Drats!

Every time I think I have a "new" idea, I google it just to see if anyone's ever done it before, and alas, there's always someone who's already blogged about it. Drats. For example, a few weeks ago I was figuring out which Advent Calendar I wanted to make. I found this tutorial on how to make mini stocking Christmas tree ornaments, and I had the "aha!" moment. I could just see 24 little stockings hanging on the tree with the numbers hand embroidered on them. I kept reading the blog and come to find out that she said that these stockings would make a great Advent Calendar.

And then today... I saw these adorable little puppets which looked to me just like stuffed animals. I then had another lightbulb-going-off-above-my-head kind of moment. Aha! I have a plethora of stuffed animals (and when I say plethora, I mean I could line them up end to end, and they would likely stretch to the moon and back.) I could just open up the seam at the bottom, remove some stuffing, and make hand puppets out of them. So I googled it just to see if anyone's ever done that before, and yes, sure enough, I found this and this within five seconds of looking. Oh well. I guess I am not all that original, however I still want to make some puppets for Joel! I had been making those paper mache puppets, however mine aren't turning out too well. I think I might abandon that project. Drats! Don't you hate it when you envision something, and it just doesn't turn out right?!

I had another one of those moments this evening when trying to make an ironing board cover. It came out about two inches too short so it didn't fit. Drats. I didn't have the strength to try again, so I put the old one back on. At least the padding I made for it was okay. I can deal with the dingy blue cover I guess

You know what else made me say "drats" today? Let me tell you a quick story: I decided to paint a few things the same light green as several items in the nursery. I already painted the dresser, the toy box, a mirror, a mini bookshelf, and a picture frame for the "Guess How Much I Love You" poster I bought the other day. I still have a little paint left, so I figured I'd paint a little wooden ball to fit onto the "Cowboy" wall hooks that was missing a piece, as well as a little wooden shelf thingie that my husband's Grandma got me for Christmas. Actually, I'm sure what she was going for was the toiletries that came inside said wooden shelf thingie, but after I took out the toiletries, I couldn't throw the packaging away! It's made of real wood so I decided I could use it in the nursery to hold Desitin and whatnot.

I do my painting in the dining room because that's the only flat surface I have on which to paint. I had some newspapers sprawled out to protect the table, and during lunch today, I began reading that newspaper (dated December 21). Who has time to read the newspaper just days before Christmas? Not this gal! I don't even get the newspaper because I don't like the waste, but my parents were in town and my dad bought the paper. Anyway, I was reading this section on all the different ways one could donate their time, and I said to myself, "Drats!" because I had missed it. Um, by over a month. They were calling on people to bake cookies and deliver them to the hospital, wrap gifts for needy families, etc., but then I saw one that really stuck out to me. They needed volunteers to wrap and send out books-on-tape that incarcerated parents read and recorded for their children. I thought that was a really neat idea, and made me say, "Double Drats!" I would like to start a tradition that every year we do some kind of volunteering over the holidays, and that would have been a good one!

On a more positive note, here are some pics of the freshly painted green stuff for the nursery:

This little bookshelf was my hubby's when he was little. It originally had been decorated with Noah's Ark characters, however all but one was ripped off; it was in an overall sorry state. I spruced it up with paint and these little wooden squares I got at Joanns on clearance for fifty cents. I'm not sure I like it because I think it looks a little busy, but oh well.






This is just a first coat, so it's not done yet. But you can see why I couldn't throw it out!

Cookie Monster Extravaganza

Tonight was a fun filled evening with friends! We ate out at a Mexican restaurant, and had these little lovelies for dessert:



They were actually pretty easy to make. They're Pina Colada flavored... Mmmmm! That's the closest thing this pregnant lady has come to an alcoholic beverage in eons! It's simply a yellow cake mix, about half a 20 oz. can of pineapple with juice, a splash of rum, and two eggs. Mix and bake for just shy of 20 minutes at 375. I then used food coloring to dye the coconut blue. I iced the cupcakes and rolled the tops in the blue coconut. I then piped white icing for the eyes, placed an upside-down chocolate chip in each eyeball, and then a cookie in the mouth. Yum!

Here's T-3 opening her crafted gift from me. Too bad I didn't get a shot of the other Cookie Monster items. The wrapping paper was a Sesame Street design, and I also bought her a little notepad on Etsy that featured cookie monster on the front. I did get her a couple non-Cookie Monster themed items too. I bought her a dress pattern that was a remake of a 1949 dress. She's into costumes so I thought she'd enjoy it. And lastly, I sewed up one of these babies:


It's filled with corn and is a microwavable heating pad. I upcycled an OSU bandana for the front, and some linen pants that I had thrifted awhile ago for the back.

Happy Birthday T-3!

Saturday Afternoon Thrifting

You couldn't expect me to blog this morning for over an hour about my thrifting history, and not get the itch to go today, did you?

So I made quite a haul today! I took the thrifting tour around town and went to some that are a little further out for me. I picked up several different fabrics ranging from 50c to $2, depending on the yardage. I plan on making pants or something for Joel when he's older. Three of the fabrics will make good PJs, and the other three could be pants, shirts, or whatever else my little heart desires. When I told T-3 that I had bought more fabric, she exclaimed, "What?! I thought you were trying to use up what you already have!" Yes, that is true T-3, however in my four bursting-with-fabric totes, I have very little in the way of boy fabric. I needed to pick some things up for Joel, you see?

The snowmen are a flannel pillowcase, and the cute bear fabric is a baby blanket.

The trucks are a sheet, the moon/stars are a piece of uncut fabric, the sporty fabric and the Renaissance fabric are both curtains. I also saw today a little wooden shield painted in the Renaissance style. If only I had picked that up too, Joel could have a little cute Halloween costume. Not a biggie though, it couldn't be simpler to make with my jigsaw, a piece of wood, and some paint!

Some of the above finds include a brand new "Cowboy" wall hook; I debated whether to get this or not because they wanted five bucks for it, and one of the wall hooks is missing it's wooden top piece, but I went ahead and got it since I am planning on doing Joel's room (post-nursery) in a western theme. I can fix the hook with a piece of wood, a drill, and some LocTite. I also found this brand new Chutes and Ladders Game, still in the shrink wrap packaging. I was excited about this one, but they wanted $4. Kind of high for thrifting, but I bought it anyway. I also found a frame to go with the "Guess How Much I Love You" poster I found the other day. I was a little bummed that the frame was almost $3, however I sucked it up and got it because I was struggling to find one. It's currently black which does not go with the nursery, so I will be painting it before installing it in Joel's room. Finally, I got two packs of Cute "Gobble, Gobble" Thanksgiving napkins, obviously brand new in the packaging, because who would actually buy used paper napkins?!





I also found this sweet little plastic bowl and plate set for $1.20. I "heart" bunnies.



Other things I found not photographed include: a cute birthday card for 50c, a book for my classroom for 50c, and a brand-new-in-the-package queen sized batting.

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.

Calamity Day No. 6; Fun with RIT dye

Well we have now passed the allowed five calamity days and will have to start making them up over spring break. No skin off my back since I'll be on maternity leave! This is the first time ever in my 21 years of education (thirteen as a student, and eight as a teacher) that we have ever gone over five calamity days. That should tell you something about this winter! For the past two days we've been under a Level Two Snow Emergency, which means you are only supposed to be on the roads if you HAVE to. I don't think going shopping qualifies as "HAVE TO" unfortunately. There's something at the thrift store that I want to pick up for my friend; hopefully it's still there by the time I get around to getting there. I am kicking myself for not getting it last time... actually the last TWO times. I can't believe I passed it up TWICE.

Anyway, last night I had some good times with RIT dye. Back in college, several Columbus Kmarts were closing, and I got a few RIT dyes for very cheap. I don't know if dye ever expires, but this dye would be about ten years old. Plus, when I bought it, it looked like it might have been sitting on the shelf for quite awhile. The "royal blue" label had faded to a sort of periwinkle color. But I decided to take a chance on it, and I had pretty good results.

I don't know what is wrong with me that I cannot for the life of me remember to take "before" pictures. I fully intended on showing you what these items looked like before the blue dye. The baby items were mine when I was a youngin'. My great-grandma crocheted/knitted them. Actually, they might have even belonged to my dad when HE was a baby. I also dyed a cream colored outfit my sister-in-law got me last year for Christmas. I wore it as-is all last year, however my undies had a tendency to show through the pants. They're technically PJs so I didn't mind showing off my bloomers when it's just the hubby seeing it. Now that I'm hugely pregnant however, I've decided to wear this outfit out and about because it's comfy and it fits (and no one would know they're PJs because it looks like a jogging suit). I figure it's no longer proper to show off my underwear. I hope dying the outfit blue will take care of that problem!

The reason I wanted to dye the baby items is because, quite frankly, they were dingy and nasty looking. They were white until time took its toll and turned them into a nasty yellowish color. Also, the blanket is missing its binding, so that will be a job I tackle today. I'd also like to add a little wool felt applique like she does over at Heart Felt. She's absolutely awesome; you should totally check out her work.

Sorry again for the lack of "befores," but here are the "afters!"


This is the baby afghan that Nan made. You can see it really soaked up the dye well.


Compare that with the baby blanket which did not soak up the dye nearly as well. I think I know why... I did it all in the sink in two loads. The second load, which was comprised of the binding-less blanket and the little sweater (below), did not have the benefit of the scalding hot water like the PJs and the aghan had, hence the lighter color. That's okay though- two shades of blue for the price of one, right?!


You can barely tell by this picture that it's blue, although in real life it does look like a soft, baby blue. Wouldn't it look darling with a little felt applique on it? I have two green sweaters and a black one that I've felted... I'm trying to decide what to applique that would make this little sweater not look so feminine.

Snowed in and Stir Crazy

Winter, winter, go away. Come back another day! I want to go out shopping but can't leave the house in this crap. Yes, it's pretty, and yes, I don't have to work today because of it, however, enough is enough! So to pass the time I have been reading crafty, upcyling, sewing and thrifting blogs and doing a little crafting of my own. Here's one of those big altoids can that I spray pained with black chalkboard paint. I figure it will be a good place to keep chalk and Joel can take it with him on trips for enjoyment once he gets older.



I also tried my hand at making liquid soap out of umpteen little hotel bars of soap. As it turns out, it was pretty easy. I simply broke up the little bars a few at a time and placed them into my KitchenAid blender with a little water. This made a pasty consistency which I sat aside until later. After I had converted all the bars into paste, I then put it back into the blender a scoop at a time with more water, until I got the consistency I wanted. Voila, free soap!



I actually have twice this much, however the rest is in plastic containers (an old Tang container and a large Softsoap refill container) which just weren't as pretty to photograph.


I also have been working on paper crafts these past few days. I was inspired by Meg of Montessori by Hand to make some stick puppets for Joel when he is older.
Here's what I've done so far. I traced around some animal pictures I found online, put them onto cardstock that I had laying around free in the recycle bin, and began ripping up newspaper strips for the paper mache. Here is one layer done, a few layers to go (mine aren't quite laying flat for some reason...)



Lastly, I wanted to make my birthday-girl friend a notepad of recycled papers from my stash, however I didn't really like the way they turned out. I guess I'll just keep them because they are functional, just not gift-give-away worthy.

My stash of recycling... yes, I'm ashamed to admit it but I sometimes shop at Walmart.


One side of the notepads...


And the other side.


A closeup of the wedding one- another friend of ours is getting married in a few months, and the birthday girl and I are both in the wedding. I just thought this was funny.


When making those notepads, I cut out the scrap papers all to the same size, clipped them together with binder clips, and used regular old Elmers Glue at the top to hold them together. This part worked okay. To make the front and back covers, I used remnant cardstock (from old birthday cards, boxes, etc) and decoupaged magazine pages onto it. This part worked okay too, except for some wrinkling. But then I had a hell of a time getting the front and back to connect to one another. If I had it to do over again, I would have made it one large piece and folded it, however I didn't have any cardstock onhand that large. This was a "use-what-I-have" type project so I didn't want to buy anything for it. Then the next problem I had was getting the stack of papers to adhere to the cover. I tried regular glue, hot glue, double sided tape... nothing I tried made me happy. So that's why I'll be keeping these guys for myself!