vintage sheet pillowcases

 

I have a few lovely vintage sheets and as hard

as it is sometimes to cut into them I know

I should sometimes.

 

I don't just hack into them for no reason

I like to make something special with them

like my lounge pants or my dressing gown. or even

doing up some old bookshelves.

 

 

It's been a while since I have made a pillowcase

or my medication is making me dopier than usual

but the part where you fold the pieces over to make the

flap so you don't see the pillow inside

was doing my head in!

 

I got it eventually but have left myself this little diagram

here to remind myself because I need to make

lots more pillowcases.

 

But for now I think I'll just rest on these lovely, soft ones.

 

Don't forget the sign ups for the Creative Challenge

close on this Sunday.

Read all about it here.

I'd love for you to play.

 

yarn box makeover

 

I've been going crazy decluttering.

 

Anything that I don't really love or is not useful

or beautiful just has to go.

 

 

I have a couple of old yarn boxes that store my

 Christmas decorations but one is sure not beautiful.

 

 

So I painted the rims white.

 

I found some fabric I already had and sort of liked

 (because nothing new is coming into my house)

I made up a cornflour paste ~ recipe here ~

and glued the fabric on.

 

 

I love the lid more than the base but it does the trick

and it definitely looks better than it used to.

 

moving on

 

There may be a house move for me soon

and I'm trying to get organised.

 

My next place will be much, much smaller

so I have been culling as much as I can.

 

My old suitcase stores all my family tree notes

so it's practical and it can stay with me

but I felt it needed a little zing!

 

My new rule is not to bring any more stuff in to

the house and use what I already have so

I found an old tin of paint in the shed

called Fiesta which I seem

to remember buying as a vibrant orange.

 

A few quick coats of so called Fiesta later

but I thought the Fiesta was a fizzer.

 

I had some background paint from my

decorative painting days and set to with a couple 

of coats of Tigerlily (Jo Sonja)

 

Aaah now that's better!

 

 

Maybe having such a bright case will remind me

to work on my family tree more often.

 

Do you do Family Tree stuff?

Got any tips for me?

 

fun for the whole family

 

I'm only a very basic knitter but the old knitting

needles that can be found in op shops

seem to find their way home with me

and I now have quite a collection.

 

So of course my mind wandered to a styrofoam ball

 

all covered in wool

 

with some old needles poking out and

 

even looking a bit like a strange planet outside...

 

We needed something new at our house

 to whack our heads on.

round and round we go

 

I found a big bag of these at my local Vinnies.

 

They were too good to leave behind.

 

So I used some scrap wool to crochet around them.

 

Now I have a bit of a head start on Christmas decorations.

 

When do you start making your decorations?

 

What have you re-made from supposed junk?

 

What have you been up to?

show us your crafty bits

 

I'm so easily distracted.

I got side tracked for a bit doing the

Blog a Day with Claire

and I'm going to get back to that.

Then of course paid employment always

 gets in the way of crafting.

 

 

But then I came across this stool at Vinnies for 10c

and there was no way I was leaving that behind.

 

So I taped over the tears in the vinyl

 

covered it in some pretty fabric

 

added a bit of pom pom trim

(I painted the plain silver upholstery tacks

in glittery green nail polish)

and now the cat and I are both happy.

 

Well mostly happy as I know the tacks are not all straight.

Anyway .....

 

Don't forget if you look to the right you can see my Instagram

link and I'd love it if you found me there.

 

let me try again

 

I'm going to have another go at finishing something

for The Umbrella Prints Trimming Competition.

Last year I didn't get finished in time.

The whole sorry saga is here.

 

Everything needs to be written in my diary , everything.

 

I am so scattered I never know what my kids

are up to unless I check the diary.

Unfortunately the diary can be lost for days under paint charts

or crochet or just mingled with all the junk at my place.

 

 

I also get a bit distracted and madly

start things like this old cupboard.

 

 

but I think it turned out ok .

 

 

 

Now I'm off to work on my scarf and think

about the competition.

 

I wonder really where my kids are............

 

 

while the cat's away

 

Before my husband went away recently

I asked him very nicely to paint over the mustard and blue

in the lounge room with white.

Oh and while he's at it why not those daggy brown bookshelves!

After all my husband is a housepainter I'm not just a nag.

 

He was not out the door ten minutes before I'd

mixed up some cornflour with a bit of tap water to make a paste.

 

I then boiled the kettle and mixed the boiling water

into the paste until it looked like this.

Thick but not too thick.

 

I trimmed one of my favourite vintage sheets.

 

Then I painted the back of the shelves with the cornflour mix

and put the cut pieces of sheet on the wet mix.

 

It turned out a treat!

 

I am so very happy with the result and

because it was so simple I'll be doing it again.

 

Now I just have to sort the books and load them back on.

 

But I think I'll take my time with that because I just like

looking at my new shelves just the way they are.

not your average nana

 

I picked up this great but ratty stool at a garage sale.

 

When I posted a photo of it on instagram

the main response was "my nan had one of those"!

 

 I never met my nan but

 

 

I like to imagine she was a fun and funky nan

 

so I hope she'd like what I've done to the stool.

now it's even cooler

 

In a bid to be a little more organised this year

I thought I'd make myself a business card/note holder.

 

I began with a daggy cooling tray

 

gave it a quick spray with paint that was

 left over from another project

 

added a few bits of broken bling and

 

ta da! new card holder!

here chook chook chook

 

I found this old chook at a garage sale years ago.

 

She has been perched high on a cupboard looking down at me ever since.

Although I loved her and her shape I just couldn't

bring myself to use something that was so , so brown.

 

It was about time I did something about this lovely old girl.

 

I gave her a good wash and a very light sand.

Two coats of sealer were then applied.

 

A couple of sprays with some pink glossy paint and ta da!

 

 

She looks so happy now being a real part of the family.