French renovations, Day 54: Blessed by the dumpster diving goddess

6,723 steps (but I forgot to put my tracker on in the morning)

Last night I brought some garbage and recycling to the déchetterie right before curfew. A light rain was falling. I spotted two reusable bags off to the side filled with neatly folded items (always a good sign). They were sheets and duvet covers in a range of colors and sizes, all in wonderful condition. I didn't bother sifting through them because curfew. I just took everything. 

Then on my way out, I glanced at a pile of large items sitting out in the rain. And Lo! the heavens shone down upon an antique quartersawn oak headboard and footboard. They'd been stored in someone's cellar and were covered in a fine layer of earth.

The garbage truck drove up. I told them, "I'm going to take these! Don't load them up--I'll be right back with help!"

I hurried home and got Zari and Ivy as my helpers. A random nice man at the garbage station helped us carry both pieces home.

Today Ivy helped me vacuum and wash the pieces. They look amazing! They could use a new coat of finish to make them good as new. I need to research historically appropriate finishes and I don't want to put a modern polyurethane on something so beautiful.

Here's my plan: make new connecting rails and turn it into a huge, gorgeous daybed in the downstairs apartment. With a back cushion, it would be about the same depth as a couch.

We just found out that the elementary school is still celebrating Carnaval, although with certain restrictions to keep things covid appropriate. We've been brainstorming costume ideas for Inga and Ivy.

Ivy's going to use the cape that Zari made for her Christmas present, plus her mushroom dress and nature shirt (pictures coming another day). I'm sewing Inga a cape made out of purple and blue iridescent organza (from an old curtain I bought at a thrift store). If I have time I might make Inga and/or Ivy medieval dresses but no guarantees.

We ran out of thread midway through Inga's cape, and Ivy's mushroom dress needed new buttons. So the 3 of us took a walk to the fabric store. We found exactly what we needed.

I made dinner: pork larb. Nothing else. It's good enough as it is 🙂 Plus I had a breech live session right during dinner time so that's all I had time for. Later on in the evening Zari made tarte au chocolat but we forgot to eat it. Dessert tomorrow.

We watched the penultimate episode of Blown Away, Season 2. I'm excited for the finale tomorrow!

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Think outside the bolt

This summer I bought a beautiful vintage linen tablecloth, thinking "I'll find a use for it someday." It was the wrong shape for my table, but I just had to buy it. The crisp, heavyweight linen was in pristine condition. I loved the embroidered details and the scalloped edges.

A few weeks ago, I realized what I was going to do with the tablecloth: make a sling! I cut the fabric to feature the embroidery and detailing. I had enough to make two mother-child sling sets. Here is the end result (I am wearing a medium length sling):

On the adult sling, the decorative edge goes along the top rail, then curves gently along the tail. On the child's sling, the decorative edge is at the bottom of the tail.

 Sold as a set for $60. Only 2 available.

If you've been wanting a ring sling, why not think outside the bolt? Use fabric from your wedding or bridesmaid's dresses. Give a beautiful curtain or wallhanging a second life. Scour thrift stores, garage sales, or consignment stores for table linens or vintage fabrics.

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Toy storage

We found this steamer trunk at an antique store for $40. It's in really good shape, except the leather straps are a bit old and brittle. It's perfect for storing Zari's toys. The living room is also her playroom, and it was getting really messy with all of her toys scattered around and nowhere to put them. We thought about using it as a coffee table, but it was a little bit too high. So now it's against the far wall in our living room.

I like finding new uses for old items that are inexpensive and aesthetically pleasing. Yes, it would have been cheaper to buy a plastic Rubbermaid bin--but I wanted something durable, nice to look at, recyclable (you could burn or compost almost every part of this except the metal hardware and leather straps) and, most importantly, something that didn't add to the amount of stuff in the world. This trunk has been around for 80-100 years and will likely see at least that many more years of use if it is taken care of.

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Recycling and swimming

I met with a group of moms this Friday for a playgroup at a big indoor water playground. Zari was probably a bit too young to appreciate it, but it was nice to get out of the house. We've had sub-zero temperatures at night and barely above zero during the day.

It's interesting how gendered these things are. I saw one father in the entire pool area; the other 20 or so parents were all moms. Eric said he might come next time and shake things up a bit, since he only teaches on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The night before, I made Zari two swimming outfits, one recycled and one new. First, I took a pair of Eric's old swim trunks, cut them apart, and made a new pair for Zari. They are super cute, but of course everyone thinks she is a boy when she wears them. It's not like Eric has hot pink swim trunks lying around!


I also made her a swim diaper out of some leftover materials:

Since we are doing EC, I peed her before she went in the pool and didn't bother with the swim diaper.

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