Simple Quilted Blanket (using vintage sheets)

 

Every time we go to California, we devote one day to the beach. There is nothing like laying in front of the ocean, hundreds of miles from the stress of work and house chores.

 

I found this double size vintage sheet a while back and knew I wanted to make a new beach/picnic blanket out of it.

 



This was a simple project, and while I don't have a step-by-step tutorial for you, I will explain it. (I constructed it in the same way I made my daughter's baby clothes quilt)

 

Materials:

 

2 double size flat sheets

 

double size piece of batting (purchased at Joann)

 

matching thread

 

STEP 1: Layer one sheet on floor (right side UP) then, the next sheet on top of that (right side DOWN) and then the piece of batting on the back side of your top piece. Trim everything to the same size if needed.

 

STEP 2: Sew all around all three layers, leaving an opening at the bottom to flip the blanket right side out.

 

STEP 3: Flip blanket right side out, fold in opening edges and stitch opening closed and also continue to top stitch around the entire blanket.

 

STEP 4: Using the darning foot (or quilting foot depending on your sewing machine), sew over the top of the blanket with decorative stitching. I loosely stitched around the flowers on my blanket instead of a traditional quilting design.

 



 

Now we have a new blanket for our time at the beach and our picnics in the park this fall.

 

Hope you are having a lovely Monday!

DIY: Custom iPhone Case

Naturally, while my husband was playing with his new iPhone and downloading lots of apps...I was trying to find a cute case for mine.

Fail.

Don't get me wrong, there are many cute cases out there...just nothing in my price range. $40 for a case, Apple Store? No thanks...there is much more fun to be had at Goodwill with that money!

Plus, there is the whole issue where I change my mind about every other day.

But that's another issue for another day.

I ordered myself a clear iPhone case off eBay for $6 (including shipping and it also came with screen protectors) and decided to make my own insert for the clear case.

STEP 1: Start with a clear case for your phone and paper of your choice (I chose some vintage wrapping paper). Also, grab a pen and some scissors.

STEP 2: Trace the back of the case onto your paper and cut out...you now have an insert for your phone case.

STEP 3: Snap the phone case onto the phone and enjoy your new case cover for just pennies!

I love being able to customize this whenever I want. Holidays, different seasons, and you know I'm going to be rockin' a Little Mermaid one on our next trip to Disneyland!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

DIY Clock from Saucepan Lid

This is probably one of the most random projects I've done...and one of my favorite!

I saw this saucepan lid at Goodwill and fell in love with the pattern. There was no matching saucepan to go with it, but I decided I still needed to bring it home for just $1.

That's when I got the idea to turn it into a clock!

DIY CLOCK (from a saucepan lid)

STEP 1: Remove knob from saucepan.

STEP 2: Remove motor and parts from clock.

(At this point, I reassembled the clock pieces again and tested them with a battery to make sure taking them apart didn't break them.)

STEP 3: Assemble clock pieces through the hole on the saucepan lid where the knob used to be. Glue the motor to the back of the pan if needed. I also cut out some numbers from the original clock to Mod Podge on the front.

Have a great Thursday!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Vintage Finds (February Edition)

My husband and I came up with a system a while ago where we both get a monthly "allowance". This is just a set amount of money that each of us get to spend however we want. It keeps my husband from raising his eyebrows when he sees a Goodwill bag and I have to keep my mouth shut when he comes home with beer and more parts for his RC truck. It's a great system:)

Anyways, my monthly allowance normally gets given to a thrift store of some kind. So I thought I would share with you what I have found lately that I love!

The cutest shoes for my daughter. I would love these in my size.

Milk/juice glasses for breakfast.

I actually found 4 of these guys and I plan on giving them to my mom for Mother's Day. I have the same glasses and she loved them..so I hope she enjoys having her own set;)

I'm not a tea drinker...but I couldn't resist this teapot. It sits nicely in my kitchen.

My mom actually spotted this large bowl at rummage sale. It is now serving as a fruit bowl on the kitchen table.

I really can't resist vintage wrapping paper. It is my weakness for sure. All these lovelies were $.10 each! I loved the little brunette girl on the right so much, I had to make her my twitter background.

Vintage sheets. Love. The two on the bottom are twin sheets for my daughter's bed and the top two are pillowcases.

I think this bag is my favorite find yet. It is the prettiest grapefruit pink color and works perfectly as a diaper bag.

So, this last item isn't vintage...but I love it anyways. I have been wanting a mustard colored purse for so long and it's perfect for days when I need a bigger bag for the kids.

So, those are my recent finds...how about you? Do you like to thrift? I'd love to see what you have discovered!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Pillowcase Challenge #8: Diaper Bag

I haven't done a pillowcase challenge in a while! One of my goals this year is to clean out my craft closet and use up what I already have before buying more. I had been holding onto this pillowcase for a while, not sure what to do with it, but wanting to do something useful since I love the print so much. I decided to make a larger tote that could be used as a diaper bag since I seem to need lots o' stuff with me these days!

The outside of the bag is made with one pillowcase and the lining is part of an old vintage sheet I had. Want to make your own tote? Then let's go!

Fabric Coasters from Vintage Scraps

I've hit my nesting stage of pregnancy with full force this week. One project I decided to tackle was our entry way closet, which is home to my craft supplies. After organizing everything (while making a list of what supplies I have and future crafts I want to make), I decided not to bring in any new materials until I started to use up what I have.

One thing I decided to do with all my vintage scraps that I just can't seem to throw away is make coasters. This was a super easy project that I got done in about 30 minutes.

There are a ton of fabric coaster tutorials online and this one from Make It and Love It was the closest to what I did. The only difference is that I ironed on my fusible fleece onto the wrong side of my printed fabric first and then sewed my two pieces together.

Now I get to see my favorite fabric scraps every day, while protecting our delicate craigslist Ikea furniture:)

I'm linked to:

Sew Much Ado

Tatertots and Jello

DIY Play Kitchen (from a nightstand)

I am finally getting around to posting the play kitchen my dad (and husband) and I made for my daughter! I am really ashamed at how long it has taken me to finish this. Oh well...it's done now, right?

I started with a nightstand that I got off craigslist for $5 and pulled the drawers out. Luckily there was a board between both drawers..so we didn't have to build one for the "oven" bottom. My dad took the front off one of the drawers and attached it to front of the nightstand with hinges at the bottom so it could swing down like an oven door.

The backing of the kitchen is just a large piece of wood with two smaller pieces nailed in through the back for shelves. My dad already had the wood in his scrap pile...but I also priced it at Home Depot for about $5.

Here is a view of the top. I used a wooden letter "J" from Joanns for the faucet and a round cake pan from the dollar store from the sink. I didn't want anything too deep, otherwise nothing would fit in the oven compartment. Also, here are the burners I showed earlier. The burner knobs were also made with pre cut round pieces of wood. I just layered them, glued them, and then cut pieces of a dowel to put down the center to make them look more like knobs. The faucet knobs were something I already had. All the knobs are attached through the bottom with a screw and a washer so that they can turn.

Remember these cups, saucers, and canisters? I love they way they look on the shelves:)

The nightstand had two drawers...so for the bottom part, we took the drawer out and I made a little curtain to go across it for storage. My daughter keeps her play food in there. I attached it on the sides with sticky velcro so that it can come off. I got the material while in California. I think it adds to the retro look of the kitchen.

Finally, on the inside of the "oven" we painted everything with silver paint:

I really love the way it turned out! My daughter loves playing with it too...so that makes me happy:) I am in the process of making her some more accessories to go with the kitchen for Christmas such as oven mitts and dish towels....but more on that later:)

Price:

nightstand: $5

spray paint (2 cans): $6.00

wood for burners and knobs: $3.50

letter "J" for faucet: $1.00

material for curtain: $1.50

cake pan for sink: $1.00

all other materials I already had

Total: $18.00

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots

Someday Crafts

Sew Much Ado

Tatertots and Jello

Pillowcase Wall Art

I have mentioned my never ending love for crewel embroidery before and although I still have yet to run into my love match in that department...I did find a way to ease my need for vintage wall art.

Enter vintage pillowcase wall art:

I found this vintage pillowcase at Goodwill a few months back knowing that I wanted to frame it right away. It got stashed in my fabric drawers until I found the right sized frame (for the right price).

Finally I came upon the perfect sized frame (with art and glass) for $1 at Goodwill and the rest of handmade wall art history!

I took the art and glass out of the frame (I saved the art for another project coming soon...) and stained the frame to make it darker. I cut the pillowcase in half (the design was also on the other side...which will also get used later) and wrapped it over the cardboard that was already in the back of the frame.

I chose not to put the glass back in the frame...just the pillowcase because I wanted the texture to show through. I keep thinking that I might get brave someday and actually embroider on it as well to create my own version of crewel. But for now it satisfies my need for vintage wall art (for under $2) and makes me very happy:)

What are some different things you have used for wall art?

Summer Thrift Store Finds

I haven't been out much this summer looking for good thrift store finds. There is just something about 115 degrees that makes me want to hurt everyone in public...so it's best if I just stay in:)

I have found a few good things at my local Goodwill Saturday sales (seriously...who doesn't love those?) and a few other vintage shops.

One rule I have when it comes to getting anything at the thrift store (or anywhere else for that matter) is that it has to serve an immediate (or almost immediate in case it's a project) purpose. So that means leaving some gems behind because I just don't have the room for them.

One thing I was SO happy to find was this tin recipe box. One of my summer goals was to organize my recipes so finally they are all in one tidy space!

I fell in love with this jewelry box almost immediately. All that scrolling detail just makes me so happy! It does have a broken foot on the front...but it will get fixed up and repainted this week. I just can't decide if I want to give it to my daughter for her jewelry...or be a selfish mom and keep it for myself:)

I did find something for my daughter. I am putting together her Christmas present right now, which is basically just some accessories for her play kitchen (which I will share soon). These mini salt and pepper shakers made me so happy...and for $.35 each...I couldn't resist bringing them home to paint and let her play with.

I would have to say my biggest soft spot when it comes to thrifting is vintage owls. It's like I can't say no! The brown owl is an iron trivet that I found at a vintage store in a nearby retirement community. The silver owl is another trivet I found at Savers, and finally the yellow framed owl is a greeting card that I found in a different frame at Goodwill. I painted a little frame I had yellow and put him in there.

They live together on my living room wall:

This next find took a few weeks for me to purchase. I saw it a while ago at Goodwill with no price tag. The cashier priced it at $7.99...but I was too cheap to spend that (it has a small crack on the back). So we went on vacation and I regretted leaving it behind.

Another sale day rolled around at Goodwill and it was still there! I put my own lampshade on it and I love it! I was so blinded by my affection for it that I realized (on the way home) that most likely my husband was going to hate it. He was so nice when I asked him, "What do you think? Can you believe no one bought it for three weeks?" that he said, "I think it was just so beautiful that no one else wanted it." He is so nice to me...even if he is being sarcastic:)

It makes me so happy when I see it each day...I think may even say something like this when I walk past it. Here it is in our living room on my grandma's old dresser:

I also picked up some lovely vases:

And finally, my favorite piece of the summer has been my Drexel chair. It was priced at $30 but I asked if they could go any lower and they went down to $20!

It lives in our room right now...but my mom has already offered me more than I paid for it:) It's nice having a chair in the bedroom to sit and talk and also for my husband to sit and put his shoes on. Does anyone else hate butt marks on a newly made bed as much as I do??

So, have you found any good finds lately?

Vintage Mickey and Minnie Birthday Party

My daughter's 3rd birthday was back in March and we had a vintage style Mickey and Minnie party for her. I'm going to be honest and confess that I haven't posted these pictures because I wasn't really happy with the way the party turned out. We had the party in February and I was still a mess (read the above "miscarriage" label if you care to know more) and had just gotten over a flu bug that week. Oh yeah..and I was also pregnant again...but I just didn't know it yet! Now I can look back on the pictures and be happy with it because it made my daughter happy. Sometimes we need not be our own worse "mommy critic", right?

For dessert, I made cupcakes for everyone. They are the easy way out and I love them for it:) No cutting cake and hoping there is enough for everyone!

I found the cute blue polka dot wrappers at Michael's and made little paper flowers for the tops (make sure to let everyone know not to eat them!). The ears were thin mint candies and I just used canned chocolate frosting and a large star tip to ice them. I was going to punch out little "buttons" for the front of the Mickey cupcakes...but didn't have time.

I just ordered some pizza for lunch and this was our "dessert" table:

I drew the Mickey and Minnie myself and put out my daughter's favorite sweet treats: licorice, M & M's and Hershey Kisses.

The cake for her to blow out her candles with was just something simple I whipped up. I baked half a cake mix in a bowl and then flipped it over and iced it. The "ears" are two rice cakes (also iced) and pressed into the cake with toothpicks. Then I just added the silk flower for an embellishment.

I made a Mickey tray for the candy but gluing two small black paper plates to one large one creating a Mickey silhouette. I bought the red and silver Hershey kisses after Valentine's day and picked out all the red, yellow, and blue M & M's from regular bags. (BTW: There are a LOT more green and orange ones compared to these colors. A weird fact that I now know...)

Oh, and the "cake stand" was a round cylinder Tupperware container that I covered with some blue and white polka dot material to look like Minnie's skirt.

For decorations I got some coordinating latex balloons, grouped them together, and taped some Mickey and Minnie pictures to the strings.

I used black paper plates, blue polka dot napkins, and red cups for lunch. On the red cups, I cut out white circles (from sticker paper) and made "buttons" for the front to make them look like Mickey's pants.

I also printed out some personalized labels for the water and juice boxes for the kids.

For my daughter's party outfit, I made her a little dress out of the same material that I used on the cake stand and pulled the red bows off the shoes she wore with her Minnie costume.

Lastly, my party favor bags were super simple. They consisted of handmade coloring books (seriously the BEST favor idea I have ever seen that I found at Prudent Baby), crayons, and little boxes of candy. I found the candy at Walmart during Valentine's Day.

For the coloring books I started with these books I found in the $1 section at Target. Let me tell you, I was SO excited to find an all vintage Mickey coloring book right before my daughter's party! It was meant to be:)

I tore out the pages and trimmed the edges (to get rid of the copyright stamps at the bottom).

Then I made a folded flap for the side out of card stock and used a zigzag stitch to sew them together. I didn't take the time to put covers on them...but I actually liked them that way.

For the crayons, I bought a large box of crayons and divided them up into different groups. I made the little bags by sewing together a little pouch made of wax paper. It was just a nice twist on a traditional crayon box. I then put all the items in fun polka dot party bags that I had found on clearance at Target.

So...that was our fantastic vintage Mickey and Minnie party! I'm glad I finally shared it on here. My daughter STILL talks about it...so I know she was happy that day and that's all that matters.

Plus, now she is already planning her Tinkerbell party for next spring...yikes!