Back in the Day

I'm sure I have often reminisced with you about "the thrift store of yore." There was vintage EVERYWHERE. I had a coat collection to make you drool. And vintage hats and bags? A whole trunk full. Most of the coats are gone, either lovingly worn to bits or given away and there are still a few hats and bags at my mother's house but many of those are in sad shape due to a few devastating floods. The thrift is not like that any more. You're lucky to find a vintage hanky. But oh those days were glorious! On my last trip home my Mom gave me this:



It's one of the bags I bought back in the day that she kept for me. It's not wicker but more of a sturdy plastic and it's large! I probably only spent $2 or $3 on it as it was cheaper at that time and I had more limited funds. Isn't that handle divine? So what was inside?



Vintage gloves! My Mom actually forgot they were in there. In her guest room she has a display of a small vintage suitcase filled with vintage hang bags and gloves and some of these certainly would have made the cut. The pair on the top right, which are hard to see, are a delicate chocolate brown mesh in opera length. And I just love the pointed cuffs on the white pair on the top left. And if you look closely at the pairs in the bottom front . . .



You'll see the tags still on them. I probably paid $1 to 2 dollars per pair if that. I'm lucky and have small hands and can actually wear all of these gloves. Now we just need to bring that fashion back. Come on, if leg warmers can do it so can formal gloves, right?

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So I joined another swap. I know, I know, you're probably taking bets on how long it will be before I start posting about how I'm so overwhelmed and can't get anything done. Well forget it because I already feel like that and decided to do it anyway. It's the Sweet & Sinister swap hosted by Artsymama. I got in just under the wire and got a partner. You can check her out here. I'm looking forward to crafting some wonderfully sinister black and white sweets for her. :)

And there is still time to sign up for the Polkadot Pixie's Vintage Children's Book & Bookmark Swap. I actually found a few vintage kid's books this weekend, I hope they are pre-1975 because right now I can't remember. They are wicked cute regardless.

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Well, chickadees, I'm off for a movie night with my friend Lizzy. We're hanging out on my sofa so we'll have our pick of whatever movies I have laying about. I bought some fancy popcorn for snacks. Mmmmmmm

until the next . . .
Rebecca

The Return of the Wizard Helmets

Remember these? I was reminded today when I saw Jennifer's post about making these for her sweet daughters birthday that I never shared the final pictures.



Mandi set the tables up beautifully!



Every place setting had not only a Wizard Helmet but also a paper crafted menu. Hopefully Mandi will be able to share more on her blog soon. She's crazy busy with wedding plans!

And one last shot of some Wizard Helmets in action:



That would be me in the front there with a ridiculous grin and my cousin Lisa to my left. Fun was had by all!

xoxoxo
R

Heartfelt . . .

Good Monday! First, I just wanted to say that I had to delete yesterday's post because of a HUGE nasty anonymous comment that I just couldn't delete. Thank you to everyone who left nice comments. :) I just feel sorry for those people whose life is so bad that they feel the need to force their misery on others. It's very sad.

Now onto the crafting . . .

I mentioned a new book I picked up called Maryjane's Stitching Room:



I'm really enjoying it! The first project in the book is "pin keepers" (aka pin cushions) and there is a lovely picture of these Victorian crocheted hearts:



I fell in love with them from the start. Unfortunately the pattern for these hearts is not in the book. There is a pattern for a similar one but not as sweet as these. I did some Internet searching and found this pattern. I was so excited to try my own. Don't you just love the ribbon accents?



Here is my heart. I tried to add the ribbon but realized that my crocheted covering is not tight enough on the cushion to keep the ribbon in place. That's okay, I like it just how it is. I may add a little ribbon at the top, we'll see. It's a bit large for a pincushion (I used what I had so my thread was a larger gauge) but is still so sweet, don't you think? I think it would make a cute accent pillow if it were a bit larger. I want to starch the lacy edging to it stays out like it is above.

I've already started two more.



The pink is the same but I changed up the top a bit to make a handle of sorts and made the spaces where the ribbon is supposed to go a bit smaller. The small white one is actually this pattern which is just about the same but comes out smaller and will be the perfect size for a pin keeper. The crochet part is easy but I need I do better determining the size to make the hearts so I can work the ribbon part. I hope to have more to share with in the coming weeks.

And speaking of the coming weeks, it's almost Fall! This is the time of year where I need to kick it into gear to be able to get all my hand made gifts and projects done in time for the holidays. Once the heat breaks I'll be able to get started and get back in the craft room.

cheers!
Rebecca

Shopping

So I've been shopping. I'm sure you're surprised. It's been my favorite sort of shopping, thrift, craft and hand made goodies. Let's start with the last, shall we?

You all know Jenn, right? She rules and I have said that here numerous times. I've been to her Etsy Shop a few times now.



My super fabulous new check book cover. It makes balancing my checking account so much more chic.



And my wool felt embroidered snow man ornaments! I love these. You should see the detail! Those snowflakes are FRENCH KNOTS. Yeah, I stink at those. Maybe Jenn will show me her secret. :) I bought them with the intention of gifting them but we'll see. I may have to keep them all. Hope to see more ornaments from Jenn!

In crafty shopping I've been spending some dough over at One Hundred Wishes. If you haven't visited Andrea's shop or her blog please do so. Her photos are lovely, her creations divine and her prices fair!



This is my first order. I had to have those blue wish tickets and I'm in love with all the German trimmings she carries. I got the blue foil stars above and placed a second order for gold and silver crowns and gold umbrellas when she restocked. She wasn't kidding when she said that glue stick smelled of yummy vanilla, I plan to put it to the test this weekend. I'm rather particular about adhesives. And she always sticks in a yummy lolly. Who can beat that??

I'll share some of my thrifting goodies over the next few days. I haven't had any extraordinary finds but some good supplies and a multitude of picture frames. Oh and some to die for vintage trims that I know you'll love. If there were 48 hours in the day instead of 24 I would open my own online craft supply shop.

And last but not least, I have joined a swap put on by Jenny at The Polka Dot Pixie. It's a vintage children's book and homemade bookmark swap. Easy and fun I think. Head over and sign up and let me know if you do!



Thank you all again for the kind words about my Grandpa. You guys are the best. Really.

xoxoxo
Rebecca

A Brand New Bag

First, I would like to say thank you to everyone who left sweet comments about the loss of my Grandfather. I really appreciate it and feel so fortunate to have you all as friends.

So I've been crocheting. I shunned it for so long because most of the projects I saw were very outdated and just blah. Now there are so many new and fun patterns that I can't seem to put down my hook! I just got two new books that have great projects. Crochet for Baby is perfect for when you need a quick baby gift and MaryJane's Stitching Room is a beautiful book with fabulous crochet projects, quilted accessories and even instructions on tatting. (as if I need another hobby!) I'll surely be sharing some projects from both soon.

I wanted to use up some green cotton I had and decided to make myself a bag. I just sort of made it up as I went along and am thrilled with the end result.



I call it the Kelly Bag because it's green. I'm terribly inventive, aren't I? In my next bag I do think I'll move the draw strings down a bit so there is more of a "lip" on top but other than that I do really like it. The cotton gives it a nice weight and the bobble pattern adds the right amount of texture. And how about those tassels?



What is it about tassels that just makes things all the cuter? You will notice in the picture above a mistake I made (other than my mediocre tassel making.) I ran out of yarn half way through and was lucky to find more on EBay. Of course it was a different dye lot and you can really tell the difference. It's not the camera, the top of the bag and one of the tassels is darker. But whatever, it's my bag and I like it anyway. Want to see the best part?



Green toile lining! This is before I sewed it in, you can see the pins and where I started to stitch it in green thread. I changed to white as I didn't like the contrast. I was pretty impressed that I was able to sew a round bottom for this lining and stitch it in with pleats so it expanded with the bottom of the bag. I think I sprained my elbow patting myself on the back.

So aside from the color issue (which honestly isn't as noticeable as it is in the photos) this is one darn cute bag! I think I'll start another one and actually write down the pattern as I go so I can share with those who are interested.

Cheers
Rebecca

Still Here

Hello all, I know I've been absent. My Grandfather passed away and Luis and I traveled to Baltimore last week. I'll be back tomorrow with some Goodness to share, I have actually made some things!, and my to-do list for Holiday crafts. I told you I was starting early this year.

Cheers
Rebecca

At Least it's Friday

It's raining. AGAIN. I know there are people out in the Pacific Northwest who are like "whatever" but I bet they didn't get splashed by not one but TWO cabs this morning as they slogged through two inches of water to reach an office that is freezing. Man I want to go home.

So, as I am in a pretty crappy mood I thought I would brighten my day by visiting blog land! But what to post about? I know many of you are doing the Encyclopedia of me and I thought about it but I hate the pressure to post about something specific. I have been enjoying reading both Heidi's and Bee's though.

So how about some random babble?

As you know, I do custom orders on things I sell in my Goodness Shop. You may remember the order of 20 ducks and 10 cupcakes. That was a big one. Recently, I did a few smaller custom orders. One was this tea cup potholder for Lauren:



It was for her mother and she said it was well received! I'm so glad. I do think it came out cute and I'm in the process of making a few for the shop. I'll be naming this yellow one after Lauren's mother, Joyce. :)

So what else? Let's see . . . I know! You know the paper crowns I've made in the past? Well I came across this tutorial that shows how to make crowns very similar to my own. Part 1 and Part 2. Check them out!

Oh and I also MUST have this cute witch and these candy corn bottle brush trees. MUST. Seems that they are on back order which cracks me up since I got the catalog only yesterday. Yesterday was also when my husband said we need to budget our money better so I'm thinking he had something to do with me not being able to purchase these must have items. GRRR.

Anyway, that's about it for me today. Not much going on. I did hit the thrift last night and it was rather uneventful but I'll share some pictures of the few goods I found on Monday.

Have a FABULOUS weekend.

cheers
Rebecca

When it rains . . .

It poured here in NYC this morning. And I heard a tornado touched down in Brooklyn. BROOKLYN! Seriously. It took me 90 minutes to travel the 8 miles to my office. My train was the ONLY one running in Queens today. What a mess. The last time we had a storm of this magnitude a steam pipe exploded. If I've said it once . . . we wrecked the planet with too much Aquanet in the 80s.

So . . . . what's a girl to do? Why take the chance to use one of her vintage umbrellas!



I found all three of these in the same store on the same day. Two were $3 a piece and one was $4. The beige one has some holes in the silk but I had to have it anyway. I have two other vintage umbrellas, a floral one with a bamboo handle and a whote Gloria Vanderbilt with a white plastic handle shaped like a swan. I would have KILLED to have the umbrella as a kid.

The black one on the bottom in the picture above is my favorite. It has a clear acrylic handle and a silver chain. The handle is also extendable so I don't think this one is too old but I just love the look of it.



The edges of the silk are scalloped and have gold and silver stitching. It's a very lady like umbrella. :)

So I guess I have a bit of a collection now! I don't think I need to have TOO many vintage umbrellas but if I happen to come across another . . . well as you know, thrifty is as thrifty does.

cheers
R

This Little Piggy . . .

Can't see a thing . . .



What do you think, embroidered eyes? Black? I was intending it as a child's toy which leaves out buttons. Or no eyes at all?



He has a squiggly tail, too.

By the way, he was supposed to be a teddy bear until my husband said "you made a pig." Um yes. Yes I did.

R

Wizard Helmets

I know you've been dying with anticipation for the news of the Wizard Helmet Sweat Shop and I actually remembered to bring all parts of the camera in today so you're in luck! The back story: My sister threw a lovely party for all the girls participating in her upcoming wedding. The theme was fairy tales and she did a wonderful job! I won't say too much as I'm sure once her photo hosting issues are resolved she'll post all about it.

So . . . my contribution to the party was to make party hats. You know I love a good paper hat! I decided on pointed princess hats, you know the ones with long draping scarves coming out of the top? I'm sure they have a real name. I recruited my friend Dita to give me a hand. We had to make 13 hats and we're very excited to get started.



Basically we made a cone out of poster board and covered it with gold wrapping paper. While we were crankin' out hats my father comes in and says, "What are you guys making? Wizard helmets?" We about lost it and thus they were named!


Dita found a great way to both hold a wizard helmet and get some double sided tape.



We pushed tulle through the top of the cone, added a gold sparkly pipe cleaner around the bottom and added some glitter glue.



Add some ribbons to tie it on with and VIOLA! Your very own Goodness Wizard Helmet. Dita was the one who after about 9 helmets proclaimed, "Welcome to the Wizard Helmet Sweat Shop!" while clutching the tape roll in her toes and grimacing. ;)

So there you have it, the story of Wizard Helmets. When I someday have a real store I'd love to make these one of the items offered. I figure we can work up a boys version and also some smaller versions for smaller wizard heads. I'd love to offer up the left over helmets from this party but I'm not sure how to mail them, they are about 18 inches tall.

I'm off to Princeton for a long overdue spa weekend with my friend Wendy. I'll be back next week much more relaxed.

cheers,
Rebecca

Early Senility

I found the camera cord. Did I remember to bring the camera cord to my office? No. Is my home computer, where the cord is located, working? No. Seriously. My brain is fried. I swear it's this weather. I'm not a summer girl. (I know, I sound like a broken record.) I'm dreaming of Autumn with it's crisp air and rustly leaves. Oh and soups! I love to make lots of homemade soup in the fall. Yum.

Anyway, I didn't want to be absent for too long and since I'm always thinking I should mention some of the things in blogland that I love, here you go:

1. This super cute towel quilt! I always pick up those fun vintage towels at the thrift but never know what to do with them. I think I could do this. Hey sewers, is it reasonable for a novice like me to stitch together some towels (most vintage towels aren't very thick) with perhaps a zigzag like mentioned in the post? My sewing machine is a decent model. It's the operator I worry about.

2. Jenn's super cute little lamb plushie in a bag. I think he looks adorable peeking out AND he'll have a blankie and a pillow. Too cute, Jenn!

3. And you see this yellow bag here? Yeah that's all mine!

4. And Andrea Singarella finally opened her shop One Hundred Wishes! I actually went on right when she opened the doors and didn't order anything. Now I'm kicking myself for missing out on her vintage crepe paper and sheet music! Ack! I did get some blue foil stars, the glue sticks she raves about and some of those fun Wish Tickets in blue.

5. Um, and this little piggie? Cute overload.

I could go on and on. :) I love gathering inspiration by reading blogs, I know we all do. :)

cheers
Rebecca

Grumble Grumble

I can't find the cord for my camera. I know I SAW it somewhere but I can't remember where. Hopefully I'll find it quickly and be back on Wednesday with some pictures from the Wizard Helmet Sweat Shop. Yeah, don't ask. It's just not as interesting with out the pictures.

Anyhoo . . . you can visit here to see the Summer Fun Swap package I sent to Dana! Her pictures are WAY better than my own. I'm sure you are surprised. But since I had already loaded up the pictures of my swap goodies before the cord went missing, let's take a look, shall we?

First up, my crocheted bag:



Yeah the picture is sideways, I'm still having issues with Photobucket. Anyway, I used Lily Cotton Elite which they just don't seem to make any more and that saddens me. The pattern is from this book and is featured on the cover with contrasting ruffles and a wooden handle. I modified the pattern to make a smaller bag.



I lined it with a thrifted sheet. See that pocket in there? I SEWED IT. ON MY SEWING MACHINE. Yes. You read that right. It looks pretty good, too! Well, for me at least. And this picture shows the true orange color of the yarn, it's not that bright tropical orange of the first picture. I filled Dana's bag with orange and yellow beauty goodies like toe separators, lip gloss, shower gel and one of my favorite Henri Bendel candles. Oh boy do I love products!



I also made some fabric flower pins from that same sheet and another yellow and white one also thrifted. I tied them onto a thrifted lunch basket that I really had a hard time giving away. I have never seen one like this before! But I was good and gave it to Dana as I intended when I purchased it. She is lucky. :)



I also included some crafty items like ribbon, embroidery floss, a pillowcase and some buttons I covered with that sheet. Dana seemed to really like the sparkly D I added. I just love those glittery chipboard letters! I have silver and red and find loads of uses for them.



Here is the whole shabang where you can see the Vera scarf and embroidered pineapple napkins I also included. I really had fun putting this package together. I thought I would have a hard time with the orange and yellow combo but when I started looking it seemed to be everywhere!

I hope everyone else is enjoying their Summer Fun Swaps. You can see pictures of many of the swap packages here. We'll be posting details soon over at Sweet Goodness Swaps about how you can vote in our Swap Container Contest!

Cheers
Rebecca

Inspiration Station

So around blogland you'll see lots of way people obtain and organize their inspiration. I myself use Bloglines for my inspiring reads (thanks Sarah!) and keep notebooks of the things I would like to make or replicate.



I always use quad ruled composition books and quad ruled computation notebooks.



Because of the large pages in the computation notebook I use it for magazine clippings and things I've printed from the Internet. You can fit a whole page and still have room for notes in the margin. I use Pritt Glue-It rollers for the adhesive. I love them but they don't seem to last very long. I use the composition books for lists and designing. I like the quad ruled because I make little check off boxes for my "to dos" and also can go by a scale, 1 block equals 1 inch or whatever, for designing. This is a system that works well for me. When inspiration strikes, I just grab a notebook and write it down! I also use red pen as contrast so I'll notice the notes I made right away. Also, I sort of like red pen.

So what else is new? I haven't made any progress on that baby blanket but I agree with the consensus to keep it one color. Thank you all for your thoughts! They were very helpful. Now I'm deciding if I want to keep it at all because it just doesn't seem like a practical blanket for a baby. I just see little hands getting caught in the lace sigh . . . That seems to be the way it goes for me lately, a whole lot of starting and then restarting but no finishing. I did, however, manage to finish this:



It's my favorite baby bonnet pattern and was a custom order from Melissa. She is a photographer and wanted it as a prop for her baby portraits! I'm very excited to see it on film, pretty cool huh? You can visit Melissa's blog here. Her baby pictures are so cute!

So I'm off to Baltimore tomorrow night for my Sister's Fairytale Picnic. I'm really looking forward to it and will be back on Monday with lots of pictures to share. I had such a great time planning my Bridesmaid's Tea Party that I know this will be a fun event as well. Have a fabulous looooong weekend and I'll see you next week!

cheers!
Rebecca

Hmm . . . Opinions Needed

I started crocheting a baby blanket. I have a few gifts to make for expectant friends and since there are so many cute knit and crochet patterns out there I thought I'd whip up something on the old needles.

Using the Heirloom Lace Throw pattern from Lion Brand I have this:



Hmm . . . well? What do you think? Should I continue on with the blue? It will be four rows of each color alternating and probably with a pink border or should I stick to pink? Or should I scrap it considering it's maybe not as cute as I thought it would be . . . it is incredibly soft though. Thoughts?

And speaking of babies, I told Luis that we shouldn't call our smallest dog, Kaiser, puppy anymore because he's 2 now. It was kind of a joke since I'm assuming Kaiser won't get a complex and honestly I think he thinks is name puppy anyway. Then we are watching TV last night and look over and see this:



Um yeah, still looks and acts like a puppy so I guess the name is staying. :) That's him camped out on my husband's belly by the way, his favorite place. I told L. it's because it's warm and makes gurgly noises. ;)

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Today is the day to get those Orange and Yellow swap packages in the mail! If you think you'll be late please let us know at sgswaps@hotmail.com and your partner! If you haven't been over to check out the Flickr site take a peek here. There are so amazing packages going out!


xoxoxo
Rebecca

Orange & Yellow in the Summer Sun

Look what I got:



Oooooo what is it???



Why it's a hat box full of sunshine from Dana! She painted it and then decoupaged the top with happy flowers!



Look at all of the goodies! How about a closer peek?



Dana makes hand made soaps and sugar scrubs and lucky me, I got a HUGE set! You can visit Dana's website where she sells her goodies here. The soaps she sent me are Sweet Orange & Chamomile, Oatmeal Milk & Honey and Cinnamon Apple Peach. I can't wait to use them! She also included two lovely orange candles that look homemade to me. Dana?



Before the swap Dana emailed to ask if my house had white accents or black and then she painted those adorable wall ornaments to fit my taste! The black will go perfectly with my butter yellow walls and rich red accents. And see that sweet sunflower water color? Dana knows the artist, Carolyn Molder!



The little quilted pillow has that perfect rustic country look about it and will go perfectly on my sun porch. The floral hand bag is so sweet and look at the appliques! Don't you love the butterflies? Dana thought the pink, blue and white flowers would go well with my crocheted tea cup pot holders. The Noel paper coasters are vintage. And speaking of vintage Christmas . . .



Look at these cute vintage Christmas napkins! They are the 12 days of Christmas and came in the best box. I love them! (I think if you click on the picture it will rotate it properly, Photobucket is being difficult today.) I love the 12 Days of Christmas. Funny story, when we were kids my parents would have a Christmas party every year and the whole family would get together. At some point in the night my Aunt Gloria would assign small groups one of the days in the 12 Days of Christmas and that would be your group's solo in the song. Everyone wanted 12 so they would only have to sing once. :) They taped the song each year and we would listen to the previous years singing before taping the new year. We were awful! The word "caterwauling" comes to mind. ;) Anyway, one year when my sister Mandi was about 4 years old she didn't want us to sing so she sat under the table with her hands over her ears and screaming at the top of her lungs. When you listen to the tape you would hear everyone sing "And a partridge in a pear tree" and then Mandi would yell "SHUT UP!" really loud. Ahh, sweet family memories.

ANYWAY, thank you Dana for such a wonderful swap package!! If you have better pictures of the goodies you sent than I do please post them! I took quick pictures so I could show everyone all of my great stuff.

Cheers!
Rebecca

Luck of the Irish

Hello! I'm back! And boy have I missed you guys. Luis and I had a lovely vacation which was much too short. They always are. I got a touch of sunburn and drank something called a Naked Angel. It was very yummy. I should go on vacation all the time. ;)

So when I was visiting my parents my Mom asked me to help her go through some things in my Grandfather's house. He has recently moved to a nursing home and they are planning to rent his house to give him a little extra income.



That's my Pop when he was in the Navy during WWII. He was stationed in Saipan. Sorry for the glare, I only thought to snap a shot of the picture I took from his house this morning on my way out the door. I need to scan the photo in I think.

So why the luck of the Irish? My Granny, who passed away in the late 90s, was Catherine Mulaney. About as Irish as they come. I found this in her pantry:



Thanks to my resident Pyrex Expert Sarah, I know this is the Friendship pattern and I believe it's a complete set. There are 5 dishes in all and the lids are intact. The only difference I noted where that the lids of the two large refrigerator dishes are different. You can see it below:



Notice how the bottom large cover doesn't have consistent ridges like the other lids do. Does anyone know if this is the original lid? I'm so excited to have this set!

I have some more things to share from my Pop's house but first, right after we left his house we stopped at the thrift and I found this:



This is the New Holland pattern and this is a large baker, I'm guessing the 2.5 quart. Usually when I see colored Pyrex at the thrift it is badly worn. So I guess I have a collection now! I already had a few of the Butterprint refrigerator dishes but this is the best haul yet.

So what else was at Pop's?



Four pieces of Franciscan Ware that I just adore! It's so pretty. I also found an old box of Christmas wrapping paper and a few pink ornaments that will look great on my feather tree.

And did someone say orange and yellow??



This is all from the thrift store and the orange & yellow pieces you see MAY be part of the prize packs for the container contest winners in the Summer Fun Swap over at Sweet Goodness! Don't you just love that metal pineapple upside down cake pan?? I have a mini cake pan that matches. :) And that table cloth! Usually I don't find something in the exact colors I'm looking for. What a lucky find. And my favorite item from above?



This tiny bunch of vintage velvet millinery flowers was hiding in a bag of fake silk flowers and tiny baskets. :) Yes, it was a lucky day.

So it's good to be back and I'm glad to share some unique finds with you. Now I need to catch up with every one's blogs and get my Summer Swap package out. I'll be seeing you soon!

R.R.