fall fun...

I have mixed feelings about Halloween. I HATE all the evil nastiness that comes out around Halloween, but fall is my absolute favorite time of year...and I am a huge fan of parties, dressing up, and eating candy.

So...all that to say, this year is the first year that I've dressed my children up and attended a Halloween "alternative". Our Church hosted a Harvest Party/Chili Feed/Trunk or Treat/Bonfire which was very well attended, and oh, so much fun!

I started looking for pirate attire about a month ago at the thrift store and managed to buy outfits for myself and my three boys for about $30 (Mr. Gardner declined the dress up fun...) It took some very creative thinking, which made my head hurt, but it really helped that there are so many creative people out there blogging all their creativeness and making it available to people like me : )

Josiah was the fearless Captain Calico Jack Rackham

Elijah was the fearsome first mate Bart Roberts, eye patch optional.

And Noah was the dread pirate Little Henry.

Isn't he scary?

I could die from cuteness overload!

adventures in thrifting.

I've found some great new blogs lately...most of them I have found through these two sites dedicated to repurposing and DIY home decorating.

So, freshly inspired, I went thrifting last week and came back with these little treasures:

Two sage green linen Pier One curtains that I put in my living room....Ohhh, the lovely filtered light. Total cost: $2

A very vintage looking mirror which is now in my dining room. I haven't cleaned it because I kind of like the streaks...they add character. Total cost $6

I bought some assorted vintage sheets and pillowcases, with the intention of using some of the fabric as wall art in old picture frames, and using several of the pillowcases for a redecorating makeover for our Master Bedroom. Total cost: $10

I used some fabric from my vintage sheet to put in my mirror/key hook near my front door (which was also thrifted last winter for $9...it was missing one of the glass frame pieces, which I just replaced with glass from another thrifted 4x6 frame). I had photographs in the frames, but they just didn't do much for me. This looks much better, I think. Total cost: just a fraction of the cost of the sheet.

I found this cute little white frame, and was able to overlook its contents...unlike Mr. Gardner, whose only comment was "Two ducks...really?" (I think they're geese, Love...)

(Sorry about the bad lighting in the photo above BTW...)

So, the next morning, I cut out some of the vintage sheet fabric and put it in the picture frame...and it looked much better without the ducks...er, geese. Total cost: $2I bought another frame and....you guessed it, put some vintage sheet fabric in it...what can I say? I really liked this sheet! This wall art is hanging in a previously very bare spot between the kitchen and dining room. Total cost $3

These last two things, I picked up for Mr. Gardner's study.
I don't know what this is called, but it has lots of gauges on it, and looks like it belongs in a man-cave. Total cost: $3
I found these three boxes of vintage bookplates...150 total. A totally sweet deal for my bibliophile husband. I was totally excited to find these for him because I'd been looking for bookplates some and they were pretty pricey. Total cost: $0.99

Have I mentioned that I love thrifting?

More to come on the Master Bedroom makeover...I'll have to make the bed first.

thrifting finds.

Sometime last week, the whole family hit the thrift stores downtown together. I found some great things that I had been looking for, and thought I'd share...

Huge Canning Pot, with canning rack. I can use this to sterilize my yogurt jars AND do some canning this fall...which I have never done on my own, and have been wanting to do. $3.50

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (which I've wanted to read since High School) $1.50

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. (Mr. Gardner found this one) $.50

Gardening Hat (for growing all those veggies that I'm going to can...) $1.50

Metal Strainer (I've been wanting a metal one) $1.50

Vintage Potholder $.60

Total $9.10

I love thrifting.

thrifting 101.

photo

I love thrift stores. I'd rather shop at a thrift store than just about anywhere, mostly because I'm such a tightwad. Mr. Gardner loves thrifting too, so it's a favorite pastime of ours. I started back in High School (before it was cool) at a store called Rags & Wags in my hometown. That was about 15 years ago. That's a lot of thrifting. I've learned a few valuable lessons in that time:

1. To get great finds, you need to go often. Probably once a week or so. Mr. Gardner is something of a bibliophile, so he finds out when the local thrift stores put out their new books, and tries to go weekly. He's found some amazing books using this method.

2. Don't buy things just because they're cheap. This is the hardest thing for me...I have bought way too many things at thrift stores for this reason, and not because I really like them, or will use them, only to re-donate them right back a few months later. Don't buy an item if you don't love it or have a specific use for it. Which leads me to...

3. Keep a list of things you need or want and take it with you when you go thrifting. This may seem counterintuitive, because if you've ever gone to a thrift store looking for something in particular, you know inevitably you will not find it! However, if you do go often, chances are you will eventually see what you are looking for. If you don't have said item on your list, you will walk into the store and be completely distracted by all the stuff, all the while having this nagging feeling that there was something you wanted to watch for...as you walk right past it.

4. Don't underestimate repurposing. This is probably one of my favorite things about thrifting. You can re-use and re-purpose almost everything in the store. We've picked up some great, well-made furniture at thrift stores. True, when we bought said furniture, it was spray painted purple and green, and needed to be refinished, but that's the fun part! Sheets can be made into almost anything, old baskets or luggage are great for storage, clothing can be resized, throw pillows can be recovered. There are a lot of amazing ideas out there for repurposing the items that are sitting, waiting for a new life!

5. For every item you buy while thrifting, donate an item back. This is a great way to de-clutter your home. I always have a donation box going at my house for items that are no longer used, or needed. I especially try to do this with my children's things, because toys and books and outgrown clothes seem to accumulate unusually fast at our house!

That's all I have, but would love to hear more tips from other thrifters...

what i did today...

Last night, as I was going to bed, I looked over at the lone dresser in our bedroom, which was buried under piles of magazines, diapers, and articles of clothing, and resolved that today, if I did nothing else, I would clean it off. Oh, and I would finish the load of laundry that has been "soaking" in the washer....

So after the boys ate breakfast, and I did the dishes, and tidied the kitchen, and took out the trash, and changed a couple poopy diapers, and fed the dog, and got everyone dressed, I stood in front of the dresser and began the daunting task of removing and sorting the accumulated junk.

AsI did, I found a pair of my favorite earrings...which reminded me that I've really been wanting to make an earring frame for all my earrings (I got the idea from a dear friend, who got it from apartment therapy, I think...) I bought a frame at the thrift store about a month ago and just needed some screen to hang in it. So, I left the mess, and proceeded to go outside to cut a ruined screen out of one of our windows. Fifteen minutes later, I had this little project finished...

But still had a mess on my dresser.

Which I took care of.

But the clothes are still in washer...tomorrow, perhaps?

felted sweater hat and mittens

I've been fascinated lately with all the amazing things people make out of felted sweaters. I had no idea people actually shrunk wool sweaters on purpose to make things out of them. I've been itching to try some of the projects I've found online and scouring local thrift stores looking for felting candidates (the sweater needs to be 80% wool or higher in order to felt well). I found a few the other day, one of which was 100% new wool and hand knit in Ireland...just lovely. I felt a twinge of remorse as I threw it in the washer on hot and then in the dryer. Sure enough, it came out about one third of it's original size and REALLY thick (my thumb started going numb from trying to cut through it with my little scissors)













Next, I got to work finding patterns online. I decided on this one. I must offer this caveat, though: I never, ever follow patterns or recipes...even if I want to. I did all the measuring and made a template and cut all the pieces and sewed a few together, only to find that the hat was hanging down to my nose and would have been WAY to big for my head, if I had used all the pieces. So, I only used four of the five pieces I cut, and then turned the cuff of the hat under and hemmed it so it didn't cover my eyes.

For the mittens, I found a lot of patterns, but thought the simplest way to make them would be to use the cuff of the sleeves of the sweater for the cuff of my mittens. So I put my hands in the sleeves the wrong way and then traced the outline of the mitten where my fingers were. The sleeves had shrunk so much they almost weren't long enough for my hands. Then I turned them inside out and stitched a very small seam around the raw edges (which was not easy because the felt was THICK...my poor sewing machine had a rough time...but we made it through).

I really like the finished products, especially the mittens. The seams are a little annoying because they are so thick, but they are very WARM and look oh, so nice. Wish I had enough for a scarf...