Oh the joys of thrifting

I ventured out today to my favorite thrift store. My niece is having a baby and I wanted to make some projects from Amanda Blake Soule's books to welcome the baby. In her latest book, The Handmade Home, Soule gives lots of creative ideas for finding materials that have been gently used. One idea is using men's extra large t-shirts for fabric for kids shorts, leggings, etc. I made Jman an entire wardrobe of shorts last summer with just that. So with a small list in hand I headed out... Little did I know the treasures that were waiting for me! First I wanted to find some men's dress shirts for fabric for the baby bag. My niece is using pinstriped baby blue (like a men's shirt) and navy in the nursery. So I scored with these...

Which turned into this bag from one of Soule's books...

Next I came across these nubby wool blankets...

Which will become versions of this at some latter point..

We love Mommy's Little Monsters! The striped roll in the front is wallpaper. It is still in the plastic. I will use it to line my bathroom cabinets. Then I came across this...

Loads of vintage fabric scraps from a failed quilting attempt plus some felt and canvas. I use all of these all the time in craft and sewing projects. Felt is so easy to work with and the vintage scraps make nice appliques and accents.Then I found something I wasn't even looking for but I just had to take home...

Aren't paper dolls just the best!!!!! This package had never been played with. My daughter and I love to play paperdolls and this set even came with that neat backdrop, score! Then I stumbled across another surupise....

That is a bowl full of rubber stamps. Lots of animals in the mix. My kids will use these in their creations and later I can use them in the classroom! What did I come for again?

I'm doing the happy dance. Since I was already on a roll I decided to stroll down another aisle. Which is where I found these vintage glasses...

So cute! They will go great with the vintage drinking glasses I already have. Next came a soap dispenser which I wanted for my bathroom.

Then I hit the jackpot. Obviously a local stationary store had discontinued a couple of lines of greeting cards, one of which happened to be one of my favorite illustrators, Mary Englebreit. I scored a shoebox full of greeting cards for $4!!!!!!

Finally I got this out of date calendar for FREE. It has prints from vintage military posters. I'm going to use one to make a card for my Dad this Memorial Day.

Well there you go! Hope you are just as lucky in your thrifting excursions this summer!

You LIttle Sew and Sew

Recently my daughter discovered a gift card she had overlooked in the mayhem that was her birthday sleep-over. The gift-card was to a store in our local mall geared toward tweens. Last night we decided to check it out. There was everything a fashion diva like Miss T could want. Outfits and accessories galore. Unfortunately, one would need to make diva dollars to shop there on a regular basis. T was shocked to discover that her $20 was not going to go very far. She decided on a cute pair of earrings and a necklace.

I kept looking at everything thinking ,"even I could make that"! So today I woke with a bee in my bonnet and headed off to the fabric store. I came home with this.

All fabrics for $1 to $2 a yard. Then I got busy making this skirt...

And this vest....

Both which were remakes of stuff we saw last night. Let be clear, I am no seamstress. No one ever taught me to sew. I just decided to get a little inexpensive machine and go for it. There are no patterns when I sew and lots of trail and error. But in the end I was so very pleased. I cannot wait to tackle that mountain of fabric in coming weeks and make more clothes for Miss Priss. I have so many ideas floating around in my head!

Tiny People are Healthy People and Other Lies I've told myself.

There is a myth about tiny people that says size equates with healthiness. I must break the code of silence and tell you nothing could be further from the truth. As a tiny person I have done more than my fair share of eating-out this semester of school. I only put on around five pounds but it all seems to be concentrated like a floatation device around my mid section. My husband brought home Jillian Michael's 2010 Challenge for Wii yesterday. I decided to give the circuit training a go - you know just for kicks. Even though I started out on the easiest possible setting, I was definitely winded when the workout was done. Also, I need to mention that for the first time in my life I bounced when I ran - jiggled really. To a tiny person never having experienced this sensation I must say it was rather traumatic. But just the kind of wake up call I needed. I may be tiny but I am VERY out of shape. So when the last Oreo disappears from the pantry I will say adios to processed food indefinitely. And that my friend is a fact.