More thrift store stuff

Technically, these are from a consignment shop, but it's all pretty much the same, right?
My mother-in-law called me last Saturday morning to tell me that a consignment shop in my hometown was having a 55% off sale, so away I went.

 

Tons of awesome children's books. I plan on using these in my daughter's new basement room (which might be getting ahead of myself, since it's only partially framed right now) as some functional decor. The companion library ones are really cool- they're one book on the front, then you turn them over and upside down and they're a different book!

 These were my favorite find. There were a ton more there, but I only picked ones that were in pretty much perfect shape. Because of these, I've totally been in a Christmas mood. I wanted to get the tree out and decorate, but my husband said no. So I put them all in a jar on the mantle so I could still look at them, and so Mike won't accuse me of pushing the season (because he does not notice jars of stuff on the mantle).

Another awesome scarf. I think that makes my final count 4 for this summer. It was kind of sad to bring it home and immediately put it away with the other summery stuff, but the hat rack is currently overtaken by fall/winter scarves (post coming soon).

I think I got about a dozen doilies for about 3 dollars? I have a pinspired project in mind for these that will be lovely.

I scored some other awesome deals, including some vintage floral ribbon that I just die for and a brooch that's going to be part of a necklace sometime in the future.

Happy Veteran's Day (yesterday)!

Tummy time mat, all the rest

Well, I got it done for Christmas.  I sure didn't get step by step pictures of the rest of the making, though.

Here's the finished product, complete with baby:

The play gym above her is from Ikea.  I find it not nearly as obnoxious as a lot of the other ones I've seen.  I love babies, but I hate the baby land feeling that comes when you have a newborn and your whole house is just covered in blankets, bouncers, swings, burp clothes, and all the rest.  Am I alone there? Anyway, I feel like the Ikea play gym is a lot less baby-ish than a lot of others, so I don't mind it so much.




Now for some details. Here's the other vision quarter:

{Don't mind my feet there at the bottom}

Just a child mirror attached to a wedge pillow and two loops for attaching toys. 

The mirror is one of those ones you can get for your car to look at rear-facing children.

The mirror sticks to the mat with velcro.  The wedge pillow actually has two sets of velcro on it- one set on the short side to make the mirror stand up at a steep angle, and another (in the picture above) on the opposite long side that will make it be at a low angle, for when the baby is sitting up and looking down at the mat.  I feel pretty smart about that.
I also felt smart figuring out my pillow dimensions.  I used the pythagorean theorem and the sine function to get things right.  I always liked trig, and as it turns out, it's still actually useful!

For the last quarter, the sound/hearing one, I had a bit of a dilemma.  A lot of store bought play mats have squeakers in them, or buttons that play music.  I thought it would be really cool if I could DIY that, but I never figured out anything that was actually doable.  Thus, for this quarter, I just attached a bunch of loops.

I'll use the rings to attach things that make noise.  It's nothing too special, but it works.  My parents got Elle a bus that lies flat and has a bunch of buttons that make noise and play songs, so that works. 

After I finished all the quarters, I pieced them together and then put the grey square down over the center and just like that my quilt top was done! The grey square is attached like an applique- I cut it, folded the edges over once about a half inch and ironed, then sewed it down around the edges over my pieced top.

I quilted it quarter by quarter, too.  My original plan was to use different techniques in each section, like a grid in one and stippling in another, but that proved to be a bit ambitious.  I just did wavy lines instead.  I kind of wish I had done them a little closer, but it was Christmas Eve night and I just wanted this thing DONE.

I machine bound it using this tutorial and it worked out pretty well.  It's got some problems, but I'm not embarrassed of it as a first try. 

{The backing is the same grey as the middle square and the binding}

{This was by far my best corner.  The others are a bit wonky.}

 Here it is, all finished.  It was such a great feeling to get this done.  The littlest miss likes it, too, if drooling and chewing and spitting up on everything is any indication of fondness.  I'm pretty sure it is.  If you're less than a year old. 

Making it was not nearly as frustrating as I thought it would be (my expectations of frustration were incredibly high, but still).  Working on it in quarters made it pretty manageable- I definitely recommend it as a strategy. 

I hope everybody else got all their handmade projects done in time for the holidays!

Tummy time mat, part 2

The mat is organized by senses (it was the easiest way to think of things to put on it) and yesterday I finished the touch quarter.

So, the big thing is like a little touch book.  I took a bunch of different fabrics with distinct feels, used Heat n' Bond, zig zagged the edges together, then put eyelets in.  I just used normal 3 ring binder hoops to put it together. The fabrics I used include velour, burlap, denim, terry cloth, minky, satin, felt, monk's cloth, suede, flannel, cotton with puff paint on it, and corduroy.   I thought I was going to have a hard time thinking of more than 3 or 4 fabrics, but then I couldn't stop thinking of them.  I already had all of them, too.  Nice.

The book attaches to the mat like so:

 
Those little bits with the trims on them are detachable, too:

One of the goals I refuse to sacrifice with this mat is that it NEEDS to be washable. Pretty much everything will be detachable. 

Again, I know that the book might be a little advanced for her at this age.  Mim will be there to help, though.  The little tassel bits will be perfect for Elle, though.  She loves grabbing and pulling right now.  My hair, Mim's hair, faces, everything.   

That's part 2.  Here's part 1. 

Tummy time mat, part 1

So it's possible that previously I've mentioned the tummy time mat that I'm making.  Maybe here.  And maybe in my last post.  Things are moving on it, though.  Today I actually remembered to take pictures of some progress, so here you go:

It's my little picture flap quadrant.  Now that it's done, it doesn't actually seem like enough, so there might be more added to it.  Maybe like pockets on the tops of the flaps for more pictures.  I'm not sure.  Maybe some simple appliqued shapes. 

The details:

 I first sewed the flaps down while they laid open, the folded them over to cover the pictures and sewed them down again.  Also, you might notice the tape on the vinyl.  That's what I was using to hold the vinyl in place while I sewed.  I didn't want to use pins.  I thought the tape would just rip off, easy as that, when I was done and it would be awesome.  It was not. 

 I just used a zig zag to sew the vinyl on.  Don't make the stitch length on the zig zag too short, or you might just make it really easy for the vinyl to rip along the perforations the needle makes.

And there it is.  A drool proof little pocket for pictures so the baby has a little something extra to look at during tummy time. I realize the actual opening and closing might be beyond her at this age, but I want her to be able to grow into it a bit.  I'm betting that her big sister will be more than happy to help her until she can do it on her own, though.

Stay tuned for part 2!

Sweater stocking

I've seen stockings made from sweaters all over blogland and on pinterest.  Since I needed a new stocking for little miss Elle, I decided to upcycle an old sweater of my husband's.  It was just plain red, so to give a little detail, I did my pretend embroidering (as seen here and here) and added some snow flakes.  Here it is!

{It's not lined, the cuff is just a bit of fleece that I sewed on.  I'd explain how, but I didn't take pictures and I don't think I can do it with just words.}

{I used a yard darner and a fuzzy off white yarn to add the snow flakes.  The yarn was left over from this project.}

{Here it is with the rest of our mismatched stocking collection.  Mike's is his from when he was a kid, mine is one I picked up at Target two or three years ago, Mim's is my old one from when I was a kid.}

 It still kind of makes me do a double take when I see four stockings up there.  I kind of love that they don't match, too.  Maybe I won't ever end up making the matching set I've been planning for three years.

Also featured on the mantle: my old school paper chain advent calendar.  I was going to use those paper maché boxes from craft stores to make a fancy one this year, but I just won't have time.  This one is good for us for now, anyway- Mim totally gets a kick out of tearing the links off everyday.  And since we made it, she hasn't asked every day if Santa is coming.

I'm more excited for Christmas this year than I have been since I was a kid.

Happy holidays to all!

Thanks for reading.

Polly Pocket Beds

For Christmas, my side of the family does a name drawing for all the cousins.  Mim drew the name of her cousin Ari, who is really into Polly Pockets (so different from the Pollys of my generation).  Anyway, my sister in law told me Ari really wanted Polly Pocket beds and bedding.  So here they are:

The beds are popsicle sticks and some wood craft circles cut in half.  You could save yourself some gluing by getting the balsa wood pieces in the width you want from a craft store, but I had popsicle sticks on hand, so I went with that. 

The bottom "sheet" has a few layers of batting underneath and all the layers are secured with modpodge. 

I put the quilts wrong sides together and just finished the edges with a zig zag. 

There you have it.  My niece lent me a Polly to make sure everything was to scale, so here she is all tucked in. 

I actually quilted the blankets a little bit because I wanted some practice with my free motion foot, but I didn't do that until after I took the picture above and now they're all wrapped up in their box.  Ahwell. 

Anyway, I think these would be an awesome gift for the Polly enthusiasts in anyone's life.  They were also free for me, as I had all the materials, and they weren't even that time consuming.  My daughter was even able to help a little bit (since the gift is from her, after all) by painting and picking the fabric out. 

There will be more posts soon, I promise.  I've just been mostly working on a more involved project for my youngest- a tummy time mat.  Part one of that will hopefully be done by tomorrow!

Appliquéd ornament pillow

I love this pillow.  You probably won't, if you really love good embroidery.  Because I'm not an embroiderer.  I know the name of like 2 stitches, and I'm not very good at either.  However, I like my very imperfect, informal style of embroidering, at least on this pillow.  Here she is:

 I used a combination of all the stitches I knew how to do and did some machine embroidering/appliquéing as well. 

{Machine zig zag around the edge, hand sewn buttons.}

{Blanket stitch around the edge plus a running stitch to attach the vintage lace.}

{All machine.}

{Running stitch}

{Running stitch plus back stitching}

I used gray flannel for the pillow body.  I had wanted to use burlap, but then realized that would be really hard to embroider on it. 

It was fun to make this.  I'm no hand sewing expert, so it was just kind of fun to try whatever and just kind of mess around on this pillow.  All the unevenness adds charm, right?

Let the Christmas crafts commence- Ornament trees

I haven't done anything original in awhile, so it's about time.  I thought of doing something like this last year, but was too sick/busy finishing this to make it happen.  So this year, when I saw these mini ornaments at Walmart, I decided it was time.

They were about $3.50 each.  Not bad, but I'm going to check out the dollar store (that was my original plan, but by the time I got out last night, it was closed) next time.  I started by hot gluing some ornaments in a ring about 6-7 inches in diameter.  Then I just kept building up, ring on ring, leaving the middle empty so I could get maximum tree out of the ornaments I had.

See?  It's hollow.

I like it.  It's going to be perfect on the mantle in a week or so, with Christmas lights all around it and reflected by it.  Mmmmm.  I'm going to make a few more, I think, in different metallics.  It's about a foot tall, but I might put it up on a candle stick or something.. 

Here's to the beginning of Christmas crafting!

Great day @ DI

I gave my last batch of students their final this morning and stopped by the DI (for those of you not in Utah, it's pretty much a Goodwill).  I never find good stuff there (with the exception of this one chair I found and will someday make a slipcover for and then will blog about), but I think I totally scored today.

I didn't find the one thing I was looking for (nightstand for Mim's Christmas), but wandered and found some other stuff I got really excited about:

 Little milk jug, two super awesome candlestick holders, an apothecary jar and a pedestal vase/hurricane thing.
The design on the milk jug:

 

 I was thinking I would spray paint it white and use it in the spring, but I don't know anymore- the design is really growing on me.  What do you think?

The candlesticks are already spray painted and on display- they're what I'm most excited about, probably.  I have been looking/considering buying candle pedestals at a number of places, but always balk at the price (even when Hobby Lobby had them half off).  I really wanted some for my mantle, though.  So here these are.  The crappiest spray painting job I've ever done (when it's warm again, I'll redo them), but I still love it. 

 So, a week from Christmas, my mantle is pretty much the way I want it to look.  I bought some little sparkly stuff from Hobby Lobby awhile ago and want to put it in the new DI glassware, but I CANNOT find it ANYWHERE.

Oh, I also got the crystal platter in the background from DI on my trip today, but forgot to put it in the first picture.  It reminds me of a snowflake.

The tarnished brass plate is also from DI, but a few weeks ago.

You know how PB and Ballard always have gorgeous white birch or aspen branches they use for decorating?  I don't have any white-barked trees, but I found out that a light coat of white spray paint on a normal gray/brown branch makes it look naturally white.  You can see a bit in the picture below:

PB baby trees

Last year, PB had these little live trees that you could buy in burlap sacks (I didn't see them this year).  I liked them, but failed to plant seeds several years ago to grow my own live ones.  So I hacked some branches off our juniper tree (that I usually hate that that's coming down in the spring), stuck them in mason jars full of water, and tied burlap around the jars with ribbon.  And so you see:

I love any excuse for more greenery, especially the real stuff.  I might go back and actually sew the bags, so they have little corners, but the odds of that aren't really great; especially with all the Christmas presents I still need to make.  (I can't wait to show you what Mim's getting!)

The back door wreath

After seeing the ornament wreaths everywhere last year, I decided to make one.  I used some old ornaments that I wasn't using on the tree anymore and went for it, but I didn't have enough to make one as big as I wanted.  So I bagged it (literally, all the stuff that went into the making of it was all together in a garbage bag when I unpacked Christmas this year).  I brought it out and thought about getting more ornaments to finish it.  Bah.  Then I was at the dollar store and I saw the tinsel and I thought of the cover of the Martha Stewart magazine this month and WHAM:

Tinsel glitter ornament wreath!


The wire that I strung the ornaments on was not up to holding this business up, so I wired a big embroidery hoop to the back to reinforce it and it's holding up great.  And I totally love it. 


It was really easy, too.  Since I had all my ornaments strung up on the wire already, all I did was close the loop and then wrap garland over the wire and between the ornaments.  Three garlands is all I  used, but I might go back and add one or two more to chunk it up a bit.  We'll see.  I'm definitely going to go get more garland- I might go a bit tinsel crazy.


Anyway, that's the conclusion of my wreath craziness- I made this one and the ones in the previous 2 posts all in one night. 

From last year...

 I saw this last year:

Totally love it.  I loved how simple it was and how it fulfilled my need of making cards into something (I hate just throwing them away, but I also hate just having them around with no official place).  It's like last year, when I made a garland of my baby's birthday cards to decorate for her party.  Anyway, here's the card wreath, my version.

It would probably look more wreathy if people would send me tiny Christmas cards, like they do for Martha Stewart.  I still like it.