Smock around the clock

With all the Easter crafting done or given up on, I moved on to the next project piled on my desk: smocks for Miss Maren. I saw this smock on Sarah's blog a while back and thought it would make the perfect bib for Maren. She won't wear a regular bib while eating and I know I've avoided letting her try some healthy foods because of the mess factor involved, which gets my Mommy Guilt going. This smock is perfect because it covers her whole front and ties in the back so she can't get it off! The pattern is Simplicity 8916 and I had to buy it off eBay, as it's older and none of the local fabric stores had it.


Here's the problem: I don't sew. Last time I had any formal instruction in sewing was oh, 7th grade-ish. This little pattern was very simple but it still took me several hours to make the first smock. Most of that was due to the fact that I kept having to rip off the bias tape and redo it; I had a hard time getting the edge of the fabric caught by the thread. If you look close you can see that I used extra-wide bias tape around the neck and regular width everywhere else. The neck was the last piece you put on and for the life of me I couldn't get it to work with the skinny stuff! Luckily I had some of the extra-wide from last year's pillowcase dresses.


Here's my second attempt. I had this cute thrifted strawberry fabric and thrifted red polka dot bias tape in my stash. The bias tape is extra-wide and while I didn't have any more problems with the fabric not staying in the fold, I did have a much more difficult time getting it stretched smoothly around the round seams of the armholes. I'm not sure which width was really better; they both had their difficulties. I do think I like the look of the narrower tape better.

I'd like to make a couple more smocks so I will be looking for more thrifted fabric and bias tape--for each smock you need 2 packages and that stuff gets expensive! I'd also like to experiment with making one out of a vinyl tablecloth so that I could just wipe it off instead of having to toss it in the washer. I bought a tablecloth on clearance at JoAnn's so I can give it a try. Oilcloth would be cute too but I don't think my JoAnn's carries it and I want this project to stay inexpensive.

And from the SUPER EXCITING GOOD NEWS file: My husband comes home tonight! You may recall that he left on President's Day for some training in Missouri, so we haven't seen each other in 8 long weeks. To say that I'm excited to see him would be a slight understatement. :) Thankfully the huge snowstorm that was predicted for today has missed us so we won't have any problems with flight delays. It's actually snowing outside right now but it's nothing major and should be gone by tomorrow. I'll be back Monday, and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Thrift Thursday

Last weekend when my mom was here I was able to escape for some unaccompanied thrifting. I was looking for something for the Pink & Green swap but didn't have any luck in that department. I did, however, totally score in finding some goodies for me!

This particular thrift almost never has anything worthwhile in their linens department but that day I hit the jackpot. I'll probably never find anything good there again but I don't even care! For as long as I've been thrifting I've been looking for old chenille bedspreads but with no luck...until now!

I found this awesome hot pink chenille fringed bedspread and even better, the white one with all the colored chenille! I grabbed them up without even looking at the price tags. The pink one was marked 'Queen' but I knew that was probably wrong as queen-size beds are a fairly recent innovation. I hoped it might be a double so that I could put it on my queen-size guest bed. When I got it home I realized that it's more likely a twin that would hang to the floor on all sides. I put it on my guest bed anyway and I think it's really cute. I don't care if it's too short. The white one may end up in Miss Maren's room when she gets moved to a big-girl bed.

I also found these pretty wool blankets. I especially love the pink plaid over on right! The solid pink one isn't in great shape; it's a little misshapen and has some moth holes but I thought if nothing else it would be good crafting fodder. These will go in my guest room and again in Miss Maren's big-girl bed room when she moves.

I suspect that these bedspreads and blankets all came in to the thrift together. They're just too similar and like I said, this thrift never has anything good in the linen department. It would just be too coincidental for them all to suddenly show up from different sources. There were a couple of other wool blankets that I suspect were from the same source but they weren't nearly as pretty and each had a piece sewed on to the bottom of the blanket, ostensibly to lengthen it. They looked a little weird so I passed them up. Anyway, everything else is now washed and folded and looking very charming indeed up in my guest room!

Vintage Kitchen Swap

I was so excited to learn that one of my favorite bloggers was hosting a Vintage Kitchen Swap that I signed up as fast as I could! I was paired with Brenda M. who doesn't have a blog herself, but her daughter is the lovely Amanda from every little thing. I mentioned to Brenda that my kitchen is done in 1940s and 50s stuff in mostly red, with a bit of yellow and cornflower blue thrown in for good measure. She sent the most outstanding package!
I mentioned that I collect old printed tablecloths and just look at this beauty! The colors are bright and Brenda said it reminded her of summer--I agree! She also included a darling vintage milk bottle and a red-handled rolling pin, as well as a set of the neatest enamel dishes! I've never seen any like them and I'm not sure if they're new or vintage. Judging by their appearance I'd guess new, but they are the perfect colors for my kitchen and will be such fun to use!

My very favorite thing in the package was this beautiful vintage apron. It is most definitely my new favorite out of all the aprons I own. It's gorgeous! The fabric is printed with the roses and the white design at the bottom, which is unusual and makes it perfect for the apron. It's hard to tell from the photo, but where the 3 lines of seam binding are on the top, the fabric is sewn into tiny, precise pleats. What workmanship! I just put up another hook on my pantry door to hang this apron so that I can admire it all the time. She also sent a vintage hankie with a crocheted yellow edge that I forgot to photograph. Thank you, Brenda! (PS--this was Brenda's first swap--didn't she do a fabulous job?)

Because Brenda doesn't have a blog, I'll post what I sent to her. Brenda said she likes pink and her kitchen is done in moss green with pink and yellow accents. That was a little harder for me to shop for but I tried!

I included a set of old knives with ivorite handles that have yellowed with age, a fun old loaf pan from the Py-o-My baking company, a dish with pink, yellow and green shabby roses and a gold rim, cupcake papers and pastel sprinkles, a vintage Jell-o cookbook and a vintage aluminum gelatin mold (with a box of strawberry Jell-o so she can try a recipe!), an old embroidered tea towel with a little Dutch girl, an old-fashioned pink and green lollipop from Hammond's, some vintage cookie cutters from my stash, and a re-purposed vintage muffin tin that I filled with Easter candy. I had fun putting together Brenda's package and I hope that she liked it!

Happy Easter!

Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday! This is a last-minute craft, done yesterday morning. I picked up the papier mache bunny for 1.00 at the thrift on Friday and was inspired by Martha's show from the other day. I simply painted him with a few coats of acrylic paint, brushed on Mod Podge and coated him with iridescent glitter. I added a bow made from vintage satin ribbon and an organdy ribbon rose(which you can't see because they're on his back). Pretty darn cute for a buck and a few minutes' work!

I dyed more pipe cleaners last night in a last-ditch effort to get some chickies and baskets done but for some reason the yellow dye didn't take so they turned out a sickly, pale yellow. Whatever. I think I am officially over this project and ready for something new. Now, what I am going to do with the remaining 250 white pipe cleaners I bought? Hmmm.

Happy Mail

No Easter Egg hunting for us today! ~Brrrr, it's cold!~ Like much of the country, we're having unseasonably cold temperatures. Last night we even got a light skiff of snow. Our high temperature for the day is supposed to be around 30 degrees. What the heck happened to spring?

In the last few days I've gotten quite a lot of Happy Mail from some dear blog friends. Sarah sent me this adorable bunny basket that she made. Maren loves it and has been carrying it around ever since. It will be the perfect Easter basket for her. Thanks, Sarah!

I also got a neat "just because" package from Shara. She sent such fun things! A neat old Colorado plate for my guest room wall, the cutest little elf shoes made using Jenny's pattern, a faux chocolate bunny, a huge roll of vintage rickrack, and a very cool vintage honeycomb bunny that I forgot to photograph! She also remembered Miss Maren, and send the cutest Angelina Ballerina hand puppet that has a little box of dress-up clothes and 2 Angelina books to read. What a treat it was to open all those cute packages, and what a sweetie Shara was to think of me and Maren!

I'm still working on those darn pipe cleaner Easter things. I had intended to get them done earlier this week but some other obligations pushed those to the bottom of the priority list. Maybe today I can get a few done and photographed. It's not too late, right?

If you're east of me, stay warm! If you're west or south of me, stay cool! :)

Washi eggs

This is an Easter craft I made a few years ago. These eggs were featured on the cover of Martha Stewart Living for April 2004. You use origami paper and Mod Podge (always with the Mod Podge) and wooden eggs. As always, mine didn't turn out as perfect at Martha's goons' eggs. It's tricky to get the paper sliced just so so that it will fit smoothly around the curved ends of the egg. The green egg on the bottom was my first attempt and you can see that it's bumpy, but the other two eggs are better--practice makes perfect and all that jazz. I do love them and someday I'll attempt a few more.

I'm excited to be participating in the Spring Fling Pink & Green swap! My partner is the very fabulous Risa and her blog is The ParTea Planner. Risa is lucky enough to have a job where she gets to plan wonderful tea parties; how fun! Do go over and check out her blog, especially the photos of the absolutely gorgeous parties she has done. I guarantee you'll want to be her guest!

Speaking of Martha (aren't I always?), the previews for tomorrow's show have her doing glittery Easter crafts with someone named Laurie Davis. Glitter? I'm so there! Also, Katie linked to this cutie pie pom-pom bunny that was on Martha's show yesterday. I meant to watch but forgot! They don't look too difficult, but you can also buy them already made. Maybe I'll bookmark that for next year. I think I'm about crafted out for this Easter!

Fabulous Foil

I mentioned in my previous post that I am loving the pastel-colored foil in my Easter decorations this year. That whole thing was inspired by these little lovelies that I got at a fabulous little store in Utah called Dear Lizzie. It's the kind of place where I'd be happy if every future birthday, anniversary, Mother's Day and Christmas gift I ever received came from there! Seriously, it's to die for. Like every blog and decor magazine that I read and drool over come to life. Sigh. Anyway, I picked up these little baskets there. IThey are from Seasons of Cannon Falls. It's hard to tell from the photo but they are decorated with vintage-style millinery flowers and silver tinsel and foofy tulle trim and they are just scrumptious! I have them filled with foil-wrapped chocolate eggs.

This pink egg is from the same line as the baskets and you may be able to find a few here at Miss Duffy's and you can also do an eBay search for "foil egg" or "foil basket" to find a few more. The egg opens so you can put goodies inside. The green and blue bunnies are from Cost Plus this year and they were so pretty and matched my little baskets so perfectly that I had to bring them home.

I dyed two batches of pipe cleaners today (pink and aqua) and so far, so good. I let them sit in the dye bath a good long time and I didn't rinse them, as the first time I tried it all the color came out! Hopefully they don't stain my fingers when I'm working with them. Tomorrow I hope to attempt some chickies and a basket. Wish me luck!

Spring Snow

Just when you thought it was safe to put away the winter clothes, you wake up to this:
And you realize that it's still March, and we're not out of the woods yet. Boo! March and April are technically the wettest months here in Denver, and we typically get about 12" of snow in March in an average year. This is actually the first snow we've had all month, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Talk about a rude awakening, though!

Even though it's wintry outside, Spring is in full force in my house. Just want to share one of my favorite new Easter decorations this year:
This is all covered by my tall glass cloche but I had to remove it for photographing. The big bunny is from Hobby Lobby and although he looks pretty convincingly like you could take a big bite out of his ears, he's actually ceramic. I put him on the slate platter that came with my cloche. The platter is covered with a doily and a scattering of foil-covered chocolate eggs. The large eggs are floral picks with the wires removed, and are also from Hobby Lobby. I'm all about the colored foil in my decorating this year.

I finally finished up an Easter craft I've been working on for at least a week now. These eggs are featured in the April 2007 Martha and as soon as I saw them, I knew I could make them:
Martha used real blown-out eggs but I think that's just silly when I could get papier mache eggs cheap at the craft store. The only other supplies needed were Mod Podge and canceled postage stamps, both of which I had in my stash. I was too lazy to make one of Martha's egg drying rigs so I was only able to glue one side of the egg at a time, which is why it took me a week to get them finished! If you want to try them, be aware that you are putting a flat item (the stamp) onto a round surface (the egg) so the stamps aren't going to fit smoothly. I had to use my fingers and really smooth the stamps down after they were saturated with the glue. The end result is that your egg will have a somewhat bumpy finish, but if you look close at the magazine photograph you can tell that Martha's eggs were bumpy too, so I don't consider that a failure!

Now that those eggs are done, the next project is --dun-dun-dun!-- the infamous pipecleaner chicks and baskets. I'm a little nervous, but I'm going to give it a whirl anyway! I'll be sure to report back, success or no.

Reunited (and it feels so good)

In my post yesterday about the package Rebecca sent to me, I hinted that there was another goodie that needed its own post, and here it is! You may recall that a few weeks ago I went on a thrifting binge and found the Hazel-Atlas sugar bowl shown on the right. A few days after I posted that photo, Rebecca emailed me and said that she thought she might have the matching creamer. She was right; it was a match, and she very kindly offered to send it to me so that the matching set could be together again at last! Don't they just look happy to be side by side once more? I think so. In Rebecca's words, "We're better than Match.com!"

Who knew the Easter Bunny used the USPS?

I got a fun little package full of *goodness* from Miss Rebecca on Saturday! She sent a darling little crocheted duckie just for Maren, ribbon for the stash (remind me to show you my ribbon holders some time), a cute little pen, an Easter bunny rubber stamp, a fabulous piece of fabric that I simply adore, a Gooseberry Patch recipe book,and a set of tiny painted eggs that are just itching to be hung on some little branches! She also sent one other goodie but it's so cool it deserves its own post. :) Thanks, Rebecca!

Thank you all for the sweet birthday and well wishes for Miss Maren. I went to get her out of her crib this morning and noticed that her left eye was almost completely swollen shut! Immediately I worried that the pink eye had come back with a vengeance, even though it seemed to have cleared up. I got her in to see the doctor and her opinion was that it was actually an allergic reaction of some type, rather than an infection like pink eye. I have no idea what Maren could have reacted to but I've been giving her Benadryl to see if I can get the swelling down. Maren doesn't seem to be bothered by it one bit, which is a relief! Now if I can just get her cough and runny nose cleared up, we'll be set.

I was hoping to make a field trip to Hammond's Candies this afternoon to get some of these yummies, but by the time Maren woke up from her nap and ate lunch we couldn't have made it in time. I think instead we'll go first thing in the morning. I'm trying to watch how much junk I eat so I'll have to exercise massive restraint, but I'm also hoping to pick up some pretty candies for the Vintage Kitchen and Pink & Green swaps that I'm doing. I'll report back with my loot tomorrow!

Happy Happy Birthday, Baby

Maren at TWO:

-is still small for her age, at 26 lbs and 36”

-favorite foods: black olives, dill pickles, and cheese

-loves to watch Elmo and Barney

-won’t let me put anything in her hair so it’s always a mess

-loves to be outside

-can identify the colors blue, purple, pink, white, black

-will not eat mashed potatoes

-has big beautiful blue eyes and golden curls

-loves bubbles and balloons

-gives sweet kisses

-will not listen to me. At all.

-is independent, headstrong, persistent, fearless

-receives speech therapy once a week

-likes to sing about the monkeys jumping on the bed

-has to be safety-pinned into her pajamas and duct-taped into her diapers

-loves our dog, Bronco

-has brought immeasurable joy to so many people in the two short years she's been on this Earth

-is the absolute light of our lives!

(p.s. This is actually one day late--her birthday was Saturday--don't tell, okay?)

Things around here have been a little rough the past few days. Maren came down with pinkeye last Thursday in conjunction with a nasty cold and cough. She's still sick, although her eyes look much better and her fever finally broke on Sunday. Like it is with many of us, when Maren is sick she is in a terrible mood so I've been dealing with an uncharacteristically crabby, whiny and clingy toddler--and it's about to make me lose my mind! I am SO ready to have my happy, pleasant little girl back. Oy. My parents called Monday evening to check on us and I must have sounded really desperate, because my sweet Dad immediately offered to fly here this weekend to give me a little break. I took him up on the offer and I'm excited to see him.

I haven't had a chance to get to the pipe cleaner critters yet. I had a couple of projects on the docket before them, which included making a couple of little bun-buns inspired by this one and getting my Easter decorations out. I'm working on the decorations right now so hopefully tomorrow night I'll break out the Rit and my mega-pack of pipe cleaners and go to town.

The pictures in this post are of a neat tin I bought a week ago at Cost Plus World Market. They always have the neatest imported holiday candy! This wonderful German tin is just larger than half a sheet of paper and the front scene is all embossed and beautifully detailed. The second picture is of the chocolate bars inside. They are too pretty to eat! Love the chickie and the little bunny couple snuggling under the toadstool. Too sweet!

Pipe cleaners, check

It took trips to 3 different craft stores, but I think I now have everything I need to begin construction on a flock of Martha's pipe cleaner chicks and a bushel of little pink baskets. Now I just have to hope that the dying process will yield similar results to the magazine photos. I bought the extra large package of white pipe cleaners just in case I mess up on a few (or a lot). Unfortunately, my crafting time is limited to Maren's nap time and bed time hours, which there just aren't quite enough of if you ask me. I'll post my results when I get them. Hopefully they'll be worth sharing!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Martha's minions have done it again

Images from the April 2007 issue of Martha. Could you just die? Look at those wee pipe cleaner--oh, sorry, chenille stem-- chickies and baskets and pompom bunnies! They are approximately the cutest thing evah and I am headed to JoAnn's tonight to see if I can find the materials. If you're like me and wondered why your craft store never has lovely pastel-colored pipe cleaners, it's because they've used white stems and colored them with Rit dye. I have precisely no use for a passel of pipe cleaner baskets or a flock of chenille chicks, but I don't care! I must make them. Martha made me do it.

The Goblet of Fire has spoken #2

Natasha left a comment asking what the heck the Goblet of Fire is...here it is, Natasha! It's a feature of the 4th Harry Potter book. Last time I did a drawing I had my DH choose the name out of a bowl, which he referred to as "the Goblet of Fire". So there you go. :)

Instead of a real Goblet of Fire I had a little helper draw the names for the Easter card winners. I'll let the pictures tell the story:









Congratulations to luckie duckies Dana, Jane and Rebecca! Dana and Jane, please send me your addresses to fraulein_h at hotmail dot com and I will send your cards out tomorrow! Thanks for playing!

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K

Although these photos would seem to indicate otherwise, we did not have pink skies today here in Colorado, nor did Maren suddenly sprout antennae out of the top of her head.

Bad tree placement is my fault, but I have no explanation for the magenta heavens. Freaky.

Easter Giveaway!

I promise that my house is not still decorated for Christmas! I'm sharing this photo because I want to give you a little backstory for my Easter Blog Giveaway.

This unusual piece of furniture resides in my front room, right as you come in the house. It is kind of out of place (okay, Husband, A LOT out of place) and I know that it will eventually have to be evicted when I finally get some real furniture in the room. But for now, this is the only place for it. I've never really figured out how to best utilize the shelves on top, although I had grand plans of a black & white photo gallery of some type that have since fallen by the wayside. At Christmas I display the cards we get in the mail and for Valentine's I use it to display my vintage Valentines. Those four great big drawers on the bottom are really handy; currently they hold most of my eBay junk that's waiting to be listed.

What is it? Well, that, my friends, is an old wooden greeting card display. I bought it off of Craig's List in July 2005. The man I bought it from had purchased the entire contents of an old drugstore in a tiny town in Missouri. I mean, the entire contents. The story was something like this: a man and his wife ran the drugstore from at least the 1960s on, probably earlier. The man got sick sometime in the late 70s or early 80s or so and the store was closed up, with things still on the shelves and everything. I"m a little hazy on the details, but you get the idea. The guy who sold me the card display purchased the whole store, lock, stock and barrel and had to drive to Missouri and bring it all back here to Colorado. He and his partner took what they wanted (the jukebox, the old soda machines, the soda fountain) and then were selling the rest piecemeal on eBay and Craig's List.

When I saw this listing on Craig's List, I think I nearly passed out! Included in the price was the entire contents of the display as they had found it. The guys delivered it to my house and unloaded boxes and boxes and boxes of old cards, wrapping paper, and other paper goods. It was truly like Christmas in July! Over the next few weeks, I got to go through all of those boxes of treasure! I threw away a lot because it was damaged from having sat for 30 years but I kept quite a bit as well with the idea of keeping some and selling some.

I haven't been as on top of it as I would like so I actually haven't sold anything except for 2 Rainbow Brite Advent calendars last Christmas. I attempted to sell some lots of Easter cards last year but had no luck, and in researching prices to get them ready to sell this year I have found that they won't bring much. Therefore, I'd rather just give them to people who I know would enjoy them than go to all the work of listing them for just a few bucks.

So that LONG story brings me to the Easter Giveaway! I have 3 packets of Easter cards (10-15 in each) that I would like to share with some of you, my dear blog readers. If you would like to be in the running to receive one of the packets, just leave a comment on this post! I'll put them all in the Goblet of Fire and we'll see who it spits out. :) I'm posting this late Tuesday night so let's say you have until noon M.S.T. on Thursday to get your comment in. I'll post on Friday who the three lucky duckies are and get them in the mail to you A.S.A.P.

Have you seen this blog? I only found it last week, when I was looking at the February Tie One On and saw this totally adorable ruffled apron and had to know who'd made that little cutie! Lucky for us, she posted the instructions for the darling apron here. You should definitely check out the rest of her blog, as it's full of great stuff! Today's super-cute button flowers, for instance. I definitely want to make some, and I bet you will too!

The chair is another thrift find from last weekend. My dad talked me into it, but at $6.99 he didn't have to do much convincing! Okay, it's ugly now--but you just wait! Once I change out that hideous fabric on the seat and get rid of the equally frightening paint job on the backrest, it'll look great. Look at the cute little claw feet, even!

One of my wonderful friends called me last night and offered to have Maren over this morning for a few hours so that I could have a little bit of time to myself. She has a daughter who is just about 2 months older than Maren so the girls played and ran around like crazy! I didn't do anything particularly fun, just ran some errands, but every mom knows you can get errands done a whole lot faster by yourself! And since I got all that done this morning, we're going to take a walk and enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

Hot date

Last night I went on a hot date with....myself. You may recall that my usual Dream Date (husband) is out of town for a long while, so that leaves me on my own. I decided on Tuesday that I would get a babysitter for last night just so that I could GET OUT OF THE HOUSE by myself for a few hours. Is it wrong to admit that I totally had been looking forward to 6:00 pm last night (when I picked up the sitter) all week? I didn't go far, just out to the local shopping center to do a little shopping; an activity that would be made torturous for all involved if I'd taken Maren along. It was a successful trip: 3 pairs of new shoes, a few new lacy-frillies, and dinner without having to clean up after anyone but myself! I was home by 9:30 pm since all the shops close at 9:00 but it was 2.5 hours of heaven. Well worth the price of the babysitter! I think I'll be doing the same thing next weekend as well. Maybe I'll take myself out to a movie.

Last weekend I found out that a local thrift does 50% off most things in the store every Saturday morning. It's not a thrift I usually visit because I find the prices to be a little high, but 50% off makes it completely worth it! Here are some of my finds this morning: 1) Making Memories magnet handle set. This company makes neat little rubber stamp alphabets that have magnets on the back, so this is the handle and metal plates that you use to put the stamps on. 2) Old Bingo cards from a very old Bingo game. These are for art projects. I have lots so I'll probably be sharing the wealth in swap and goodie packages for a while! 3) Very old Goody Magic Reader. This nifty little thing is a box with a lid that opens up at a 90 degree angle. Inside the top lid is a sheet of mirrored plastic and included are a whole bunch of cards that have a question on the top and then the answer is printed below, but it is upside down. The trick is you read the question, then put it up to the mirror to see the answer reflected back correctly. It really is charming! The date I found on it is 1929. This could be a fun little art project, as I think you could print up your own cards and manipulate the text in Word so it prints out backwards or upside down or whatever. A fun little find!

Maren loves to watch Sesame Street but her favorite part of the show is by far the "Elmo's World" segment at the end. Lately when it's over, she has been asking me for "More Lala?" I found these Elmo DVDs so now she can have precisely that! The other one is for me: The complete first season of Pee-Wee's Playhouse, and it was only $3.50! That one has me crazy excited. I loved that show when I was a kid and I can't wait to watch it all over again!

And now it's time for bed. I have to go change all the clocks in the house before I head upstairs. In the next few days I have more thrift finds to share (mostly from last weekend...I bought a lot!) and a little Easter blog giveaway! Have a good night, and don't forget to SPRING FORWARD!