Pinterest #9

Do you ever go to the thrift store and see little bits of pretty fabric and think what wonderful creations could you make with them? ( ok maybe not) Quilting may the first thing that comes to mind but I myself am not a quilter but I still can't resist those little pieces of loveliness.

Two years ago Daughter Ashley pinned this cute Bow tied Clutch
So two Christmases ago ( in keeping with our handmade presents only rule) Daughter M'lynn decided to make a clutch as her present to Ashley.

Getting ready for the upcoming thrift store event I thought I'd make a few from little bits of fabric I found from there.

Although the black and white one is leftover bits from here. The lining is made from a bag of scraps I took home one day. The flowered one is completely found materials. Both zippers were also from the thrift store.

You'll notice that one is bigger then the other because when M'lynn was making them she wanted it slightly bigger then the pattern but small or big they are handy little bags.

With wedding season coming up these are the perfect thing to take or anytime really when you don't want something big and the nice part is the strap fits nicely on your wrist. :) 

House Tour

Our family is super excited to have two very special people move to our neighbourhood. I mean it's a  off the wall, jumping up and down, squeals of delight kind of excited. Rogers' brother James and his husband Jody are moving back to Ontario and not just anywhere but here!!! a hop skip and a jump from us. Right now they're in British Columbia so we took it upon ourselves to start the house hunt for them. It's a burden I know but one I'm willing to shoulder for them. haha. I'll look at a property anytime I can!

The house we went to look at for them on the weekend was Ontario Farmhouse (yes its a style. Google it, you'll see)

It has almost five acres and goes back to a river that has trails that run along it.

It has a barn that can house animals!

The staircase is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! 

As is the rest of the house.

There's so much more to this house then I can show you like the little loft when you come in the back door or the fun way to get to the basement.  

I feel like this house is jumping up and down with its arm in the air saying "pick me, pick me" or maybe it's just me saying "pick that one, pick that one"but it is only the first house we've looked at and I think I need to curb my enthusiasm a little bit. But it's just SO HARD.

What ever happens I'll be having a few more home tours coming up as they try and find the right one. :)

Amy took these picture but I snuck in a few of my own.

Happy Maywin Socket Day!!

The story of St. Patrick as told by Veggie Tales is one I still watch every St. Paddies Day even though my little ones have little ones of their own. It helps reminds me why we celebrate this englishman!

I'm not wearing green today. I don't wear green as a rule because it tends to wash me out but I was excited this weekend when I got to add to my collection of enamelware and it has green!!!
Cottage Treasures in Thedford has moved to a new store so right now they've got two locations while they move things around. Means more fun for me!

And what fun things did I find?? Gorgeous pots and pans that's what.

The ladles were actually a find from before and thats when I became smitten with with the off white and green colours of enamelware.  I've got white and black, white and red, white and blue, off white and red and off white and blue. I've even got one with a pattern of flowers on it.

 
I started my collection one day while out yard saleing and found a nice big bowl, which I use on a regular basis. The bowl felt homey even though I don't remember ever having much in the way of enamelware growing up. (which we may have, sisters do you remember?) As for the rest of the collection, its on display in my kitchen.
On occasion Roger will ask if I have enough yet. Not yet. I've got some empty spaces to fill. :)

Out of the Ashes comes Something New

Back in my sweater post I mentioned a plan and over the past couple of weeks that plan has been slowly coming together. This new plan is to not randomly sew anymore but create a wardrobe. For me that means that from now on what I make needs to be compatible with at least 3 other things in my closet. 

Now when I'm planning a project there are another four or five projects sitting in the wings that go along with the original project. I'm finding the thought of mixing and matching a fun challenge and hopefully it means never opening my closet and having nothing to wear.

I've been working on separating my dress and the skirt part is complete. That was the easy part of deconstructing the dress. It just needed a zipper and a waistband and I've already got ideas on how to have different looks with this skirt.

I bought that jacket about 7 years ago and have only worn it a handful of times. I'm not sure why I've not worn it more but it always manages to beat the cull when I'm going through things.

My Gertie bow tied blouse has become a staple in my wardrobe. When I made it I knew it would be because I had been looking for something similar to buy ready made for a couple of years before.

And look it was warm enough that I took pictures outside!!! I even got to wear my shoes which held up quite nicely so I'm going to say it's a Pinterest success!

But for the afternoon I traded those shoes in for these.....

and took a nice long walk OUTSIDE!!!!! :)

Pinterest # 8

Every once in a while and if my hand will allow I want to crochet. Knitting has been wonderful to learn and I can see myself improving but when you want to make something yarn worthy quickly crocheting is the ticket. Today I bring you the tea cozy.

With the amount of tea I drink you'd think I would have had a cozy for my pot ages ago. Usually I grab a tea towel and wrap it around my pot which isn't really a flattering way to serve a cup of tea to guests.
The pattern comes from The Green Dragonfly and the cover itself is more of a guideline pattern for your pot which I had to rip and and start a couple of times till I got the right size.

 I also kept my pot handy to make sure that I was getting a nice fit. You want snug but not too snug so it fits easily over the teapot.

The rose pattern was easy to work up as were the leaves and after attaching my flowers my teapot is ready for tea! 

 The total time to make it was only a couple of hours which makes me feel silly for using a tea towel all the years. :) 

A little Spring???

I've been asked by our local thrift store if I would like to participate in their upcoming anniversary celebrations. What they'd like me to do is share my recreations of things I make bought from their store like my shoes. So I've been going through some things and thinking what I'd like to bring to the party.

I thought I'd make some dresses. My beautiful vintage sheet and pillow case stash is quite large and I thought perfect for a vintage style kids dress. I kept thinking while I was making them, wouldn't the girls look cute wearing these with matching head scarves and Jackie O sunglasses. (I sew in silence so my mind tends to wander. :) )

It's a simple A-line dress from a pattern I bought thru Etsy from Lily Bird Studio. I adore this simple easy to follow pattern. She's got quite a few things that adore actually because I bought a shorts pattern too. I've said it before and I'll say it again and I'll probably say it again in the future, I like Etsy shopping, especially for patterns. One click and the pattern is zoomed across the internet and right to my email. Check out where this pattern came from and you'll see what I mean.

As you can see we are still knee deep in snow but the sun is shining and the icicles are melting although we are under yet another extreme cold advisory for tomorrow. Blah. Making these added some cheery spring feelings to my heart and the feeling that the snow can't last forever...right? :)