Today's Naptime Project: Pillowcase Dress

I scored this pillowcase at the flea market a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it but I thought my girls would probably wear it.

This dress took less than an hour to make. I cut the armholes out and bias taped them and I made a pocket for the ribbon. Voila! Sweet, vintage sundress.

A Little Repurposing Anyone?

One of my best girls came for a visit this past weekend and we did what we love to do...eat and shop for bargains. First we had a delicious lunch at a bookstore cafe and then headed to a local estate sale. We both picked up some lovely finds and we had a ball "treasure hunting".

But this past weekend was the first weekend of the month so you know where I was...the flea market...woohoo! Below is an assortment of items that managed to make their way home with me. The nightgown and penior set were so lovely I couldn't pass them up.

The two dresses below came out of a stinky old bin. A woman who's booth I make sure to hit every month, had brought some of her old clothing. She is a little kooky (yes mom, its that lady) and I am pretty sure she has a hoarding problem but I have benefited greatly. I grabbed 4 dresses from her bin and they are some of my favorite pieces.

Just lop it off above the knee, hem it up and I have a dress that will be worn out by summer's end. I am so in love!

My sister inspired this one. She wore an old Mexican embroidered top last week and we must have been stopped 27 times by people wondering wear she got it. These dresses are so fun and colorful and they are so very cheap (mine was $2) that it is hard not to grab one and give it a go.

Details:

Red Dress photo: Dress - $2, scarf (bought at estate sale) - $3.50, long gold chain (bought at church rummage - $2, Frye boots - too expensive but so worth it!

Black dress photo: Dress - $2, green stone necklace (bought at flea market) - $10, shoes (madden girl, super comfy) $40

Please excuse the blurry photos. My 5 year took them:)

Kids Had School So...

Mommy hit the Goodwill.

Picked up a few more sheets. Can Never have enough of those, right?

And I know you are jealous of the 1970s sweatsuit. Go ahead, you can admit it. In all seriousness, the jacket is fantastic.

I also got the girls a couple pair of shorts and a little skirt for me. Gotta love it!

Tis the Season...

For thrifting! I stopped into a local church rummage sale this morning and I walked out one happy lady!

All my loot.

I was looking at milk glass at the flea market earlier this month and they wanted $40+ for a single small bowl like the two that I bought today. Needless to say, I passed. These two lovely pieces were mine for the bargain price of $5.


I fell in love with these jars. They are fantastic and look almost new. I will either use them in my kitchen when it gets it's terracotta makeover or I will fill them with crafty things in the Nook.

Some baubles. Who couldn't use a few more broaches and chains? Might be useful for a future crafty endeavor.

This bag is amazing. This is the back. The ladies at the rummage sale thought it was hand detailed. It needed to come home with me for sure!

And all this stuff for a mere $28. Can't beat that with a stick.

A Birthday Outfit

This Sunday we are celebrating Sam's 5th birthday and my niece, Vaughan's 1st birthday. I decided to make my sweet niece a spring outfit for her birthday.

I found this tutorial while surfing and I knew that I had to make one right away. Grace and Ella will have at least one a piece but I decided to make Vaughanie-girl's first...since its her birthday and all.

Since Vaughan is still in diapers, I had to make some kind of bottom. I was going to make a bloomer but then I changed my mind and went with a little pantaloon. I love how a bit of the blue butterfly pokes out from underneath. This outfit was constructed using all stash fabric, hooray! The butterflies were a score at the local Goodwill. I have at least 3 yards of it. I am sure you will see it again.

Oh, the Inspiration

I was surfing the blogosphere the other day looking for crafty inspiration. I don't know why I am constantly surprised at the new and beautiful things I manage to stumble upon. By clicking through a couple of blogrolls, I found myself here. These arm warmers called to me and since I have been inclined to tackle about anything these days, I decided to give Toast a go.

I had never used double pointed needles to knit in the round before but with my trusty video tutorials, I was cast on and knitting in no time.

I am wearing them right now and I can tell you that I they will get plenty of wear. I am always cold and I love how they look. I have a few 3/4 length sleeved sweaters. Pop these on and voila, toasty arms. Had to throw in a pic of my new jacket. I got it at the worlds larget rummage sale a couple weekends ago. A huge group of area churches got together and used the fair grounds to house a barn sale. It was pretty amazing. I went the last day so this was $25. Brand new condition military jacket. Score and a half!!

Bathroom Rehab

This home improvement project was supposed to be a quick and simple task but it turned into a huge ordeal. Don't they all seem to go that way?

Since we moved into this house 3.5 years ago, the half bath has been a dark shade of grey with chinsy black fixtures. The paint the prior owners used was textured with grains of sand. Even though I hated this room, we never got to it because we weren't really sure how to deal with the textured paint. Being the super savvy home decorators that we are (not), we decided that the best way to handle it would be to put more textured paint over it. I mean, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em right? No, not right.

We ended up with a huge, gloppy textured mess. See below.

I stopped Brian midway through and told him to put the brush down and walk away. Upon doing some research on the dreaded textured paint, I decided that the best plan would be to prime the walls with 2 coats of heavy duty primer and then do 2 coats of flat paint. Small job turns to huge job.

Here is the old color with the new textured paint on top. Yeeew...no double yeeeew!

After putting the new plan in action, we completed the job. The new half bath is light and airy. The light fixture makes the room literally glow. I found the mirror at the Hobby Lobby on clearance ($45.00). I made the curtain from fabric in my stash, whooo hooo! Nothing like decorating while stash busting. I'm glad that I found a place to use this fabric because I simply adore it!

Once I got the sewing machine humming again, I couldn't stop. I just had to make a cute hand towel. I made the towel out of a thrifted table cloth and embroidered a little humming bird and flower. Do you ever color with your kids? It's really soothing and mindless. I feel the same way about these simple embroidery projects. Soothes the soul.

Project complete, thank goodness. Even the kids can't get over the transformation. They keep wanting to go potty in the "new" bathroom. Can't say that I blame them.

How Could I Forget?

My pretty pink cereal bowls. They are the perfect size for my kidlets. Bought these lovelies from the Goodwill. I love the Goodwill!

Thrifting in My Own Back Yard

I was on my way home this morning when I noticed that a bunch of houses in my neighborhood were having garage sales. I don't garage sale as much as I should. I have the idea in my head that they are all selling stuff I don't need, like baby paraphernalia. I have so much baby stuff, I could outfit and army of babies.

I ventured out there despite my skepticism and low and behold, I found these.

A little pink Pyrex for the bargain price of $6. These are so expensive at the flea market so I was psyched!
And this adorable sheet. Just right for re-purposing into some adorable new baby gift like a burpie or blanket.

Love Repurposing

I like to use vintage/thrifted materials for so many reasons.

1. It's cheap so I don't feel so bad giving something new a go (Unless the material is something really special since I can't replace it or buy more).


2. It's totally unique. No one else is going to have anything like it.


3. The thrill of the hunt is almost as exciting as making the finished product. There is no better feeling than finding a beautiful table cloth or bed sheet, paying very little for it and making something new.


4. It is good for the environment and that makes me feel good:)

So you may remember my first trip to the flea market this year. I picked up some vintage linens. I have been holding on to this table cloth because I really loved it and wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. Today I made these:

I think I need to take up the hem a bit more. I used a pair of Sam's pants as the pattern. I think this fabric is so adorable though.

Feel the Thrifted Goodness

A couple of weekends ago my little sis, Lindsey, and I had a fantastic couple days of thrifting. We started at the Kane County Flea Market and this what followed me home.




Beautiful broaches for my crochet projects. I was running low but I am flush now. Time to get going on my Pay it Forwards!

Oh my goodness, do I LOVE this find! I have been carrying this bag ever since I bought it. Lindsey and I found the best booth at the market. It had probably 100 vintage bags at great prices. My sister picked up 2 and I just had to have this little beauty.

This is the best part, it's Marshall Field and Company which was bought out by Macy's over a year ago. I am a Chicago girl and I miss Marshall Fields. Makes the bag even more special!

The next day we hit my local Goodwill. Check out what I found on the bookshelves for $1.79 apiece.

I was thrilled and I find myself thumbing through just to look at the incredible images of decades gone by. Here are a couple pages of the embroidery book.

This dress screamed "Shannon". It is light and airy and I think that off the shoulder is sassy. Love it! For $4.99, who could pass that up?

This dress has great lines and reminds me of June Cleaver. I aspire to be a young, sexy June Cleaver, hot meals and all. We all can dream, can't we? I hope no feminists are reading this because I think they just puked all over themselves...sorry.

What do ya think?

A Good Day for the Goodwill

I was blessed by a visit from Grandma this afternoon. She came to watch to kiddos while I ran some errands. I couldn't resist a quick pop into the Goodwill. Not only did I score some great finds, I ran into a friend from Jack's baseball team last year. She and I adored each other but haven't seen one another in months. Here's what I came home with:

I always head straight for the linens. These 2 beauties screamed little skirts for the girls.

These bud vases are for a future project. I will share when they're done.

And SCORE in the broach department. $1.99 each and all are in great working condition. Better get crochetin'!

Oh and I also came home with plans for a girls' night with some great ladies...bonus!

I'm off on a date with my hubby. Hope you had a great day!

Flea Market Show-and-Tell

It was a beautiful weekend as it promised to be and I had a great trip to the market. I drug Jack with me but he had an awesome time looking at all of the old stuff and he bought himself a tiny pocket knife. I think he may even go with me again someday:)

3 table cloths and a set of embroidered pillow cases. I plan to repurpose the table clothes and use the pillow cases in the girls room.

So this was probably my most exciting purchase. These are all dress patterns from the 50s and 60s. I was looking through the box and the "shop" owner came over and asked if wanted them all for $5. Of course I said yes! I adore the styles from this era so this was really cool.

These are the two patterns I was most excited about. The adult dress on top is made with one piece of fabric. Its not my size so it may be a bit of a challenge but I am dieing to give it a try!

I found a tea pot and a couple broaches. I am going to crochet a cozy for the teapot. Its a pattern that I saw in Vintage Crochet and just fell in love with.

The broaches.

And I picked this little circus cart up for Sammy's bookcase in his room.

I was really hoping for a corner cabinet. I saw a couple but they weren't exactly what I was looking for and they were WAY to pricey. I think I need to hit garage sales and estate sales to get a good deal on that. Other than that, it was a great trip!

Its Going to be a Great Weekend for...

The flea market!! I am so excited to wander and see what treasures await me. My sister was supposed to come and join me but has to work so I am going solo. I am bummed but its OK. How can I complain when it is going to be near 70 degrees this weekend? Here is the list of what I am hoping to find:

1. Book ends for the girls room.

2. Broaches and other accessories for the crochet bags I am making.

3. Corner cabinet for the dining room.

4. Vintage fabric/linens.

5. Vintage buttons.

6. Vintage tea set.

And any other treasures that speak to me. Wish me luck! I'll report back Monday.