FINISHED!!!

Finally!!!

whew!

Just in time to send it to school with Pumpkin....

She needed to take a blanket or towel for quiet/reading time

and me being me, I couldn't bring myself to give her

a store bought blankie...

nope...

I wanted it to be special

My inspiration came, believe it or not, from this...

the ceramic tile in our entry way.

I've always loved how this tile was laid

and I knew that I could incorporate something like this

with felted wool as I could stretch and pull as need be.

I cut up 4 different thrifted wool sweaters.

the mauve ribbed was pure cashmere

the pink and dark purple were a cashmere/wool blend

the red was a wool/angora blend

and the stripe was pure wool

they all felted beautifully

and considering all the squares I cut it came together really quickly

Especially using my 5 and 10 inch "square it ups"

from Jodi's Etsy shop

Pumpkin is so happy with it

I think it made her first day at school really special.

p.s. speaking of Jodi and her blog Pleasant Home.com

Help me, help you...

she's doing a giveaway for a "Gobble Gobble" Layer cake--

so do me a favour

come on,

pretend you like me,

and go visit her blog

HERE

and in your comment let her know I sent you

then we'll both be entered!!

thanks

and good luck!

BEFORE and AFTER

BEFORE

iron candle holder

thinking of putting a flower in it

AFTER

1 candle holder -$2

1 can white spray paint -$3

1 hour of my time -$0
_____________________

The look on Pumpkin's face when I said it was for her -

priceless

This bag is made from an old T-shirt.

It says "Trix are for kids"

I know that this is not a new idea.

But I'll tell you why I love it.

It was sooooo easy to make.

Like 5 minutes easy.

It s t r e t c h e s to hold a lot!

It's wonderful for kids.

Why?

Well if it gets damaged (it won't)

then you just cut up another old T-shirt.

If it gets dirty (it will)

you just throw it in the wash.

I did a little stitch around the edges of the sleeves just so they wouldn't get stretched out.

I also boxed the bottom.

As you can see I use it to hold

oh....

about a kazillion cars.

We take these cars to the park.

I got them from the Sally Ann for $5

for 3 grocery bags nearly full!

If we lose some we don't care.

It works.

And I love it.

Got a cool old T-shirt?

Make it into a bag.

Dear John

Dear DAD,

It's been awhile since you've left us and I miss you terribly.

I know you wouldn't want me to spend time missing you

but I can't help it.

Especially when you are there in my face everyday;

in one way or another.

Remember the blanket I made for you

when you were cold 3 Christmas's ago?

The one made out of felted wool sweaters?

That's right,

the grey one.

Your favourite "colour"

(because you were colour blind LOL!)

Well I was going to wash it.

The kids love sitting under it to watch their favourite movies.

(Mostly the ones you bought for Pumpkin.)

And well this week they had popcorn as a snack;

(they love their popcorn--almost as much as you did!)

And it made quite a mess on the blanket.

And then the dog laid on it when we watched a movie

the other night.

And she's shedding.

So...

Well, I went to bring it upstairs and Pumpkin wouldn't let me wash it.

She refused to.

I asked her why?

"Because it smells like Papa! Don't wash him away, Mom."

Even though the blanket has been washed numerous

times since Mom gave it back to me...

I didn't wash it.

I guess we all miss you.

Love,

your favourite (only) daughter

Full Coverage

I LOVE a good thrifted sheet

The skads of fabric you get from one sheet alone

is pure pleasure at a

$1.99

So I've been collecting them.

Ever since I missed out on my chance to be part of

Sheridan's vintage sheet swap.

I'll NEVER be caught short again!

I not only like vintage though.

I look for great colours,

(fitted sheet and pillow cases reminded me of Meg from WHATEVER--I couldn't leave them there!)

PaTTeRns,

(actually a duvet cover--like 2 sheets in one!)

and sheets that just scream

I WANNA' BE YOUR NEXT QUILT BACK!!

no. really.

some of them have begged to come home with me.

(isn't this the most perfect quilt basket?!

ONLY $2!!)

Hubby said the other day,

that he's noticed a fair bit of shopping at the Sally Ann recently

(Salvation Army thrift store)

"Well, what of it?"

I said....

"I'm saving $$$$"

So when I found this treasure

I hemmed and hawed....

But I couldn't leave her there,

alone to suffer at the hands of
someone who wouldn't truly appreciate her beauty.

I mean--just look at her colour!

the sheen off the sateen texture alone!

plus my dining room table is naked.
It's practically indecent!

And square tablecloths are IMPOSSIBLE to find
and they are NOT cheap

I needed this sheet.

so I bought it.

yep.

And it wasn't $1.99

It was more like $5.99!

But I have plans for her.

For me.

For some quality time.

And with a little encouragement I'm hoping

for a tablecloth

and cloth napkins

and maybe even a skirt

for Pumpkin.

yeah!

'cause every kids dream is to match the dining room tablecloth!

(p.s. Hubby was thrilled at the purchase! He loved it as much as I did! Whew!)

Twirly Girly Skirt

Remember the fabric that I bought at the second hand shop?

Well it was magically transformed into a "Twirly Girly" skirt

using this tutorial by House on Hill Road.

It was very easy and quick so I whipped one off in no time.

Well it turns out that my girl is not your average sized girl.

She's got legs that are soooo long that going by her height like the pattern says,

just didn't work for her.

oops.

So...

I made another one.

This time I lined it

and made it slightly smaller in the waist

and definately longer

(by like 3.5 inches!)

It is a twirly skirt so it has lots of fabric.

This makes it "POOF" out a bit

--hence the possibility of shortness on my evergrowing stringbean.

*giggle*

I wanted her to wear it on Easter.

I spent Saturday night working on it so she could wear it for Easter Sunday.

When I finished the skirt and paired it with the white top

it felt unfinished.

Inspired by the applique tops that i have seen on Etsy,

I decided to give it a go.

This is the applique up close.

Hubby doesn't like the MeSsy stitching

but I like things a little hAp-HaZzArd.

I'm very happy with how it all turned out.

Now what to do with the first skirt?

Sew Mama Sew is having a Giveaway Day

on May 27th.....

hmm...

Maybe--or maybe something else

*wink*

Second Hand glory

I love a deal.

A bargain, if you like.

And second hand shops--

Well, they're more like playing at shopping.

I love it!

More BANG for your BuCK!

It's like practice makes perfect.

Everything is affordable, and often, was wonderful in its own right at one time.

You just have to get there before someone else does.

We have 2 shops in our town to buy second hand items.

They are side by side!
Yes.

I'm thankful every day for living in a town with 2 second hand shops.

It's wonderful!

So, wanna' see some of my finds?

Thought you might.

Isn't this gumball machine a beauty?!

I was smitten the moment I laid eyes on it.

It's going to go in the kiddos bathroom as soon as I can convince hubby that it's a good idea.

He'll like it. It just has to grow on him.

He has to see it with gumballs in it and a shower curtain with appliques in this fabric.

(I purchased this fabric for an awesome deal from Liko18 on Etsy--I think she has some left if you hurry!)

It's going to be great--I'll show you when it's finished.

This horribly photographed fabric was $4 for 4 meters!

It's VERY bright--and fun!

I've already used some and will have to take pics to share with you soon.

I also got lucky and got this bright and funky set of sheets for Pumpkin.

(yes, unmade bed photo. Classy, eh?)

Oh she was sooo excited.

Apparently they are more comfortable to sleep in than any of her other sheets.... she's so all about luxury :)

Hope you're having a great week.

Maybe you'll find a bargain today!

Mom would be proud....

Yeah, my mom would be proud--in fact I hope she's reading this!

My dad--well, he would have been annoyed and dismayed, but then when I got home he would have been secretly thrilled.

My hubby? He was moderately pleased but very annoyed when I wanted to do it again at 6:30 the next morning.... :)
What is IT you ask? Junk hunting.

Yes. I called my friend Jenn from down the street and we prowled the neighbourhoods of our town looking for all the treasures hidden in other people's junk.

Saturday was large item pickup in our town--for the dump.

Everyone was just putting all their junk to the curb.

Well not ALL of it was junk--not to Jenn and I!

What a time we had Friday night.

I used to do this with my mom when I was a little girl...Now don't look so disapprovingly--it's like a FREE garage sale! You'd have done it too!

We left at 7:30pm and didn't get home until 10:45pm!

Jenn's hubby just couldn't believe his eyes when we called him out of the house to see all our treasures--but I dare say that he was pleasantly surprised.
This is what my van looked like before the unload.

I don't know if you can tell but I couldn't see out my back window for the junk piled so high.

In this pic you see a toy lawnmower, a toddler mattress (yes a clean one), a ride on toy in the back, a practically brand new bouncy chair and an exersaucer...

Another view--here you can see the blow up pool...
And there was so much more!
Jenn found a great clock (which we found out doesn't work -I guess some junk really was junk) and a coleman stove. A blow up pool for her babe this summer. And toys.

Me? Well, my kids are older so I got all the ride on toys.

We found a bag FULL of girls toys like a mom just emptied the entire contents of her bedroom into it. So instead of rummaging and wasting time, we just took the whole bag! Barbies and My Little Pony's!

I also found a huge TONKA truck for my dear boy--oh he's ecstatic! I just have to wash it all up.

My best snag? Well actually it wasn't mine...

My disapproving hubby couldn't help himself when he saw a man putting THIS on his front lawn.

LOL!

I think I'm rubbing off on him :)