Keep your eyes open

I was strolling through the thrift store with no real projects in mind, just kinda browsing. I found myself in the curtains area and saw the COOLEST retro print fabric. I knew right away when I saw it that I would deconstruct those curtains and make a dress. I got them home and realized I would have enough for two, maybe even three dresses. So I made a couple summer dresses for my girls. What was once curtains in some one's 60's themed room are now groovy little summer dresses. The moral of the story? Keep your eyes open, you never know what great stuff you may find where you least expect it.

Attack a shop!!!!

The cafemom Etsy team is having a weekly shop attack. This is to help get word out about a handmade merchant. This week is twokazoos. What a cool shop!!! She has great felt magnets and little felt tic tac toe games. There is so much to choose from!!!
So help get the word out, go visit her shop, buy something and tell everyone you know to buy something too. This is a great way to support someone in the handmade community.
http://twokazoos.etsy.com

A few ideas to help you live a bit greener

I hear so many people say that they just can't seem to find a way to get green, or they say it's too much trouble. There are so many ways to help that there really shouldn't be any excuses. So I decided to post a few ideas to get the ball rolling.
One way to help save water is to fill a 2 liter soda bottle with water and place it in the tank of your toilet. This will displace water and makes it so that you don't need as much water to refill it or use as much when you flush. Who needs to pay hundreds on a low flow toilet when they have a 2 liter bottle?
Recycling can be a pain in the butt when you have to drive across town to drop it off. Thankfully many cities and garbage companies are offering recycling incentives. If you have home garbage service you can actually qualify for a discount when you agree to use their recycling cans or bins. You may not get that $2 refund for your soda cans, but you can save a nice percentage off of your garbage bill.
How many paper towels do you use in a month? A very famous infomercial claims we spend $20 a month on paper towels! We are trowing away our money and paper. Do you get a news paper? Do you know you can use your old news papers to clean your windows and mirrors? They actually clean better than paper towels because they don't leave behind lint. Not only will you reduce the amount of paper towels you use, but you now found a good use for your old newspapers. Two birds with one stone.
These are just a couple of examples of things you can do to live a greener life. I would like to make this an ongoing theme and write more tips for green living. If we all take a few tiny steps toward a green life, we can make this world a better, healthier world. We don't have to live a radical life of composting toilets and hay homes, but we can call the garbage company and ask for a recycling bin and a nice discount. :)

I LOVE old things, and wow!!!

So as you know by now, I LOVE old things. We are looking for a house and walked through a 1924 craftsman home. What a weird quirky little home it is. It is on acreage and has this old depression dated well pump, there is a HUGE cast iron wood stove in the shop that must be at least 150 years old, and the coolest old fashioned architecture ever. We would have our work cut out for us if we buy it, but I think that house is just too cool to resist. We are getting it inspected next week while we are waiting for our financing to finalize. I am just so excited to share my day looking at my strange little house. :)

What is it about vintage?

I just explained to someone in one of my Internet groups why I love old things, and it really got me thinking about it. I don't think that something new can go through some kind of treatment and be passed off as vintage, well, at least it shouldn't. There is just something that new can never offer to me that only vintage can.
What is it about vintage that is so special to me? I don't know, I guess it's the feeling of it. All of the senses are enveloped in it. Take an old jar for example, what was in it? What does it smell like? I remember as a kid, my mom would save the pickle jars and my brother and I would go catch bugs and put them in the jars, we would poke little holes in the lid and carry our prize around all day in the back of our wagon. The faint smell of a washed out pickle jar brings that time back to me every time. I love going to an estate sale, all those old dresses and hats, you know that someone loved them so much. They have the great smell of old soap and ceder chips. Nothing can beat that. New is generic, it lacks character, give me old and used any day. I love to wear old vintage t shirts that are worn and faded, the slogans are barely visible, but it feels loved. My mom's old tshirt from Venice Beach, the one with the gondola on it, how can something new replace that? When you open an old makeup box and smell the greasy scent of vintage lipstick or the sweet essence of cold cream, or that set of 60 year old canning jars that still smell like spiced peaches, new can never make you feel that way. Ever.

Let the blogging begin

So, welcome to my blogspot. I am really excited about getting it started and look forward to seeing how it develops.
Let's begin with a little bit about me. The whole reason I am starting this blog is because I want to share my passion about redesign, re purposing, up cycling, what else can I call it? I have an Etsy page dedicated to my re purposed items called, you guessed it, Vintage Evolution. I love few things more than being able to look at something that has been cast out and imagining a new life for it. A thrift store to me is more of an imaginariam, where I can begin a new world from other's garbage. I could spend my days yardsaling and thrift storing, then coming home and cutting apart and resewing. I can't wait for the day that I can get a dress form and really begin making some cool clothes for adults.
Now, what are my goals for this blogspot? I have so many. I would like to spread the word about handmade, re purposing, and living just a little bit greener. I plan to make regular and hopefully frequent posts about things that I find to make those things possible. I will feature not only my own work, but the work of other crafters who share common ideals.
I hope that you enjoy this blog and can learn something new. Come back often, and sign up as a follower. Please let me know if there is anything you would like me to cover, or if you have any ideas you would like to share.