Sad Christmas Ornaments

I went to the pay by the pound Goodwill after Christmas and there was a good amount of Christmas stuff in the bins—Christmas lights, decorations and ornaments. My friend found this sad one-armed snowman ornament and I had to take a picture—it just felt fitting for the season.

There was also a headless drummer boy ornament.

And a creepy angel head. Maybe someone out there will want these broken Christmas tree ornaments; I imagine a Charlie Brown Christmas tree covered with these sad unwanted ornaments.

Five More Sewing Patterns

I just can’t resist sewing patterns…I got five more for a total of $1.25. The first one is a reprint of a 1945 dress and jacket. I think the dress is quite interesting; I like the simple front and the more detailed back.

This robe pattern looks like it’s from the 1960s. It’s my only robe pattern so far. I never considered myself much of a robe person, but ever since I bought a purple robe at an estate sale, I realized I rather liked them. So I may make my own robe one of these days.

This is a 1979 bridal/bridesmaid gown pattern. The dresses are simple enough that they don’t necessarily read “bridal” to me. I think these are cute dresses, and I like the long length of the skirt; it would be a fun dress to wear. 

This dress looks like it’s from the 1980s. I think it’s a nice and simple dress that’s very versatile.

The last pattern I bought is probably from the 1980s and is a skirt and culottes combo. I bought it because I thought culottes could be interesting to make. Ever since I bought a pair of culottes at an estate sale, I realized how much I liked them because I don’t have to worry about pant length (since most of the pants I own require me to wear heels so I’m not stepping on the fabric and I don’t often want to wear heels).

Black Velvet Dress Altered to a Skirt

I got this very large black velvet dress from a thrift store for $5. Seeing the amount of fabric, I thought I could turn this dress into a skirt to wear to a holiday party. My plan was to do as little as possible because I didn’t want to spend a long time working on it (as I wasn’t going to be wearing it often). So I wanted to avoid putting in a zipper or hemming it.

First, I cut the dress at the waistline. I used some bottom weight fabric to finish the cut edge because I thought turning over the velvet fabric would create too much bulk. My initial thought was to put in an elastic waistband, but I quickly realized that the fabric was just too thick and would bunch unattractively.

So, instead, I decided to wrap the extra fabric in the front using two sets of eyes and hooks. This took longer than I anticipated, and I ended up moving the eyes and hooks a few times so the placement would fit my waist better.

I also sewed a sash using black bottom weight fabric; I thought it would help cover the skirt’s thickness, and act as a belt to help keep the skirt in place (and I thought it looked cute).

Amana Freezing Guide

My friend picked up this vintage freezing guide for me at an estate sale. I love the illustrations in it.

She also gave me this cute air mail envelope.

Quote: One Must Work Hard to Remain Stupid

Vintage Binder Ads

The person who saved all these articles (in the vintage binder I got), inadvertently saved ads, as they were on the backs or sides of the articles she was saving. Ads are intriguing to me because they reflect the society of the time. Since these articles came from women’s magazines, the ads were of course, targeting women. There were many beauty, personal hygiene, household and food item ads, but there were also tons of cigarette ads.

This is the only cigarette ad that I cared to show since most of them were 1970s people being “cool.” I really like the simple graphic nature of this black and white ad.

Blistex ads—I like the packaging with the cute font (which is way cuter than it currently is).

Two honey ads.

I thought the dog in the doggie treat as was pretty adorable. The nail ad has a good headline to catch the eye.

Gum ad that I thought was interesting.

Quote: In Order to be Irreplaceable One Must Always be Different