jane's apron

letter j

I will buy anything vintage with a "J" on it.  I simply am not able to leave it behind...like it already belongs to me.   The "J" earrings are made from vintage cufflinks and they are only a small part of my "J" collection.  

I popped in an estate sale on Saturday on the way home from a basketball game and baseball uniform fitting and found this pretty "J" hand mirror.  It's a little shabby but a really pretty yellow and nice and hefty.  It seems like it could be bakelite but I don't have any bathroom cleaner to test it (I guess I must have used it to clean the bathrooms or something...what was I thinking?).  A family member at the sale verified it was a "J" for January and it was mine for $1.  

I'm getting down to the wire on the math test and will be away until early next week.  It is starting to feel like I'm a kid that can't go outside to play...like I'm sitting at the window looking at all of the fun going on (of course, in this lame analogy the "window" looks out at my favorite blogs).  Back soon!

 

vintage irmi

I took way more pictures of these vintage "irmi" pieces than absolutely necessary.  It must have had something to do with their cute little unchanging faces...sitting there patiently while I worked with my camera.  There are the angels...

And then the ride-on zoo animals...

They all came from two mobiles that I found at my thrift store.  They have also been in my "someday" pile for too long and so I'm sending them off to another home (via etsy later today).

Things are a little too busy around here for creative stuff (but I did help our Brownie Scouts make a tee pee this week...which I'll share soon).  I'm taking my math test in 11 days and can't wait to cross that off my to-do list...all study and no craft is making me a little crizazy (see?).  

the best irish soda bread

I'm not making my Irish Soda Bread until tomorrow but I've got the dishes and the orange marmalade ready.  I also wanted to share it today so you could make it tomorrow too.  

It's the best...not at all dry.  Slice it thin, toast it, and spread liberally with butter and orange marmalade.  This soda bread usually ends my baking season (the season that started back in November)...I'm really, really going to be good about too many baked goods...after tomorrow.  

Irish Soda Bread

6 Cups flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 Cup sugar

3 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 pkg (15 oz.) raisins

2 eggs beaten

1/4 Cup butter; melted

3 Cups buttermilk

Measure flour by lightly spooning into measuring cup and leveling with a knife.  Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and raisins and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine eggs, butter, and buttermilk.  Pour into flour mixture.  Stir to combine (use a strong wooden spoon or a stand-mixer).  Pour into two loaf pans and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

pasadena hills

This is my neighborhood...its own little city named Pasadena Hills.  You might be thinking "But I thought you were a thrifty girl." and I can explain.

In general, St. Louis has an affordable housing market. Specifically, our neighborhood is especially affordable. There are many reasons for this but it is certainly not because the houses are not beautiful and well cared for.   For example, I know the house pictured on the top left sold for $38,000 in the 1970s (I think the light fixtures alone are worth more than that).  The people that live here are devoted to the community and this devotion has led to some great things.  Our entire neighborhood was designated a National Historic District a few years ago and our town fountain and historic street lights were recently restored.   Most of the homes were built during the depression...with skilled craftsman creating leaded glass windows and mosaic tile floors.  There are Spanish, French Eclectic, French Creole, and Tudor Revival homes...a little bit of everything and one of the best "unknown" cities in St. Louis. 

Do you have a similar neighborhood in your city?    

vintage pom pom fringe

The spring clear-out is continuing this week.  I'll be listing some vintage trims in my etsy shop including some cool embroidered and smocked trim...really wide.  I'll just do a twitter update (is that a tweet?) when they go in the shop.  First up is vintage pom pom fringe.  I used this fun fringe for this craft apron.

I just bought Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase last week and, since it was sitting out in the dining room, I used it as a background for the picture of my vintage pom pom fringe.   It's a little too early to tell but I think this may be my new favorite sewing book.   I was contacted by the editors of the book to submit a proposal based on my little girl wide-lounge pants...so I did. It didn't work out (I'm sure my sewing instructions were probably lacking) but it was a good experience and I'll be better prepared next time something like that comes along.   

cake

I never know when (or if) a bout of spring cleaning will happen around my house.  A big one hit me last week following a ridiculous episode of getting both boys ready for their first outdoor soccer games.  I won't bore you with the details but will share that it was below-freezing and my oldest left for his game without pants, a hat, or gloves...and with an exchange of cash with his brother for rental of guard-stays.  While they were all out, I started going through closets like a crazy person.   So far, I've decided to establish a "neutral" location for all sports equipment and have a mountain of stuffed trash bags to take to the thrift store.  

So, how does this all relate to the cute little folded cake pictured?  I too need to clean out a bit of crafty clutter...no more "oh, I'll save this for a swap".   I found two sets of cake boxes that fold to make an entire cake. I'll probably use one set but certainly not both and, while the cleaning urge is strong, I'm planning to list lots of extra goodies I have in my etsy shop...starting tomorrow. For reasons I'm not sure of, I also created a Twitter account yesterday and I'll just twitter as I add stuff to the shop.  

monochrome

The color of March at "A Year of Color" is monochrome.  I didn't think of that when I made this collage last week but it fits the theme perfectly.  Making something within a small color range always seems to bring the whole thing down a notch...a little sweeter, a little quieter.  

I've been wanting to add a touch of texture to the things I make and dug into my scrap pack from Charlotte Lyon's etsy shop.  I used a tiny scrap of lace to create an apron for this little girl in purple.  

 

I've also been wanting to use my newly found sewing skills to add another type of texture.  For this collage, I used a printed note flat (so if I messed up, I could just get another one out of the pile).  I cut one edge of the note with a scalloped punch and zigzag stitched it to the paper. And I didn't mess it up.