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?

Warmer Weather Brings Thrifted Treasures

That title has a bit of a poetic ring to it, don't you think?

Joel likes car rides, thank heavens. His incessant screaming can be calmed by getting settled in his carseat and taking a little thrifting trip. He doesn't make a peep while we're in the car or while we're in the stores. Even at not-quite-three-weeks, he knows that thrifting is a good thing and is able to drift off to a peaceful sleep knowing that Mommy is saving money :)

I was still on the hunt for a white sheet to use as a back drop for photography, and so off we went. I hadn't posted anything yet about Wednesday's finds, but I did find one white sheet for a whopping quarter (remember I need two though!). It was a buck but it was 75% off. Cha-ching! I also found a few more children's books (including one on composer Verdi), and four greeting cards for a quarter each. I've been on a roll with the cards lately, haven't I? One of the cards I found is a belated birthday card for someday when I forget someone's birthday. I may have to forget someone's birthday on purpose just so I can send them this card! We all know I'm perfect so I wouldn't forget a birthday accidentally! Ahem. But this card was too cute to pass up. It has a sheep on the front that says, "I'm feeling sheepish," and on the inside it says, "Because I forgot your birthday. Wool you forgive me?" Adorable, I tell you.

I still needed another sheet for my photograph project, so off we went into the thrifting wild blue yonder. I did find something that fits the bill, however it wasn't a sheet; it was a plain white fabric shower curtain with grommets at the top. It was 75% off too, and it cost me 75c. I, of course, walked away with some other goodies which I have photographed below. (Also, not photographed is some fabric I found. You'll have to wait until Sunday Stash time to see it. Stay tuned...)


You can see the "3" I found the other day. I'm really glad I found that! It makes me happy.


Here's a close-up of one of the cards I found for a quarter. I love the row of buttons along the bottom edge :) No surprise that I have little boys on the brain, huh? Do I know of anyone who's having a little boy? Nope. But surely someday I will!

Here are the plastic dishes that I got Joel (50c each) and a changing pad (also 50c) for when we're on the road, and we need to change a diaper. Just a sidenote: I think it's cute that people from other countries (Britain, Australia, or both?) call diapers "Nappies." It's funny because in the US, "nappy" is an adjective. And a not-very-nice-one at that. If someone calls you "nappy," you've just been dissed.


Some things for Joel's future toddler room. This little nightlight ($1.91) goes perfectly with Jason's childhood sheriff badge collection! I was also very excited to find this little plastic plate (90c). I can't decide if Joel will actually eat off of it, or if it will be a piece of artwork in his room. Nothing screams "little boy" like a hanging plate collection. No?


And last but not least, more baptism invitations (50c) because I realized I did not have enough, some stackable blocks that won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio "Best Toy Award" (90c) and some goodie bags for Joel's first birthday (50c). I realize the goodie bags aren't very "green," and that I could have made some out of things from around the house, however their cuteness caused my judgement to be temporarily compromised. Don't make me feel worse about it than I already do! Cut me some slack! A girl makes mistakes sometimes. Sheesh.


A close-up of the blocks. Roses are red, Violets are Blue. Blueberries are sweet, and so are you!

Thrifty Knives

My son has been a naughty boy all day today. The temperature finally warmed up to a balmy 50-something, and I really wanted to take him out, however he had other plans. He wanted to scream all the live long day and had no interest in going thrifting. Perhaps he got his fill yesterday. Yes I took him thrifting yesterday but I thought we could hit a different one today. No such luck. Maybe tomorrow then.

Anyway, to get my thrifting fix, I was reading Thrift Store Adventures today, and let me just say that this dude is my hero. Seriously. You should totally check him out. Apparently once he encountered a psycho waving a gun in the Salvation Army parking lot. Reminds me of the time my dad was working on his car near the OSU campus, and some homeless guy walked by, waving a gun, shouting off drunken nonsense. My dad had a drill in his hand and started acting like it was a gun right back at the guy. The guy was too drunk to know the difference and then wandered off. True story.

Anyway, Thrift Store Adventure's encounter with the Salvation Army gun-waver reminded me of my own thrift-store-worries. It seems to me that the steak knife section should be kept under lock and key rather than just sitting out in the kitchen aisle, free for the grabbing by any random psycho. Forks? They're fine. Spoons? They're safe too unless you're Alan Rickman from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He tells his cousin he's going to cut someone's heart out with a spoon "because it hurts more, you twit!" But for most of us, spoons don't pose too much of a risk.

But steak knives?

I always feel a little unsafe when I'm in that aisle. It's a shame too, because I enjoy perusing the kitchen aisle. I have many, many collections and a great deal of them are kitchen-related. Take my red-wood-handled vintage kitchen utensils for example. They're always located in the same bins as the steak knives. If I want to dig for my treasures, I have to risk my life. I enjoy adding to my collection, but is it worth dying for?

Would you trust these people with a steak knife? That weird guy standing a few paces away... You know, the one who keeps eyeing you? Creep. Or what about the woman screaming bloody murder because you stole that pyrex dish right from under her nose, and she had her eye on it first. Oh no she didn't. And then there's the lady hoarding all the ceramic cat figurines.

Yep, they should lock up the knives.

Happy 206th Birthday, Ohio!

Dear Ohio,
I am so sorry, my beloved state of mine. I knew it was your birthday yesterday, however I just too pooped to take pictures and blog about it. Today though, I am refreshed after napping from about 7:45 until about 11 last night (during which time hubby took care of the little man), and then some short bursts of sleep throughout the night. I like it when Joel sleeps for three hours, like he did after his 4:50 am feeding. Yay. In honor of your birthday, enjoy some photos.

Love,
Jodie

P.S. I would have made you some cookies with the above Ohio-shaped cookie cutter, however I am on a diet. Pay no attention to the cheesy hashbrowns at the bottom of this post. I really am on a diet.

P.P.S. All this talk about cookies is making me change my mind. I just might bake you some cookies after all.

A little crafty barn I painted when Ohio turned the big 2-0-0. If you're not from Ohio, you probably don't know this, so let me share it with you! Some guy went around to each of the 88 counties and painted one barn in each county with our bicentennial logo. Phew! I can't even imagine how much work that would have been! This little crafty barn took enough time!

Here's part of my little flag collection. Did you know that Ohio's flag is the only flag in the union that isn't a boring old rectangle? You can't tell it from this shot, however Ohio's flag has a little V cutout at the end, so it's five-sided. Also in this picture: some thrifted items! I had this little doggie when I was little and was totally stoked when I found it at a thrift store while on vacation last summer in Piqua, Ohio. (What?! Who the hell vacations in Piqua, Ohio? Long story. Let's just say we were on a cemetery-hunting vacation...) I found the little turn-of-the-century ruby red souvenir glass pitcher for a mere couple bucks. I was so afraid that when the cashier rang me up, she was going to exclaim, "Wait a cotton-pickin' minute! This has been priced wrong!" and make me pay twenty bucks. But alas, she said nothing and off I went, happy as a clam! I just checked on ebay; there's one just like it (with a different name on it though) with twelve bids currently, going for 18 bucks. Woohoo!

And let me leave you with a shot of breakfast. On the menu today: cheesy hashbrown casserole (I should be back down to my prepregnancy weight in no time, don't you think?) and chai in my can-you-tell-I'm-a-music-teacher mug. It's sitting on my bent wood chair next to the bunny night light lamp that we use since Joel has been sleeping in our room. Yes, my bedside table is crammed with so much crap on it, that I now have been reduced to using the seat of the chair as tablespace...

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.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today we're celebrating Dr. Suess's 105th birthday! My husband's cousin's wife told me about his upcoming birthday a few days ago; she said that _____ (I forget which store she said... Babies R Us maybe??) was having a half off sale on all Dr. Suess books, so she picked one up for her little tot who was turning one. Well I think I did one better - I thrifted a Dr. Seuss book yesterday at Goodwill for a quarter :)



Originally I ran out to the Pickerington Goodwill to look for two white sheets. We had done a photo shoot at T-3's place earlier in the day for her portfolio, and tacking up a sheet to the ceiling yielded very professional looking results. We also took a couple shots of the hubby, little man, and me, however we weren't really dressed for the occasion, so I'd like a do-over. The only problem: I don't own a single plain white sheet.

Easy solution: go get a couple at a thrift store! The P'town Goodwill only had two solid color sheets, one in a light green, and the other a light blue. I really need two sheets to match (one to hang on the ceiling, and the other to lay on the floor), and since they only had one of each, I passed.

I did, however, find several things for Joel. I was stoked to find a whole stack of Halloween iron-on transfers, new in the packaging. Each package contained two transfers; there was a total of six different designs, however I just purchased one package (79c). I was also very excited to find a very large, furry "3" applique for 99c; it will look smashing on a shirt for his third birthday. I also picked up three kiddie holiday VHS tapes for a buck each (Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter), so they will make nice gifts for him when he's a toddler (VHS?! Am I living in the 20th century or what?! Hey, they were only a dollar so give me a break!) Last but not least, three books for a quarter apiece, including the one by Dr. Seuss.

I would also be remiss if I failed to mention that T-3 gave me some goodies yesterday! She found two darling iron-on cowboy appliques on clearance for 75c apiece, and she gave me a bunch of bobbins. The funny thing is, the day before she told me about the bobbins, I was at Joanns staring at the bobbins, kicking myself for forgetting to check and see what kind my sewing machine took. There are two types of the clear plastic kind that look the same to me, and I wasn't sure which ones to get, so I left empty handed (well not completely empty handed... I used my 40% off coupon to purchase clips so that I can make these binkie clips. I also found a cross cake topper for Joel's baptism; it was on clearance for a dollar). By the way, T-3 if you're reading this, I discovered that some of the bobbins work but some jam my machine. At least I got a few new bobbins out of it! :)

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