Vintage Buttons In Our Etsy Shop

Not long ago we decided to try some vintage buttons in our Etsy shop. They seem to partner nicely with vintage sewing patterns. Today we got the nicest shout out by Lauren over at Wearing History.

She bought these really cool vintage red filigree buttons from us that look like they were made for the sweater she put them on, don't you think?  

She sells this pattern via .pdf download here. 

It's really fun to get to see the finished product of something made with items that we sell.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Christmas Sleighs

I've been blog absent for a long time. Between working 60-70 hours a week and getting ready for Christmas, it hasn't left much time for anything else. Even though I haven't been able to post anything, I haven't completely forgotten about my blog. I've been taking pictures and have lots of blog posts to put up. I wanted to get this one up, in case it might inspire some of you to do something similar while you still have time. I made something like these years ago, but this time I decided to challenge myself to see if I could do it on the cheap with all of my components coming from thrift and dollar stores. 

I completed the challenge by creating two fun and festive center pieces at a fraction of the cost from my previous versions.

I started in early November watching the thrift stores for just the right sleigh basket. The ones I made in the past were wicker. I found this wire one at a Goodwill and paid a little more than I wanted, $3, but I had been looking for sometime and it was the right size at 15" long and in good condition, so I went ahead and bought it. I found a smaller wicker and metal version at a much better price since it was in my Mother-in-Law's basement making it free. (Yay Free!!)

While I was watching the thrift stores for sleigh baskets, I was buying up festive bobbles, picks, sprigs and candles. I actually found one big bag of misc stuff for $1.40 at one shop.

At another I found a bag with two short pillars and a nutcracker candle still wrapped in cellophane, never used, for $2.00.

I hit the Dollar Tree for the clear plastic bowl that I needed for the wire sleigh and a bag of Potpourri so they would smell AND look pretty.

With all of the components finally gathered I spread them all out on my work surface and started putting them together. I started with the wire one, since it was bigger. I knew I wanted the silk flowers standing up in the back, so I cut a piece of the floral foam that I had to the right size and wrapped it in aluminum foil since it would show through the sides. With the poinsettias inserted in the back piece of foam I added the bowl to the body of the sleigh, wrapped another piece of foam in foil and inserted cinnamon sticks at the four corners. I poured the potpourri into the bowl around the block of foam and placed one of the pillar candles on top of that foam piece.

Then I filled it in with some of the little sprigs and sprays that came from that mixed bag that I bought at the one thrift store. I added straight pins and secured them into the foam under the candle where I needed.

Of course the candles not for burning, but it adds a pretty festive touch, don't you think?

For the smaller sleigh I decided my nutcracker candle should be the driver so I positioned the remaining piece of floral foam in the basket, carved out a small section for him to rest in and set pins around the parameter to so he wouldn't topple out too easy. I poured the rest of the potpourri around the foam and added more sprigs and sprays to fill in. I decided it needed some height so I added the golden berries at the back.
 

I have about $5.00 cost in each which is pretty cheap for large, floral, fragrant centerpieces. They were really fun to do and came together really fast. And I must admit, the best part was in the hunt for all the pieces in the thrift stores! I'll have to keep my eyes open for another sleigh. I think I have enough of the decorative bits for one more. Potpourri and flower foam is easy enough to come by if I find the right vessel to make one more.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm linking up at Debbiedoo's  , Home Stories AtoZ and other fun parties listed on my Link Party page. See you there!

Life Magazine - Time Machine

I love looking at old magazines. They are a fun step back in time. And while the articles can be fun to read, for me anyway, it's the ads that really tell the tale.

We went to an estate auction recently and one of the boxes of crap treasures we came home with had a 1954 Life Magazine in it. I'm going to reap a few blog posts from it, as it's a great issue all about fashion, but I'm going to start with one about the ads.

 Get a load at that price! $2.95 for the set. Do you know what complete sets of those Anchorglass Mixing Bowls sell for today? Ones in good condition bring over $100.00.. that's some appreciation rate!
 I love how the two women in this Briggs and Statton lawn mower ad are both mowing the grass in skirts. 

 What a fancy dress for admiring the new window air conditioner!

These just made me giggle. From the lady in the flamenco dancer dress who's constipation worries are over, the innovative step stool that lets housewives "work relaxed", and the woman who dreamed she flew a kite in her new Maidenform bra!

 Here's two more things we can all be thankful for. The invention of a better toilet bowl brush and the 10 key calculator!

Do you eat open face hot dogs with a knife and fork? I guess you'd have to! And how fun is this Libby's Pineapple juice ad?

 Never forget... if you want to win the boys, stay sweet as you are! And of course that starts with Listerine mouth wash! heheh

      
 I guess some things were lost in translation over the years. I'm not really sure how shrinking cotton causes you to be "swept away".. and besides.. when your waist is as small as your neck do you really need to worry about your clothes shrinking?

The "48 states" caught my attention. It wasn't for another five years after this magazine issue that Alaska and Hawaii joined the union and we became 50 states. 

 Due to my watch fetish I had to pay homage to this old Timex ad. I just don't know why the pups look so sad. They're advertising watches! What's there to be sad about?

And I guess after an evening of watching the little woman hang the wallpaper, she could go to the kitchen

where she could sit on her step stool and relax while she cooked dinner using her "pride and joy" Wear-Ever pots and pans! 

Thanks for stepping back in time with me. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did. 

Have a great week :)

I'll be joining DebbieDoos and other fun parties this week, check out my Link Parties page for the complete list.

A Bag For My Bike

With Labor day coming to a close it's time to bid adieu to summer time. We didn't get to take an official vacation this year, but Mr ShowMe and I did take up bike riding. We've had quite a lot of fun with it. My bike's an old hand-me-down, but I really like it. It has a sort of retro vibe and of course you can't beat the color!

It didn't take too many trips out on the bike with my keys and other personal effects crammed into my pockets that I decided I needed a bag for it.
My intentions were good. It's not as if I don't have a lot of wonderful fabric in my stash. I searched the web. I even picked one bike bag as my favorite. 

Tamara at Etcetorize posted this lovely bag that she made for her bike and even provided a tutorial to take out all the guess work. But before I got that far I ran across a ready made zipper bag that I received from the airline both times I flew to the Philippines with my job. 
They gave us these bags with toiletries in them. I had one from each of my trips there. They aren't really big enough to use as a travel bag, but with me being a bit of a pack rat, of course I still had them. 
I hand sewed on strips of some nylon strapping that I had and added Velcro on each. 

It turned out to be the perfect size for the front of my bike. The fabric will be more water resistant than anything from my stash would have been any way, and it's plenty roomy to hold my keys, cell phone, Kleenex and inhaler for my allergies, and even my camera. 

So on one hand I cheated, but on the other hand I recycled something that I didn't really have a use for otherwise. Maybe I'll embellish it with fabric flowers or something so I don't feel like a complete sell-out! (But if I do that, I'll stick to embellishing just the bag on my bike. I don't think Mr. ShowMe would find it as aesthetically pleasing on the one I put on his bike! hehe)

Did you have any fun adventures over the summer?

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Sewing Machine Cover

I've been meaning to make a sewing machine cover for some time now. When I won the Amy Butler fabric from Flamingo Toes I considered making one with some of that, but before I made my final decision I went through my fabric stash and rediscovered this really cool retro apron. I should have taken a picture of it when I started so you could see the "before". It was in really bad disrepair. There was a hole in one corner and the tie was ripped. I could just never bring myself to toss it because it was just so darn cute despite it's poor condition.


I always thought I might find a project for it that wouldn't stress it too much. I tossed it in a lingerie net bag and washed it on gentle and was super careful ironing it once it was dry. I had to piece the back section with the ironing woman fending off her man with the steaming iron. I cut the phrase in a separate piece and made a pocket with it. 

Plain white cotton for the sides, top and back. And now I have another reason to smile when I walk into my sewing room!

Maybe I'll tackle the ironing board cover next!


Have you made a cover for your sewing machine?


I'm joining DebbieDoo's and Fox Hollow Cottage Pin the Tail on the Bloggy. You should join us for the fun!

Flea Market Adventure

There's a flea market near our house each weekend. Mr.ShowMe and I decided to venture out to it today. It's blazing hot here, more typical of 4th of July weather than Memorial Day weekend. We figured we could get out to the flea market early and be back home long before the hottest part of the day. I found some real treasures and captured many more on film like this pressed glass compote. 

Here's a little peak of our adventure. 


It's a popular place.

An old large domed glass oval frame with a baby photo. I always find these to be sweet, but a little creepy too.

 Some pretties placed on an antique dresser.

 Old cast iron.

 A doll house.

It wasn't all old items there. This dealer had fishing stuff, here's a just a few of his tubs of rubber worms.

An old pink grocery scale and a really cool stylized bird lamp base.

 Check out this neat old hat box!

And these gorgeous vintage dresses!

Several dealers had tables full of old oil lamps. These were particularly lovely.

Old teddy bears and their little black lamb friend.

The bright colors in this old painting really grabbed my attention.

More oil lamps.. these with metal bases.

This old Sante Fe railroad clock reads Hollywood Cal. on the face.

 This old rocker upholstered in red velvet was in really good condition.

I couldn't walk by without taking pictures of the old sewing machines.

Retro Anchor Hocking Fire King Tulip Bowls. (Their condition was so perfect, Mr. ShowMe and I wondered if they were repros.)

Here's an electric typewriter probably from the early 70's with the case and the proud union label from a time in history when we still manufactured things here in the U.S. and a World's Fair poster that might be a repro, but still had cool graphic images.

A really big wheel!

This dealer had a neat assortment of old, tiny, stuffed animals and had them arranged in and on a tiny wooden dresser.

Here's the items that were too tempting to leave behind.

A dealer had a basket of vintage fabric that contained a bag with 39 pieces of sample fabric. Each piece is 11" wide by 9" tall. There are 3 or 4 color variations of each print. I think they're upholstery samples. They're lovely and just the thing to use for some bags I'm going to make, (stay tuned for that!). They only wanted $2 for the bag, so they came home with me.

This tiny (3.25" diameter) Hot Springs souvenir plate came home with me too. It would have to be The Bargain Of The Day since it was free! I collect Florida souvenir plates, so I always look when I see one to see if it's from Florida. I just couldn't believe it when I saw it said Hot Springs. That isn't in Florida, rather Arkansas, but it's where I lived with my Grandmother when I graduated high school, so I just had to have it. When I asked the dealer the price, he told me, "It's yours". I tried to insist that I pay him something, but he told me again that I could just have it, so I quit arguing and put it in my camera case for safe keeping till I got home.

Old watches are great to craft with so at $2 that Elgin was mine, and when the dealer told me those disc earrings were only $1, I decided to find a second pair for the price and selected the turquoise drops with the red beads too.

So here's my whole $7 haul. (I keep telling Mr. ShowMe that I'm a cheap date. I think this proves it!)

The clamps and note pads for $1 rounded out the rest. I'm always scrounging around for clamps and clips to hold things until the glue dries, and I need to start keeping a note pad in my purse to jot things down when I have moments of inspiration for blog posts or purse & craft ideas.

I hope you're having a great weekend. 

Thanks for stopping by!