Sock it to me

As promised, the most adorable baby in a pretty adorable hat:



Once I got started on the hat the creative juices started flowing and I also made him this:



Yes, that is Hong Kong Phooey.



And yes, he is faster than the human eye. :)

What's next on the radar? I'm hoping to do a bit of sewing. Most likely I'll just make more toys.

Happy Birthday, Baby.

Tommorow Gabriel turns one. Happy birthday to the sweetest nephew a proud Auntie could want. I'll have plenty of pictures to share of his sock monkey birthday soon. Most of them will involve him wearing this:



Loosely based on THIS pattern.

We are off to Baltimore tonight to start the partying. Bring on the bananas.

Well what do you know?

I actually found some things at the thrift store worth talking about. The thrifts here have been terrible lately. Not even nice baskets or bins for organizing. Just plain old junk. And not the good kind of junk, either. So imagine my surprise on Saturday when I actually found things at the two local Unique stores.

First up, I swore to myself that I wouldn't buy any more novelty planters:



But this little ostrich was too cute to pass up. I quickly turned him into this:



He fits in nicely here with my other altered pin cushions:



I also lucked into a chicken scratch gingham apron:



I have quite the collection of these now. I'll have to get them all together for a photo op.

Vintage is rare at the thrift these days so when I saw this fabric hiding amongst the curtains I had to grab it up:





Do I need it? No. But look at that mouse's plumbers crack! Come on. This is a large print and I think it would make for a very unique tote bag.

I also snatched up some old trophies but more on those later. I went in search of vintage books to make altered journals. I made a few pages last week and really enjoyed putting together new and vintage elements to create them.

Here's hoping the thrifting mojo sticks around! What did you find?

Where HAVE you been?

I would be very surprised if there is actually anyone out there listening . . . but if you are, I have been eating cake:



and seeing this show.

I may have made one thing. Sad, I know. I'm trying to get my groove back. Stand by.

Tagxedo.com

Here's a bit of online fun for you. Visit Tagxedo and create your own word cloud from your blog, Twitter feed, etc.

Love it. Found through one of my favorite blogs, Zakka Life. :)

http://www.tagxedo.com/

Little by little

I'm working on finishing up my many many half done projects fondly referred to as UFOs (unfinished objects.) The UFOs are taking over the craft room. So little by little I'm working to complete them all.


I started designing this crocheted doll forever ago. I ran out of yarn, found more, then didn't like it and put it away. Last week I pulled it out and added the hair and the mouth. I love the hair but just feel eh about the mouth.



You can see that I have a lot of half done toys in the works. I've started adding a fabric skirt and am designing faces before I try one on her. One almost down, infinity to go!

Thrifts

I feel like life is just rushing by and I'm not doing all the things I love & enjoy. Particularly crafting, blogging and thrifting. I can't remember the last time I had a good thrift run. I've been a few times in the last month but with only mediocre results. I have plans to go this weekend so please send your good finds jou-jou my way.

My Mom recently hit up another Treasure Sale and handed over most of the goods to me. I think she did a fab job!



I love this vintage French biscuit tin. She filled it with vintage sewing supplies, too. She said when she took it up to pay (it was marked 10 cents) they said it was so old that she could have it for free. Hmm.



She found several gingham chicken scratch aprons. I always love these and enjoy the different designs.



This orange and brown smocked one is my favorite.



I also love these vintage reindeer. I think they will be destined for holiday corsages.



The motherload of gold trim. All at about 10 cents a piece. Wanna see a close up?



I just love this stuff. Do I use it? Not really, I just hoard it. I added it to this collection:



A pretty good haul, don't you think? What have you found lately?

Cheers,
Rebecca

Moving Right Along . . .

While I may not be keeping my promise to myself to blog more often, I AM steadily working on the doll house.



It is a slow going project as I often have to wait for paint or glue to dry.



I am enjoying the building part much more than I expected to.



However, I have learned that I do not like painting tiny little things like porch railings.



It is a very fun project and I'm already purchasing some decor for the outside like door knobs and a porch swing. Next step: drawing the lines for the roof shingles. :)

New Year, New Project

Happy New Year. :) I've neglected my blog a lot lately and have made it one of my resolutions to post more, craft more and take more photos.

Speaking of resolutions, a few years ago I bought a doll house. It's been sitting in the basement since then ( yes for FIVE years) and I've finally decided it's time. So one of my New Year's resolutions is to build the doll house. I'm off to a great start:






Step one is to paint the outside and all of the trim.



I'm using Safari Green by Glidden for the main house. For the trim I'm using Ballet Slipper and Aegean Blue by Martha Stewart Living. I've ordered the stain for the roofing shingles and hardware for the door. I ordered them from this fabulous site. This will be a big project and I'm expecting a lot of cursing to go along with it but I'm looking forward to the challenge. The kit I'm using is Allison Jr. from Real Good Toys. It says it's an easy to assemble model. I can only imagine the more difficult ones. :)

Wish me luck!

Annual Christmas Craft Party

Time sure flies. I can't believe it's almost Christmas! Of course I have not nearly as much done as I would like but I know I am not alone there. Back in November we had our annual Christmas craft party. I think this was the 4th year and as usual it was a great success!

Each year we make 2 to 3 crafts, have a lovely pot luck lunch and do a Greedy Santa gift exchange. It's a great way to get into the holiday spirit!



This year we made glittered cookie cutter ornaments designed by Heidi and fabric yo-yo trees designed by me.



We decorated in fun pastels and a good time was had by all. As a gift I made everyone fabric pin cushions to use for our sewing project.



I put the cushions into vintage tins and wrapped them in tissue.




This is the glittered bunny cookie cutter ornament I made.



All the glittered cookie cutters came out great! Thanks to Heidi for the idea and to Amy for the photo.



And these are the yo-yo trees. I plan to put up tutorials for both these and the pin cushions in the new year. The party was a great success and I am already looking forward to next year!

And because there aren't enough cute baby photos on this blog:



My too cute nephew on his Baptism. :)

Until the next . . .

Ask and ye shall receive . . .

I won't waste your time making excuses as to why I haven't blogged in forever. I am sure you know how it is. :) Instead I will share a story of how I asked for something and was rewarded.

So here is the link that I pinned and then sent to my Mom: http://home-frosting.blogspot.com/2011/10/reindeer-plaque.html

Okay, did you check it out? Now meet Victor*, made by my Dad:



Isn't he awesome? He is hanging above my fireplace and looks perfect.



I even decorated him a bit. I think he'll stay up there even after tha holidays. Thanks, Dad!

* - apparently Vistor is Rudolph's brother who had an unfortunate hunting accident. Hmm . . . .

Guest Post: Design Shuffle - Embroided Accessories

Hi, I'm Susi and you can usually find me writing for DesignShuffle.com, a wonderful community of designers and their work from around the world. I'm lucky to get to visit great blogs like the Thrifty Goodness as a guest blogger. My guest post today is all about embroidered home accessories and decorating ideas. Whether you are investing in a suzani textile or adding embroidery to a new or vintage find, embroidery is a great way to add color, pattern and personalize home accessories. Thanks for letting me stop by today! Enjoy!

 

Many ethnic textiles like the design darling Suzani use embroidery to create elaborate and colorful patterns. This chain stitch embroidery is a Kazakh rug, a beautiful accessory.

 

A whimsical shape, bright colors and detailed pattern combine in this embroidered bird pillow to make it a stand out. The embroidered pillow would look lovely on a bed, chair or sofa.

 

Embroidery on a coverlet or quilt adds a little extra something to a bedroom design. I love this bird embroidered quilt from the creative folks over at Martha Stewart.

 

Embroidery on a pillow turns a plain pillow into something more. Look for embroidered covers on Etsy or add your own embroidery to pillows you already have.

 

Adding embroidery to a lampshade like this drum shade pendant light personalizes it. You can easily create a subtle or bold pattern by choosing coordinating or contrasting embroidery floss.

 

Embroidery lends itself to customization that is only limited by creativity. I love these embroidered portraits—so charming and beautiful. They're great decorating ideas for living rooms or bedrooms.

 

Embroidered accessories can act just like printables and add charming expressions to your walls. How perfect would this “eat local” be for a vintage kitchen?

 

Pegboard replaced cabinet inserts create a background that can be embroidered for a unique look on this armoire. This would be very cute in a kid's room or nursery. Which one do you like the best? Find many more interior design ideas over at Design Shuffle! Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

All things sparkly and bright

My recent antique jewelry finds took me on a journey among my sparkly collections. Wanna come?



Some vintage, some new, my mini dress form holds my collection of necklaces that I wear on a regular basis.



My collection of odds and ends for making jewelry. You know, when I have time to learn to do that. :) Right now it's just fun to find things to add to this collection which is housed in a vintage pink jewelry box.



My current favorite necklace. The chain is a vintage Anne Klein I picked up in a thrift for a few dollars many years back. The tassel charm belonged to my fabulous Aunt Sissy.



This collection is on a table in the craft room.



Fun pins, mostly, I think they are pretty and clip them on my coat once in awhile.



This is a recent thrift store find. I paid $5, which is a lot for me at the thrift, but I have this same bag in silver and it sees a lot of action at dressy affairs. Plus now, it's a collection. :)

Cheers!