Bed for Dudley

This is Dudley.  He is my mother-in-law's dog, and he is very much loved. Here he is, sitting poolside in Florida, sporting a kerchief that he got on his last visit to the groomers.

I have been collecting the kerchiefs for over one year, waiting for their chance to be refashioned.  After I had collected about 14 of them, they were washed and pressed, and cut up into 2 1/2 " squares.

I found a lovely green pillowcase from Value Village for $1.00 and made some bias tape.  I joined all the little squares together, quilted and attached it to the back of the pillowcase, and finished the edges with the bias tape.

Here you have it, a washable, up-cycled, colourful doggie bed.  

Doggie bed may not be the best description.  It is a pillowcase, that the dog's pillow fits into.  It can be washed whenever it is needed, and the pillow fits perfectly into his crate.

I had some squares remaining from this project, so I made Dudley a toy with a bell in it.  I used EVERY SINGLE square up, not one square remains!

It is waiting for him when he comes back from his holiday.

Out of the drawer and onto the wall

A couple of weekends ago, I found myself on a Sunday afternoon, sans husband and child, at my local Value Village.  I snatched up a fantastic hinged display box with a fabric backing, originally from Pottery Barn.  It looked like it had never been used, except for the dried corsage that was displayed in it.  I knew what I was going to use it for right away.

I've been collecting these colourful patches for quite some time.  One was from a hat we found hiding in the wall while we were doing a repair job on our house, one belonged to my late father-in-law, and one from my dad's old uniform.  Some are used, and some are new. They are all beautiful. They've been stuffed in a drawer in a zip-lock bag for many years, and are undeniably Canadian.

My favourite is the "wear a moustache" patch. 

Tea Towel Find

My mum called the other day to ask if I had found any good thrifty finds lately.  As a matter of fact, I had.  Earlier that day, I had been in Value Village with a friend looking for wool sweaters that she re-purposes into mittens. See her lovely stuff here

I was not having a good thrifting day, and nothing was inspiring me to re-purpose, or calling my name to purchase.  Then I found them!  Two unwashed, never used, stuffed in a drawer for years, tea-towels.  These will add to my collection of 50+ vintage, much loved tea-towels. 

I love the quality of the cotton/linen used in these types of tea-towels.  They wash and dry beautifully, and truth be told, they are the only items that I actually enjoy ironing.  Weird.

What is really weird is that these 2 thrifty finds represent the two sides of my family.

The side (my side) from ENGLAND...

And my husband's side from SCOTLAND!

It was like these two items were waiting for me to come and spend my $2 on them.

Businessman Zombie

Gone are the days of sweet halloween costumes at our house.  No more kitty-cats, and windmills, or cars.  This year he had to be a zombie.  A dead, decaying, filthy, bloody ZOMBIE.  He had decided this costume on the day after Halloween of 2010.  I *sigh* agreed to make it.

We made a sketch, and decided all the things that we wanted this costume to include.  He was going to be a Businessman Zombie. We didn't get into the details of how this businessman died.
We found an old recycled cell phone, and this is how the costume began.
Next we made a trip to the Value Village.  We found a blazer, collar shirt, and a tie.  We also picked up some makeup colours that we were missing, (green and grey) some spray-on grey hair colour, and a tube of gel blood (of course) Total spend $21.
A pair of his own chinos from the "to be repaired pile" completed the look.

Next we got to the distressing.  We slashed, and tore, and splattered with red acrylic paint.  We dragged the clothing behind the wagon, and drove over it with the car.  It was tossed into the middle of the street and we persuaded reluctant and confused drivers to please drive over it.  All the while, my son was squealing with delight.  We smudged it with moss, and smeared it with leaves.
Finally, I sewed on some rubber cockroaches and worms.







Success!

He wore it to Beavers for the annual Halloween Party, and all day and all night of Halloween.

He really loved it, and I had fun making it.

Next door, our neighbours spend an enormous amount of time and effort setting up a haunted house and yard.  It is a neighbour destination on Halloween night.  My son hangs out and "helps" them set it up, the whole weekend before Halloween.  He has seen it being built, and knows fully what to expect, but he still cannot bring himself to go in and trick or treat on the big night.


Perhaps there still might be a little kitty-kat inside him.