Spring Has Sprung and I've Been Cleaning

A couple of weeks ago we went out to dinner and saw 300: Rise of and Empire. I forgot to post my outfit for the night. I really enjoyed dinner with my husband. The movie was okay. It was very action packed but it left me feeling king blah at the end of it. It seemed to me that the plot needed more depth and character development.

 

 Dress: Made by me

Shrug : Torrid    

Bangles: Vintage Lucite 

                 and modern plastic

 Earrings: Vintage faux pearl clip-ons

Over the last couple of weeks, I haven't had much inspiration for making or knitting much. I think I'm a little burnt out from knitting the capelet for my aunt and the hoodie for my nephew. I enjoyed making those items since they are both challenging and new.

I have gotten three small projects done over the last couple of weeks. I made a small pair of curtains for the kitchen. I've had this fabric for a few years just waiting to be turned into something cute. I had about a yard and a half left over. It took me a little over an hour from start to finish.

 

If I had had a few yards of this fabric I would have turned it into a circle skirt or a sun dress.

In our last visit to So Cal, my mother-in-law gave us this ottoman. It was Jess's grandmother's back in the day. I often use it when I do my hair and make up. It's this weird  yellow color and vinyl. One thing about me: I love the smell and feel of leather/vinyl but not in furniture. I always stick to it . I love vintage mustard color but this one is kinda bland. So, I made a cover.  I bought this fabric at a thrift store a few months back without knowing what to do with it. This was also a surprisingly easy project. An hour, hour and a half at the most and nothing special. I may re-make it in the future but for now I'm happy with it.

A few weeks ago, Jess's grandfather began chemo and radiation treatment. He's doing well and my mother-in-law is helping them out.  I decided to make him a nice lap blanket to help him through it. I love to crochet blankets/afghans. This was an easy and fun project. It's my first one-piece rectangular blanket.

I'm sure Grandpa will like colors. He's an All-American kinda guy.

This week has also seen me cleaning the house like crazy. I cleaned both bathrooms and the kitchen. Every year, I try and go through everything we own and rearrange what we use and donate or throw away what we don't used/need. I actually looked forward to cleaning the house now. I also did a lot of yard work. I cleaned out  and weeded both of our flowers beds over the last weekend. I have never been prouder of  clean dirt. I plan on laying down some brown mulch and leave space to plant some drought resistant flowers.

I also sat down and re-arranged my earring and brooch collection. I love being able to see and re-discover new pairs of earrings that have been hiding in my jewelry box. These are some of my more showy pairs.

Here's are most of my brooches. I love this collection. They range from the 1940's to present day. I've made a few of them myself. And some of them my mother-in-law gave them to me.

The rest of my earring collection. I'm sure my husband will say that I have plenty of earrings and don't need anymore. Oh, how wrong he is. We can never have enough accessories.

These are on the second level of the jewelry box. Bits and bobs that I love but don't show well.

 

 I still need to go through my purse and shoe collection. I need to see what items I use and which I don't.  I should buy a shoe rack too so I can easily access and see my shoes.  We're going to Reno this weekend to clean my rings (insurance purposes) and we're also going to look at furniture. All of our couches and chairs are broken.  The recliner chair broke at the begining of the week and Ridley has been upset. Since I can't stretch my legs out enough, it means Ridley can't lay on my lap. Spoiled cat. 

Oh, I hope we can find some cool vintage sofas or couches. I love vintage furniture because it was made to last and the fabric designs are just neat. It's be great if I could find some mid-century furniture at a great price but that remains to be seen.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Finished Projects and Latest Finds

 It sure has been a busy few weeks. The weather has held up pretty well. No major snow falls, but we have had some very windy days. Not that I mind.I  don't really go out much during the week except to get the mail and put the plants out. Speaking of plants, I'm going to have to clean out the flower beds in the backyard soon. I may want to weed out the flower beds and fill it with mulch to keep the weeds sown and make it look nicer. Maybe plant some drought resistant flowers for the spring and summer.

 I have been meaning to post more often but ever since my unintended computer hiatus, I find that I'm spending less time on the internet and more time working on keeping my house clean and working on projects. I love reading everyone's posts and commenting but now instead of doing it ever few hours, I do it every couple of days

I'm not sure if I mentioned that my nephew was getting christened and my aunt's birthday are in March. I wanted to go to both these celebrations but for some reason I got the dates mixed up. I thought they were the last weekend of march but it turns out they're this weekend. I kinda figured we weren't going to go so it wasn't that big of a deal. I did have to rush to finish the presents for my aunt and nephew.

My mom asked me to make  knit my aunt a capelet. I had the darnedest finding something nice and not too fussy. My aunt never been a fussy person. I found this pattern on Bernat yarn website. It was very simple and a quick knit too.

Close up of the button cover and trim.

I also made her a key hole scarf. I designed the pattern by myself. I've made a similar one for my mom and thought my aunt would like it too. I really like this style of scarve. It covers your neck very well and isn't bulky under your jacket. It looks very nice with a jacket or coat.

This shows the colors better. Its called sandstone. I may need to buy more to make myself a scarf.

This hoodie is for my nephew. It is also the first official garment I have knitted up.So I can cross it off of my goals for this year. I got the pattern off of Ravelry. It was a very easy knit and easy to read. I did change a few things. Instead of knitting the sleeves flat (back and forth), I decided to make set in sleeves. I picked up stitches and knitted it in the round. It looks a lot more professional this way.  I love it to bits. This makes me feel like an official knitter.

Front

Back.

This gives a better view of the front of the hoodie and the button band.

I found this awesome vintage cape/shrug for my mom. It almost looks like a bed jacket.

I love the ribbon detail on the sleeves.

I also found this vintage homemade cardigan. It is in amazing condition. No snags, no rips and the color is beautiful. It is a bit tight across the arms but I can deal with it.

I love this pattern. I hope that in the next few weeks I can figure it out so I can knit a pullover.

I also found this super cute retro cardigan. It's a nice neutral gray with beautiful beading across the shoulders and collarbone.

Close up of the bead work. I'm thinking of changing these buttons. They are pearlescent but don't really go with the sweater. Im thinking somethin round and maybe made of glass.

Another vintage homemade find. This was in the men's section but I think it's too pretty for a man to wear. It fits great and will make a great summer shirt. It looks like it's made from some kind of linen fabric.

I'm thinking of removing the pockets. It really squishes my boobs. I'd definitely save the pockets for later projects.

How awesome is this fabric. It's such a wonderful print. I got around 6 or 7 yards of this fabric for $2. Yup $2. I'm think a skirt circle dress with a solid purple or green bodice.

This was an eBay find. I have a lot of clip on earrings I don't use because I forget I have them.  I love hearts and I knew this would fit the bill. It's from the 1950s and in great condition for it's age. Now to find a couple more.

I don't find earrings with thrifting very often. I usually find them more at the rummage and estate sales. I got all these for 50 cents a pair.

These beauties are vintage Crown Trifari Jelly Belly Moon Shells. I looked them up and they are selling anywhere from $190 to $350. I'm definitely keeping them.

I found this original Harper Bazaar ad from 1949. It's pretty awesome. I never find actual ads for jewelry I find.

I hope everyone has a great week and weekend. It's suppose to be  very Spring like this weekend. I leave you with a photo of Ridley hanging out in the laundry hamper. He's so darn cute!