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treasure

To some this may just look like a cardboard box full of magazines. Destined for a garage sale or maybe to the recycling.  But oh, you'd be wrong if you thought so. How wrong you'd be! For this is a box full of treasure! Theresa, one of my blog readers and facebook friends of a friend (how I love the internet) knows from reading this blog that I collect old knitting patterns. And she contacted me and asked if I'd like this box of old handwork magazines and books that used to belong to her Oma. She had no plans to use them, but at the same time felt it wasn't quite right to drop them off at the Goodwill. She wanted to be sure they found a good home. And she need not worry any more, because I will keep them safe and sound, and maybe even knit something out of them (if I can find the time!). Here are some highlights. 

From 1970. So much fun. And look at that font!

You see people, this is how you convey childlike whimsey in a font. This kicks Comic Sans ass!

Needlepoint Animals. Stripey Cat! Owl! Racoon! I need say no more. 

A hooded shell stitch shawl. Now I know what my life has been missing!

Toddlers in Ponchos! Ahhh, so cute! Note that there is a girl poncho and a boy poncho. Sometimes I yearn for the 70's.

Um, is it wrong that I want this is my size? Wouldn't that look lovely on me in a nice soft grey?

I totally want to make that knitted one-piece romper for the Baby. Colour-combo possibilities are endless. 

And since Theresa's Oma was a Dutch Oma, there are also some nice Dutch handwork magazines. I don't do as much kruissteek as I used to, but you never know, these might come in handy someday. 

This makes me so happy. I thought I'd seen all the Patons books out there, but this one is new to me (and therefore, pretty old).

Love this illustration so much. The gorgeous colours, the fact that all those little Kewpies seem to be so surprised to find themselves knitting. Also, they have bunnies helping them to wind their yarn. Squeeee!

Also, one of my favourite things about old knitting patterns and magazines finding handwritten notations. And inside the "Steps to Knitting" I found this lovely little hand written sock pattern. I may have to try and knit a pair of these, just to see what they look like. 

Though I think this one is my favourite. The copyright says its from 1941 and printed in Toronto. Here's what it says inside the front cover:

I have to agree, I do love a 'generous assortment of colourful cardigans and pullovers'. Totally true. 

Gorgeous. Love the embroidered diamond detail.

I like the Tyrolean style jacket. Though what is up with the little over the shoulder pockets on the one in the upper left hand corner. They did weird things with pockets in the 40's.

The striped pullover, second from the right is absolutely perfect. I even love the styling, with a string of beads. I would totally wear it that way. 

Thanks again Theresa, for the lovely box of treasures!

 

 

large garbage day

I know this may seem unusual to some of you, but those three words make me happy. Not because I have so much large garbage to get rid of (though Hubs has TONS) but because our municipalities semi-annual Large Garbage Pickup Day is sort of like a treasure hunt for me. (and I know there are enough of my fellow garbage pickers/thrifters/junk hounds/cheapskates out there reading this that I don't have to feel too apologetic about it)

Because you can't just put a couch out on the side of the road around here in Small Town Ontario any time you like, as they do in Montreal. No sir, people around here gotta wait to dump an old beauty like this.

Though the official pickup was not until Tuesday night, large piles of unwieldy junk were already showing up on people's curbs on the weekend. 

And so, on Sunday afternoon (even though it was raining), Hubs and I packed the boys into the car, emptied the trunk, grabbed the camera and headed out for a tour of the local subdivisions. 

Hubs picked himself up a few things, a weed whacker, (for parts to fix his other broken picked-up-at-the-roadside weed whacker, don't even ask me how loudly I sighed and rolled my eyes at that one!), some random storage boxes and workshop-y things etc.

I myself did not pick up anything, because I was on the hunt for couches to take pictures of. For example, I would not drive by a scene like this one...

...without stopping to check out and admire the lovely mix of colours and patterns. 

I'm not even sure exactly what it is about this mish-mash of florals in these particular hues that makes me happy. (Blue mattresses and orangey-green couches. Check and check) But somehow, awhile back I started to take pictures of abandoned couches and now its sort of a collecting habit with me, and you know how that goes. At least I don't bring the actual couches home with me. Pictures are enough.

There is something about these rejected couches and used up mattresses that is melancholy and nostalgic and sadly humorous and gross all that the same time. A sort of abject sentimentality that I just have to stop and admire for a moment. 

This lovely one was to be found in one of the older neighborhoods in our little town. I like to hit a good mix of housing eras when looking for treasure/junk/images. One part postwar, one part eighties boom, one part newest-development-in-town. You usually get several quite different strata of junk, though there are always exceptions. 

And eventually the rain ended, though the puddles remained. Our trunk was full of Hubs' new finds, and my memory card was full of pictures. And the patient little boys in the back seat had paged through all their books and eaten all their snacks and it was time to take them home for naps. It won't be the last time they drive around to look at junk with us, that's for sure. 

 

unpacking

So, there is still a ton of stuff in boxes left over from when we moved here from Montreal nearly three years ago. I cannot believe it has been that long. But when we moved here, the Little Dude has just turned one, and in less than a month he will be turning four. Crazy.

Anyhow, we're trying to reorganize, and clean up and clear out and get our stuff in order in hopes of having a garage sale. Its a never ending task for two pack rats like us. The other day I grabbed a couple of boxes out of storage (aka, my Dad's garage) and brought them home to be dealt with. After all, they were labeld "Vintage Dresses" and "Vintage Cardigans". Those are definitely boxes I am interested in.

As I was dragging one of them into the house, I was somewhat disconcerted to find that a few kernels of corn had fallen out of the cracks of it. "You better open that one soon", said Hubs wisely "there might be mice in there." So with fingers crossed I opened it to find..... two handfuls of corn and, much to my relief NO mice. Phew. Not even an empty nest. Not even signs of chewing. Zero mice poop. It felt like a gift from God. I'm serious, I was really, really happy. 

The only thing wrong with the clothes was a bit of dust and a lot of wrinkling. So I put them all on hangers and put them outside to air out.  These are not great pictures as the clothes are not at their best (wrinkles!) and there is zero styling going on, but still, such lovely colours...

...and textures. I love dresses like these. The layers of black tulle and net and under slips and crinolines. That one on the right has a special place in my heart because it was the first vintage party dress I ever bought. It is so cute on. Though sadly, what fit me as a 17 year old, can no longer get zipped up over my rib cage. Sigh. I like to pretend that its because my boobs got bigger, but that's probably not really it. Anyhow, after I've managed to hang/steam the wrinkles out of these I'm going to get somebody slimmer than I to model them so I can take some photos of them and show you what they actually look like. And maybe sell them if I can figure out a way to let them go, you know, emotionally. 

And look at the sweet details on this gorgeous grey sheath dress. Sigh. I used to wear these clothes all the time, when I had an office job. But now, I don't get much call to wear them anymore. My day to day uniform is old patched jeans and t-shirts that I don't mind getting dirty. Don't get me wrong, its not too grim, but I just don't do the dressing up I used to. Less time, is of course every mother's problem, and I don't want my precious vintage items to get the spatter of kid grime and wear and tear that a usual day with my boys provides. Part of prolonging the life of a vintage garment, I've learned, is judicious and minimal laundering. You can't just chuck a 1940's crepe day dress into the washing machine one a week and expect it to last. 

But I have been resolving lately to enjoy the creative act of dressing up a bit more often. Its always been something I've loved and I miss it in the day to day of my current routine. So on Sundays, when I have the chance to go to church, I like to make a bit of an effort.  Here's what I put together to wear today. 

I was really, really pleased to find this little grey cardigan on one of those boxes. Its cashmere, and the label in it says: "Made in Scotland Exclusively for Holt, Renfrew in Canada. by Ballantyne 100% Pure Cashmere". And yes, there is a comma between Holt and Renfrew. I bet that'd help me date it if I need to. But I'm fairly certain its from the 50's. I just love the shape of it, and how the buttons go all the way up the side of the neckline. And its super soft and light yet warm. That's the best thing about cashmere. I don't think I've ever bought a new item made of cashemere, but I buy every second hand cashmere item I ever find. Anyhow, I paired it with a plain black t-shirt and a black pencil skirt I got on sale at the Gap last year. The shoes are from Nine West, purchased on sale for the occasion of the Baby's baptism last year. Interestingly enough, this is the second time I've ever worn them. As I said before, I don't get much of a chance to dress up, and a surprising side-benefit of church attendance is that its a good time to wear what I like to call "my sittin' down shoes".

For jewelry, I'm wearing my favourite vintage brooch, bought ages ago, from who-knows-where. My friend and reader Lisa commented correctly in the tutorial I wrote about making a framed brooch display, that this is a Sarah Coventry brooch. You can probably find them fairly easily on etsy, (in fact here is a listing for the brooch and matching earrings!) and if you are into vintage accessories, its a great buy, as it goes with so much. It is easily my most worn vintage brooch.

So this little cardigan is going to go into my regular wardrobe rotation. Its nice to find some pieces that can be part of my daily style and reconnect with these 'old friends' from my pre-children days closet. I'm going to do more of this dress-up-and-take-pictures, I swear. I'll probably never get quite to this level, but it's always fun, no matter how often I get to do it. 

big vintage book post

I've been sort of collecting up all my good recent book finds to do one big post about. I've been to garage sales, V.V's, a notable large high school rummage sale, and all of them usually provide me with a lovely book or six. So if you are not interested in awesome old kids books, crazy vintage knitting patterns and beautifully illustrated end papers, today's post is not for you. But I know a lot of you by now, and I'm thinking there are at least a couple of you who are going to find this right up your alley.  First, a lovely bunch of Little Golden Books. I was especially pleased to find the copy of "Mr. Bell's Fixit Shop" as one of you dear readers recommended it to me, and I've been on the look out for it ever since. I love it when I actually find something second-hand that I was looking for. That's the best. 

And then, a lovely trio of Richard Scarry books. You know what Richard Scarry fan I am. I was especially stoked to get the "Best Story Book Ever". It has such a great variety of stuff in it. We had a doctor's appointment, the Little Dude and I, and this was the only book we had to bring. It got us through the whole hour long wait quite easily. 

I actually had the "About Animals" book when I was little, I remember the cover quite well. Though now that I look at it as an adult, I feel like the illustrations are a little weird. Don't get me wrong, I still love the quality of them. I just think its... odd that the animals dressed as people are going to the zoo to look at animals who are not like people. You know what I mean. There is an odd sort of post modern quality about it that just always make me go "hunh".

"The Bunny Book" though, is just plain adorable.

Seriously, would you look at that! 

And its nice that Scarry acknowledges the paradox of clothed rabbits versus plain rabbit-rabbits here. That's helpful. 

I think that this might be one of my favourite Richard Scarry illustrations of all time. So lovely.

Picked this one up at a garage sale for the kitsch factor, assuming it would be of the slightly racist cowboys and indians genre, but it may actually be a reasonably good book. I haven't read it yet, so the jury is still out. 

Beautiful end papers though, I will say that. 

These 'Annuals', anthologies of stories and such, used to be extremely popular. I don't think anyone makes them anymore, but I find then from time to time. This one is in good condition, but more importantly...

...has awesome artwork.

Giant snakes and guns! Whew. 

I always like to pick up this kind of very specific cookbook. There is something so mid-century about a cook book devoted to the subject of meat. 

Also, the illustration captions are fantastic. 

I was pretty excited to pick this up for a dollar at a garage sale. 

Its got lots of great pictures, including these crazy squirrels...

and this terrifying wolverine. Its funny, I ran into one of my neighbors just after I picked this up. She's originally from Britain (though she's lived here for ages), and she said in her inimitable British way. "Oh that looks lovely. One does get rawther tired of all his birds." For some reason, it just killed me and I'm always going to think of that when I look at this book now. How tired I am of Audubon's birds.

Then of course, I've been picking up knitting patterns and such here there and everywhere. This lovely bunch are all from the high school rummage sale.

And this pile, as you can tell by the stickers, is from the Value Village. There is a lot I like about the V.V. but one thing I hate is these wretched stickers. They don't come off AT ALL. They tear, and then they rip the paper underneath and if by some miracle you can get them off (in many little pieces) they leave a sticky residue that makes the patterns stick to each other and rip some more. They are THE WORST!

I don't often bother with knitting patterns from the 80's (not quite vintage enough for me, plus, I was alive then, so they don't have the exotic waft of yesteryear that I'm so drawn to). But I had to pick this one up, just for the awesomeness of that cover model. She's workin' the hell out of that double breasted cable knit jacket! So much attitude.

And this is one of the patterns in that little Beehive for Kid's booklet. I'm totally making that little squirrel sweater for The Baby next fall. I'm thinking a nice beige/fawn colour with dark brown squirrels. It'd look so sweet on him. Plus also, squirrels!

And I want to make that boys pullover in a size big enough for me, and in different colours. Grey and yellow maybe. So cute. 

How awesome are these? Halters are indeed Tops (just like lamb chops apparently). I love how they show alternate styling/wardrobe options. Knitted halters; going from the Boardwalk to the Boardroom. Ah, seventies optimism, how I love you.

And I had to include these three shots from the Bernat knitting book (late sixties I'm thinking) just to illustrate the inequity in modeling from the time period. Beauty standards change a lot, and modeling for a home knitwear instructional guide is probably not the creme de la creme of modeling gigs. But still, in what world is this guy a model?  I'm sure his mother loves him, but seriously, that is a face for radio, as they say. 

And in what world is he married to this woman?

Honestly. Also, there are like, five or six different very attractive ladies featured throughout this book and just this one dude, and frankly he looks like he's suffered from one too many rugby related facial injuries. I'm guessing he was related to one of the photographers or something, and they just pulled him into the shoot in a pinch. Just sayin'.

thrifting: the fabric post

Ok, there has been a LOT of good thrifting going on around here lately. I keep meaning to take it all home and take pictures of it and post it right away, but you know how it goes, there always something else to do. Lunch has to be made and consumed and promptly excreted. And somehow I just don't get around to it. Anyhow, after two good garage sale days and an impromptu visit to the V.V. I have more stuff to blog about then will comfortably fit in one post. So I'm going to do a fabric post, a book post and a other stuff post. Anyhow, yesterday I did a HUGE pile of laundry. The kind of laundry that I like: lots of lovely new/old bedsheets. We finally had a bit of sun, so I hastened to get them all out on the line. Isn't that the happiest little laundry hanger you've ever seen? Just look past the ridiculous long grass and dandelions every where and the gardens that look like their sole purpose is to grow weeds. Just ignore that. Focus on the lovely, bright, happy, clean sheets airing on the line. 

I had a feeling that day when I pulled into the parking lot of the V.V. that I might find something good. I was hoping it was Star Wars sheets, because you know, those are kind of my bread and butter. But I could not be happier when it turned out to be these Richard Scarry sheets instead. 

If you don't know who Richard Scarry is you should go and look him up right now. Because he's awesome. He is a children's book illustrator of course, whose forte is anthropomorphic animals who live in a delightful little place called Busytown. We love his books and read them over and over again. I just love the detail of his work. Seriously, a gas station that looks like a gas can? I mean, come on.

And there is actually Latin on the library. I know it makes me some sort of Ivory Tower snob for liking that, but so be it. Its just that usually kids stuff is so dumbed down. Its refreshing to see the opposite.

And its funny, someone just requested a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle bib the other day and I had to say "sorry, I don't have any of that fabric." But now I do. I love it when that happens. 

And I could not pass up this bit of 70's text based awesomeness. You should see it. The repeat is HUGE so there is a lot of variety of density and waves. I kind of love it. 

At first glance this seemed not so special, so I just bought one pillowcase instead of two. But now that I see it in a photograph, I feel like I should have bought more. It's going to be awesome in quilts.

Standard pretty, soft blue floral. The best thing about it is the fabric texture though. Like freakin' butter.

And look! A pink one just like that blue set I got awhile back. Same nice heavy weight cotton. I love getting patterns in multiple colourways. 

Stripes. Because I can never pass up a good stripe. They just come in so handy. This is actually a duvet cover from Ikea and its HUGE. I'll probably use it for a quilt back.

And this nice little thing (though excuse the wrinkles) is some sort of tablecloth or lightweight throw. But I'm going to cut it in half and make a scarf out of it for myself. I love these colours and I totally want to wear them.

Also, I've been finding a lot of these lately. They're these souvenir type towels from Ireland. Always proudly marked 100% Irish Linen and almost never, ever used.
Seriously. Almost every time I find one its in pristine condition with the original out-of-the-package crease marks. I think every little old lady in the world has one of these in a drawer that she recieved as a gift and is 'just too nice to use'. Well screw that. Their day has come. I'm using 'em. 

Because really, they work SO WELL. I love a good linen dish towel. You wouldn't think they'd be that absorbent, but they totally are. And very cute to boot.

And look at this interesting thing. It was in the 'tablecloth' section, but I'm not sure it is a tablecloth. I know that its African, as I searched the text and it is in Swahili in fact. It says "Mother and her son does not envy". At least that's what Google Translator tells me. Since it is in Swahili it could be from Kenya, Tanzania or Mozambique, or possible Uganda, Malawi or Rwanda. I vaguely remember a presentation on these sort of textiles from my art school days, but I really need to go out and do some more research. Either way, its quite lovely. I'm so glad that I handwashed it though, and didn't just chuck it in with the brights, as it bled a ton of pink/red ink. Probably purchased as a souvenir and was never washed before. 

Anyhow, just as we were finishing lunch the day I washed these, it started to get very ominously dark. My Dad phoned to tell me to get my laundry off the line (as my Mom was also doing laundry too, and had run out to get hers in) So I quickly popped the Baby out of his high chair and went about getting him a little sweater and finding some shoes. And just as I walked out the door it started to rain. So I dashed out and started tearing things off the line. The Baby, having a bit of good sense apparently, stayed under the deck, watching me run about like a madwoman. I finally got it all in, turned around and ran back under the deck to see.... The Baby very much enjoying himself a little snack. I ran over to him, jammed my finger into his mouth...

..AND PULLED OUT A WORM!

Not much about parenting grosses me out, but that sure did. He thought it was quite funny. When I told hubs later he asked if it was a live worm or a dried up dead worm. I wasn't quite sure, but really, I'm don't think one was preferable to the other. 

Anyhow, they say you eat 8 spiders in your sleep over the course of a lifetime, and a pound of dirt over the course of your childhood, but they never said anything about worms. 

sesame street quilt

Finished the Sesame Street quilt I've been working on for the last week or so today. It's made from a vintage bedsheet, natch, and one that I'd cut to smithereens already for bibs and such. It finally had no more good places to cut the aforementioned bibs out of, since they require a big-ish weird shape, with a good image in the middle, that often cuts into adjacent imagery. Its hard to explain. But there were lots of good little bits and pieces left that though not big enough for bibs, would make a lovely quilt if I cut it cleverly enough. 

It was very much a fussy-cutting project, which is, as you know, how I like them. Appeals to all my obsessive and crazy-hoarder tendencies in just the right way. Anyhow, here it is: I cut all these cute 'windows' out and then repieced them to look like windows within a wall. I found this awesome background fabric at my local sewing shop, and then just used some grey Kona for the sills.  As you can see in this photo, a good third of the cut outs were in need of some creative patching in order to fit in the 'window' area that I was sewing. Look along the left hand side there, and you can see where I've Frankensteined the image together along the black balcony railing. Its not perfect, but I had very limited fabric, so I just made the best of it. It was kind of fun too. Lots of puzzle piecing and hand sewing. 

Here's a shot of the backing fabric. Another old bedsheet. Though it looks like it was made to match practically. 

Here it is all folded in a pile. 

And here's a shot to show you the way I finished the edges. Its my quick and dirty sew, turn and topstitch. I'm growing quite fond of this method. 

Oh, and here's a lovely baby, showing us what little quilts are for. I'm sorry, but the rest of this post is just going to be a zillion pictures of my baby on the quilt. He was such a good and patient little model. He has this great trick, where he likes to lay his head down to cuddle soft things (pillows, teddy bears, blankets, etc.) So all I had to do was say "awww, saaaawft..." in a sing songy voice and he'd gamely lay his little head down and cuddle against the quilt. 

Seriously. I can't get enough of those big eyes of his. 

And that toothy little grin.

I was mostly taking these shots so that I could post this quilt on etsy. I always love a good 'product in use' shot, especially with baby stuff. 

These ones would work better for etsy, because they are less about a specific baby, and more about 'whatever baby you would like to imagine, using this quilt'.

Baby toes are always good too.

But I put it to a vote on facebook and this was the photo that most agreed would best sell the quilt. Along with four other straight up product shots on white backgrounds. And then after all that, one of my facebook friends went and spoke for it before it even went up on etsy. So it turns out that its good that my little product shoot turned into a 'document the Baby at this age' shoot. Totally worth it. 

oh, and my big-boy-baby got in on the act a bit too. Such a big kid by comparison, but you know what they say, you always still see your baby. 

my dad goes thrifting

He's a good man, that Dad of mine. He and my Mom were out having lunch in some other city recently when he spied a Value Village across the parking lot. And so, since he reads my blog he knows I shop there for sheet fabric a lot, and he decided to do a little shopping for me. Despite the fact that we don't exactly have the same taste and he's not what I'd call a fabric enthusiast, he went in, rolled up his sleeves and hit the housewares section for me. And you know, he did a pretty good job. Of the eight things he picked out, there were only three I didn't have any use for. And the icing on the cake was that the three I didn't like could be retuned to the store and exchanged for something else, and that gave me an excuse to go to the v.v. and do some shopping. Ahem. So really, its a win-win. 

These are the four that my Dad picked. A nice variety of florals with good variation in scale. I could even see using these four together in the same quilt.

These are the two I'm especially fond of. That one on the right is really great, I should have taken a bigger picture, but it has a lovely palette, and the colours are sort of slightly faded and yet bright. I know that sounds contradictory, but I don't know how else to describe it. 

Anyhow, then I went back to the V.V. and got a lot of other stuff. Like this Care Bear bedsheet. I already have this one, and for some reason, when I make bibs out of it, they just don't sell. But whatever, I know one day the Care Bear fabric resources will dry up, and then I'll wish I'd have bought this if I didn't. You know what I mean. All the hoarders are nodding their heads with me on this one. The sane people are confused, but whatever.

And I'm really stoked about this one. Miffy! Hubs called her "the poor man's Hello Kitty", but I totally disagree with him. If you don't know about Dick Bruna, you're obviously not Dutch, and you should go and google him right now. Such great illustrations, and a fond memory from my childhood.

Though is it just me, or is that little rabbit on the right throwing up a gang sign. Hm.

That stripe on top is a pillowcase and the dot on the bottom is another one of the Dad-finds. Its not sheeting, but a nicer mid-weight chuck of yardage from the random fabric section. I really like it a lot. 

And how 'bout this great sheet? I don't think I'll cut this one up. I'm tempted to use it to make a whole cloth quilt, and just quilt along the lines of the pattern. I just love the colours and the pattern and the sort of weird Frank Stella-y-ness of it. 

Yep, that was bound to happen. I swear, toddlers are basically hyperactive cats. 

I was very responsible in the men's shirt section and only bought two. Though you'll note that they are both courtesy of Mr. Hilfiger again. Can't beat the lovely bold plaids. I wish these were my size because I'd wear them both. I'm going to have to learn to tailor shirts one of these days.

Also, I'm a sucker for any purse or wallet with a frog clasp like this. And this little quilted one is just screaming out to me to applique or embellish it in some way. Yep, only a matter of time.

Quite pleased to find this good quality little pair of shoes for the Baby. They'll probably fit him by the end of the summer. They're the kind of shoe that's $45 when new in the stores, but I got them for $1.99. Score!

A little glass for my Little Dude. Nice and heavy bottomed, the better not to spill. 

And isn't this just the sweetest little pitcher? Look at that spout! So graceful and verging on the anthropomorphic. I feel like he's going to start talking to me any minute.

Here's the bottom. I collect this stuff, and used to find tons of it, but now its' getting scarce.

A last minute standing in line purchase. The Little Dude has recently been enamoured of these little animal toys, I believe they are called "The Littlest Petshop". His cousin gave him a few from her old collection and he's been loving them. Anything tiny, you know. They're cute and a little weird so I'm on board with that. And there, by the checkout was a whole bag of the for, you guessed it, $1.99. I've put them in the surprise cupboard and am doling them out one at a time when we need a diversion. So he can feel like he's 'collecting' them too.

And feast your eyes on the most amazing earrings ever. I don't normally wear gold, but in the case of '80s neo-deco/southwestern style phoenixes, I'll make an exception.

I love the Value Village. And I love my Dad.

 

framed brooch display tutorial

I have a problem with stuff. I like to collect things, but often find that all my carefully chosen treasures somehow disappear into boxes and don't get enjoyed, by me or anyone else. It was my New Year's resolution to try and display some of my collections and make them accessible for use. I decided jewelry would be a good place to start. I have a ridiculous collections of costume and vintage jewelry that I've been picking up here and there since highschool, and yet, I wear the same necklace, ring and earrings all the time. So maybe if I could see some of this nice jewellry I'd wear it more often. Or not. Brooches are my weakness, but ever since the big vintage-style-brooches-on-cardigans trend of the mid 2000's, I've been kind of over wearing them. But I still love them. They are beautiful, and I wanted a better way to display them than in a jumbled dusty heap on a saucer. 

So I decided to make myself a lovely brooch display picture frame dealy.
Ta-daaaah! I've seen this kind of thing around before, but did not want to hand over the money to buy one when I could conceivably make one myself. And you can too, because I'm going to tell you how.

Lets start with materials. You will need the following:

An old frame, the more ornate the better. 

Spray primer

White spray paint (I prefer matte, because then it has a sort of porcelain look, but you could use glossy too, if that's your style)

pliers and flat head screwdrivers

cardboard/foamcore/cork board

quilt batting/flannel/felt

fabric large enough to cover the area inside your frame, plus at least 2 inches all around.

Thick thread (I used top stitching thread, but in a pinch I'll bet dental floss could work too)

scissors

sewing needle with an eye big enough to accomodate your thread choice

staple gun with staples

So here's my original frame:

I got mine from the Value Village, but just keep your eyes open when you are in any second hand shop and if its meant to be, one will eventually come your way. This one originally had a lovely needlepoint of some daisy's in it, which I used to make this tote bag.  1. Start by pulling whatever was in the frame, out of the frame. Make sure not to damage the frame. Use your pliers and flat head screwdriver to pry out staples and such. Then useing a damp cloth, wipe down the frame to get any dust or loose dirt off it. But you don't have to go crazy. You're going to be spray painting it after all.

2. Priming. Make sure to do this in a well ventilated place, like an open garage, or your back balcony. Lay down some newspaper if you don't want to get spray paint every where. Following the manufacturer's instructions, apply one or two coats of primer. I used two, as after the first coat had dried, there was some yellowing showing where there were cracks in the frame. 

3. Spray painting. Apply however many coats of spray paint until it looks the way you want it. I did two coats of matte white, just to be thorough. Allow to dry completely.  See how pretty that looks?

4. Make the part that goes into the frame, the pin-board we shall call it. This is a bit tricky, since it really, really depends on your frame and its never going to be the same as mine. Mine was a very shallow frame, so a lot of possible materials would have been too thick. Foam core, for example, would have worked well, but was too deep. And I was shocked to find that my local craft and hardware stores did not stock bit sheets of cork, or even anything like it. I did buy a role of very thin, adhesive cork that turned out to be totally useless. You're just going to have to shop around and find something at a store near you, or maybe on the internet that works. What I ended up using was a plain old piece of corrugated cardboard, which I cut to the size of the opening. I put a layer of that adhesive cork on it, but that was no good, because the adhesive actually made it hard to poke the brooch pins into it. I ended up turning it around, and then cutting a layer of quilt batting and a layer of cotton flannel and putting those on top. 

  Anyhow, your goal is to end up with something like this. Test it for 'pokeablility' with safety pins or something, because you just want your brooch pins to poke into it easily, and not slide out until you want them. 

5. Cover with fabric. Choose something you like. I decided to go with a plain charcoal grey cotton, as I wanted the brooches to really stand out against it, but you could also totally do a print and make it really fun. Stripes would be awesome, or some vintage style print would be great too. There are so many fun fabric options out there. But do stick with a light-to-medium weight fabric. A heavy upholstery fabric might make it hard to get a nice clean wrap around, and would be bulky in the corners making the whole thing too thick to fit. If you do decide to go with something thicker, like a velvet or something, just be sure to cut your pin-board backing a little smaller in order to make it fit. And also test the size of it in the frame before you go to all the work of securing the fabric to the board.

You have a two different options to get the fabric to stay in place. You could just wrap it around and use a staple gun to keep it in place, but then you'd need to be using a thick enough pin-board substance that the staples would not show thorough in the front. It wouldn't have worked with my little piece of cardboard. Instead, I decided to lace it together.

To lace the fabric around the board, start by laying the fabric, right side down on your work table. Then position the pin board in the middle of the fabric. Starting with the sides, take your thick-ish thread, and your needle and sew back and forth from side to side as though you were lacing a corset. Or putting shoe laces in your sneakers. Whatever you are more familiar with. This is going to take a very long piece of thread, so what I usually do is I just keep it on the spool. Istead of trying to measure the length of thread I'd need and cutting and knotting it, I just thread the needle onto the end hanging off the spool, and sew away, while unspooling what I need. Start at one end, and a scant three eighths of an inch in from the egde (just enough so it wont be too close to the raw edge) and go across the back of the pin-board and insert your needle from the top down into the fabric on the other side. Continue, going back and forth and catching the edges of the fabric, making the stitches about three quarters of an inch apart, until you reach the bottom of the pin-board. Then, after you've tightened all the "stitches", and are holding the last stitch taut, go in and out around the last spot a lot of times, and run your needle underneath this bunch of stitches, and pass the needle though the loop you've created to make a knot. Do this a couple of times, so that it is really secure. Repeat with the top and bottom edge. 

Alternatively, if you don't feel confident with a needle and thread, you could also just go ahead and use good ole' duct tape. That would work too. Won't be as pretty, but then again, you won't really be seeing the back that often, will you?6. When you are done with that, you are going to pop the pin-board back into the frame.

7. Then, using your staple gun, you are going to to staple all around the edges, so one side of the staple is in the frame and one side is in the pin-board back. 

As you can see, you don't need to go crazy with the staples. Just enough to keep in in place. Also, in this image you can see the lacing back and forth that is holding the fabric in place. 

8. Now comes the fun part. Get out your brooch collection and enjoy making a lovely arrangement of them. Go by theme, by colour, by category, or just make a fun, pleasing random arrangement.

As I said, this really gave me the chance to appreciate my collection aknew. I have some really lovely little pieces here that deserve a chance to shine, or at the very least, see daylight. 

Et voila! Find yourself a nice patch of wall and hang that puppy up there. And then give yourself a pat on the back for being so clever. And think about wearing brooches again sometime soon. 

care bears

Look what I dug out of some boxes in the back of the garage. You see, the Little Dude has this little purple Care Bear, Share Bear I believe it is, that a friend of mine gave to him when he was born, back in Montreal. Recently he pulled it out of the back of a cupboard and has become quiet enamoured of it. So yesterday we were talking about what to get for The Baby for his birthday, and L.D. suggested a Care Bear. So we went online to see what other Care Bears there were, and I could not find anywhere where you can buy them new. Apparently they have a TV show, so I'm astounded that there is not accompanying merchandise. But what I did notice was that people were selling vintage Care Bears. "Hm," I thought to myself "I know I've got a few of those kicking around in the back of the garage." So after everyone was tucked in bed I did a little digging and found six of these little plush lovelies just dying to be played with again. That is, after they all had a good wash and spent the night drying by the fire.  Friend Bear and Tender Heart Bear

You may wonder why I had so many Care Bears as a kid. Well, half of these are my brother's, and half are mine. And therefore I decided to call him up and ask him if it was ok to let the boys play with his old toys. (I wanted to avoid the great Space Lego debacle of 1999. Don't ask.) Lotsa Heart Elephant and Swift Heart Rabbit

So I get him on the phone and say, "Hey, remember your old Care Bears?" and he's all like "oh, TenderHeart, Swift Heart Rabbit and Baby Tugs?" And I was all like "Wow, I'm so impressed you know all their names, I can barely remember the names of my own, and he says "you mean, Friend Bear, Baby Hugs and Lotsa Heart Elephant?" And I was all like "DUDE, your long term memory is RIDICULOUS!" Baby Tugs and Baby Hugs

As a side note, if you are his girlfriend and you are reading this, he has no reason EVER to forget your birthday or anniversary. If he can remember the names of his toys from the 80's, he should be able to remember when you started dating. Just sayin'.   So here I am (on the far right) at some point in the mid 80's officiating at the wedding of two of my favourite Teddy Bears. Please note that I am reading the actual form for marriage out of the back of the old Psalter Hymnal. If I was going to do it, I was going to do it right. Also, see how early I was a proponent of women in church office? Some things never change. Anyhow, my point is that there are all the Care Bears (or most of them) in the audience in the living room wedding chapel. And how sweet are my mom and sister, patiently humoring me as they sit through the whole thing no doubt. 

Anyhow, early in the morning today, when it was just me and the Baby up, we went downstairs and after taking these pictures put away all but two of them. I'll save the other four for various rainy days when the Little Dude is in need of a surprise. No need to flood the market as it were.     It also appears that the Baby has made his choice. I think he might get Baby Tugs as a re-gift from his Uncle Lemur Boy at his first birthday.

I waited until after breakfast to give Friend Bear and TenderHeart to L.D. And he was absolutely delighted with them. Along with his little purple bear, they are obviously a family as far as he's concerned.  He sat them all down together, re-united at last.

Then they got sat upon chairs...

...tucked into beds...

...and perched onto ladders. 

And just generally loved up. Though the clear winner by the end of the day is Tenderheart Bear. L.D. has declared that the Baby may have Friend Bear (a clear sign of disfavour) though as I tucked him into bed tonight I noticed that all Care Bears were present and accounted for. Its so funny and nice to see him playing with something that I played with once. Kind of lovely. And I have to say they must have been pretty well made because they washed up like a dream and are as soft and cuddly as ever. 

Special thanks to Uncle Lemur Boy, my little brother, for being so generous with his toys. He always was a good sharer. And it warms my heart to see another little boy loving that little brown bear. 

calm

This doesn't happen often during my day. Two quiet, still, calm little boys enjoying their picture books, side by side. Its a sight to warm a mother's heart, I tell you. Rare are these moments. And when they do occur, you treasure it. You nurture it. You grab the camera and take a picture to prove that it actually happened. And then you go and try to get something done while the quiet lasts. By some miracle, this actually happened in the half-hour before dinner. And of course, it didn't last too long, but it was very nice while it did. I managed to got a lot of my dinner prep done for once without having to say things like "Your little brother is playing happily, can you please leave him alone." or "no, that's his, toy, he had it first, why don't you go play with one of your toys." or "no, no, that's dangerous, please leave the garbage can alone." or the ever popular "get that out of your mouth!"
I'm not saying they never play quietly. They do sometimes, but its often a bit more high-energy than this. And if one of them is happily absorbed in some activity, its not unusual that the other is tearing the book case apart. Though for the baby, that does qualify as quiet activity, and I've purposely filled the bottom shelves of the bookcase with his boardbooks, just so he can have the pleasure of removing each and every last one of them. We call him our "little de-shelver" or "the baby marauder". It often keeps him happy and occupied for all of the time it takes me to prep lunch.

And speaking of food, look at the awesome little grocery list I found at the store today.  Have I mentioned that I collect discarded grocery lists? There's something about them that I just love. The handwriting, the crossing out, the weird paper people use sometimes. I love that this one is tiny. 

Also, here's what's on the other side. Um, is it just me or does item number four say 'But Mush'? I hope that's short for something. Buttered Mushrooms? Butternut Squash Mush? Whatever it is, they appear to have found it. Phew.