Up All Night

So here it is just after 4am and I'm still up. Apparently, taking a 1 hour nap on the couch means I'll be up all night crafting. Especially when that 1 hour nap turns into a 3 hour nap, but whatever!

Yesterday, I had the day off of work for Good Friday. My work offers a floating holiday twice a year. You can take the day off or save your day to be used at another time during the year. I have never been good at delayed gratification, so I took the day. Anyway, I spent the day with my sister, Jean, and we had such a wonderful day! What's not to love about grilled cheese sandwiches made with Ciabatta Bread, homemade Jewish Apple Cake (only my 2nd time making it and it turned out a little dry, but still edible), a quick thrift store jaunt and a day of sewing and giggling with my sister?

When Jean and I get together to craft, we try to challenge each other to do new things. This time it was Jean's turn and she taught me so much! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I wanted to share the very cool shelf I picked up at the thrift shop. As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to have it. I looked at the price tag and saw it was $25. A bit steeper than I wanted to pay, but I really, really wanted it. So I put it in my cart and went off to find Jean and show her my find. I showed it to her and then showed her the price. She immediately pointed out that the tag looked like it was from whatever store/yard sale the shelf was originally sold at. The thrift store prices are written differently so we searched for that price and found it. Turns out, it was only 9.99! Sold!

So here it is:

It's not as big as the picture makes it look. The tag on it said it is a shot glass holder. I bought it to display my pincushion collection and other little crafted goodies. I think it needs paint though. Jean suggested pink...no surprise, since she always suggests pink! I don't know yet. I hate to do white, since I always paint things white, but pink may be too, well, pink for me. I love pink, but not in shelving I don't think.

Anyway, one of our favorite parts of any thrift shop is the linens. Before I was into "thrifting" I always wondered who would buy sheets or pillowcases from a thrift shop. It kind of ooged me out to even consider sleeping on someone elses linens. Then Jean opened my eyes to upcycling linens. No need to sleep on them when you can upcycle them to make something. I've seen a few examples of using pieces of vintage sheets in quilts and I love them. One of my favorites is on Crazy Mom Quilts. Love her blog! Lots of great info there, I really want to make an inspiration board like hers too!

So our thrifting goal yesterday was to find vintage pillowcases. We picked out a few and then once we were home, we started on our Project of the Day. I have been wanting to make an apron and have been too afraid to try. Jean, who is not afraid of a darn thing that I can tell, decided that's what our project would be. Using a vintage pillow case and adding a pocket and some rickrack this is what I eventually ended up with:

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of the results. For my first attempt, it didn't turn out too bad at all! Jean taught me the super secret way to add a pocket (amazingly easy!) and how to add rickrack. As much rickrack as my mom added to my clothing when I was a child (and it was A LOT) I never knew how to attach it. Sounds silly now that I know, but I had no idea.

I love using the vintage pillow case with more modern fabric and the way the two complement each other. I cannot wait to make another apron now! If you want to see some very cute aprons that Jean has made, check out her Flickr photostream: Quilted Cupcake. Plan to spend a few minutes, because she has tons of other cuteness on her photostream!

The last thing I want to share before I collapse into bed is another thing from Jean. We celebrated her birthday Friday, hence the Jewish Apple Cake, and she gave me a gift. She made this quirky little bird and didn't dig it, so she gave it to me. I adore it. I just can't help but smile when I look at his silly little face. He will hold a place of honor on my new shelf!

That's it for now. I'm getting my sleepy self and my sleepy dog off to bed. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to post again!

always,

K