Monday, August 29, 2011

Some Vintage Hankie Ideas

Thank you Pinterest!
You make it so easy to find ideas.  And....
the best thing about you is that you help me keep these great ideas organized!

Come on over and see some of my boards if you're interested.  

Well, I've just started looking for ideas on what to do with my plethora of vintage hankies and look at what I found in just about 30 minutes of searching.  

No Sew or Low Sew projects:




Technically not a project, but it sure is pretty!



Lots of Sewing projects:








THIS is going to be fun!

Thanks for buzzing in!  I'm so glad to see you.
Do you have a favorite hankie idea?  One of your own?

(all images found through Pinterest)

Sunday, August 28, 2011

A Plethora of Vintage Hankies (Plus Sam Bonus)

Well again this weekend my whole family helped Sewing Bee finish packing up the old house and moving into the new house.  We just needed to pack the pantry and finish in the garage.  

As we were going through a few things in the garage, we came upon a long forgotten laundry basket filled, dare I say stuffed, with vintage hankies!

Now, I wanted to show them to you in all their unwashed wrinkled glory.  I can't wait to wash them and press them and come up with ideas for what to do with them.  Did you notice I said I wanted to show them to you?  Well a certain cat would not cooperate.  Every time I tried to take a shot up on the table he would hop.  (Hey!  That sounds kind of like Dr. Seuss!)  

So.....enjoy the photos of the hankies and enjoy the photos of the cat that would not sit still to look pretty nor get off the table to let the hankies look pretty! 
  

Can you see the gas grill in the background?  We also got that.  We've always been a charcoal family so we're going to have two barbecues now!  We'll see which one we prefer.


I also snagged the vintage picnic table.  I love its white chippiness.
Isn't he a handsome fella?  He is a snuggler, but the view he usually gives us  is not of his cute face, if you know what I mean.  (Yes, he likes to have his back end pointed towards us as we pet him.  Not my favorite view, but he's a love and we'll keep him.)
Many more treasures to show you.....
My Sadie Mae blogpost is coming up soon too....

And thank you so much for buzzing in.  
I am always so happy to see you.
Your visits and comments are such a treat!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

For the Love of Gingham

Are there certain patterns or prints that you are always drawn too?

Me?  I'm a gingham gal.  (Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm also a floral gal, a striped gal, and a polka dot gal.)

Which brings me to......

Gingham in the kitchen:




Gingham outside:

Gingham to wear:





Gingham for the house:






Gingham to craft:



(all images found on google or pinterest)

So.....are you a Gingham Gal?

Or maybe a Polka Dot Princess?

Perhaps a Fancy Floral?

Thanks for buzzing in!  
I am so glad to see you.



Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Sewing Bee's Cottage

My mom, the Sewing Bee, has been remodeling my grandparents house for the past few months - with the help of a wonderful contractor.  The new house is much smaller  (my dad passed away about three years ago) and just the perfect size for her.  My mom and dad owned it as a rental house so it was in need of a lot of TLC.  

Well, it was finally finished (at least the interior) this week.  (of course, it was the week we all started back to school - not the best of timing, but that's okay) I knew you would love to see it.  It is so cozy and cottagey and sweet and so like my mom.  

She completely gutted the kitchen...
New beadboard cabinets...

New stove and microwave.  The whole microwave area used to be a tiny coat closet with the door facing the hall, but mom had her contractor knock that closet out to give her more storage in the kitchen.

She used beautiful green glass subway tile for the backsplash.  I did lots of shopping with her and she fell in love with that when we saw it.  My pictures do not do it justice.  

The counters are silestone.  I personally just LOVE the contrast of the white cabinets, the black counters, and the sparkly green backsplash.

The kitchen has about 2 more linear feet thanks to extending the cabinets from what they were.  Her flooring is a laminate and she knows there is a risk there, but it's just her, so she thinks she'll be able to take good care of it.


She also gutted the bathroom...
I need to get more pictures because there were still a few details that weren't done when I took these shots.

And she wallpapered her bedroom.
It's a buttery soft yellow with gorgeous flowers in shades of jade, soft blue, and a rosy coral color.  She plans to get a white iron bed for the room.  Do you see the new closet doors?  Aren't they cottage perfect?  She replaced all the doors in the entire house - interior and exterior. 
So, we already have several projects lined up for her new little cottage.  
We have furniture to paint, curtains to make, slipcovers to sew, and vignettes to arrange.  

I'm so glad I have some where new to play!  

As we get her moved in, I'll show you some more of the details that make this little cottage just perfect for her.  

Now we just need to come up with a name for her new home.  

Jade Cottage, maybe?  

Do you have any ideas?

Thank you so much for buzzing by!  Oh, and I'm making yummy iced mochas to celebrate my mom's move.  C'mon over and join us!



And the before's were so bad, I put them at the end!  

Oh so drab and dreary...

Yellow tile counters were sunny about 50 years ago - not so much now.

This was just disgusting.  

Doors were pretty boring.

Of course, I'm sharing this metamorphosis over at Susan's.  This is one of the best I've ever been a part of!