jane's apron

thrifty june

There hasn't been a lot of thrifting around here this month...unless you count soccer shorts for the boys.  I think I have finally convinced them that thrifting is good...for adidas, nike, umbro, diadora...

I found two cute aprons and this FireKing dish on the same day...again with the coordinated thrifting.  I love the funky fish pattern on one of the aprons.

I also found this set of pretty dishes.  They are kind of big and shallow so they will make good serving pieces.  There are always lots of etched glass dishes at the thrift store and I found two like this one...good for serving too (sliced lemons, sugar, etc.)...plus they just look pretty in my china cabinet.

monograms

I'm crazy for letters & numbers, initials, monograms.  I love jewelry with a "J" on it, have tons of "E"s in my daughter's room...I even saved the sign letters from my husband's family paint store business...so I could hang the name "THOMPSON" somewhere in our house (still have to do that).

I picked up this sewing pattern with a sheet of letters in it for monogramming.  The pattern girl has an "MC" on her dress...I guess it was for McCall's.   I made the pattern into an 8x10 collage...

...perfect for someone with the initials "MC" but still pretty cute for anyone.  I'm finishing up a few things for my etsy shop and will add this one to them soon.   I was lucky to find an "ELB" last week...is there an "MC" out there?

Yes, there was...I sold this collage to Mary McCall for her sewing room...what a perfect match!

finished bits & pieces

I knew I would like making a bits & pieces collage...like 12 little projects all combined into one.  My swap partner is Raesha and I tried to fit the collage to her "likes"...

• old sewing patterns (yep, that was easy!)
• the color green...got it.
• her name...well, I could fit an initial.
• The Beatles...a cute little "all you need is love" square.
• and glitter...I added way more glitter than my usual creations...but it worked!

I created the 3x3 squares individually...this was easy and quick.  I then messed with the layout of the squares until I liked the arrangement.  Next up was fitting 12 3x3 squares on a 9x12 canvas that really isn't quite 9x12 (who knew??)...but I got it to work.   I am definitely going to make more of this type of collage...maybe a few different sizes...I think this idea would be really cute for a baby-themed collage.

Thanks to Jenny for coordinating this swap...it was fun! 

something old

I'm from a big Irish/Catholic family and am close with most all of my cousins.  My daughter Ellen will be a flower girl in my cousin's daughter Ellen's wedding tomorrow (did I get all of the possessive pronouns correct in that sentence?)...basically "little" Ellen is a flower girl in "big" Ellen's wedding.  The occasion will be beautiful and a little bittersweet because the bride's dad (who was also my daughter's godfather) passed away unexpectedly just a few years ago.  There will be lots of tears...but hopefully mostly of joy. 

I stopped in the thrift store on my way to book club just the other night and found these vintage linens with the bride's exact initials embroidered on them.  What are the chances of that happening??  I wrapped these up for her today with a "something old..." tag.   

francie

It has just been one of those weeks...somehow we weren't paying attention to scheduling and have some combination of the kids at swim team, baseball camp, and golf camp.  All perfectly fine by themselves but a big pain when combined together (similar to my kids!).  I've been driving all over town...and had it topped off with a $125 speeding ticket yesterday (not that bad...42 in a 30)...sigh.

On a brighter note, I do have time to share some flickr favorites (just go to my flickr to get the credits for these great pics).  See Francie in the very top left?  There is a flickr group for pictures of Francie dolls...now that's funny.  My old Francie doll is in my daughter's room so I'm going to have to take some pictures of her to share. 

cocktail glasses

Summer officially arrived in St. Louis last week...temps in the upper 90's and crazy humidity.  We finally had to turn the air conditioner on (I know that sounds wacky but an old house with lots of big oak trees can actually go a pretty long time before getting too hot).

I thrifted a set of six cocktail glasses last month with cute pictures on the front and their "recipes" printed on the back.  I don't know if these are really vintage or are new with a vintage look.   Either way, they are cute and make even a glass of iced tea or lemonade more fun.   They are also perfect for my new favorite summer beer...Pomegranate Raspberry Michelob Ultra.

on a side note...I received lots of comments on the picture from my "shout outs" post.  I wish I knew where I found it but I downloaded it a long time ago and can't remember where it came from.  I used it at my old jane's apron web site as my "contact me" picture...just thought that was so funny. 

shout outs

I check my blog "stats" every morning...I think it is so fun to find someone new that has linked to me...and I like to show my husband that I have readers and say "see, see...I'm not wasting my time!".  My stats went a little crazy (for me at least) this week and it's because of some very nice posts in other crafty blogs.

Two posts came from two bakers that made this pie ...stop by every little thing and redheaded daughter to see their baked goodness (such pretty pictures!).

Another post came from a place I've heard of and probably visited a few times...I just get so distracted and lost sometimes but now I'm a fan of yet another crafty blog...arsty mama.

And, finally, from Susan at t party...I sent her the cute days-of-the-week kitchen towel that I thrifted last month and she has written the absolute nicest post about it and my collages...could blogging be more fun than that?

If you've found me this week from one of these posts, leave me a comment (even if it's from a really old post!).  I would truly love to hear from you...just say "hi!" 

bits & pieces collage swap

I seem to always find swaps a little too late...but am so happy that I found jenny holiday's bits & pieces collage swap just in time.    The requirement is to make a 9x12 collage from 12 smaller 3x3 collages...this is something I've never done and would love to try.  I got my swap partner info yesterday and just started making a pile of stuff that I might use.  Oh, how I love a pile of stuff...

summer of 76

I woke up yesterday and thought "yikes! it's summer...I better get making something with those red, white & blue patterns I have".  We actually didn't have one single sporting event scheduled so I finally had some time. 

If the 50's and 60's pattern illustrations have impossibly small waists, then the 70's models have impossibly long legs.   I just love the illustration on the bottom card...cute pants, cute hat, cute bag, cute shoes, cute jewelry (I added a little touch of glitter on her silver cuff bracelet).

I remember the summer of '76 pretty well...I was 13 and my friend Linda and I had matching red, white, & blue halter tops (that my mom sewed) with braided rope ties.  And does anyone remember the red, white, & blue speedo swim suits?...you know, like Mark Spitz wore?

I've added the card and tag sets to my etsy shop...finally used some of the red&white twine I have.  Here are a few more sets just because they are so dang summery...  

strawberry pie

I haven't shared this in my blog yet but, since it's kind of  a "creative" thing, I thought I'd try.  I bake.  My Mom has always made baked goods from scratch and it is just something that sticks with you.  My husband's family is the same way...his Mom makes the best lemon meringue pie. 

The closest thing we have to a family recipe is my grandma's strawberry pie.   I've never seen the recipe anywhere and still didn't find it in my vintage Eagle Brand recipe booklet.

When I was first dating my husband, I made him this pie.  I wish I could tell you that my sweet personality won him over...but that just isn't true (I'm a bit more "smart ass" than "sweet")...I'm pretty sure it was the pie.

My Grandma's Strawberry Pie

Prepare your favorite pie crust (pastry or graham cracker are good choices) and let it cool.

Combine one can of sweetened condensed milk with 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice...stir until thickened.

Fold about 4 cups sliced fresh strawberries (rinsed but well drained...you don't want the custard to be watered down by the strawberries) into the custard.   Turn the custard mixture into the prepared pie shell and chill.

Just before serving, top the pie with sweetened whipped cream.  I like to use 1  cup heavy cream + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar.

That's it...it's that simple...but plate-licking good.  If you try this recipe, let me know!