A Refashioned Bridal Shower

Recently, my friend and I had the pleasure of giving a shower to a beautiful bride-to-be.  In keeping with the theme of my blog, most of the decorations were made from thrifted items.  The centerpieces were made from miscellaneous tins spray painted in the bride's colors and then embellished with paper, ribbons, and trims.  The tins easily stack on top of each other.  There was no need to glue them together, plus it makes for easier storage after the event.  Also, after the flower was glued to the bow, I added a magnet to the back to attach it to the top of the tins, which makes for super simple removal and storage! 

  

  

The backdrop to the dessert table was from thrifted fabric, and a thrifted window scarf.  Even the ribbons were found at a thrift shop.  The silk flowers came from the dollar store.

My present to the bride-to-be was an apron from...you guessed it...thrifted items—a skirt and blouse that I had previously turned into an apron (and tucked away waiting to be gifted to the right person.)  It just happened to be in the bride's colors, so I thought it would be a fitting gift!

So with a little imagination, you can decorate for a cute bridal shower without spending a lot!

I like to link to these great parties!

Homemade Dress Form

Lately, I've been thinking about making aprons to sell online through Esty. I figured I needed a way to display them, such as a dress form. I started looking around, but I'm not very patient. I did find a vintage one at an antique store, but even on sale it was $230. I found another one on craigslist, but it was too small. I searched online, but they were too expensive also. So, I thought to myself, why not make one? I picked up an old floor lamp with a chunky base from St. Vinnies for $18. A couple of wire baskets, wooden bowls, and a wire candle holder were purchased from another thrift shop. We had some scrap wire mesh in the shop, and I purchased a can of black spray paint. Some old sheet music, flour, and water, and I was in business. All together, it was about $30 in supplies.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to use the heavy black bars shown in the picture. I was making an oval shape out of two of them that would hang by small chains from the bottom of the form. This would give more "fullness" to the aprons. The jury is still out on that thought. Also, not shown, is a wire candle holder that, when cut in two, became the "arms" of the form.

At this point, I figured paper mache would be a good way to go. I had purchased some old music books at a garage sale for .10 cents a book. They were perfect!

She looks pretty curvy from this angle with her

skinny little waist and full bust line.

The finished project...what should I name her?

This is what she looks like sporting a new apron.

A Child's Apron

My granddaughter, Shailey, is turning eight this month. Her mom is making her a cute little retro kitchen from an entertainment center. You can check it out at easy peasy pie, it's super cute!  I thought it would be fun to make her an apron. I started with a .75 cent secondhand maternity top. I thought the fabric looked kind of retro and it would also go with the colors of the new kitchen.

I cut the front away from the back, including the sleeves,

and also cut a curve on the bottom of the apron.

I used the fabric from the back to cut strips for the ties and pockets for the front. The back of the blouse had elastic gathers, so I incorporated that into the tops of the pockets.

The ties feed through a casing and go up around the neck, making them adjustable. I used part of another blouse to cut and gather strips for a ruffle around the edge of the apron.

Hopefully, Shailey will like it!