Poop on Ann Arbor

Joel slept the day away today, allowing me to actually get some sewing done. Yay! I whipped out Wednesday’s thrifted t-shirts faster than you can say, “Poop on Ann Arbor.”
No offense to any Michigan fans out there. You know I’m just kidding.

(Well, I’m half kidding).

(Okay, I’m not really kidding at all).

So I mostly finished a total of six pairs of kiddie pants today. I say “mostly” because I didn’t want to do the elastic or hem the bottoms until he’s ready to wear them so I can make sure I get a good fit. That and I hate working with elastic, so I’m putting it off for about a year.

First up: the map pants. You can see this was a well-loved t-shirt in its former life by the amount of wear and tear it’s received. You can barely even make out the license plate that says “GR8 ST8.” I cut that out and put it in the trash. It was pretty nasty.


Upon closer inspection of the shirt, I discovered this:



What were they thinking? I really wanted to use this part of the map for the seat of the pants, however it just wouldn’t work. That’s too bad, because then he really could have pooped on Ann Arbor.

Here’s the finished product along with a pair of Buckeyes pants to cleanse my palate from that bad Ann Arbor aftertaste:




I’m tempted to stand up and sing a round of one of my favorite hating-on-the-state-up-north tunes. “We don’t give a damn about the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan. We don’t give a damn about the whole state of Michigan, ‘cause we’re from Ohio. We’re from Ohio! OH! We’re from Ohio! IO!”

Anyway…. A few more cute pairs of pants:




And last but not least, a pair of Valentines pants that were originally a pair of napkins. They’re kind of girlie, however he was a February 14th baby.


I know lots of people have done tutorials on this subject and another one really isn't warranted, but I did snap a few mid-completion photos for you. The first shows off my designer pattern. Nothing says kiddie pants like a cut-out ad for Papa Johns Pizza and a Pet Extravaganza.



If you go to this tutorial for the pants, you can see how she started with a t-shirt that had the picture on the bottom right of the t-shirt. I don't know about you, but all the t-shirts I have have the design just below the neck, front and center. If you're lucky enough to have the design at the bottom of your shirt, then you can do as they recommend and use the bottom of the t-shirt for the hem of the pants. If you're unlucky like me, then you will have to move the pattern to the top of the shirt, center the design on either the left or right side of your pattern, and then do the hem of the pants yourself.

The previous photo shows you where to place the pattern for the easy method. I forgot to photograph the more difficult method. The good news is, even if you have to do the difficult method for one of the two pattern pieces, you can probably do the easy method for the other as long as it is just plain with no design. And by the way, "the more difficult method" still is not difficult. It just entails doing one more step since you have to hem the bottoms.

Here's what you get once it's cut out. I've highlighted the crotch areas in pink. That is where you will sew first. After you've sewed those two lines, you'll turn it so the crotch is in the middle, and voila, you have legs like you see in the last photo.


If you know your colors, you can sew kiddie pants like these! Pink was first. Then do the yellow, creating the legs. Next, sew a casing for the elastic to go through where the blue line is, making sure to leave an opening for the elastic. Finally, hem where the green lines are, unless of course, you are one of the lucky ones!

My Knight in Shining, Second-Hand Armor

Thank goodness for Salvation Army’s half-off-all-clothes-except-the-blue-tags day! I went to two SA’s, and the first one (which was a little further out) definitely had some good deals. Most of the men’s tee-shirts were originally 99c, and a couple actually were only 49c, so with the half-off on top of that… well you can do the math!

They also had very good prices on baby clothes. Most of the places around here want a buck to three bucks per article of baby clothes. Come on. Baby clothes use about 10% of the fabric that adult clothes use, so why in the world are they priced so high?

That’s what I never got about bikini swimsuits. They use up, what, like 1/4 of a yard of fabric, yet they command such high prices?!

Anyway, at the first Salvation Army I went to, the baby clothes were mostly 69c – 99c, plus half off on top of it. Cha-ching! Unfortunately, the pricers at the second Salvation Army suffer from greediness and had their clothes priced more like $1.99 or $2.99. We walked out of that one with nothing. (The fact that my son was screaming had something to do with that though. Luckily, the other customers thought he was cute and did not give me evil stares of death).

Today is the final installment of the thrifty three-part-series from Wednesday. Today we will focus on everything that is left, which is the baby stuff. If you don’t give a hoot about babies, you can close your browser now. Fair warning.

The most interesting thing in this shot is the 99c bedskirt (although it might be a tie with “The Flea’s Sneeze,” a story about a flea who passes his illness around the barnyard). Normally on the tag I can find the size of mattress it fits, but this one didn’t say. It looked to me like a crib sized bedskirt. If not, I think I can sew it to make it work. Joel’s crib is one of those convertible ones that will turn into a toddler bed, so he’ll still need a crib sized bedskirt for his Wild West Cowboy room. I like that this one is two shades of blue with red gingham. The walls in the spare bedroom (which will be his toddler bedroom) are red and beige, so it should go well in there.

Lotsa clothes! Won’t it be fun to dress up little Joel in this suit? I’ll take lots of pictures, I promise.

Here’s a brand-new-in-the-box Monkey mirror for the car, a fish towel (59c) which I am going to make into a toddler bib, modeled after the NY Rangers Bib I did a few weeks ago; a boppy cover (99c), and two 11x17 mats (99c).

And last but not least, a shield which is meant to hang on the wall but will instead be a toy for Joel. I’ll have to take off the picture hanger on the back and add a drawer pull for his hand to hold on to, and then sew him something with this fabric (from a few weeks ago). Then my little man, toting thrift store finds, will feel like a knight in shining armor!

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.

Eight Tee-Shirt Pants, Coming Right Up

Today I heard the most beautiful eleven words to ever come out of my husband's mouth. No, not "honey, I think you're the most beautiful woman on the planet." Although that would have been nice too. But not as nice as, "I want to go to a thrift store with you sometime." Yes that's right ladies, he said that; he's taken so you better keep your grubby little hands off! (Of course, after he said those magic 11 words, he also said that his buddy found a computer at a thrift store for ten bucks, and that's really all he wants to find, but alas, baby steps, baby steps).

Speaking of thrift stores....

Earlier this year I was inspired by Queen of Fifty Cents to keep a log of all my thrifty finds and their prices. My husband helped me set up an excel spreadsheet with the following headers: crafting, work, kitchen/homegoods, Joel, Gifts, Decor, and Apparel. Before today's jaunt I had spent just under a hundred dollars so far this year. Eek. I hadn't realized I spent that much. But on the flip side, I would have spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars if I had purchased all this stuff first-hand. Also on the positive, half of that cost was stuff for Joel. So really it's like I only spent about fifty bucks. The stuff for Joel doesn't count, right?

Since I've become a part of blogland, I've been good at avoiding the purchases of vintage home decor types of objects. My house is cluttered the way it is, and now with an infant, I need to pare down what I already have. But oh how I long to add more plates, teacups, and platters to my stash, find some more vintage linens, and bring home old chippy chairs. Tole trays call my name, as do anything painted with pretty florals. Enamelware, crocks, rolling pins, collanders, Wagner ware... I want, I want, I want!

Today I could not help myself.

I was reading blogs about vintage finds, especially this one, and I got the itch again. It had been months since I last purchased something vintage (well, with the exception of the vintage red thermos I bought a few weeks ago). Lately, almost all my thrifty finds were either crafty or for my son. And many of my finds were new items rather than vintage.

So there I was, on the internet, drooling over Freshvintage's finds. I told myself that I would allow myself to bring home a vintage find or two. And boy am I glad I did.

(Rolls up sleeves) Ok, are you ready?
(cue the auctioneer so he can read through this stuff in a jiffy)

Eight mens' t-shirts to cut up and make pants for Joel ($3.50), a fish towel to make a bib out of (59c), a bag of vintage sewing notions (woohoo! $1), two new Valentines Napkins out of which I will probably make these pants (59c), two brand new blue and brown 11x17 mats for framing some photos of our newly created family ($1), a children's book about sneezing (25c), a pillow cover for our Boppy ($1), a new Valentines Placemat for Joel who will be a messy eater when he turns one year old ($1), a wooden shield that goes with the Renaissance fabric I got a few weeks ago (I forget how much it was- under a buck though); baby bottle nipples, new in the package obviously (69c), another Tonka Truck plastic plate to match the ones I picked up last week (50c), bedskirt that will match Joel's cowboy themed room ($1), the following clothes for Joel: a light toddler jacket (50c), white dress shirt and vest (50c), maroon Gap pants (50c), Oshkosh toddler pants (50c), an orange onesie (20c), striped PJs (40c), two pairs striped pants (65c), blue patchwork bibs (50c), white dress shirt (35c); St. Patty's Day t-shirt for moi (50c), and drumroll please....

a red handled rolling pin for $2 and a red tablecloth with beautiful roses on it for $3. Yay :)

I won't inundate you with photos today (there's eighteen waiting in the wings). I'll just show you a few and save some for the days to come. Up first: tee-shirts destined to become pants using this tutorial.

I thought this t-shirt was neat since it's a map of where we live. Every baby needs a pair of map pants, right? I believe in teaching geography at a young age.

What could be more cute than a kid who wants to kick your @ss?

This one has a hint of "beer advertisement" to it, however it clearly states it is a carbonated beverage.

How could I pass up a tee of my husband's favorite restaurant?

I like the vintage look of this one. I had to look up what Proverbs 22:6 is. Now the shirt makes sense: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." I am clearly going to train my child in the ways of green, thrify living. And when he's a little bigger, he'll have a constant reminder of this philosophy across his butt whenever he wears these cute little pants.

Oh Little Lotus Bowl

Oh little lotus bowl,
How beautiful are thee.
I'd love to purchase you right now
And take you home with me.

My eye caught you on e-bay
You only cost a buck.
And then I saw the shipping
and I exclaimed "WTF?!"

Forty nine dollars for shipping?! Did I read that right? Seriously. Um, I'll pass. But if you have fifty dollars to spend on this little beauty, her item number is 260373793212. I'll take my chances with a thrift store. With fifty dollars, I would expect to be able to buy one hundred lotus bowls.

I certainly don't need any more dishes, especially not smallish ones, however I really want a set of lotus bowls. We tend to be what you call "pigs" in my house, so small bowls are a waste. Small bowls mean we have go back to fill up on cereal (or um, ice cream) ten times because we can't fit enough in.

But lotus bowls are so cute.

I was wondering why they're called lotus bowls, so I looked them up in Merriam Webster. This is what I found:

Lotus: a fruit eaten by lotus-eaters

Um, okay. Is that like a banana: a fruit eaten by banana eaters? And a kiwi is a fruit eaten by kiwi eaters? Isn't there a rule that says you're not allowed to use the word that is being defined in its own definition? I'm pretty sure my middle school language arts teacher beat that into us. Tisk, tisk, Merriam Webster.

Actually, the definition continues to say that ingesting lotuses cause indolence and dreamy contentment. I guess I've got to get me some of those. "Dreamy contentment" sounds kind of nice when I have a three-week old screaming bloody murder. I wonder if I can grind up some of the petals and slip some in his milk? Probably not.

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!