Three Cents on the Altar

My husband thinks I’m a cheapskate. He told me yesterday that on the way home from work, they were talking about cheapskates on the radio. He said he almost called in to tell them about me and my hotel soaps. (I blogged a couple months ago about how I ground up all those little soaps from hotels, added water, and ended up with several containers of hand soap). That’s not being a cheapskate, right? Okay, maybe just a little.

I think this guy has me beat, though: a caller explained how his buddy loves to pick up coins (who doesn’t?!). While in the middle of his wedding ceremony , he spied three pennies on the altar. Apparently, he eyeballed them throughout the entire ceremony, and then afterwards, went back and picked them up! Yes, and his buddy got the whole thing on camera. It just wouldn’t be a wedding without some kind of debacle, now would it? I can just imagine the conversation that ensued between the newlyweds.

Husband: Honey, did you see those three cents sitting on the altar?! I totally scored!
Wife: OMG. Tell me you didn’t.
Husband: Lookie here. One’s from 2007, 2002, and this one here’s a wheat penny! Can you believe my good fortune?!
Wife: I want an annulment.

Of course, maybe the wife is a cheap skate too, in which case the conversation may have went something like this:

Wife: You went back for those three cents, right?
Husband: Yeah, I've got them right here. Two for you, one for me.
Wife: I'm feeling so turned on right now! Let's skip the reception and head straight up to our honeymoon suite!
Husband: Woohoo!

So could you pick up and keep money you found on the altar at church? I’m cheap, and I love to find money, however I just couldn’t do it. I can’t think of too many places where I’d skip it and leave it, but that is definitely one of them. The bathroom floor of a public place- that would have to be another one. I probably wouldn’t pick up coins from the floor of a thrift store either, at least not the ones around here. They’re pretty gross.

What a perfect segue into my next topic: yesterday’s thrifty finds, part deux. Today we’ll focus on the vintage finds. (Yay, my favorite!)


Here are my pretty red finds. I have a collection of rolling pins with pretty painted handles, and the ones with red handles are my favorite! I scored this one for just two bucks :) The tablecloth was a little more than I wanted to spend ($3), however I just couldn't leave it there since 1) it has roses on it, and 2) my dining room is red, and it will look smashing on our table. The other finds aren't vintage, however since they were red, I added them to the photo.


All my vintage sewing stuff that I got for a buck. It was worth it for the elastic alone, since I need elastic to make the baby pants (see yesterday's post).

I can't believe there's red rick rack in there. I was just saying the other day that I wanted red rick rack to finish off my NY Rangers bib, but since I didn't have any, I just went with something that I already had in my stash. Grrr. If this had just come a few weeks sooner...



Interesting. I'll have to check this little toy out. It says it makes sewing fun. Isn't sewing fun already?! Now a seam ripper that makes seam ripping fun, that would be something I'd be interested in. Maybe I should invent one and become very rich.


Don't you just hate those pesky zipper snags? Well do I have the product for you. And it was originally only 29c. Wow. Those were the good ole days.

Lamenting the Lost Sewing Pixies

Hello Sunday Stash follower(s):
(is there more than one of you out there?!)

I found some fabrics at my Wednesday thrifting trip. I also found some during my thrifting trip two days later, however I decided to put Friday's finds back at the last minute. Fabric is so abundant that I've decided that if it's not cheap-cheap, then I'll pass. So what is cheap-cheap? Well, I passed on the bags of fabric at the Alum Creek Ohio Thrift, and each large bag was $2.99, so apparently that's not cheap enough. A dollar is cheap. Under a dollar is cheap-cheap.

What I don't like about the bags of fabric is that you can't tell how much yardage is in there. Also, just like with any thrift store grab-bag, you get lots of different fabrics (some awesome, some "what-were-you-smoking-when-you-designed-this-fabric?"). It's kind of like Christmas when you open those grab bags because there's prints hidden in the center that you can't see until you open it up. Unfortunately, many times it's like Christmas when you're Ralphie opening up an unwanted pink bunny suit from a well-meaning, yet apparently delusional, auntie.

So alas, I passed. The more I'm thinking about it though, the more I am kicking myself for walking away. Three dollars is still pretty cheap I guess, it just depends how much usable fabric is in the bag.

But damn, there was some cool prints in those bags. One bag had a fabric with a button print. Too cute. Another bag had this blue and white fabric that had little pixies sitting atop spools of thread. Do you think Joel would like wearing an outfit with sewing pixies on it? The fabric is blue after all, so it's not that feminine.

Oh Thrift-Store-Powers-That-Be, why couldn't you have put both the sewing-themed fabrics in the same bag? I totally would have swooped in and bought it if that was the case ... ok enough whining. I sincerely apologize.

I'll focus on the positive. I did find some cool fabrics last Wednesday that I can share with you today. Up first, for 99c, this primary color, great-for-toddlers polka dotted sheet which I will cut up into many things for Joel. A clown outfit perhaps? My sister-in-law is deathly afraid of clowns. That would send her over the edge.


Here we have a few pillowcases to cut up for fabric. One of them was 59c, but was 75% off so in the end, it was 15 whole cents. I splurged. The other pillowcase (50c) had two different fabrics, so I folded it over to show you both. The non-blue side has a chess pattern on it that's pretty cool. Not that I want my son to follow in my hubby's footsteps and be on the fifth grade chess team or anything. Sorry if I've offended anyone out there who's really into chess, it's just that I have big plans for my son. Since I'm a band director, I want him to be in the band. That's way cooler than the chess club, right? Being in band isn't nerdy at all. The next item on my sewing agenda is a pocket protector for the little man. He doesn't stand a chance.


A close-up of the chess print


And last but not least, some pillowcases that I fell in love with. I think I just might leave them as pillowcases to use on the bed rather than cutting them up for the fabric. The little flowers are so sweet. I have a bit of a pillowcase fetish, you see, and I need more pillowcases like I need another hole in my head. But at 59c apiece, I couldn't walk on by. I realize I have no more room in my hall closet for any more pillowcases, but I purchased them none-the-less. I can get rid of something in the closet to make room... hubby's fraying orange towels perhaps?

Binkie Clips and Kiddie Wallet Finished!

Joel spent a lot of time sleeping today, which afforded me the opportunity to sew, sew, sew! There was two tutorials that I was just dying to make: these binkie clips and this wallet for Joel. I thought the wallet would be cute in brown so that Joel's wallet would match daddy's. I didn't make Joel's out of leather, of course, but I did have a nice, sturdy brown fabric that worked out well.

Like always, I strayed from the tutorial. I opted to use steam-n-seam to close the hole after turning the wallet right-side-out rather than topstitching around the perimeter of the wallet. I also left out the button in favor of a sewn snap. I think it turned out very cute, especially after I put in those fake credit cards that come in the mail.
Cost: absolutely F.R.E.E.


These binkie clips were super easy to make, and the tutorial was very thorough and easy to understand :) I decided to use hot glue to attach the velcro to the ribbon because I could not find my liquid stitch, but other than that I followed the tutorial (I think). Unfortunately though, I realized that out the three pacifers that we have, none of them will work with these binkie clips because there's no way to attach them! *Sigh* I guess we'll have to go buy some more binkies!

You know what's really awesome about these clips? I didn't even have to buy the ribbons! They came free on gifts we received, so of course I saved them. I just knew there would be a project on down the line when these little lovelies would come in handy. I was right!

Ribbon: free.
Metal clips: two dollars.
Not having to bend over and pick up dropped pacifiers one million times a day: priceless.

Birthday Bunting and Sunday Stash

I finished the bunting today. Since there are so many different fabrics in it (14), I decided that it could double as my Sunday Stash post.

H: a thrifted cherry print skirt
A: a curtain that was in the house when I bought it
P: a remnant from a shower curtain I bought at Walmart to use in the basement


P: a bandana that was my grandpa's
Y: a shower curtain sample that I got when I worked at Kohls
hearts: purchased new at Joanns


The next three fabrics were part of my great-grandma's stash. My great-aunt gave me her stash after she passed away.


T: a remnant left over from a project for a friend
H: a sample given to me by my ex's mother
D: part of great-grandma's stash


A: a remnant I purchased second hand
Y: part of great-grandma's stash

And now... the Rest of the Story

The radio legend Paul Harvey passed away today :( He was 90 years old. I will greatly miss your 6 o'clock biographical/historical chat, Mr. Harvey. No one can do pauses like you!

In other news, we went to my husband's cousin's daughter's first birthday party today. So when I got home, I did what any mother of a 2-week-old would do... I started to make a birthday bunting for my son! Yes, I have fifty weeks until he turns one. So?

There's lots of blog entries out there dedicated to creating birthday buntings; I liked this one, although I'm not exactly following it. I did use it as a jumping off point, though.

I liked that she sewed the fronts and backs with right sides together and then turned them right side out so that the seams are on the inside. Many of the buntings out there are made with a single piece of fabric with the edges trimmed with pinking shears. That look is nice too, however I'd be afraid that it would fray over time. Since I plan on using this bunting forever, I just can't have frayed edges. Joel will be in his sixties, and I in my nineties, and I'll still be dragging the darn thing out...

I can't free hand letters very well, as evidenced by the baby blocks that I made. So instead of freehanding the letters, I found a font I liked in Microsoft Word, made it large enough, and then traced around the letters onto paper right off the computer screen. I then pinned the letters onto the felt and cut them out. Voila! Much better looking!

I haven't sewed the fronts to the backs yet, nor have I sewed the felt letters onto the fabric, however I decided to photograph a few of the little flags for your viewing pleasure. Notice the word that the chosen flags spell out... "DIRTY." That was a total coincidence! They even came out in that exact order! I think the sewing gods are trying to tell me something. Tear yourself away from your sewing machine for a little while so you can clean your house, damnit!




I had to use some heart fabric since my son was born on Valentine's Day!
Here's the same fabric I used for the the NY Rangers bib the other day.

Update: I finished the bunting today. Let me just say that bias tape is the devil. I thrifted a whole bag of it several weeks ago, so I figured now would be a nice time to use some of it. I planned on folding it over the top edge and sewing it down, however that wasn't working out for me. Instead, I ripped out the seam I had begun and started over with steam-a-seam. I decided to not fold the bias tape over, and instead used two strips of bias tape, one for the front and one for the back, held in place with steam-a-seam. I then stitched the top to keep the bias tapes connected together. That probably made no sense ... sorry. If you want to know more, I can try to explain it better. Right now I am sleep deprived from having a 15-day-old!

And now you know ... the rest of the story! Update: here's the bunting in use at his first birthday party :)

Some Kitchen-y Stuff

The baby is sleeping, so hubby and I are just sitting around watching "Cash Cab." How exciting. I have some thrifted stuff to photograph still sitting in the trunk of my car, but it's just too cold for me to venture out into the garage. In the meantime, we can enjoy some photos of things in my kitchen.
Here's a vintage thrifted scale that I rarely use but had to have it
A pyrex bowl I found at a garage sale for probably a buck or less. I don't remember for sure how much it cost because I found it several years ago, but I know it was cheap or I wouldn't have gotten it!
A place to store my knives. I found this beauty at a flea market for a buck or so.
About a third of my collander collection. All thrifted and garage sale finds! I love the little one :) It had a broken handle when I bought it, so my then-boyfriend fixed it for me
I found this little wooden thingie at a thrift store years ago, painted the recycling sign onto the lid, and now use it for my recycling (duh)
Last but not least, here are two of the three reusable lunch sacks I sewed a few weeks ago. I used this tutorial and a thrifted vinyl tablecloth that cost me a buck. I used them for several weeks before I stopped working and went on maternity leave. They are holding up well!

Rabbit Fabric

Valentine's Day is over, and now I am ready for Easter! Yes, I realize I am skipping over St. Patty's Day, but Easter is so much more fun.
This green bunny fabric is a shirt I got as a gift several years ago.
This baby bunny fabric came new from Joanns several years ago. It was too cute to pass up. Now that I have a little boy, it's perfect! I'm sure I'll come up with something to make with it. Anyone have any ideas of what Joel needs? I have lots of bibs, clothes, blankets, wash cloths, etc. already. I'm thinking of some kind of toy...

Upcylced NY Rangers Bib

My baby is going to be raised to be environmentally-friendly! Unfortunately Mommy is not a very good ironer and if you look carefully (actually you don't really have to look all that carefully as it's pretty obvious...) you can see a (not-so) slight iron-burn. Bummer. Then I had a bright idea: I tea-stained the entire onesie to hide the burn. It looks good now!

Remember this NY Rangers towel I thrifted yesterday for 59c?


Now it's this:
I added the thrifted towel to a piece of remnant fabric from my stash. I wanted to use a plain red fabric for the upper part of the bib however apparently I am out of the one I was thinking of. Oh well, this plaid looks pretty good too. I still have to add some rick rack or ribbon but I just can't decide! I don't have any rick rack so if I go that route, I'll have to buy some. I pulled out a few ribbons and bias tapes that might work. I really had my heart set on red, but this is what I have in my stash:

Here's some thrifted teal bias tape

And some thrifted light green bias tape

I don't think that this will be the winner. I like this green ribbon the least. Actually I was planning on making a binkie clip with this scrap of ribbon.

An interview from Sew, Mama, Sew!

I'm just sitting around waiting for the hubby to wake up so I can get showered and start my day. I would like to get some red rick rack to finish up the NY Rangers bib I made yesterday, and then of course since I'll be going right past it, I'll stop in at the Pickerington Goodwill, even though it isn't the best thrift store. Actually it's my least favorite one because it's small and pretty expensive, but it will have to do for today!

I found on Sew, Mama, Sew's blog where she has been asking fabric questions, so I thought I would play along:

What do you usually sew?
I started out by sewing mostly home-dec stuff (pillows, slipcovers, etc), however then I ventured out to sewing clothes. I made myself four maternity shirts and several maternity dresses, although the dresses were tank top style and therefore didn't see any use for this pregnancy. It's just been too cold to wear dresses anyway. Lastly, I've gotten into sewing things for baby like felt food, fabric blocks and toys, etc.

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?) I don't think I've purchased new fabric at all lately. I've made a pledge to myself that I would repurpose thrifted clothes, and I've been sticking to it. Actually I made a pledge to myself that I wouldn't buy any more fabric at all until I get this stash to a more manageable level, however with the arrival of Joel, I need to build up my stash of little boy fabrics. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?
Usually I am just out thrifting and I see some fabric that catches my eye at a price that's just right so I'll scoop it up. I might have it in my head that I am looking for baby pants fabric for example, and then I'll find something that I could chop up and make nice pants out of.

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it? If I get it new at Joanns, then no I usually don't prewash it (I am so bad...) however when I get something at a thrift store, I do wash it. Although if it's at a thrift store, it's probably already been washed so the shrinkage factor doesn't really come into play; it's more for my peace of mind.

Do you iron it? Ha. This one made me laugh out loud. Um, not so much.

How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.) Another question that made me laugh. There's no sorting. It's just dumped into plastic totes since Joel kicked me out of my sewing room.

Do you have any special folding techniques? See above. No sorting, no folding, no ironing. I'm a bit of a slob.

How do you store your fabric?
I have four large plastic bins and I jam-pack as much as I can into those.

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?
Since I am a music teacher, I am a firm believer that a well-rounded education includes studies in the arts and physical education. I will have to try harder to teach my fabric stash how to play musical instruments and run laps. I would have to say though that fabric scraps don't talk back and generally do what I say, so we should have a good time learning about the arts and becoming well-rounded!

When do you say enough is enough?
Um, I don't know that I've ever said "enough is enough."

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?
Lately it's been stuff for Joel. I like making fabric food :)

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it! Hmmm, I'd have to say that my cowboys and indians themed fabrics are among my favorite finds right now. I can't wait for Joel to be old enough to care! I posted pics a few weeks back so you can see them.

What’s your definition of the perfect stash?
Perfect for me means saving fabrics from the racks at a thrift store and revitalizing that little gem into something that my family will treasure! If it's second hand, it's perfect :)

Sunday Stash is here despite the newborn's arrival

Hello folks. I'm in the hospital after a lengthy birth... more about that will come later. Luckily I photographed some fabric a few days ago, because otherwise there would be no Sunday stash today. I can't sleep, so I figured 1 AM would be a good time to get online and post some photos of Valentiney fabric that I have. A day late and a dollar short, yes I know, but that's the story of my life!

The fabric above was a Joanns purchase years ago. The one directly below was too.


This one is a set of thrifted pillow shams from a long time ago. I used them as pillow shams for a few years, got sick of them, and now they're in my fabric stash to cut up and use as I see fit. I was going to do some kind of Valentiney craft with fabric however with the little one's arrival, I never got around to it!

Making a Hobby Horse

I went out shopping today to look for a frame for the pop art photo of my husband's cousin's child. I visited several dollar stores and the two thrift stores by the mall and found several that would work, however none that really floated my boat. I didn't get a frame yet, so I'll have to go out again hunting this weekend.

The thrift store that was having the 50% off sale on toys the other day now has 75% off of toys! I found a new-in-the-package digital timer/bookmark that students can use to time how long they read. It was originally marked 30c- you do the math! Its tag said it was originally 9 bucks. Also, I picked up a hard back book about a singing moose (this band director can't pass up a book about music). Children's books are 50c, however apparently it was 75% off too! I got both for twenty cents. Now that's a good trip to the shops!

Next door I scored four magazine holders (I've been eyeing them at Staples and Office Max for awhile, but ten to fifteen dollars each is just too steep for my blood). They're pretty dingy right now however it's nothing that a bit of spray paint can't fix. They were 60c each. I might do something with them to make them Valentine-y for Jason since he's finally agreed to have a make-it-yourself V-day. I also found two little children's clip-on ties that had yellow tags. Yellow= 50% off. One ended up being a quarter, and the other 35c.

I have been wanting to make a hobby horse for Joel since I found a dowel rod the other day in my room at school. I have no idea where it came from, and no one has claimed it, and it's been a couple weeks. I figure it's trash and otherwise free for the taking. Either that or I could reinstate corporal punishment with it. That sounds good to me, but I might get some pushback from parents and kids...

Anyway, so today at the 75%-off-toys-thrift-store, I found a hobby horse that was originally $1.91. That would make the darn thing less than 50c. Geesh. I contemplated getting it and saving myself from sewing one, but then I stopped myself. Where's the fun in buying one, when I can cuss out my sewing machine for a few hours while making one?

So when I got home, I got busy. I picked out a piece of Nan's hand-me-down vintage 70s brown and tan fabric for the head of the horse. Let me warn you, when you look at this fabric too long, it will make you hungry for chocolate and butterscotch pudding. Seriously. Unless it's just me.

I used some yellow yarn for the mane, some buttons for the eyes, a solid brown for the reins, and little key chain thingies for the circular metal parts that the reins go through. I was especially pleased with myself over that last one. A pure stroke of genius if you ask me.

I put it all together (minus the dowel rod which is still at work), and have posted a picture of what I have so far. Here's a close-up of the reins.

My son, the unborn-rock-star-in-training

I fell in love with these guitar softies today. And I had just the right fabric for it... leftover music themed fabric that I bought years ago when I first started teaching. I have a window in my office that looks out to the practice room next door, and I wanted curtains for that window.

It really wasn't hard to make this guitar. I looked at some pictures, then freehanded one onto a few pieces of junk mail taped together to make my pattern. I then did all the obvious stuff, like pinned it onto the fabric, cut it out, put the fabric right sides together and repinned, and then sewed around the perimeter. I left two holes for stuffing, one at the bottom and one in the neck of the guitar. I turned it right side out, ironed it, and then realized I forgot to sew on the felt pieces. I ended up just using hem tape and my trusty iron to attach the felt pieces. Hem tape is my best friend.

I then stuffed the little guitar with thrifted still-in-the-package polyfill, and then topstitched the openings closed. That part sucked, but I don't think Joel will notice. He'll be too busy rockin' out to Def Lepard and Guns and Roses. Ah, those were the days.




Here's a closeup of the fabric choice

Colored Pencil Roll for Joel

I made it to another weekend, phew! More crafting and sewing while the hubby is at work. I woke up at 4 am and read some crafty blogs until about daybreak, then I started sewing. I got done at about 10 am with this colored pencil roll. It should not have taken me several hours to complete; I am not sure where the time went. I must have been stuck in some kind of sewing time warp or something.

Here are the fabric strips I cut out, ready to be ironed.

Here is the colored pencil roll after it's been all sewed together. I am not really one for topstitching, so I used hem tape to fuse the opening shut (from where you have to turn it right side out). I am a bit of a half-ass sewer I guess. Call me lazy.

Some close-ups.



All finished!