Thrifting was non-existent this weekend, but I do have a thrifted, crafty costume to share.
First off a thrifted item from a few weeks back, used for Halloween decor. This is more than what I would normally want to pay for a small item, but I had a Halloween use for it in mind. Candle holder from local thrift shop, $2.99. It's very Charles Dicken-ish....don't you think? Add a candle, and drip some red wax from another candle, and viola you have a bleeding candle. Idea courtesy of MarthaStewart.com.
Mystery fabric turned into a skirt (lazy style)
My costume in mind this year was a gypsy, and I figured I could throw one together rather easily. It was actually easier than I expected. I had two yards of mystery fabric I bought last Thanksgiving at Garden Ridge. Price $5.99, Thanksgiving day sale 1/2 off $2.98. It's been sitting here so sad. So I made it into a gypsy skirt. Cutting the two yards in half length wise, sewed together at the edged to make a 4 yard long piece, then sewed the other two ends together. Sewed a hem at the top and inserted a rope(cord), and bunched together to fit around my waist.
A very lazy way to make a skirt if you ask me, but it met it's purposes, and if I decide to use the fabric for something else down the line I haven't compromised it much. It's very Gone with the Wind(ish) since this mystery fabric is heavy,like curtain material. (Mame just whip me up a skirt from those curtains.)
Bed skirt and XL man shirt
Bed skirt slip
A thrifted XL man shirt, and a bed skirt $2.99 each. The shirt shoulders were cut off from the pocket up, and sleeves were cut just a bit from wrist opening down. Removed pocket, hemmed along the top, and treaded with some elastic to gather. Same with the sleeves. Viola once more, you now have a pirate wench top....which is the same look for a gypsy.
Now you might be asking yourself what the bed skirt is for. Well it's for under my skirt. Ugh!!! For the life of me I can't remember or find what that is called. It's not a slip...is it? Ugh! I pretty much cut the bed skirt in half and sewed the ends together and gathered the top once again with elastic.
back scrap used for gypsy head wrap, 10 cents
Do you ever have those garage sale purchases you wonder what you'll do with, but don't pass up because they're so cheap? Well I had that happen a few months back. I purchased some fabric scraps for 10cents each, but didn't know what I would do with them. The time has now come to make use of that silly purchase. Fabric scrap cut equals gypsy head wrap.
Gypsies need large dangling earrings right? Well thrift shops didn't have what I was looking for, and I wasn't gonna spend a lot on this accessory, so onto Joann's I went. Purchased 7" worth of trim, $1.29, cut in half to make two earrings and just poked my earring stud through the fabric to create my earrings.
The spooky glowing eyes just add that Halloween touch.
I originally wore my costume last weekend for my sisters Halloween party and at that time I used a tank top as my under-bust vest, just pulled the tank top down and pinned in place. It kinda worked but since I had an XL man shirt underneath it all bunched up and made me look wider than what I am. So I free styled a vest/corset thingy by using my tank top as a template then held the fabric up against me and drew a line under my bust and got my pattern that way. Sorry I have no pictures for this. Most of my random sewing attempts don't work out so I don't even try to document them. Fabric from stash, no additional out of pocket expense.
Bracelets from daughters Cleopatra costume from a few years back...not an additional out of pocket expense.
Total cost of costume, just over $10. Not bad if you ask me. I spent 6 times that, combined, on my kids store purchased costumes, but getting them what they want is almost priceless, right? I wasn't gonna attempt Swamp Fire from Ben 10, and my daughter was back and forth on her costume not knowing what she wanted until we went to Party City. Plus I've had plenty of costume flops in my past, as I posted about last week. I didn't want to disappoint myself again.
Hopefully like most, I have had my fair share of attempting costumes for my kids; most were flops, with a possible triumph.
70's era leopard costume
You know you have the vision in your head, but the outcome was not even a shadow of what was envisioned. Oh well. Guess in the end the kids were happy with what they got....maybe.
I think my mom had better luck with costumes than me. At least I have this photo laying around to prove it. That's me...forever ago as a leopard. I think I am three in this picture so that's 31 years ago. Like I said for-ev-er ago.
This was one of the few costumes that got recycled between three growing sisters. There is a Mini Mouse costume picture somewhere in a shoe box.
The strange thing is that my mom made us our costumes. As in she sewed them!!! Why is that strange? Because I've never seen her use a sewing machine. Very strange.
I'll start out with a triumph, and go figure I don't have any good pictures of it. This costume was my triumph of any costume I've ever made. Three years ago my sister asked me to make my nephew a costume, but not just any costume. She wanted Max from Where the Wild Things Are.
This was a huge request. Something I agreed to, but without the confidence it would turn out. It took some time to think it through (This was the year prior to the movie coming out).
I used the below seen Spider Man suit as a template for the body. The tail was free hand with faux fur, and boy was it an awesome tail. You can't see it from this angle but the shape of it was amazing. Then the hood was trial and error.
You could also see in the picture to the right that the hands/claws were removable, but still attached.
My sister was soooo happy with it.
Let the wild rumpus begin!
Here we have my little boy. (Aw I miss the kids at this age...so juicy and cute.) This is a simple costume I was pretty happy with. This was my son's first walking Halloween. He was the perfect Bam-Bam. At this age my sons hair was practically white too, but it's hard to see in this picture.
Constructed out of a couple small pieces of fabric, with some black felt for the spots, and a bone shaped dog treat painted white.
This next one, below, was a flop He wanted to be a bat AND I wanted to make his costume. I used hangers for the wings that didn't stay on his arms and the hat was a flop too, but he was happy with it.
The good thing about this Halloween is that he had two costumes to wear; one handmade that he wore to
daycare (the bat) and the one he wore out trick-or-treating; over-sized Super Man.
Now obviously this is not a costume I made,
but one year my son decided to be Bat-Spider-man. The Spider-Man suit with a Bat-Man cape. It was his decision to combine two costumes, and boy did he get a lot of remakes regarding his incorrect costume by confused treat givers. Seriously! Is it necessary to cretique kids wearing costumes? He's a boy. HE knows Spider-Man and Bat-Man are two different super heros, and HE wanted to be both at the same time.
Now my daughter has been lucky by being able to dodge me making her costumes, but one year she couldn't avoid it. She wanted to be a horse, and this is all I came up with. She had a tail of yarn and a mask made out of those foam sheets. It looks sad, but once again another happy child with their homemade costume. And once again there is my son, a bat, but this time it's a legit bat costume. This was an awesome costume, it has a pull string that popped open the wings.
This year the only costume I'm attempting is my own. A (crafty thrifty) gypsy.
Now in the past I've tended to lean towards something with wings, and have made my own wings, which I've been extremely happy with. If I get around to posting my gypsy costume I'll try to remember to get pictures of my wings as well.
So what have been your flops and triumphs costume wise?
Hi y'all!! Hope you all had a great weekend with lost of thrifting treasures. I've managed to score a few.
My biggest find...
A set of Butterprint Amish Pyrex in excellent condition. Yup this set was just sitting waiting for me all bundled at a high school fund raisers, at 10 in the morning. I had a late start, and I'm so surprised it hadn't been snatched up. I scored a Butterprint mixing bowl a few months ago...looks like I'm acquiring a collection of this pattern.
My smaller scores are ...
this turquoise Avon jar, $1...
a 1963 Duraglas 8 oz jar, $1
and a vanity mirror tray, $1. *I see this gold tray and want to paint it black.* (Sing it like the Rolling Stones "Paint it black".) I want to paint most things black.
I'm sooo happy with my finds. Now if I could find stuff I actually want to part with and sell on Etsy that would be awesome. I was just looking at the Butterprint Pyrex bowl the other day and thought to myself it's time to sell it, but now that is has friends, it's back on the hold list. Ugh!!!
There are a whole bunch of movies I love; that I will watch over and over again, but two of my utmost all time favorites are ...
Labyrinth and Amadeus.
The moment I thought up this post I then realized Jareth (David Bowie) and Amadeus have the same hair. Is this pure coincidence? Or is it my 80's love of glam-rock hair bands? Or is it just 80's music, hair, and movies all together?
I remember the first time I saw both of these movies, and both times were at school.
I was in 4th grade when I saw Labyrinth, in Mrs. Tolliver's class. It must have been one of those bonus days where we were rewarded with a movie. From that day on it was a constant VHS rental at the local grocery store. I don't remember when we finally got around to actually buying it, but since then I've upgraded to a DVD.
Oh my god. I even remember one year my older sister bought me, as a birthday present, the soundtrack to the movie on record, not tape, and CD's were non-existent back then. Sweet round vinyl. Oh she did copy it onto a tape for me so that I could listen to it. I was soooo happy to have it, but back then I didn't know what a soundtrack was. So initially I was sooo mad when the script of the movie didn't play during the precise spot in the music. What? Why isn't Sarah reciting her script?
"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered.
I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city,
to take back the child that you have stolen.
For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom is as great."
Later realizing a soundtrack is just the music to the movie. Duh!!
Jareth and David Bowie....I do love you. My daughter has already accepted you as my boyfriend, but my son still thinks you're a witch.
"I ask for so little.
Just love me.
Fear me.
Do as I say,
and I will be your slave."
Then on to Amadeaus. I was in 7th grade when I first saw this movie, and it was in Mr. Lopez' orchestra class. Yup I played the violin from 6th grade up to 11th.
I remember the guys in class kinda giggling when Contanza first appears in a scene with her bosom practically popping out of her lovely gown. Mr. Lopez kinda grumbles a "settle down" to the class. Ah what memories.
I love the look and the feel of this movie, and definitely the laugh of Woofie. Just the thought of him laughing makes me smile.
My thrifting has been minimal the last few weekends, and my post have even been fewer. Sorry, a lost memory card, and now a faulty computer are working against me. I'm gonna have to ship my laptop away for repairs, but I'm having a hard time wanting to part with it. I'll have to arm wrestle my daughter to use hers.
I'll be short and sweet with this Thrift Share Monday, and will post a find from three weekends ago. Wow! Time flies. It was a lone sale I attended late one Saturday afternoon, and boy was I glad I hit this sale up. I spotted this Texas Ware set, and I'm slightly familiar with Texas Ware, but I haven't seen much of it. So as soon as I turned over one of the cups I knew this was something worth buying.
As I'm looking at it the hostess asked if I have a little girl and I should buy it for her. So it sounds like she is wheeling and dealing to make a sale. Then goes on and talks about how old the set is, and remembers buying it 35+ years ago. So I'm thinking "Oh no, it's gonna be pricey". I ask how much it is. $1 and now half off since it's late in the afternoon. Holy (explicit)! Yup you heard me, 50 cents for this 10 piece set. This is how I should roll more often. What a great deal!!
One of my most favorite things is what pops up a few days later after it rains...
Rain lilies.
These little beauties start to appear around three days after it rains.
The amazing thing is that here in central Texas we've been in a severe drought and the Rain Lilies still come up after a rain.
You could see here a pretty much dead yard sprinkled with Rain Lilies. I took these pictures on my way to work....so this is not my yard. To my dismay, we don't get them in our yard, but I've been debating on buying seeds or bulbs for these online so that this will happen in my yard. I wouldn't mind these outside my door a few days after it rains. :-)
Did any of you see this episode "Generation YouTube" on 20/20 a few weeks back? It's about how YouTube has changed the lives of many. How uploading videos has brought regular everyday people to make a six figure income. Yup! You heard me a six-figure-income. Ugh!!!
I was drawn to this episode. I loved it for the sake on how a regular everyday person can be successful, and how they've become successful just by doing their regular everyday hobby like sewing, or chores (cooking), but they recorded and uploaded these task to youtube.
Sounds simple right? It's a very interesting segment. Once I found it on-line I watched it again.
I'm no stranger to video tutorials. I've watched my fair share when I've bumped into sewing hurdles, but I'll admit I've seen more funny clips and music videos on YouTube then any other type of video. Since MTV no longer plays music videos I go to YouTube for a bit of nostalgia like...
or I just want to smile
or I want to laugh
Ok...ok...I'm getting off of the topic.
Posting video tutorials or maybe funny happenings around the house is something I want to do....maybe.
Since I've started my blog in January, of this year, there was a small thought that maybe I can make some money with my blog, by posting crafty things. Or maybe I could get free stuff from advertisers...or something like that. I slowly gained followers, and then it stopped. Which is understandable.
I know I lack in a lot of areas. Picture taking. Documenting actual projects, and of course regular content inspiring post. Duh!
I also know why I suffer, somewhat, in these categories. For one, and this is a secret, no one knows I write this blog. Shhh!! Well, I say no one. I've mentioned my blog to two friends, who I know don't read this, and of course I know you all read my silly blog, thank you. However, my family does not know I do this. My mom and two sisters whom I'm very close to don't know anything about this. At least I haven't informed them. So unless they've Googled Sleeping or Sewing (also the name of my Etsy shop), then they would not know about this.
Why, do they not know? I'm quiet and shy, to some extent. I don't like to be critiqued or picked on, and I would be embarrassed if I knew they read this. Don't know why I would be embarrassed about it. Maybe because they are not into the crafting thing, and I thrift shop differently....I guess.
So I'm affected by this secret because I live with my mom (double sigh) and I don't have the space to lay all my stuff all over the place to properly take pictures leisurely, messes and all.
My mom and older sister also don't get the Internet. Yes, they use it, but they don't understand the use of sites like Facebook. It's too invasive for them, but then they'll ask whats so-and-so up to? (Go figure.) "Why post what you are doing when you are doing it?" I understand where they come from, because I don't post on FB saying what I'm doing at that particular moment like "I'm working out" (haha like if I workout), but I do read other peoples post and they could be entertaining at times based on others comments. I get to see what cousins are up to in California while I'm in Texas, and without FB I could honestly say I'd go years without knowing anything about them. Sad? Yes, but true.
So to avoid hearing mom with her comments about why am I'm blogging about stuff, or why am I putting personal info out there I keep like a hermit within the realm of my room, and occasional other areas for pictures; mom just thinks the pictures I take of my thrifted items are for Etsy anyway, not Thrift Share Monday. Shhhh.
Maybe I just need to become more focused (haha). Most of my blogging is drafted late in the evening, since I work full-time and have kids to tend to after work. I just need to figure out where I want to go with my blog, and possible eventual tutorial videos. Focus on making my blog better (I know I've said this before), to make me feel better about it and more enjoyable for those who happen to read it. I know I have the drive to do it, but I'm also a pessimist and see negative in anything before I see the good, and being sheepish doesn't help either or being borderline antisocial. Ugh!
Are any of you bloggers out there like this? Shy, don't necessarily talk shop(crafts) out loud with others, but do so in blogs? Are you reluctant to tell others your ideas face to face, but do it carelessly in blog land? You just do it because you want to do it?
Ugh!! Am I just rambling for the sake of rambling, or am I just talking out loud to get myself to do something I want to do? Guess only time will tell.
Maybe I just over think everything. A few people I know would probably agree to that.
Thanks for listening. :-)
Oh and good luck to all those who do attempt and/or are successful with making money on your blog or Youtube.
OMG!! I'm having camera and computer issues over here. I've missed the last two Thrift Share Monday's due to losing my cameras memory card and now my laptop is not reading my new memory card. UGH!!! So for now I'll attempt a post taking pictures with my phone. Blah!
There is this tutorial that has been on my to-do list for months now. It initially landed on my list as a to-do pincushion, but just recently it got scaled up to a pillow once I revisited the tutorial.
The pillow/pincushion is made up of 15 squares, and when I revisited it it was an "ah-ha" moment. This project could be done so quickly, at least cutting wise, with my Accuquilt Go Baby!. Not only that but I already have quite a few spare 5" squares cut out.
So Sunday morning not long after I woke up I decided I needed a project to work on that could possibly be completed for that sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. I then proceeded to open up this tutorial by Matching Pegs for the star fruit pillow.
Top of pillow
The tutorial was very easy to follow. Once I got started I thought this was gonna be done under and hour, but I decided not to rush, since that usually means a lot of seams to undo due to jumping steps (eh hem....I did do that once in this project). So in total it was just over 2 hours to finish, stuffing included.
Side of pillow
I'm really happy with this project, and would love to make a larger one since the one in the tutorial looks soo big. Obviously we all know an inch does make a difference, and an additional 15 inches would make this pillow a lot bigger, since the tutorial used 6" squares and I used 5" squares. What were you thinking when I said an inch does make a difference? O:-)
I'm still here....in body but not in spirit sewing.
I've been soo good in not getting anything done lately. Well I've had some work work I've been working on at home in the evenings so that's kinda put a kink in my sewing time, and last weekend my camera memory card just disappeared. No where to be found. I can't image where it's gone. I've spent a good amount of time two evenings roaming around the house saying "Here memory card. Come out come out where ever you are".
Nah I didn't really saying that, but I've been thinking it. If my kids were younger and I thought it could of been them who snatched it then yeah I would probably be saying that out loud in hopes the kids would pull the memory card out of their hiding place, but I'm guessing it popped out of my lap top at some point moving it from one room into another. Sigh.
So that's why I was MIA for Thrift Share Monday this week. No camera to take the pictures, and I wasn't gonna mess with my phone to take pictures. I think I had a pretty good find too, but I'll share this coming Monday (I'll break down and buy a memory card this weekend. Ugh!). Let's just say the find is from Texas and it's a form of Ware.
Gypsies need large dangling earrings right? Well thrift shops didn't have what I was looking for, and I wasn't gonna spend a lot on this accessory, so onto Joann's I went. Purchased 7" worth of trim, $1.29, cut in half to make two earrings and just poked my earring stud through the fabric to create my earrings.
Gypsies need large dangling earrings right? Well thrift shops didn't have what I was looking for, and I wasn't gonna spend a lot on this accessory, so onto Joann's I went. Purchased 7" worth of trim, $1.29, cut in half to make two earrings and just poked my earring stud through the fabric to create my earrings.
