Package Pals~~What Melinda Sent~~

I got my package pals gift from Melinda in Australia today!  We got our packages on the same day which I thought was funny!

Vintage trims, a sheepish bag, pincushion and key fob pattern, hand written and drawn by Melinda…very sweet touch

and some maps of Australia with notes written by Melinda showing me where she lived…she is a nurse like me and so I was interested in seeing where she had worked on King Island.

This package was packed full of things…

like this sweet owl and flower necklace.

and this really cool vintage ship trim ribbon.  Very cool!

A sweet owl fridge magnet and a tiny, tiny purse with a tiny embroideried lady on a button on the side, trimmed in pearls and very sweet! 

This package was stuffed full of sweet things!

I just kept pulling little things out…

Sweet little fabric pouch…

and look at the tiny little embroideried rose on the tag of the pouch!

Then we have a tiny water color of violets in a planter…Melinda did this herself. I am looking for a tiny frame for it now.

but this is on the back of the painting…I like it too, but have to choose which one to frame!

And a paper bag full of vintage embroidery transfers.  I love these dancing sailors, how great would they look dancing across a white flour sack towel?

And..then there’s this…

Hmmm, it’s a book with handles, or is it??

No, it’s a silk lined purse!

with a pocket…

So very cute!

There was also a pearl wrap bracelet which I wore to work today.

And the whole gift was wrapped in the vintage fabric you see in the background here!  What a wonderful package pal gift!  I am so glad I decided to sign up for the international partner!

Thanks Melinda for such a thoughtful package!!  You clearly poured your heart into preparing it for me…I love all the personal touches!

I love the whole Package Pal concept!  Thanks to Jamie at C.R.A.F.T. and Julia at Stars and Sunshine for organizing all this!

You can see what I sent to Melinda here!

 

Package Pals~~What I sent~~

This is the first time my package pal didn’t have a blog or pinterest board or some way for me to get to know her…luckily Melinda sent me pictures and told me a lot about herself. She lives in Australia and is a nurse like me and seems we both like vintage and we had an instant connection. So I had an idea of what she liked…I hoped anyway!  So I made her a flower pin from felted/fulled wool.

Melinda has this thing for caravans…so I whipped up a pillow with a hopefully recognizeable caravan.  I almost decided to keep it myself but decided to send it off to Australia!

Actually I had fun making it…thought it turned out pretty cute!

I sent it with the flower pin,

some wool felt from my stash,

and a pink bunting made from a vintage sheet. 

I love the whole Package Pal concept!  Thanks to Jamie at C.R.A.F.T. and Julia at Stars and Sunshine for organizing all this!

The funny thing is that Melinda and I both got our packages in the mail the same day!  How unlikely is that??  I am working on a second post for the package Melinda made for me!  It was too awesome to include in the same post!

Wool Wrapped Trees

These little guys did not cost me one single penny to make!

I bought a box of various craft supplies at an auction for $1 and these paper mache trees were part of the deal.  I shoulda taken a before pic, but I didn’t…sorry bout that!

I cut 1.5 inch wide strips of wool from a green wool shirt that I found at the Salvation Army.  It had lots of holes in it so it was quite cheap. I washed it in hot water several times, so the wool was pretty thick.

I used hot glue and just spiraled the strips around upward.  Here you see my assistant stealing helping me show how the strips unroll from the neat bundles I had made.

Here the little thief assistant takes one of the strips and unrolls it completely.

Anyway, who needs extra strips…I only had five trees to cover!  You could use styrofoam trees instead of the paper mache ones, although the paper mache trees have some kind of weight in the bottom so they are difficult to knock over.  My clumsy pug assistant showed me proof of that.

And here the weasel assistant takes the last roll of wool…

But like I said, I don’t really need them anyway!

Stinker!

Love how they look on top of my quilt cabinet…

I may be linking to these great parties!

Thrifted Ruffled Shower Curtain

Anyone else dislike short shower curtains?  I hate how they are not long enough to cover the tub and don’t gather a lot across.  I also hate doing bathroom posts, but please excuse that and just focus on the shower curtain!

I found this huge window curtain at Goodwill…$6 and a nice color too!  I hung it up but didn’t like how the side ruffle looked.  I left it hanging to see if it would grow on me, but no way.  I didn’t like the way it looked.

It was too ruffly along the sides.

Like my new bathroom mirror?  I bought it at an auction for a mere $10 and covered the gold paint with a mix of blue paints and used some stain to show off the great design.   Anyway, back to the shower curtain…

I took it upstairs and cut off the side ruffles, left the top and bottom ruffles, and ran a quick hem down each side.  Now the curtain hangs smoother on the sides.

And it goes all the way to the floor!  Milo approves too!

So, I guess it stays if Milo approves!  Dyeing it has crossed my mind too, wouldn’t a nice blue/turquoise color be nice?

I might be linking to these great parties!

The Letter E ~~Map Style~~

E as in Edna, Eloise, Eileen, Eleanor, Edwina, and Ellen!

 

I started with a 25 cent letter E from the thrift store…traced around it onto a map and cut out the map.

My letter was white so I just glued on the map with Mod Podge…

My tracing didn’t exactly fit my letter (of course!)

So I took some sandpaper and trimmed the edges that way…

Just sanded them off and

even took some of the paint off as well.

The next step was easy…I added a few drops of acrylic paint to the Mod Podge and covered the map.  So you get a white washed look (except with blue of course!). 

I painted the edges with a shade darker blue and it’s all done!

Here is my E wall…I keep adding them as I find them, either thrifted or gifted or found on sale (like the dark blue/turquoise one on the dresser).

Looking pretty good!  The little blue jewelry chest is my latest chalk paint project. 

I love the piggy mama and babies that my niece Ruth gave me…they sit on top of my dresser to keep watch!  They came from Italy!

I may be linking to these great parties!