DIY with Vintage ... Heart Art, Framed

Easy hand made art ... 

Courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

1st.  You need a Large Gorgeous Frame ...

like this Barnwood Distressed one from CobblestonesVintage on Etsy

2nd.  Fabric 
large enough to cover the opening in the frame

like this ticking from AStringorTwo on Etsy

 or Old Sacks

from FragmentsAnotherTime on Etsy

 

or a Scarf 

from retrogroovie on Etsy

3.  If your frame has glass in it, just cover the glass with your fabric.

If not, fit the back with a piece of cardboard.

Cover the cardboard with your fabric of choice and place in your frame.

4. Pictures to arrange in a heart or maybe a Monogram letter, like these,

French Postcards from KickassStyle on Etsy

 

Victorian Black and White Photos from DavesPaperGoods on Etsy

Or maybe old Playing Cards from MissSarahBelle on Etsy

5. Using something simple like sticky 'funtack' or double sided tape, place on the backside of the pictures or cards and stick onto the from in the shape of a heart or letter.

Tell me about your amazing creation!

I will be adding my picture here this week :)

DIY with Vintage ... Doily Table Runner

Create your own table runner with smaller crocheted doilies.

DIY this gorgeous creation on the cheap 

courtesy of BHG

Use your local thrift shops or find some great deals on doilies online like these one:

 Assorted Pink Doily Lot

 Assorted Cream Doily Lot

Mixed Doily Lot

Find that perfect selection and join them together with a simple stitch here and there.
If you want to achieve the look of the first picture, they took 5 different shades of blue and hand painted the doilies to get an ombre effect between each one.
Voila!! 

Unique Vintage Beauty!

Thrifty Little Ones Painter's Palette

So, I saw a bunch of pins on how you can melt broken wax crayons in a silicon baking pan and melt them in the oven ... 

then a facebook friend posted that she tried it and ended up setting up her smoke detector because the thrift store container she bought was plastic, not silicon, therefore it melting and almost started a fire.... 

hmmmm ... I think the ones I bought were plastic also ... Red Hearts, Blue Fish and Green Stars ... I guess they will, forever be ice cube trays ...

Until one day, when my son wanted to paint and I was searching the tupperware cupboard for the token and usually plentiful margarine container lid to put the paint on .... but no, none to be found ... what can I use? hmmmm .... well looky here, and there rebirth happened ... Put each colour into each heart, with a couple left over for custom colours and presto ...

A Thrifty Little Ones Painter Palette

linked to craftyconfessions

Refashion: Button-Up shirt to Little Boys 'GI Joe' Outfit

I heart little girl things.

Ruffles.

Frills.

Skirts and dresses.

Lace and Ribbon.


Alas, I was blessed with a little boy.  So I must adapt ...

Camo.

Sports Teams.

Practical & Sturdy.

Denim & Dark colours.

 ........ So lets at least try to keep it a little fun!!~~~~~

 1. Military colour shirt - $1.99 @ VV Boutique (aka Value village Thrift Store) - Men's small

2.Chopped off both arms

3.  Measured with one of my sons shirts that fits him (even a little too big) I don't want him outgrowing this next month!

4. Using that same shirt - measured to see how much to take out of the sides - pinned and serged edges - remember to leave the arm hole open - this is where we have to reattach the arms

5. Reattached arms ~ at this point I overthink things - don't put one of the arms one inside out and think you might be able to get away with it - you will HAVE to take it off and put it on the right way *wink*

6. At this point - if you have a girl this would be perfect for a Dress!

7.  Add Army-esque embelishments - Of course I just used some of my scraps.  The stripes are some ribbon my little man picked out himself.

Pretty Snazzy!!

Before he would wear it I had to make matching pants (he's very matchy-matchy for 3.5) So I quickly put together some pants with big Cargo-type pockets on both legs made from the left over shirt material - and an elastic waist ... Apparently -this is how he feels he should 'pose' for the camera .... and the cowboy hat? I have no idea - maybe he escaped the Cuban Army?

Linked to Funky Junk SNS
 & A Vision to Remember
& Kuzak's Closet 

Footstool Re-Do

 BEFORE:

One retro stool for $2.99 - horrible shape but I could see the potential.  Deal of the week!!

Classic: Brown vinyl with drizzled gold & silver paint!! The legs were solid but in definite need of some TLC

AFTER

Sanded the legs down

Then burnished with Burnt Umber Acrylic paint with a touch of gold (I was thinking a dark Walnut Stain but didn't have any on hand - I think it turned out well)

Finished with a light coating of Tung Oil

 For the new top - I just measured and cut the top & 4 sides from a drapery remnant that had been gifted to me ($0.00!!)

 Sewed it together ... Added some padding ~ double layered 

(I used leftover remnant of mattress padding $0.00)

Stapled the edges under ...

 Good as new ... for $2.99

and it matches the curtain in my bedroom that I already made out of big piece of drapery material :)


and now I've decided it's not quite Finished as of Wed. March 24 ... I'm not happy with the edges along the bottom ... so I guess it's still a work in Progress ... like so many other things :)

What do you think?
Ruffles?
Ribbon?

anything else?

Linked to: Ma Nouvelle Mode

Bargain of the day!! Vintage Lamps - perfect for a snowy-day project ...

 $12.00!! love it!!

no markings on this one - but it's very solid

 it's missing one of the sets of crystals ... so I will probably replace them all ... the detail in the metal is beautiful!! ... I think it will just need a new shade and a clean-up and will be ready to go!

 $10.00!!! It's very cool too!!

L & L 1973 lamp - there's a small bulb in the base that lights up as well.

the shade is too big ... hmmm maybe I will just swap them around ...

and see if the tacky flowers will come off - then try to paint or stencil something fun on it ... any suggestions?

I just have to find that awesome Blog where some crafty girl repainted and aged the metal parts of the lamp and it looked so NICE! - if I find it I will post the link :)

Homemade Miche Cover ... using a placemat

Hmmm - I while back I made my own 'slipcover' for a Miche Bag and it was frustrating and stitchrippingly 'fun' (I'll post a picture of my first one at the end) ... so I put off trying another ...  Until I was hit with a brainwave while 'treasure hunting' in a thrift shop today ... Hey - these nice placemats are about the same size as a Miche cover ....

~~ Cardboard template of full cover~~

 (is for when I attempt to fabricate the whole cover)

~~~~~ Placemat $1.49 ~~~~

 (just seemed so much easier)

 Cardboard template for each side of bag.

Cutting 2 pieces of dark fabric, which will be the inside that the original Miche cover flaps will be inserted into.

The curved edge will be the top of the cover (as the original Miche cover is curved like that)

Press the edges of the insides down ...

I also pressed & hemmed the straight edge that will be the opening for the flaps of the Original Miche cover to go into.

 On my cardboard template I had marked where the 'Bottom' of the Bag would be, so I would know where to put the inside flaps. But after Trial 1 I ripped them on and repositioned them as far to the outside edge as I could.

~~EPIC FAIL~~ was trying to use fusible Heat activated hemming tape (2 times  grrr) that I just could not get to work ... so I gave up and sewed them to the placemat ...

 .... the inside view ...

... Inserting the Original into the Newly made Cover

Voila ~~~ The curved top edge isn't quite perfect ... but what the who ... looks pretty okay .... could always add some ribbon along the top to hide it I guess

I've got another one that I fabric glued the inside panels into place - I think it will look better without the seams showing

This is the first attempt to make the whole thing from scratch ... pretty wobbly seams along the top ... but I've gotten lots of compliments on it :)

1, 2, 3 - Pants ... Yes you can make your child pants - Sew EASY

1. Find yourself a nice pair of pants you are no longer wearing
2. Find a pair of your child's pants that fit him nicely
3. Use those little pants as a pattern
4. I snipped off that nice thick elastic to use for the little pants
and ended up with enough for 2 pair :)

5. Sew up the inner seams of each leg, then attach the 2 pieces together. The great thing is they are already hemmed and the outer seam is already sewn due to where I placed the 'pattern'
6. Attach the waistband. I thought a zig-zag seam would add a little detail to a slightly boring pair of pants

Oh and last but not least add one of the things that the little boy loves most ... hockey ... of course he'll wear them now!

Same thing with the flannel bottoms

Nifty new PJ bottoms

My Stuffy Scarfs :)

well ... thank you A Girl & her Glue Gun ... what an awesome idea ...!!

As soon as I read the tutorial on how to make these little critters I knew I had to make some!

As soon as I got home with the little 'victims' aka Stuffies soon-to-be-cut-in-half ... my son of course 'claimed' them as his own. He's not a real stuffed animal lover, but, it was 'new toys' and therefore 1) he assumed they were his 2) he would be amused with them for approx 3.5 minutes. I explained that they were not his (this scaled into an argument which I advise one to try to not do with a 3 year old), then I waited for him to move on to something else to play with & went and fetched them off of his bed.

Looking them all over I decided that Frog would be first to be dissected (seemed only right) ... at that moment my son came wandering in & wanted to 'help'. So he helped me cut Frog in half ... boys seem to enjoy this sort of thing ... I cut about 3 more different animals then started sewing.

a few more trips to the Thrift Shops and more sewing resulted in over a dozen scarfs and my son getting to 'Save' on of the stuffies from being 'chopped' ... a cow that he has named 'Moos' and he keeps reminding me that I can't 'cut' Moos ... lol

This is NOT my TEAM! lol ... so I might as well give it away

If you want to know the real reason I did this one first

is because I didn't care if I mucked it up :) hehe

So I purchased a NHL sheet a long long time ago to make something for my then-baby-boy ... he's now 3 and I'm finally doing something with that sheet ... The sheet itself isn't close to being new, but I just couldn't waste all those lovely LOGO's ... so what to do what to do ...?
OH - patches!

The finished patch is 6"x6" - The biggest back piece is Felt - mostly for stability & stiffness, the middle colour is flannel, then the Logo itself feels like a poly/cotton blend ... I quite like how it turned out so I'm gonna do a bunch more ... maybe even give a few away :)

Post a comment here and what team is the favourite of the house and you just might get a nifty one for yourself (I'll mail it to you so don't worry)