Ruffled Dish Towels

In November I bought a pack of dish towels from Ross. I had an idea to sew ruffles on them and give them away as Christmas gifts to "everyone I knew." Well, November and most of December passed and I hadn't even opened the package of dish cloths, let alone sew ruffles on them. I still really wanted to make them, but alas, it was Christmas Eve! So I figured I would make some for my mom, since she still uses the same dishtowels she used when I was growing up under her roof.   

 

Realization #1: I had bought dish towels. 

You see, I was expecting to find the oblong rectangular hand towels, not square dish towels. Well, it was Christmas Eve. I had to make do, since there was no way I was going to go out shopping for hand towels.

Realization #2: I had no brown or grey thread.

I only had brown and grey single fold bias tape to put along the raw edge of the ruffle. I actually had a vintage spool of brown thread I tried using, but it was  breaking every 2 seconds. Once again, it was Christmas Eve and I was not going out shopping for thread.

Realization #3: This was taking a lot longer than I anticipated! Maybe it was due to the fact that it was Christmas Eve and I felt slightly rushed, but I'm kind of glad I didn't attempt to make these for "everyone I knew."

Aside from them being the wrong shape, having terrible thread lines and being time consuming, I do like how they turned out. My mom has one hanging over a cabinet door in her kitchen, so that means they were a success! After all, they're just for wiping up messes. 

Aloha, Rebecca

ALOHA Friday Link Party #18

Welcome to Jed & Ivy's

Aloha Friday
Link Party #18!

I've been out of time for blogging for the last few weeks, so here's a look at what we've been up to:

 

Pau Hana! 

It's the end of the week, end of the year, end of the holidays. Let's party.

DIY projects - Etsy products - Giveaways - Furniture Re-do's (my fave) - Sewing Tutorials - Inspiring Stories

By linking up, you're allowing me to feature your photos on this blog and pin them. 

Share the Aloha and visit some links! 

<a href="http://jedandivy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Jed & Ivy" src="http://jedandivy.blogspot.com/"/></a>

<a href="http://www.jedandivy.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Jed & Ivy" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f275/gerry100/linkparty2.png"/></a>

Don't forget about my new blog, "Best Bunting on the Block!" Link up your bunting by clicking here.


Aloha,

Rebecca

Hobo Nutcracker Gift Exchange

Working for a performing arts organization, it's no surprise my work Christmas gift exchange ended up with the theme: "Hobo Nutcracker." I was stoked on the name I pulled. It was our new Office Administrator whom I went to high school with. I knew I could make her some festive bunting, buy her some cute accessories, and put it all in a fabric bucket hung on a hobo stick. So here's what we ended up with:

I wanted it to be festive, but not "in-your-face" Christmas-ey." Color palette: red, white, cream, brown, yellow

I used some of my favorite fabrics. 

Stars. Peacock feathers. Faux burlap in red and brown.

I used the normal fabric bucket tutorial I always use, but added the ribbon loops for a larger ribbon to be threaded through, so it would have the "hobo" effect. 

And here's Ivy demonstrating the hobo portion. I love having spare bamboo lying around, for moments like this. After modeling it, Ivy insisted she have her own hobo stick. After listening to her beckon me for a hobo stick for 3 days, I finally gave in and made her one too. 

Hope you're having a wonderful holiday season!

Hau'oli maka hiki hou!

Aloha, Rebecca

Mele Kalikimaka!

It happened. The holiday season caught me.

I've had the craziest week. I haven't posted much.

Photo by Ajja Photography

So with that I will say, 

"Mele Kalikimaka! Enjoy your families... 

...not my new blog posts or parties." 

Aloha,

Rebecca

Re-covered Hat Box

These are the crazy new toys that come with being 3. We must have a place to put them.

When I was about 8 years old, my Grandma Connie came to a silent auction with us. She bid on a Caswell Massey (remember them?) gift box, and won. She turned right around and gave it to me! Those were the kinds of things my grandma did that I loved. She definitely knew how to win me over with her generosity and gift giving. (I still remember the box had a maroon loofah and grape currant body wash, bars of soap and lotion in it.) Lo and behold, the hat box it all came in was still at my parents' house. My mom began putting Ivy's tiny Barbie shoes and dresses inside of it, and it ended up over at our house. 

If you've glanced at Ivy's room tour post, you would know that this dated damask print doesn't exactly match her blue and green room. So of course, I wanted to upcycle it. It was a great source of storage and had sentimental value!

Here's what I needed:

-fabric

-pencil

-scissors

-iron

-sewing machine

-measuring tape

-glue gun

-modge podge

-pom pom fringe... if you like :)

I just used the box itself as a template. I traced the lid, then cut about an inch wider than the lid, because I was going to fold it down over the side of the lid. I measured the circumference of the box and cut out a wide piece to go around it. This fabric matches a bunch of other stuff in her room.

I had two different pieces of fabric for the lid: one for the circle, one for the sides. For the side piece I measured carefully and sewed seams so that it would lay nicely and not fray. 

I used a combination of glue gun and modge podge to make it stay. I found out while doing my Vintage Train Case, you kind of need to use both. 

I really wanted to use this pink pom pom fringe I picked up in the mistake bin at Wal-Mart. It doesn't match the fabric perfectly, but I didn't care. I glue gunned it around the lid.

For the actual box, I measured very carefully to make sure the sides and center were all the correct height before i sewed the seams. They all needed to be 4 3/4".

Then I glue gunned the edges while Modge Podging the center. 

And here's how it turned out:

Most important tip: make sure your edges look nice by measuring, ironing, and sewing first. 

Then glue and modge podge.

Aloha, Rebecca

ALOHA Friday Link Party #17

Welcome to Jed & Ivy's

Aloha Friday
Link Party #17!

I never say this, but I'm saying it now: I am not ready for Christmas.
I really need to press pause on life, so I can have a moment. In that moment I would...

breathe
paint my nails
blow dry my hair
put on make-up
buy some Christmas gifts
order some gifts online
wait for the online gifts to ship to Hawaii
make dinner for my husband and daughter
read some of my favorite blogs
publish some of my draft posts
make a Christmas list of stuff I want and give it to my husband
finish painting the 5 furniture projects I have in our work-tent

Ok, that's enough. Anymore, and I'll have to press pause on my moment.


Hana Hou! Let's see this again: 

Home Sweet Home painted an old dresser with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Luckett's Green. I was drawn to this post, because I'm in the middle of painting a card catalog in the same color. Here's a sneak peek:

Don't forget about my new blog, "Best Bunting on the Block!" Link up your bunting by clicking here.

<a href="http://jedandivy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Jed & Ivy" src="http://jedandivy.blogspot.com/"/></a>

Pau Hana! 

It's the end of the week. Let's party.

DIY projects - Etsy products - Giveaways - Furniture Re-do's (my fave) - Sewing Tutorials - Inspiring Stories
Grab the button and post it on your blog, if you have one. 

Follow this blog, if you can.

By linking up, you're allowing me to feature your photos on this blog and pin them. 

Share the Aloha and visit some links! 

<a href="http://www.jedandivy.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Jed & Ivy" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f275/gerry100/linkparty2.png"/></a>

Aloha,

Rebecca