Reinvention - Garlic Onion Burlap Sack

This is also from Reinvention. What a great way to store garlic and/or onion--in a burlap bag so they can breathe that looks great in the kitchen. I made a stencil and used fabric paint for the garlic bulb and onion on the front. The burlap is part of a coffee bean sack that was used for the storage cubes.

Reinvention - Little Girl's Skirt from T-shirt

Here's another project from the book, Reinvention, called "Little Forager's Skirt". It has a detachable apron that has pockets in which to stow treasures. I didn't use a T-shirt as the instructions call for, because I found this heavy jersey skirt and jacket at Salvation Army (paid $1.00). The jacket had this cute embroidery of potted plants which is used for the pocket. I also "cheated" by using the waistband of the skirt at the top, and the hem of the skirt for the flounce at the bottom, cutting down on my sewing. Hope my granddaughter Ady enjoys!

Reinvention - Coffee Bean Burlap Sacks

These 2 projects are from the book, Reinvention, which has oodles of projects using various cast off materials. The first is using coffee bean sacks that I got at a regional coffee shop. These went over big as Christmas presents with the boys/men. For the insides, I used jackets or dresses that had pockets, making extra storage. They are made with batting in between the burlap and the lining.

 

Garnet Hill has some like these made from canvas fabrics, and the vertical edges were all pinched out and topstitched probably since the flimsier fabrics need a bit more support.


This next project, a reversible bag, was made from a long linen dress.  The top front of the dress had the  stitching already on it that is used for the front pocket.

 

I will be making a couple more projects from this book later. Definitely, a great book to check out from the library, or to buy.

Repurpose Fabric from Salvation Army

Hurray for Fridays and Saturdays at my Salvation Army store!  Today, Friday, they had 5 items of clothing for $5.00 of purple tagged ones, which is this week's 50% off color. They have 5-6 tag colors which allows them to keep a piece of clothing about 6 weeks before sending to another store or whatever they do. And on Saturday, they reduce that color to $.49, and no minimum. Lately, I've been drawn to prints, thinking I could piece similar colors together for some project. I usually get natural fabrics; cotton, linen, wool, silk. Top of the pile is an orange silk top and skirt. Second from the top is a cotton panel print dress; love finding borders, too. Then a denim sheath dress with embroidered flowers, a linen skirt, 4 pairs of pants or skorts, and a long cotton dress.

One great find, I hope, is a long sleeveless linen dress from J Jill with the original $99.00 tag still attached. I will try to sell it on ebay in the spring, but if not, there is a lot of linen fabric to use for $1.00.

Who doesn't like to save money? Cottons in the fabric store run $4-10 a yard. My girlfriend makes fun of me, driving up to a goodwill store in my Mercedes. Or going on senior citizen day to get the senior discount. Hey, maybe that is WHY I can afford a Mercedes...ha-ha!

Small Felt & Fabric Dove with Bread

 Here is Mildred the Dove with Baguettes at Panera Bread after purchasing her loaves for her family. This is another project from the book, Little Birds, referenced in the post before this.

 It was such fun to craft this project using felt for most of it with cotton for the backs of the bird, wings, and the baguettes.

 The outline backstitch work reminds me of redwork that was popular with women in the early 1900's. I liked using just one thread of embroidery floss; seems to keep the illustrative quality easier to control.

Small strips of fabric were wrapped around wire, then inserted into her tummy and sewn shut.  A coating of Mod Podge or fabric glue keeps them from unraveling.

Penguin Toy

The book, Little Birds, has the most adorable birds to craft contributed by many different artists.  I chose Pikku, the penguin to make for my grandchild who likes to play Club Penguin online.  The interesting part of this project is the round piece of cardboard inside the bottom which was a little bit hard to handle. I like the fact that it can easily stand up.

Investing Your Money in Today's Market

Wow, I am reading Aftershock Investor.  Concerning your comfort and happiness, there is nothing more important than protecting your hard earned savings.  And this book is quite an eye opener.  It was just published late summer 2012, so is current, and I encourage all who stumble upon my blog to read this!  Request it from your library, as I did, or buy it now!

Essentially, it made no difference who won the election, as far as our economy goes. There is too much money being printed and we will all have to face the piper sooner (now) or later (next 3-4 years). This book talks about the bubbles that have already broken (real estate, etc) and the remaining two that will break soon.

There are recommendations on how to protect your money. I am still reading and just stopped to post this, as everyone needs to have this information.