Going Sew Crazy

The Great Stocking Conundrum

I have always wanted matching stockings for the 10 years I have been married. It always seemed either too expensive or I ran out of time. I wanted them to be somewhat handmade. It didn't have to be completely, just something that had a personal touch.

I think this will finally be THE Christmas!

I found these really cute knit stockings at Hobby Lobby. They were 50% off and only $5.00. $25.00 total for my family of five. The only thing wrong was this huge red bow placed somewhat awkardly on the front. I ripped it off, turned them over and attempted a knit duplicate stitch. Didn't work. I tried embroidery with yarn. Didn't work. And then I hit the perfect combination....

I used a red and white striped fabric to make a peppermint themed monogram and stitched it down. I then used my favorite holiday colors: red, pink, sky blue, and green to make some crochet flowers and sewed them on. I really love the result. It is totally my style, and I think they will look great hanging on my mantle.

The ONLY problem I can see having with this is Brice's stocking. I may have to do something different for him because the poor guy is already drowning in estrogen.

Today was also the biggest thrift score to date. I have never been able to score jadite dishes at my local thrift shops. I broke the streak today!

Isn't she a beauty??! I acquired this for the low price of $2.69! So thrilling!

I also got this awesome retro mushroom bowl. It was a GREAT thrift day!

Hope ya'll have a wonderful day!

 

Wow...Sometimes I can't follow through.

I see that my post a day in April turned into three whole posts. April turned into an extremely busy and crazy month. T-ball started in earnest and I apparently took for granted how much time coaching a team takes. Then. at one of our first games, right before her at bat, P got a stomach virus. We labored through that for about a day, when B came down with strep. Then P got strep. So we were sickly for about a week and then house stuff took over. Which reminds me that I still need to share a pic of our finished plans with all of you. Things are finally settling into a schedule and it seems like I just now have time to do other things.

I managed to start a spiderweb quilt. I have actually added a few more blocks to it since this pic. The blocks are very time consuming, but the result is so worth it. This will most definitely be an ongoing project. Maybe I'll be done by the end of the year!

We have played outside the handful of days it hasn't been raining lately. Seriously, it has either rained or been very cloudy for the past three weeks. It has us singing rain, rain, go away...

I scored a whole set of my favorite vintage Pyrex bowls from Goodwill for $15.00. Soo exciting!

I crocheted a bunch of flowers using Rose Hip's wonderful pattern.

Then I sewed them onto some square and made a simple nine patch mini quilt. I love how it turned out. Kinda like pop art. This is also my first try at free motion quilting, which was harder than I thought.

That's it, and this time I promise, I won't be so scarce :)
Have a great day ya'll!

Lots O' Miscellany

I  have lots to post about so here goes....

Atlanta was fantastic! I took my camera but forgot my flash card, so no pics. It was fun though. We went to the Braves game on Friday and shopped on Saturday. I was lucky enough to talk Brice into going to ICE on Saturday and I had a ball. I got some new Sublime Stitching patterns, some yummy homemade soap and this fab necklace from here.

We got home and of course I went thrifting and yard sale-ing. I found all this fab stuff this week:

This groovy tin was just to great to pass up.

Jadite refrigerator dish. I paid $5.00 but I think it was worth it :)

Cute cross stitch welcome pic. It's destined for matting and a better frame, and glass that fits.

I got some great craft books in ATL that I can't wait to dig into:

I have started working on a quilt for my Doll Quilt Swap 4 partner!

Paige has learned to swim underwater. She's getting so big!

She's also getting very strong willed. She vetoed my idea for a cupcake themed birthday party and chose this Hannah Montana Cake instead. (that's our secretary's photostream) She turns six next week and I think there are something like 3 dozen kids invited so I ordered a bunch of cupcakes anyway. (we have a SUPER large family and this is her first "other" friends party) I am planning on taking her and some of her friends to the movies on her actual birthday. The week after we are going to go camping at the river for a long July 4th weekend too. I can't wait!

Have a great day ya'll!
(Blogiversary prizes went out today! Sorry for the delay!)

Sassy, Sassy Aprons!

I joined the Sassy Apron Swap this time after seeing the many wonderful aprons the first time and after learning the joy of an apron. I have had so much fun designing and making this apron it's crazy!

It's always fun to add little things that seem to make the apron like ruffles and bias binding

















or fun flower shaped yoyos with vintage buttons (yes the blue has to come off :) )






















It's even fun to find a vintage child sized one at grandma's with a flower pocket
















I am really starting to love aprons.

Check out my milk glass vases












I have a ton more, so I need to get a bigger window sill :)

And look!
Kelsey matches the newly painted chair!






















Pic without incredibly cute child





















and the sweet hands that did all the painting for me




















And last but not least, my new summer "EVERYTHING FITS" bag, made by me






















Be sure to check back next Monday for my blogiversary giveaway!
Have a great day ya'll!

Best thrifty day ever!

I had a great day at the yard sales today and wanted to share. This is gonna be quick with just descriptions :)

Chair I am going to refashion in aqua and red. I am gonna paint it in the same blue as the candelabra. Paid $5.00.

Candelabra that was off white, dingy and dirty. I cleaned it up and painted it.  Paid 50 cents.

Disney, Peter Pan, and Golden Book records. I think I am going to start collecting these because I love the illustrations. Paid $1 each

More records. Paid $1 each.

Vintage embroidery transfers. Paid 50 cents for a large bag of them.

Fire King Sugar Bowl. Paid $1.

Pyrex bowl. Paid 50 cents.

Glasbake divided dish. Paid 50 cents.

And the find of the day! A singer featherweight with case and buttonholer. Paid $20. I am so glad I found one of these. I have been looking FOREVER!

Have a great weekend ya'll :)

Just a quickie tonight....

No, not that kind of quickie! I am exhausted, but want to keep to the blog schedule, so just some pics and a brief description tonight. Today's my Thrifty Thursday. Check out my finds from this past week :)

I love the illustrations in this book. Soo pretty!

I have 2 of these now. This German how-to-draw book focuses on animals. The drawings are great and I'm planning on using them for embroidery.

I found this vintage pyrex carafe in my grandmother's basement while searching for sleds the other day.

I also found these fab juice containers.

And this. This isn't thrifted, but it was made by my great-grandmother. Isn't it pretty. The sweet story behind this quilt is too long for me to type tonight, so maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

Alright folks, off to bed. Have a great day!

A little organization is all I need.

Now that I have gotten my computer fixed, (YAY!), I can start blogging during the peaceful hours known as naptime again! It's so quiet right now. But I have been thinking about how I want to do my blog, and I have come up with a schedule so I can say and talk about everything I am busting to talk about. So, here it is:

Sat & Sun- NO BLOG

Mon-Inspiration

Tues-Things I want to buy (I will be featuring ONLY handmade or WAHM things)

Wed-What I have made

Thurs-Thrifty/Vintage Goodness

Fri-More things I have made

I think I can stick with this fairly well, and I think it will make it easire for me to get everything I want to talk about in. I will be starting on Monday :)

Ok-now on to what I've been doing. I had forgotten how inspiring having a computer around was. Since I have gotten mine back, I have been looking at flickr and custom boutique items on ebay. It has really given me a kick in the rear, and I am so ready to make all kinds of things. I started this week on the first bits of clothing I have sewn since before Christmas.

Paige's dress is an e-book pattern from Farbenmix altered a little. I love the colors of this fabric! I almost put a ruffle on the bottom, but decided on te crochet lace instead. I like the old fashion-y look it gives it. This is a great pattern that I have even used with the less stretchy knit fabrics like cotton/lycra and jersey. You can do a lot with it.

I made Kelsey a shirt to wear to all the Easter egg hunts we'll go to. I remember getting an e-mail of a pic with a chocolate bunny with a huge bite missing from his ear, and I thought it would be a cute applique. Her shirt is an Ottobre pattern made from blue cotton/lycra. The applique turned out even better than I thought it would.

Doesn't she look like she took a bite of him?

And look it's almost Spring around here! My Bradford Pear tree has buds on it:

Have a great day ya'll!

I think I can...

I think I can. Like the little engine that could, I keep telling myself that. I have so much going, and am doing so much, that that is the only way I can keep going. Funny isn't it? But, this week has been a good one, motivation wise and personal wise. I hope everybody had a wonderful Valentine's day and enjoyed the long weekend. My Valentine's Day was VERY good:

Brice did good. I was VERY surprised and I love it soo much! It fits my style perfectly. I guess he really does know me better than anyone else ;)

And I have been working on something. Here's a little sneak peek:

I am really excited about this and am hoping to be done with it tonight, and the whole project hopefully by Friday. That's a big hopefully considering I am getting 2 crowns Thursday. Ugh.

I have been doing a little thrifting lately. Make that a LOT of thrifting. Someone at my local Goodwill store keeps dropping off NWT Gymboree clothing in my girls' sizes. There's new stuff every time I go which is usually about twice a week. I have also found some new Fire King:

My collection is starting to get quite large. I also found this great vintage German how to draw book:

It's got some great drawings in it. You can see them at my flickr.

Also, wow, we drove through some of the tornado damaged areas this weekend. It was devastating. My county has had three deadly tornadoes in the past nine years, but seeing what devastation they cause never becomes something that you get used to. We were driving by one spot and I noticed a stroller high in the trees. In another place, there was a house that was completely intact, but torn from the foundation and thrown back 50 feet. Two guys that worked for us were affected, and I have been quite proud of how the company has pulled together to help. Some of our customers even saw one of them on TV, and are asking to help in any way they can. It's nice to see people pull together. I can't imagine losing my home and everything in it. Please keep the affected in your prayers. :)

I may be crazy but....

I can not wait until Christmas! I love Christmas. I am trying to hold myself back from putting up my Christmas stuff for at least another week. It's so hard! Brice and I are both ready to get in the swing of things, but are trying to wait patiently, like 2 little kids on Christmas morning. That's saying a lot for him too. He was the biggest scrooge when we were first married, but I suppose the girls' excitement and my giddiness was infectious. He has been as Christmas-y as me the past couple of years.

Look at this stuff! It's some of my Flickr favorites for Christmas. These will definitely get my creative juices flowing! I can't wait!

I am hoping to make a lot of things for my home this Christmas and I put together a list of tutorials to share with ya'll.

Christmas Tutorials
1. 3D Paper Snowflake
2. Soft Tree Tutorial
3. Embroidered Felt Ornament
4. Pom Pom Garland
5. Gumdrop Wreath
6. Felt Circle Garland
7. Dough Ornaments
8. Scrap Ornament
9. Advent Calendar
10. Various Crochet Ornaments under Free patterns

So far the only things I have finished are these:

Furry Trees

From this tutorial. I think I am going to glue some vintage buttons to them.

and this:

From the pom pom tutorial above. I just added beads.

I also wanted to share some recent Christmas-y thrift scores.

Pyrex Cups

Angel Ornament

Collapsible Wooden Snowman and Santa

Well, look forward to more Christmas stuff and have a great day ya'll!