Upfashioned tablecloth skirt

My Tablecloth Skirt

 

 

I found this tablecloth on a yardsale a few weeks ago & could see it as a DIY skirt. The lace & embroidery fabric screamed "skirt"!!

It is easy to up-fashion a round tablecloth as all you need is to cut a hole & add ribbing.

 

 

 Ribbing is found at most fabric stores I had this piece left over fro a previous project and it was just long enough to add the desired length to my skirt. The width was also perfect, so I did not have to seam the ribbing. I just folded it over to double for the top half of the skirt

 

I measured my hips & folded the tablecloth in 4, took the 1/4 measurement of my hips & cut the fabric curved to follow the tape.

 

I attached the ribbing to the cut edge of the tablecloth & serged the inside edge.

 

I will be wearing a short petticoat with this skirt.

 

Cool pictures

Photos that speak to me. I love taking pictures & sometimes you get one unique picture. I will post them here as they happen.

Flying to the sun.


Paragliding - the last flight of 2014. The winter sun was brilliant & the color contrast perfect.

 

 



Butterfly in action, one late spring afternoon.




An Angel catching the last afternoon sun.

Teal Picture Frame with Protea flowers.

An outdated gold frame that needed a new life. I cleaned the frame with soapy water & used Krylon ColorMaster in Jade to spray paint the frame

I love the detail in the frame & wiped it with a cloth right after I sprayed it to reveal the gold.

The frame is now proudly displaying Proteas. A wild flower indigenous to South Africa.

Mad Hatter Upcycle

MAD HATTER COSTUME 

 

This is what became the Mad Hatter costume
 

Purple jacket $3.49.

 

Lace & fabric for collar & cuffs, free. (I have lots of scrap fabrics)

 

The sash/bobbin belt will be made from all the old wooden spools I found on a yardsale a couple of seasons ago. ( I knew it would come in handy someday)

 

 

I had to visit Hancock's for the bow & striped pants. Found this on the $ 3.98 pile & only needed  a little. The pants will be pajamas after halloween.

The hat was found on a yard-sale for $2.00. I only needed the hat for the frame or base for my hat.

I used some of the lace for the rim & made a black felt (covered with lace)  top section to go over the frame.

 

 I attached the top felt section to the hat & added a pink silk band to match the rim. I added kebab sticks with beads, peacock feathers & the "pricetag".

 

 

 And the final product, ready for tricks & treats. We had to tweak the make-up & used orange hairspray on her blond hair.

 

 

Satisfied!

 

Gerbil Tribute

SQUIGGLES

As we said goodbye to the pet Gerbil my daughter wrote this poem as a tribute to Squiggles, her buddy. She read this at his funeral.

My gerbil

Squiggles oh how I miss you so

How far away will you go

To the heavens up above

Where god waits for you with kindness and love

You did not spend much time on this earth

Nor did your mother when she gave you birth

When your grandpa got you from pet co.

I did not know how far our love would go

When I played with you I felt mounds of joy

And the times I was lonely you were my toy

As I bury you we’ll be farther apart

But you’ll always be special to me and my heart

 By Anne-Mari

Chili Sauce

We were given a variety of home grown Chili Peppers & made a chili sauce with it. Fresh ingredients placed in the blender & cooked on low heat for 2 hours. Ingredients are added by your own discretion. When the sauce cools down there will be a layer of oil on top. This should just be shaken well before each use to ensure the best flavor. No need to store this in the fridge. (It will be finished before it goes bad)

 

Variety of chilies

fresh cilantro

sugar

crushed fresh garlic cloves

olive oil

lemon juice

salt

 

 

Yard Art Day 2014

We drove the Yard-Art Day route on Labor Day and I am sharing some of the unique artwork, I am inspired to  have an art project done in our yard for next year.

Here is the link to the YAD activities.
http://www.yardartday.org/

 

 

 Yard Band

Gold stars

 

 

 

 Pizza tools lady

Sunflower chairs.

 

Bamboo pipes chime.

 

Laundry art

 

 

Feeling dotty?

 

 

 

 Praying Mantis form bicycle parts.

 

 

Love.

 

Art - Salvation

SALVATION

 

 

I created this piece to symbolize the great sacrifice made for our salvation. Form being honored with palm leaves when He entered the city to the wearing of a thorny crown at the Crucifixion with the Holy Spirit always present as Jesus went though all this for us. Leaving the spikes that nailed him to the cross behind & ascending into Heaven like a dove to prepare our place.

What a privilege to be called a child of God. 

 

I used old, rusted & salvaged pieces, as our broken lives being transformed into something acceptable in His eyes.
 

 

The frame was form Goodwill, wire salvaged, the Cross was from a pallet. I painted on burlap for the background & my husband sharpened the spikes to nail into the frame.

 

Yardsailing again....

We always see the best & most interesting sights while sailing.

 

 

This family is celebrating summer with their pool bear at the front door.

 

 

 

 

This property was classified as a natural habitat, the owners put bird houses, baths, feeders and other artifacts to create the habitat. There is a manmade stream & pond with walk ways, the rest was left natural.

 

 

 

DIY basketball hoop. 2x4's with a crate as hoop & net.

 

Blueberry Smoothie and Poem

This smoothie was so delicious I had to share the recipe. My daughter started making smoothies in all flavors and this was the best so far. Here follows the recipe in her own words.

Ingredients

1 Cup of Frozen blueberries

1 Cup of Vanilla yogurt or blueberry yogurt

3/4 Cup milk

2 Tablespoons of white sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

okay; so the tools you will need are...

a blender

a tablespoon

a teaspoon

a measuring cup

Now since you have your ingredients and your tools you can start mixing everything into the blender and I blend for about 25 seconds on the setting, ice crush.

Once you have that done, pour into a glass and drink your tasty treat. 

Enjoy!

BLUE BERRY 

by Anne-Mari 

 Small, purple, sour, and round
and it is oh so yummy
It tastes just perfect in a pie
the crust so sweet and crumby

In a smoothie even better
when you pour in it some milk
then you crush it and you mush it 
until it has the texture of silk

Enjoy!!!! 

Snowy Owl

SNOWY OWL

 

 

My daughter wanted a virtual pet & the only way I would agree to this was for her to write a poem & draw a picture about the owl. This is her poem:

 

 

IT'S SNOWING OUTSIDE BUT OH DOES HE FLY

HE SOARS, HE DIVES, HE TOUCHES THE SKY

HE CATCHES A MOUSE AND FLIES TO HIS NEST

OH AREN'T SNOWY OWLS THE VERY BEST

HIS FEATHERS GLOW WHITE LIKE AN ANGELS WINGS

THEY SHINE BETTER THAN 100 GOLDEN RINGS

 

By Anne-Mari 

 

 

Baby Quilt Ball in action

This is the quilt ball in action. I am so happy to see that she enjoys her ball. It is easy to grip, soft, light, colorful & easy to handle. Makes me want to make a lot more. Similar color ball is available on Etsy.  Quilted baby ball

Yardsailing

'74 TOYOTA FJ 55 Land Cruiser

 

Seen - but couldn't get. Toyota FJ '73 model. One of my less successful sailing trips. I didn' t find a treasure to work with but saw this beauty. Wouldn't it be great to buy one like this, use it for a while and sell it again after having fun with it?

Slugs Love Beer!

Finally! A solution to the slug problem.

We've had a slug problem for the past 2 seasons and tried numerous ways to get rid of them. Since they come out when we are sleeping one only realize the damage after it is too late. We tried the broken egg shells, slug repellent from the store, copper, & salt. My husband killed what was left of our plants last year with the salt. 

This time we tried beer. I found 2 old oven pans for free on a yard sale & knew what to do. We filled it with beer & put it out in the area where I saw the most slug activity. Within minutes we saw them coming. I never knew they could move so fast. Especially when you turn your back & don't watch then for a few minutes. When we saw how effective this method was I grabbed some paper cups & filled them 1/4 full with beer & placed them all over.

I also use a 50/50 water & vinegar solution & spray them on sight because I am too impatient to wait for them to get to the beer.

I think we will have our slug problem under control  in a couple of weeks. The pictures are from after having the beer out for about 30 minutes.

The trick is they are attracted to the beer smell, start drinking, get drunk, fall in & drown.

 

 

 

American Girl Clothes - Leotard/Bathing suit

   American Girl Clothes - Leotrard/Bathing suit

I found spandex at Hancock's for $1.75 a yard and used some of it for my daughter's talent show as a headband & yoga-pant waist. The rest just waited to be put to good use.

She had friend over and they begged me to make them some clothes for their 8" dolls, they saw the fabric and decided on bathing suits. I had left-over black lycra and made little cover skirts to match, then felt inspired and used an old t-shirt to make 2 more skirts. Now that I've made this, the tutorial will follow.

This is another t-shirt that will become a doll skirt like the leopard-print one.