Vintage Inspired Bobby Pins, Pyrex Butter Dishes and Lovely Sewing Notions

It has been a couple of weeks folks, I am not gonna lie. When I wrote my last post I was riding high on the excitement of a possible job in Vermont. My mind was all a buzz about the prospect of being close to home, my mom and my BFF. I made the mistake of allowing my hopes to rise, and when I got the email saying that had chosen to move other candidates on to the second interview, I crashed. I spent a week in a total funk and I completely shut down.

I am coming out of the funk now, little by little, putting a possible plan in place to get back home in the next year, and trying to make peace with my job until I leave.

But I wanted to get on the blog, and share a couple things that have been making me smile lately:

These are a couple bobby pins I made for my new short hairdo. They are necklace charms I repurposed from the Timeline and Fairy Tale lines in Hobby Lobby. They look SUPER cute in my hair.

The next two come from the awesome ESTATE SALE IN A BOX! My mom's BFF sent me a huge box full of stuff, which included a gorgeous vintage camera for Hayden, crewel embroidery wool, and other stuff, including a

Spring Blossom Pyrex Butter dish (a lovely surprise after getting home from a fruitless Pyrex hunt) and

A bag of buttons. Those white ones with flowers in the foreground are my fave! So cute.

And lastly, its not really vintage, having come from 2000, but this fabric I found at an estate sale is just too pretty. It's over 2 yards and I got it for $2. I love the colors and print, and cannot wait to make something with it.

What's getting you through the crummy days lately?

All photos in this post were edited using the two COOLEST photo apps ever A Beautiful Mess and PicTapGo. And no, I wasn't paid to say that. I bought the apps with my own $$ and think they were worst every penny!

Project Life Week 17

Against my better judgment, I took the day off from studying. Hayden is in Nashville with our friend until tomorrow and I had the house to myself all weekend. I was supposed to have the entire weekend off, but other people were out this weekend so I had to work yesterday :(. And, I had originally planned on studying today like a good little bar exam taker, but last night I realized I had typed out an entire page of an evidence law outline and remembered typing absolutely none of it.

I was mentally spent. I have been noticing that I have been getting antsy lately due to the lack of creative time I have had. I have been keeping up with my PL album, but that, and a little bit of embroidery or knitting at night, had been the extent of it.

I had grand plans of getting my PL album caught up today, scrapping an actual page, and playing with my jewelry supplies. I got the PL album done, but that took me a lot longer than I expected because I got a little more crafty with it than normal, but I didn't quite make it to my jewelry or the actual full page layout. But that's ok, because I feel a lot better just having a day where I A) did not have to run all over the place, B) played some Warcraft and C) didn't spend all day staring at books.

Here is some of the PL pages I did today. I am not entirely thrilled with how the pics turned out. I took the damn things 5 times, but either the light sucked or the page protectors reflected to much. The time of day probably had something to do with it. But, it was either say good enough and have a post or go another week with out anything.

Week 17 was super pic intensive because it was the second half of my mom's visit a couple weeks ago. The week actually has 4 pages, but I am just sharing the main 2. In contrast, Week 18, which isn't pictured, has exactly one 4x6 card with a photo. Its either feast or famine around here most weeks, but I still try to have something documenting the weeks passing, even if its only a journaling card.

So please excuse the lighting. And Mom, if you are reading this, avert thine eyes, there are pics of you in here and I know how much you hate that. That's what you get when your daughter is a famous, scrapbooking, blogger.

Er, well, at least a blogger.

Most of the pages are pictures taken while we were in Graceland. I am not a big Elvis fan, but I have a while new appreciation for him now because of the awesome 50's stuff I saw. That pink Cadillac? SWOON. I even got little pink Cadillac earrings to wear, and have gotten a ton of compliments on them.  You also might notice I chopped off 5 inches from my hair. The style is super cute, and with the new bobby pins I made from some jewelry pieces, it is totally rocking the retro look. Everyone loves it, most of all me.

I do plan on sharing those bobby pins and some more jewelry pieces as soon as I get enough made to warrant an actual post. It's the first time in about 2 years I have actually been excited about getting into me jewelry stash (which is quite big).

The supplies used are:

• Love Card Silhouette Shape
• Flower Card Silhouette Shape
• Rain Project Life Digital Kit Journaling Cards (I got it from the Digi Files, it doesn't seem to be released yet)
• Various pieces from Pink Paislee's Vintage Line (Discontinued - SAD FACE)

WIP Wordless Wednesday - Embroidery

Sublime Stitching's Epic Alphabet pattern using a mix of new, satin and vintage floss.

A New Vintage Sewing Machine - Improved New Wilson circa 1910

Isn't she lovely? I found her in an antique store in Vicksburg, MS while I was down there with my Mom and her BFF, Jan. The machine is not connected to the original table, but look at the detailing that is still on it! I feel in love with it the moment I saw it, but really had not budgeted a $50 purchase into my "mad money" that week.

Mom to the rescue! Seeing me petting it ever so gently (her name is Vivian, the machine, not my mom) and looking at it all misty-eyed, she offered to make it an early birthday present. I normally would have said no since it was $50, but the thought of not going home with this broke my vintage loving heart, so I let her.

The machine is a Improved New Wilson by A.G. Mason. I can't find a lot of info on this particular model, but from what I have read, it looks like it dates back to circa 1910-1920. Does anyone have any info on these, or know where I can find them. When I search on the net, I just find some sale listings and some history on Wilson machines, but nothing on this model in particular.

Take the Pledge!

I don't usually post about things that cost money, but I have always been a firm believer in making your dreams a reality, owning your your business, and doing your thing despite risks.

I love Tangie Baxter. I was a member of the Art Journal Caravan in 2012, I buy a lot of her digital supplies, and I stalk her Alice in Wonderland Pintrest board. She has always been amazingly helpful and beyond nice when I have contacted her, and I wish I could attend her workshops in AZ.

Well Tangie is going for it, hoping to make her dream a reality. Today is the last day for pledges to be made to help her do so. Click the pic below to learn what she is doing, and how you can help.

I pledged. I hope someday it will be paid forward and someone will help my dream too.

Vintage Embroidery Finds

It seems that the one thing I see at 90% of the estate sales down here is vintage embroidery tools and patterns. I have a ton of wooden and metal hoops I scoop up for half price, an organizer half filled with vintage floss (some good, while some just splits when you try and use it), and now I have a couple of cool "kit" pieces from the 1950s (I think).

The first is a set of pillow cases that have the pattern on the edges already, and a little yellow apron that someone already started. I plan on pulling the old thread out and redoing it in new thread. Both the apron and the cases have a little bit of staining on them, but I think that can be solved with a gentle wash. I know everything is a little wrinkly, but I haven't done the research on proper cleaning of older fabric, especially with pattern work on them, yet.

I am in love with the pillow cases! I have always loved the photos I see in magazines of beds with embroidered pillow cases, granny square afghans and metal frames. So vintage and cozy looking!

I even found a finished price in the baggie that had the apron and pillow cases crammed into it. I am going to frame it and give it away. Someone took the time to do this lovely bit of needlework and it ends up crammed in a baggie with a $2 price tag on it. So sad :(

Any awesome vintage finds for you lately?

I've Gone Potty for Pyrex

Ever since Hayden and I started scouting estate sales, I have been on the lookout for vintage kitchen ware such as enamel colanders, baking tools and Pyrex. However, since Hayden and I usually go in the afternoons, or on half price day (last day of the sale), all of that stuff is usually gone.

Can you believe I never even THOUGHT to check out the trillion antique malls and consignment stores that are in driving distance from us?

Hello?? Sue??

While my mom was down we went to every antique mall, estate sale, etc, we could find, both on the trip to Vicksburg, and around town after we got back. Finally, I found some great vintage Pyrex, all in really great condition, that I could replace some of my newer, more boring cookware with (the newer stuff went to Goodwill). Pyrex makes me happy because it reminds of seeing my mother and grandmother cook. Of course they didn't have all the patterns, but they had some, and just the shape of the items invokes nostalgia in me. My mother said more than once, while seeing me scour the stores and sales, she couldn't believe that I wanted Pyrex. As I have said, I am pretty darn liberal, and very much a "I am Woman, hear me boss you around" type of chick, but I am also pretty darn old fashioned when it comes to cooking, cleaning and all that. I am truly at my happiest when I am crafting or doing domestic things.

So, any of you fellow Pyrex lovers and want to see my finds? Well here you go.

The first set isn't Pyrex, but Fire King by Anchor Hocking. It is still collected like Pyrex, and looks enough like it to fools newbies like me. The loaf pan (top) has a unidentified pattern (according to Pyrex Love) and the bottom dish is the Candle Glow Pattern.

The find I love the best!! The large blue divided veggie dish with patterned lid is the Pyrex Horizon Blue Pattern from the 1970's. (While my favorite decades are the 1910-50's, mostly 40's and 50's, my love of Pyrex knows no decade boundaries!) The little covered refrigerator dish is the Butterprint Pattern from the late 1940's.

So cute! There is an estate sale right down the road from me this weekend that has a full set of mixing bowls in the Butterprint pattern. I am going to try and get my hands on them if they do not cost an arm and a leg. I could get them off eBay or Etsy too, but it takes some of the fun out of it don't ya think?

Update: by the time we got to the sale, they were gone ::sad face::

The patterns here, L-R Clockwise, are: Gold Acorn from the 60's, Forest Fancies from the 80's, and the red Holiday Casserole from the 60's. OhEmGee, I love these darn things.

My last set is one of my faves too. Butterfly Gold from the 60's definitely reminds me of home and baking, and it makes me smile every time I use it. Plus the loaf pan has the distinction of being the very first piece I found at a sale when I was only beginning to look for it.

I have even found a blog, the Pyrex Collective (there are 3!), about Pyrex, and a couple books about Pyrex and Fire King Collectibles that I want to get. Do you guys know of any other resources?


Despite the fact that my mom's BFF who came down with her brought some plane cold and got me sick (Thanks SO much Jan!! j/k), I might get out of the house and hit a couple shops today, but we will see.

Stay tuned for some more sewing and embroidery finds!