Sew Crafty Friday: What to do with a 25 cent T-shirt

No kidding...a quarter. CVS had their summer things on clearance at 90% off and it was only 2.50 to begin with. Granted, it isn't a heavy t-shirt (although it is Hanes), but for that price, who cares? Well, it's also cheap enough to play with. In the first picture, I layered a sleeveless top over it that has shrunk too much, and has some bleach stains. I'm using a cutting board as a dress form--how pathetic. (But, I have a real one on order!) Okay...so I pinned it around the lace collar with a LOT of pins. You don't want this going anywhere. Off to the sewing machine, where I stitched around the lace, through both shirts, leaving about a half inch border. I carefully cut away the bottom part of the old shirt, right near the stitches (picture 2). In the 3rd picture, you can see that I have now cut away the neck part of the new shirt.

I don't have a picture of the finished shirt, but I covered up the raw edge of the old t-shirt with some bias tape I'd made from fabric I had. You could use flat lace or purchased bias tape, too. The fabric I used is the same I used for the skirt, purse and headband I made a while back. I haven't worn the t-shirt with that skirt, but it would match.

One thing I didn't do, and would the next time, is to remove the label from the old shirt. It kind of shows after you trim everything away.

Please visit "Waiting for Him" (see my blog list) for more great ideas from "Sew Crafty Friday!"

Abbi-Rose in her bonnet!

Well, here's dollbaby in the bonnet I made for her. (Sorry about the red eyes--they must be reflecting all that pink.)

It was so nice to see her in person! She's a very sweet, docile baby. Her whole family is on cloud 9. I've never seen a mommy and daddy and two brothers so happy! Her daddy was so funny. He was dressing her, and she was fussing a little, and he says, "I've put up with torn jeans for 8 years (her youngest brother is 8), so you're gonna be in ruffles until you are at least 4!"

I didn't make the dress. It's a Polly Flinders...but doesn't it look like the bonnet and dress were made for each other?

And omg, you should see the nursery. I wish I'd taken a picture! They redecorated mommy's sewing room. The white crib sits catty-cornered. There is a white carousel horse behind it. They've had the horse for years, and mommy painted it white with pink accents. Daddy and the boys painted the top half of the walls in a pink-and-white sponge technique. The bottom is 1 inch wide pink and white stripes. Imagine painting all those stripes! Mommy even painted the ceiling fan pink and white! It is a dream nursery, and it didn't cost them all that much. Mommy and I met on a tightwads board about 9 years ago and really hit it off. This is a really frugal family--frugal, not cheap. They are beyond generous and just the nicest people you could meet. Abigail Rose is a blessing to them...but they are also a blessing to her!

I can't tell you the story of how they got her, because it is extremely private. I'll only say that she wouldn't be here without them...she would have been a statistic, if you know what I mean. I'll also tell you that they prayed 8 years for another child. They were supposed to go to Disney last year, but something made them decide to stay home. If they had gone, they would never have met the birth mother. I'm not a particularly religious person...but if this wasn't a miracle, I don't know the definition.

Anyway, so there she is! Miss Abigal Rose!

A Frugal Gift

My little nephew had his 2nd birthday party last weekend. I had asked my sil what to get for him, and she adamently said, 'nothing.' Seriously, the kid has more toys than FAO Schwartz, and he's only 2. Mike and I gave him a check for his education fund (Johnny's father, John, is Mike's brother. Mike is Johnny's godfather). But a check isn't a lot of fun for a kid, and I wanted to give a little something extra.

My sil, Noreen, said that Johnny likes to stack things and line things up. My first thought: building blocks! Nice, old-fashioned wooden ones. Well, I had a set of them in a wooden box that I had bought for $1 at a garage sale a while back. You know how something grabs you and you just know there will be a use for it in the future?

Johnny's really into Thomas the Tank Engine. The other day, at Michael's, I found a scrapbooking kit featuring Thomas. As you can see by the pictures, I decorated the box and some of the blocks. Then I used some of the 12x12 paper to wrap the gift! I still have lots of the Thomas set for scrapping pages from the party, too.

Alas, I couldn't attend. I had work that day and I'm already taking off a weekend to visit friends in Pennsylvania. (This is the family of the adopted baby for which I made the bonnets. I get to meet her tomorrow!)

I would love to see what others have done to turn something they bought cheap into something special!

I actually like some commercials!

Susie Q mentioned the Petsmart commercials with the dog who carries around his 'baby,' a stuffed toy named Bobo. I love that.



Some others I like:



The one where the mother takes these little orange clocky things from the trash and gets mad at her kids for wasting 'perfectly good minutes.' It is for a cell phone. The kid says, "but mom, those are from last April!" And the mom says something like, "they are still perfectly good! You know, there are some children who don't have rollover minutes! You just remember that, mister!"

Clever, familiar and funny.



The one where the father tells his daughter's date that his picture is right next to his on the daughter's phone.

"It's like I'm watching you, all the time." Translation: "I'm watching you when you're with my little girl, buster."

The look in the father's eyes cracks me up every time. And did you notice the predatory symbols around the room? Shark jaws? A tiger statue?



Funny that they are both for cell phone companies, and I don't even have a cell phone.

I love the Geico commercials with the sophisticated Neanderthals! Too funny! And I hear they're going to have their own TV show. I doubt it will last more than a season, but it'll be fun to check it out.

That's all I can think of, right now.

Another annoying commercial, or two

I probably spend too much energy growling at the TV. But there are commercials that just get to me. Either they are immoral, stupid or have sounds that hurt your ears. One that comes to mind is the new Starbucks commercial...which is about them shooting a commercial! Have you seen it? The director keeps yelling 'cut,' while the actor glugs down the iced coffee. And I mean 'glugs.' Is there anything ickier than people who make noise when they swallow? But you know what's funny? The last few times I saw the commercial...there was no 'glug-glug' sound! I wonder if anyone complained? (I just growl at the TV. And I blog about it. I don't write letters, LOL!)

Here's the 'or two' from the title: have you seen the IKEA commercial? This woman looks at her bill and is so shocked by how much she saved that she thinks the teller made a mistake. So she runs like a crazy woman to her car, where her husband is waiting, shouting (screaming): "Start the car! Start the car!" And as they drive away she lets out this victory 'whoo-hoo!"

Okay, I hate this commercial on several levels:

1. Did she look at the prices before she put things in her cart? Didn't she know there was a sale? Or does she just blindly pick things up and hope for the best when it comes to prices?

2. If there was a mistake that was that big, then leaving without pointing out is immoral. And I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to be that happy about stealing.

3. That screaming! What is she, a freakin' banshee? Wow, do I feel sorry for her husband.

4. And finally...the background music is about as pleasant as fingernails on a blackboard.

The only redeeming thing about this commercial is that it relates to a sale...so maybe it won't run very long.

Okay, enough griping. Yes, I know they're only commercials. I still don't like them, LOL!

Next blog, I'll get back to pleasant things like cats and bonnets.

Sew Crafty Friday: Bonnet

Here is a bonnet I made for this baby: http://sortafrugal.blogspot.com/2007/05/tired-today.html. I finally get to meet her next Friday! The pattern is by Butterick.

After 2 boys and many years of trying and praying for another baby, my friends were very thrilled to adopt little Abigail Rose. So, when I asked mommy what color she preferred for any gifts, she said, "pink, pink, pink!" Naturally, I had to choose pink rose fabric for the bonnet! It is fully lined, and not as hard to make at it looks. Getting the gathers to be even is about the hardest thing. I think I got the fabric from a wonderful site called www.shabbyfabrics.com, but it might have also come from Joann's. I'm pretty sure it was shabbyfabrics, though. They have an absolutely delicious selection of what I would call 'cottage' type fabrics. Think pink, roses and anything romantic.

Okay, now you gotta link over to "Waiting for Him" (see the link list to the right) and view more creativity on this "Sew Craft Friday." Better yet, show off something of your own over there!

A Box I Received!

Feast your eyes on the box I received as part of the "Favorite Things" swap, hosted by the lovely Kelly of According-to-Kelly.blogspot.com!!

It was sent to me all the way from Arizona by the lovely Heather of Scavocentral.blogspot.com!

The idea behind the swap was to send your partner at least 3 items representing your favorite things. Well, the funny thing is, everything Heather sent me is stuff I love, too!

She likes movies, because she sent me a microwave popcorn tub from Blockbuster that was also full of candy, plus some more microwave popcorn and some cute plastic popcorn boxes that look like the kind you get at a state fair. And (this one made me gasp) a $10 Blockbuster Gift Card!!!! I'm a big, big movie fan, too!

I guess that Heather likes cherries, because I got a cute pink cylindrical box with cherry bath gel, 2 puffies (what do you call those, really?) and some cherry lip balm. I love cherries, too!

Oh, man, I know I'm going to forget something! My box runneth over...

Heather loves to scrapbook, and so do I. My box included a white basket lined with a great white, red and black fabric full of scrapping and cardmaking supplies! Can you see the little 3-D popcorn embellishment by Jolee's? It's just too cute!

Heather's also into containers, as you can tell by the nice way everything was packed in either a basket or a box. Me...the first thing I check out at garage sales is containers. I can't resist a pretty basket or tin!

I haven't done a swap in ages, and I'm so glad I joined this one. I want to thank Kelly for doing this. It isn't easy to host a swap...especially one with a lot of participants!

And thanks to Heather for making my day yesterday!

Milk ain't frugal no more

I just got back from the grocery, where I almost fell over to see the price of a gallon of milk:

$4.60!!!!!

Are they kidding? I heard that the corn that used to feed the cows is now being used to make fuel. So, what happens to the poor cows? Do they go hungry? Do they live on hay?

Dang, but nuclear power is looking better and better. (This is not a political blog, so I'm not looking to start anything. I don't know enough about cows, nuclear power or corn for fuel. I just want a gallon of milk to cost less than wine.)

Guess we won't be eating much cereal here from now on.

I do have to point out, though, that Target has been consistently cheaper than anyone else for milk, sometimes by nearly a dollar. I hope that is still true!

And I use a non-dairy creamer in my coffee, thank goodness!

But will the price go down so I can enjoy hot cocoa in the fall and winter???????

Inside-Out Potato and Egg Salad

I love potato and egg salad. And I love deviled eggs. So I start thinking...hmmmmm...

There is no recipe here. Just do it by 'feel,' or 'to taste.'

For 2 of these, you need 2 eggs and one small cooked potato. I had them from a bigger batch I made for potato and egg salad.

Peel the eggs and the potato. Wash off the eggs to be sure there are no little pieces of shell--ick!

Cut the egg in half lengthwise and put the yolk in a bowl with the potato. Smash it all up. Now, add whatever you would normally put in a deviled egg or potato and egg salad. There is nothing carved in stone here. Me, I like mustard, a bit of vinegar, a pinch of sugar (yes, sugar!), dill weed, salt and mayonnaise. You will need a little extra of either the vinegar or the mayo because the potato makes the filling more dense. Just add a tiny bit at a time until you get a consistency you like.

Now, I'm thinking...because the filling is so thick, this might be a good lunchbox version of a deviled egg. You could press two halves together and wrap them in plastic wrap. They'd be less likely to 'run' all over the place.

I hope you like my little recipe invention!

Pretty

I have two of these pretty pink puppies growing in my front yard. I honestly don't remember planting them, LOL! Aren't they gorgeous? I'd say they're about 8 inches across.

Yes, that is a fake bird behind the flower.

Yes, it's a lily. That was 'puppies' I meant to write in the first line...not a mix-up with 'poppies'!

He doesn't just work in cardboard

My son James, of the cardboard suit of armor, built this cabinet during his senior year of high school. He's taking liberal arts in college, but I wish he could find some way to apprentice with a carpenter. Or at least find something he can do to make a living that involves 'putting things together.' I think he could end up being a Master Craftsman, if only he knew where to study such a thing. Alas, there isn't much call these days for hand-made things. At least, not enough for him to one day support a family! But still, I hope someday he finds a direction for this God-given talent he has (but doesn't think he does!)

When my son is bored at work

This is James, who is 20 years old. He's the guy who will steam your lobsters, open your clams or filet your salmon at the fish department at our local supermarket. Sometimes, things are verrrry slow and boring. So my son took some old boxes and made himself some armor and weaponry. I don't know what that big axe is called, but I'm glad it isn't real. Then he says to me later that he has to go back to work because he forgot something. "Something" was a shorter shield and a sword of about four feet in length. Again, I'm glad they're only cardboard!

James, aka Jamie, said he had a great sword fight with one of the guys from the deli department!

Boys and their toys...

Now that I have it, what do I do with it?

I'm pretty good about not buying 'just anything' at garage sales--which means I look for useful stuff. But combine unusual with cheap and I can't resist! This box cost me all of $2. It is made of wood and rather heavy. My guess is that it was meant to hold two bottles of wine and...what? I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I just knew I'd regret not getting it for that price. Somehow, somewhere, I'll be hit by that bolt from the blue and know exactly what to use it for!

Sew Crafty Friday: Skirt and stuff

Here is a skirt, headband and makeup bag I made. I had a lot of leftover fabric from the skirt, plus some other projects, so I made the bag and headband out of it. The headband pattern can be found at http://www.savvyseams.com/clothing/. It is beginner easy and I think I'll make more of them! I'm sorry, I don't know where the makeup bag came from. If I figure it out, I'll post it. I changed it, anyway. It's supposed to have a zipper, but I didn't feel like fritzing around with a zipper this week. So I used some velcro.

I'm taking my husband out to dinner tonight and I'll wear this with maybe a turquoise or pink top.

Please click on "Waiting for Him" over there in the sidebar to see some other nice creative projects!

I love Free Stuff!

Especially BIG free things. My daughter's boyfriend's parents are the nicest people, but they are also the types that buy something and decide to get a new version of it long before the first one wears out. Case in point: a washer and dryer they only had 2 years and were going to throw out when they found something better! So my maybe-future-son-in-law hauled them over here and we stored them in our garage.
Well, what do you know? Yesterday, my own washing machine died. I could hear the motor running but it wasn't spinning.
No problem! While I was at work, Mike and the kids switched the machines around. I just used the 'new' one and it's great!
I still have the dryer, but mine's working fine. Still, it's nice to know there's a backup waiting out there in the garage. So much more frugal than either paying a repairman or buying a new one! (Or hauling over to the laundrymat!)

Sew Crafty Friday: CD Bag

http://w8ng4him.blogspot.com/

Please visit this link for some nice, creative inspiration!

Not feeling particularly creative today, so this is something I just threw together. It was originally supposed to be for pencils, but it isn't wide enough. Then I found out it is exactly right to hold a few CDs in their cases. I had copied all of my pictures off the old computer onto discs. Now I have a nice place to store them!

Basically, it is one long and one short piece of fabric. I folded over the short edges of each and sewed them to the zipper. I didn't have a short enough zipper, so I just cut this one to size. That's easy to do with a nylon zipper...just run a few stitches right over the teeth to make a new 'stop' and then cut away the excess.

The picture on the left is the front. I'll tell you all something silly. I left part of the seam open so I could turn the bag right side out. Dopey me, after I was done I realized I could have turned it through the zipper opening!

The picture on the left is the back. As you can see, I didn't fold it where I attached the two pieces of fabric together, but folded it so the zipper would be a little ways down.

Now that I see how easy it is to make one of these, I really will make something for pencils and pens!

Sew Crafty Friday: Blouse

It's time to show off our crafts at "Sew Crafty Friday"http://w8ng4him.blogspot.com/ again! Here is one of several WIP I have going:

The blouse is meant to be sleeveless or have cap sleeves. But I think the color is more appropriate for fall or winter, so I'm going to borrow long sleeves from another pattern. It is Butterick Pattern 4799. It is princess line with a button front. I'm hoping I have enough fabric to make matching seam binding for around the neckline, but if not, I'll either match whatever buttons I get or pick a color out of the ribbon trim.

The ribbon edges some extra pieces I added to make a sort of yoke. I traced over the shoulders and made two pieces, one a bit longer than the other. They are layered on top of each other and not sewn through the ribbon, so you can put your fingers under each layer. I'm sure there's a name for that technique, but it escapes me!

Please visit the link about to see more of "Sew Crafty Friday"! Oh...and you don't have to sew to join in!

Thrifting

I haven't been to the local Salvation Army Thrift store in years. Last time I went, I found it a little scuzzy. Well, I decided to take a chance and have a look yesterday. I was amazed. Instead of disorder, it was clean and well-organized. Furniture was off to one side in a large 'alcove' instead of in the middle of the floor. Clothes were hung on racks not only by type, but also by color! The outer perimeter featured knick knacks and household items, and the like. It was like walking into a HUGE garage sale.
My favorite colors are red and purple, so I went right to those tops. Didn't find anything red, but I did get a nice lavendar t-shirt for 2 bucks. The color is still 'true' so it doesn't look like a throwaway. That's one thing I would refuse to do at any sale, garage or thrift: I wouldn't buy anything faded or worn.
I also found the most adorable bunny candy dish to put away for Easter. It is white, round and has bunnies all around it's outer edge.
With tax, I spent a little over $4--not bad! I'll definitely be going back again.
Speaking of bunnies...last night my husband managed to rescue a baby rabbit before my two cats could eat it. They had the poor thing cornered and Mike heard it crying. I had to hold it for almost an hour before we were able to lure the cats back into the house. Then I let him go and after a few minutes, he hopped away. I hope he found his mama right away! I also wish the mamas would 'get' that my yard has two cats and a dog, and stop bringing their babies here. Melody, the cat in the picture up to the right, got a baby starling the other day. I got it away from her, and it seemed able to fly.
This is nature, every year. I think it's time to keep the cats in after dinner...at least for a few months!

And here's a question: why do we see little baby bunnies who are just leaving the nest...and big bunnies...but never any medium-sized 'teenager' bunnies?

An open freezer is NOT frugal

A few of my blogger friends have posted about freezers popping open, or electricity going out. Sorry, I can't remember who they were...but it happens to all of us at some point. Me...it's happened 3 times in the last few years. Last year, in the heat of July, the freezer top of the garage fridge (you know how an old fridge gets put in the garage or the basement) popped open and no one knew for 3 days. So...there went about $85 worth of meat, including half-priced ribeyes. The food was warm so it all had to be thrown out. Sad, sad, sad.
The time before that, I caught it at the point where most of the stuff at the back was still frozen solid and the stuff in the front was still cold. I just had to cook up what had thawed.
Yesterday, it was all thawed, but at least still ice cold. I had some pre-made dinners in there, and some ground pork tenderloin to add to beef for meatballs. Fortunately, most of my meat is upstairs now. But I had to cook the dinners. I had two crockpots going all day. The pork for burritos, now that it is cooked, will be refrozen. We'll have the sesame pork and chicken enchiladas for dinner this week. I'll get the ground beef, make meatballs, and either freeze the cooked ones or we'll have spaghetti and meatballs or heroes one night.
The big dish I made is called "Western Hospitality Casserole." It is a family favorite. You cook meat in a wine sauce for several hours, then you put it over noodles and bake it for another hour. And then you add cheese until it melts! That's more of a special occasion dish...but I guess I'll make up a special occasion this week, LOL!
Most of what is thawed out is vegetables, so we'll polish those off all week long. The only real loss is a box of Texas Toast and some Jamaican beef patties.
Oh! And melted Breyer's Coffee Ice Cream makes a great milkshake.

Sew Crafty Friday: Baby Dress

Here is one of numerous 'works in progress' I've got going. This little sundress isn't for anyone in particular. I had made a dress from this pattern for a bigger child, and since the pattern for a 'small' was still useable (you know how cutting into one size messes up another size), I decided to make use of some extra fabric I had. Sorry the picture is blurry--those are daisies on the two different fabrics. So...when I finally figure out where I put my buttonholer...the dress will have daisy-shaped buttons! It has a pair of bloomers and a mob cap to go with it.

This is a frugal use for extra fabric--make a coordinating trim on a garment! That's what I did with the darker pink.

Once this dress is finished, I'll pack it up and save it for a gift!

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