trash-to-treasure storage jar pedestals.

i loved this idea when i saw it over on eighteen25.....and i love when i have everything for a project on hand already. i took some pickle jars and some candle holders that i had, spray-painted the lids/candle holders a matte black, and then glued the jars to the candlesticks.



i still need to get something for the 3rd jar....i'm thinking some pretty jordan almonds maybe? and i love that i can change them out for the different seasons!

thanks for looking!

hanna knock-off jumper.

i saw this jumper on the back of the latest hanna andersson catalog and fell in love. i love the ruffly layers and the tonal colors.



what i did NOT love is the price. granted, the $28 sale price is better than the $40 regular price, but still a little too spendy for my thrifty nature. so i picked up a few t-shirts at the thrift store, and for a whopping $3 made this:


my daughter could not keep her eyes open to save her life. i was too lazy to hem all the layers, and besides, it's knit, it doesn't fray, and it "adds character" that way, is what i tell myself. if i could go back, i'd place all the layers up another inch or so, as you can see the top of some layers peeking out from the bottom of the previous layer....but hey, live and learn. the next one i make will be better.


a detail of the yoke. i cut leftover strips of material and made bias tape to finish the arm holes.

overall, i am really happy with this, since i totally had to make up my own pattern as i went! thanks for looking!

"go green" upcycled dress.

i love how this dress turned out! it started out as a junior's x-small hoodie, and the bottom part was a shirt of my husbands back when he was a junior leader at a scout camp in high school :) it was SO simple too! i just cut off the hoodie right above the pocket, measured how far down i wanted the skirt to go, and then cut that much off of the bottom of my hubbie's shirt! since i used the bottom of the shirt i didn't have to hem it, either. his shirt was much wider so i gathered it first and then pinned and sewed! took a total of *maybe* a half hour? a fitting second chance for this "green" shirt!




(uh, yeeaaah. my son started walking through the pic with his popsicle. i took some others but as chance would have it, the dress turned out the best in THIS one. *sigh* just wanted to show off the length here, it goes to right above the knee.)

thanks for looking!

a late earth-day project. or an early teacher-appreciation one.

so this is actually something i made for katie's teacher next week for teacher appreciation week, but it ties in nicely with earth day this past week too! i wanted something cute, unique, that Mrs. V might actually use, but cheap. (cause i'm poor.) and this fit the bill. cause i made it completely FREE. well, i am going to get a $5 starbucks gift card to go with it, but still. that's gettin' off pretty good.

i got the inspiration for this coffee sleeve at RootsAndWingsCo but she didn't have an actual pattern (she just said to use a disposable one as your pattern, but since it was late at night and i didn't have a disposable one and seriously doubted starbucks was open at 11:30 at night and even if they were, it's not like i was going to run over there) so i found an actual pattern for one here, at the small object. all the fabric i used (except for the back) was from my scrap bin, great use of those little pieces! i sewed a strip of scraps together until it was big enough to fit the pattern. i didn't want them to be straight lines, i wanted all kinds of funky angles. then i ironed some fusible fleece to the back (for weight, and insulation) and quilted on both sides of the seams of all my pieces. i used some other fabric i already had for the back. the velcro makes it adjustable, i tried it on several different size cups i had on hand and it worked like a charm!

the "I take my coffee GREEN" coffee sleeve




thanks for looking!