knick knacks & ric rac

i know there are many fans of big-eye art out there. i find them irresistible myself when i come across them. but i really love the elusive no-eye art and knick knacks…

like these pixies and their bottomless gaze…

they are salt and pepper shakers. the salt and pepper comes out of their eye sockets.

and this lovely little braided lass. she is a vase. if you fill her with too much water she starts to weep.

this is my favorite, it was in a package of party favors i bought many years ago. it was one of those little games where you move it around and get the little silver balls in the holes.

thrift stores are full of dorky sweater vests. i got this idea to restyle one into a cute dirndl-bodice-like top.

(that adorable felt flower brooch is from the fabulous woolly fabulous!)

i liked the nordic looking pattern knitted into this one, and the silver buttons.

it was kind of frumpy and big to begin with, but priced right at $1.99. it was wool so i shrunk it in the washer and dryer first, which made it small enough that i didn’t have to cut the armholes or the bottom, only the part around the bust. i should have taken a picture of how i cut it, but in my excitement i forgot so i drew this diagram to show you…

i put it on and marked where i would like it to sit at the bust. then i cut from the shoulder (leaving a little extra for seam allowance) and finished the edge with some red piping.

 i also shaped it in a little bit at the waist since it was still too boxy. i think it’s cute for spring!

i wanted to show you this painting i bought on etsy because i love it so much and look at it all the time…

by Kim Baise

i’ve been ogling this sweater on etsy non-stop. i really like it but it has a few problems…first i never wear pullovers, and the other problem is all that pom pom flower cuteness is unfortunately placed for a busty lady like myself. also i don’t really like to wear clothes with collars. and i don’t need any more sweaters (not that that would really stop me…) then i thought i should try my hand at embellishing one of my plain cardigans with some cute pom pom action, so here’s what i did…

i decorated this coral pink mohair sweater on the front with some pom pom flowers and thick yarn embroidered details.

this green sweater i decorated on both the front and the back. the green pom pom border goes around the shoulder and across the back.

a little pom pom flower fun on the back…

i used 3/4″ and 1″ pom poms. it takes a while to sew on all those pom poms but it comes out really cute and fun. i laid the sweater out flat and marked the center of the pom pom flowers, then i put it on to make sure it was even before sewing them on. okay, i did that on the second sweater after figuring it out the hard way on the first one! and i did the yarn embroidery a little bit loose to allow the sweater to stretch when i put it on.

i used to collect old girl scout calendars. i have almost all of the calendars from 1952-1968. the pictures in them are just so dang adorable. i just ate a big bowl of samoa cookie ice cream so i thought i’d show you a few of my favorites. it was hard to choose just a few, but of course this one is my #1 favorite…

they’re screen printing their own fabric!

and look how cute it is!

there are alot of pictures of girl scouts with all different kinds of baby animals…

and lots of fun camping pictures, i like this one, singing around the campfire with an accordian and a ukelele.

and all kinds of cooking and crafting and sewing pictures…

what i wouldn’t do to get a piece of this awesome girl scout fabric!

okay, i’m starting to think i might have a problem. remember that giant sequin mushroom that was supposed to be cute little mushrooms? i saw this cute little tree stump trivet project from martha on one pretty thing and i really wanted to make one. then i got the idea to make a giant one and use it as a rug! supersize it! wouldn’t that look great with those velveteen logs! i remember seeing this rug a while ago and liking it alot.

i think i will need a ton of felt strips to make a big one…

i started it last night, so far it’s 6½” across. i ran out of glue, i’ll have to go get another bottle or two.

i would like to make it about 30″ wide and put it in front of the front door.  i might get sick of doing it before i get that far. i think i will just keep making it bigger and bigger until i lose my mind and then put the bark on it. i’ll show you how it comes out when i finally finish it!

take a peek at these new skirts i just added to my website. here’s the folk flower applique skirt i showed you a little bit of last week…

and these fun colorful skirts featuring different alpine trims…i think these ones look pretty sporty!! i’m calling this one alpine skirt.

both of these skirts i put in the “limited edition goodies” section, i have enough supplies to make quite a few of all of them but once i run out of the plaid fabric or the cute trims it’s all gone.

also these sweet wooden heart necklaces i painted…

here’s a sneak peek at the applique detail on one of my new skirts.  i screen printed the folky flowers and used a cute green calico for the leaves.

that plaid fabric really is as bright as it looks, i love it! coming soon…really, really soon!

last weekend i had a fun thrifting adventure with two of my favorite ladies, jenny and nikki! i found some great fabric! this is my favorite…

there was alot of it so i’m going to make some limited edition skirts with it this spring. it will fit right in with a little theme i have brewing. the print is pretty big, the figures are almost 6″ tall!

i also found some smaller pieces of these cute fabrics…

and a piece of fabric that matches the curtains in the cuckoo cabin! what are the chances?

the toadstool tea towels are available again!

i’m printing up a whole bunch of them this week.