Another thrift story

Yesterday I enjoyed a day with my mother in law. She came down with FIL because he had a conference across town. I had been wanting to take her to my favorite thrift store forever, so I finally did yesterday. She was so impressed with it. When we first walked up, we spotted this great play yard for Isaiah. Of course, the grandmother in her had to buy it for Isaiah. We put it on our deck yesterday and Isaiah loved it! I'm glad we found something that he'll actually stay in and play with! That means I can drink my margaritas without a kid pulling on my sleeve. Hee hee. Isaiah kept kissing the mirror on it. How cute??

Here are my sewing finds from yesterday. I got this great big bag of buttons for $1.95 and they were even separated into colors! I was so glad to find this bag because sadly, I do not have a lot of colored buttons. I just love buttons, but who doesn't?!?! Actually, this was only about half the bag too.

I found a huge bag of thread, which is great because it's always so expensive and I go through a lot of it. There was also another bag of rick-rack and bindings. I'm starting to wonder if this all came from one person. Does any one know what middy braid is? There was two packages of that too.

We also went out to lunch for my birthday. The funny thing about this is that every year my in-laws always think my birthday is on April 20th, but it's really on the 25th. (I turn the big 2-5 on the 25th, which I think is funny, but it seems no one else does!) So we had a good laugh about that and enjoyed our lunch at Olive Garden. I haven't been there in so long, but they just built a new one by our house and it's really convenient.

My MIL also helped me to reorganize our bedroom. It is basically the one room that has not been put together since we moved into our house. Boy am I glad that she was up for that challenge. She has a really good eye for design and made some great suggestions as to where to put the furniture. Now I'm sitting in my nice reorganized room and I'm feeling so relieved that it's not completely cluttered. I said to her, "I wish I had taken a picture of what it looked like before." And her response? "I think you should just forget about the before and remember the after." Hmm.. was it really that bad?

Not only did she spend hours helping me fold laundry and move furniture, but she also weeded 3 flower beds in our front yard. And planted some snapdragons. And mulched it. Wow, how luck am I?

For dinner with met up with my FIL and brother in law at Outback. My husband picks up a couple of nights a week for extra cash so I can be a stay at home mommy for the time being. So, of course his parents wanted him to be our server. It is so funny to have him wait on us. I love watching him interact with the customers! I am grateful, though, that he is willing to work those extra hours for me to be able to stay home. Thank you Johnny!

Yesterday was truly a great day. I'm excited because this weekend my parents are coming to visit me from NY. We have lots of great things planned (maybe even a thrift store outing) and it looks like the weather is going to be really nice!

Thanks for all your suggests for fabric places. I'll be doing a lot of research today!

Decisions, Decisions

For all you jealous thrifters, I shop at the Value Village in Adelphi, Maryland. From what I understand, this VV is not related to the ones in the Northwest and Canada. It is by far the best thrift store I've ever been to. They always have fabric, patterns, and notions, and get even more on a daily basis. So if you're ever in the area, I definitely recommend stopping there.

My birthday is next week, so I'm thinking that maybe I can get myself a special fabric treat. Remember how I gushed about the Denyse Schmidt fabrics? I'm trying to decide which ones I should get and from where. I know a lot of you have this fabric, so I'm wondering which ones you like best. I haven't actually seen them in person, but I'm hoping they're as pretty as I'm dreaming them to be. It's hard to pick favorites, but I think these might be the ones.

Also, what are your favorite on-line fabric stores? I'm just too lazy to search out a store around here that actually sells these fabrics. Driving around the D.C. area is no fun and I'd like to avoid that. So, anyone have good suggestions where I can get a good deal? I promise after I get these fabrics I'll stop posting about how much I love them! hee hee... Oh by the way, I saw one of the in the new MSL. I'm such a Martha stalker.

Take me away to Margaritaville (and maybe the thrift store too)

I swear Martha is a women after my own heart. I just got the May issue of MSL yesterday and I think it's one of the best ones yet. Margaritas are my absolute favorite drink and there were 3 whole pages of margartia recipes. I really want to try the watermelon & basil and the pink grapfruit ones. They just sounds so refreshing. Now only if it could warm up about 20 degrees!

I also had a successful trip to the thrift store on Monday sans child. John had off work because D.C. celebrates Emancipation Day so D.C. schools were closed. I much more enjoy thrifting alone. That way I don't have little grabby hands pulling things off shelves or whining every time I pick something up.

Anyway, I found several bags of rick-rack, seam binding, and sewing needles. I also picked up this bag of fabrics. I love the gold with the white polka dots, it's my favorite out of all them.

I really need to stop reading blogs, because after I saw all of Karyn's pillowcase totes, I felt the need to buy a couple. I picked up three, but they have yet to be made into anything.

This pillowcase is my favorite, I almost don't want to cut it up!

I also found 2 really pretty sheets.
And I finally got around to reworking a custom order I had from almost 2 months ago. It was a frustrating project because I had to basically cut the whole thing apart. I took the top off and sewed it to the bottom, added batting, and a stabilizer. In the end, I'm happy with the way it came out and sometimes, I think that's when all the frustrations are worth it. Hope she likes the finished product!

Tragedy and Hope

By now I'm sure all of you have heard of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. It is unimaginable how everyone involved must feel. It was everywhere in the news around here. We are only about 4 hours away and a lot of kids from the area go to VT. While driving to and from the thrift store, I listened to the radio, people were calling in with children there or alumnus, shocked at the news and in disbelief that something like this could occur is such a small, quiet community. The news also covered many area colleges, like mine, that were gathering for prayer for the victims & their families, and the whole community of VT. I feel such a deep sadness for the people involved and I hope that you all will keep them in your thoughts & prayers.

When such bad things happen, it seems only appropriate to talk about the good people are doing in the world. I'm sure some of you are readers of the blog AfricanKelli. Kelli's blog is one of the blogs I read on a daily basis. She always has such inspirational things to say, is a crafty girl, and is a downright nice person (and I know this, even though I've never actually met her!). Anyway, next month she is traveling to Mozambique and visiting two orphanges. The sweet person she is would love to bring goody bags for the children there. She is asking for help in putting some together, so if you'd like to help, visit her blog and contact her. Plus, stay around and read the rest of her blog. I promise it's a good one!

Christmas in April

My package from the Spring Fling Swap arrived this weekend. It was so very exciting to get my package and a very funny story to accompany it arriving. Saturday my husband and I were completely exhausted (Isaiah's teething), so while Isaiah decided to take a 3 1/2 hr (yay!) nap, we decided we'd nap too. Well, towards the end of the nap, a large knock at the doors wakes us up. My husband, who is always delirious when he first wakes up, jumps out of bed and is running around the room trying to find a shirt to put on. I finally said, "John, just open the dresser." So, eventually he makes it downstairs, only to find my swap package at the door. He came upstairs and just threw it on the bed, saying "I knew I shouldn't have gotten up, who'd be knocking at our door in the middle of the day!?" Hahah. He was less than pleased about his nap being disturbed.

Anyway, my partner Bee did a wonderful job. I'm not sure my pictures are going to do any justice as we have had 2 straight days of gloomy, rainy weather.

Very cool wrapping of the packages, I'll save that for later crafting.

This is what each letter of the package represented

Close up of the pincushion, which believe it or not, is the first actual pincushion I own. I have a magnetic one, but not a real one.
She cleverly used the "I" for Isaiah and sent him a chick and a bunny. He has since hid the chick on me, and this was the best picture I could get of him holding the bunny.

Bee thrifted this nest and the birds as well as the base to the pincushion. She made the pincushion , the drawstring bag, and the pink bunny. She Thanks so much Bee. I love them all!


I'm sending my package out today, so hopefully she gets it quickly so I can post what I sent!

Who wants to play a game?

Isaiah and I have a great neighborhood to go walking in. We live across the street from a park and a river and down the road from a very pretty mansion. Sometimes it's hard to believe that we live so close to a city. I really enjoy living here because growing up, I did not live in a neighborhood. I actually lived in the boonies in NY which was originally a large farm. We lived in the original farmhouse and I could barely see our neighbors. I did love our house and the huge yard we had, but I sometimes missed not being near my friends or a playground. Anyway, this really has nothing to do with the post, but I was just thinking about my old house, and sigh, I do miss it!

Ok... onto the game. So as I was saying, Isaiah and I take a lot of walks and one day last week, we walked by possibly the most tacky house I have ever seen. I mean, the house itself is not bad, but the front yard is something else. I have never seen so much stuff in one yard in my entire life. And it's not like it's big things either, it's a collection of a bunch of little tiny things. The other day I made my cousin drive by it with me and she actually thought they had just decorated it for Easter. I was like hmmmm nooo... that stuff is here all the time!

Anyway, I should say first, that I'm not trying to offend anyone or hurt anyone's feelings. I simply cannot understand how one could live with that much stuff in their yard! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a super neat, clutter free person, because I'm not. But, I cannot imagine having all those tiny little things in my yard, every single day!

I got to thinking, and I bet that many of you have houses like these in your neighborhoods, and I'd love to see them. So, does anyone want to play a game/have a contest with me? Here's how it would work:

If you'd want to participate, just e-mail me a picture of the house/yard (it might even be yours!) and tell me where you live, let's not say street or any other real identifying factors, just to play it safe.

Each day, I'll post 1 or 2 on my blog and you can post it on yours as well. After everyone who is participating has entered, we'll do a little voting and see who has the most tacky house/yard in their neighborhood. I'll send a little prize to the winner.

Just a few things: I really am not trying to be mean to anyone, I just want to know WHY!!! So, let's say your house looks like this, then maybe you can supply an explanation. Also, you might want to be on the sly about taking a photo of someone else's house. Better yet, send your husband, or your kid( if they're old enough, of course). Haha. I took mine while I was walking with Isaiah and put the camera on the stroller, then hightailed it out of there. I don't want any reports of injuries from you trying to escape, so be careful!

O.K. anyone in? Here's my photo, I hope to get a better one next time, so I can get a close up of all the little individual things. I just might pretend I'm in mission impossible or something.

and if this is your house, I'd love to know how freakin long it took you to collect all those things!

Not much to show

I'm busy crafting away for the Spring Fling Swap (hi Bee!), so I don't have much to show craft wise. I don't wait to spoil the surprise. My swap partner lives all the way in New Zealand, so the suspense will even be longer when my package is sent off to her. I've found some great things for her, so I can't wait to get the package together and for her to get it!

Anyway, since I don't have much to show, I thought I'd share a fun website for all you book readers. It's particulary good for this time of year because it encourages some Spring Cleaning! If you don't know about it already, you should go check it out. It's called PaperBackSwap and I believe I found it in Blueprint Magazine. Anyway, the premise is very simple. You start by listing 8 books that you would be willing to part with, and in turn you get 3 credits. These credits allow you to then request books from other swapers. So far I think I have sent 2 books, with another being sent today. I have also received 3 books. Each time you send a book out, you get another credit.

I was a bit skeptical about it at first, but so far it's working out. Best of all, it's free (for right now at least). They also have SwapaCD, which I haven't tried yet, but sounds fun. Anyway, go check it out, it's a good chance to get some books you've been wanting to read for a while and you can get rid of some of those dusty ones on your shelf!

(And no, I wasn't paid to talk about this!)

On the road to recovery

Thanks so much for all your comments yesterday. Isaiah seems to be doing well and probably hasn't even noticed that he has a big goop of glue on his forehead. Yesterday it was just too much for me to be in the house, risking him hitting his head again, so I headed off to the thrift store. We weren't there but 2 minutes when a little girl passed us and looked up at Isaiah and said "eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww". I almost had to run her down with my cart, but don't worry, I controlled myself. I'm only (halfway) kidding.

This morning I spent my time running after Isaiah, picking up all the books on the floor, making sure he was going to hit his head. I swear this is making me paranoid, but I don't want my poor baby to have a big scar in the middle of his forehead. That would not make for a good modeling career. Haha. Then again, Owen Wilson has a big crooked nose and he's successful. Ahh.. anyway, I went to Target and all of the Easter things are 75% off and the dollar spot is 50%. So if you're in the mood for some shopping and haven't had your fill of Easter candy yet, go check it out. I got 2 bags of my beloved Cadbury Mini Eggs for just .69 each. Now that's a bargain!

Lately, I haven't been too much in the mood for sewing. After getting all my fabric and notions organized it just seems too much to mess it up! I'm not very good about putting away my fabric as I use it. I've really felt like painting a lot, so last night I went out in the shed and got a scrap piece of wood. So, this is what I'm working on now. I'm using a piece of vintage scarf from my MIL. Haven't really figured out what I'm going to do after that.

I'm also using a technique I learned in high school. It's actually pretty cool and very easy to do. It basically takes an image and makes it look like stained glass. Here's a picture of it, although it didn't turn out all that well because I didn't put enough layers on, but I promise it works. Here's what you do:

Take anything printed on plan paper, like a photocopy, or in this case, I'm using a coloring book I found at the thrift store. You can either color it with pencils, crayons, or acrylic paints. You also could do the image first, then paint it after it dries. Then using an Acrylic Medium (I used Liquitex Gel Medium, Gloss), brush layers over image. Let dry and continue applying layers, drying in between, until fairly thick (like 5-8 layers). When completely dry, wet back of papers and begin rolling the backing off. Here's what the back looks like when it starts to peel off.

You can add more water if you need to do so. When finished, the image should be semi-transparent. (I haven't completely finished taking the back off).You can then glue it onto almost any surface. I'm going to do another one tonight, so hopefully that will turn out better. Hope some of you guys try this, it's really fun and easy.

Starting the day with a bang!

My day literally started with a bang. Just before I was going to put Isaiah down for a nap, he banged his head on our end table (a curved one, nonetheless) and blood started gushing out. Of course, I freaked out and grabbed the closest thing to me, which was a wipe, and tried to stop the bleeding. Isaiah's screaming, I'm crying and I'm trying to find something more appropriate to stop all the bleeding. Before I could finally find a wash cloth, I used the sleeve of my sweatshirt (I knew those hoodies were good for something!). Finally I got Isaiah to calm down, and he just layed across my lap watching Sesame Street.
like nothing happened at all!




Now the real reason I was really freaking out is this: We just moved, I didn't change Isaiah's pediatrician, and I don't even know how to get to the hospital! So suffice it to say that I was even more upset when I called my husband's cell phone and couldn't reach him. Ahh.. the trauma of it all. Finally I found his work number and he came home. Thank goodness because he was totally in control of the situation.





I ran out to the drug store for some butterfly bandaids, but I quickly realized this wasn't going to work. So John made all the phone calls to the health insurance and found us a pediatrician that would see us.
mommy's Dr. skills



Isaiah was completely fine the whole time. He was walking around, laughing, playing with the toys at the Dr.'s office (yuck), and talking up a storm with some other people there.





The Dr. told us she could probably just fix it with Dermabond, no stitches needed. The worst part about this situation was that we had to wrap him in a sheet and hold him down. I held his legs, daddy his arms, and the nurse held his head. The poor kid was screaming so loud that the entire office could hear him. Luckily he recovered quickly and is now taking a nap as I am writing this.

with the Dermabond

The challenge is, as the Dr. reminded us many times, is going to be preventing him from hitting his head again. Oh boy, wish me luck with this one. Isaiah is such a physical boy and is always banging his head on something. As long as we have no other head splitting open instances, I think I'll be o.k. Now I think it's time for me to have a nap too. Poor mommy.

Hmm now that I'm writing this, it reminds me of Lera's post about her son!

Easter Recap

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. We had Easter dinner here at our house. It was our first holiday that we had in our new house. My cousin (Jenna) and her boyfriend(Matt) came over as did my husband's parents. Jenna and I spent a couple of hours in our tiny kitchen cooking up a storm. We are very alike in the fact that we care about the presentation of the food and love trying new recipes. If there was anyone else working with me in the small kitchen, I'd probably have a huge fit. One of my major pet peeves is when there's too many people in the kitchen while I'm trying to cook. However, Jenna and I work so well in the kitchen, we hardly even notice that there's two of us doing different things in there. It's probably due to the fact that we spent our childhood pretending we were hosting our own t.v. food show! (Although that's a totally different post)



Anyway, we had a very delicious menu:


Grilled Lamb, courtesy of my FIL
Honey Ham
Roasted Root Vegetables
Iceberg Wedges w/ Gorgonzola Dressing
Caramelized Onion & Sage Potatoes Gratin
Buttermilk Biscuits from The Joy of Cooking



Desert was a special treat for my husband and Matt. They had previously bonded over Profiteroles (yet another story for another post), so I surprised them and made some homemade ones from Martha's Baking book. Speaking of Martha, my other dessert was supposed to be sugar cookies using my Williams-Sonoma Easter cookies cutters I found at the thrift store. However, this recipe did not turn out, so we had a sugar cookie pie instead.



Also in my crazy haze of everyone coming over, I thought it would be a great idea to make these chocolate eggs I saw on the MS website. Oh was it crazy indeed. The whole process was a pain in the butt. First, I almost passed out from blowing out 8 eggs. Then I had to boil them in hot water and pat them down. Then I had to dye them. Next I realized I was supposed to let the eggs dry out for 2-3 days. I didn't let that stop me, so I put them in the hot oven to dry out. Yesterday morning I began the process of tempering the chocolate to fill the eggs. The worst part was filling the eggs through the tiny hole (not so tiny after I was done) in the egg. I had chocolate everywhere. I must say, everyone was quite impressed, but I was left feeling it wasn't so worth all the trouble! Here's a comparison of Martha's egg and my egg.



I was, however, very proud of my "tablescape."

My cousin and I were laughing about this terminology all week when I told her that I had a beautiful table setting in mind. If you ever watch the foodnetwork, you might know how funny it is to watch Sandra Lee. Anyway, a lot of the items were thrifted. The table cloth, jars, and the glasses holding the candy. I can't believe how cheaply I found the things for:

Table cloth: $3.95

Glass Jars: .80 each

Glass: .40 each

I also made my husband go outside a find a tree to cut branches off. He was apprehensive at first saying, "I'm probably going to get arrested. Those trees are park property." I told him to just go do it and tell them that his crazy wife made him do it for the sake of the tablescape. Haha. Luckily no one was arrested and the table looked exactly as I had pictured it.

Oh, and I never finished Isaiah's jacket for Easter, so he'll have to wear it some other time. I also didn't get any great pictures of him on my camera. I think I was too worried about my tablescape! Hopefully my cousin and MIL got some good ones so I can share them with you. Oh and the Easter bunny didn't come to visit either. Thank God for Godmommies and Nanas that come bearing nice Easter baskets!

Anyway, hopefully the weather warms up soon. I did not really enjoy the 40 degree Easter weather! Today is the last day of my husband's spring break, so I'm hoping to go the thrift store for the 25% off Mondays. Wish me luck.

Hippity Hoppity

Remember I posted about these the other day? (Also you can also check out Alicia's at Posie Gets Cozy.) Well last night I thought I'd try my hand at one because I was feeling too lazy to finish Isaiah's jacket. By the way, thanks for all the feedback on it yesterday!




Anyway, friends, meet Emily the Easter Bunny:






Emily is a piece of work. She wanted to wear her Sunday best. She begged me to make her a gathered a gathered skirt with vintage seam binding. Then she requested pearls! Can you believe that, pearls? Have you ever heard of such a thing. And as if that wasn't enough, she wanted a pink ribbon around her neck too. Boy, I tell you, she is worth the $85 Jennifer Murphy charges for hers! Later she'll probably ask me for a bouquet of flowers!





After all this dressing up, Emily was very tired. She decided she needed to sit (and I decided I didn't want to hold her in place until the glue dried). She's sitting on a beautiful bed of flowers, which is no more than scrapbook paper glued to a film canister (who has those anymore?).


Excuse me Emily, let me get a close up of your seat. Don't be modest.





Smile for the camera.

Emily will be gracing our dinner table on Sunday. Happy Easter, or Passover, or whatever you it is that you celebrate this spring!

A suit for Isaiah

When my niece was first born, my sister-in-law and I made a lot of clothes for her. They always had the cutest patterns and fabrics for little girls. This is one of my favorite ones we made for her. It's hard to believe this was 4 years ago!

Since Isaiah has been born, I have not sewn one single thing for him. I mean, I have done a lot of other sewing, but nothing for Isaiah. So, as if I didn't have enough Easter projects going, I thought I'd make him a jacket from this thrift store pattern. I used the only boyish looking fabric I had, which coincidentally is also from the thrift store.

Isaiah was less than cooperative in taking this picture. I wanted him to try it on before I hemmed it. I'm not really sure I'm in love with this thing. Definitely not my favorite thing that he has in his wardrobe. I was planning on putting a white polo shirt underneath it with some khaki pants. Gosh, that just sounds so super preppy! The pattern shows a much cuter version. Maybe if I had a different fabric I'd like it better. Oh, what to do, what to do. The pattern also calls for buttons. I'm not sure if I'm going to do that. What do you guys think? Any ideas on spicing it up?

Why is it that they have a million cute patterns for girls and like only 2 for boys? It just seems so unfair! I'd like to dress my little boy up too!

I'm so forgetful!

How dare I offer a giveaway and forget to pick the winner! Must have slipped my mind between all the puking/coughing/sleeping this weekend. Anyway, Isaiah was my little helper this morning picking the winner. I'll remember not to ask him next time! haha. Sooo the winner is....

Lera e-mail me your address and I'll send them off to you. Maybe you can use them for your applique addiction!

Apparently, Isaiah wanted to have two winners. Surprise! So, the second winner of these 4 fabrics is.......

LeeAnn e-mail me your address to katiebhandbags@gmail.com!

And for good measure, Isaiah decided to eat the paper after picking the winner!

Fabric Envy

I have been feeling the need to buy fabric a lot lately. Mostly because I read a lot of blogs, and then I fall in love with their fabrics, and then I want them.

This happened the first time I saw these fabrics from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line. Of course, this was followed by oogling other gorgeous fabrics, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, you get the idea. The point is, I have resisted buying these fabrics and I don't know how much longer I can do it! I have yet to actually see any of these fabrics in any store. I have, however, searched out the retailers of such fabrics, but have decided that it might just be a little too obsessive to go to one just for that fabric! After all, I do have more than enough fabric to clothe an army! Now Densye Schmidt has a new line coming out and it's just as cute as her first. And it's called Katie Jump Rope. It shares a namesake with me! See it must be a sign that I am meant to have these fabrics! I am such a sucker for fabrics that have a vintage look to them. How do you guys deal with your fabric or supplies obsessions?

I go thrifting! haha. Is this healthy? In the last week, I have been to the thrift store 3 times. I did find lots of nice things, including something for my Spring Pink & Green Swap! I also found this really cute table cloth by Oleg Cassini. Fancy Schmancy. He was the one responsible for dressing Jackie O!

And some vintage bias tape for .65! Almost too pretty to cut up. I just might have to use them to embellish some bunnies. Did anyone catch Martha yesterday? They made the most adorable Pom-Pom Bunnies! Like I need another project. Anyway, you can go here if you need the instructions or if you missed the show!