Mechanic's Roller Seat Makeover

I've been looking for a rolling stool to use in the Craft Cave when I have to organize all my supplies on the lowest shelves.  My dad was cleaning out his garage a couple of weekends ago and I saw he had a couple of mechanic's rolling seats.


Of course, his didn't look this good.  I wish I had gotten an actual "before" picture, but one was dirty, cobwebby, greasy, with rips in the seat part and the bottom part was cracked.  My dad said I could go ahead and have it.

My mom also has some leftover material in the garage that she said I could have.  Game on!

I took the rolling seat home and cleaned up it up with a little soap, water and degreaser.  I used a flat head screwdriver to remove the seat and cut off a piece of fabric that would fit over it.  I didn't bother to remove the old facric, I just put the new fabric right over the old using a staple gun, and screwed it back on to the metal frame.

Last I measured the bottom piece and cut out a matching piece of heavy-duty corrugation.  I cut another piece of material to fit over the corrugation - and then used a hot glue gun to tack down the material to the corrugation.

The bolts holding the bottom shelf on were too difficult to remove, so I just made this piece as insert and tacked it down with a little more hot glue.  And voila!  A pretty new rolling stool for the Craft Cave!  

Jalapeno Cream Cheese

Okay, so I know that this didn't come from the Craft Cave, but snacks go along with crafting, so occasionally I'll be posting some recipes from the Perry Girls Cafe.  My co-worker shared some of her jalapeno cream cheese with me the other day and it was so good that I forced her to share her recipe and now I'm going to share it with the world! Or at least with the limited world that reads my blog!  Also, my co-worker didn't give me exact amounts and I'm a "season to taste" type of cook so . . . you'll just have to eyeball it and go with your gut!


JALAPENO CREAM CHEESE
In a large frying pan heat up garlic, salt and olive oil over medium-high heat.  Once the jalapenos have finished steaming, add to frying pan – it has to be hot enough to fry the outsides of the peppers.  After you add the jalapenos to the pan, let them sit for about 45 seconds so that first side fries in the oil, then start stirring them up – letting each layer that winds up on the pan sort of fry for about 30-45 seconds … do this for approximately 2 minutes or so. 

Fresh jalapenos

Garlic

Olive oil

Salt

Cream Cheese

Clean jalapenos.  With a small knife, remove the stems and cut a slice along the entire length of each jalapeno.  Steam the jalapenos for 25-30 minutes. 

After you have finished frying up the jalapenos put them into a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let them steam for a long while.  That helps to soften them even further and also to let the garlic be absorbed.  (I added way too much garlic to this batch - remember a little goes a long way!)

Once they’re cool, just chop up as many jalapenos as you want – seeds and all – you can rough chop them or use a food processor.  I took the cream cheese out of the package and put it in a bowl - then stir the jalapenos into the whipped cream cheese.   

When it's all mixed up put it back in the whipped cream cheese container and enjoy the finished product on bagels, crackers, as a sandwich spread - the possibilities are endless!  Bon Apetit!

Potato Art

This started out as a Pinterest project, but when that method didn't work we went old school and made potato stamps.  We are pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Survival Bracelets

My dad and brother showed us how to make these survival bracelets out of parachute cord.  I'm going to try making a dog collar next.

(Sassy is patiently waiting for her collar.)