from pinterest to our backyard...mud pie kitchen...project complete.
pinned with other things to make here...

friday's heart didn't show...saturday's hearts made mama glow...

around here...in the windows...

started to do a little halloween making and decorating....when we stepped outside to catch the bus, we found mother nature had been busy doing the same...

then and now...a dress from the early 90s, i think...picked up at a church rummage sale at the start of summer...cute, but just a little too formal for us..a few snips and tears to the collar, cuffs and hem and some new (vintage) buttons later...and we're headed outside to fill those pockets with good stuff, like acorns...and  rocks.

more artsy little things happening with the help of those vintage baking pans...

then and now...a (young) adult shirt unwanted by a cousin turned into a shirt for my youngest...no pattern...no plan except to use as many of the original hems as possible...removed all parts: collar, sleeves, pocket...cut shirt body down to size keeping original hem...repeated for all parts...sewed it all back together...was 97% complete at the end of june...finally finished last night...sometimes i do that.

secrets for a growing treasures (or at least training treasure hunters)...find a small shady section of an old garden wall...fill with lots of tiny pebbles...throw in some shiny jewels and a silver cat charm...add an occasional dinosaur or two...replenish with new goodies under cover of night (or when no one is looking)...listen for sounds of discovery and delight...

hard to resist the dark patina on vintage bake ware...not so easy to convince the cook in the house to actually use them...little artists are happy to oblige...

there are jars of interesting things collected through the years just sitting on shelves in my studio area waiting to be used...last night, for no particular reason and without too much thought, i carved some stamps out of old corks...years ago, these were taken from my grandmother's basement...they had been there for years...not sure why they were saved or who saved them but, at the time, it made sense that i should save them too...so here they are as stamps...finally.

mine are much too tiny to use on clothing, but this blouse has been in my favorites for a while...

big plans in store for this little antique dress/slip found at the thrift store...involving a needle and thread and perhaps even the sewing machine...and it needs to be done quickly because warmer weather is on its way...and because someone is growing far too fast these days...and because i know if i find it at the bottom of my things to do/sew pile at the end of the summer i will not be very happy...and because with her personality growing fast these days too, she will not be very happy either.

seven little boys...all just about seven...made seven trees for a mini campground centerpiece...it was a wonder we were able to get them away from the swords and light sabers...

in my head, i make clothes for my little girl all the time...i transform thrifted finds into one of kind outfits for her to wear...in my head, i do this for my son too...in reality, i have a bin in the attic loaded with those thrifted finds just waiting to be used and a closet full of fabric collecting dust.  in my head, everything fits perfectly and i have the patience to follow instructions...in reality, i have a shelf full of how-to books just waiting to be followed and a fear of wasting fabric or giving up before it's finished.  in my head, i have made five beautifully finished outfits this week during the kids clothing week challenge over at elsie marley...in reality, i made two pieces but in my head i am thinking that's pretty darn good.

at school this week, there was a celebration of summer birthdays...no food treats are allowed (boo to no cupcakes!) so we made little goodie bags with sketch books and cool colored pencils...he chose the fabric from my stash, cut the paper, helped sew the binding and filled the bags...we used things we had around the house...total cost for seventeen goodie bags was $4.00 for the pencils...we had fun making them together and he was excited to give them out...perfect.