Reupholstered Vanity Stool

I did some reupholstering this weekend, actually quite a bit of it!  First, I helped my friend Julie reupholster a bench from her childhood home, she also put a fresh coat of white paint on it since the finish was pretty much toast.  Here's the before and after of that:

Before

After

Since Julie wanted to do some reupholstering, I wanted to get in on some of the action too (since it's one of my favorite things to do!).  I decided to re-do my vanity chair. I don't have a good "before" photo, but the cushion was covered in this white "pleather" stuff, not my favorite thing.  

This is the original fabric covering  after I ripped out the seams and took it apart.

The cushion underneath

I laid the old fabric on the new fabric so I could use it as a template for my pieces

Removing the piping from the edges

I don't know how to use a sewing machine well enough, so I'm making my  new piping with this stuff!

First you roll it onto one side of the fabric and iron it down...

then you peel off the backing...

lay the piping down

Fold in half

Iron in place.

Voila!

Sewing the piping to the side panel

After the piping has been added

Testing the pattern on the stool

After lots of stapling and threading the new button through the center

Ta Daaaa!

The piping is a bit wobbly, but it will blend in over time once the fabric is broken in more, plus it's not half bad for hand sewing the whole thing (IMHO).

Much better than the original, if I do say so myself, however I do like Julie's better!

Rubber Duckie Booties

I just finished a new pattern!  Here's the pics of the finished product:

This pattern can be yours for only $3.00. Use it to add cuteness to any tiny person in your life!

Fat Free Pickle Chip Dip

Sometimes I crave food that tastes like it is a heart attack in a dish.  Cream Cheese qualifies as something that is horribly fattening, so I eat it sparingly.  However, I have a super easy recipe for chip/cracker dip that is completely fat free, yet tastes like you'll have a coronary once you see the bottom of the dish.  Here's how to make it!

Ingredients:

Dill Pickles, whole (approximately 1.5 cups diced/shredded, adjust to taste)
1 8-ounce tub of fat free cream cheese
optional dash of Worcestershire sauce
optional tbsp of minced onion

First, cut the ugly ends off of 3-5 pickles. I usually dice one and shred the other 4 in a cheese grater.  I love pickles, so I load them up in this batch.  You can use less, but it won't be as awesome.

Next, I soften the tub of cream cheese in the microwave for about 20 seconds on defrost setting and combine the cream cheese with the pickles.  All that's left is to add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, stir it up, and refrigerate until serving.  Of course,you would want to add the minced onion as well, but I never do because I think onions are gross.  If I am serving this at a party, however, I add the onion to make it fancier, and people usually gobble it up.

I prefer to use wheat thin crackers to dip in my pickle dip, but I have also used Triscuit crackers, tortilla chips, pretzels, and pretty much anything.  I don't really like potato chips, but I imagine it would be a good combination.  You would probably want to opt for the kettle cooked chips because this dip is pretty heavy once it sets.

Delicious, and it's fat free!

This recipe (if you can even call it that, it's so simple) makes approximately 10 2-ounce servings.  Here's the total nutrition breakdown:

10 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		25.6
Total Fat		0.3 g
	Saturated Fat	0.2 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.1 g
Cholesterol		1.8 mg
Sodium		398.2 mg
Potassium		61.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		2.2 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.3 g
	Sugars	0.8 g
Protein		3.4 g

Vitamin A	5.0 %
Vitamin B-12	2.1 %
Vitamin B-6	0.7 %
Vitamin C	0.7 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	0.2 %
Calcium	4.4 %
Copper	1.4 %
Folate	2.1 %
Iron	0.9 %
Magnesium	1.4 %
Manganese	0.7 %
Niacin	0.2 %
Pantothenic Acid	0.6 %
Phosphorus	10.3 %
Riboflavin	2.7 %
Selenium	1.6 %
Thiamin	1.0 %
Zinc	1.5 %

Nutrition facts courtesy of SparkRecipes Nutrition Calculator, a very awesome tool for those of us who are horrible at math.c