Downsizing from 1890 to 1940

As you know this is my house.

It was perfect for when we were a family of six, but come September wedding bells will chime for another daugter and we will be down to three.

So for the past couple of months we've been looking at houses, but nothing seems to be ticking the majority of our boxes. 

I've been checking out "Tiny Houses". Why tiny houses you may ask? Because we are simply looking for someplace to lay our heads, be cozy on cold winter nights, sit together to eat some yummy food, a yard for our dogs and a craft room of course. 

The other night I had a thought. The original tiny house may have been Wartime houses; houses built for wartime workers and veterans to rent and eventually own. In our town, they are sprinkled throughout and my daughter actually owns one of these cuties.

This one is my favourite and closely resembles Amy's

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Now my dream is to rebuild one of these, as close as I can get to an original, inside and out. I spent Saturday night on the internet trying to find interiors of the 40's and found a few that caught my eye.

Maybe its because I haven't seen green in awhile, but I'm liking this shade.

Its all about the wallpaper in this one.

This is exactly how I'd like the bathroom to look.

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Aren't they just swell.

Rogers dream is to find an original. So now I'm torn between recreating the dream or living in the real thing. Either way whatever happens, the house thats meant to ours (Wartime or not) is out there just waiting for us! :)

Day tripping.

Spring has sprung! So my handsome husband and I decided to join the rest of the crowd and go for a Sunday drive.

Our first stop was to visit the shores of Lake Huron. We seem to take for granted this lake of ours. It is only a 5 minute drive from home and yet our visits to the lake are few. This year I think I'll take advantage for not only a dip but long walks along its sandy shores.

Our next stop was to see the migrating Tundra Swans. They stop in this area outside of Grand Bend every year. I think we were lucky and just caught the last few stragglers.

Our last stop is one of my favourite places to browse around, Cottage Treasures in Thedford. I know I've mentioned this place before but this time I asked if I could take pictures. It's owned by Jan and Bordecki and she was tinkled pink that I'd want to take a few shots.

This store has anything and everything. Tools, sewing, games, old pictures, vintage christmas decorations, hats, kitchen wares and toys.

My hair is trying to channel my inner Mille.

 Did I mention they've got a few books too?

So what did I find? Cherry fabric and the perfect daisy pin to go with my Easter outfit.:)

The Counterfeiter.

Well there it is! My new name. When I was searching for a name for my Etsy store, I was thinking about what best describes what I do and well counterfeiting came to mind. And really, thats what I do. Take something old, paint it, build it, or craft it into something new, making you feel that thats what it should have been all along.

So for example, my ceiling went from this...

...to this! A reclaimed tin ceiling, that husband says he'll never do again. (he says that a lot, and then does it again) You'd think it was there all along, but it hasn't.

An old door..

...to a new display unit for a local store. Sometimes it takes people a minute to realize its a door.

From vintage sheets and fabrics...

...to new aprons!

Doesn't it seem to just make sense that this fabric should be an apron!

So thats it! That's what I'll be selling in my Etsy store. Aprons !! It's not open quite yet, I'm still playing around with it, but  hoping to be up and running by the end of the week. :)

Why Yes that is a sheet I'm wearing!

I am beyond thrilled with this skirt so far, for a couple of reasons.

First-I made a pattern for a circle skirt myself. I got the instructions from Gertie's book, a book that I bought myself last year, with tons of patterns in it. It also has great sewing advice. But this is a simple circle skirt and you can find instructions on the internet here. There are more sites and lots of ideas to find on pinterest, but I like how that site showed you how to make so many different looks from the same pattern.
I myself love how easy Gertie's made it in the book.

Heres me making this pattern. Its a whole math, pi thing.

Using tools from the garage and my own handy dandy ruler.

My giant compass used for the skirt and the waist, and using my handy dandy ruler to join the dots.

And done. I think you get the gist of things.

You may think that the circle skirt is a blast from the past and your right, but it still shows up in todays fashion too.

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Secondly- Yes this is one of my vintage sheets I'll be wearing. Actually its two because I made the underskirt from a white sheet as well. It was a heavier sheet so this skirt has lots of body to it, but I still will be wearing my petticoat underneath to give it a little more flair. You can just see the white sheet peeking out, on my unhemmed skirt.

I used french seams , meaning everything is incased and there are no raw edges, making this a skirt I can throw in the washer and hang to dry. Give it a good iron and I'm off to the races.

But the hemming, oh the hemming. On a circle skirt it takes what seems like forever.

I measured  26 inches down from the waistband which will give me a 1 inch hem, but for the underskirt I'm actually giving it a 1 1/2 inch hem giving me a half inch clearing for the overskirt. So when finished my overskirt length will be 25 inches, with an underskirt at 24 1/2 inches (Phew, I told you its a math thing)

I measured the entire skirt from my waist at different intervals and then joined the dots, then I trimmed away excess. (One day I'll own a pretty little dress form making this so much easier, but for now this is my method)

Heres something else I like to do. I iron up the hem, then sew a little stitch close to the edge, and then hand sew the the raw edges. Overkill I know, but I like how it gives me a stiffer hem edge. 

Warning- you will have excess fabric to ease into this type of hem.

 

I've also done a different hem on a another skirt. I took extra wide ribbon folded and ironed and then machined sewed it to the skirt. I liked like shiny against the black.

 So heres the price breakdown for this project as follows.
$4.00 for the sheets
.10 for the zipper.

You can't beat that for a new vintage skirt. :)

New Name, New Venture

I've been Sugar Shack for a while now, but thats about to change. I've been thinking, and thinking, and thinking about this for a while. Opening my very own Etsy shop. Two of my daughters have one and have had success, so I'm thinking (again with the thinking) I could do this.
Since the Sugar Shack is a name linked to a lot of different ideas from candy to cookies, to me, finding that Esty name not being used, can be tricky. So in the next couple of days you may see my name change. So don't leave, its still me, I'm still here.

And Ohhhh wouldn't it be fun if one day I was a brick and mortar store! But alas, I  do have a tendency to get ahead of myself,  I'm just excited to start somewhere.  Ahhh but a girl can dream can't she? :)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Yesterday our church did something they haven't done in a while. Put together a bit of a mystery dinner. You could either sign up to be a host or a guest. As a host you put down the number of people you can accommodate and as a guest how many will be going. You have no idea who will be arriving on your doorstep till the day of as a host, or whose home you're going to be going to as a guest.
I signed up as a host, and I will have to tell you that it was a fair bit out of my comfort zone. The not knowing began to get to me a little, the night before. But since I want to step out of being comfortable all the time, this really was a good thing and turned out to be such a fun thing to do.

Now for the food. The other thing you begin to wonder, are they going to like what you've made, so you cross your fingers and hope. I believe what I made turned out alright and here it is.

Lasagna Soup. I found the recipe on pinterest but didn't actually pin it or like it, silly me. Not on purpose but because it was so simple, I just added the ingredients to my shopping list, and memorized it. Now I can't find this recipe. So if its yours, please speak up so I can give you the credit you deserve!

 Here it is.

900 ml of chicken broth
1 340 ml can of diced tomatoes
1 340 ml can of pureed tomatoes
1 pd ground meat of your choice.
1 lg onion
1-2 cloves garlic
6-8 crushed lasagna noodles or 1/2 box pasta of your choice.

Brown your meat and sauté your onions and garlic.
Add everything else, but the pasta. Simmer away.

Cook your pasta separately till its almost done and then add it to the soup, along with a cup of the pasta water. Simmer a little longer until noodles are completely cooked.

Season your soup to taste. I added a bit of Italian seasoning to mine.

Garnish with a spoonful cottage or ricotta cheese

and top with a healthy dose of mozzarella

See, super simple, and it was quick to make. I also think it would make a great crock pot soup, but again add your pasta at the end in the same manner as above, or you'll have very soggy noodles.

Since this is the winter that won't end, its a great one to add to your comfort food list. :)

A Little bit of Sunshine.

After Season 4 of "Downton" was finished, I was feeling a little ho hum, and so the British lover in me needed a British fix. In walked " Call the Midwife". I was not disappointed. (but since I just finished watching season 3, I'll soon be going into withdrawal again.)

Of coarse while watching, I've analyzed everything from furniture, to the clothes they wear. And oh have I been drawn to those cute sweaters that Jenny Lee wears. But this yellow one was the one that caught my eye.

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But since  bright yellow looks a little off on me, I thought I might warm it up a bit. I picked Knit Picks

cornmeal in palette yarn. Here it is so far.

And low and behold Jenny showed up in this little sweater. If your thinking I'm crazy and they're the same sweater, they're not, I checked. Totally different design and colour. Its kind of hard to tell but my  yarn colour is more like the second sweater.

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 And you had better believe I've got a little red number all lined up too, but I'm saving that one for Christmas. :)