Sunday Diversion: A Dollar Tree Craft

Still working on Hot Patterns 1226, but I needed to order some seam binding, so I took a little detour into Dollar Tree Crafting.  My local Dollar Tree is a mixed bag.  Certainly not as much fun stuff as is depicted on those haul vlogs on YouTube, but still some intriguing things.  For instance, I picked up six spools of burlap ribbon and a wire wreath form.

The resulting wreath came out quite nice, so for $7 I was able to add a nice accent to my door!

I'm pretty happy with my dollar store craft.  The other thing I've done is repair a pet bed for some friends.  I am looking forward to completing my blouse as soon as my seam tape arrives!  Until then, enjoy your Spring!

Top 3 Finds of the Day

Today was my first real yard/estate sale foray of the season!  I love these sales for a lot of reasons. First, since many of the things that do not sell at a yard sale end up in the trash, I feel as though I am diverting things from landfills. Second, they are a wealth of raw materials to the crafter or sewist. Today was particularly productive for me.  I hit about five sales, and purchased things at three of them.  Here are my top three finds, which were all sewing related!

I just love this little pewter finish Timex sewing machine clock.  I'm not certain of the age of the item, but some quick online research says sometime between 1970 and the present.  The replaceable battery sits under the base and is reachable with a tiny screwdriver.  This is a welcome addition to my little sewing room!

The second sale at which I made a purchase yielded these lovely vintage linen pieces.  I just love vintage linens.  I use them around the house, and I also use them in crafting and sewing.  These do show some staining and wear, so a little bath is in order to see how these will be used.

Last, and possibly the most exciting to me is this large haul of sewing patterns.  I scored about 250 patterns in one stop.  Most of these are 1960's and newer, but nothing that looks to be newer than 2000.  You are seeing them after I transferred them into these wire baskets.  They were stored in a large cardboard box which was coming apart at the seams, and in a plastic garbage bag. In other words, not really stored in an archival manner! However, the treasure trove here is incredible.  Children's, women's, men's ... Simplicity, Vogue, Butterick, McCall and a few smaller brands ... day clothes, evening wear, accessories and even a few craft patterns.  I will be keeping some to use myself, but the vast majority will be posted for sale in my Etsy shop!

So, I had a productive morning (back home by noon)!  Leave me a comment sharing what your best yard sale find has been!  Oh, and please let me know how you feel about the new design of the blog... good? Or do I need to keep working on it?

Fall Housecleaning (of the Sewing Room)

It's true. It seems as though I've only just cleaned out the sewing room, but, after all the turmoil created in there by the crafting and sewing for the wedding, it really, seriously needs it again. I have to get this done prior to beginning any new serious sewing or crafting projects!

This means I'm remiss in my duties to you, my readers, and to the other blog I write for, Sew Mantra. But, I can't really get my juices flowing in this mess!

I need to go out and purchase a few more storage bins today. OK, maybe not like the ones in the pic, but something that works! It's imperative to be able to walk across the floor and be able to set up my ironing board.  I covet those cool systems from Martha Stewart! But actually, I'd take anything that made me feel less like I was on an episode of Hoarders or Clean House!

There's SO MUCH I want to do... Adorna's patterns are calling, and so are the patterns which came with Gertie's book, not to mention a few upcycles that I'm dying to do.  If I can get this done today, then I can be clear to make a few nice things later in the week, so hang in there with me!  And if you have any organizing suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

Meantime, entries for the  My Memories Suite™ scrapbooking software close at midnight tonight, and the winner will be selected tomorrow, September 25th!  Keep your fingers crossed, as this is great software, with great potential for a lot more than just scrapbooks!

Simple Upgrade

Hi!  In the spring, Target was featuring designs in stationery and home goods from Privet House.  There was a really cute wire "birdhouse" I loved.  I waited until it was on clearance and got it for $12.98, marked down from the original $27.00.  I'm using it as a card holder at my wedding, with a tiny alteration.

Of course, I'll add a bow, and maybe one of our cute tandem bike stamps, but not bad, huh?  Gotta love Target clearance.

On another note, my favors arrived today (well, the part that requires no crafting).

If they print "FRAGILE GLASS" on the side of the box, does that somehow translate to "Drop kick me into the truck"?  Thankfully, nothing was broken!  These will be revealed after the wedding because I don't want to spoil it for my guests.  Thanks for looking in on me!