kirstencan

Thriting fabric

so my faith in thrift stores has been renewed!

i haven't had that much success at thrift stores lately - excepting this of course.  on friday, my sister and i went to one by where my mom lives.  we got sidetracked by a yard-sale sign on the way where i picked up these beauties:

i think this orange one was made into a shirt or something by the looks of it.  those holes look like sleeve pattern shapes.

the yellow one is uncut - they're both nice weights and have great potential - either bags or a bathmat, i think.

so at the actual store,  we both picked up a big bag of fabric - i weighed mine on the bathroom scale when i got back - almost 12 pounds!  my local store never has anything like that.  i have to say that i got the better bag.  inside was:

the textured blue is also a nice weight.  there's probably 2 - 3 yards of this one - good thing i like it.

what in the world do i do with this one?  i think it's a cotton-poly.

also these:  i fell in love with the print on the far right- until i opened it and realized it's that very slippery polyester - but it could make a good bag lining?  the far left is a white rib-knit - don't know if i'll ever use that.  and next to the floral is a cool thick weave textured piece.  big pieces of nearly everything.

also found some nice jeans (hooray), a cool vintage sweater and some odds and ends (a 'merry & pippin' shirt that is tiny - but the logo will make a nice patch... on something...) and a really cool sheet that i gave to my mom to make me a skirt out of.   thanks, mom!  anyway, my sister and i  spent too much time there, but had fun and got some good stuff!  i will definitely be back to that store!

does anyone have any good ideas on how to get 'that smell' out of thrift store vintage fabric?  fabric seems to have a stubborn hold on the smell.  so far i've had some success with washing them with baking soda - hanging them on the line - and forgetting them overnight so that the sprinklers wet them again.  but is there another way?  vinegar?

off to the post office to send my button-swap package!

imagine a magical dream

Princess has finished her first 'embroidery' project.  she drew the design herself - and picked the colors and sewed it.  underneath the heart, crown and flower is her name - big! - and a purple star.  she's very proud of herself, and while i tried to get her to turn it into a pillow, she insists that she is going to make it into something (a surprise) for me for Christmas.  what a girl!

she hung it up on the fridge with some of our fridge-poetry magnets: imagine a magical dream

lately, this is her favorite way to spend a hot evening:  snuggled on the couch with a book and a cup of ice chips.

Friday...

so i can't show my WIP for this friday- something for a birthday - i must say though, i got a good jump on it last night and LOVE it so far - can't wait to show it off - my sister will love it, i hope.
besides that i am working on a pillowcase tutorial that i'll hopefully post next week- and i will be playing lots of this:

the harry potter obsession continues.  thomas wants me to play this with him constantly.  he is gordon (or the hogwarts express) and i am 'harry potter car fly in sky.'  i have to say "where's the train?" and he says "right there!" and 'toots' the train whistle.  then i say 'AAAHHH" and the car flies away - only to crash into a tree, a lake, or land on the track again for another round.

the motorcycle pictured?  why, hagrid's of course!

line-drying & over-hyping

am i crazy to love hanging my laundry outside to dry?  there is something... calming?  about hanging out clothes under the cottonwood trees.  especially if said laundry includes thrifted fabric... 
aaron and i watched casablanca for the first time this week - we were super-tired, so it got split into 2 nights.  it's one of those movies that everyone's 'supposed' to see.  i have to admit that we were kinda disappointed - is it just overhyped?  or am i crazy?  i didn't think any part of that movie was that good.  it was okay - but not great, in my opinion. 

hoping to get some more freezer-paper stencilling done today - and a bag for a certain sister's birthday.

Meemo, the Travelling Cat

i'd like to introduce you to our friend Meemo, the traveling cat.  meemo started out as just a regular cat - a gift to princess  from nana.  he was a cute cat and a good friend.  when my sister went on a study abroad during college we decided to send meemo with her.  he proved to be an excellent traveling companion.  nice and small, squishy (fits in small pockets) and didn't complain much.  also - he wasn't played with so much that princess missed him immediately (a must for summer-long trips).  when he was eventually discovered missing we also discovered a note from him - explaining that he'd hopped in kari's backpack and was off to see the world - but would be back soon.  kari took him on a tour of asia, australia, and new zealand.  he sent us postcards and even opened his own email address so we'd hear from him that way as well.  meanwhile, i made sure i knew where i could find a replacement meemo, just in case...
the next summer meemo traveled with my brother and his wife all over europe.  and this summer he got to go on an african safari with a friend.  we have been lucky to know people willing to take him.  we get copies of all the pictures of meemo.  some of my favorites include:  meemo on the little mermaid stature in copenhagen, meemo on an altar in thailand, meemo watching the changing of the guards in london, and of course:  meemo in a hobbit hole in new zealand.

meemo has traveled by bus, train, plane, tram, and elephant.  he has visited 5 continents - and my dad is thinking about how to get him to antarctica for us! 

our children love looking at pictures of meemo.  a picture of a statue of braveheart isn't all that interesting to a small child - but put their little cat on it's foot and they love it - it really personalizes the trip for them.  we trace his travels on maps and globes, and when we study geography or history we come across places that meemo has already been - and out comes his album again.

(Updated: Meemo went to Hawaii!)

Bags and pet peeves

yesterday aaron had the day off, and i got a little sewing in.  i made 2 'library bags'.  one for princess and one for her friend's birthday.  also 2 headbands out of the lining fabric.  i had fun making more buttons - out of the lining fabric as well.  they're sewn on.

so one of my pet peeves:  why can't you buy sandals in july?  why can't you buy tights in january?  stores are frustrating right now.  i went to buy a wading pool yesterday, as the one we have has a crack in it.  i headed out to a couple of different stores - none of which had any wading pools left!  it's still july!  my kids will use a pool through september, weather permitting!  what's up with not stocking pools through the end of the summer?  thomas is outgrowing his sandals, and he has such wide feet that it's hard to find him shoes - but i've been looking, and there are hardly any sandals in stock at most stores - they're all on clearance already.  again - my kids wear sandals for a couple more months - assuming that i can find some! really frustrating.  oh well, i guess i'd better head to the stores and stock up on winter tights for princess!

IT.IS.HOT.

Really hot.  we have a big jetted tub in our basement.  It was put in by previous owners.  i think we are too practical to ever put in something so ... frivolous ourselves –it's too bad, though, having our coolest bathroom  in the basement- we barely ever use it.  Anyway – last night we filled ithe tub with cold water and put the kids in their swimsuits and threw them in with some little toys.  they had a ball!  There was much squealing (monkey) and pouring water over the others' heads (princess) and laughing (thomas).  A good time was had by all – aaron and i even put our feet in – so we all ascended about 30 minutes later feeling cooler and in better spirits.  then we watched 'harry potter' together – again.

Stingy Yard-Sales

I went yard-saling with my mom and sister on saturday – kinda slim pickins this week.  My sister did point out this cool pyrex decanter with yellow and green mod flowers on it -i bought it for  50 cents – and monkey broke it before i got it home.  So oh well.

Also found a cool flowered sheet and pillowcase.  They are calling to be made into bags or quilts.  The lady at the sale didn't understand why i'd want to break up 2 twin sheet sets.  She thought it was funny that i'd want to make something out of sheets.  I'll show her.... ha ha ha ha! (maniacal evil laughter).   This lady was odd – my mom was holding this cool floral pillowcase and the lady took it out of her hands to give it to someone who was buying the sheet set that it went with (who didn't seem to care about the pillowcase)–  and you couldn't even tell that they went together – the sheets were a solid color!  So we got gypped out of that one...
i did find some little orange traffic cones (new in package) – thought it could be fun for bike riding or backyard obstacle courses.  Maybe next week i'll have a little more luck at 'the sales'.

Light - before and after

so my wonderful husband came home and immediately installed that light fixture that i got at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago.  our entry looks way better.  he said - "you got this for $3?"  (i did).   "and it came with $2 worth of light bulbs?" (it did!).
anyway, here it is - all installed and everything!

and he did it so fast that i forgot to take a 'before' picture - so princess held it up for me after the fact.  i think you will agree that the new one is a marked improvement!  in the picture you can't see the ugly etched flowers on the glass.

cars

another beautiful line of cars by my beautiful boy!