Less Selling, More Crafting

I've put the resale thing on hold because I'm waiting to go into labor. And a few weeks ago I realized that if I am in the hospital while things are selling, I'm going to have to make my husband go home and figure out how to package and ship everything. Which he was NOT looking forward to.

So I stopped listing things, and raised the prices on everything listed in eBay so if it did sell, at least it would be worth the trouble. On Etsy, I just put a note in my store and all communications asking for patience if I'm slow to reply and ship. Everyone is generally nice there, so that seemed like the best way of handling that side.

But with all this free time not taking photos and listing and obsessively watching auctions, I'm able to get a little more crafty again.

Easter is coming, and I've had this cute Japanese bunny fabric for ages, and I finally found a pattern I loved, so it all came together to make these dresses for the girls.

The bunny fabric is the bodice and trim, and the skirt is basically a pixelated damask pattern. It's amazing.

The back is shirred, which I had never done, but wasn't too difficult, and I love how the straps tie with a bow through the back buttonhole. So clever!

I managed to finish the yellow dress at 11:30 tonight (which accounts for the poor photo of that one), so I have one more gift finished for the Easter baskets! I don't think they will wear them to church on Easter Sunday, but maybe for the egg hunt instead? We'll see what the little fashionistas want.

The pattern is "In the Garden" Shirred Twirly Dress, found at From and Igloo. And she's right, it's twirly. The skirt is 84 inches around! That's ready for some major twirling.

All mine!

I picked up a few things last week, but this time they were all for me!

Nothing too fancy, but quite colorful.


This older (I think) enameled bowl. I love enamel bowls for picnics and parties and all that. And the colors are great!

This is a great caddy. Just from Pier One, nothing fancy, but quite useful. I love the handle. I'm going to use it in the girls' room for art supplies or something. You can get things like this from PB Kids for about $40, so $4, while expensive for thrifting, was still a great deal.

And then these gosh-darn-cute jars to use in the kitchen. The colors! The flowers! And they are even from the Nut Tree, which I have very fond memories of growing up. The old Nut Tree, of course, but I'm glad they have at least something still there.

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl.

Thrift Share 3/27

I was able to squeeze in two stops at thrift stores this week while the girls were in school. I literally ran in and out of the Goodwill in about 25 minutes, where in line I almost put down my pile as I thought I was going to be too late picking up the kids. But I made it, with two minutes to spare!

There I found a bunch of Ralph Lauren rompers and a collared shirt, woo-hoo! These are great since I can either use them for the impending baby (only 3 weeks to go!) or sell them. They are in great shape.

I love rompers for babies, they are so easy to wear and change and tuck in your bag as a back-up outfit and all that good stuff. And Ralph Lauren! So fancy! Actually, I don't care about the brand, but I hope some eBayers do if I end up giving them up.

I also found one of these:

I read on some blog post that I can't find now that these have great resale value, but I didn't research eBay before I picked this one up. And now it doesn't seem like these are that awesome to sell unless the are Cutco brand. Which I've never even heard of! And I thought I knew a lot about knives and kitchen tools.

But I guess I'll throw it up there and see who bites. I should at least be able to get my money back since it was only about $4.

But then a quick trip to SA netted me this beauty in the fancy stuff section:

How cute is this!?!

The little houses are irresistible, so of course I scooped it up right away. It didn't come with a lid, but a quick look around the shelves, and I found it stuck inside another dish. Woo-hoo! A matching set.

The pattern is Country Village and was made in Japan by Nasco. I can't find when it was made, but have found some photos of teapots in this pattern on flickr. This pot I have no problem reselling, but if I found the teapot, I would have trouble letting that go!

Here, do you want another look at the cute little houses?

Don't you just want to move into one of the little houses? I like the one with the pink chimney!

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl!

Birthday Crafts

There have been a lot of birthdays among family and friends happening these days. I like to make gifts when I can, so I've been at the sewing machine for a while. I got a good break a few weeks ago, but now I'm back in the swing of things.

Or sewing of things. Ha ha.

I've made these pennant banners for my kids' birthdays, and now we have two Goddaughters turning one! Not twins, not even related actually. But one is my niece and her birthday is coming up next weekend. I already made one set of banners for the older Goddaughter, so now it's on to the younger one.

I bought the fabric a couple months ago at Aunt Bea's online going-out-of-business sale. Boo. But I got a good deal!

So I started with long strips of fabric.

And then I starch, starch, and more starch. Then cut into triangles with pinking shears.

Then there's a lot of zigzag stitching and many yards of extra wide double-fold bias tape. And then, ta da!
We have 12 yards of festive banners, ready for a party.

A couple lunches

I haven't made super-inspiring lunches lately, just packing something up in the 10-15 I have in the morning before we leave for school. But at least I'm familiar with it enough that it's easy to pull something together if I don't have anything planned.

Like this lunch from last week.

Here we have reheated gyoza, a clementine, strawberry cut in half, TJ's onigiri, edamame on top of a small container of cottage cheese, and the last of the gingerbread men tucked in on top.

It's nice to have frozen things easy to reheat and tuck into the box, like the gyoza, edamame, and onigiri. And it's always nice to pattern lunches after the Japanese, who came up with the whole bento idea in the first place.

This next lunch was a super rush.

It's pretty simple. Just cut up pieces of veggie pizza, beautiful grapes, a tiny container of muddie buddies, PB pretzels, and some prunes.

After I sent it, I realized I had included peanut butter! Peanut butter is not allowed at their preschool, so I usually send sunflower butter sandwiches as an alternative, which the girls really enjoy. But I didn't even think about the peanut butter-filled pretzels!

Well, I didn't get a note sent home about the inappropriate lunch, so I think I'm okay. Whew!

resale update

Finally got a bunch of stuff from February listed, including the colorful owl pillow!

It's quite darling, and if it actually matched anything in my house, I would consider keeping it. But right now, I just like how cute it makes my shop look!

Still have a lot more stuff to post, but actually took quite a few photos this weekend, which is half the battle. I don't mind posting, I just have to find my rhythm for it.

Also, my husband told me this weekend that I should just sell the really big payoff stuff, and not waste my time with the little things. I told him I'd love to do that, but it's trickier than he thinks. How do I go about explaining it to him? Hmmm, one to think about.

Thrifty Share 2/13

I read with relish everyone's visit to multiple garage sales/estate sales on the weekends. Even though I'm in California, and the weather has been fine, there just hasn't been many in my area lately! But, I will persevere.

The one garage sale I made it to this weekend was pretty good. Even though I didn't get there until 11:30, there was quite a bit of awesome stuff, including this group of copper kitchen goods:

I asked her how much the pans were right when another lady asked about the set, and was immediately worried that the other woman would get them, especially since the entire lot was quoted at only $10!

I figured all that copper is worth at least $10 in scrap, and I managed to claim them while the other shopper was still looking them over and bargaining. Whew! Now I've been checking metalprices.com... Ha! Not, this will probably end up on eBay.

At that same sale I found a bunch of CUTE Christmas ornaments for about 50 cents a piece. I don't think they are old, just cute. They are for me!

And this very old set of wooden vehicles with lots of little wooden people.

At $10, this wasn't a steal, but if you think of how much you'd have to pay for a set like this retail, then it still seems like a bargain. My girls have been enjoying it, I just wish I could find out more about it. All I know is it was made by Three Worlds Toys, but that's about it.

Speaking of toys, I also found this Haba Solitaire game at the flea market with all the pieces.

That's always the tricky part about games, especially ones with lots of little bits.

I've had pretty good luck with vintage linens lately. The cartoon kind, not the hand-embroidered kind. I've found Mickey Mouse, Star Wars, and this very cool Smokey Bear pillowcase.

And then there's this really awesome crafting book I found at the flea market for a dollar. It's a Christmas one from 1971, and is so great!

The inside is has such a variety of craft ideas, I had so much trouble choosing which spread to feature. Here's just one, but it covers the gamut from fabric to yarn to pottery to paper to cooking to wood, all with beautiful '70s photos.

I took about 10 more pictures, and I'll try to include them all in my listing. Now I just have to decide if this is eBay or Etsy material.

Finally for resale I picked up this 1970s bridge pad for $2. I couldn't resist, even though the guy drove a hard bargain.I don't even play bridge! It comes in the original box with original sharpened pencil along side. So cute.

I also picked up a jogging stroller for $20 for after the baby comes. I'm going to try to join a friend in a stroller fit class, and need a jogger for it, but can't start until September when the older two are in school. So I started looking, and found what I needed the very first weekend! That's always cool.

Now the only thing I need is a pair of swim fins that will fit my daughter for her birthday next week. I've been searching for months and haven't found ones that will fit her. Am I going to have to buy some retail? I hope not!

Since this is only part of my haul, I guess I can't complain about my limited shopping options. Hope you all had a good week too!

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.