Monarch Post

baskets and ballet

I have nineteen Easter baskets to decorate and sell to All Tucked In this year.

And I have been workin like a factory robot this week...

little wooly yellow daffodils and pink roses.

I am pretty sure I'm insane to do this again.

They are time consuming, but they sell OUT.

and that is a good thing for my little cottage business :)

So there ya go.

**********************

I've been watching TED while I work on my iphone and I love it!

TED features over 1,000 20 minute talks from leaders in all sorts of fields.

Smart people who are progressive and visionary thinkers.

And no name calling... Wow. Imagine that.

It's been really good to watch something so positive.

And I feel like my brain gets a workout.

When I'm doing work like today that is just repetitive I feel braindead.

I like to watch tv so it's less tedious, but The View is old

and soap operas are the biggest waste of time ever invented.

what else is there? (Except working dogs on PBS- that was fun to watch this week too.)

So go check it out, if ya want : )

Nice shot of the superhero guy on the tv on my sideboard mirror.

Whoops.

But the baskets are looking sweet, don't you think.

They are thrift store finds for about $1.00 each.

I've been hunting for baskets whenever I hit the thrift stores since January to find the really nice ones, and then I paint them with semi-gloss spary paint

I sprayed them white and pink again this year- they sell the best. 

Mike bought Sophey a dozen pink roses for her ballet recital last recital.

He played around with my camera and took  photos.

Aren't they pretty?!

And so was the ballerina girl.

She was a bridesmaid for Cinderella's wedding.

This was an elaborate production... an hour and a half of dance segments.

Amazing costumes and creativity.

If you live near Bountiful Utah and need a dance studio, the Creative Arts Academy is wow.

This girl is a dancer... and a performer.

She is shy when she is around large groups of people, but not when she hits the stage.

She loves it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

And a happy St. Patrick's Day.

I forgot it was St Patrick's Day until just now.

Mike and I are going on a hot date to Red Lobster tomorrow night.

I don't think that's very Irish,

so maybe I'll just tell my lobster a nice Irish limmerick and call it good ; )

XOK!

thrifting, stitching... and staring contests

Last week while I was at the thrift store hunting for fabric and wools I found these four little charmers.

Mini dutch ovens.

Aren't they the cutest things ever?

75 cents each and RED!

Score : )

And here they are topless. Ha.

So I washed them up and made dinner for four with them.

Shrimp, crab and broccoli alfredo.

It was a hit.

I think it was part recipe and part novelty with the kids.

I boiled the noodles and fresh, chopped broccoli together.

I used cooked, tail-on, medium sized shrimp that I broke in half after removing the tails.

And a can of crab meat.

Two chopped green onions.

I used a packet of dry alfredo sauce mix and followed the directions- (the cheapie mix packet.)

Mixed everything together, sprayed the dutch ovens, filled them and then sprinkled the tops with a three cheese blend of  Italian cheeses, Parmesan cheese, and paprika... in that order.

Baked them at 350 for twenty five minutes.

And while they were baking I chopped up a few avocados and a mango.

This is what happens when you go to San Diego on vacation...

still craving the seafood, avocados, and mangos.

I had never tried diced avocados with mangos before our trip, but they are wonderful!

And if you've never put them together, well, you just should.

The flavors are so complementary together... I swear I heard them telling each other how much they liked each other before I ate them.  Ha.

******************************************************

Anyway,  there's my fancy schmancy dinner recipe of  the week for you.

(Call Paula and Martha and tell them to move over ; D )

The breakfst scene goes like this every morning at our house.

Jesse likes to eat breakfast in the recliner while he watches Sportscenter... and I let him.

Winston sits in front of him and gives him the big staredown for some of his breakfast.

He never takes his eyes off of him the whole time Jesse is eating.

It's too funny to watch.

Sometimes Winston has success with his puppy dog eyes...

and sometimes he doesn't.

This wasn't his morning for leftover success.

Bummer.

I worked all Wednesday on Etsy items ( yes, I'm still stockpiling for a re-opening someday...)

I started crocheting teensy little primroses and then couldn't stop, because that's what happens when I crochet. My brain apparently likes endless repetition when it comes to winding thread around a tiny needle. (Too bad it doesn't like endless laundry repetition-wouldn't that be awesomeness?)

But they'll all eventually get used... they'll get used as decorations for different crafting projects- baby balls, children's totes, barrettes, and stuff.

I also designed a nd crocheted patterns for a little girl's drawstring purse and a sock monkey purse in red. They are finished except for some trimmings, so no photos yet.

I have so many things almost finished- I seem to work better that way... jumping from one project to the next gives me more ideas and energy than working on one thing at a time...

Aren't they sweet and springy?

I stumbled on my first real sight of spring last week... I saw swiss snowdrops peeking out from under brown dead grass while driving through town the other day... what a sight for winter-weary eyes. I blurred up a little and  I think I even exhaled when I spotted them.

The first signs of spring always surprise me...  it's surprise, delight, and relief for me to see that just when I've decided that maybe God forgot to do spring this year, God has decided to prove me wrong- again.

And I am really okay with being perennially proved wrong :D

I felt that same surprised-by-snowdrop-happiness-thing this morning when Sophey pulled this artwork out of her bookbag...

Isn't that just the sweetest piece of construction paper art?!

Love it.

 ********************************

Okay, I'm off to finish the last  Christmas, er, birthday shopping trip of the Henderson March Madness birthday season.

Three birthdays in one month feels like like a mini-Christmas season around here... crazy.

(And I say that every year here. Sorry.)

Saturday is Jesse's birthday and he's having a party with friends at Boondock's- the local fun center, followed by pizza and a sleepover at our house.

We also have two Cinderella ballet recitals for Sophey this weekend- one tonight and one on Saturday.

Corbyn's band is on the radio tonight with an interview and a live sperformance.

(90.0 KRCL if you are in Utah...)

Oh, and a wedding reception to go to on Saturday. Whew.

I gotta run...

See you next week and have a great weekend everyone!

XOK

 

 

 

 

 

fall-ness

Hi guys. I'm back again. I've been working away in my studio, getting past my creative hurdles, and every day I think-- I need to post those how-tos! And ahem, haven't got there... but I will one of these first days.

Never made it to the SLC farmer's market this summer either with the upended summer that it was. I realized there were only a couple of more weekends left to hit the market. So Mike, Sophey, and I headed out for a day in Salt Lake.

The dogs are one of my favorite things about the farmer's market.

We went to the new Whole Foods store and did some shopping after the market.

And then we went to a favorite little consignment shop, Emiliejayne's.

But I dawdled behind and took house porch photos,

because I like to take house porch photos in the fall.

(Don't ask me why).

Emiliejayne's is loaded to the top with stuff, but it's all organized by colors.

And somehow, that just seems to keep it from feeling claustrophobic.

And it appeals to the organized part of me (which is usually a small part, but hey...)

Why didn't I buy that lamp or those glasses? They are awesome.

Cute idea for a wreath. I think an embroidery hoop would work for it.

Had to show you the crazy blue lady!

My husband is a trooper... When he posted on Facebook what he was doing for the day, Ainsley said he had lost his "man-card".

He just laughed.

But he did get to pick dinner at a local microbrewery. So he had his fun too.

We all had fun.

It's good to go and explore the city sometimes; it gets the ideas rolling again.

In other news around here... I've been sewing. A butterfly skirt/costume for Sophey.

TIP:

If you are going as a butterfly for Halloween, please make sure your wings can shake it, baby.

It's working... oh ya.

And I'm working...

 

I've got a studio full of projects in the works for sale soon--

cute things for kids and their mammas...

tea towels (that's a sneak peak above), totes, aprons, toys, pincushions, pillows, hair doodads,

AND... a zoo ful of half-naked sock monkeys who may begin rioting if they are not properly dressed soon.

That would be bad.

Gotta go work ;) 

Hope you are enjoying the day, and thanks so much for stopping by.

XOK

The WEDDING (part 3 ;)

 

I was planning a how-to post on the tabletop decorations we made for the wedding today, but of course I didn't actually take photos while I was making the crafts (that would have been too easy, of course) and it's just been so rainy and dreary here for the last few days, I haven't been able to take good photos... but I will, as soon as the sun is shining again!

So I'll do another post or two soon on making mercury glass look-alike vases (yes, thrift store vases and jelly jar glasses can make awesome wedding tabletop decorations ;) and a how-to for the photo booth photo by the vase and votive holder.

The black and white photo booth photo of the two of them was perfect... so so them. (They are constantly laughing and joking around all the time). I had to figure out a way to use it for a wedding decoration, and almost by accident, the photo of the two of them and the whole photo booth thing tied together really well.

 

Ainsley wanted a photo booth at the wedding after seeing this one at a bridal fair last January. It was such a hit-- I wouldn't have guessed it, but it was. The booth printed two photos, one went into their guest book with well wishes, and the other photo was tucked in with a bag of candy for the guests to take home. The kids at the wedding took about a zillion photos of themselves in the booth-- it turned out to be a great babysitter too! 

 

 

It was a great place for shmooching and being silly.

 

*************

Running off to my studio today, I think I've got wind back in my sails. I'm glad it's a rainy day today... the house and studio feel so cozy on days like this one.

And after the next couple posts, I'll quit blabbering on about the wedding and move on to other schtufff!

XOK!

bows and a bow

 
Oh hello there. Come on in.

No, not my front door. (Darn.) Found the image while I was hunting around for something else. What a charmer. No flowers here either.... we've got snow now and later today the winter blizzard of the decade is expected to blow in. I'm heading out this morning to the grocery store to buy Thanksgiving food, and stock up on a few batteries and water, I'm thinkin'.

Anyway...

 

I've been a very busy elf the last week making lots of Christmas items for the shops around town. I made up a pattern for this stocking and the holly leaves, and used some more of my favorite vintage trims.

There are four stockings at All Tucked In and two of the giant Santa bags. Plus lots of ornaments, scarves, aprons, etc. The trees from the last post and more items are for sale at Just a Bed of Roses now too.

 
The Santa bags are huge European-style pillowcases from a thrift store find last summer. Loved the fabric, but I couldn't figure out what to make out of them with that giant pattern until this idea popped into my head. Sewed the giant bow up and loved the idea!

 
But my reeeally most favorite item wrapped up in another big bow was this beeming girl at her second piano recital last week. Miss Sophia loves playing the piano. No one else in the family plays the piano, but she's taken to it like a duck to water. She also won first place for her age group for practicing the most (over 500x's).... and let me tell you, I know every single note in Rockin' around the Christmas Tree like nobody's business.

Last week we went shopping for the new recital dress and shoes. I held up every cute little girl dress and she shook her head 'no' at every cute little girl dress. Then she picked out the strappy one here and the strappy black heels and said, "this looks like what a pianist should wear AND I will match the piano!" Oh my goodness... nine going on twenty-nine. Can't wait to see what proms will bring.

 
(Roses from Dad, isn't he sweet?)

Well, I'd better get to the store before the blizzard blows in. I just overheard the weather girl on TV with a forecast of one degree on Thanksgiving night. Craziness- it's still fall!

Hope you all have a really lovely Thanksgiving Day. XO

 

P.S. is it my computer or Typepad. I can't control the color when I make a link! Ggrrrhh!

 

 

 

I totally scored at the thrift stores

 
I totally scored at my thrift store Columbus Day sale yesterday. You know you've got it bad when you make a special trip to the thrift store because it's half-price day. But when you find that little diamond of whatever in between all the junk, and it's practically free...  somehow it's just great cheap therapy. Don't ask me to explain it any better than that.... but if you're here, you may totally get it too :)

Anyway, that's one very awesome green enamelware pot up above. It'll be perfect for soup this winter. My old perfect size soup pot is twenty-five years old and falling apart, so this sweet thing will provide years of simmering enjoyment. (No one else in my family will ever appreciate my perfect-shade-of-green-enamel-ware-pot, but I will never appreciate V8(?) engines or football, so I think we are even here.)

The yellow oven-to-tableware piece still had the original stickers on it-- never used. Double score.

And the yellow trivet is just plain adorable.

As is the white stoneware serving platter.

And the metal pinecone candle holders (looking Pottery barn chic and expensive, I might add) for eight bucks-- whoohoo!

 
I also found this fabric (which is currently living as a dress) but I'm thinking it may soon become a dining room table runner for Thanksgiving. Love those colors and that crazy paisley pattern!

 
And I bought one tatted lace doily.

I tried to learn how to tat  once... for about five seconds... but then my eyes crossed over and I blacked out.

The most TEDIOUS craft ever-- in my opinion. But I admire those who've done it and have lived to tell about it. Anyone who has the patience to tat and can actually make something like this should automatically be qualified for sainthood. No other miracle-working would be deemed necessary. You tat a doily.... you join the sainthood club there sister Mary Kathleen, followed by a long round of applause, a standing ovation, and a loud Amen!

 

Moving on....

 
Found a charming cloche for the d.r. hutch at another consignment store last week.

 
Sweet.

 
And I picked up the prettiest daisy plates and bowls at another thrift store. The folk art box was an estate sale ($1) find a few weeks ago.

 
The hutch definately has more personality now...

 
And so does the old bean and bacon soup for lunch, but now I need something homemade and bubbling in that green enamelware pot. :-)

Happy Tuesday, my friends! XO!! 

 

 

 

 

shopping around

For the past few years I've signed up to help with school holiday parties at Jesse's and Sophey's back to school night. But this year all the fill in slots for help were pretty full by the time I got to the sheet. The "provide school supplies" line sounded like a great (ie., easy) idea this year-- and I've always liked being a supply kinda person. Then last week I spotted the black totes at my local craft store... Aha! finally had an idea for a craft project. Yay! (my idea well has been running dry lately), so I bought the totes and hit my studio; thinking pretty, but practical thoughts. 

  

*(This is also counting as my end-of-the-year-teacher-appreciation-gift, since I stink at ever getting anything more than a quick thank you card signed. I have two birthdays that last week of school, so all my good intentions for doing something really nice for our teachers just never quite happen.)*

Anyway, the fabric sewn to the front of the bags is a big pocket. I cut the paisley fabric into a rectangle that fit the bag well and then cut a strip of the brown and black print and the checkered fabric to fit vertically along the side of the bag. I zig-zag stitched the brown fabric onto the paisley fabric first and then zig-zagged the checkered fabric. The vintage lace got stitched on last. I ironed the top of the fabric down about an inch, and ironed the three side edges under about a 1/2".

At this point every extra idea I had to make it look like a teachers bag seemed like a big cliche. Apples? No. Pencils? Nah. Well, what then? So I put the project aside for a few hours (I always think of it like cooking-- on the back-burner and slow simmering..) until this idea came to me: If the kids did the artwork, those pencils or apples would be fabulous, AND they would be involved in the project. Perfect. I handed Jesse and Sophey a box of fabric crayons and fabric pastels with the instructions: draw something school-ish for your teachers, pretty please (followed by please please please).

And they did! Way better than anything I could have ever come up with... kids are so cool.

Jesse's pencil art: 

 

Sophey's schoolhouse art:

The drawings are done on a piece of torn canvas. Sophey used fabric crayons and Jesse used fabric pastels. I sprayed both pieces of canvas art with clear matte spray polyurethane sealer, and then allowed it to dry very well (a few hours) to protect the artwork before sewing the canvas onto the other fabric piece. I added a few big buttons for interest. And then I sewed the whole piece onto the black canvas tote bag. I pinned the fabric in place securely before sewing to make sure the pocket wound up even. It worked. A little tricky and bulky, but still easier than I thought it would be.

Can't wait to hear the tote report after school today :)

In other news around here, I went with my girls to SLC to our big outdoor shopping center, Gateway, over the weekend. We went on a clothes hunt. Didn't find much. It seems the palette for winter this year is black, grey, creme, and black, grey, creme, and dusty rose.... ugh. Not a fan of dusty rose. I think I O.D.ed on it in the '80s. I had a dusty rose bedspread, chair, and waaay too many dusty rose clothes back in the day.

Anyway, a stop by good old bright and happy Anthropologie saved the day. I am always totally inspired by the colors, the displays. SO creative.

 

Dog tea towels?! Man. Eighteen dollars each?! No mon :(

 

So I came home with one little tea cup and a few more bowls. But I'd say my new/old church rummage sale tea towel (compare at 25 pennies, people) is looking pretty darn Anthro cool with the cup, now isn't it?

Sweetness...

 
with a flowery handle. It really is the little things, isn't it? 

And while we're in the kitchen, and I'm writing another catch-up marathon post, here's what got baked last week too. Very yummy. And less sinful than those Oreo cupcakes ;O

 

Here you go:

LOW-FAT PUMPKIN COOKIES:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup brown sugar (I used 3/4 cup- it worked)
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 3 cups oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the pumpkin, sugar, and applesauce.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, then add to the pumpkin, mixing well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until done. Recipe found at About.com

Oh, and I almost forgot. I added my own drizzly frosting made with a pkg of low-fat softened cream cheese and about 2 cups of powdered sugar and a little vanilla. Mix in mixing bowl till smooth, adding a few tsps of milk till its drizzable. (You know what I mean.)

ENJOY!

P.S. I'm gettting ready for the CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT this Thursday - Sunday in Minneapolis. It's going to be three days filled with arts and crafts and estrogen galore, I'm sure. AND I'm going with Mike, so three days alone with my husband. Wow. Gotta million things to do though. I'll be back with a report on all the wonderfulness early next week.

Have a lovely week, my friends. xxKelly 

 

september time

I'm still here, adjusting, sort of. Last week felt like one huge up-in-the-air readjustment phase. School for two half days, one sick day for a child already. And Mike, well he was away in Costa Rica on a business trip and got seriously sick with a really bad case of food poisoning. That was a week ago last Wednesday. What a helpless feeling to be so far away and unable to do anything but pray for him. His company has a private jet to retrieve sick employees who are doing business in foreign countries, but luckily things didn't get quite that bad. He made it home very late last Friday night. I think he coulda kissed the asphalt at the airport. I was so glad to have him home, safe and recovering.

Pulling weeds would have been good therapy last week, now that I think about it. (I see one in the photo). This week, better, much better. I feel settled in again. Glad for school routines, a well husband at home, and this time of year.

The black-eyed susans in the back yard are wowing me right now... Why do I always forget how nice it is in September?

I forget about the shadows too, and how the light changes. Almost imperceptibly, but then one day you see it, and you know summer is starting to wane. But it's really okay-- I've had my fill of summer this year. (That's a first, btw).

 
I'm missing the neighborhood ballgames in the backyard everyday though. Maybe there'll be a few more when the kids get used to school schedules.

 
Winston misses them too. Last week he walked into the kitchen and dropped a baseball on the floor and looked up at me. I told the kids what he did, so they took him out to play catch. He came in after a couple of throws and sat and stared out the front door. (We have a glass storm door.) I knew what he wanted... another neighborhood ballgame in our backyard. He likes loves to watch the kids play ball while he sits on the hillside by the trees. Perfect stadium seating. Not crowded either.

 
He sits there looking like my china terrier on the kitchen window sill-- only with his tongue hanging out and his eyes glued to a flying baseball. (Smiling too, I'm pretty sure.)

 
So this week I got back to sewing. Sometimes it's just the biggest hurdle for me to get back to making something. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I get stuck after a long break. Monkeys seemed like the safest place to get going again, so that's what I did... in the kitchen, with a cup of tea and the tv for a few days. It felt like a total luxury, since I haven't watched a thing on tv all summer. (Hannah Montana does not count).

I am so smitten with the Dena Designs fabric in the photo. I don't think fabric for sock monkey clothes can get any more perfect than a red rose cheetah stripe!

 
 
I'm also pretty smitten with my favorite summer yard sale find right now too ($2.50! Unbelievable). Admiring it all week over on the couch while I've stitched. (I've wanted one like this with the black edging for a really long time.) It's perfect for the evenings now. 

 
Looks like my naked sock monkeys on the kitchen counter could use that blanket. Well, it's time to sew clothes next.

In the meantime until I get back to better blogging and projects I've got the best cupcake frosting recipe for you. I made two dozen last Sunday and they were gone in two days. The cupcake is a mix; I just wanted to deal with the fosting recipe.

So anyway, here it is:

OREO COOKIE FROSTING

1 16 oz box powdered sugar

1 8 oz container Cool Whip

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

15 Oreo cookies, crushed

With a mixer, mix together the cream cheese, vanilla and Cool Whip. Gradually add in the powdered sugar. Stir in crushed cookies by hand. (If I had really thought about how simple this was, I probably could have handled some homemade cupcakes. Duh. Oh well.) This stuff is like clouds... clouds filled with Oreos and a choir of singing cherub angels. 

You'd like it :)

Happy Labor Day weekend!! xoKelly  

 

my afternoon entertainment

I went to Salt Lake City this morning to get my car serviced. It usually only takes about an hour. But today I found out there was a recall on my fuel pump.... so guess what? You guessed it. I got to spend the whole day in SLC. Which was pretty okay, really, because I had hired a babysitter and I even got to have lunch with the hub. (Huuuraahh and huzzzah. This is rare, folks.)

But I still had a few hours left to kill in the afternoon. And so I walked down the block to a vintage clothing store... I only know it exists because it's just a block from the car dealership, and browsing a vintage clothing store certainly beats sitting in the waiting room reading week old newspapers and watching "Lets Make a Deal". Did you know there is a new "Lets Make a Deal" on tv now? I only know this because I watched it after I had finished exploring the clothing store and there was nothing left to do but sit in the waiting area and watch "Lets Make a Deal" while eating peanut M&M's from the vending machine. (Hey, I needed to keep my strength up for the bill statement.) The very talented Wayne Brady, of "Who's Line is it Anyway", is the host of the new "Let's Make a Deal". I think he sold out-- but that's just my opinion. Just like Drew Carrey sold out for hosting The Price is Right. But that's just my opinion too.

So anyway, I took photos, of course. Of the vintage clothing store, of course, because it was lots more interesting than "Lets Make a Deal" today. So there ya go.
 

Hats, hats,

and more hats...
 

All the walls were covered with hats from the '30s, '40s, '50s, and '60s.
I wish hats were fashionable for wearing 
every day still. I love them. But maybe not that orange one. But it could make a nice lampshade for a Halloween party, don't you think so?

.......

   

Need a new straw purse for summer, of course you do... Pshaw.   

Corns, just waiting to happen...

 
Or how about a nice little Mandarin-collared Oriental jacket.

Darn, I just remembered I forgot to take a photo of the bedjackets. If anyone knows the etiquette for wearing bedjackets, will you please let me know? Do you receive guests in bed wearing a bedjacket? Or do you eat breakfast in bed in a bedjacket? Do you wear a bedjacket past 10:00 am? Can you smoke in a bedjacket, or do you just smoke in a smoking jacket? Or are smoking jackets just for men? I was thoroughly confused by the bedjacket section. Really. Just confused.

Or how about a jacket with pants. A pantsuit! There you go, I know you have been looking for a  chartreuse polyester pantsuit for years. (You know you want it.)

And the piece de resistance for today... A purple crushed velvet pantsuit. Nothing screams high fashion like a purple pantsuit; as long as your name is Liberace, that is. Wear that to your kid's next piano recital. I double dog dare ya. 

Okay, okay.  So if I can't talk you into a purple pantsuit, how about something in classic black and white? A French maid costume never goes out of style, right ;)

.....
 Well, that was exciting wasn't it? If your still reading this by now, thanks. But it was better than Let's Make a Deal today. Trust me on this one. 

Happy weekend to you, my sweet friends! xoxoKelly  

(P.S. forgive the photos, it was reeally dark in this little shop of vintage horrors.)

inspired by an itsy bitsy teeny weeny polka dot bikini

Sophey wanted a red polka dot bikini for her birthday from the children's Mini Boden catalog this year. This was quite a shock. She has never wanted to wear a bikini ever-- and she never wears red. This child's wardrobe consists of about 94% pink colored clothing. Hot pink,  light pink, peachy pink, lipstick pink, whatever.... just as long as it is some form of pinkishness. One day, as Sophey was walking out of school, a girlfriend I was talking with commented on Sophey's clothing ensemble. She always looks so color coordinated, my friend said. My reply, "How can you NOT be color coordinated when your entire wardrobe is pink ?!"

Anyway, after the red polka dot bikini showed up we realized the pink beach totes just would not be cutting it this summer. So the other day while at the our fav craft store, we stumbled upon red canvas tote bags. Bingo.

So we got busy with the polka dots. (I took a few extra tote bags home and made my own version for the children's shop I sell to.) Sophey's bag is almost finished. She decided her tote will be all red and white fabrics-- checks, red and white florals, and more polka dots. And giant white ric rac. (She calls it rif raf. I like rif raf better than ric rac, don't you? I'm calling it rif raf from here on out :)

But anyway, here's mine.

We stamped the canvas with white acrylic craft paint. I started from the corner and worked diagonally up the bag.

We made our stamps from some small stencil stompers and those felted chair feet pad things. (We did this because the craft store didn't have any of those cirular blue foam pouncing sponge things-- not because we are that hard up to be clever. Personally, I was stumped on how to make polka dots without my favorite blue foamy things.) But Sophey wasn't stumped for long-- she rummaged around a minute and then pulled out the leftover chair pads in the kitchen junk drawer and said, "I think these things would work!" (So see, it's a good thing to have a junky junk drawer-- do you want clue Martha in on this, or should I?  ;)

 
While the polka dots were drying, I ripped up some fabrics. Starting at the top of the bag, I zigzag stitched along until I had a few rows of fabric pieced together.

Then I added some vintage trims. I found a whole bolt of that green pom pom fringe at the thrift shop the other day. And the yellow daisy trim is from the '60s-- love that stuff. 

 
I made a hairclip to match and tucked it onto the bag.

 

I made a second similiar bag too-- this one with a vintage red doily and a daisy cut from an old sweater.

 
We hit the pool for an hour on Memorial day. It was freezing. I hope it gets warm here someday. It's been the coldest spring ever here-- no exaggerating. It snowed on May 28th, and that late date set a new state record.

Now we really need to get one last polka dot beach bag finished to go with that bikini... summer is almost here. Really. We hope. Someday. Soon. 

xoxoKelly