A Few Fabulous Fabric Rosette Pins

I was busy last week knocking out a few Fabric Rosette Pins for some friends of mine. I have a little love affair with creating these pins, and it all started here.

Aren't they cute in this muffin pan?

My intention was to make some for Valentine's Day, but at the last minute I decided to make some from some new fabric I found. I knew right off the bat that this one with the little Japanese Lantern flowers was going to be my favorite.


I love these pins because they work great as accessories on sweaters, jackets, belts and purses.


Especially on purses! Especially on THIS purse!


I know exactly which friend is going to get this one.


Ahem--Leslie, be looking for this one to come your way!


Now excuse me while I head back to my machine to make one for myself!

Don't forget that tomorrow is Tell Me Tuesday here on Vintage Pollyanna, so be sure to come back and link up with whatever fun creations you worked on last week.

This post is a part of the following link parties:

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Suff

A Little Friday Love for My Antique Secretary Desk

Look what Dad got me for Christmas!


I don't have an office in this house, and I needed a workspace that would also prevent little hands from getting to my computer. This secretary was the perfect solution!

Across the top of it I placed a clock (not antique or vintage, but we have had it for over ten years), my pantry box, a great Victorian paper weight with a pic of my little ones and my sweet chalkware girl.


The paper weight was a gift from my Mom and Dad during the last Christmas we spent with my Mom before she passed. Dad put the photo of the kids in the paper weight--it was actually a photo from our Christmas card that year. I think about how little Ella was, and how I lost my Mom just two months later. It makes me a little sad when I look at it, but I like to be thinking of my Mom, sad or not.


I especially like the drawer pulls on this desk:


And of course all of the little compartments on the inside:


So when you think of me blogging, picture me here:


How have you incorporated your love for antiques or vintage into your daily workspace?

Tell Me Tuesday #11

Welcome to Tell Me Tuesday #11 here on Vintage Pollyanna!


As I promised, if we hit 50 I will host a giveaway to celebrate!

Now on to some of my faves from last week. Let's start with Girl in Air's Mason Pendant Light. If you've been reading me for a while, you know that one of the things I collect is vintage Mason jars.


I just love the redo on this light, and I have a similarly talented husband in the electrical area. HINT HINT. Chris, can we do this over the sink in our kitchen?

Another fave is this fabulous T-Shirt Sleeve Flower from Simply Step Back.


This is the first time I have seen a ruffle flower from a shirt like this one, and I wll be making some of my own!

And last, a super frilly Valentine Topiary from Crazy Domestic.


I would never have thought to use the elastic on the back--but I am sure it really improves the ruffle effect! I have some lovely vintage fabric that would be perfect for this idea and so yet another project to add to my to do list!

Nice job everyone, and if I featured you, please grab a button!




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And hey, be sure to come to the Vintage Pollyanna Facebook page and say hello!

Now on to the party!

Anthro-Inspired Valentine's Tea Towels

Have you seen the fabulous vintage-inspired applique tea towels in Anthropologie lately? I love them all and they remind me of the real ones that my Mom carried in her shop for so many years. I have been wanting to make some of my own, and when I recently participated in a Pay it Forward Handmade Craft Challenge on Facebook I knew just what to make.

A friend of mine had this as her status:

Pay it Forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade
to the first 5 people who leave a comment here.
They must in turn post this and send something they make
to the first 5 people who comment on their status.
*The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it
must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011.

I love a challenge and I was intrigued by who might sign up with me so I went for it. I already knew that I was going to be working on some of these pins, but I also wanted to do something for Valentine's Day. I thought about the Anthroplogie tea towels and remembered that I had bought some tea towels at Target.


I was surprised when I opened them up that the towels were HUGE and far too big to be comfortably used as a tea towel, so I cut them in half and planned to bind the cut side later.

Next I needed to think about fabric. I went to my stash and found these two fun Valentine's Day appropriate prints:


Next I ironed some heat and bond to a large square of each piece of fabric, and then I drew up a template and began cutting out hearts.



I ironed the hearts to the tea towels and then I zig-zag stitch appliqued them to the towels. I finished them off with a little Fray Check to be sure they would make it through the wash.


I had a happy accident while I was sewing up the open side. I remembered seeing somewhere that I could zig-zag stitch up the side and the machine would sort of gather the material into what would eventually look as though I had used a Serger. It worked!


I am so happy with them!


Cute and sweet and handmade by me.


Stay tuned for tomorrow's Tell Me Tuesday--we had 30 entries this past week and if we hit 50 I will host a giveaway.

And MANY THANKS to the ladies at Three Sisterz for guest posting for me over the weekend. I had a nasty virus on my computer and was out of commission for a bit. Thank you ladies for keeping my little place in Blogland vibrant over the weekend!

This post is a part of the following link parties:

Making the World Cuter Monday
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Mad in Crafts Mad Skills Mondays
Making Monday's Marvelous at CRAFT

Three Sisterz Guest Post: Valentines Gifts

Hello--Three Sisterz here. Allison asked us to guest post this week because her computer is in the shop being fixed (tear). Shhh.....don't tell her BUT we're secretly thrilled to be here (no matter what the reason)! We're really getting in the mood for Valentine's Day and this post is Part I in a series of V-Day inspired posts we're doing. Hop on over to Three Sisterz on Monday for Part II.

We love to give little Valentine gifts to special people (daughters, nieces and nephews) but sometimes get stumped with what to give. If you get stumped too here's an idea to get you started... it won't break your bank... and then YOU can improvise!

First, we started with this darling polka dot bowl that we picked up at Pier 1 Imports in the clearance section. It was part of a set that cost about $3. You can also find lots of little containers at JoAnn's, Michaels, Target, etc. Then we added a Three Sisterz headband wrapped in a cellophane bag but you could add a small box of chocolates, a gift card, heart shaped earrings, conversation hearts, matchbox cars, playmobil figures, anything personal for your sweetheart. We tied it with our favorite grosgrain ribbon and added a handmade gift tag for extra goodness.

Gift tags? We did a Christmas tag tutorial a few weeks back. Here's our Valentines version!

Supplies:

cardstock, stamps from JoAnn's dollar bins,

stamp pads, scissors, hole punch,

any color ribbon that coordinates with cardstock and a cellophane bag

**Side note: Etsy has some ADORABLE and unique stamps. You can do a search under handmade for "Valentine rubber stamps" and find some handmade stamps that you won't find anywhere else. My favorite stamp seller is Nikoart. Her little critters would make a great addition to your Valentine gift card. I just love her owl, bunny, fox and hedgehog. Can't you just imagine a bunny stamp with the words, "Some bunny loves you!" on your gift card??!! So sweet!

Here are the stamps, stamp pad and bowl.

Stamp evenly on the cardstock, leaving room to cut them out. Then cut them out in circles and squares, with regular scissors and pinking shears. Love that zig zag edge!

Sign your name on the front or back of the card. Put a hole punch in the corner, slip ribbon through.

Put your gift in the cellophane, tie it up, add your personalized tag to it and you're done!

Now, wouldn't these handmade onesies make a cute gift for your little sweetheart?

You can find them in our Etsy shop.

Thank you to Allison for having us! Hope to see you over at Three Sisterz.

Bean Bag Tutorial

I recently made bean bags for the first time for a little niece of mine that was turning one.

I thought they would be a fun gift for her, and pretty simple to whip up. I already had some sweet cupcake material on hand, and some white flannel with pink polka-dots from Ella's Baby Quilt.

First, I gathered all of my materials. (Enough material for four bean bags.)

• 4 squares of 6" x 6" fabric for the tops of the bags

• 4 squares of 6" x 6" fabric for the bottom

• 8 squares of 5" x 5" fabric (anything you have lying around and nothing fancy because it is for the inner bean bag pouch)

• beans (I found Navy beans on sale in my grocery store for $.78 a bag, I used two bags and a half a bag for each bean bag)

First sew the four inner pouches. I don't sew these right-sides-together and flip, there isn't any point as they won't be seen. I sewed the inner bags just so that there wouldn't be a choking hazard if for some reason the baby was able to break open an outer bag. SAFETY FIRST!

I sew all the way around the bag, leave a 2" hold for filling the bag with the beans; fill and sew closed.

Next I sew the outer pouches by sewing right sides together, 1/4" all the way around leaving a good sized gap to turn inside out and also to be able to stuff the inner bag inside the outer bag.

Turn them inside out and press seams flat.

Stuff the inner pouches inside the outer trying to line up corners.

Sew a seam 1/4" from the edge all the way around the bag, sewing shut the opening as you go. I sewed over the opening twice.

Repeat for the last three and you're done!


So cute!


And homemade, with love, and original!


Now go make some for that little cutie patootie in your family!

This post is a part of the following link parties:

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