Girls' Day

Recently, my good friend Sharon and I had what we called a "Girls' Day." With my husband working and her husband fishing, we decided to get together and craft in my backyard workshop. Sharon, who is a very creative person, wanted to sew an apron. She brought the cow fabric and some vintage trim and I added the vintage checked fabric. Since the cow fabric was a knit, the bottom was serged to create a ruffled effect. Although we both worked on the design, this was Sharon's first attempt at sewing an apron. She did a great job. She gave it to one of her sisters as a gift.
My mom, who is multi-talented, joined us later that day. She brought her cake decorating supplies and a fresh batch of homemade buttercream frosting and we practiced different cake decorating techniques. My mom has done cakes professionally for weddings and special occasions. I always remember a special decorated cake at my birthday and school parties. My mom and aunt made my wedding cake.


In the above photo, we practiced on a plastic cutting mat, using the various tips such as star, shell, and basket weave. The right tips make it real easy.
The above picture is my attempt at a decorated miniature cake. I like the Spring colors. I felt like it looked better in the photo, than it actually did in real life, but it still tasted great. I think I will stick to sewing.

Sharon and I had so much fun that we decided to schedule another Girls' Day in the near future.

More Pretty Pillows

I have recently added a few more pillows to my shop on Etsy. These will be sold as pillow covers. The pillow above just looks like springtime. The fabric on the front was taken from a vintage bedspread I found at an estate sale. The front also features a piece of vintage embroidered linen. This photo was taken in a rocker, found at a yard sale, that I had refinished and recovered myself. The colors in the pillow look so pretty with the roses on the fabric. These pillows combine my love for vintage linens as well as fabrics.
The above pillow I have named "Pocketful of Posies", since it is a pocket pillow cover. The pink fabric comes from a vintage bathrobe I bought at a yard sale. It is such a pretty shade of pink (to me, just about any shade of pink is pretty). The piece of vintage linen folds over the pillow form inside and buttons down in the front.
The above photo shows a closeup of the button and the basketful of posies. Such detail.
This pillow cover is also made from the same vintage bedspread and the front is from a vintage dresser scarf. I call it "Lovely Lilacs". You could almost smell the lilacs. They are in shades of purple and lavender and have been hand embroidered.
What is so wonderful about using these vintage fabrics and linens is that, not only is it recycling, but it is giving a new life and purpose to these beautiful linens for another generation to enjoy.

Berry Pretty Valance

This week I made a valance for my kitchen window out of a vintage tablecloth that I had purchased at a thrift store. I used three of the corners to get the point effect. I enjoy giving linens, I've bought at yard sales or thrift shops, a new life, by incorporating them into something useful for my home or to resell for someone else to enjoy. When I was trying to decide on a fabric for the top for a rod casing, I laid the green polka dot fabric against it, and the colors just popped right out.
This is a close up of the strawberries. I just love the faded pink color achieved by years of use and wear. It is hard to duplicate those soft, shades. The colors in the embroidery are still bright and pretty. Putting this valance over my kitchen window will bring a touch of spring into my home.

New Life for Vintage Linens

I love to collect vintage linens. It is so fun to discover them at thrift stores and yard sales and then take them and make them into throw pillows, valances or other items for my home, as well as to sell. These pillows were made from a bedspread I purchased a few years ago in a little antique shop. It had been sitting in my linen closet with some other quilt tops. I finally came up with the idea to make all the separate days into pillows, as in the above grouping. I sold the "Friday" pillow in a craft show recently.
Some of the squares were painted and the outlining is hand embroidered. The painted designs with the little girl are so pretty and unique. I have listed them in my Etsy store. I just love the detail on the squares.
This picture shows the pretty pink bow on the little girl's apron.

This pillow is made from a vintage tablecloth I purchased from a garage sale at a local fundraiser. I love the pretty aqua color. The flowers are done in embroidery. I also have this pillow in my Etsy store. I've called it "Dancing Flowers", since the flowers appear to have movement. Beautiful colors. I have made all the pillows as covers so the forms may be taken out if the cover should need to be washed. Practical as well as pretty.

Pretty and Pink

My favorite color by far has always been pink, especially pale pink. I guess that is why I love collecting pink milk glass. I have also heard it called "shell pink glass". These two pieces sit on my dresser, which happens to be painted almost the same shade of pink. I pick up pieces wherever I can find them, usually as inexpensively as possible. The pedestal piece came from a yard sale and the jar with lid came from an antiques store.
This beautiful piece features embossed grapes and leaves. I discovered it on one of my many yard sale expeditions. It goes well with the vintage rose print, another yard sale treasure.
This piece is special to me in that it belonged to my mother-in-law. She gave it to me just recently. She and my father-in-law got it as a wedding gift in 1958. That makes this piece over fifty years old. I felt honored that she gave it to me for my collection and promised her I would pass it down to my niece later, to keep it in the family.

My Shop on Etsy is Open

After preparing and attending several craft shows in late summer and fall of this year, I have finally gotten my store on Etsy ready for shoppers.

I will be adding items regularly to the online store. Currently, I have some Christmas stockings, ornaments and tag sets listed. The dove ornament above is one of my listed items.

I am also offering Free Shipping to my customers, so please stop by and take a look.

The Garden Gate

It has been over six weeks since my last blog posting. I apologize for the long absence. A month ago, I got a respiratory infection and it is taking a while to recover. My dr. told me it has left me with an asthma-type situation with my lungs. This Texas heat and high humidity isn't helping me one bit, either. In the midst of all this, my brother and I gave a big 50th. Anniversary party for my parents. I had so much fun working on all the decorations, of which I will be posting soon. Alot going on, but I had planned this post before I got sick and wanted to share it with you.
My husband made a gate to surround our vegetable garden. The gate was just plain and white, until one day, when I was sorting out some things in the garage, I ran across these precious metal dogs. I had gotten them when we were going through my grandparents' estate a few years ago. I thought they would be perfect to mount onto the gate to "guard" my garden. I love the rust and age on them, also. I think it gives them a nice, antiqued look. This one looks like an Afghan hound.
This dog stands on the opposite end of the gate and he looks like a type of Spaniel. These gate ornaments date back to the 1960's. My paternal grandpa had a fence company in our area for a number of years, back then. These have extra meaning to me, as well as being beautiful, since they are a part of my family's history. I also kept one of my grandpa's metal signs, he would put on his customers' fences, and mounted it to my chickens' pen. Every time I look at the dogs on the gate or the sign, I remember Grandpa. These types of things make life special for me.