Decking the Halls

Come inside and take a tour of Christmas at KayteeJane's House. There are vintage touches in every room.

Please enjoy a cup of hot cocoa, kick off your shoes and sit back and relax.....there is still much more to see.

KayteeJane

Outside Looking In

Some outside decorations for the holidays....

Welcome! Come on in....

 Fresh greens look beautiful just about anywhere....

Sleigh ride anyone?....

Yes, It is a wonderful life!

Before you go, please join me on Facebook for "25 Days of Vintage Christmas". Each day I will be sharing something fun and vintage. Click below to like my page.

Thanks for stopping! See you next time....

KayteeJane

Scarf from a Vintage Tablecloth

I seem to be on a scarf kick. Recently I made a scarf using a vintage Christmas tablecloth. Here is how I did it.

Before starting pick a vintage tablecloth that is damaged with stains and/or holes ~ one that you don't mind cutting up. Look it over and decide which part of the pattern you want to use for your scarf. For mine I measured 6" from the edge of the material and then cut a piece 6" wide by the entire length of the tablecloth. (Since the edges of these table cloths are usually plain white material I trimmed that section off before measuring.)

I cut 2 pieces of material to use for my scarf, each 6" wide by the length of the scarf. I then cut one of those pieces in half. To make the scarf I will use one long piece and one half-sized piece. Based on the size of your tablecloth you may not need to do this. I wanted a long scarf to wrap around my neck several times so I decided to add a half section to my original piece of material to make the scarf longer. To determine if my scarf was long enough I placed the first cut piece around my neck to get an idea of how long it would be. Then I decided to add another section. Just play around with it using your own judgement.

Next sew the two pieces right sides together on the short edge so that you now have one long strip of fabric.

Once you have your long strip of fabric, fold the fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together. Sew a seem sewing the two pieces together along the rough edge of the entire length of the scarf.

When you get to the seem where the two pieces of fabric are sewn together, press the seem flat (not open) and stitch over it.

The two short ends should remain open. Now turn the entire scarf right side out. You will now have a long tube.

Unfinished ends:

Now turn the unfinished edges inside the tube. You may need to press this with an iron before sewing. You can then finish the scarf by sewing the ends shut. I decided to add some trim to the end of my scarf. I attached the trim while sewing the ends closed.

Once finished press flat with an iron.
I think it turned out nice. A very different scarf ~ definately with a vintage flair.

KayteeJane

The $2 Infinity Scarf

I was planning on writing this post about making gifts out of a thrifted sweater. Unfortunately that didn't work out when I decided to wash the thrifted sweaters. I ended up with something so shrunken and unuseable that the only thing these "sweaters" are good for now are for the cat to sleep on. Oh well...I have a better project to share with you anyway. ~ I love how that works out. You plan for something good but in the destruction something better comes along :) Here is what I want to share with you....

I made the infinity scarf shown above and all it cost me was $2 and 15 minutes of time. I kid you not! I love infinity scarves. I pretty much love all types of scarves, as do most women these days. Recently while at Dollar Tree (I think I should be blogging for them as I promote their products enough) I found these snowmen scarves on sale. I bought 2.

I had an idea to sew these two scarves together to make an infinity scarf. I figured - what the heck? - if it doesn't turn out all I am out is $2.

First, I ironed the scarves to make them easier to sew.

Next I stitched the short ends of the two scarves together. To do this just place one scarf on top of the other. Sew the short sides together using a basic straight stitch. You will do this twice - once on each end of the scarf. When you are finished you will have one large continuous loop.

Here is a picture of me in the mirror to show you just how long the big loop is once the two scarves are sewn together into one. (please ignore the background and yucky smudge on the mirror)

Putting the two scarves together gives you plenty of length so that you can loop the scarf around your neck several times making it very full and lush.

This is me wearing the finished scarf. This project took me no more than 15 minutes from start to finish. No complicated sewing involved. A child could do it.

I LOVE how it turned out. SO easy, SO inexpensive and SO cute and stylish!

Heading out now to buy more of these. (Hoping they are still there.) I think I will stitch up a few for gifts. I am going to be on the look out for non-holiday themed scarves there as well.

Happy gift creating!!!

KayteeJane

Gifts from the Thrift

Each Christmas I try to make many of the gifts that I give instead of buying them. I do this for two reasons. One, to save money and two, because I enjoy doing something special and personal for the people on my list.  I really enjoy creating gifts and it satisfies the creative person inside of me.

With a dollar having to stretch longer than it ever has, I am coming up with several ideas of simple & easy gifts that can be made on a budget. I am planning on sharing all of my ideas here on my blog over the next weeks. Today I am showing gifts you can put together using things that can be bought in just about any thrift store. I do not think these gifts are tacky or sacrifice style at all, just because some parts of them came from a thrift store. In fact I think they turned out very nice and I know I would be happy receiving any of these things. And by making gifts like these instead of buying "new", we are doing something good for the environment by reusing. So be unique! I challenge you to try one of these ideas for someone on your list - a teacher, a friend or a neighbor perhaps?

Project #1 - Forced Bulbs

(Click on picture for original souce.)

I love forcing tulip and paperwhite bulbs. Here in Pennsylvania they are a welcome bit of color and freshness during the winter months. Forced bulbs make nice gifts too. You can buy a pre-made gift package for forcing bulbs from Target complete with a pottery dish & bulbs. However, since I like to do things my own way I am going to make these myself using vintage & recycled containers and for a lot less money!

At thrift stores look for glass & pottery bowls, planters & dishes that would be good for forcing bulbs. Here are some pottery planters that I have collected.

Milk glass is a beautiful container for paperwhites. At my trip to the thrift last week I spotted this milk glass dish for $1.99.

Here are some other containers that I have collected - all of which would work to hold the bulbs. The more unique the better. Think outside the box.

To make the gift, you will need some rocks or stones for the bottom of the container. I found these bags at Dollar Tree for a dollar each. You will mostly likely need one bag of rocks for each container you are using unless it is a larger container and then you will need two.

Look around at discount stores or gardening centers for packs of bulbs. I found these red tulip bulbs for $2.50 a package. There are 8 bulbs in a pack - enough to make 2 or 3 gifts.

Fill the bottom of your container with the rocks. Place the bulbs on the top of the rocks nestled in so that they don't fall over. If you do this now (a month before you give the gift) you can begin to grow these at home and then give the gift with the flowers in bloom. If you decide to do that, add water to your rocks (not overflowing) and place the dish in a sunny/warm location. The flowers will begin to grow. OR you can wait and give the gift with the bulbs just starting. If you do this, don't add water. Just package the bulbs as shown below. Doing it this way is nice too because the recipient can then grow their own flowers in January when we all need a little bit of spring to brighten the days.



Here is one bulb packaged in a vintage drinking glass. I used clear pebbles for this one.

 

 

Remember that once the bulbs are done growing the gift recipient can keep the container for later use and also plant the bulbs in their garden!

Each of these gifts cost me less than $5 each.

Idea #2 - Beautiful Soap Dish

I love antique dishes. I frequently see singles - ones that don't come with a complete set - for sale at thrift stores & antique stores.I use a pretty antique plate as a soap dish in both my kitchen & bathroom. Here are two dishes that I am using for my gifts.

For my gift I am buying handmade soap to go with the dish. My friend Julie made the tree shaped Spruce soap shown below. I love how it looks on the red and white transferware plate. If you can't find any handmade soap, TJ Maxx and Marshalls sell great soaps at reasonable prices.

This gift cost me $5.

Idea #3 - Drinks with Style

Glassware abounds at the thrift store. Much of it is in great shape and sells for pennies on the dollar. If you are going to dinner at someone's house and typically bring a bottle of wine, why not pair it with some nice wine glasses that you found at the thrift store. I have no misgivings about buying glassware second hand. I look it over to check for chips and scratches. If it looks good then I know I can take it home and put it in my dishwasher to get it nice and clean.

When shopping for glassware, keep your options open to what may be available at the thrift store and then base your gift around what you found. Just last week I saw these Margarita glasses for sale. Package these along with some Margarita salt and Margarita mix for a cute gift.

I also saw these. I thought they were pretty cute with their hobnail base. They only cost 39 cents each. I would pair several of these glasses with a bottle of champagne. - This would make a nice New Year's gift.

I also saw these. Very retro! I'm thinking Mad Men all day. These would be great along with a bottle of flavored liquor, whisky or what you would need to make a martini. Include some cocktail stirrers and some fun paper cocktail napkins. Only 99 cents each for beautiful vintage glasses!

If you don't want to do alcohol, how about a Root Beer Float Basket? I found these small-sized beer mugs at the thrift store. I bought these red & white straws at Dollar Tree in the Christmas aisle.

Pair the glasses and the straws with some ICB Root Beer and a pint of good vanilla ice cream for a sweet gift idea - all for about $10 if you include the ice cream & root beer.

If you are crafty, here is an idea that I saw on Pinterest last year. You could do this with any stemmed glassware.

(Click on the picture for the original link.)

Idea #4 - Food Packaging

You can find a great assortment of glass containers at the thrift store that would be beautiful for holding your home baked cookies, fudge, snack mix or candy. Much prettier than a disposable foil or plastic container and much cheaper than buying new. Fill with your homebaked goodies and tie with a ribbon.

Here a some examples of containers found at thrift stores or antique stores that would be beautiful for packaging food:

Look for glass cake plates to hold fruit cake. Glass jars to hold snack mix or cookies. Tins to hold candy or fudge. Loaf pans or vintage Pyrex to hold a loaf of bread or a cake.

So there you have it. I hope you have been insired to shop at your local thrift store this holiday season to find gifts for the people on your list. You will be helping the environment, helping the charity that runs the thrift store & helping your wallet. Not to mention you will be giving a gift that is unique and one of a kind.

If you have any other ideas of gifts from the thrift - please share them with us in the comments. I would love to hear what ideas you have!

Next time...how many gifts can you make from an old wool sweater? Join me to see what I come up with!

KayteeJane