Upcycling Vintage Doilies & May Blog Giveaway Winner

*Scroll down to the bottom of this post to read about May's blog winner*

Another one of my obsessions is

Vintage, hand crocheted doilies.  I've amassed quite a collection over the years, mostly from flea markets and second hand stores and upcycled them into many things, including pillows.

I've used some of them to embellish my aprons:

And upcycled them into valentines for my family and friends:

About a year ago I stumbled upon this image from Country Living...

...and I've been itchin' to stich one myself!  Here's my first one:

I'm so in love with it!

I've listed this one on Retro Revival and Etsy.  For now, it adorns my table and I can't stop admiring it!

The various shades of creamy white and the delicate needlework make me swoon!  I think it's a beautiful blend of contemporary-clean-fresh and shabby-chic-vintage.

If you too have a stash of doilies, it was easy (though time-consuming as hand stitching always is) to create:

First, I laid out like-colored doilies on my table and played around with arranging them until I achieved a look I liked.

Then I pinned them together with safety pins.

I hand-stitched them together with white thread and a needle.

If a table runner's not your thing, take a cruise through blogville and you'll find lots of other creative ideas for upcycling your doilies.  Here a couple that make me smile:

A doily wedding dress!  Gorgeous.

(Image courtesy 100 Layer Cake)

Doily wallpaper.  Just lovely!

(Image courtesy In Bloom Event Design)

A doily pendant.  Fun!

(Image courtesy DosFamily.com)

Thank you all for your comments on my May posts!

Congratulations to Tana50.  The random generator chose YOU ~ yay!

Tana50, please email me your address so I can ship you the book.

I'm whipping up a very special ~ my MOST special giveaway YET, for this month.  Give me a few more days (it's worth it!) and I'll post the details.

LINK LOVE.  I discovered another beautiful, creative blog!  Check out Creative Carmelina.  She hand-crochetes doilies!

Friday Night Fidgety Fingers

What to do on a Friday night?  If you're a wild and crazy gal like me, you'll try your hand at fabric rosettes - ha!  I had fun making these!

It took me a couple of tries and then found them super easy to make.  Here's how I did it, in case you want to give them a try.

Here's what you'll need:

*A long piece of fabric (the longer, the bigger the rosette), 1/2 to 2 inches wide

*Needle and thread to match your fabric

*Scissors

Begin by folding the fabric, lengthwise, in half:

Then tie a knot on one end of the strip:

Next, fold the end of the fabric down, so that the knot is on top:

Then begin tightly wrapping the long end of the fabric around the knot:  As you wrap, twist the fabric.  This does not have to be perfect, in fact, if it's a little messy I think it's more lifelike.  Keep on wrapping and twisting, and before long, your rosette will begin to take shape:

Every couple of wraps around the knot, put a stitch in the side of your rosette - this will keep it stable:

When you've wrapped and twisted to the point your rosette is the perfect size, tuck the end of the fabric strip (you may have to cut the strip if you still have lots left over) to the underside of the flower and securely stitch it:

Simple, right?  And so pretty, I think!

I have yards and yards of beautiful, natural muslin and my rosette inventory is quickly growing.  I like how they looked when I placed them on some of my vintage doilies ~ romantic, soft and dreamy-like:

What should I create with my rosettes?  I'd like to make something that'll compliment my existing Retro Revival product line.  Ideas?  Anyone?  Bueller?

Let me know your thoughts and you'll automatically be entered to win this month's giveaway:

Each comment you leave on one of my February blogs counts as an entry, so the more you comment, the more chances you have to win - yay!  Drawing is February 28th ~ good luck!