Thrift Store Shopping

Two weeks ago- oh my goodness, has it been two weeks already? while at my parents house, we went shopping.  For bargains.  My parents little town has the best bargain spots, thrift stores, second hand shops, whatever you want to call them.  I have fun checking them out every time I get the chance!

Our first stop:  A brown bag special on cosmetics.  All you could fit into the bag for $3.  Elizabeth went to town!

We now have fingernail polish as far as the eye can see...

Our loot:

What we got for our $3:

192 nail polish colors

3 french manicure kits

8 loose powders

2  pressed powders

2 lip liners

9 lipsticks

Somehow, we ended up with most of the things from Aunt Kasey's bag as well.  Hmm.  I'm pretty pumped about the loose powder though.  I have a small addiction to the stuff.

Second stop was a kids resale shop.  She always has really nice things, but usually has them priced higher than I'm willing to pay for used clothes.  I did snatch up this swim shirt for Jackson next summer.  Again, $3.

 

I'm the mom that lets her kids get sunburned.

Our last stop - is my favorite one.  Mostly women's clothing on consignment, a few kid things.  I picked up a pair of chocolate brown capri pants, and a white button down-still had the tags.  Elizabeth got a tank top, skirt and a really cute pair of "simple" sneakers. I also found my dad a pair of TOMS for Father's day.

But these? These are my favorites!



Almost new Jessica Simpson shoes for Isabelle. ($8?) They will be perfect for this fall/winter and she loves them.  Almost as much as she loves these:

Brand new, in the box- Nordstroms sandals! ($6.) They will fit perfectly next summer!

A pair of flats for myself. ($8.)  I probably would not have bought them if I saw them in the store, but who can resist a brand called: "Naughty Monkey"?  Not me!

By this time, Kasey and Elizabeth are both ready to go.  The sales girl forgot to add in the shoes, so I had to pay for them separately.  While she was ringing them up, I spotted this on the wall across the store:

So, so sweet!  a "K.C. Parker" dress with sweater...in my favorite color! It's a bit big for Isabelle, but I'm guessing she'll grow.  Elizabeth and Kasey are headed to the door as I hand over my debit card for the third time.  I promise I am on my way.... grab my bags... and my eye found this, high on the wall:

A BRAND NEW KATE SPADE BAG!

The style I've been coveting admiring from afar for a long, long time.

New, complete with tags and dust bag. 

So, I got out my debit card again, and saved $245.00 off ticket price!

And then?  We went home and had hot dogs for dinner!

Homemade Pillowcase- A Tutorial

Last summer the quilt shops I frequent were on a pillowcase kick.  Always looking for fun little projects for Elizabeth and I to do, I bought a kit.  Fine.  I bought three.  We made up the kits, and five more since then...
What I found most intriguing about these pillowcases is the absence of exposed seams on the inside. Now, I consider my self a pretty bright color in the crayola box of life. (Certainly not the brightest- day-glow orange, but a nice spring green for sure.) So, when the ladies at the quilt shop tried to explain how they hid the seam and I didn't understand the slightest bit, I thought: "If I read the instructions while I'm making it, I'm sure it'll make sense then."  (If not a bright spring green, a confident red one then.)

I obviously got the pattern figured out, but I thought I would write up a little tutorial in case you wanted to try one yourself!

Pillowcase Tutorial

Materials:
3/4 yard main fabric
1/4 yard contrasting fabric for hem
2" accent for trim

For cheaper fabrics I purchase at chain stores, I pre-wash.  I only pre-wash the better quality fabrics if I want to make sure the colors will not bleed, or if it feels a little "stiff".  Use your best judgement.

For this project I also like to make sure I have super straight lines, so I tear the fabric instead of cutting.  You can tear your fabric by making a snip through the selvage edge about an inch from the cut edge and holding each side and tearing apart quickly.  If you are uncomfortable tearing, cut away!

Cut or tear your main fabric 25"
Cut or tear your hem fabric 10"
Cut or tear your trim fabric 2"

IMPORTANT NOTE!  All cuts should be full width of fabric.

All seams should be 1/2" unless otherwise noted.

1.  Fold trim fabric in half, wrong sides together matching cut/tear edges. Iron.

2.  Lay out hem fabric, right side up with cut/torn edge horizontally in front of you.  I use my ironing board.

3. Lay the trim piece on top of hem fabric matching cut/torn edges.  The selvage edges may vary, I like the keep the overage/shortages at one end.  See step # 9.

4. Place main fabric on top of trim matching cut/torn edges, right sides together. (wrong side up)

5.  You should now have four layers of fabric, the hem and main fabric sandwiching the trim piece between them.  Pin all four layers together.

6.  This is where it gets a little tricky!  Gently roll the main fabric towards the pinned edge, just like you would if you were making cinnamon rolls.

7.  Fold hem fabric OVER the rolled up main fabric, matching cut/torn edges and re-pin.  You should have five layers pinned together in a nice little tube!  Make sure the rolled main fabric is at least 1" from pinned edge so that it does not accidentally get caught in your seam.

It should look like this:

And this:

8.  Sew along pinned edge (cut/torn) the full length of tube, taking out pins as you go, and locking stitches at each end. Trim threads.

9.  Gently pull main fabric out of tube.

It should look like this on the outside:

And this on the inside:
*note selvages not lining up exactly.

10.  Now to finish the side and bottom seams. I'll show you three different ways:

A: Serge!  On a large flat surface, fold pillowcase in half, right sides together, matching hem (top) and sides (selvage edge).  Starting at hem, sew side seam.

At corner, pivot 90 degrees and sew bottom seam.  Locking stitches at each end, trim threads.

Finish seams with serger!  The serger will trim off the overage seen in step 9.

Side/bottom seam B:  Leave 'em!
Sew side and bottom seams same as version "A",

Instead of running through the serger, trim the corners so they are nice and pointy when you turn it right side out.

"C" The french seam.  Very simple.  Fold pillowcase in half WRONG sides together, matching hem edges and side seams (selvage edge).  Sew down down side seam, pivot at corner and sew bottom seam. Make sure to take a 1/4" seam here!  Trim corners.

Turn pillowcase wrong side out, shake out and smooth down seam.  Iron.

Sew down side seam and bottom seam- back to 1/2" seams.

Finished seam should look like this:

Turn right side out and enjoy!

If you have any questions/comments, or if something seems a little funky, send me an email, and I'll try to help you out!

I'm Crushin'

on a fabulous website:

"Pinterest"

A couple of the blogs I follow had mentioned "Pinterest", and I finally decided to check it out.

A web site that allows you to collect all those really cool things you find on the internet in one spot?

Lets you organize them on your own "boards"?

Follow fellow "pinners"?

YES PLEASE!

I would love to extend you an invitation!

Because facebook wasn't taking up enough of my time already...

Easy Hash Brown Casserole

Easy Hash Brown Casserole

(Cheesy Potatoes)

Ingredients:

2 (10 3/4 oz) cans cream of potato soup

1 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (2 lb) package frozen hash browns

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese - divided

1/4 cup finely chopped onion 

 

Directions:  

Combine soup, sour cream, garlic powder and salt.  Add potatoes, onion and 1 cup of cheese; mix well.  Pour into greased 9"x13" baking dish.  Top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees.

*I usually add more cheese.

*freezes great  

Texas Vacation Part 4.

Final installment!

Thursday morning I woke to Jennifer telling me my mom was on the way to pick us up.  Somethings never change folks.  Only now, I have to pack up 4 or 5 other people...

Everyone on the couch for a photo!
Some, not so happy.

Elizabeth, Brynn, Reese, Jackson, William, Clara & Isabelle.

Jennifer and I.  Tired.

William and Clara wanted to do funny faces.  Reese joined, and William was distracted by the cat.

Jackson's funny face.

And then to say hello/goodbye to Cousin Seth and Seth Jr.  Isn't he just the cutest?

They let their kids play in the street in Humble.

Last group shot: Jackson, Elizabeth, Seth Jr., William & Isabelle. Not happy about this one either.

Cousin Connie and I.  Sunglasses hide tired eyes.

...on the road again...

While the rest of the family used the bathroom inside, Jackson chose the outside facilities.

Friday, my sister-in-law Kasey came down with my niece, Lena.  After helping Dad at work and grabbing a quick lunch at our favorite bakery, (who knew cold meat sandwiches could be so good?) Kasey, Elizabeth and I did a little shopping. I cannot wait to show you my fabulous finds!  Mom took the rest of the kids back home to play.  And swim.

Isabelle and Lena.

William got a new squirt gun.  Elizabeth loves it.

Before dinner, all the little people got measured on "the pole".
The kids love to see how tall they've gotten, and the grown ups like to measure who was taller at each age amongst the cousins.

My sweet niece.  Poor girl looks like she has my hair.

We roasted hot dogs over the fire for dinner - and some of us played.

Jackson still has a scab on his lip from his coal crusted marshmallow.

So, so hard to get motivated to leave for the twelve hour trip home... I was easily talked into feeding the goats before we took off.

This baby donkey is just about the cutest thing.

Right next to these little rolly polly puppies!

The kids did really well the whole four days in the car, and I'm pretty impressed that we traveled all 2544 miles without to much fighting!  We all lost it a little when we got out of the car three hours from home... fortunately they all fell asleep quickly, and went right to bed when we got home at midnight.

We had a wonderful time, and I would like to say a BIG Thank You! to our lovely host: Aunt Tawn and Cousin Jennifer!  And my mom... for riding along!

xo~