Getting back to nature.

It's Sunday morning early and I'm working as usual. I'm taking a break to do some blogging. I decided this week to take some pictures of the wonderful nature around my yard. It's been so rainy and miserable that yard work has had to wait. I put in more daffodil bulbs this past fall that have already come and gone and I was given some Iris to put in and they are just starting to flower. I will get pictures of them as soon as they do. They are small and young yet and I hope to get to watch them mature. With all the wet weather the mushrooms have been plentiful and the grass has gotten high around them. The birds have been playful and I can't tell you how much fruit will be on the trees this summer. It's going to burst with excitement. I have to stop every now and again during any of my days to enjoy the natural life. It feels such a part of me and I never seem to get enough. I'd like my lawn to be perfect, but it will never be and I've settled just to keep up with what grows. It's all part of the great scheme of things. So here's to nature. Without it we can't exist. I'm so grateful to be able to enjoy it.

Robins Make My Home Theirs Too

For the past couple of weeks we have been watching a pair of Robins take over our back yard. Last spring we knew they were nesting in the hedges, but this year they are out in the wide open at eye level for us to watch. This fascinates me to watch nature take it's course. I've tried to make my back yard welcoming to wildlife and birds and I've seen all sorts of animals in the yard. I've had skunks, possum, rabbits, deer, and raccoons to mention a few. I like the large variety of birds the most and when the cherry tree and pear tree are full we need air traffic control in the back yard. The squirrels and birds will make more noise while I'm trying to retrieve the fruit but believe me they get more than I do. So I thought that I would share this miracle of nature and try to watch and see if there will be chicks soon. We won't disturb it to see if there are any eggs in it. They deserve their spot.

To Be Continued...Thrifted Chair Part Two

I didn't think that I'd get to the new pictures until this weekend, but as usual I get more done than I expect in a day. I am a bit tired today, but I think the weather has something to do with it. Nothing but clouds and rain. We saw some sun, but it's in and out. Today is my day off and I decided to keep working, but to pace at a more human rate. Done mostly little stuff today, but it all adds up to big stuff at the end of the day. So now it's time to show you the progress we are making on the 99 cent chair. It still has a way to go before completion, but we can visualize how it will look when it is done. I hope you can see it too. The improvements are slow, but any job worth doing is worth doing well. We will be repainting the chrome body, the vinyl is going to be white and the arms will be white and we found butterfly vinyl to decorate it. It will look wonderful in our computer room. I can't wait to actually see it done, but I can see what it will look like in my mind now.

To Be Continued...Thrifted Chair

I've been so very busy building my on line store that I haven't taken the time to blog. That extra income is helping so much right now. Any how on one of our thrift trips a while back my daughter needed to sit down for a while. She'd been having back problems and it was getting to her. This chair is the result of her needing to have a seat. It was very comfortable she said and had me try it. Spending hours on the computer working is hard on your you know what and we decided to take it. Of course the price was just right too. As you can see from the pictures it was quite marked down. The progression of mark downs only meant to us that no one even tried to sit in it. It was a bit soiled so maybe that's the reason. So for ninety nine cents we purchased a new office chair knowing that we could upcycle it with vinyl paint and maybe some decorations. It is currently in pieces in the garage being worked on. It is showing great progress and we found the most wonderful vinyl butterflies to apply to it. We'll keep you in suspense for a bit longer. I will take some pictures of the progress and blog again over the weekend.

Thrifting on the way from one job to another.

Okay so the thrift store was on the way from one job to another and I couldn't resist. Being the middle of the week and not expecting to find anything I took a chance and found two vintage aprons. At first I thought these were homemade, but upon second glance I noticed a portion of a tag that had been cut out of one and realized they were manufactured. I checked them out and they were new and just a bit dusty from sitting in some one's kitchen. I cleaned them up and ironed them and they are now listed on my store for resale.

One is a vintage yellow apron that buttons and ties in the back. It is a floral print and has two large pockets in the front. It is trimmed in green bias tape. The second is a vintage blue floral full apron that slips over your head and ties in the back. I found both of these apron styles listed for sale on the Internet and am happy to have found them to add to my store.

Sewing is my passion.

While I'm busy building my etsy store and doing the job search and working part time I am teaching myself to do what I love so that I can make it through each day. Sewing is my passion and I'm trying to keep one project going at a time and taking it to the finish line. The past three days I have worked to complete another childs red half apron. I think I'm in love with this vintage 1950's pattern. It also helps to have used a vintage piece of red fabric. I have another one cut out in a vintage Christmas fabric and will start work on that one tomorrow. I wanted to get this on my blog so that I can continue to share with my friends and followers what I have been up too. For now I am just moving along and growing. Soon I will be able to do this full time. That's my goal any way. Wish me luck everyone and show me what you've been up to.

February Success, March Madness

To keep myself from slipping into a deep depression about not being able to keep up with my bills and stressing just about everything, my daughter pointed out that everything I need to succeed was right in front of me. She is so right. I have so much that I can do to build an online store to support myself that it really isn't funny. I have two rooms overflowing with fabric to just sell or make something out of and it's about time that I woke up and saw this. Thanks to the universe for waking me up in this time of great stress and thank you Lisa. She's been telling me this for some time. Time to listen to wise daughters and son.

I got started with this project of an online store several years ago, but never took it where it had to go. After the first of the year and a couple of end of year sales I decided to get it going again. As of today I have listed my two hundredth item on the store and am getting good attention to it. The domino affect is amazing and it's with this action that one could say that it can happen over night. Not without many hours of work and dedication though. I spend every extra minute working on this business. In the morning before work, when I get home from work, in between projects, cooking, cleaning and anything else that pops up. I spend extra time checking out estate sales and thrift stores to find the fabric for resale that I think will sell. There is also the time needed to research what is selling and what is not. Oh and don't forget the time learning to calculate postage and going to the Post Office.

To shorten this story some it started out slow in January while I learned, but I made a few more dollars in February. Not bad for a short month and a new store. I only hope that the mad hours that I am putting into this store will continue on this prosperous path. Here's to March Madness. I also had the blessing of a few dollars come to me and this being the gift that it was I decided to invest in my stash and the pictures speak a thousand words.

Back to Sewing for February.

I have this never ending desire to be in the sewing room, but lately it's been nearly impossible with all the work building my etsy store and selling on eBay. This desire was so high that I forced myself to do something, so I took out all of the red Valentines day fabric I could find and started sewing a little bit at a time. My first project was a baby bib of red hearts on white background. That was fun and quick. My enthusiasm was there, but the time was not, so I took a few minutes every day to do something more. I started an apron. Valentine's kisses. I used a vintage pattern and had fun even though it took me two days back and forth to the sewing room. I got it finished and took pictures and listed it on etsy. Then I made two oven mitts and two potholders with the remaining fabric, vowing not to put the fabric back in a tub. To continue with my passion for aprons, I made another from the same vintage pattern, but in a bold red and black and yellow heart print. It too got finished and listed on etsy. I have a child's apron cut out and ready to work on and although it's past Valentine,s day I won't be happy until I've used as much of the fabric as I can. I will sell the scraps at the end of the month so that nothing goes to waste. I hope you enjoy looking at my finished products. I had fun knowing that I could get back to sewing and not just work on the on line business. Visit me at butterflyplace.etsy.com for all of my selling adventures.

Spread Love Through Thrift.

We're coming up on the most loving day of the year, Valentines Day, when love reigns for what we think is just a few hours. Take that feeling and make it live with you all year every day. Care about each other no matter what. Love is every where all the time.

These kissing angels were found over the holiday season at a thrift store. They are about ten inches tall and the pair was purchased for just one dollar. It was 50% off day. Angels are filling my home to remind me that love is all around. I hope we can all spread some.

Upcycled Candles From Other People's Junk

Have you ever wondered how to decorate cheap with candles. I've been successfully doing this for years with other people's junk that I upcycle. This is the in thing to do today. Glad it's become popular. These are two reclaimed Ball canning jars that can be hung with their own bail wires or set on the table.

These now white wall sconces started out as two goth black candle holders that with a quick spray painting in white made them two totally different holders. New life for less than five dollars. While out rummaging through another sale I found a number of tulip candle holders for fifty cents each and decided that these two pink ones would make these sconces perfect for my bedroom. I quickly attached them with E600 glue for a simple finish. Two wall sconces for just under six dollars.

One thing I like to do is go to the final day of church sales. This is the time that you can fill a bag for less than five dollars and what fits is yours for that price. I found these old metal objects that I am thinking are hand rail holders. Technical name I do not know, but my daughter and I used them in two different ways. She mounted hers to wood plaques that she purchased and I mounted mine to stained scrap wood. I attached votive glass and she just set the candle on the metal. Tastes differ, but for the seven wall sconces the price was well under $15. Can't beat that.

Santa is my favorite.

Santa is my favorite holiday character, but put him on an apron driving a train and it's just plain cute. I found this apron (of course an apron) at a thrift store just after Christmas this past year on one of our out of town thrift excursions and couldn't resist. It just seemed so playful and colorful and of course vintage. With a little tender love and care Santa is ready for use and is now listed for sale on butterflyplace.etsy.com. Santa is actually a large pocket on this apron. Even better to be useful and not just decorative.

Check this out! I was featured on Apron-iCity!

How excited was I to learn today that I had been featured on the Apron-iCity website. She feature my post on the Embroidered Aprons back in December. If you have a chance check out the website, for all things apron related. What a great day!

Happy New Year and a prosperous year full of thrifting.

I found a few new thrift items through the holiday week, but I'm saving them for a bit. I am listing items for sale on my etsy store, butterflyplace.etsy.com. Feel free to look and shop. I enjoy sitting out in the patio enclosure on those mild summer nights and I have even done some quilting at the large table out there. There isn't a lot of light so I am always trying to make what light I have work better for me. There is a very large picture window that connects to the family room, but light does not come through that window. While on one of my expeditions to the thrift stores I found this wicker mirror that needed to be repaired. It was less than four dollars and with about a days worth of repair and some new paint it looked fabulous. I hung it in the window and have been enjoying more natural light and the way it made the window look smaller so much that I can't wait for summer to come around again.

Winter Wonderland Thrift

With the holidays approaching faster than I could manage I decided not to do as much Christmas decorating this year and I jumped right into my January mode. Any one who really knows me knows that I decorate fresh for every month and January is blue and white snowflake theme.

Continuing on the thrift part of this blog I thought that I would blog my blue and white winter themed trays that I use on the kitchen wall to make it feel icy. These were part of a set of four, but at the thrift store there was not a complete set and the other seasonal trays of the set didn't appeal to me as well. I knew I would use these for sure. So I got wall plate hangers and here they are.

Vintage Pink Thrift Store Ornaments

It has always been a way of life for me to shop at thrift stores. Even when I travel out of town I try to find them. This find however was from a local thrift store. In an attempt to keep Christmas costs to a minimum, but at the same time be different than everyone else I chose a very cheap white Christmas tree that came complete with pastel lights. Well it seemed like we would have to put up with this frightful tree until....... I found some discounted ribbon, imitation poinsettia flowers of dark maroon and pink to match the ribbon and some off beat glittery who knows what and put it on the tree. Not perfect, but much better than I thought. It would do and fit the budget.

After the tree was up and we were ready to enjoy the holiday season my eldest daughter and I decided to visit some local thrift stores. As usual she went one way and I went the other. I got to a Christmas display and to my surprise was a box of vintage pink Christmas ornaments. Only twelve, but if applied to the front of the tree only she and I would know. Continuing on through the store I met up with my daughter who was so excited to show me that she had found two more boxes of the same ornaments and when I showed her my find we couldn't stop laughing. One box was minus three ornaments, but that was fine by us. Now we put the tree up either in the family room or in a Victorian decorated bedroom and just enjoy our economical and different Christmas tree.

Vintage Holiday Thrift

Sometimes you just happen to look on the top of a shelf at a thrift store and find a vintage holiday treasure. Mine was this box of unused vintage 40's or 50's Norcross Inc. children's Christmas cards. Are you old enough to remember the red velvet on cards? Well these are that kind of card and they just are so cute. I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them. The box was in mint condition and although there were originally 16 cards in the box there are only 10 now. I hope you find the pictures as cute and innocent as I did. Times surely have changed.

Apron Sewing Thrift

The trend today has gone back to giving things a new use or just using what is already available. I have lived this life for as long as I can remember and when I look around my house I see that most of what I have in it has been renewed.

I was going to start a new blog with my up cycled items listed on it to show what I have done to use old things or bring new things back to life, but this is what the Craft Zone has literally become. Most of the fabric I own and items in the studio are what other people have not used and given or I have purchased so I decided to just keep everything to one blog. I am trying to create a network of blogs and blog friends so feel free to share my blog with your friends and maybe get an idea or two of your own.

Some years ago I was given (yes, given) boxes of sewing materials from an estate. So much that a lot was donated, made into something new for charities, put to use or became something special to me. In the boxes were two hand embroidered apron fronts. The condition of these aprons was excellent so I went to work to make them come alive. I added neck and back ties and lined them and they have hung in all of my kitchens for as long as I can remember. Textile crafts are my love, but I also enjoy being in my kitchen. Aprons are something that combines both of my loves.

Autumn Thrift

I have seen so many people who have blogged about their thrift habits that I thought that through the year as I see my thrift store items and up cycled items used in my home that I would start to post them on my blog. I have so many that I could build a blog just for this purpose, but I will keep them short and do them on the Craft Zone.
These pictures of Thanksgiving blessings was a Hallmark punch out book. I found it at the thrift store (1.49) and just fell in love with the pictures. I didn't want to punch them out so I removed the rusty staples, found some autumn colored paper and some matching frames at a yard sale and put them to use in my autumn decorating. This was several years ago and I can't tell you how much they put me in the mood for turkey and pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving.

Dolly is finished.

I am happy to say that Dolly is finished and returned to her owner. I had so much fun working on it and making it a completed quilt. I know this will be loved and I know my love went into making it, and will always fill another heart with joy.