We are busy, busy getting ready for a little craft sale at our house on saturday, and
lots of making is happening...

Tomorrow I will post a tutorial for a fun gift to make for the little ones in your life.

See you then!

These pretty red shoes were just added to the vintage shop. They are sooo insanely cute on that I really wanted to keep them, but my size 7 feet are just a tad too large. Oh, well...

I also added this sweet dish


and some gorgeous quilts.

And--just for fun--an aerial view of the mess I made in my room while trying to photograph the quilts. Yikes! And I need to tell the maid to dust that place! She's been slacking. :)

A preview of things to come...
I'm hoping to make a few more this weekend so that I can fill this wall!
What will you be up to?

Holy bananas.

A few months ago I accidentally took a wrong turn dropping Henry off at his dad's house (which is in a town I am completely unfamiliar with) and stumbled across a funky little strip mall with a sign out front that said, "Lace Museum: Vintage Sale." Ummm, yes please!!! It could have gone either way, but it turns out the Lace Museum is awesome! Along with bins and bins and bins of vintage lace, there was a section of clothing. I picked up this handmade dress for a whopping $5! Luckily enough, it fits perfectly. The only problem was that it had some moth holes, which I could not repair. last night I finally patched the holes with little bits of lace.



As a non-knitter, I can't believe how much detail this dress has. I have quite a few vintage knitting magazines with patterns like this, but I can't imagine having the patience to make one!

I especially love the collar. The scalloped edge is so sweet!

How about it, knitters? Would you have the patience for a project like this?

xo

p.s. A young fella (born in 1988) told me I looked I was wearing witch boots and old lady clothes. What a gentleman!

This weekend meant a new dress made from thrifted fabric and my favorite dress pattern...

patched with a bit of lace where i accidentally sliced it with the rotary cutter. OOOPS!

A downtown parade with my favorite astronaut...

and the beginnings of a wool leaf garland.

How about you? Was your weekend productive? Relaxing? Hopefully, it was a little of both...

This is the extent of my costume this year. Blatantly copied.

I'm not sure how I feel about adults dressing up for Halloween. Are you doing it?

TUTORIAL: VINTAGE SHEET SHOWER CURTAIN

Cute shower curtains can be hard to find, especially if you are on a tight budget. One can easily be made, though, using vintage sheets! These instructions are for a standard 74"x74" shower curtain, although I made mine a little smaller to accommodate my shower.

For this project you will need:
(1) piece of a vintage sheet, cut to 75"x75"
(2) strips of vintage sheets (in different colors) cut 6"x90" (you may need to piece
together two strips to get one long enough) for the ruffles
(12) grommets. I used one of these to apply these. If you prefer, button-holes can be used instead of grommets.
rick-rack for embellishment (mine is vintage)

First, we will make the ruffles. Press each of your 90" strips in half length-wise, with the wrong sides out.

Stitch the raw edges shut to form a tube.

Turn the tube right-side-out and press it, with the seam running down the middle of one of side.

Run a loose basting stitch down the middle of the tube, using the existing seam as a guide. Don't back-stitch at either end! Gently tug on the top thread, and the seam will start to pucker. Carefully do this along the entire length of the tube. Once finished, you have your first ruffle made! Repeat the previous steps to make your second ruffle strip.

To attach the ruffles to the curtain panel, pin the ruffle strip in place and carefully stitch it, gently gathering up the fabric as you go. If you have a ruffle foot attachment for your sewing machine this step will be easier. If not, though, no big deal. Just pay careful attention to what you are doing and please watch your fingers!

Once your ruffles are attached to the bottom of the curtain, stitch a row or two of rick-rack across the top.

To hem, press in the seam one half inch (toward the back of the curtain)

and then another half-inch,

pinning as you go along to keep everything in place. Try to use the already hemmed edges of your sheet to your advantage and save yourself some work! I used one for the top edge of my curtain.
Once your curtain has the embellishments attached and is hemmed on all four sides, you are almost done! The last step is to attach the grommets.

Use your old shower curtain or your curtain liner to mark on the new curtain where the grommets will go. This distance is 6" apart from center to center.

Using the marks you just made, cut a hole and follow the package instructions to attach each of the 12 grommets. Once your grommets are attached your curtain is ready to hang!

**For more fun DIY projects, check out my class! Follow the link button below for more information. Or, simply click the "Buy now" button to gain unlimited access to the private blog for a one-time fee of $14! Hope to see you there!

I went thrifting at two of my favorite places with this pretty lady today and found so many great things!

Thank goodness April was there to talk me into these boots. I probably would have walked right past them on the way to the typewriters, but she made me try them on and they fit PERFECTLY. Thanks, April! I can't wait to wear them...

I also found this little crib quilt today, which is perfect as a little "headboard" above Henry's platform bed.

P.S. I love the curtains in his room!

I also love this little handbag, but it will most likely end up in the vintage shop either late tonight or tomorrow...




along with these fun finds



and this fun friend, who is so cute and so well made I can hardly stand it. At first I thought is was a funny interpretation of one of those hide rugs, but soon realized it is a duvet cover for a child'd bed.

The other day my sister was wearing a super cute Brazilian Bonfim--or wish--bracelet. You are supposed to tie these colorful ribbon bracelets to your wrist using three knots and as you tie each knot you make a wish. The bracelets are to be worn until they fall off on their own and at that time your wish will come true.
There is something very sweet to me about a whole country of people making wishes on these pretty little ribbons.
I'm sure you can see where this is going...

I made my own! Using some vintage seam binding ribbon and little stamps I made bracelets that read "CREATE YOUR LIFE." This sentiment is important to me because as many times as I try things and fail, I don't ever want to stop trying to make my life what I want it to be--not what others think it should be.

These were fun to make, so I made a few extras and put them in the handmade shop in case you would like one, too.

xoxo