diy: denim American {inspired} flag

 I made a flag! The best part is that it came out just as pretty as I imagined it in the noggin. Here are the steps I took to make it, if yer a fancy-pants stitcher you'll have it all figured out and probably more orderly. If yer not, follow along as I am wonky at best!

I am a lazy stitcher. I don't measure, I just make. I cut and snip and snip and stitch until something clicks and the end product is finished. I have been collecting denim for a while to make this flag in time for July. It was inspired by a photo I saw either on a blog or pinterest. I don't think I pinned it or maybe I did and I am too lazy to search for it right now. Either way, my flag in now way looks like the image I saw but it did give me the idea to repurpose my denim pile (plus a few added pieces thrifted for variety).

materials

*1-2 pairs of jeans (more if you want more variety)

*1-2 pieces cut from a man's button down 

*sewing machine

*thread

*pins

*scissors

*old pillowcase or piece of scrap muslin or fabric

Cut out yer backing piece to the size you want. A pillowcase is a good size to use. I used a piece of faux linen that was already floating about the tiny casa.

 

Snip and tear away at yer denim pile (tearing gives you nice raggedy edges) until you assemble a pile of scraps that will cover yer base piece. Use long lengths to emulate the stripes of the American flag but make sure to think outside the norms and include seam and pockets, etc.

Layer away until you are happy with your design. I snapped this picture then went back and move the long plaid strips to create my star-box area. I also added a few contrasting bits for variety.

 

 

After I layered it all down, I pinned it all into place but found it too bulky to work with. So I took a picture then removed the tops bits keeping them arranged as I layered them and added them bit by bit. I would however, recommend pinning down your longest lengths and stitching them along one edge to keep them in place. 

 

 Oh wait, before you go about unpinning it all, flip the whole thing over and trim excess edges to square it all up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Bring the happy jumbled mess to your machine and stitch with a contrasting color. I first stitched along the right side of the soon-to-be flag, anchoring  down the long strips. Then I pinned the next layer and stitched and so on. Mix up your stitches for variety.

 Don't forget to put all yer pins back in the pincushion as you unpin. I have a bad habit of not doing that and my bare feet have paid the price dearly. I originally wanted to use some of my vintage costume jewelry pieces for the stars but have no idea where I tucked those away. Instead, I cut up the trimmed scraps into smaller bits. bunched them up, and stitched those on using one long continuous stitch. I wasn't able to get 50 little bits on but 35 made the cut and it still inspires one to think flag! (at least, I hope it does).

 

Next up, I made a casing so that the flag could go on a pole (like a real flag). To make the casing, I tore a long strip from the leg of a pair of jeans and folded it in half lengthwise. I pinned it so that it would not unfold then I pinned it to the left side of my soon-to-be-flag. Brought it all back to the machine and stitched away, including closing off the top so that the pole would stop and not go al lthe way through the tube. 

After snipping away some of the loose threads I sat back with a sigh and admired my handy work. So cool! **click here to see me waving my {freak} flag.

thrifty consumption

the box, camera and balloon pump were thrift finds. i found the balloon pump when i was in high school!

I think it is safe to say that I changed my thrifting habit. Curbed it even, sort of. I used to thrift for the thrill of finding vintage but now, now I thrift for needful and useful things. Things I put on my mental list, things to craft with and things for the preschool. I also only really go to the Goodwill Outlet here in town. It is a mess of a warehouse full of piles of junky junk and crappy crap with enough jewels tossed into the mix that you keep returning, and returning...and returning until you are one of those people; one of the regulars (I don't know any of their names but we're starting to nod at each other as we eyeball the others' armload). While I do not own my own pair of gloves, nor do I understand the whole system, I'm there often enough it could be embarrassing if I wasn't a natural born thrifter.

the green vase and the shelf were thrift scores... $2.25 total

Now I dash in with the idea that I need something red to craft with or perhaps a white pillowcase for another project. Sometimes I visit with a mantra in my head hoping the thrifting gods will hear me. Once I went chanting "salad spinner, salad spinner, salad spinner" and there one was for all of a quarter! I've found shelves for the tiny casa, tins for the mister's homemade ukes, rugs to color up the kitchen floor and tablecloths that I always think I will cut up for crafting but never do. Useful things, things I have been hoping to find, good things for super cheap!

we needed something for our keys, this was $1! one coat of paint later and it makes a happy home for keys.

That doesn't mean I am a superior and savvy hardcore thrifter only buying things that have a purposeful purpose. I'm still highly attracted to colorful pyrex, kitschy coffee mugs and pretty frocks. But I have grown, I have! I pass up so many wonderfully fun vintage bits it makes my head and heart hurt a little but I have no room to showcase, only the quirkiest get swept up. I also have no head for a business as I have enough here in the tiny casa I need to photograph and list. So when I do find something extra swanky but it is not something I am going to by, I will pull it out and display it for the other regulars to see. Mostly that involves clothing with valuable labels, old and new. The other day I found a pretty Pendelton button-down with only the tiniest of a moth hole near the bottom hem...it would get buried quickly so I made a show of inspecting it and left it on the top. I have a good eye and some of them regulars know it as they swoop in on my discards. I often wonder what they think of my armloads of plastic colanders (perfect for little hands to push pipe cleaners into) coupled with a kitschy chalkware bank and short pile of 1970s potholders.

the rug was $1 and the rest totaled $3 (incl brand new micro grater)!

 Yet, even though I grin ear to ear with my scores, I often leave with a different kind of ache in my heart at all that crappy crap I root through, the stuff that is not fit to place in a real thrift store, the stuff that people consider disposable and cheap. Holiday themed plastic cups and serveware, dollar store dishes and cheapie stuffed toys make up most of the stock. It's as if people think donating all the cheap replaceable bits to a thrift store is a good thing when mostly it should be recycled or better yet, not purchased at all. It makes me rethink how I spend and while I am super attracted to the happy summer colors every season at Target, I know I could spend a better penny on something that will last many summers. It is why I save my pennies to purchase a handmade garlic keeper or giant mason jar water server instead of rushing out to have something now because for now, what I have works and will do. It might not be as pretty as I would like but it is serviceable and having something work even if it is bland is better than replacing your drinking glasses every year. The plastic goods and cheapie cheap items that clutter up our thrift stores tend to leave a lot of clutter in my mind. I'm trying to think it through, to word it well, this concern I have for our (over crowded) planet. I'm trying to rework my own patterns of consumption even as I pin away all the pretty I would love to have. So I'm trying to be thrifty in my consumption, both pennywise and environmentally sound. And while I did indeed just spend three dollars on a bucketful of crappy crap (I'm installing a water-wall at the preschool) I think if I can plan it out, and sit on it, my baby steps will only get bigger.

$1 and a coat of paint equals a happy mail/receipt center

**and ahem, I do have a follow up post for a pretty awesome thrift score that I just couldn't pass up. But in my defense, most of it IS useful...mostly.

paint and fold

 When it came time to do up the june bed, I knew I wanted to paint some newspaper and create some sort of geometric fun. 

 

Soooo...out came the newspaper (which I horde from the mama a-go-go's newspaper bin) and the paints and I painted away, both the fronts and the backs of a couple of sheets of newspaper.

 

After I all that paint dried, I cut the pieces up into square{ish} bits and then cut some of those into smaller square{ish} bits. I folded each piece in half then in half again; then I opened them up and folded in the corners as if I were making a cootie catcher.

 Then I took the whole shebang to the bedroom along with a roll of double stick tape and got to taping.

The double stick tape is a bit wonky and likes to eject various squares off the wall (usually while one is visiting dreamland). As long as the square{ish} bit doesn't land tape-side down in yer hair, it's all good....kinda like an evolving art installation (or a mess, if you ask the mister). 

Every day is a different bit of pretty!

***

 Today is a quiet-busy kind of day. The last of our most recent house guests have left and I am now up to my elbows in neon paint. I'm juggling all sorts of balls and my to-do list is ever growing longer. I owe multiple phone calls and really need to get back to planning meals for the mister and I. Phew!

I've got a big deadline today and since I am waiting for paint to dry (yes, physically waiting for it to dry so I can finish and get it to the post office) I thought I would take a break to drink a tall glass o' cold water, indulge in a handful of cherry sours (man, do I LOVE cherry sours), and give the dillydilly a shout. Things have been slow around these parts but I have all sorts of magic up my sleeve. May you have a most excellent weekend! I will be working on magic and returning phone calls, and maybe getting in a little bit o' baking or frozen drink making. We'll see. I's back to the crafty grindstone for me.

summer sipping

 One of the teachers at the preschool I work at brought her ice cream maker into the classroom. Instead of a custard, she poured a pint of lemonade into the bowl, turned it on and then magic happened. Totally floored by this idea it was all I could do NOT to go out and buy an ice cream maker that very day. i know this is all probably old news to many of you but I love when I learn something new. Especially when it involves tasty treats! 

Our young house guest has kept us on our toes and while she mostly favors the mister, she puts up with me I think because I make her bake cookies or mix Ovaltine and now, thanks to the sister a-go-go's ice cream maker, make frozen lemonade.

 

This is so easy, it is silly. Assemble your ice cream maker, pop the frozen container into place, poor oodles of beverage of choice (we used pomegranate lemonade) into the bowl, cover and turn on.

Ten to fifteen minutes later, yer in for a treat! We found a fuller bowl made a better treat. The texture is much like an icee or slurpee. Much smoother than what you can get put of the blender. I think cherries on top would be extra spiffy but I couldn't find where I put them so strawberries were our garnish. 

Happy sipping!

summer busy

We had a weekend of house guests. When house guests arrive we usually hit the beach and so that is just what we did. Armed with printouts for our reservation, we packed up to cars and hit the Buchon Trail where we opted to go the shorter route to keep the pipsqueaks less cranky. The shorter route was still a bit on the long side but our youngsters eked it out and were rewarded with an isolated beach, caves and red footed guillemots in abundance.

 

 

 

 

After we had our fill of the caves, we hiked on back to the car and drove a short minute to Spooner's Cove where we spent the day filling up pails, looking for jade, and throwing stones in the water. In the hopes we could coax the kiddos into naps, we wandered back home as quiet as could be. It was not meant to be so instead, we dressed cool and filled ourselves up on Yo Gabba Gabba before trekking to the homestead for a dinner of all sorts of good bits.

 

 

 

The next morning we breakfasted at the Madonna Inn, but of course and parted ways. I still had one kiddo in tow and so we hit up the cove again for more jade hunting, stone skipping and seagull shooing. Good, good times. I'm still looking forward to a nap in the next few days.