some time!)... my parents gave me a lovely cedar hope chest for Christmas.  I was thrilled!  I began stowing away all my special things in it...letters and cards, things that had belonged to my granny, old toys I wanted to keep, pictures...you know...memories.

Then one day, I got married.  And had a beautiful baby girl.  She grew up into a lovely young woman, and I decided I wanted to give her my hope chest so she could store her memories and hopes in too.  So, I did.  That young woman is now married with her own family and home.  She would like to give the old hope chest a makeover and turn it into a bench as well as a chest.  As she has never done any kind of furniture upholstering she has asked for my assistance. Yay!
Now comes the fun part!  My daughter and her husband have just left to go on a much needed vacation, and I am staying in their home taking care of my delightful granddaughter!  I am about to tackle the hope chest makeover and have it ready for when she returns!  I have the required tools on hand and picked up a piece of foam for the top today. We had picked out the fabric before she left, so no hold up there!
So, without further delay, I will begin the transformation!

I looked on line for some ideas of how to do this project, but ended up just doing it 'my way'.  There are some really good videos on youtube which show you how to make a cover with lots of seams...but I wanted to avoid breaking up the fabric pattern over the edges.  This method is really just a matter of making seams at the corners.  The seams form the corners. Let's get started!

First step is to remove the lid of the chest from the base.
 Unscrew and remove all hinges, latches and fasteners.
Make sure you put the screws and hardware in a safe place
so you don't have to go searching for  them later!
  I put all the pieces into the trunk to keep it all together.

I find it easier to work with foam if it's attached to the wood,
 so I hot glued the foam to the top of the chest.
You don't need a lot, just swirl it around on the corners, one at time, gluing
each corner in place accurately before moving on to the next.
Then put a bit along the sides, just gently lifting the edges to put the glue underneath.

All stuck down.

Now I measure the fabric.  The chest top is 40" x 17" and the foam is 3".
I allowed 2" to fold under the lid as well as 1" for the height of the actual lid.
That meant that to the 40" width of the top, I added
4" for the entire height of the lid and foam X 2, (2 ends) and  2"  X 2 for the
 fold under the top which will be stapled in place.
 So that makes 52" total.  40 + 4+ 4 + 2 +2 = 52.
Always measure twice before you cut!
The measurement for the depth is added the same way,
 but starting with 17".  That equals 29".  I use the end of the fabric folded over to cut along.

Now, lay the fabric, right side down on the foam.
Measure from the foam edge to the edge of the fabric to align it correctly.
In my case there was 6" of fabric all around the foam.

I had a little helper at this stage of the game!

Taylor loves to help!

In order to help you understand what I am doing here, this picture of a paper folded box may give you a better idea of the seam.
 See the corners being folded inwards, those are basically the same as the corners I am making with the fabric.  Of course, mine will be to the outside, but still the same idea.

Next, grab your pins and a sharpie.  You need to pinch the
 seam at the corners to pin them in nice and snug. If you do them too loose
 the corners will be baggy, too tight and you won't be able to get it to fit on!
Pin and draw a line to give you an idea of where your seam needs to go.
 It is just a rough guide, this line. I also put a dot on the corner so I can see where I need to end the seam.

All pinned.

Sew your seams using a larger stitch to begin with.
It is much easier to remove big stitches if you need to adjust a corner.

Here I've put the cover on after stitching all the corner seams and turned it right side out.
  It fits pretty good!  Now I can restitch using a tighter stitch! 

In this step, we put the cover back on the foam and get ready to staple in all down.
I like to give a bit of extra strength to the corners where the wood will be pushing into the seam, so in order to do this, I do not cut the seams allowances.  Take the triangular shaped seam allowance and flatten it our over the seam.

Like this.  Now the seam is covered with an extra layer of fabric.

Now the stapling begins.  I start at the corners to make sure it is all lined up with the seams in place.
Pull the fabric snuggly and staple in place.  Press firmly with the staple gun!

Once the corners are all secured, start with the sides.  To do this, keep dividing the sides in 1/2.  Staple half way along each side, then 1/2 way between each staple until it is all secured.  

Once it has been all snugged down and stapled in place,
staple the edges about every 1/2 to 1 inch.
 You have a few different options at this point.  You can decide if you want to cover the edges
 with cardboard or paper or leave them.
 It all depends on what you like and how much exposure the seams will get.  I'm leaving these as is for the time being.

Here it is, all done!
I still have to re-attach the hardware, but I want to refinish the chest first. To re-attach the hardware, just use a sharp item to poke around and find the original screw holes and screw through the fabric.