A Pan Collar and Felt Flower Brooch

Every once in a while I will actually try things that I have pinned on Pinterest. As many of of you know my daughter Freckles and I have been doing a study of the 1940's era. I had started a Pinterest board with some inspirations and thought I would give a couple things a try. One started with my love for Peter pan collars on vintage clothing. So adorable. As a doll maker I have put many Peter pan collars on my characters, so i thought, heck why not make myself one. I am not too old for that...Am I?
I found a pattern for a collar here and sewed it in less than an hour. Note the pattern says fur collar on it...It doesn't have to be fur...You can use cotton just as I did.


The felt flower brooch was inspired by the 1940's as well. There is plenty of inspiration on felt flowers throughout Pinterest. I did not follow a pattern for the brooch I made however. I was inspired by what I saw on the boards and just winged it as best as I could. I wanted it to match the collar. And quite pleased that it complimented each other very well.

 

I even put my hair up, which I have not done in years. I will definitely be making more colors and brooches to coordinate with other outfits. I even got some sweet compliments from several ladies at church. I was humbled.

I will also be teaching Freckles how to make the felt flower brooch soon.
 Happy pinning to you.
 Hope you find some inspiration there on Pinterest.
I have a little goal to actually trying out the pins I pin.
Heck, why not.
Have a great week ahead.

Retro Inspired Oilcloth Lunch bag

Today I sat down in the sewing room to make Freckles
a retro inspired lunch bag for her home school/ performing arts class on Friday's.
She can use it on park trips & picnics or whenever we are out and about to carry snacks.
I found my inspiration on
 The Long Thread.

I changed a few things.
 #1. I used all vinyl oil cloth #2. I made it 11" wide instead of 10". #3. I finished off the bag differently....I can't even explain what I did....Because I was a rebel and didn't follow her directions. ;)
#4. I was resourceful on the handles by using a bag I had from Joann's Fabric...
{I thought it would look cute on Freckles bag}...
So I cut them off the Joann's bag and used them on the lunch bag.
 So happy with how it turned out.

 

It is insulated with soft quilt batting and I added a pocket
inside the bag to store her red gingham napkin.
And...It was a hit with Freckles...
She loves it.
Yay

My Sunny Simple Sunday Farmgirl Kitchenette Redo....

Hello, Hello.
I have been a Busy Bee this weekend. A little over a year ago I found this sweet 50's kitchenette set.. the table and two chairs were on sale at the thrift Shop. I had good intentions to paint it and re-cover the chairs...but just wasn't happening. And, since I am in the midst of packing up boxes for our move.
 ( Still don't know where yet)
I needed a creative outlet since I won't be focusing on decorating here in this home. I still have more painting with a few other pieces...that will come soon. For now, I wanted to share what I accomplished. For our love of color and Vintage Farmgirl Kitschy Style...I went bold. Here is my rendition of Farmgirl Kitsch.  
My neighbor was having a garage sale a couple weekends ago and I spotted a little 50's chair that would go perfect with the other two chairs that came with my table. My sweet neighbor & I made a trade...I gave her 5 lbs. of apricots for the chair...Sounded like a great deal to me. I painted it Robins Egg Blue. And left the other two the white finish I got them in. I then got out my bucket full of scrappy goodness fabrics and pulled together scrappy quilted covers...I finished two...Just one more to go.
 I love, love, love the colors and fabrics together.
 ( Happy Dance)

  

My white table...became a Sunny Yellow...Oh how I am loving it. I added another wooden chair to the mix...When I use the leaf I have yet another little wooden chair and a small bench,
which will then seat 6 around this little table. 
I even set the table just for you.
I made four cute little napkin rings to match my fabrics.
Come back Monday to see a tutorial I put together on how to make them.   
This just makes me smile.
Next on my list of things to do is...
My kitchen hutch...
My glass doored book case for my living room...
 Freckles dresser...
Yet, another dresser and a bookshelf.
Then I will do my outdoor patio furniture....
Perhaps when we're moved.


Hope you liked my Kitchenette redo. Thanks for dropping in.
 Hope you have a lovely Simple Sunday...
A Sunny one at that.
Linking up with:
 Sunny Simple Life
&
Between Naps On A Porch

Oh What Fun...

So my friend Marmie threw a birthday party for me and our friend Sharla who shares the same birthday month. It was a lovely time with the girls...The spread was wonderful with sandwiches, salad, fruit, chips, lemon aid and Kahlua cake. Oh yum, it was so moist and good. It was so sweet of them to celebrate our birthdays with us. The girls gave out gifts too...and who doesn't like gifts? I got a great book called Living By God's Promises written by Joel R. Beeke & James A. La Belle. Looks really good. Can't wait to have a quiet moment to read it. I also got a gift card to Target....I got NEW Sock Monkey Slippers with it...

 

 

I love wearing slippers so much that my old monkey slippers flattened out and started ripping at the toes...Guess that's what happens when you wear them out for five years...almost 6 years actually, yet they sure did hold up well. I saw these and had to get them...Aren't they cute?

Several of the gals came together and got each of us Hobby Lobby Gift cards...Woot Woot. Here is what I got with my gift card....A storage box for all my piles of pictures, that don't make it in an album...Much needed and will be put to good use. It will be perfect to get everything organized.
I just need a few more and I'll be good to go.

I got this fun world map for home schooling...Just need a frame later down the line but will look really cute with all our school room decor. Prayfully we will have a school room when we move, if not though...
It will surely find a place that will work.

I couldn't pass up this cute vintage 30's~40's inspired fabric...
which will make it into some projects...
It's adorable...Don't you think?

Lastly I got the clock I have been eyeing for some time, but never had the $MOOLA$ to get. Great thing is it was on sale too. I love it. It is retro~ vintage inspired in red metal. A perfect companion for my kitchen. I am blessed to have these wonderful ladies in my life, they sure did spoil me something rotten. I had a lot of fun shopping, I must admit. It was a good birthday, one I will treasure with me for ever.
Happy Wednesday to you all.

Work Before Play...

Good morning everyone....Today will be filled with bustling around the house, school, art projects, a bit of sewing and perhaps a little fun. But first we must play work then play. Other than that, I really don't have much. I am looking forward to this weekend...My mom and sister are coming down to do a bit of shopping and lunch for our birthdays...That ought to be fun. The rest of the week is mainly working on purging stuff, staying focused and keeping joyful while we do it. Little things like this tiny pencil sharpener globe brings a smile. Isn't it adorable? Freckles found it while thrifting. She has a good eye for stuff we like.

We also found these cheerful rainbow socks at The Dollar Store.
Too cute to pass up.
Now she has Happy Feet.

 

Missy is sporting some funky shades we also found for a buck at Target.
 I love that pooch.

OOOH...Remember Pick Up Sticks? We found this for a buck at the Thrift Shop...Now I just have to teach Freckles how to play. Would you believe, Duncan Hines Pancake Mix had this in the box? Remember when the prizes in cereal were way cool and even Cracker Jacks had fun prizes. Now there is junk in them. After all our work today...We will do a little play...Pick Up Sticks anyone?
Happy Thursday to you.

Just Yesterday.....

Freckles and I went to Old Town to play for the afternoon since Mr. Darling has been buried in writing papers and Maestro is still in Seattle. So we made it a girls day! It was the perfect day to walk around, window shop and just be plain ole' silly. One thing I love to do is capture moments...So I embrace the camera and shoot the day. I am a very visual person....This really puts the topping on the cake for me. I don't really even know what I am doing as far as taking pictures, I just point and shoot what I think is pretty or whatever I find appealing to the eyes I suppose.

One thing I know for sure is that
 I LOVE COLOR !!!
Freckles is such a good sport about me taking so many pictures of her.
 It was just plain fun!


We walked for at least 3 hours through town and our favorite shops. So I treated us to The Old Pop Shop for pop of course! It was either that or a trip to the Ice Creamery... We figured since we are counting calories we would be better off having a pop instead! And, we haven't had pop for quite a while....Since we have cut it off from having it in the home. It was a treat!
Freckles also got a kick out of seeing her favorite car... She loves Bugs and usually doesn't get to see the old ones very often. In about 6 more years I am certain this girl will be driving a bug! She enjoys nudging me in the arm every time she sees one yelling out "Slug Bug".... Yeah I get the punch quite often, for she seems to always be on the look out for them. I don't know if I like that too much!
We had so much fun together...It really was a special time, which made me thank God for making me the Mother of these two delightful children. It is such a gift, to see them grow up into what God intends them for. And that leaves me in awe of this priceless blessing. It delights me to no end to
see their sweet, smiling, happy faces each and every day!
 
Freckles told me that when she becomes a Mama, she wishes to be just like me...Oh that just melts my heart. How sweet it is she would desire that...Because trust me there are day's I don't feel like the world's greatest Mom! Let's just say I do my best.
We even dreamed up how when Mr. Darling finishes Seminary and Lord willing finds a Church flock to shepherd that we would find a quaint little building and make it into an eclectic tea house...We dreamed of how it would be furnished and decorated to what we would serve as far as drinks and goodies go...It would be a funky, whimsical sort of place suited for everyone with good music and a gift shop filled with our art work as well as local artisan's and musicians, & open for special tea parties and such... We visualized the whole set up down to colors and mood, yet haven't agreed to the name we would give it. It was grand to dream... But with all dreams aside, I don't see why we couldn't make that dream real.... In time!!

 
It was yet another wonderful day spent with my daughter...
 A wonderful way to kick off Mother's Day!

Okay let me leave you with this photo again..Too cute for words. If you don't know already about Picasa or Piknic...They are two great sites where you can edit your photo's for FREE! So, since I don't have the greatest camera in the world....These sites help me to enhance the look and feel to my pictures when they seem just okay. I edited this picture in Piknic making it a Polaroid with a vintage 60's/70's coloring to it! Just looking at it makes me feel like I stepped back in time. Hope that helps! Oh, and to show my appreciation to YOU, my loyal readers, I am gearing up for a Give Away!
This will be a fun one!!
Have a fantastic Saturday!!!