Some Thrifty Finds

Here are my finds from the other day. First up are those magazine holders I picked up back before Valentines Day (59c each). Actually, two were marked 99c and the other two were marked 59c, and the cashier said she could give them to me for all 59c. Yippee!

I like how one of them is a different color than the others. I plan on spray painting them, however I think I'll still make one of them a different color than the others. I have red and orange spray paint. I think I'll do three red and one orange just for a punch of color. I think I also may decoupage "J O E L" on them. Another idea I had was to use chalkboard paint... I can't decide!

And below we have an opened package of Christmas letter paper (50c), an unopened baby footprint kit still in the shrinkwrap ($2.92), and a children's book of Mozart's The Magic Flute (50c). The music teacher in me can't pass up books on music! The binding was pretty bad, but my friend said just a little elmers glue (even could be watered down elmers glue) would fix it right up. She was right! I put some elmers glue in the binding, and then wedged it between a few objects so that it would stand upright, binding side down, until it dried. Voila! It's fixed!

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!

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.

Thrifting for the Newborn Babe

I had to get out of the house today. I was told not to drive for two weeks, and it's only been five days, but I had to get out none-the-less. My husband's cousin's daughter is turning one in a week, so I went to Kohls to find her a gift. Of course then I was near the Eastland mall thrift stores, so I stopped in.


Above you can see today's finds. I got a plain white onesie (50c because it was half off today), and then I found a new package of two pro-recycling iron-on transfers (50c) to go with it. I also found a little bottle to screw into my breast pump (30c), a Halloween bandana for making these adorable bandana pants (29c), and a NY Rangers towel that I plan on turning into a bib (59c). My husband loves the Rangers, so I was glad to find that towel! Columbus now has its own professional hockey team, so he also loves the Blue Jackets, but he's loved the Rangers since childhood. I also have two Columbus Blue Jackets flags that we got for free at a game once. They have some advertising for Nationwide Insurance on them, so I cut the advertising out of them and will make a bib out of them too. Two bibs maybe; one for Joel and one for his 2 1/2 month old cousin.


Here are the adorable little ties I got Joel a week or two ago when on a thrifting expedition, along with a little book about music. Yellow tags were half off that day, yay!


And lastly, a little metal thermos that I had my eyes on ($1.59). I actually saw a different one a few weeks ago but didn't get it. When I went back, it was gone and I was totally kicking myself. I saw this one later and scooped it up.

Sun Tea, anyone?

I miss summer. We are having a small taste of spring right now with temps in the 40s-50s and a rain storm! It’s making me really, really, really antsy for warm weather!

A few weeks ago I thrifted this sun tea container for 99c. I obviously haven’t been able to use it so far because 1) we aren’t getting much sun, and 2) any liquids left outside would have frozen almost immediately with those extremely cold temps we had been experiencing.



In the meantime, we can all enjoy these photos of the sun tea container, and we can imagine what the delicious tea will taste like! The above photo is where I keep my tea stash- on the kitchen window ledge in a vintage thrifted wire basket. I heart wire baskets!

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.

Sunday Stash and Yesterday's Thrifty Finds

While hubby was at work yesterday, I went over to the Eastland mall area and visited the VOA and Salvation Army. They're right next door to each other; it's so convenient. The walking path between them was a muddy, snow-melty, puddle-y mess, but I braved it and continued anyway. Puddles mean that it is warming up- horrah! It actually hit 50 yesterday! I tried to tell Joel that the weather is perfect and that he should come on out now, but so far he has not listened. I'm told to get used to it because children in general don't listen to their parents. (What have I gotten myself into?)

Yesterday I mostly perused the baby and toddler clothes sections and got some good finds. I actually found several shirts that were still new with the tags! Most of what I got was either 50% or 75% off, however I did "splurge" and pay full price (99 cents) for some of the shirts that were too cute to pass up (like a couple hockey shirts... like father like son!). What the heck; it's for a good cause, right? I focused on 12 month clothing. Joel should fit into 12 month clothing this fall, seeing as what a fattie he is. Hopefully 18 month clothing would finish out next winter and early spring, when he would be about 12 months. I figure that once he's born and I'm back to work (hopefully...), I won't have that much time to go shopping so I might as well get at least some of it done while I do have the time.


A little Old Navy sweater with the plastic tag thing still attached



Planes, trains, and automobiles.

Maybe Joel will like football.

Or perhaps hockey will be more his thing.


Brand new with tags still attached! And all that for under $12.50

At one of the two stores, all toys were half off but they were pretty picked over so I didn't get any. Usually you can find toys still new in the packaging, but no such luck yesterday. I did get a few other things though: a piece of fabric with a fishing motif on it to add to my previously-non-existent "little boys" fabric stash (59c); a western themed bandana for Joel's room someday (50c); a baby bottle warmer for the car that plugs into the cigarette lighter, new in the box, for under $3; and an el-cheapo plastic "X" and "O" cookie cutter set, new in the package for 90c (although later at the Dollar Tree I saw an 8 pack of plastic Valentines Day cookie cutters for a buck...*grumble*).





I told hubby that I wanted to do a free Valentines Day, and that we should make each other gifts. He's not too keen on that idea. He says that he doesn't know how to make anything. I've told him numerous times that he makes stuff on his computer all the time, but he just isn't getting it. I just don't want to be spending a lot of money when I very well may be losing my job for next school year due to budget cuts. We need to save, save, save! I'm planning on cooking a nice dinner for us, complete with V-day cookies. I've also started making those little flat marble magnets that I've been seeing online everywhere, and I've made ten for him in a Valentines Day theme (as well as dozens for other people for gifts). They are so A. D. D. I. C. T. I. N. G. They are tons of fun to make! I went through some of my magazine stash, cutting out little pictures and have it all spread out on the dining room table. I'm planning on writing a separate post for those though so I will move on to my next topic now.

Last week I joined a group of gals who take photos of their fabric stash and post it on Sundays. Here's mine for the week!

These are all shots of one large drapery panel that I thrifted last week to use in Joel's toddler bedroom once he gets to that point.

Dreaming about thrifting

Good morning! I've been up since 3:30 AM with some killer knee pain. This has happened every night this week! I wake up in the middle of the night, and then I'm up for a couple hours before finally being able to get back to sleep. But then I have to wake up at 6:45 to go to work. Argh. At least the doctor gave me some good news on Tuesday... I am dilated 3 cm, and she will induce me six days early, which falls on Feb 20. She's working at the hospital all that day, so I will have her there to deliver the baby as long as Joel doesn't come sooner on his own. I've been losing my mucus plug over the past two days, so it could be anywhere from hours to days to still a couple weeks yet!

The ultrasound revealed that Joel is in the 95th percentile for size, weighing in at a lofty 7lb 14 oz. Although the doc said that the ultrasound machine tends to estimate a little high, and he's probably more like 7 1/2 pounds right now. His head was measuring a week bigger than dates, however his abdomen was measuring at 42 freaking weeks already! Um, does Joel realize that at the time, he was 36w, 5d? That's about 5 weeks bigger than he should be. The doctor called him a "buddha baby." The other doctor said he was going to come out asking for car keys! Go ahead and laugh now; it's all funny until that has to come out of me. And keep in mind that by then, this child will be two weeks bigger, so we're talking a 44 week abdomen rather than 42 week abdomen! Good times.

I feel like a fat hog. People keep asking me if I'm sure it's not twins. I'm know they all mean well, but damn, why don't you just call me a huge fattie and get it over with! Although yesterday, for the first time, I did hear several nice comments. 1) A teacher exclaimed that I look so cute! (Um, if you're into beached whales, I guess). 2) A student told me that from behind I don't even look pregnant. I could have kissed her. 3) And then later that night, a coworker who I very, very rarely see told me that I'm all baby, and the only place I've really gained weight is in the stomach so I'll be wearing my old pants in no time. I seriously doubt that, but it was nice to hear! The best one though was from the student because students don't say things to be nice. They don't understand that yet- they just speak their mind. Like when I got my hair cut, and several told me how they liked it better longggggggggg, and whyyyyyyyyyyyyy did I have to cut it?!?! Because it's my hair, and it's on my body, so I get to make the decisions. That's why.

Anyway.... So this morning I awoke after having a dream about going to the thrift store near T-3's place. It's not a very big one in real life, but in my dream they had expanded it into the shop next door, and it was huge! It had aisles and aisles of stuff, and even a live plant section! I guess I have the itch. I haven't gone in almost a week, so perhaps I will go Saturday while the hubby works. Not that I need to spend the money, however I could use some pants to wear for the next two weeks. I only really fit into my black pair of maternity pants; my stomach hangs out of all the others because they're not full panel. I really don't want to spend a couple bucks on something I am going to wear for two weeks at the most, however I can't go to work naked! Oh well, I'll probably just keep plugging away with the couple pairs of pants I do have; the kids will just have to deal with my stomach hanging out.

Speaking of thrift stores, you know what else I've been thinking about? Why do Australians call them "op shops?" I think that's a handy dandy name, but what is "op" short for, if anything? Opportunity? Operation? Opposum? Opera? Oprah? Opalescent? Opaque? Openhearted? Opinion? Hmmm.... see why I just can't sleep at night, when I have such burning questions?!

Coming out of the Thrifting Closet

Well folks, it's the last day of January '09. I can't believe the year is 1/12 over already! I'm still not even used to writing "2009" yet! In one more day, we will most likely be in the month when my darling little boy will be born!!

I was perusing the web this morning, reading blogs and trying to keep myself occupied in a silent manner while hubby sleeps like all the other normal people out there, when I ran across this article in "The Other Paper," Columbus's underground newssource. It's an article on thrifting in Columbus, so of course I had to read it. It got me thinking though about coming to terms with thrifting in my own life. Let me explain.

When I was was growing up, I was lead to believe that thrift store shopping was the devil. Yes, that's right, D. E. V. I. L. I remember my mom saying over and over again how one of the great-grandmas (or maybe it was my mom's mom... I forget who it was now) got us this toy that was filthy and from a thrift store, so she threw it out. Until then, I had never even heard of a thrift store. So growing up, I heard that story umpteen times, and my way of thinking had been set; thrift stores= bad, gross, unclean, and evil. Oddly enough, I was allowed to walk around and buy some things when the neighborhood was holding its biannual garage sale, but that's another issue altogether. Apparently, garage saling does not equal thrifting.

Anyway, fast forward to college. A high school friend of mine came down to visit, and she wanted to hit the local thrift store scene. This was all new to me. She and I had never gone thrifting back home. But alas we went, and I remember that I came home with an animal print skirt that I was going to cut up to make a pillow cushion. I was upcycling before I even knew what that was! Around that same time, I began dating this guy whose mom had a huge impact on me. Nevermind that she hated me with a passion. Regardless, I learned immensely from her. My eyes were opened to the world of decorating. Of course, my own mom had things hanging on the walls and such, but she was never really into decorating per se. My ex's mother had such neat things like a huge framed map of France hanging in the kitchen (She was born and raised in France and only moved to the US after getting married), African dolls hanging in the hallway collected during their years living in Africa... anyway, you get the point. Plus, she was all about thrifting. Now mind you, they lived in Hudson. Hudson is a very ritzy area of NE Ohio. I struggled with this concept for quite awhile. How could a self-respecting Hudson resident shop at thrift stores?! This did not make sense. Her house was clean and decorated to the nines, yet stocked with second hand finds. Something did not compute.

Her son (my ex) and I went on to date for over three years. He was obviously raised that thrifting was completely normal, and so he and I went sometimes. This was the true beginnings for me. I remember our freshman year of college going thrifting to find 70s outfits for a 70s themed dance our dorms were having. Good times! As I became more aware of decorating as a hobby and not as something you do once and then it's set in stone, I took advantage of cheap thrift store prices more and more. I was in college after all. All the furniture for our various apartments was second hand, some bought from friends who were graduating and moving on to real furniture, some found curbside (when students move and set their stuff out by the dumpsters near campus, there are some good scores to be had!), some handed down by parents and relatives, and some bought at garage sales and thrift stores. And don't forget about lamps, artwork, dishes, etc!

Now fast forward to post-break-up with that guy, and I eventually began dating another guy. (okay, so there really was this guy in between, but we were only together for six months, and he was a cheating bastard who broke my heart so we'll skip him. Plus, he doesn't really have anything to do with my thrifting past). This new guy and I dated for four years, but he wasn't a thrifter. The only time he and I ever set foot at a thrift store was when we were donating stuff. I still went thrifting from time to time, however I kept it to myself. I was ashamed to admit it. Hey, old habits die hard, and remember how I was raised. Thrifting= the devil. So for four long years, I kept my trips to the thrift store a secret. I really didn't go that much anyway because of the ashamed feeling I got whenever I would go. Somehow, thrifting with buddies made it okay, however when I went by myself, I felt dirty. During this time, though, I did have a coworker who was all about thrifting. She would show me her finds, and I would feel very envious! She even found a purse for a few bucks, turned around and sold it on ebay for several hundred dollars. Thus began her love affair with ebaying her thrifty finds for extra cash. She is what probably kept me going.

Sometime during this period, I also was paid a visit from my brother. He came down and wanted to go thrifting. What?! "You were raised in the same house as me! Didn't you learn that thrifting is for poor people?! You want to go thrifting?!" I couldn't believe it. My brother goes to thrift stores. He has a special place in his heart for strange t-shirts. That day I remember we scored some good ones for 99 cents apiece. That really stuck with me. I began to see that just because my mom doesn't like thrift stores, it was okay for her offspring to enjoy the hunt. As long as she didn't find out about it.

Fast forward some more. I am now married and have a thrifter in my life again. Unfortunately, it's not my husband; he does not share my decorating, sewing, crafting, upcycling genes. My friend T, though, is a great thrifter :) Actually I have three friends T, and they all thrift to some degree. I'll label them in order of how I met them. T-1 has two kids and shops at "Once Upon a Child," a higher priced second-hand store that isn't really a thrift store. They buy stuff from people to resell but are very picky about what they buy, so they only have top notch stuff. T-2 will go thrifting for things like artwork and furniture, but she will not buy clothes. She's also very against clutter so she won't buy chotchkies. Finally though, with T-3, anything is fair game. She's my favorite thrifting buddy but she's moving across the country in a few short months!

Also, during this time period, enters reading blogs about thrifting. So apparently, there's this world of people out there who are just like me! People who enjoy the thrill of the hunt. People who hate to pay full price for anything. People who don't want to see things end up in a landfill. People who can see beauty in something if only it were altered somehow, and then they possess the skills to make it happen! Maybe it's an animal print skirt that would make such a sassy, college-dorm-appropriate pillow. Or maybe it's a wool sweater that could be sliced and diced into little appliques. It's called upcycling, and I have to admit, I am addicted. Sorry hubby. There's no stopping me now.

One more thing gave me thrifting strength during this period in my life. It may seem like a tiny, insignificant thing, however it has stuck with me. My husband's grandmother and I were talking awhile back, and she mentioned shopping at a thrift store. She was saying that one of her children flat out refused to shop at the thrift store and thought it was so humiliating. I do think that the majority of my husband's family probably feels that same way, however it stuck with me that his grandma shares my sentiment. That's important to me.

For the first time in my life, I feel liberated from the feelings I felt in my younger thrifting years. I don't feel ashamed. I don't look at it like it's something poor people do. And I don't care who finds out about it (with the exception of my students... I really don't like to run into them at thrift stores. I guess I have one more hurdle to overcome....)

Thrifting is hip. It's trendy. Everyone's doing it! So that, my friends, is how I came to be a thrifter. There, I said it. I'm officially an out-of-the-closet thrifter now!

Finally got out of the House

Phew. The main roads were cleared enough that I ventured out this afternoon. The side roads were still terrible, but I can handle that. I just HAD to leave the house. I've been cooped up for three days.

We're celebrating my friend's birthday this weekend, and I needed to go out and pick her up a few more things. I ordered one thing on etsy already, and it arrived yesterday. I apparently was her first sale, and she sent me two of what I ordered as a special thank you. Wasn't that nice?!

I visited three thrift stores to try to find what I was looking for. Did I find it? No of course not; thrifting doesn't work that way. I should know that by now. I still can go out Saturday morning; maybe I'll find it then! I can't say what it is yet because she might read this.

I was really excited that one of the stores was having a 50% off sale on EVERYTHING today. Woohoo! I spent a whopping three or four dollars at that shop. So here's a quick list of what I did purchase today: three children's books for 50-60 cents apiece (two are about conductors and music, and the third is a firetrucks book); a bag of vintage buttons for 50c, a bunny picture frame for under a dollar, a photo album for $2, a "baby's first year" picture frame with slots for one picture per month- $2, a car roller shade still in the original packaging for a dollar; a dress pattern for 30 cents, a bag of Sesame street toys for 75c (one of which was crafted into something for my friend and the rest of which will be for Joel), a painted canvas to go with the Sesame street toy for $1.50.


This was a really quick craft. I simply used LocTite to adhere the foam puzzle pieces onto the canvas, and voila! Instant art work. I liked this so much that if I had more canvases, I would have liked to make several to use as wall art in the nursery. Oh well, Joel's room is done in rabbits anyway, not Sesame street characters.

Finally, I bought a "Guess How Much I Love You" poster for $3. It didn't have a frame, so I still need to search for one. That poster is absolutely perfect! I had found some "Guess How much I love you" wallpaper border for the nursery, however when push came to shove, I didn't feel like stripping the border that's in there now, paying for new border, and then going through the process of putting the new border up. Hell, we have border in the basement that we started to put up on our SECOND DATE, and we just finished it a month or two ago ("What? You put up wallpaper border on your second date?" Yes, my husband is a saint and agreed to help me hang wallpaper border as part of our second date)! So anyway, I never bought the "Guess How Much I Love You" border. But now Joel has the poster, and it was much cheaper than buying the border... not to mention easier to hang!

I also got some sewing done this evening. I finally finished the capes I was making for Joel and his cousin Brent. I upcycled an old orange sheet (free from an ex's uncle who wasn't using it anymore after he got sent to prison...) for the cape itself, and some scrap fabric for the appliqued lightening bolt and initial. I also used some orange bias tape that I thrifted a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I don't have a little tike to model the cape.



Joel and Brent, future fighters in crime


A closeup of Joel's cape

The other project I finished was the blue baby blanket binding. Say that five times fast. Actually, say "I butchered the blue baby blanket binding" five times fast. Yes, that's right. BUTCHERED. It took me forever, and I am not pleased with the results. I had some white satin that was purchased eight years ago on clearance when I was a Joann Fabrics employee (loved that discount...). I used some of it at our wedding, but I still had a lot left. So I carefully cut strips of the satin, sewed them together, and ironed them into a bias-tape-kind-of thing (except I didn't cut it on the bias, so it's really not bias tape at all...). Then I pinned it around the perimeter of the blanket, and tried to sew it on. Here's where things started to suck. Oh well, I don't think Joel will notice the chop-job that I did.



Lastly, here's the felt applique that I've decided to go with for the little sweater Nan made eons ago. I think it will spruce it up nicely. The only problem is attaching it. I tried yesterday with a scottie dog applique, however it wasn't looking right. I am decent at the basic whip stitch, but what I really want to use is a blanket stitch. I suck at it, quite frankly. I'm going to need to practice some before I actually get this sweet little applique onto the sweater.

Rainy Thrifting Expedition

Well hubby has to work on Saturdays, so I figured I'd head out to a couple thrift stores to look for something specific (which of course I didn't find). I want to melt down old crayons and make new ones in either a heart shape or Christmas tree shape, so I was looking for a silicone pan that one would ordinarily bake muffins in, with either of those shapes (or some other cool shape should I run across one). But three thrift stores later, and no luck. I did however, find some great things today!

Things not really worthy of photographing include baby hangers (twenty for 1.80), new-in-the-package Baby's Arrival cards (eight for 50c) and Baby Shower thank you cards (eight for 50c), new-in-the-package toy boats for toddler bathtime for 50c, a firetruck sippy cup for 30c, two Gerber bottle nipples new-in-the-package for 60c, and a new-in-the-package flag pole holder (which I've been meaning to buy for weeks now) for 90c. I got a "Baby Boy" flag, new-in-the-package, a few weeks ago for two dollars when I was out thrifting with buddy Tiara, and now all I need is the flag pole!

Now for the items that are photo-worthy: (1) a drapery panel of a really cute western theme for $2. I probably won't use it as drapes, but instead I'll most likely cut it apart for the fabric and make some pillowcases or something out of them for Joel when he outgrows his crib. I hope he likes the western theme because that's what he's going to get. I've already picked up a few other things in the past in the western theme, including a smaller piece of fabric and a horseshoe picture frame. (2) Twelve nose pencil sharpeners, new in the package, for the kids at school. I think middle school kids will get a kick out of them. You stick your pencil up the nose hole and into the sharpener part- ingenious! (3) the best find of the day- several bags of vintage sewing items! They had FOUR BAGS of vintage zippers, still in the original packaging, albeit very old packaging. I decided to just take one bag, and it has at least twenty different zippers in it, of all colors and lengths ($1.50). I also grabbed a bag of vintage double-sided bias tapes, still in the vintage packaging, also for $1.50, and a bag of various sewing goodies like elastic (new), needles, half of a mason jar full of BUTTONS, a seam ripper, an old sewing ruler which had a four-digit telephone number on it (how cool is that?), a vintage thimble still in the original packaging, and a wooden spool of thread. Yes, and it was just a buck fifty! Score!

Ok so this stuff is photo worthy, but I am not going to photograph them right now... sorry!

Cloth Diapers, Diaper Covers, and a Sleep Sack

Woohoo! I'm pregnant! After seven months of trying, we finally got pregnant :) I have about eight months until the little one arrives, and so I am getting busy creating all the eco-friendly things baby will need once she (or he) arrives.

My husband and I both agree that cloth diapers are the way to go. His mom actually used cloth diapers with him, though it was because he was allergic to the disposable kind. She used a diaper service, however I am going to try to do without one and do it myself the old fashioned way. Well with the washer and dryer that is. Not quite so old fashioned I guess.

Before we get to the pics, here are some links that will help you (I know they sure have helped me!)
Sewing Wool Soakers at http://wheelerclothbaby.blogspot.com/

Another way to sew a wool diaper cover

DIY Prefold Diaper Tutorial

Sewing Prefolds http://fernandfaerie.com/

http://clothbaby.blogspot.com/

Tons of free patterns, including one on how to make a diaper from a t-shirt

How to sew a fitted cloth diaper for cheap

Katrina's Sew Quick Diaper Soaker Pattern at http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/

Washing Cloth Diapers

A sleep sack tutorial

Another sleep sack tutorial



Here is my first wool soaker, made with two of my old sweaters that I felted.



Here's a not-quite-finished wool sleep sack, which can double as a wool soaker overnight. It isn't done yet because I haven't finished up the bottom. I can't decide how I want to finish it... velcro perhaps? I've seen some with snaps, some drawstring, some sewed shut, some zippered... decisions, decisions!


Some 100% cotton drapery panels that will soon be flat fold diapers

Some linen that will be good for something. How could I pass up good linen?

These are the cutest fabrics. (especially the bunnies!) I'm pretty sure the plain green one is snappi-able, but I don't know about the others. I ordered a snappi so I can test the fabrics out as I go.