Pinkilicious thrift store finds

Yesterday we went out in search of teapots, and this is what I came home with: A pink floral vintage single sheet, a pink jug (don’t they just match perfectly), and some bright coloured plastic knitting needles. The knitting needles will be used to make something like these, but using them for the stems instead of dowels, and maybe putting buttons in the middle?? Might have a play around with that later.

Remember this dress??

This was one of the things I completed on Wednesday (before my sewing machine died). I made this dress especially to match her gumboots, because she doesn’t have a lot of outfits that go with them, but she loves wearing them. I think it matches perfectly.

Speaking of sewing machines, I am getting a new one, WOOHOO!! Thanks to my wonderful mummy, I will be getting a Brother LS2160 as an early birthday present. I’ve ordered it online from Spotlight, so I have no idea how long it will take for them to send it, hopefully soon because I am SOOOOOO excited to start sewing again.

Linking up to Flea Market Finds over at Sophie’s gorgeous blog. Also linking to Thrifty Treasures over at Southern Hospitality.

A Series of Unfortunate Events.

This morning when I woke up I was on a mission, and determined not to let anything stop me. So when I realised that I had a wicked sore throat and the tell tale signs of THE FLU (This is probably because we took little man to the doctors yesterday and I played with the toys there because little princess insisted, doctors waiting room toys = germ infested time bombs), I was all the more determined to get the job done. I worked my butt off all morning making sure I was all set up and ready to start sewing as soon as little man went down for his morning nap. My sewing machine was co-operating, all was going well, I was churning out elephants and tissue holders and caterpillars and even a dress for the princess, and then the bad thing happened. The thing that ends my sewing forever (or at least until some miracle happens). It turns out I sewed so much my sewing machine caught on fire.

No kidding, it actually caught on fire. I paused for a few minutes to pin something, then pop, bang, crack, I look down and there’s smoke coming out of the pedal, lots of smoke. Thinking that singed is not a good look for the carpet in the middle of my lounge, I unplugged it as quick as I could and threw it outside (not the whole machine, just the power cord and pedal).

So, just as I was getting into sewing, really starting to enjoy it, and looking forward to another trip to funky junk to top up my fabric stash, its over. And I still have 5 and a half elephants to sew and countless other sewing projects on my to-do list.

Now, just on the off chance that some miracle does happen and I am in the market for a new sewing machine, I would like some advice. I’m not interested in the top of the range machines, I just want something small, basic and easy to use. Any suggestions?? Just in case you were wondering, my deceased machine is a Bernina Bernette 330 Which belonged to my mum for as long as I can remember.

A whole post without pictures, how boring! Ok, here’s a few things I made this morning. The caterpillars (which haven’t got their eyes sewed on yet) were made using this tutorial from one of my favourite bloggers, Disney from Ruffles and Stuff. The tissue holders, you can find about a million tutorials for online. The Elephants are yet to be turned and stuffed, so stay tuned for photos of them.

Flea Market Finds from a Crafty Weekend Trip

I’ve found that time just keeps flying by lately and I feel like I am so far behind on EVERYTHING!! Including blogging. So this post is all about what came out of my crafting weekend away.

On the Saturday morning we headed into Waihi to check out the local market and some of the shops. At the market I picked up a jar of gorgeous vintage buttons (not a full jar unfortunately), a turquoise doily, a tiny little house and the Snoopy & Woodstock salt & pepper shakers pictured here. I also got a vintage pillow case, but I can’t find it, so there’s no photo of it yet. I still haven’t unpacked and that was over a week ago. Waihi Beach had the cheapest little op shop I’ve ever come across, I wish I could go back there every week. From there I got a super warm & cuddly cardi, a little sugar bowl missing it’s lid and 2 sets of vintage earrings (which are in the photo above, the white with gold rims and pearly grey with gold rims).

So, what did I do with all my child free crafting time?? Well, it turns out with shopping and eating and chatting there wasn’t a whole lot of crafting time, but I did manage to finish a few hand sewn projects.

A couple of lavender scented hearts.

And a couple of lavender scented birds. The top one is filled with rice and is meant to sit on a windowsill, but its a bit wonky so it doesn’t really sit right.

It was a great little mini holiday, and so nice to spend time with other crafty mums without little interruptions.

This week’s obsession…….Elephants.

I made these two in the weekend. The little one is just so cute, so I will be making a bigger one with the same fabric.

So I have been cutting out more in preparation for spending a day in front of the sewing machine. The one that turns out the best will be a birthday present for a little friend who turns three the week before my daughter, along with a pink and purple finger knitted scarf, and maybe something else if I can think of something else to make.

All fabric used in the making of these things was either a thrift store find or a funky junk find. I am finally using up some of my fabric stash, just in time for a visit to funky junk on Thursday to stock up again!

Linking up to some of the usual parties on the side bar.

And the winner is....

Sorry for the delay, we have been busy busy busy with birthday party planning. The winner was drawn old-school style, by drawing a name out of a sugar bowl (that was just what we had on hand). So the lucky duck who gets my basket of goodies is.....

Amy Seven-Stitches!!!!

Congratulations Amy, I will be sending you an email shortly to get your address details.

A huge thanks to everyone who entered, left wonderful comments and became a follower. I hope you will enjoy reading about my thrifting and craft projects in the future.

Tea Party Preparations

Well, we had a bit of a panic this week when we looked at the calendar and realised there is only 2 weeks until the date we had planned to have the party. We haven’t sent out the invitations yet, and we haven’t really even decided who we are inviting. So I have been madly trying to get the invitations finished, the menu and cake sorted and the table layout vaguely planned. Here’s what we have so far:

The invitations (which now need to be changed because we have decided to change the date) are meant to look like the mad hatter’s hat.

This is a “test run” of the cake I will be making for the party. This is another one of those projects I love, Quick, Cheap & Easy. I used Shayna’s  idea of “dress-up cakes without the stress”, but with things that would appeal to my daughter. She wanted a strawberry cake (it’s actually raspberry flavoured, but it’s pink so she’ll never know the difference) and she LOVES marshmallows. It took me a while to think of what I would use to go around the cake, because chocolate is not a good look with toddlers and it’s not pink, then one day it just came to me, pink wafer biscuits would be perfect! This was the easiest cake to “make”, I got a round unfilled sponge from the supermarket for a couple of dollars, made some raspberry flavoured pink icing, put icing in between the layers and all around the outside of the cake, stacked the biscuits around it, poured marshmallows on top and stuck some candles and ribbon on. The ribbon will be changed, the one in the photo is a bit boring, but I was just working with what I had, and it’s more for decoration than anything because the icing holds the biscuits in place pretty well.

  For the party favours I tried to make as much of them as possible, because I couldn’t really find anything in the stores that was affordable and practical. So for each child I made a set of shape (square, circle, triangle) bean bags, a mini crayon roll which holds 4 jumbo crayons and a little drawing book. Each child will also get a fun straw, a glow bracelet, a lollipop and a little bottle of bubbles. For the bags I just used a foam stamp I already had and stamped onto some coloured paper bags I already had with acrylic paint. So the total cost of all six party bags and favours was probably around $10, the only things I had to buy were the crayons, ribbon for the crayon rolls, glow bracelets, lollipops & straws, the rest was stuff I already had.

And this is what my dining table looks like this week. I got out all the cups, saucers, plates, jugs etc that I have been collecting for the last couple of months, to make sure I had enough and to decide what will be used for what. The little labels you can see sitting on the plates are the menu items, which will be: little jugs of milk, sugar dishes full of mini marshmallows (instead of sugar cubes), mini sandwiches: cucumber, jam, cheese, marmite; cake, biscuits (for dunking), mini scones with jam & cream, fruit: grapes, mandarins, melon, strawberries, blueberries; mini pikelets, mini pastries with cheese, tomato paste, pineapple and ham, mini spring rolls. The rest of the teapots and cups that will not be used for tea will be used for flower arrangements. I haven’t decided what to do with the bright coloured napkins yet, they are left over from our wedding so I thought we might be able to incorporate them somehow.

Now we just have to think about decorations. I don’t want to have to do too much, but I do want it to look mad hatterish and also tea partyish, and it has to be three year old friendly and fun. If you have any ideas, or if you have done something similar in the past, I would love you to share!

My “first” Creative Space…

This is my first time linking up with My Creative Space over at Kootoyoo. Thursday is not usually a very creative day for me, it’s usually a catch up with housework, run errands, try to get things done that I can’t do with 2 kids kind of day.

But this morning while blog surfing I am also finger knitting, as in using my fingers as a loom. This is the latest obsession in my house, not just to me, but also to hubby, who has been whipping up a couple of scarves a night for the last couple of nights.

I had never heard of finger knitting before, but a couple of days ago I found this tutorial, and since then I haven’t been able to stop. This is one of those crafts I love, Cheap, Easy & Quick!

So instead of going crazy, tapping my fingers on the desk while I wait for pages to load because of my super slow internet, I can sit back and knit a scarf. Multi-tasking at it’s best.

By the way, this is the last day to enter my giveaway. There are already so many entries, I am shocked at the amount of followers I have ended up with because of this, and I am loving all the great comments I’ve been getting as a result!! I wish I could send everyone a basket of goodies, but then I would have nothing left in my house!

Yellow...

 

This is my first time linking up with My Place & Yours over at Hello Owl, but when I saw that the theme was yellow, I looked up at my new (to me) snoopy and woodstock salt & pepper shakers and I couldn't resist. I searched high and low, and most of the yellow items in my house are teeny tiny things, but that just makes them even better.

From the top left: magnetic letters that live on our fridge and are used to spell out words when we have visitors; my "new" salt & pepper shakers, found in the weekend at the market in Waihi; Little bitty chicky, left over from easter; Smiley stamp, it used to light up when you stamped it, but doesn't anymore; Yellow pot, was given to me when little man was born with a huge sunflower in it; A collection of rubber ducks/chickens; A yellow gorilla perched on some not-so-yellow-anymore bananas; Yellow crafty goodies (ribbon, wool, crochet hook, wool felt flowers, buttons) from my stash; cute mummi, that must be me :)

Head on over to Hello Owl to see more Yellow goodness.

And Another Great Giveaway

Megan at Simple Pleasures is also hosting a great giveaway for the May Giveaway Day. Go here to enter to win this cute waterproof zip purse.

Another Great Giveaway

This one is from Melinda over at Every Spare Minute. Check out the awesome fabric she is giving away here (but don't feel obliged to enter, really, because I am going to win ;-b).

Another Great Giveaway from Reclaiming Me!!!

Check out Kelly's latest giveaway here, as part of May Giveaway Day.

Thrifty Thursday, Latest Creations & My Giveaway Revealed

There will be no Funky Junk for me this week, so instead I have some thrift store finds.

The revolving spice rack will be great when I have a craft room, for keeping jars of buttons or beads within easy access. I found a set of double vintage sheets, that came with 3 pillow cases for some reason. I finally found a decent sized crochet hook, and I got it free! Also free was a bottle, and the scrabble tile, I think the woman just couldn’t be bothered adding amounts that were under $1. Also got a couple of things for the tea party, a couple of little bags full of random bits of lace and ribbon, and a vintage table cloth/runner. There’s a couple of things missing from the photo: underneath all that stuff is a cool vintage suitcase, not in the best condition, but great for holding some craft stuff for my crafting weekend away, also got a huge ziplock bag full of broken bits of jewellery, artificial pearls, beads etc.

These are the only crafty things I have had time to work on this week, with hospital visits and getting ready for the big weekend. My daughter helped me paint the piggies, then I stamped some words and images on them. Some of them are stuck onto pegs, some are on magnets. The two tiles at the bottom got the same treatment, but they will be made into pendants.

And now for the GIVEAWAY!!! I heard about Giveaway Day on Kelly’s blog Reclaiming Me, and I thought, why wait until I have 18 followers when I can do it this way. I had all the stuff already (except the fudge), all I had to do was put it all together, and this is what I got.

The package will include: A set of 4 gift cards and envelopes in a pouch, a mini crayon roll which holds 4 jumbo crayons, a magnetic notepad & matching pen, a little notebooks set which comes with pencils & erasers, a gift card with gumball machine (sentiment reads “wishing you the sweetest day ever”), a vintage pillow case, a necklace with bird design, red glass bead memory wire bracelet, six little pegs (3 yellow ladybug & 3 yellow bird), two small doilies, a packet of chocolate fudge (YUM!! That is if I can resist the urge to eat it!!), and the best part…..

BUTTONS!!!! I don’t know about you, but I LOVE me some buttons!!! I think it’s a pretty common love among crafters, you either have, or dream about having a HUGE collection of every button imaginable. I have a pretty big collection, because I have been collecting buttons FOREVER! I remember when I was a kid, only about 6 or 7, being taken to an op shop and given a couple of dollars to spend and buying jars full of buttons….ah the good old days. Anyway, somehow over the years of moving a trillion times I managed to keep (or hoard) m0st of my buttons, while still adding to the collection. In my fantasy world buttons are the currency, the more beautiful they are the more they are worth. So I am parting with a (relatively) small part of my button collection, in the name of love, because I love my followers, those wonderful people who stop by, see things they like and leave lovely comments. You are worth so much more than 60 beautiful buttons, but that’s all I could bring myself to part with on this occasion. These 60 buttons are in sets, some are only pairs, some are triplets, and there are even a few quadruplets and quintuplets. They are wrapped up securely in a little purse.

So, to be in for a chance to win, all you have to do is be a follower. I’m going to leave this open for international followers too, but if you win and you live outside of NZ, I may not be able to package it all nicely in the basket due to the cost. So if you are already a follower, leave a comment to let me know, and if you become a follower leave a comment. That’s it. I don’t have a facebook page, I don’t do twitter, and as of yet I don’t have anything listed in my felt shop, so I don’t have any other way for you to get extra entries. Maybe if you leave me a super uber nice comment, or tell me about your button fantasies, I will slip in an extra entry for you. Giveaway is open until 20th May. Good luck, may the force be with you.

Wondering why this is the longest post ever and why I’ve jammed a whole weeks worth of stuff into one post??? Because I am going away for the WHOLE WEEKEND, on a child free, girly craft weekend. How lucky am I?!?!?! But I have changed my mind about going so many times these last couple of weeks, because it’s the first time I’ll be away from my little man, and I’m going to miss him like crazy! Of course I will miss the hubby and my daughter as well, but they don’t need me as much as this cutie does. I wish I could smuggle him in, but that would defeat the purpose of a child free weekend. So when I get home on Sunday the house will be a mess, there will be piles of laundry and dishes all over the place and I will have some serious recon to do, so blogging will have to be put off until I can see the floor.

Eighteen

The magic number, well, my magic number anyway. So this is my eighteenth post, and what better time to announce that my first giveaway will happen when I reach 18 followers. When I first started thinking about having a giveaway I had that number in mind, but I thought it would take ages for me to get to 18 followers. Well, today I’m up to 12, and most of those are only from the last 2 weeks, so if all goes well I am hoping to get to 18 by the end of May. Here’s an idea of what will be included in the giveaway:

* A little bit of vintage - some buttons and a couple of doilies or something like that.

* A little bit of handmade – this will include at least 1 item of jewellery, one of my altered coasters or placemats, a set of gift cards and anything else I can find stashed away in my craft closet.

* A few little extras – a little notebook set, chocolate (of course) and anything else that I find that is appropriately cute and important to any crafter.

I will get everything together and post photos later this week hopefully. So watch this space if you want to see what you could be in to win.

Funky Junk Friday & some library books

Some interesting finds from Funky Junk last night: – Cute cups & saucers, doilies and other table linens, lots more fabric scraps & bits, some books, a puzzle, and some other random items that I couldn’t resist.

This is my most favourite find, it is perfect for those times when you need a few bickies with your cup of tea, and the colour is awesome, a gorgeous shade of turquoise.

I ordered a couple of books from the library last week, and got an email yesterday to say they were ready to be collected. They are pretty awesome books, especially Handmade Home, which features a lot of projects using vintage fabrics, especially vintage sheets. The online library request system is great, because if someone on one of the blogs I follow talks about a great book, or if I see a great review in a magazine, I can just hop online, look it up in their catalogue and request it easy peasy, and for only $1 per book, I think it’s totally worth it.

Know of any brilliant craft books I just have to read? Please let me know so I can look them up.

99 Things

I can’t blog surf tonight because we have once again used up all our bandwidth in less than 2 weeks, and waiting for pages to load on this super slow connection is driving me mad. So I found this on Kelly’s blog, Reclaiming Me, and thought I might as well fill it out. It’s pretty boring, because I haven’t travelled a lot and most of the questions are about places and things around the world. It’s just something to fill in the time, and this space.

Started your own blog – Yup.
Slept under the stars – yes, and it was not a fun experience.
Played in a band - No but I always wanted to, just never got the chance to learn any instruments except piano.
Visited Hawaii - not yet.
Watched a meteor shower – no.
Given more than you can afford to charity – no.
Been to Disneyworld - no, not really on my list of must dos.
Climbed a mountain - yes, a long time ago.
Held a praying mantis – yes, I’m the only one in our house that will go anywhere near them, so I am on bug removal duty.
Sang a solo – does singstar count?
Bungee jumped – no.
Visited Paris – no.
Watched a lightening storm – yes, but I don’t like it, it’s scary.
Taught yourself an art from scratch - yes, a few.
Adopted a child – no.
Had food poisoning – yes, and I will never eat luncheon again.
Walked to the top of The Statue Of Liberty – no.
Grown your own veg – I don’t think so, I’m not a gardener, I have never been able to keep plants alive for long.
Seen the Mona Lisa in France – no.
Slept on an overnight train – I don’t think so, but possibly in egypt.
Had a pillow fight - long, long time ago!
Hitch hiked – yeah, kinda. Didn’t actually accept a ride though.
Taken a sick day when you're not ill – yes.
Built a snow fort – No, I DO NOT like snow, yuk!
Held a lamb – I think so, when I was little.
Gone skinnydipping – Ummm, maybe, but I think I may have been intoxicated at the time.
Run a marathon – No.
Ridden in a gondola in Venice – no.
Seen a total eclipse - don't think so.
Watched a sunrise or sunset – yes.
Hit a home run – no.
Been on a cruise – yes, on the Nile. Would LOVE to go on another longer one on the ocean.
Seen Niagara Falls in person – no.
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors – no.
Seen an Amish community – no.
Taught yourself a new language – Not really. Hubby has been trying to teach me Afrikaans for the 10 years we have been together, I can understand it a lot more than I can speak it.
Had enough money to be truly satisfied - I think no matter how much money we have, it will never be enough.
Seen the Tower Of Pisa in person – no.
Gone rock climbing - not rock climbing but did abseiling at camp when I was a kid.
Seen Michelangelo's David – not the real thing.
Sung Karaoke – does singstar count?
Seen Old Faithful – no.
Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant – no.
Visited Africa – Yes, only Egypt.
Walked on a beach by moonlight – yes.
Been transported in an ambulance – no.
Had your portrait painted – no.
Gone deep sea fishing – yes, I love fishing.
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower – no.
Gone scuba diving – no.
Kissed in the rain – yes I think so, a loooong time ago.
Played in the mud - of course!
Gone to a drive-in theatre – no.
Been in a movie – Do short films made at art school count?
Visited the Great Wall Of China – no.
Started your own business – Sold my jewellery for a while, someday I’ll try selling my handmade stuff again, when I have more time.
Taken a martial arts class – no.
Visited Russia – no.
Served in a soup kitchen – no.
Sold Girl Scout cookies – girl guide cookies, yes.
Gone whale watching – not deliberately, but have seen some while out on boats and stuff.
Got flowers for no reason – No, I don’t like flowers and anyone who knows me should know that so I don’t get them.
Donated blood – yes.
Gone sky diving – no.
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp – no.
Bounced a cheque – no.
Flown in a helicopter – no.
Saved a favourite childhood toy - yes, I have a few dolls and teddies and a huge bucketful of lego.
Visited the Lincoln Memorial – no.
Eaten caviar - eww, no thanks.
Pieced a quilt – no but it’s on my to-do list.
Stood in Times Square – no.
Toured The Everglades – no.
Been fired from a job – no.
Seen the Changing Of The Guard in London – no.
Broken a bone – no.
Been a passenger on a motorcycle – once when I was a kid and I burned my leg, haven’t done it again since.
Seen The Grand Canyon – no.
Published a book - no, but I'd love to write a book some day.
Visited the Vatican – no.
Bought a brand new car – no.
Walked in Jerusalem – no.
Had your picture in the newspaper – yes, when I had my son, but that doesn’t really count.
Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Years Eve – yes, also a looooong time ago.
Visited the White House – no.
Killed and prepared an animal for eating – yuck, no!
Had chickenpox – yes.
Saved someone's life – no.
Sat on a jury – no.
Met someone famous – I feel like I have, when we lived in wellington, but I can’t remember who it was, so can’t have been anyone too exciting.
Joined a book club – no.
Had a tattoo – yes, 3.
Had a baby - yes, 2.
Seen The Alamo in person – no.
Swam in The Great Salt Lake – no.
Been involved in a lawsuit – no.
Owned a cell phone – yes, many.
Been stung by a bee – yes.
Performed on stage in a capital city – no.

Now it’s only 9:30, everyone else is in bed, and I have nothing to do. This never happens. It’s times like this I wish I had a craft room, so I could get my craft on without waking everyone up.

One day.

Soon I hope!

Reclaiming Me: 100th post ***Giveaway***

Reclaiming Me: 100th post ***Giveaway***

Last day for entries, winner will be drawn tomorrow. Check it out, some lovely goodies in this giveaway!

A few things I’ve made

I thought I would share a few things I have made recently, all using materials found at Funky Junk.

I made a drawstring bag to use as a gift bag for my MIL’s mothers day gift. I liked the idea of a fabric gift bag because it is reusable, not necessarily as a gift bag, but to hold delicates, jewellery, makeup for travelling, for example. The fabric and the lace used as drawstrings were from funky junk. I hand sewed the bag, using thread given to me by a great crafter from my craft group. So this bag cost me nothing to make, and I think it is lovely.

I also made this pin cushion using vintage curtain fabric and a little pottery bowl found at funky junk. I can see myself making more of these, because they are so quick and easy, and CUTE! I got the idea from a tutorial for making teacup pin cushions found here, but I didn’t add extra details, because I thought it looked pretty cute as is. I do plan to make a super embellished teacup version, using cups & saucers that will be left after the Tea Party.

This is a work in progress, a dress for my daughter. Everything used so far to make this, except the buttons, was found at funky junk. The main fabric is polar fleece, and the peice I found was quite big, because even after cutting out the peices for this dress there’s still a lot left. If I ever get around to it, I would like to make mittens to match, and maybe a scarf. Oh, and a hat would be cute too, but she is not a hat person (much to my absolute horror, she won’t wear anything on her head, that includes headbands, hair ties, hairclips, or anything remotely cute and girly that I would love to make for her).

On a totally different topic, I have TWO new followers since my last post, so that number is creeping up and I am shocked and amazed, but totally thrilled and looking forward to giveaway time.

Linking up to Anything Related Tuesday at All Thingz Related. Go have a look to see a whole lot more crafty projects, and browse through their awesome blog to see the great things they have made. Also linking up to Wednesday at Tea Rose Home link party, another beautiful blog with heaps of great ideas and tutorials.

Am I Being Followed??

Oh yes I am!!
This is just a quick post to say that I am super thankful to my followers (especially the ones who don't know me personally and are not related to me) for being interested enough in what I have to show on my blog to become a follower. I have a giveaway planned, but I haven't decided when it will be. I'm thinking when I get to a certain amount of followers or a certain amount of posts, it'll be giveaway time. I have loads of stuff I have made stored away all over the house, so I will put some together and should be able to make a nice big package for one lucky person (or maybe a few). Giving things away is not really in my nature, because I am a bit of a hoarder, but there is only so much handmade stuff I can use personally or give as gifts.
By the way, I love getting comments, it makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time doing this because people are actually reading it, so thanks for the comments and please feel free to leave more :)
Image from The Graphics Fairy (slightly altered by me).