Thrifting!

Hey guys! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I had a relaxing yet productive and exciting weekend. I ate lunch with my dear friend Stephanie who was in town for a bit. It's always great catching up with friends you haven't seen in so long. I had nearly every class in college with Steph so it was nice to catch up with her. Thanks, Steph!! :)

This afternoon Kevin and I spent a couple hours perusing a new antique store. It was a GIANT antique store (for those in the area, it's called The Brass Armadillo) with lots of vendors and a wide assortment of goodies. I brought a few treasures home with me, and found many others that I would have LOVED to purchase if I had a bigger home.

Here are the items that didn't make it home with me...today:

A very cool feather hat that would have made awesome wall decor in a closet or bathroom

So many cool *overpriced* handkerchiefs in this basket

Words cannot describe how much I loved this lamp! However, I wasn't willing to pay what the price tag was asking.

I loved these colorful pastel dishes. Maybe someday.

I really loved this radio! It was bright teal and worked! I even had Kevin thinking it was cool. But the $28 price tag scared me away. I was on the hunt for some DEALS!

A very pretty serving plate!

I was looking all over for canisters for flour, sugar, etc. and this one ALMOST made the cut. I had plans on purchasing it but after walking around and coming back, I changed my mind. I still may go back and get it someday. Four sturdy canisters and matching salt and pepper shaker for $25. Did I make a mistake passing it up?

I really liked this coat but Kevin said it looked ridiculous on me. I couldn't find a mirror anywhere so I had to take his opinion.

Alright so I didn't really have intentions to buy this dresser but I did love the colors on the drawers!

If I had a house and a full-time guaranteed job, I really would have considered buying this one. It's a refurbished corner cabinet for about $200.

Now that I have tortured myself again showing you things I didn't buy but wanted to, here is what I actually did bring home:

A pretty peach towel with some lovely embroidery for $2

Some very well priced ($1.50) vintage handkerchiefs for our wedding (use still to be determined!). The photo is a little dark, but the purple is very pretty with crochetted edges. The yellow is see through with tiny white polka dots. And, the blue one is a very pretty bright blue with a floral design. Anyone have any ideas of what I should use these gems I've been collecting for??

This might have been my favorite purchase of the day! I can NEVER find vintage jewelry I like but I love this turquoise necklace. For $1.50!

This was another favorite. I have been wanting to start collecting kitchy salt and pepper shakers but have had trouble finding a good set to start with (there are always HUNDREDS of salt and pepper shakers at antique stores). How much more perfect does it get than MASON JAR salt and pepper shakers?!

They are smaller than they appear in this picture, about 3 inches tall.

Kevin found lots of goodies, too, but nothing he "had" to have. When we purchase a home antiquing will be much more fun, and dangerous, for us. His man-cave will be well stocked with old beer signs.

Do any of you go to many thrift/antique stores? Anyone in Iowa have any recommendations? I always love finding new places to go. I also was looking forward to this post so I could spread the love of thrifting! There are so many AWESOME things out there and it's a great way to spend a few hours on the weekends.

Monkey Business

Since I have known Kevin, he has had an odd love of sock monkeys (sorry, honey.) Every time we are at a store, he will inevitably find a sock monkey and show it to me. His great-grandma used to make sock monkeys for him and his cousins, so I think it's more a sentimental thing than a 8-year-old-boy-in-a-twenty-four-year-old's-body kind of thing. So, for Christmas I got him a pair of socks that you typically see a sock monkey made out of. He was real confused why I was buying him thermal socks, but once he figured out what I had planned for them, he was pretty excited.

I finally had the motivation to make the sock monkey this weekend, so I thought I'd (of course) post about how I did it.

His reaction was priceless when he came home. He had a rough day at work so it was perfect timing.

Here's what you need!

Not pictured: Sewing machine and pins.

To avoid confusion, I will refer to the sock that will make the body as SOCK A and the sock that will make the body parts as SOCK B.

 Step 1: Fold Sock A inside out and lay flat with heal facing. Up. Draw a line down the center of the sock length-wise. This will become the legs and body of the monkey.

Step 2: With the same sock, sew two seams on each side of the line you drew. The seams should be on about 1/4 inch from the line on each side. It doesn't have to be perfect. Round out the bottom of the seams, making feet. Make sure you do this entire step on the open end of the sock. STOP your seams about 1 inch from the heal. The heal will become the monkey's butt (hehe).

Step 3: CUT down your black line you drew in Step 1. STOP about 1/2 inch from the monkey butt. This will allow an opening to putt stuffing in. Now you have two legs and an un-stuffed body.

AWKWARD PICTURE ALERT! Here is the picture of the opening you need to get the stuffing in. It should be big enough to get your hand in.

Step 4: Stuff your monkey. It worked best if you pulled the stuffing apart into smaller pieces, especially when stuffing the legs.

 Step 5:Uhh... another awkward picture... Using your embroidery floss and needle, sew the opening closed. Make sure the ragged edges of the sock are tucked inside. Mine doesn't look very nice, I should have taken my time. I don't think anyone will spend a lot of time look at the crotch of the sock monkey (unless of course you're reading this blog, or if you're really really creepy.....)

Step 6: Turn Sock B (the sock for the body parts) inside out. Draw a 1-inch line down the front part of the sock. Cut as shown in the next picture.

Step 7: Leaving the tail folded as is (right sides together), sew a seam down the length. I had about a 1/8 inch seam allowance so the tail would be wide enough to stuff. Round off the bottom of the tail with your sewing machine.

Optional: Cut some length off the tail. I thought mine was too long, so I cut it. Well, I cut too much off and it looks a little stubby. Maybe cut off 2-3 inches rather than the 5-6 I cut off. Oops!

Step 8: Stuff the stubby tail. You will hand-stitch this onto the monkey later.

Here's what you will have left:

Step 8: Now, you are going to make the arms with the long rectangular piece you see in the picture above. Cut the rectangle in half (there should already be a natural crease in the socks--cut down this line). Pin the arms right sides together. It was easier for me to sew when it was pinned. Again, round off the end of the arms with your machine. I wanted the red end of the socks to be near the hands, so I rounded off the red part.

Step 9: Stuff your arms. You will hand sew these later.

Now you have a stuffed tail and two stuffed arms, as seen below.

Step 10: Find the piece designated for the ears. Cut it in half length wise (down the natural fold of the sock) and draw two c-shapes with your sharpie.

Step 11: Cut your ears out so you have four ear shapes. Put right sides together, and sew around the ear, leaving an opening for a little stuffing. I did this by hand because it was easier for me, but you could also do it with your sewing machine.

Now you have two arms, a tail, and two ears.

Step 12: Cut out the heal of the sock. Basically, I cut part of the grey part off so it wasn't unraveling so much.

Now we're ready to put the monkey together! 

Note: If I were to do this over, I would use grey floss instead of white. It would look a little nicer. I recommend your floss match the majority of the body (grey vs. red).

Step 13: Sew on the tail of the monkey, tucking in the ragged edges.

Step 14: Sew on the arms in the same manner. I tried to make them about halfway up the body, but it's up to you.

Step 16: Sew on the snout of the monkey slightly above the arms. I sewed the top and sides and left a little opening to put a little stuffing in.

Step 17: Put a little stuffing in the ears and sew them symmetrically to the monkey's head.

Step 18: Sew on the eyes. I sewed in a circle to create more of a pupil look.

Step 19: Using your sharpie and felt, draw an outline of a mustache. Cut it out. I used fabric glue to secure it to the monkey, but you could also sew it.

AND YOU'RE DONE! The only thing left to do is let your monkey live its life.

(I left that last one there... I'm eagerly waiting for Brian and Kevin to get home to see their reactions. Hopefully they'll think it's as funny as I do.)

Christmas Traditions

Kevin and I are spending Christmas apart this year so we had to get in some traditions before we head home for the holidays. One of his favorite movies is "It's a Wonderful Life" so I got it for him for Christmas this year. I made some specialty hot chocolate and we cuddled in for the evening. (If you haven't seen this movie, you need to! It makes me misty eyed every time!)

My hot chocolate experience changed my senior year of college when I moved in with two of my good friends, Erin and Andrea (hey ladies!) Until then, I had only experienced hot chocolate in water with the occasional mix of marshmallows. I was missing out. Erin introduced me to making it with milk. Andrea introduced me to other ingredients. And hot chocolate was never the same again.

Here is how I make my hot chocolate:

• Hot chocolate mix
• Milk
• Cinnamon
• Marshmallows
• Candy cane

It's so yummy. It's especially yummy on a cold winter night snuggled in with your honey.

DIY Glitter Ornaments

After a long absence in crafting I'm back! Back with some Christmas lovin'. I don't acknowledge Christmas until December 1 (it overshadows Thanksgiving and my birthday--11/27.. two very important days). Today I finally started putting up some Christmas decorations. I got a 100 bulb pack of twinkle lights to hang on the fireplace for $2 at Target. I didn't know how much to get, so the fireplace lights have spilled over to become window lights. I also bought mini ornaments in the $1 bin.

(Yes-- that's my craft corner. I am in desperate need for some organizational furniture.)

Here's what you need to make the glitter ornaments:

I got everything from Hobby Lobby (thanks for the gift card, Mom!)

Glass ornaments: $4 (I got them on sale for 50% off!)

Glitter: $1.50 each

Wire hangers: $1 

Tacky glue: $2 (you could also use hot glue, glue stick, etc. if you want the glue to dry clear)

Feathers: $2

Things you need that you have at home for glitter control:

Cookie sheets

Bowls

Here are a few pictures I took of the process. Basically, make any design you desire with the glue. 

 Shake the glitter over the ornament, being sure to catch the excess glitter in a bowl over a cookie sheet (I'm messy).

 After covering this ball with glue, I covered part of it with newspaper to get stripes. I didn't get a picture of the final product, so use your imagination.

Here are some of my favorite creations:

 I also used feathers! I like these a lot. I considered getting just colored feathers and putting them into the ornaments and keeping it simple. Apparently that wasn't time consuming enough for me.

For the bottom left ornament, I put feathers inside and glitter on the top, I dropped some green glitter inside. I'm considering adding water? For the one on the bottom right, I made squiggles with the glue and sprinkled glitter on it. (It looks better in person, I promise.)

Gotta have one with my future last name!

 Another favorite below.

 And the aftermath. There is literally glitter all over our apartment. Oopsie :)

There's more where that came from! If you like what you see be sure to click "Join this Site" at the top! I love to know who my readers are :)

Check back tomorrow for DIY fabric button earrings and a recycled art project from newspaper!