karg glass studio visit

kechi, ks is about 15 minutes outside of wichita & one of the churches there has a rummage sale every summer which is how I stumbled on the karg glass studio. {it always comes back to thrifting one way or another!}

anyhow, I called to see if they would be open the day after thanksgiving & not only were they open but they were having blow your own ornament workshops! rather than post a bunch of photos from the workshop & the giftshop I put together a quick slideshow:



obviously the studio artisan did all the hard work - still, it was really interesting to see the process close up {mom watched but didn't make an ornament}. and it was so much fun for me to be able to find an activity for us to do together that my sister was really into to. also it provided an opportunity to create proof that she is way more full of hot air then me because her ornament ended up being almost twice as big as mine!

at the museum

my sister is an art teacher...the kind of art teacher every kid wants because she is excited about it & makes learning about it fun. so the second thing we did after she & my mom arrived {the first was eat} was go to the art museum:











we were happily surprised to see a burchfield since we are from western new york & both went to buffalo state. in fact, my sister has taken several glass classes at the burchfield penney recently which has only intensified her interest in glass & which made the chihuly installations a highlight of our visit:




and considering what I had planned for us on black friday all that glass was kind of ironic...

wednesday = thursday = embroidery

{my mom & sister arrive this afternoon - yay! - so I'm going to be taking off the rest of the week to eat, drink & be thankful with them...but I didn't want to skip my weekly embroidery post, so we're going to pretend it's thursday.}

I've actually been pretty productive lately so I have another finished project to share with you:


the printed painting came from the thrift store & the home sweet home from flickr. I sized & adjusted the design on the computer to fit, printed & taped it together then used {thrifted} carbon paper to transfer the design onto the back of the cardboard:


next I used a cordless drill to make the holes & yarn to do the cross-stitch:


I'm really happy with the way it came out & might have to do some more in the future...black friday I'll probably be at the thrift store looking for more artwork :)

and for this week's embroidery transfer - a bird with a weapon just seemed fitting:


happy stitching & happy thanksgiving!!

diamonds are also a cat's best friend

or not...

diamonds are a dog's best friend

out & about

{have a great weekend!}

thursday = embroidery

pretty quick & pretty easy way to make thrift store rubber boots pretty:


first I drew the design on with a pencil then used a punch tool {I got mine in the leather section at hobby lobby} to create the holes. not pictured is the piece of wood I slipped inside the boot when punching the holes...


after punching all the holes I just cleaned off the pencil lines & used a yarn needle to do the embroidery:




and for this week's vintage embroidery pattern I picked a cat...naturally:

you know, because of puss in boots!

happy stitching :)

the toy guidance council

it started with this feature I found in a recently thrifted 1956 xmas magazine:





so many great toys - and those prices! but at the same time I was curious about this "toy guidance council" who supposedly tested & approved them all...so I did a quick search online & found these great photographs:







seems those folks really took their jobs testing very seriously :)

sources: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

recently thrifted

at the flea market on sunday I found a hohner melodica...which looks like this:


and sounds like this:

somebody had a cozy weekend...

hope you did too :)

accordions & cuckoo clocks

until I learned my latest song the combination, of accordions & cuckoo clocks never crossed my mind...but now that it has I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of having one someday, which thanks to the internet I found is indeed possible since a quick search turned up these examples:





and here's the song that started it - "the cuckoo waltz" - which is also the one I've enjoyed playing the most so far:

Untitled from g. on Vimeo.

oh - by the way, despite the impression the dog gives yawning like we'd been doing this for hours, this was actually my first try recording the song...which is why I let out that ridiculous giggle at the end, I couldn't believe I got it on the first take :)

{have a wonderful weekend!}

p.s. I still remember getting that dress at a church bag sale awhile back thinking someday I just might need the kind of outfit one would wear to a beer hall...

thursday = embroidery

the best part of this tie I recently finished?


the adorably cool 14 year old who wore it to his jazz band concert!



I was so happy he liked it! and flattered to hear he got some compliments on it from the other guys...and their dads ;)

speaking of happy...how about a happy little iron as this week's vintage embroidery pattern?


happy stitching!

p.s. you can purchase the pin-up girl design here

1958 McCalls xmas aprons

p.s. thank you all so much for the comments on yesterday's post! I'm so happy you liked it :)

repurposed tv trays

awhile back I found a bunch of patterned metal tv trays:


and got the idea to repurpose them into frames:


I used an air nibbler {air compressor required} to do basic cutting & then I went in with metal shears to refine the lines.


I really love the way they look!

I even used the center pieces that were cut out to make some little critters:



I've still got some good sized pieces left that I could work with...I think I'll cut out some letters next :)