Vintage Sewing Basket

You know what I love?  I love finding vintage sewing baskets at sales.  Especially when the price is so low!  

Like this one!  There it was sitting in a room with odds and ends on the floor.  All the furniture had already been bought and removed.   I guessed this must of been on a shelf and the movers didn't know what to make of it so they just set it on the floor next to the extra curtains and bedding.  I snatched it up and continued on my search through the rest of the sale.   I couldn't wait to bring it home and open it up!   I have to maintain my excitement at these sales.  I don't want people to "up" the price because they think I've found gold or something!  

 How beautifully made this one is.  It is covered with a quilted oil cloth like fabric.  The color is still bright and not faded like most things this age.   It must of been kept in a closet or cabinet out of the sun rays.  

How excited I was to open it.  I knew something was in it the moment I picked it up and that just adds to the  "treasure hunt".   Just look at the old wooden spools and other spools of thread.  The buttons, oh I love old buttons! Some of them never used and some came from garments with the threads still attached.  There are needles in their original packaging and various other sewing notions.   

Tucked away in a side pocket I found this old drug store prescription box.  What fun.  The date on it is 7/3/47!  It is nearly 70 years old!  I just love finding this stuff.  

Inside it was safely housing some old upholstery tacks.   And the note on the inside cover - priceless. Can you enlarge it to read?  If not, here is what it says:  "We have these boxes hinged so that covers of different Boxes cannot become interchanged and the wrong directions applied.  Every possibility of error is guarded against in our Prescription Department."   The "hinge" is still intact.   Thank God for modern medicines and the bottles we now have that are even child proofed.   

Love these old buttons.  I don't know yet what I'm going to do with them, or with the wooden spools.  It seemed this sewing basket was carefully taken care of and I almost don't want to separate any of it.

I don't know a whole lot about this sweet little sewing basket, but the bottom has this label that says Kerk Guild inc., Artists in Accessories.   I've looked (googled) it and found very few similar.  I think it is from somewhere in the 40's to 60's, based on the prescription box inside, the other contents and the similars that I've found online.  Doesn't matter though, because for now it sits on a shelf in my room, looking pretty, waiting for me to decide what to do with it, before it gets sold again in my own Estate Sale!   

Letters to My Girls

I know, I talk to you all the time, but I wanted to put some things in writing so you would always have it.   And who knows, maybe someday you’ll share these “words of wisdom” with your own girls.  Hah! I think I’ve got it don’t I?   All of this “wisdom.”   I don’t really think I’ve got it,  I just know this, God gives all wisdom if you ask for it.  Sometimes even if you don’t, he gives it.  Like He thinks “poor thing, she needs some wisdom”   So He gives it freely and without ever taking it back.   So Ask Him – before you stumble along in life – ask Him.  He’ll give it.   And then ask for understanding.   Because you can have all kinds of Wisdom, Smarts, Education, Know How’s, whatever you want to call it, but if you don’t understand how to apply it, then what good is it?  Read it in your Bible – Proverbs 2:1 – 15 

I hope you’ll indulge me, and read my words, and comment if you want.  You know how I love to read comments.    There is so much I want to tell you.  Things that I’ve just had learn.  And when you read some of it you’ll be like – uh, that’s just common sense.  There’s no “wisdom” in that.  Which may be true, it’s just that sometimes we need to be reminded.    Like with this simple thing: Taking Care of Yourself.   Seriously.  We get so caught up in the lives of our children, husband, moms & dads, siblings, friends, and others that we forget.  We seriously forget, or put off, taking care of ourselves.  How do I know?  In the words of yesterday – been there, done that! 

 

What I want to say is TAKE CARE of you.  It’s like putting on your oxygen mask first, and then you can take care of others.  How you ask?  Simple:  Take showers.  Wash your hair.  Wash your face.  Floss and brush your teeth.   Wear makeup and do your hair.   Do it for you.   Use the “special” lotion.  Put away your sweat pants – unless you are planning on exercising – and you should! (I’ll talk about that later – in another post)  Take down your “messy bun” and get it together.   You will be so pleased when you look in the mirror instead of being frightened!  Your kids will be all like “where are you going mom?”  Your honey will be happy to see his beautiful wife, and he’ll up his own game too!  Watch him! 

And hey, when you have to go the supermarket for something you’ll look good, classy even.  Nice.  Hot – dare I say?   It isn’t about what other people think though.  It’s about how it makes you feel.  Have you ever seen Wonder Woman without makeup?  If you look good, you feel good and it shows.    I remember a time when I was running into work at the last minute, without makeup, wearing a blouse that I didn’t have time to iron and I just had the worst day!   My productivity was low, my mood was somber, and I hoped that all of my appointments would just not show up.   But they all did.  And they were teens with disabilities and every one of them asked me if I was feeling okay.   After that I kept a makeup bag in my desk – just in case.   It’s that important.   Fast forward to being home and wanting my home based business to grow, God had to remind me of the “extra makeup bag” in my drawer.   While I didn’t have those kind of appointments, I did have a schedule to keep and places to go.  I was only accountable to myself so it was easy to not get dressed and work at the computer in PJ’s all day.  But I didn’t feel my best so I couldn’t give my best.  Does it make sense?  No matter if its appointments to keep, people to see, places to go, Give your best to yourself.   You deserve it.   It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy,  just clean and neat and together.   Look in the mirror – you’ll be glad you did.    

~ Until next time

Garland Tutorial

Welcome to my first Tutorial!  I hope you find this project as fun and easy as it is!

I picked up the wood Valentine heart cutouts and the bakers twine at Hobby Lobby.  The Scrap book paper I had in my "stash" (truth be told I probably got it from Hobby Lobby too)

I used one of each size heart as a template.   On plain paper you could just trace your hearts on the back and get cutting.  I cut out 6 of each. 

On printed paper, like this beautiful toile, you should could "fussy" cut so each heart has a good picture. 

I used a gray fleur de lis for the larger hearts. 

Next I used regular ol' Elmers glue on the heart.  Not too much because you don't want it to wrinkle your paper heart, but enough so it sticks all the way around. 

After placing the heart down on the glue I gently rubbed across the heart with a popsicle stick to get the glue all the way to the edges.  

Here are some hearts that are dried and ready to be attached. 

Next take your twine, or ribbon, (I changed my mind and used ribbon for this because I thought it matched the paper better) and cut about 72 inches.  You could make yours longer or shorter depending on you preference.  This length allowed for two inches between hearts and about 18 inches on either side for hanging.  

I started 18 inches in with the first heart.   I marked my heart 

with a small pencil mark and then laid the ribbon on top.   I then put a generous amount of glue and placed the small heart on top.

Using small clamps, I clamped the two hearts together so they could dry in place.   I roughly measured 2 inches from the large heart and glued the next one in place.  I placed 6 sets of hearts on my garland. 

I'm so glad a did a "fussy" cut with this Toile scrapbook paper.  It's perfect for Valentine's Day!

I hope you enjoyed this simple garland tutorial. 

Post a picture if you make one - I'd love to see it!