fit for a woodland princess

The holiday dress has been completed and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  You might remember that the dress started as this little gem I picked up at the thrift store:

Some tweaking later and this is what we have:

a dress that's perfect for my woodland princess.

I took off the lace, plastic pearls, and roses and added some wood buttons I made, a bit of embroidery, and the top...

...painted.

I stitched around the painted area and it looks like leather.  I doubt anyone would know it was painted unless I told them.  This was a situation of "use what you have".  I didn't trust my sewing skills to sew on a little bodice so I went with paint thinned with fabric medium.  Hey, it works.

I love it, and so does the girl.

Have a happy Saturday, everyone.

A Thrifting We Will Go

My big plans to travel down to Minneapolis were dashed by mother nature this Saturday.  With the several inches of snow she dropped I feared my 2 hour drive to the cities would become longer (and less safe).  Though I wanted to go see some amazing art and eat gyros, I wasn't up to spending 5 or more hours on the road to do it.  I was not about to waste a day out though, it's not often I get out of the house much less without the kiddies so I headed to some local antique stores to see what I could see.  My mother in law joined me and we shopped and lunched.  I found a few keepers; some for gifts and some for me!

I'll warn you now, there are lots of pictures...bear with me.

No thrifting trip would be complete without coming home with a worn wood object that I adore (and hubby loathes).  This time I came home with no fewer than three of these items. muahaha!

I have wanted an antique wooden rake for a long time.  This became my Christmas gift from my mother in law.  Sheryl, really you shouldn't have, but I LOVE it! 

I found this old wooden trough/bucket and couldn't resist.  I'm going to bet at least one of you is going to covet this one too.  (ahem...Lynn) 

I also brought home another wooden tool box.  I have a thing for tool boxes.  This is vintage, not antique, but is handmade and HEAVY.  I should have some good biceps after lugging this one around.

Lately I've been digging on these vintage brass animals so I brought home a set of cranes to adorn my mantel.  I have a set of deer that my grandma gave me so they'll take turns.  Or perhaps I'll have a brass animal sanctuary sprouting up on my mantel.  Who knows.

I also came home with several linens.  I found some delicate hankies, and a lace tablecloth for a steal that I want to use to cover one of my trees like my friend Odile did.  I also found a bag of lace, mostly pieces cut from garments, that I couldn't wait to dig through.

There were a lot of collars and trim in the bag, but also this sleeve.

and it had the tiniest shell button closure.  So sweet.

There was also this piece that looks like it might have been cut from a dress.  There are remnants of what might be silk on the edges.

The tiny detail of the lace is just incredible.

There was also this weighted piece.  It's heavy and feel like lead shot wrapped in fabric.  Anyone know what this is?

I couldn't resist these great vintage linen tea towels.  They were only $1 and I plan to use most of them in my kitchen, but some of the cuter ones might be worked into clothes for my daughter.  Here are a few of my favorites.

I also came home with a few tablecloths.  The floral one is a very heavy weave but I have no idea what kind of fabric it is.   I'm going to try to make the one with the Dala horse into a skirt for E. 

Although it wasn't how I planned to spend the day, it turned out to be a great time.

How about you?  What was the highlight of your weekend?

Thrifted Odds And Ends

I thought I'd show you some more of my garage sale finds today.  I scope out yard sales for a lot of practical stuff like crafting supplies, clothes, kitchen tools, home repair stuff, etc. but sometimes just can't pass up some of the less "neccessary" items.  Here are but a few.

I found these old light fixtures with their beautiful glass for 50 cents each.  My first thought was that I would turn them into nightlights but now I'm thinking I may have hubby rewire them so we can put them in the house.  I love the one with the circles.

I found this old wooden box that someone had handmade, (probably in wood shop or something since it's really crooked) at the thrift store.  It was marked $20 on the back but I paid $2.  My husband questioned my judgment on spending 2 dollars, but I thought it was kind of charming.  I plan to hang this on my wall.

I found this beautiful tin on the free table at a garage sale.  It's silver and perfectly worn, rusted, and chipped.  When I opened it up I saw that had previously held a heating pad.  Wow!  I'm not sure what they package heating pads in these days but I'm pretty sure it isn't in a fancy tin.

Speaking of free tables, I found the beautiful wooden shutters that are now making their appearance in some of my photography on the roadside, free.  They renovated a 1920s farmhouse down the road from us (side note: dream property...500 acres, barn, workshop, restored home, 70,000 norway pines planted in 1975...yes please.)  and were dumping the shutters.  These are assembled with wooden dowels rather than nails and they're perfectly weathered and grey.  Love.

Lastly for today, I picked up this awesome old book from 1941 and a silver bell from the 1970s.  The book is filled with really interesting maps and some oddly outdated information.   The bell was just pretty but I quickly realized that having a functioning bell in our house is not a good idea.  Kids + loud clanging bell = migraine.

What kinds of treasures do you look for?

 

Teacup Treasure

Were you puzzling over my Wordless Wednesday post yesterday?  Teacups?  Why is she showing us teacups?  Well, one because my reflection is in there and I thought that was cool... but secondly and more importantly, I was giving you a glimpse at one of my recent thrifting scores.  You see, I'm a garage saler.  A thrifter.  A junker.  Livin' on the edge.  I love digging for treasure and I keep meaning to show you some of the treasures I've picked up this summer so thought I'd start here.

I actually bought these two lovely and incredibly delicate teacups to make into ornaments.  They were marked "France" on the bottom which made me think of my dear friend Sonia, so I had to have them.  I really liked the one with the gold on the inside and the raised decorations on the outside.

I brought them home and was about to begin gluing into them when my curiosity got the better of me and I trotted off to the computer to see if I could identify them.

Turns out these little lovelies are Limoges porcelain paste cups circa the late 1800s.  What I found to be really interesting was that Limoges pieces were often sold as undecorated "blanks" and sold to hobbyists and art schools to be painted.

I tried to identify the two patterns I found and came up empty.  It makes me really wonder who used to drink tea from these (she was a lefty, based on the wear on the rim), who painted them, and how I was lucky enough to get them for 50 cents.

I have no idea what I'll do with them.  I can't bring myself to glue in them, and fine breakables are in constant danger of well, being broken, around here. 

Any ideas?

To Do

I have a new project to add to my mile-long never-ending you've-gotta-be-kidding me to-do list.  I stopped by the thrift store yesterday and found this awesome chair.  I've been wanting to make myself an adirondack chair for out in our little screen gazebo, but haven't found the time.  When I saw this baby for only $3.98, I couldn't pass it up.  It will be perfect for the gazebo.  I even like the avocado green color.  All I need to do is sew up a couple of cushions for it, and I'll be ready to go.

And of course by putting this here, I'm holding myself to completing this task.

$3.98!  Isn't that awesome?

My wheels are turning over what kind of cushions to make. 

Can't you just see this fabric by Betz White on there?

or this one by Cicada Studio?

Really, it's like the chair was made for these fabrics.  (le sigh)  Love!  My budget of course runs more towards the "whatever I can find in the stash o' fabric in my workspace" arena, but a girl can dream.

Have you re-fashioned or rehabbed (re-fabbed maybe?) a good thrifty find lately?  I'd love to hear.

Crafting For Ourselves

Take a look at some of the beauties found in the Crafting For Ourselves Flickr group lately.

 Have something you've made just for you? Come join us!

1. a few more stitches, 2. nautical cushion, 3. my new bag, 4. Grann Square - Der Anfang, 5. silver and tassels!!!, 6. Boot Cuffs, 7. Lassiël, 8. pc-remochair, 9. Finished

This was my contribution this week, a quick paint job on a couple of thrift store scores.  I got this basket/shield/wall doo-dad for 36. cents on ladies day at my local Sal. Army.  Woo hoo! 

My husband and yes, even my dog doubted that this thing should be salvaged but I see potential.  I ripped off the dusty fake flower ornament and got to work.  I had some leftover brown housepaint downstairs so I grabbed it and did a quick brush-over and then wiped it off partially. 

I wanted this piece to look old and used and not just outdated so I added a layer of thinned-out black paint over the brown and wiped it off again.

and here we go, a new old-looking basket/shield/wall doo-dad looking much more my style on my mantel.

Since I had my paint out, I decided to paint up one of the .25 cent baskets from the thrift too.  It was a faded mauve and now it's a worn brown.  Much better.

What have you made for you lately?