Memories from growing up in the 70's & Thanks Bobbins and Bombshells!!!

These rings take me back to when I was a little girl. They are from the 70's. I adore the peace sign ring. Do you remember those little ones with the little gems in them? They came in packs with a bunch of them or in the bubble gum machines! I loved them! I always wanted to get them from the machine! It was so hard to choose between the gum and the rings!

This morning when I checked my email I got a message from Karen over at http://bobbinsandbombshells.blogspot.com/ .

She featured one of the vintage aprons I have listed on Etsy, on her blog. Her blog is the "bomb" too! I love the Etsy community. Everyone is so supportive of each other.

Thanks so much Karen!!!

Today I listed a few more things in my store. I have a lot more to list. I am soon going to start listing some fabrics and trims. Oh, and this weekend I found the most adorable owl pillow ever. Here are a few of the items I will be listing soon. I love the hippy headband! Now that is truly vintage!

More accesories from the 70's. I can totally picture the people at Woodstock wearing these!

Can you believe I found the ring with the original little book! I couldn't! It still works too!

Junk in the Trunk!!! Sewing for Peace!!

It was a junkin' day today. I got up early (not usual for me) and went out on my own, meaning no children. It was peaceful and full of a lot of Kid Rock music turned up high on the stereo.

I found this little rug. I think I am going to put it in my son's room when we get around to doing it over again. I am really excited because I keep picking up little things for it here and there. I know when it comes time to actually re-do his room he is gonna want Spiderman or something like that!

The lady that had this rug says that she remembers the woman who handmade this rug. She said it was a very long time ago. I could not believe how it was in such great condition! I am thinking if I took that much time to make something, I don't think I would let anyone walk on it either!!

More finds from today:

See the bookends? The ducks. I was going to order them this week from an online source. I didn't do it for some odd reason. Today at a sale, I spotted them out of the corner of my eye. I thought there was no way that I could possibly have found the exact same ones. Sure enough! Now my mom has her bookends! I also got a huge vintage chalkboard. I have been looking for a good size one for a while now. This thing has to be 3 feet x four feet! I love how used it looks.

One of my favorite finds today:

I love them. They are perfect too! It is probably hard to tell in the picture but they are smaller than the normal ornaments. These are probably only a few inches big.

Sewing for Peace!

The other day on Etsy I came across a woman who was selling handmade flag banners for free! I ordered one right away but I was very touched by the reason she was doing this. She decided to hold a "sew-in" as a protest against nuclear weapons and to plea for peace. She is very concerned about the North Korea situation, especially since she lives in Hawaii. Here is her Etsy store, if you get a chance, give her a visit!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6604480

Here is the beautiful banner she made. It is proudly hanging on my front door in honor of our country:

Call Me the Bag Lady!

I have been doing a lot of sewing lately, mostly bags. I don't use patterns. Usually as I am falling asleep at night I visualize how I want the bag to turn out and then I put it together in my head. After that I jump in with both feet, start cutting fabric, and hope it works out. Same with cooking. In cooking, I just make recipes up as I go. For some reason, patterns (and recipes) are more difficult for me to follow than visual directions. Case in point. I have made a few lined zippered pouches to match each bag. I don't ever use a pattern. Instead I use a video posted on SIS. I must have watched that video 20 times by now and still watch it step by step each time I make a pouch. I need to see each step rather than have them explained to me. Besides, when Rhi says, "I like to live on the edge." I crack up every time!

Here are two of the bags I just recently made. The pink one above is for my niece. She picked out the fabrics and I got to work. I think she picked a couple of great fabrics. I hope she likes how it turned out. The one below if for a friend. I made it out of some sheets from the 70's. I love the pattern and how summery it is.

I still have a couple more to make for other people (Yes Mom, yours is next) and I am excited to try out some new designs. My next design is going to be a bag with all ruffles (No Mom, yours will not have any ruffles).

I hope everyone is staying cool in this crazy heat!!!

I adore long summer days!

I am so very thankful it is summer. So far the weather has been stormy but beautiful. Today was our first real hot and humid day. I loved it. The boys played in the sprinkler and in the old galvanized tub I have. My three year old called it his "tub". It was a perfect fit for the two little ones.

Most of my day today was spent listing more items in my Etsy shop. I still have plenty more to list. Today I went to an estate sale and found some really adorable vintage invitations. It was a huge box full of them. Some had never been opened, all of them were perfectly wonderful finds. I also found some great vintage fabric and some very old children clothes that I am falling in love with!

Here are some pictures of some more items I have to get listed in my shop. There is a whole lot to list! I haven't even started on the fabric or trims!I hope everyone has a Happy Father's Day. We have a day planned full of games, bbq, and fun!

My New Ride!

Did you think I meant a new car? Don't I wish! I love the vintage look of this bike and the basket is so useful! We go on bike rides a lot these days and during the weekend, we try to take a picnic with us. I can fit the picnic and the blanket into my basket. My bike is super comfortable and easy to ride. I am so glad my husband and kids got it for me. It was actually my Mother's Day gift.

It is raining here again. So we won't be riding tonight. I am hoping to get started on a new sewing project. I have actually been getting requests for bags. Now I have to get started actually making them.

I hope all is good with you and yours!

Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime!

It's here. Officially. I know, I know, the calendar does not say it is summertime yet but here in my house, it is Summertime! This is the last summer before my oldest goes off to kindergarten. I am going to enjoy each and every moment before he goes to the first day of school. I have big plans for this summer and one of them is I don't care how dirty the boys get! I am allowing them to dig in the dirt and roll in the grass. They can make as many mud pies as they please. The only rule. No mud paths through the house. Leave the mud at the front door please.

Last night we had a great meal. I thought I would share with you one of the dishes I made. My husband loves it and it is such a great warm weather salad. I must apologies because I don't use recipes.

Summer Tomato Salad

3 ripe tomatoes
1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese (note use the fresh packed in water or it won't be the same)
fresh basil
1 red onion
balsamic vinaigrette
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

1. Cut the tomatoes into about a quarter of an inch slices (place on the bottom of the plate)
2. Cut the onion into very thin slices (place on top of tomato)
3. Cut the mozzarella into quarter of an inch slices (use as much as you would like in your salad and place on top of tomato and onion)
4. Chop fresh basil and put on top
5. salt and pepper to taste
6. Pour vinaigrette on salad and allow to sit for a few hours to chill everything.

It's even better the next day. In my humble opinion.

Feel free to let me know if any of those directions don't make any sense!

This salad will be even better when I can use the tomatoes and onions from my garden.

Junking Season Started!!! HOLY Fabric Motherload!

The pillow I found this Saturday while out on a junk adventure! It is perfect for the couch!

Ever since I can remember I have been a huge fan of garage sales. When I was little, like say 6 or seven, the garage sale appealed more to me because there was always the possibility of finding a good toy or two. If a garage sale didn't have toys, then I would look for baby clothes for my dolls. At that age, I was not in love with flea markets or antique stores. I remember going to them with my grandma and mom. I specifically remember going to one called "Seven Mile Fair". Those afternoons were not fun. For a long time, I was very much anti-antique. I remember saying I would not have one antique in my house when I grew up. When I turned 19 years old I needed to buy some cheap dishes and the first place I looked was a thrift store. That's when the junk hunting bug bit me.









I went to a local (local at the time being Racine, WI) thrift store. My decor love at the time was southwestern. Ok, that just felt like a horrible confession. All I can say about that is it was a strange time in my life. Anyway, I went into this thrift store and on the floor, right inside the door, was a box of dishes that looked like brown stoneware. It was a huge set. They wanted around twenty bucks for all those dishes. I was sold. I brought them home and a friend of mine, who was really into antiques, saw them. She gasped and said it was a really nice set of McCoy dinnerware and they were a really good find. Seriously, that was it for me. I felt that surge of excitement and I wanted it again! I imagine it is what a drug high might feel like. LOL! Ever since, I have been on a never ending adventure for the next treasure.








Turtle sampler marked 1969 on the back. Not terribly old but I love it anyway. Anyone ever try to clean one of these samplers?

I am going to give it a try and see what happens.

This year I am even more excited to get to garage sales, flea markets and after this Saturday I will add estate sales to the list. Usually I don't do estate sales. In the past I have always found them very expensive. However, this past Saturday I had such good luck it convinced me to start looking at estate sales. Oh and by the way, I am certain this whole junk addiction is a trait passed onto me by my mother and was passed to my mother from her mother.

Some of the treasures I found this Saturday. There is more fabric where that came from!

These are the finds I got this weekend. It was a rather strange day. I woke up and decide NOT to go to any sales. Then I got an overwhelming desire to GO to a church sale that I knew was going on. Off I went. On the way there I saw a sign for an estate sale. Remember me mentioning not liking estate sales? Well, I did one of those screeching turns due to my last minute decision to break the no estate sales rule. Get this! The illegal screech the tires to get into the other lane turn was an awesome decision! There was TWO garage sales on the same street plus the estate sale. BONUS! You gotta love that! Park once and take your time.

The first garage sale was tiny. The guy had like maybe 20 things out in his driveway. I seriously think he saw the estate sale and the rummage sale across the street and ran inside grabbing stuff to put in his driveway! I did buy a vintage covered Pyrex dish. Hmm...I didn't put that in the picture. It's cute and teal and I love it. We started using Pyrex because of leeching chemicals in plastic. Love my Pyrex! I love that I can cook in them and store them in the fridge!

After the tiniest garage sale ever I headed over to the estate sale. Everything was 50% off. Bonus again! The first thing I did was wander through the garage. I am looking for huge pots to put some plants in. Nada. I asked about fabric. The lady lights up and says, "Yes in the front room." This is when people need to watch out and get out of my way! Bingo! Big box of fabric.

I also found the pillow in the picture. I love that pillow! After the fabric I headed down to the basement of the house. I found the stitched turtle in the frame. I just love it! Then I headed across the street to another house and found more fabric! It was a great day!!!

Yes, that is a medium garbage bag full. What am I going to do with all this fabric? Oh the possibilities!

Sunday I am going to a flea market. My favorite one. I haven't been to it in a few years. There was no way I was going to take my little boys to this place. They would totally drag me down! LOL! I am going with my mom. Isn't it funny how we have come full circle and now I am doing flea markets with my mom. Wow. Time sure did pass. Anyway, I'll take lots of pictures. Stay tuned. I am sure I will find a lot of great stuff! And since my mother is with me, I am sure I will have a funny story or two!