Recycle your Books into Notepads

As you have seen in previous posts, I've been using vintage books for my crafts.

So what can you do with the left overs?

I discovered this one day when I couldn't find my post-its and decided to write on some paper I was going to throw away.

Use it as a note book. Using a Sharpie you can take notes and it will still be readable.

Vintage-Style Patchwork Quilt

Fabric squares! An entire year passed by between cutting out these squares and actually sewing them together. It's a long story.

After cutting out the squares, I put them all in a back and randomly picked them out one at a time and arranged them in rows. Then I moved a few around to avoid having two of the same color together and to purposefully spread out the yellow and red squares.



When working on a quilt project it is important to have a space that has lots of natural light (during the day, at least!) and lots of room to spread out your fabric pieces so you can see the end result before you start sewing.



I chain-sewed all of the squares together in two, then sewed the pairs into strips and then sewed the strips together to complete the patchwork.

I chose a soft plaid fabric for the back of the quilt and sandwiched the batting between the layers. Binder clips do a great job at holding the layers together. I also did my best to line up the plaid with the seamlines between the squares. Plaid can be tricky to work with that way. Once the layers were sandwiched in place and secured, I hand-stitched the "ditch" down the center lines.

Dresser Facelift

This dresser has been in my family a very long time.

At one time it was painted a lovely turquoise color. I believe it was changed to purple for my sister's room about 25 years ago and my cousins never changed the color when they used it.

The "BEFORE" picture.

I believe it was my grandma's, then my mom's, my sister's, my cousins'... clothes have been stored in, babies have been changed on top of it... and now I have it!

But it could use a little sprucing up...

The "AFTER" picture.

I painted it a different shade of white to match the trim in my house, and also replaced the hardware. Gorgeous!

From Placemat to Handbag

Placemat: Hello, I'm a pretty green-striped placemat and I am on clearance. You know you want to make something out of me!

Vintage Ribbon: I am really bored just sitting in this box. Hey, that placemat over there has green stripes the same color as my embroidered flowers!

Placemat: If you fold me over I look like a bag, whee!

Bamboo Purse Handle: Can I join the party?

AND BY OUR POWERS COMBINED, WE ARE... *poof!* A HANDBAG!