Vintage Planter Pincushions & Glad Rags Documentary

I've been on pins and needles, waiting for weeks for this day!  Brianne Richard and Vallerie Perrault, the gals behind Glad Rags The Documentary Series, are coming to visit me today!  They'll be interviewing me, asking about my Retro Revival aprons made from vintage tablecloths.

I'm super excited!

And speaking of pins and needles...here are a few vintage planters I repurposed into pin cushions this week:

 

 

Remember this guy?  I blogged about finding him at the flea in Florida.  Still not sure if he's a horse or a cow, or a donkey!  Anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

Now, returning to the Documentary...you can learn about it by visiting their Facebook page.

 

Please wish me luck!  I'm hoping I don't get Kevin Costner'd (a la The Big Chill)!

Fabulous Flea Finds

It's been a while since I pulled away from my sewing machine to visit what I call Treasure Land (the flea market).  Treasure Land offers up a seemingly endless supply of random, quirky and eclectic riches, almost always for very little money.

As I headed there last week, I couldn't help but fantasize that I'd scoop up a real treasure like the fellow recently featured on Antiques Road Show.  Did you see it?  He found five hand-carved bowls that are worth over a million dollars ~ yowza!  (Click HERE to watch the video clip.)

I know my picks aren't rare artifacts, but I love them nonetheless!

My favorite thing about flea'ing is finding creative ways to use my goodies for something other than what they were originally intended.  I'll upcycle the vintage floral planters into pincushions like I've done in the past:

(click HERE to view my post on this project).

And since I have two big shows coming up in October, I'm thinking the little vintage train case might be an eye-catching way to display my Retro Revival Insulated Flat Iron Travel Cases.  Something like this:

What's your favorite thing about flea'ing?  Do tell and you'll be automatically entered to win this month's fun, free, blog giveaway...

...A $20 gift certificate to spend as you wish in Patti's Etsy shop!  Drawing is August 31st.

 

Results from 2 Big Craft Fairs

Whew!  I'm finally caught up with filling my Christmas orders and want to share some of the highlights from my first two big craft fairs.

(Shameless plug first: Retro Revival is now offering GIFT CERTIFICATES!  Perfect if you're not exactly sure what your special someone will want.  Available in $10 increments.)

The first show was the McIntosh 1890's Festival, October 23-24th.  My dear friend Melanie came down from Iowa to help me and boy am I happy she did!  Fortunately, we were slammed with business - yay!  Unfortunately, we were so busy we forgot to get a picture of ourselves together - doh!

(Pre show set up - can do it in under two hours now!)

  Most importantly though, we sold a ton of aprons and met some amazing people, including this young lady:

Eva Jo, another lovely woman we met, was impressed with my use of vintage tablecloths (for my aprons), went home, came back and insisted on giving me a beautiful tablecloth she owned.  How nice was that?!  She told me that she'd love me to use it rather than seeing it sit her linen closet - so sweet!

I'm telling you - the people I meet at my shows are just the nicest!  Women (and believe it or not - men!) love aprons and sharing their memories about their mothers and grandmothers wearing them.  It's amazing and really makes me so happy to meet people who share my love of vintage linens and aprons in general.

We sold a record number of shower caps (and at my prior, smaller shows I rarely sold a shower cap!) and displayed them next to my new product, handmade bath salts:

We also sold a few pincushions and dessert pedestals.  During this one-day show we did really well, selling ten times the cost of the entry fee and of course, it was so much fun with my BFF at my side!

The next weekend, October 30th - 31st, my hubby Paul helped me at the 35th Annual Micanopy Fall Festival.  Honestly, Paul wasn't my first choice for a helper - was concerned he'd be bored out of his gord but it worked really well!

Paul's a mathematician and I really put him to work as aprons and all manner of Retro Revival products and cash were flying!  I can hardly believe how well we did and am sooooo happy!  We sold 17 times the cost of the entry fee - woo hoo!

The town was crammed like sardines and everyone seemed to be in a buying mood!

All of my customers were incredibly delightful; I managed to snap pix of a few:

I also met another charming woman, Debbie from MySewingInfo.  Please check out her website which is full of sewing, crafting and quilting information.

Since I didn't sell many of my pincushions or dessert pedestals at McIntosh, I decided to reduce the prices a bit at Micanopy and it made a huge difference - I sold almost all of them - yay!

My mother-in-law, Lois, made me a gorgeous retro dress that perfectly coordinated with one of my vintage pillowcase aprons:

I got so many compliments on my dress that at one point I thought, "Gawd, it's distracting from my products!"  Ha!

Near the end of day two at Micanopy, Paul got a little punchy.  When I wasn't looking, he donned an apron which I thought was totally ridiculous until I realized it was actually helping to draw more people into the tent!  He's so silly!

Back-to-back shows are beyond exhausting but I had a blast!  Hoping I'm fortunate enough to do several in 2011.  Now I'm busy restocking/sewing my inventory.  Life is good:)

Please remember to leave a comment on my DECEMBER 9TH blog entry for a chance to win a very special apron!  Please read the rules for the giveaway.  Drawing is 12/31.

Felted Wool Pincushions

As you may remember from my previous posts, I have a thing for pincushions!  Don't really know why because I only really NEED one and only really have SPACE for one.  Soooooo....I recently decided to make a few, thinking they'll be a nice addition to my Retro Revival product line.

Here's my favorite:

(This is a vintage Mary Kay floral planter that I picked it up at the flea for $3!)

I really enjoyed making these!  Here's how I did it:

1. I began by snatching up several vintage, 1950s and 1960s flower shop planters (you know - the kind shops used to place plants and flowers in for special occasions like the birth of a baby or for Mother's Day) at the flea market and second hand stores (I paid between $1 and $5 each).  Just about any ol' container will do (I made pincushions in the past from vintage muffin tins) so use your imagination!
2. Then I bought a couple of wool sweaters, again from local thrift stores, spending between $.25 and $2.00 each (I snagged a gorgeous pink, cashemere sweater for $1!  I actually kinda hated cutting it because it was so pretty!)
3. Next I shrunk, or "felted," the wool by:
   *Tossing the sweaters into the wasing machine with hot water and a little soap
   *Drying the sweaters in my dryer
   *Originally adult sized, they ended up felted and small enough to fit a doll - perfect for my project!
4. I then cut a piece of styrofoam to fit inside the flower planters and hot glued it into the bottom of the container
5. Fianally, I cut small sytrofoam balls in half, covered the rounded halfs with polyester batting (pins won't easily stick into cotton batting), placed a piece of the felted wool on top then glued this all to the styrofoam already glued into the container.  (This was a really tight fit so I carefully used the tip of a steak knife to poke the wool into the planter.)

Voila!  Here are a couple more from my new collection:

(This little guy is a pin cushion on one side with a little bowl area on the other side!)

I'm taking these and the others I made to the big craft fair in McIntosh this weekend.  Really hoping they sell well but if they don't, I've already warned my friends and family what'll likely be in their Christmas stockings this year - ha!

Friendly reminder to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win this month's giveaway:

 

Unique & Whimsical Pincushions

I picked up a couple of little vintage tins recently at a flea market and finally decided what to do with them – I crafted them into pincushions!  Here’s how I did it...First I cut out a 6” circle of fabric

Then I hand stitched around the edge of the fabric circle, making a knot at one end of the thread so that I could gather the fabric into a bowl shape, leaving an opening.  I didn’t tie off the thread and left it hanging from the needle.

Next I stuffed the “bowl” with batting…

…and stitched the cushion closed.

I then glued the cushion to the tin and viola!

My completed pincushion.  I think it’s pretty cute and have been using it for a couple of days now – it’s very practical.

So, really, what's the point of a pincushion and can't we just keep our pins in the boxes we bought them in?  Well sure, but why not find a unique and whimscial way to display and keep our pins handy?  Although I made my pincushion just for fun, I found a couple of crafters who are making them for sale.  Check out this pretty little creation from Liz at www.etsy.com/shop/RecycleRabbit.  I love this little chicky!

And here's another darling handmade pincushion designed and handcrafted by Beth at www.etsy.com/shop/BethsBagz.  It's Alice in Wonderland and it's delightful!

DON’T FORGET to leave a comment about last week’s blog, “Why I Wear a Shower Cap” and you’ll automatically be entered for the drawing to win the Retro Revival Pretty Purses shower cap.  I will draw the winner next Monday, January 18th.  Thank you to Debby Girvan, Susan, BB, Shandell’s, Nat, Donna K, Just Mimi, and Anonymous for your comments; I’ve enjoyed reading every one of them.  Good luck everyone!