Aprons on Etsy Shop

Hi Friends!

I'm making a batch of aprons this year for Christmas.

Check them out on my Etsy shop HERE!

Thanks for looking!

Upcycled Cherry Red Lamps For Sale

Hi all!
So I came across the most darling blog...vintagerevivals.blogspot.com and fell in love with her style. I don't know if it's her style or just the fact that she rummages thrift stores like a kid in a candy shop like I have for YEARS! I love old stuff, it's character and the fact that it's really hard or expensive to reproduce in so many cases! Check her out, you might find some ideas there.

Anyway I thought I'd give some lamps a fresh new look. I found these lovely ladies a couple weeks ago that just reminded me of my Granny and the much bigger lamp she had on her cocktail table for years. Now it graces my moms family room and I'm trying to convince her too..

As I was cleaning them up I pulled off the base and there was an old newspaper shoved inside with the date of 1956. So Cool!

They are looking lovely on Granny's sewing machine, just waiting for Thanksgiving to arrive so they can become part of Christmas decor!

But with a pending move to Hawaii (Yes you read that right); the red ladies are for sale; $65 for the pair.
Weren't they a sad looking couple:(

BTW:
If you are thinking of spray painting anything-EVER..

One word:

KRYLON!

Your fingertip stays clean, the nozzle sends out an utterly perfect horizontal or vertical line that is near perfection. AND there are tons of colors to choose from AND you can glaze right over it!
Love Krylon!

Must Make This for Halloween!

OK. So a couple weeks ago someone made these "intestines" for a girly get together. They were SO realistic and so gruesome I had to pass it along!

I also came across this "Meatloaf Hand." Isn't it disgusting! I love it! I haven't had time to make it yet but Oh How FUNNY! I can't wait to see the look on my families faces. They might not get it until Christmas but hey-even more scary. heeeheeeehe.

Upcycled Clothing (And those horrid maternity-like shirts you wear even though you aren't prego)

Don't lie, you know you have some.
Four-month-along pregnant shirts right?

Just to help your self esteem along; and to avoid being asked if you are pregnant when really you are NOT! Let's get rid of those shirts ladies! Just one requirement though...A smallish daughter, neice, granddaughter, BFF's kid-whoever's little girl will wear a skirt.

In a nutshell:
Just whack off the shirt under the armpit as little as you can so you have lots of length to work with.
Serge the top
Fold over the top and stitch to elastic width.
Embellish if you like that kind of extra stuff.
Give it to a girl who will add the most contrasting shirt to it-and voila!

Fashionista!!
I had to add some eyelet b/c it was too short.

And if you are feeling really adventurous you could steal an old shirt from your husbands closet and upcycle it into a dress. (below)
Now lets go get rid of some potentially threatening shirts shall we?

Halloween Pillows

Just in case your house is lacking in the Halloween decor department...

(Like mine totally is)

Here's a last minute pillow cover for you to try.

I love surfing Etsy. I fished around for some ideas and found these pillows:



Pillow covers are great because you can just temporarily rip off the normal every day cover and exchange for a holiday one.

Cover is made from unbleached muslin, washed and ironed only a little bit. I like the crunchy look to it after it dries. Just a simple overlap in the back to shove the pillow back in. No zippers here are you kidding?!

Here's my take on the Etsy pillows:

I kinda think mine are way cuter with the ball trim and rope trim:)
For the moon pillow I printed out the actual pillow picture from Etsy, blew it up and cut out the bats for a stensil. My moon is our small dinner plate. I used the cheap 50 cent paint. I figured these most likely won't need to be washed so.....

Then onto the spooky house. I found this one I liked on Google Images. I ended up blowing it up as well. Added a crow on top and a couple of headstones, a moon and no bats. Because I had some felt on hand I traced, cut it out and blanket stitched it onto the muslin.
THIS TOOK 4 EVER!
Won't be doing that again! Just go with the stencil-it's a breeze!

If you want an email image of the images I used-shoot me a note and I'll send them on over!!

Cuteyfied Hotpads - How to use bias tape

For this project I wanted to show a simple way to practice using bias tape. I never had used it before until I made a vintage apron last year. Now I love it and it comes in really handy to finish an edge; plus when you can buy it already made it's even better.

(You can make it from scratch)
Hotpads are from Walmart, $2.50, a package of bias tape, ric rac for the cute factor and a couple of fat quarters.

Trace your hotpads. No need for perfection here.

Sandwich just the top fabric and open up your bias tape.
You will notice that all the folds are not an even distance from each other. You'll see why when you sew the other side.
Open it up and use the narrowest side first. Stitch on the fold or a smidge into the seam allowance.

It might seem tricky to figure out how to make the ends look nice. Just fold over one edge before you sew it. Follow the picture and I promise it will look good!

Now flip it over, put on your other sandwich top, and fold over the bias tape.
You won't be unfolding it all the way this time. Just let it lay the way it wants to and stitch as close as you can to the edge of the fold. You will be sewing through all layers at this point.

After the bias was put on I stitched on the ric rac.
Only thing I would do different is darker colors! They already have food spots...
Also could be used in place of a trivet.

Fat Quarter No-Sew Project

I love fat quarters. It's a fun easy way to "sample" a fabric without spending the money on a whole yard. You can always find a small project for under $3.

Last year I bought this picture holder at Good Will for $1 intending on covering it into a hairbow holder for the girls' bathroom. I'm finally getting around to it this year.

You could use one of those painters canvas squares from the craft store too.
The fat quarter was barely enough to cover it. So I just hot glued it around and glued gros-grain ribbon around the edge and large ric-rac down to hold the clips.