Red, White and Blue I Love You!

I made this red, white and blue flag out of scraps to hang outside for the summer. Summer holidays are all about patriotism and I just love a good flag waving tradition!

 I wanted it to be rustic and tattered so I tore all the red and white strips from my scrap bag. A scrap using project is always good for me, I love the fact it was gonna be trash and I rescued it!

I am also a collector of yardsticks and rulers, so I made a sleeve to hang it just big enough for a piece of a yard stick.   You could use a dowel or even twine fed through the sleeve.  I had assistance from Mr. Nini for attaching it semi permanently to our porch railing.

 I attached the fabric strips by putting a wide hem in the blue fabric's opposite end and cut slits in it, fed them from the back, tied a big knot in the top on the front side to give it that rustic look I like so much!!

It's perfect to leave out all summer long and it can be thrown out when it's faded and worn. It took no more than an hour to make and cost nothing!

Happy Summer and Happy Independence Day!! Go make something!

Nini~

New & Exciting from Old & Boring!

I love the idea of making my own fabric to use in projects. When I say making my own fabric, I mean altering the surface of an old piece of fabric, not weaving fabric.  Any old fabric you don't like anymore can be made new again with some random stitches and scraps of fabric. The only problem is it slows down your productivity. I don't usually have a problem with slow productivity, but after signing up for a holiday craft show in November I have been thinking about it. I made some graffiti fabric for use in a project for the craft show, it was fun to do and I calculated the time into my schedule so it was all good. I love the final product, so I'm going to do it again!!!  Next time I might add paint  or fabric dyes to the mix!

I cut snips of my scraps and laid them out on my base fabric that was loaded on my start rite quilt frame so it was a nice flat surface to work on and it stayed right where I laid it.

I laid them out all over the fabric in no particular rhyme or reason...I just kept a constant color theme.

I laid tulle over one of the fabrics to keep all the edges down as I stitched over them.

This piece I stitched over with no tulle.  I used a  stylus to push down edges and corners as I was stitching like a mad woman.

This is the finished product...vintage buttons and graffiti fabric: these are a few of my favorite things!!

I'm linking to Small Blog Meet on Lily's Quilts! Thanks Lynne!

Have you ever made your own fabric to use in a project? I'd love to know what you did!

Happy crafting!

Nini~

Inspired by the past...

I find my self attracted to the romantic shabby chic modern country that keeps popping up in everyone's house and blog...I wanted to make my Christmas decorations resemble that look with my own little twist, I am a fan of the rustic, texturey, rough, dirty, dusty things of the past. This is what Chelsey and I came up with for my dining room hutch.

Our creation.

Two old newel posts found at a yard sale,  laid on their sides draped in tulle were the inspiration.

 We hung stars from the rag garland made from t shirts, sheets and my no longer white cotton shirts I wore last summer.   I used left over morning coffee to soak the strips over night for more aging.

 We added lots of different textures.

 Chelsey wrapped styrofoam trees with pearls, I used old book pages.

 Jingle bells, ornaments, tulle, wrought iron, star fish, holly, sap buckets, and moss.

 I love the new flameless candles, couldn't place lit candles under rag garland if they weren't!

 This little guy was found at a yard sale, he's very happy among the lace and book page forrest!

Thanks to Chelsey our Christmas decorating was fun and fast this year. I was so inspired by the dining room I had the rest of the house decorated before December 1st! I love sitting in the living room at night nestled in all the cozy warm light and christmas cheer!

I'm linking to Serenity Now: Weekend Bloggy Reading  and Common Ground Vintage Inspiration

Nini~