Winner-Sawdust & Diamonds Giveaway!

We have a winner! A sweet reader-Krista M.-has been randomly chosen to receive her most favorite, most loved, most oohed and aahed upon piece of jewelry.

I will be contacting you, Krista, to put you in touch with the artisan of all that is Sawdust and Diamonds Jewelry.

And for those of you that weren’t able to enter, or haven’t had a chance to drool over this adorable website-please go there now! Check out a few of her lovely pieces below.

Get to know the artist, Rachel Watson:

Cozy Sweater Pillows

As you know, I like to re-invent things around my home, offering a fresh look to a room with little to no cost. Sometimes I tackle huge projects-like building a table, destroying a mirror, or making my own spinning composter.

However, some days I like to make a nice hot cup of Cinnamon Apple tea and stay indoors. This is one of those days.

I love pillows on my sofas, but hate paying $20 for something that cats will eventually destroy-or I’ll spill coffee on. What’s a girl to do?

Combine thrift store pillows with my ill-fitting and ugly sweaters. That’s what!

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own Cutesy Sweater Pillows:

Old Pillows or stuffing
Old Sweaters
Backing material-I used an old canvas laundry bag
Tape Measure
Scissors
Straight Pins
Thread and Bobbin to Match
Button covers (if desired)
Invisible Thread (not pictured here, due to its invisibility)
Sewing Machine

Start by measuring the width & height of the pillow. If you are using stuffing, determine how big you want the pillow.

Measure on the sweater the width & height of the pillow and add 3 inches for seam allowance.

For example, my pillow was 14″ x 14″. I cut out two 17″ squares of sweater material.

Fold the backing material in half, measure and cut out the same sized square as the sweater.

Sandwich the sweater material (right sides facing in) with the backing material. Pin all four layers of material together.

With a 1 1/2 seam, sew the four pieces of material together on 3 sides only-leaving one side open for the pillow (or stuffing).

Cut off the excess seam, snip the four corners and turn the material right side out.

Stuff the pillow inside of its new home-or add stuffing.

Using invisible thread and a stout needle, sew the opening closed.

If desired, make a button for the center of the pillow, following the instructions on the button maker box. Sew the button(s) on with more invisible thread, going all the way through the pillow and pulling the thread tight. This will make the button dimple into the pillow.

For ruffles on the pillow, cut 3-4″ wide strips from the sweater, making them 2″ longer than the squares of sweater material and backing.

Follow all of the above instructions, except instead of sewing all 4 pieces of material together at once:
Sew one side of the backing to the wrong side of the sweater material-leaving two separate pieces total.

Sew the edges of one side of the potential ruffle using a zig zag stitch.

Fold over 1/4″ of the unsewn side of the ruffle, pinning and evenly spacing each ruffle on the right side of the sweater material.
Sew the tops of the ruffles in place.

With right sides of the sweater facing in (backing material on the outside), sew the two separate pieces together on all 3 sides with the same 1 1/2 seam, leaving an opening for the pillow or stuffing.

Cut the excess seam off, snip the corners and turn the material right side out.

Slide the pillow inside of the material or use the stuffing to fill the pillow out. Use invisible thread once again to sew up the opening.

Throw them on your fancy pink couch, brew some more tea and take a nice nap.

Vintage Christmas Gifts & My Etsy Store

Dear Readers:
I hate to self-promote. It seems so trite and ridiculous.
So, if you want to go over to my Etsy site and buy something, by all means, do it. But I don’t want to guilt you into it and beg of you to do it.
That said, I just added a bunch of new stuff today and am excited to share it with you. I thought you might be on the prowl for a great Christmas gift, or an idea of the vintagey finds out there in the world.
If so, here are a couple of sneak peaks at what you might find.

Super cute vintage burnt orange nut bowl ready for your next party-$25.00.

My shop wouldn’t be complete without a vintage cat or two-$15.

Vintage cow bottle opener with tongue and major sass-$22.50.

Cute vintage squirrel that won’t bite through your electrical cords like a real squirrel would-$25.

That’s just a couple of items that I have for sale in my Etsy store. It’s quite often a rotating amount of inventory, so if you don’t like what you see now-maybe I’ll hit the mark with you next time.
-Love, Rebekah