unaltered

I have had a little pile of my grandmother's vintage hankies lying around for a while now.  I knew I wanted to do something with them, but I just wasn't ready to cut and sew.  I have a set of reproduction hankies that my daughter hangs up under her fort down stairs after she irons them.  She has been doing this religiously since the age of two, and I didn't want to take her hankies either. 

Today

 however, I finally figured out what to do!

Tie them together.

Hang them up, and be done!

This way they can be easily untied and back as they were.

It looks really cute over the little lady's bed.

fairy door

A while back a friend sent me a link to little fairy doors that you can buy on etsy.

I hadn't thought much more about it because although cute, they were a little pricey.

That is until I saw this tacky photo album at the thrift store for under $2.oo

Initially I was  just going to remove the photo inserts and glue it shut,

but it looked goofy sitting out so far from the baseboard.

What kid was going to fall for that?

So I took the front part of the door off the little hinges

and simply stuck it up on the wall with my handy dandy command strips.

It is pretty cute,

and it would make a perfect little door for your Elf on the Shelf during Christmas.

Another way to celebrate the season of Advent

We have already started our Jesse Tree and talked about why we celebrate Advent.

Here is another simple way to celebrate.

E found this mirrored tray at the thrift store,

she added 4 candles, and every week they light one more candle in the anticipation 

of Jesus' birth.

The candle light looks so great reflecting off of the tray,

and it is such a simple visual way for the kids to countdown to Christmas day. 

Now that the weather is cool,

the lime tree has moved inside.

The pot that it sits in on the deck is pretty blah, so

I made a simple slipcover to camouflage it.

It is really simple.

A long strip of fabric, enough to cover the pot, one stitch down the side.

from plastic to perfect

The middle man's old desk storage was a plastic eyesore from the Target $spot.

The new one was half the price from the thrift store!

An old shoe shine kit with a lot more personality and longevity.

lighten up

The little lady's lamp needed a redo.

The shade was a faded green eyesore.

We had a few stray quilting scraps that I hot glued right over the old lamp shade.

not too stuffy

a pile of pillows that I was not loving (minus their covers.)

a few square decorators samples scored for 69cents.

a table cloth with great texture.

If you can cut a square and sew a straight line you can do this.

I've had this stash of bright zippers that I bought for pennies.

It makes the pillows a little more fun, me thinks.

confused yet?

who knew that an old boiler pipe, a few branches, and some old buttons could be so exciting?

grandma's needlework

well, maybe not my grandmas needlework.

I love when these pop up at the thrift store, but the frame is usually less than lovely.

spray paint can fix almost anything.

this little lovely now holds a place of honor under the fort downstairs.

home made laundry detergent

This is a recipe courtesy of MW.

I have been using this laundry detergent for quite a while now, and love it!

It is simple to make and costs a whopping $ .35/gallon

1/3 bar Fels Naptha Soap

1/2 Cup Borax

1/2 Cup Washing Soda

1 1/2 Tbsp. liquid dish detergent

Directions:

grate Fels Naptha Soap into saucepan with 1 pint of water and heat until melted.

Add Borax and Washing Soda .

Stir and mix well.

Pour into a large bucket and add water to make 2 gallons.

Let it set up overnight.

use 1/2 - 1 cup per load.

(I store it in my old one gallon milk jugs)

lovin little flags to celebrate the fourth.

I've picked these up for pennies at the thrift store.

 two

 picture

 frames

 sitting

 on

 the

 table

 were

just

 too

blaah.

the

 old

wooden

 clamp

makes

 for

 a

much

more 

interesting

display. 

the closet that wanted to be a bench

Living in a house built in the 1940's can be interesting.

We have a very tight front entry that had a closet we didn't use.

A few years ago we pulled down the door, and decided to build in a bench and hooks for guests.

Jeff and my father-in-law built it in a day.

I painted it, and it was done. 

The space still isn't any bigger, but it is better!

all dressed up and no where to go

We collect vintage aprons with every intent to make something great out of them.

While they wait,

we figured the window might like to wear them.

The kitchen window is just a bit too wide in my opinion, but you get the idea.

If you do have a wider window,

 it would be easy to just cut the apron strings off at the ends,

slide a tension rod through as many as you need, 

and hang!

No sew!

a place to put it

isn't that a question that pertains to everything?
especially when it has to do with kids and their stuff.
it isn't always possible to hide it, so make the most if it.
this is a once oh so popular memory board that I picked up at the thrift store a while back.
it just happens to be a perfect spot for hair things.
easy to see.

easy to reach.
win win.

art a la carte

thrift store frame.

thrift store dish towel.

art for kitchen. 

before. funny vinyl seat. screw driver. staple gun. 10 minutes. 

after. durable scrap fabric. chair made better. done  

pillow made pretty

SEW...what is a girl to do when it's late and there's to much to do?

If you are tired of looking at your plain old pillows like I am,
You find something interesting to sew onto the cover.

We have done this with doilies and flowers, but quilt pieces are a great embellishment as well!

SEW much better.

w-h-o-o w-h-o-o-o

I think that owls are a hoot.
We have a few that live in the woods that we hear at night.
We also have a few that live in the house.

This one the littlest thinks is made of gold...

This one wears a hat and is on a leash.

"Owly" lives in bigs bed.
He is made of a sweater, old shirt, and wash cloth.

Hoot lives in the fort.
He is made of an old sweater as well, (and scrap fabric.)

These two live in the playroom downstairs.

They were super easy to paint on the wall.