jane's apron

thrifty february

If anyone would have told me a year ago that I would be posting pictures on the internet about stuff I thrifted AND reading lots of blogs about other's thrifted stuff, I would have said..."umm, I really don't think so".  But here I am...

I mentioned a few posts ago how I had found a Goodwill "outlet" store near my house....everything in the store is 95 cents (or less!) everyday.  I still can't get over it...there is yet another stopping place for cast offs before they are considered "trash"?  But...some seriously good stuff can be found there. 

Here are a few piles I thrifted in February (including the quilts that they are placed on).  I bought the baby quilt with the pink bunnies on it for my daughter for her dolls...I actually gasped when I got it home and discovered beautiful embroidery work on the back of the quilt...two pink sleeping bunnies on blue clouds with yellow stars.  And the Hansel & Gretel book...it's a hoot with a very scary storyline...if you ever wanted to scare your kids out of their minds before they went to sleep, I guess you could read them this nice "bedtime" story...yikes!

new sewing patterns

I bought this...

...and made this...

I bought a bunch of pages from a 1961 sewing pattern counter book.  This is great because I don't feel so bad about cutting into a real sewing pattern, 1961 is a great year for pattern illustrations, and, best of all, they are large...this collage is 11x14!  I am so looking forward to trying lots of collages in lots of sizes.  Friends and fans have encouraged me to make "frame-able" things and I think this is my first step in that direction. 

spring fever

There are plenty of things I could do today...but nothing I have to do.   It's been a busy week topped off with a rather stressful "daisy scout" meeting yesterday (who knew a small group of girls could be so dramatic?)  So...I'm heading out today...

I'm going to start on Manchester Road and hit my favorite paper store...travel east and finally visit this pretty place...and anywhere else that catches my eye.

And...just so you can share in my "studio envy" (in a good way!), stop by here.

...one more thing...get the cute index card maker here.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

coin envelopes

My sister Susie is in the PTO for her kid's school and she is in charge of giving all the teachers and school staff a card from the PTO on their birthday.  I'm on the second school year of making these for her.  The cards are just note flats with a coin envelope on the front...the little envelopes are the perfect size for a gift card or folded cash.  In this case, they contain a Starbucks gift card...a nice thoughtful gift for the teachers.

I bought the envelopes in bulk at action envelope.   These little cuties have come in handy lots of times...especially good for those last minue birthday party gifts when stuffed with a little cash and tied to a crayon box.

sometimes i paint things

I don't have a "before" picture for our living room fireplace but I can describe it...the entire fireplace was painted stark white, there was a black marble facade glued to the front (I could see the arched opening sticking out of the top!), and there was a huge 1950's mirror over the mantle.   We took down the mirror and found electrical outlets for sconces, then snapped off the marble facade with a big screw driver.  The only thing left was what to do with the white painted brick and stone.   

After a little convincing, I told my husband I could paint it...kind of like a decorative or "faux" finish.   I had never tried anything like it before but, really, it's just paint.  With a good base brick red color, I just started adding smudges of color with craft paint...black, green, red, etc. and then painted the stone with one of those rough "stone" paints.  Anyone that sees it can't believe that it is painted.

I am starting to find that interior photography is really hard...the only reason this picture came out OK is tha blazing sunlight coming in the windows.   My photos never turn out like what I see with my eyes...but I'm going to keep trying. 

goodbye "everyday green"

We are moving the boys into separate bedrooms and, like all projects, it has turned into something much bigger...like painting the hallway, bathroom, etc. 

I went to Sears last week to get more Martha Stewart "caneware" paint and found out that they are discontinuing the Martha Stewart Everyday paint colors.  They still had the paint chips so I was able to get the color I needed. 

In the meantime, I had followed Jen's paint chip advice and gone to the SherwinWilliams store to make a fan deck of all of their Martha Stewart Signature paint colors (on a side note, I discovered a Goodwill Outlet store while looking for the paint store...but that's a whole other topic for later).   Now, I don't insist on only using Martha's colors in my house.  It's just that her colors "match" my old house...like having just the right yellow to match our weird tile color, etc.  So, I picked out colors for the boys rooms and bathroom and went back to the store....the entire Martha Stewart paint display was gone!  It turns out that SherwinWilliams has also discontinued their Martha paint colors.  They still have the colors on file so I was able to get the paint I needed.

I'm not trying to be a paint "drama queen" with this post but wanted to let all of the Martha Stewart paint color fans that you might want to get the paint "formulas" for some of your favorite colors so you can have them made in the future.

love is all you need

We are on day two of  a snow day here (...happy place...happy place...) so I'm just putting up a quick post to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! 

I made these cards this weekend to restock my "weddings & love" supply.  All of the papers are from the blush collection from basic grey.

grosse pointe yacht club

As I've said before here, I love restaurant dishes.   The vitrified china has a certain "ring" to it when the plates and cups are stacked...love it.   Sometimes I find diner dishes from famous places...like these two Disney mugs.   I'm not sure is these were used in Disney restaurants or maybe at their employee cafeteria but they are cute.  The one with Donald Duck has a pattern of "springy" colored trees and flowers all around it. ..a very happy mug.

When my daughter was really little and we went to the thrift store together, she would turn over the plates to look at the back...just like me.  It was really funny...a little thrift store shopper in training.   Last year I found a stack of peach colored dessert plates...and was so excited to find they all said "made expressly for Grosse Pointe Yacht Club" on the back.  How did dessert plates from one the fanciest clubs in the country make it to my little thrift store?   I'll never know but they look fabulous with a nice big piece of chocolate cake on them.

pattern inspiration

The stamp  used to create these cards is my all-time favorite.  I've had so much fun working with the image...and it was the inspiration that made me think of using real sewing patterns.   

I had been in my thrift store hundreds of times and never thought to look at the sewing patterns.   When I finally did, I found some of the cutest patterns...for $0.10 each! I was hooked.

I don't have a lot of stamping "tricks" that I use but the technique for making these is simple and perfect for this type of image. 

1. Stamp the base image on your cardstock.  I always like to use a nice dark brown instead of black.
2. Stamp the same image on patterned paper.
3. Carefully cut the stamped dress out of the patterned  paper.
4. Glue the dress onto the matching dress of the base image.

The stamp is part of a retired set from Stampin' Up and the patterned  papers are from foof-a-la.   

mary engelbreit's home companion's biggest fan

If there was a contest to find Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion's biggest fan, I might be declared the winner.   My Mom has given me a subscription to the magazine since the first issue....and I still have them all.  I have a freakishly good photographic memory of my favorite pages.  When Mary's current home was featured a few years ago, I recalled instantly that the house and previous owners were in a holiday issue (December-January 98-99 if you want to check!)...scary.

I dug out my premier issue the other day because I knew it was where the idea for this chair came from.   I can't take credit for the painting...my Mom painted it and gave it to me as a gift.  If  Home Companion is celebrating its 10th anniversary, then this chair is about 10 years old.  It has been pulled around and used as a stool by three kids and is showing a little wear and tear...but I still love it and it has found a permanent home in our yellow-n-black bathroom.

While visiting the magazine again, I was treated to a big helping of creativity and styling from charlotte...beautiful.

I know there are lots of Home Companion fans out there...was there a home, project, or artist in particular that inspired you to try something new?