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Friday, April 23

Recycling Again!!!!

Well, this is my first up-cycle of an old prom dress!!!!  This was a throw away from the All Dressed Up Event, a very broken zipper and some serious stains.  So I whacked off the stained part and ripped out the zipper, sewed up the side and took  the hem from another prom dress I had hemmed and gathered it up and sewed in on the bottom, and made a few flowers from the remainder.  I thought it came up kind of cute to wear with leggings or skinny jeans.

My mind is racing with ideas, there is so much one can do with these used garments it seems so wasteful to just toss them.  So, I will keep you posted on other ideas and projects...go and save a dress or skirt or t-shirt or whatever!!!!!!!!!

Keep on recycling............

Vintage Water Ski Chairs and Tables!!!!

Today you are going to hear about my husband Dave, he's our world famous woodworker!!!! Our kids were into water-sports because we were into boating and so we all had an interest in water skiing.  One summer we were in Stillwater MN. visiting our boating buddies and there was a craft/art fair along the river and this person had made Adirondack chairs out of everything, skies (water and snow) hockey sticks, gardening rakes, shovels, etc, snowboards, skate boards, you name it.  So I had a great idea for Dave.  Not much interest for about 8 years and finally he thought that might be fun to try.  So we searched for skies and he made the first chairs!!!  Finally we enlisted his sister Janet and she found dozens of skies up in Northern Wisconsin so  he was in biz.  I think he's made about 30 chairs and they get better with each one!!!!  These 2 chairs are a special order and the table is one of two for Brandon, our son.
The other chairs grace our backyard, they have just been pressure washed , sanded and resealed so they are lookin' pretty!!!!  The chairs are really durable, these have been in our backyard unprotected for many years and we're in Wisconsin, not the best for wood outdoor furniture!!!  Some are in Missouri which is also tough on the chairs with all the hot sun and heat.  Brandon has a neat wake-board bench from one of his old boards!!!!

Now he wants to make regular chairs with a small table in bright colors so we'll see how they come out real soon.  And a pub table for the backyard would be nice!!!!!! 

Happy Woodworking to All!!!!



Thursday, April 15

Minnesota Trip!!!!

Last weekend I packed up and drove to White Bear Lake to visit my friend Lynne.  She is the Queen of thrift stores and resale shops!!  We visited numerous shops and found a few good things, I did find 2 pair of my fave Not Your Daughters Jeans, white and black.  They were a find at a Goodwill.  We hit all sorts of shops.  Encore and Elite Repeat are two of the nicest shops they are off Grand Ave. in St Paul, they have really great high end clothing and accessories, etc.  Then on Grand Ave we hit a few boutiques with really exciting fashions.  One was a gal who designs and makes her own line, Susan something????  Very interesting lots of synthetics and different combos of color and fabric, nothing I would jump up and down about.  However, I was really pleased to see she can pay for this upscale location, hire sewers and make it work, gives one pause in our life of Made In China!!!  So hooray for her!!!!

We also went to an Italian deli and restaurant that was fabulous. Cosetta Italian Market-Pizzeria. It was in downtown St. Paul.  Very fun to see all the sausages, salads, cheeses, olive oil and all the people, had to be GREAT!!!!  We ate at a bar across the street that was ok but we all know where I wanted to be!!!!

Saturday night we went to a new bar in White Bear Lake on the lake, as in the pics, Admiral D, they are new and not much for seating inside, focus is on the outdoor patio bar, small menu but very good burgers and fun place!!!  I can see summer on this deck with music would be the hoppin' spot!!!  That is my friend Lynne sitting in front of the Lake.  This year all the lakes are down considerably but the St. Croix river is WAY up so not sure how that works.  I also noticed on my drive the Black River is way down too, never seen it this low. 

On Saturday we went to a house in a suburb that has the cutest building, barn something in the back yard in a neighborhood and it was full of crafts and art from over 150 artists, actually the hole backyard was full of cute stuff.  I mean they had yard art, aprons, books, cards, purses made out of bras, knits, clothing, handbags, wovens, kids stuff, food, jewelry, they did not miss a trick.  One could spend hours in there.  What really surprised me is that this operation is going on in a neighborhood, people everywhere.  It was so fun to see all this fun art work!!!!  The pic of the arbor is at this place.  Then the place is open in April and May and closed till the end of Sept. and open thru Christmas and it's been in operation 31 years!!!!  Called Chickadee, very neat idea.  Seemed the artists were working shifts which makes perfect sense.

Then on Sunday before I left we had a wonderful brunch and headed to S. R. Harris fabrics where there is 38,000 square feet of fabric darn near floor to ceiling, it's really overwhelming but fun for people like me!!!  Got some fabric and things I needed, gad with all the stash I have I have no business in places like that!!!

Well the weather is finally warming up and Dave's going on the gardens and yard, lookin' good around here!!!
                                   Happy Spring Sewing!!! 

Wednesday, April 7

The recycling bug is back!!!!!

After doing this mending job I thought I'd share it with you today as it's really alot of FUN!!!  I got these pants in from a customer who is big on mending, not my favorite job.  His daughter loves my creative knee patches so I thought you might find them fun and an inspiration for your kids or grand kids holey knees.

I take the jeans and rip out the side seam, of course you must rip the one with NO top stitching, duh!!!!  Take out the seam and the serging.  If the hole is really big you might patch it from the back side first.  Then I rummage thru the stash for suitable scraps to patch the holes.  The one is a simple flower and leaf a no brainer, I use double fabric for more durability and spot fuse it down and zig zag around all the raw edges.  The blue one I made a rectangle with 2 pieces of fabric, because of the larger holes then made flowers that coordinated with the existing applique.  For a change I did a free form stitching and left the flower edges to ravel, the new look this year unfinished edges!!!!  So when they are washed they will fray out and look really cute.

Some years ago I was doing alot of these for customers, all sorts of applique on old jeans.  Seems like the time has come again to jazz up the holey jeans and cut offs!!! 

Maybe I'm just weird but this stuff is really fun, hope you find the fun too!!!





Sunday, April 4

Dad's Birdhouses!!!!!

For those who know the Postman/Krokson bunch you know that my Dad and Dave are woodworkers.  My Dad has been at this the bulk of his life and he creates some amazing pieces.  Dad's woodworking skills are top of the line and he has an incredible shop that we all love to work in!!!

His latest adventure is the license plate bird houses, they are really cute they have a chain  for hanging and/or piece they can set on.  Of course mine has the old Fash Ft plate from my old shop but he has Texas and Arkansas for his area.  Dad's been selling them at a woodland garden they volunteer at a place called "Garvin Gardens" in Hot Springs AR. and now he's going to put them at the Community College gift shop.  Here's the deal. They sell for $15. a piece and he's giving $7.50 to the Helping Hands Funds he helped create at the College.  So basically he's doing this a out of the goodness of his heart labor and materials, don't see much of that anymore!!!!  So if any of you folks out there would like a birdhouse and you want your own state all you need to do is send my Dad the plate and $25. this covers the $10. postage and handling, you will have a birdhouse and the National Park Community College will have a portion for the gift shop and the other half goes to the Helping Hand Fund.  You can email me for more info!!!!!  fashft@gmail.com

Other projects include a wooden trains, furniture, Dave's waterskichairs the list goes on and on.

 AlI have been working very hard, it is the spring change of season and there are piles of clothing that need attention!!!  Today is Easter and I'll be stabbin rags which is not all bad.  It is a nice day and I'll walk the dogs first always gives me more energy.  Then we'll put the ham in the oven and whip up a batch of Noodle Kugal, haven't had that in ages and it sounds sooo good!! 
Also must make my hot mustard as we can't have ham with out that!!!
Hot Mustard Sauce
2/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup dry mustard
2 cups sugar
 4 eggs
Mix all together and cook over medium heat stirring constantly till cooked and thickened, takes awhile
Store in the refrig, does not go bad, use on sandwiches, dip for pretzels (addictive), dip your ham whatever!!!!


Have a wonderful Easter!!!!

Dog Days

Dog Days
When is Dinner? Hope we don't get Vegetables again.