Makeover Monday: 9/28

For this project, I chose a gorgeous crimson jersey knit and paired it with a deep forest green and a heavily textured chocolate brown.

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Apple, anyone?

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I am so pleased with the way the leaf and stem came out. Actually, the whole apple is pretty sweet! Now I just need to write down the pattern before I forget what I did, lol.

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I have Amanda at SygnetCreations to thank for helping me push this idea into fruition. She helped me realize these would make really cool teacher gifts for the holidays! Thank you, Amanda!!
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The apple will be available in sosorosey later this week, but feel free to contact me for a special order. Have a great week, everyone!

Coming Along

The rug is coming along so nicely! It is 54" across now- only about 4 more rows to go and I'm home free. It's not going to happen for Makeover Monday, though.

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I was getting a little stressed out about the last few rows; in order to maintain the integrity and flow of the current design, I needed to find a LOT of the same fabric. I wanted something in colors that would be just perfect to set the whole thing off in a special way.

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I was elated when I found these special vintage sheets that I had tucked away for a "rainy day". The rainy day is here!! Look for finished photos sometime within the week.

New Nest Photos

A big, big, big thank you to Nicole Ollerton for sharing these beautiful photos with me! The original plan was to use my upcycled baby nest prop in an actual tree, but this little babe didn't like sleeping in the tree. Isn't she a sweet little thinker?

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Friday's Favorite Find

Meoooooooowwwwww! I found these sassy cat bookends this morning, and they are my favorite find of the week. I love their serious faces, stately bows and slinky bods... still trying to figure out what the receptacles on the ends are, though.

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People wouldn't really want candle holders that close to their books, right? But I wouldn't think a toothpick holder would be the answer either. I do think these would be totally awesome on an office desk to hold ledgers and journals- maybe using the mystery holders for pens or pencils. Any thoughts?

Hot Off the Hook

Why yes I AM a little obsessed with stars these days! There are the upcycled star sets, the baby's first ecofriendly stars , and the primitive stars I am making from the antique rag balls.

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Then, we have these little numbers- sweet cotton twinklers sold in sets of 6. They are the perfect handmade gift for anyone on your list! Not only do they look lovely tied atop a special package, but they are priceless for those pesky weak-branched bald spots on your own Christmas tree.

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The *traditional* collection

The *cottage* collection



The *classic* collection
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Do you have a favorite? Can you think of another collection that I should add? All thoughts are welcome- I just LOVE making these little guys!

A Sosovintage First!

Wahoooooo! This gorgeous treasury, curated by VintageScraps, graced the front page of Etsy at 2am. That's my little periwinkle cup up there! Thank you, VintageScraps and Etsy, for the honor :)

Makeover Monday 9/21

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Some of you may remember this Love Your Mother rag rug that I created for an Earth Day team challenge. It was 3 feet wide, and bursting with color and meaning!

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As I hoped, someone found it and fell in love with it. It wasn't quite large enough for the space intended, though. So, I get to makeover (enlarge) my existing rug to bring it to a whopping 5 feet wide.

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It is 44" wide now. 16 more inches to go! Can I possibly have the finished product for next week's makeover? We shall see...I'm off to go do some more right now!

Awwwwww!

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More and more often it seems, moms-to-be are opting not to find out the sex of their baby until the delivery. The element of surprise is so exciting!!

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What is NOT exciting (until now, of course) is shopping for a shower gift for these thrill-seeking parents. The choices of most yellow and green store bought items is often limited and bland.

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There is nothing worse than showing up to a baby shower with a gift you aren't thrilled about- unless it's showing up with said gift being one of three exact same ones being given!

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Enter the neutral organic cotton snuggle sacque set! Created as a custom request for a special customer, this option will be offered in my shop from now on. Goodbye neutral baby shower woes!

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Cool extra...customers can come on back after the baby is born to purchase a matching airplane or flower applique so that everyone will know what's inside the snuggly bundle :)

Friday's Favorite Finds

Whew! It has been an utterly exhausting week for me. I have had some time to thrift, but no time to clean, photograph and list all my new treasures! I did take some time today, though, to take a couple of photos of my two favorite "autumn" things that I hope to get listed this weekend.

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First up we have an early seventies American Greetings Happy Halloween paper tablecloth- found brand spankin' new in its original package.

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Then, these super orange floral melmac plates. Fab condition, and oh, so festive!
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Hope you are all happy and healthy! I hope to be back next week with some more info on my new projects over at sosorosey. Until then, have a wonderful weekend!

Makeover Monday: Big Basket- check!

I tried to get here on Monday, I really did. And to me it is still Monday because I have not yet been to sleep. But enough of my excuses. Remember these rag balls?

Well, they are finally THIS:

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I love this shot of looking through one handle at the other. This is also a great group of some of my favorite fabrics from this project. Is it weird to love a handle? Hmmm...probably doubly weird to love two.

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And guess what? There is one big ball of fabric left...and I get to make stars with it for some very special people! Stay tuned for those, and for two other exciting projects that I have in the works. Happy Monday~Tuesday :)

"Well, my friends, the time has come...

...to raise the roof and have some fun. Throw away the work to be done...Let the music play on (play on, play on). Everybody sing, everybody dance. Lose yourself in wild romance! We're going to party, Karamu, fiesta, forever...Come on and sing along!" ~ Lionel Ritchie

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Yes. This is the song I have been singing (in my head, fortunately) since my trip to the Salvation Army on Friday. And to think, all these years I have been singing *carambo* instead of "karamu". But, I digress.

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In addition to this gloriously perfect retired rose-pink disk pitcher, I also found (equally gloriously perfect): the covered butter dish, pie plate, large serving tray, gravy boat, and 4 cereal bowls. And a second disk pitcher!! There will be a pink fiesta happening this week at sosovintage...

come on and sing along!

Fab Find Part Two

I'm not exactly sure of the best name for this, and I'm having trouble gathering good info on it, too. BUT, I do know that it is not *just* a salt shaker.

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I think the main purpose of the sweet bird is an egg server! Her body is a hollow place for the egg to stay cozy. And, the salt shaker on top is the added detail- how cool is that? And she still has her sticker, too.

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Fab find, I tell ya. Peep!

Friday's Fab Find of the Week

Welcome to my new feature! I will still try to mix it up and highlight a *Friday Favorite* shop every once in awhile, but I've been seriously strapped for time. This should be a fun way to do a quick Friday highlight. So, without further ado...here is my fab find of this week.

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Now, if she were just a bird, she'd be adorable. Can you believe she is MORE than just a sweet little bird? Better yet, can you guess what else she is? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and I will be back later to share more photos and give the answer :)

Still Growing and Growing

It's like the energizer basket! I'm up to 6" high now. Soon it will be time to put in the hand slots. The next time I post about this project, she will be complete!

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So, you know what I've been up to...what are you working on these days?

Trick or Treat

You thought I wouldn't really get around to making bigger pumpkins, didn't you? Honestly, I wasn't 100% sure myself!

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But, I'm thrilled to say that I did get to it, and I made a new shape to boot! I love the way this one can actually lay flat if you like...until it is filled up with candy.

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It holds about 3 or 4 regular sized bags of treats ... way more than I should have around my house, that's for sure. With the lid on, you can pretend it isn't full of chocolate, though. If that works for you. (Me, not so much.)

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Look for this one in my shop by the end of the week...price tag: $30! Love it? Want it? Send me a message by clicking HERE- first come, first served :)

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What's that inside, you ask? My daughter's gummy pirate teeth- not included. No danger of me pigging out on those- they smell great, but they taste as disgusting as they look. IMHO.

Makeover Monday: 9/7

The vintage silver plated owl trivet by Leonard before...

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and after!

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Thanks very much to deersprite for her "sure-fire" way to clean silver!

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Deersprite's recipe: Put a little baking soda in a tiny bowl, or saucer. Using an old toothbrush wet with hot water, dip it into the baking soda, then gently scrub the item. Rinse under warm water. Repeat until clean. Gently towel dry.

Grand Opening Sale!

If you like vintage goodies as much as I do, hop on over to sosovintage before Sept. 7th; everything in the shop is 25% off!! You buy more, you save more- easy peasy.

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This is not one of those sales where the prices are jacked up and then the sale is announced....this is the real deal. You either convo me with what you would like and I adjust the price prior to your purchase, or you go ahead and make your purchase and I refund your 25% through paypal with lightning fast speed.

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Don't delay- lots of awesome items are ripe for the picking! Click right HERE to go straight to the good stuff :)

Moving On Up

Oh, sorry...didn't mean to put the Jefferson's theme song into your head for the entire day...hehe. The rag basket is now 14" in diameter and over 2 inches high. All that you see here has been crocheted from only one and a half of the smaller sized rag balls! They are so tightly packed it is unbelievable.

The second ball I used had thinner strips, and mostly colorful cotton. This one gave me a bit of a setback, as one of the fabrics was extremely brittle and kept breaking whenever I would come to a section of it. That's when I decided to set that ball aside and start on a third ball in hopes of finding stronger material. That plan is working well so far. Be back in a few days with more of the rag basket tale!

Can You Believe It?

I KNOW! Another one! I couldn't believe it either. I found this one a month after the yellow one, at a completely different store. I am so happy to be able to have two of my crafting stations decked out now :)

Makeover Monday on Wednesday: 9/2

I couldn't let Makeover Monday slip by for another week! I promise I will get my act together one of these days, folks.

So, I started with a donated men's plaid flannel shirt (thank you Karen from VintageStation).

And I ended up with another set of three star ornaments for my sosorosey shop...

Hello rustic, cabin Christmas!

So Far So Good

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The base of the antique rag ball basket is about 11" across. I am pleased with how it is looking so far! The mix of fabrics is just amazing; from knit to silk to barkcloth to lace to cotton. Each fabric is sewn very securely to the next, and as I work I am constantly struck by the huge amount of work that went into these.

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It was a challenge to choose the best crochet hook for this job due to the varied heft of the materials; I finally settled on one that is a size or two larger than the one I typically use. This was necessary because there are a few materials that have become brittle with age- I can't push and pull with my usual wild abandon.

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There are 3 more inches of diameter to put on the base, and then I'll start to go up with the sides. Stay tuned for an update next week, or feel free to check in on the soon -to-be-up reserved listing in my sosorosey shop.