Visiting Old Town

Before I left Colorado my niece and I did some running around.  We went to Old Town and stopped in this really neat shop, Walnut Creek.

They have all sorts of handcrafted items.  This piano bench was made from a wool sweater with a needle felted design.

There were lots of really unique furniture pieces in great colors.

Jess and I both loved these printed signs. 

The red console was great…

The black table and chairs were really sweet too with bright print cushions for the chairs.

I loved these purses and look at the wooden spool hooks they are hanging from!

The blue and peach flower print one is my fave, although the pears print is also cool!

We both loved the screen printed owl on a pumpkin yellow pillow cover.

And this crate with the chalkboard end (love those pumpkins too!)

The numbered jars…how easy would that be to do?

Another orange dresser/chest…just tons of really cool stuff!

This little blue painted stool is from Ikea, it was only $22, which is a great price!

I liked the felted wool soap.

Jess liked this bicycle print sign.  By the way those are feathers in a vase behind her head, not her hair, just to clarify!

Baby Brady didn’t feel too good that day so he was pretty sedate as long as the stroller was moving…

he was a happy camper!

There were really neat baby onesies and t-shirts, lots of baby items like bibs and blankets and stuffed animals.

These wooden children’s toys were works of art, beautifully made. 

This is what I bought, a phone case that is very practical.  I think I may make a similar one too for a gift.

And here’s the packaging for purchases!  Love it just as much as I do the store!

Sweater Sleeve Pumpkins

I’m out visiting family in Colorado this past week and a half.  Actually I am nannying a sweet 16 month old great nephew while his parents take a 10th anniversary tropical vacation.

Here is my charge Brady and he runs 90 to nothing about 95% of the time he is awake!  He is so sweet and snuggly unless of course he has something to investigate.  Then Brady is a boy with a mission!  He is a great assistant!

This was my office while Brady took his middle of the day naps, taking in the beautiful Colorado scenery.  My sis was with me for part of this trip so we hit the Restore and Goodwill stores as we came across them. 

I found this awesome (but not wool :( ) variegated sweater in shades of oranges and a vague shade of pink here and there.  I cut about 6-8 inch segments of the sleeves to make the pumpkins, just straight across both thicknesses of the sleeve. 

With the sleeve right sides together stitch up what will be the bottom of the pumpkin with a long running stitch and heavy thread, then turn right side out.  Now stuff the pumpkin with Polyfil stuffing. You can make it as big or little as you want by adding more or less stuffing.  Now gather the top of the pumpkin with a long running stitch and heavy thread. 

This one I gathered the top really snug and used it as the stem, wrapping it with jute twine. I used the green mohair/wool sweater I found at Goodwill to make the leaves.  I just printed off a an outline of a pumpkin leaf and made two sizes.

I added curly willow branch cuttings for the pumpkin tendrils.

These all came from that same pumpkin…you can see the variations in color.  I got two pumpkins out of each sleeve and I made two more “sleeves” from the front and back of the sweater.

I added them to a newly spray painted plum color basket.

I may be linking to these great parties!

Children’s teepee

 

This is Brady peeking around the corner at his new toy…his teepee!  He loved it…OK, so maybe not LOVED, but he is getting used to it gradually…

I used this very simple tutorial from Pink Toes and Power Tools and sketched out the measurements provided there. Seriously this pattern is so easy to follow!

For the main teepee I used a heavy weight 6 foot x 8 foot canvas drop cloth from Lowes and for the casings for the poles I used a grey chevron canvas cloth from Hobby Lobby. When my son was a toddler I made him one of these and painted Native American symbols around the bottom.

I’m still looking for that picture, but haven’t been able to locate one…I remember it going well with the Cowboys and Indians theme at his second birthday party.  My niece even dressed up as Pocahontas for the party!

So anyway, I sewed it at home and had Brady’s mom and dad pick up the poles from the Home Depot I think…

This wood is really lightweight so moving the teepee is easy.  I didn’t actually buy the dowels, so am not sure what they cost, but from looking online they run around $7.50 to $10 each. 

Love the chevron casings for the wood rods!

I finally snapped a pic of Brady in the teepee…it was just for a second, but hey, that counts!

He is getting closer and closer to it!  He is sooo cute!!

And reading with daddy in the teepee!

I found similar teepees at Land of Nod for $159, Olive & Cocoa for $278, BlazingArrowDesigns on etsy for $95, and Target for $179.99. 

I may be linking to these great parties!

Hoop Wall Art with Fabric Remnants

I’ve been working on this project for almost a year…collecting the hoops from auctions, thrift stores and flea markets. I still think this wall needs some of the smallest hoops, maybe 2-3 more.

But other than that I am calling it done!  Some of the fabric is vintage, some is new, the patchwork one is made from scraps from this bunting I made for my great nephew’s first birthday party.

Some of the fabric is vintage, most of it is new…some of the hoops are vintage.  The oval one hanging above the bed is a quilting hoop, it was cruddy when I bought it at an auction for $2, but it cleaned right up with Murphy’s Oil Soap. 

The chevron fabric is leftover from the stool cushion I recovered.

All these fabrics are vintage. I thought they looked great grouped together.

I’m loving how homey (not homely!) the splashes of different color make this corner feel. 

OK, so now be honest with me…what do you think?  Is it too much?

I will be linking to some of these great parties…Thanks for stopping by today!