Christmas ornaments from scrap fabric.

For those of you who follow my blog you know how addicted to fabric I am. I just love it and yes I sell it and yes I sew with it, but there's always those scraps. These are made from reclaimed trim and a yoyo and bead in the center. All of these are about four inches in diameter and required fabric no longer than 18 inch strips or eight inch squares or circles.

Yoyo's are easy to make and these became ornament bells with a jingle bell to finish them off. A star can go on the top to make it a small tree also, but I like the bell.

 

Inspired by Kumiko Sudo (Flower Origami) who is a fabric origami artist,  I folded these pieces of fabric to make these ornaments and added the bead to class them up a bit.

 

 

Also origami folded fabric, just a little more folding. These are my favorites and the red and white one's looked the best on a green tree.



These are also folded fabric but a log cabin pattern. I found the direction in a booklet I bought in Lancaster PA. I have been fascinated by folding fabric for several years now.

I added some folded origami to my Christmas stockings and made them look better than just plain white and green. This is how I use my scrap fabric and I hope to be semi retired to do more of the things I like some day. Scrap fabric is always for sale on my stores. butterflyplace.etsy.com and butterflyplace.storenvy.com. I hope everyone has a great week and a wonderful holiday.

New Entrepreneur

Please take a few minutes to check out the newest entrepreneur among us. I have added a link on my side board to his site and I'm sure he'd appreciate any one just taking a minute to check his new business out. Just click here http://myshakeology.com/esuite/home/kross982 or click on the link Team Beach Body on my side board. Thank you all for looking. Have a wonderful weekend.

Who would have ever known?

 

 

Who would have ever known that thrift shopping, which I did because I didn't believe in paying full price for anything, would become a small and growing business. To top it all off the challenge is fun. It doesn't feel like work at all. I think the hardest part has been the promoting, connecting to blogs, and that's where all the work is. Even the paper work is easy and up to date. Who would have ever known?

 

This past week took me to several different stops. A couple of off the wall places and the finds were just incredible and so were the prices.

 

 

First there is the never ending quest for vintage linens and sheets. These two sheets and two pillow cases are so great. I just love the colors. It makes me wish I could change my bedroom decor every week to something new. However they are now inventory.

 

 

Next there was this vintage Tom and Jerry eggnog bowl with six mugs for a price that I couldn't resist. I didn't get this into inventory because a visitor bought it for her holiday. Glad I took pictures. She loves it.

 

This vintage made in Japan miniature mother bear and two cubs was another fun find. Mother bear is two and a half inches tall and the cubs are one and a quarter inches tall. She shows her frustration so humanly with her children.

 

 

I also found this UCTCI made in Japan little girl with a vessel statue. She appears to be resting  and has the most adorable face.

 

These are the special thrift finds that came my way this past week. I have listed some on my Etsy store, butterflyplace.etsy.com and if you're shopping this week don't forget to put in coupon code Santa to get 20% off your total purchase of anything in the store. Also stop by butterflyplace.storenvy.com to see how things are going. I will be listing more items more often there now that things are settling out for me. Have a great week everyone.

 

 





Spread the Word!

 

HOLIDAY SEASON SALE

 

20% OFF UNTIL DECEMBER 15TH

 

Holiday sale at butterflyplace.etsy.com. Enter coupon code "Santa" and receive 20% off the entire store until December 15th. Vintage items, home made items, collectibles and some antique items are available. Come and look there may be something you like or something unique for a special gift.

Inventory Building

 

Vintage pink glass Christmas ornaments

60 Vintage wooden Blocks

 

 

New ladies Isotoner gloves

 

 

Vintage made in Japan monkey face small cookie jar

 

All of these items have been listed on my new store, butterflyplace.storenvy.com , and I'm having more fun finding different items to list that are not all home made or vintage. I sure hope you stop by and follow my shops as this mature entrepreneur continues on her new adventure.



Thrifted miniature nativity.

My daughter and I went out to do a little thrifting this past Saturday and we enjoy adding special items to our type box which decorates our town house. It's hard to find special items to fill it, but this past weekend we found the smallest nativity set we've ever seen and one we can leave out all year long. this is so small that it filled perfectly this 4 inch by two inch space. I think this is the best thrift find ever.

As you can see we have a few more spaces to fill as we take new adventures.

Green

A couple of weeks ago I sent a request out to the universe for olive green fabric at a reasonable price for some projects I want to work on. Twice since I have found some great yardage. The olive green fabric is perfect for some military fabric that I want to make a boy's quilt with. The green striped fabric is home decor fabric which I've already listed on my Etsy store. (butterflyplace.etsy.com) The autumn leaf print fabric was different because it's a quilted leaf on a tan plaid background. This is also listed on Etsy. Then there was this wonderful denim fabric at a price that couldn't be ignored. It's dark blue and heavy and I have some great ideas for it. One more thing to do.

Continuing with my green request was this vintage olive green fondue pot. Used, but in very good condition. This is listed on my storenvy store. (butterflyplace.storenvy.com) I think this week I will put out a request for purple items. I never seem to have enough purple. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Fun mix of thrift finds this week.

I tend to search for fabric because I am an addict. Lately I'm finding some fun pieces. I know I can't keep it all or will never use it so I resell it. I'm torn with the green,, brown and gold print piece.

Coming by a piece of vintage Strawberry Shortcake is always great. This is a good size piece with a cut down the center. I will salvage the long piece and sew with the torn section.

I have been looking forever for a piece of black and white checkered gingham. Finally found it in the form of a long curtain. I will be sewing with this. The yellow leaf print sheet is king sized and I scored big with this one.

I found the vintage vase with the fawn at another thrift store and have listed it on my new store, butterflyplace.storenvy.com . The sweet delicate mother cat and kitten was found at still another vintage junk shop. It soon will be listed on storenvy

 

I found this vintage made in Japan oil and vinegar cruet set with salt dish at still another thrift store. It is teak would and ceramic and although one stopper is missing I could not pass it up. It is also listed on storenvy.

 

And who can ever pass on a great price for vintage Pyrex. These are the medium and small bowl from a nesting set. I just recently sold the large one. These will be coming soon to butterflyplace.etsy.com . I had a fun week and just took my time enjoying being out and working for myself. Now the challenge will be to find the time to get to my sewing machine. Too many ideas floating around in my head that need to become real. Have a wonderful week everyone.

 



Quick stop on the way home yeilds great fabric finds.

The funky flowers and yellow leaves are sheets and the African print is yard good. So excited about the bright colors.

Juvenile prints for future scrap quilts to donate. I'm always looking for boy prints.

Race car panels and several yards to make donated quilts. I feel I scored big with these two pieces.

Animal cracker train wall hanging panels and rainbow zebra doll panels. So cute for the little one's. Wish I had time to make them myself, but they are listed on the store.

I also found a vintage Star Wars twin sheet which is the first and so far the only item listed on my second on line shop. (butterflyplace.storenvy.com) I will be adding to that site this week, but I had to shop for inventory. To me that's the fun part. The vintage animal print is so cute. It is actually a crib quilt. I just loved the prints and listed it on butterflyplace.etsy.com to be used as is or as a cutter quilt. I've had a wonderful week thrifting for my stores and more than anything I'm enjoying sharing it with you. See you again soon and be grateful for all of your blessings.

Going for the fabric.

Thrift shopping this week brought these two aqua and green pillow cases and a bright pink and green sheet to the inventory. The sheet is listed on my store butterflyplace.etsy.com and the pillow cases have been set aside until I decide what my imagination can do with them. Actually I'm not ready to part with them.

I'm beginning to enjoy green. The olive green sheet which is 100% cotton I'm going to use as backing for quilts I will be donating to local hospitals. The paisley fabric is home decor fabric with a few bad spots that I'll clean up and list on my store. The beautiful green, maroon and blue print fabric was a wonderful find. It is "Guaranteed Dutch Java Print" fabric. This was made in Holland and to my surprise is quite expensive. May list it, May not. Still undecided. It's about 2.5 yards long and I could make something. Okay one more thing to do.

Then there was the great fire department fabric. Once this is trimmed it will be listed. I don't find a lot of fabric for boys so this was considered a score. The orange and yellow pillow cases just happened to find their way to my cart and are already listed. The universe is telling me to keep on going and that the day is not too far off when I can do this full time. I am building a second store and I'm so excited and to think that this is so much fun. My addiction to fabric is earning a few dollars. Not rich and never want to be. Just having fun. See everyone next week.

Linking to: http://www.thethriftyhome.com/

Second on line store coming soon.

Just opened my second on line store and as soon as I can design it and get it out of maintenance mode I will update the information. I am so excited. Not bad for the Mature Entrepreneur.

Bringing brightness to my day.

I was feeling rather gloomy and needed a trip to the thrift store. I didn't expect to find much and wasn't really caring whether or not I did. Just need to stop and it was less than two tenths of a mile from the grocery store. Why not look. I had an exciting time just by myself walking up and down the aisles. I found the blue elephant Napco planter, two made in Sweden brightly colored wooden hot plates that have handles so they can be hung, four tall wheat print glasses, a vintage porcelain owl and the cutes Japanese squirrel. The squirrel was claimed by my daughter for her vintage nick nack shelf and for some reason I can't stop enjoying his eyes.

Continuing down the linen aisle I couldn't believe the bright colors. Vintage and new sheets, reproduction vintage circus fabric and rainbow stripe fabric. How could you not feel better with all these mood lifting colors. Some of this will be used in sewing projects and some added as inventory to my on line store butterflyplace.etsy.com. It was a spur of the moment decision to go and well worth the trip. I can't wait to just do it again because only I can change my mood. Have a wonderful week everyone.

Roasted Red Peppers

Included in all the weekends activities was cooking and canning. Roasted red peppers were next on the agenda. I cannot believe the bounty that this season has provided. I will have peppers to enjoy until next canning season. I also baked more banana bread in canning jars and made a wonderful pot of split pea soup. It's been cooler here and the soup was just wonderful. I think I'm going to make some buttermilk biscuits to have with the leftover soup later this week.

I was slow in September.

 

I only went out thrifting twice in September. Not because I didn't want to, but because of time. I did okay when I went. I found vintage 70's curtains, some bright wavy stripe sheets, a crochet doily that is now in the thrifted bathroom, and believe it or not four 100% cotton baby blue NIP vintage twin size sheets. That was the best score.

 

I also came by a bag of coat zippers, another bag with rick rack for sewing projects, and some vintage 1962 school reading picture cards. I believe they were used to assist in story telling. They are so cute and would look good framed in a nursery.

I found a Cape Cod souvenir tray. All of the Cape Cod trays I've found I have sold. There was a Napcoware pink house with bunny planter made in Japan, another Japanese flower and bunny planter and a set of six Pyrex small bowls. These are larger and thinner than the smaller one's I've always seen. These are going in my kitchen. I need small bowls to use in cooking projects. It may seem like the pickings were slim, but I left things behind. Most of these items are going to be resold on my Etsy store. butterflyplace.etsy.com  I am a bit behind in listing items and need to get busy. Many items are prepped, but pictures need to be taken, edited and organized so that the listing can begin. With canning season coming to a slow down I think that will be happening soon. Have a wonderful week everyone and I'll be seeing you on your blogs.

Scrap Quilt

This is just a quick blog update. I feel some times like I am losing ground with the things I love doing. I'm trying hard to stay on my goal of one quilt a month for charity. I have piles of scrap fabrics to work with. This is the latest addition and is made of ten inch by twelve inch squares with a four inch border. Needed to do something quick so that I felt like I could keep up with my goal. I just love bright colors. I already have the next quilt planned. Hope I can keep up. The year is coming to an end so quickly. Where has this year gone?

Slow and steady.

I can hardly believe that it's been almost two weeks since I've updated my blog. I have every good reason to have been away so long. First there's the dealings of selling a house, working for some one else, building my on line reselling business, which by the way is picking up again, and harvesting and putting up this years bounty. I wonder when I found time to sleep. This is the latest canning project. I put up 16 pints of salsa for those vegetarian days. My favorite quickie dinner for when I'm alone is a good sized baked potato with sour cream and covered in salsa. I still have more to do, but it's Sunday and I must turn in early for that 3:15 am wake up call for my early morning shift. Slowly and steadily I will get it done and keep up. After all I wouldn't be the first person to be tired trying to build a business and survive what life throws at you.
Hopefully I'll be back mid week to update the blog, so when you stop by to check make sure you stop by my Etsy store (butterflyplace.etsy.com) to see what's new and how things are going. I hope everyone has a wonderful, but not as busy as my, week.

Bartered Goodies

With canning season well underway and so many people canning and making different items I have opened up to some bartering. It's said that the tax man doesn't like this kind of doings, but most of us are just trying to survive and enjoy the home made goodies.
In exchange for two cases of home made sweet relish I received two packages of home crafted venison sausages, we've eaten almost all of the other package, and two packages of ground venison. Along with the venison came a quart, yes a quart, of home made local maple syrup. I can't wait to make breakfast sausage out of the ground venison and enjoy a breakfast of waffles and home made syrup with home made sausage patties.
Then there's Paul's grape jelly. Paul a co-worker grows his own grapes. A small back yard garden keeps him busy. He made raisins and has a years supply, but wanted to try his hand at jelly. I kept encouraging him to try. I traded him some goodies for fresh grapes and grape jelly. I feel like it's Christmas. Items I enjoy and don't get myself are in my kitchen for future use.
I am going to make salsa and can it this weekend. With tomatoes at their peek I can't wait to fill the pantry for a long winter of great treats.

Blueberry cinnamon roll cake.

Trying to make something special last week and I came across this recipe on http://eatcakefordinner.blogspot.com/. It was something new for me and I had blueberries to use. At first we thought it was too much cake, but as you can see everyone seemed to enjoy it. It's almost gone now and I am looking for something new and different for this week to use the abundance of fruit and vegetable available. I highly recommend this recipe. It was yummy.

Great haul of thrifted linens.

Great variety of items.

 

 

Both new and vintage.

 

Even orange and yellow for the thrifted bathroom.

 

Thrifted bathroom. This dark room needed to be brightened up and I found the shower curtain and focused the decorating around it. Even the switch plate covers were painted yellow. We'll put the old one's up when we move out. Sure beats dark and brown.

Went to a local Savers thrift store last week because they were advertising a sale where if you spend $50 you would get 50% off selected items. Linens and home decor was one department. Well of course I didn't expect to find anything, but to my surprise I found a great bundle of new and vintage items. There was a NIP (new in package) red sheet set. I am always looking for red to do quilting projects. There were vintage sheets, Tommy Hilfiger 100% cotton sheets, four king size rainbow and white stripe fitted sheets and the orange and yellow velour hand towels and vintage wash cloth that are already in the thrifted bathroom. I see my store (butterflyplace.etsy.com) inventory  growing in the next few weeks and I have enough now to finish a couple more quilts for charity. I'm trying to have twelve quilts done for he hospital pediatric unit by the end of the year.

 

Last but not least and not included in the 50% off sale was the vintage mushroom and gold index file box which I'm sure was a great file box for recipes. This is already listed on my store. I don't know if I'll get out thrifting this week. Maybe I'll find a yard sale or two on the way home for work. I have lots of listing to do and with all the linens I have some cutting and sewing to do. Whatever the universe brings I'll enjoy. Have a great week everyone.