Melony's Whimsy Daisy!

The Glamorous life of Recycled Dryer Sheets

This is probably scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as exciting posts go...today I am sharing, I'm almost embarrassed to say, well, here it goes...how to make something beautiful out of a recycled dryer sheet. Sigh. Yes, I am easily amused and I'm quite content with my simple life. Really. I was inspired by these dryer sheets, and liked the faint scent they still had after use...perfect for a loverly frugal craft! I shared with other ladies on Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest.

  

Please imagine, or maybe don't, me lying on the floor on my belly encouraging these dryer sheets to strike a pose. Never did I imagine I would aspire to finding "the good side" of a dryer sheet box. By the way, I buy cheap detergent. These were cheap only because they were buy-1-get-one-free and I had coupons. Otherwise, alas, this craft project would have never been birthed. Born? Created!

 ...and as if you couldn't possibly imagine what the dryer sheet looked like after its spin in the dryer, I photographed an actual genuine used dryer sheet...

Then, I gathered my dryer sheets and cut out willy-nilly petals. I stitched them to each other and stacked them in layers, and then secured them in the middle with a few stitches.I painted, just sort of dabbed would be the more word to use, with pink craft paint to the middle before I hot glued my vintage rhinestone button. Yum...love these glamorous vintage buttons! I then added some wired pink ribbon to the back and attached a couple of leaves made from green velvet ribbon.

I attached my flower to this corsage bracelet, which I puchased with my 50% off coupon at Michaels. I found it in the wedding section, and said "I do" to doing something with it, and now, I think I would buy another one. It is stretchy. So, here is my corsage. I don't think I would wear it for a corsage bracelet, personally...or who knows...the older I get, the more I seem to not mind being a little eccentric.

 
 I think it is much more fun to add them to an old jar. Here is my corsage posing on my favorite Lipton Instant Diet Tea jar. It gives it some class, which is quite funny, since I layed on the floor on my belly to take these shots too.

Oops. That corsage is posing on a stemmed glass, not the empty tea jar. Here is the back. You do want to see it from every possible angle, don't you?

 
Oh, here it is striking a pose on my tea jar, and in the cabinet with some of my kitchen stuff. But, I can picture it in the bathroom around a jar of bath salts.

 So, there is my dryer sheet craft. If a Dryer Sheet Corsage Bracelet isn't your cup of tea, then I did make one other little project. Here it is...and I really should have added a little something to it, but as with most of my projects...I was getting bored with dryer sheets. Happy Pink Saturday to all of you!

 Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to find a whole bunch of other ladies who enjoy a little pink in their lives.  The Inspired Room has a ton of links to check out and enjoy others' inspirations!  

 

 

Daisy with a Cherry on Top!

I do love cherries. So does Sue at It's a Very Cherry World! Check out her blog and have a Happy REDnesday! I made the little outfit below out of some of the most adorable, or should I say yummy fabric? It has cherries on it...red ones...so I'm sharing today! I also want to share a new blog I discovered: Just a Girl. She has a great post today with lots of makeovers posted. You might want to visit if you need a little inspiration.  

These are blast-from-the-past pictures. They are bittersweet. My husband (Daisy's daddy) was dying of cancer. I was there by his side (or a few steps away in the kitchen) sewing up a storm when he rested or slept. Daisy modeled my creations for ebay. It was something that provided a smile or two for all of us, as Daisy's brother participated by being the "camera guy".  We earned some fun money, and we all got a kick out of the photo sessions.

 

Daisy is eleven now! I can't believe how much time has passed since those blurry-sad-make-every-moment-as-special-as-you-can days. God has been good to us through the sadness and life has moved on to making new memories. I do remember the red pom pom trim was fun...almost like adding cherries on the top...(except they were all around the bottom!) I'm sure at the time I was feeling like a creative genius.

Daisy had fun modeling this set pretending she was serving up scoops of ice cream. Goodness, that girl was in the money, as I was paying her a dollar a photo shoot! Well, at her age, she felt very rich. (No telling what she would charge me now! I'm sure I would not be able to afford her.) The easy-peasy name tag was whipped up with some red felt and a few embroidery stitches. The apron, collar, and hat were all added to outfit, in case a little girl might want a dress-up costume.

 
Aren't those really retro colors on the old measuring cups Daisy is reaching for? The largest pinkish one has advertising on it. It lets me know they were once given away as a promotion of some sort by Citizens State Bank in Hartford, Indiana...and somehow made it all the way to my Texas kitchen.

I believe this was Michael Miller fabric. I love the wide variety of retro prints they offer. Or was it Alexander Henry?  Sigh. Oh well...hope you have a double...no...a triple scoop of happiness today...with a cherry on top!

 

 
 

Pink Saturday may be Pink Sunday!

Y'all I'm running so late on Pink Saturday.

My pink craft project I'm working on is not finished.

I'm a Pink Saturday loser, but will post as soon as I can.

Sorry for the dud visit if you came by the way of Beverly's at How Sweet the Sound.

These decopauged boots were made for walking.

 
Don't you hate it when you love wearing something...sweater, shoes, or in my case, boots, and they start looking a little too shaggy? That was the case with my favorite brown boots. They are so comfy to wear, even though they have a heel. I was sad to see the "pleather" was finally beginning to tear.

 
I decided to experiment with my good friend, Mod Podge, and see what I could do to cover up the tears. I found some faux patchwork fabric in my stash and cut out pieces to apply to my boots using a brush and Mod Podge, and then Mod Podge to seal the fabric covered boots...several coats.

They may be a little too wild for your sensibilities, but it was an experiment worth trying and gave me more mileage out of my trusty boots. I usually wear these with jeans and my brown sweater, not a dress, so mainly the print shows.  I have had lots of compliments, as well as, interesting conversations about one of my favorite quotes (although I don't follow it nearly as well as I should.) "Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without."

 These pictures were taken after wearing them probably five times...once in the rain. So, they are holding up better than I expected. I did re-glue one little part on the side, but it was no big deal. My favorite boots have a few more miles left in them.
  

Check out the Shabby Chic Cottage for some inspirational transformation projects:

Click right here!  

There is also a new blog I just discovered I want to share and link up with:

Click right here!

The Three Little Marys on Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday! These three little pictures were made by me in my younger married days when money was tight, but I still wanted to decorate. This was the latest craft rage of the time, called scherenschnitte. I'm coming back to edit that word later because I know I'm not spelling it correctly! (I edited it and it's correct.)

The designs were traced onto the back of some black paper and cut out with teeny tiny scissors. (If you had a little money you could buy the books with the designs already printed on the black paper.) It was a fun craft, and I can see myself doing it again in the future. Here is a cute site I discovered when looking up the spelling: Scherenschnitte. She is working on an Alice in Wonderland papercutting now.  

I glue-sticked mine to some vintage old pink wallpaper, then placed them into a Wal-Mart dollar frame.

 
These three little girls have hung in two different houses but on the same wallpaper. They were first in my daughter's nursery which was in my childhood home where I lived for nearly 35 years. We had to move, and one of the ways I knew my current house was "home" was seeing this same sweet wallpaper...but in the bathroom! This is where the girls play now.

Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to visit other ladies who love a little splash of pink in their lives!  

REDnesday Macy Shirt Makeover!

If I were a cussin' woman, you might see some right now, but alas, I'm not. So instead, I will say in my "nicest" East Texas drawl, "Bless my little camera's heart. It just can't take a good picture of the color red. So please forgive my attrocious pictures and enjoy my Happy REDnesday post anyway!" 

I found this shirt at Macy's. It was marked down from $54.00 to $9.99. There is no way I would have bought this simple thin cotton shirt for $20 much less $50, but for $9.99, I took pity and thought I could do something with it. 

 
A couple of turquoise vintage buttons added to the front placket and some little tiny new buttons added around the bottom here and there gave it a fresh look. Some little embroidered stitches were done around the neck during last Saturday night's Olympics. 

 

 Then it was time to accessorize! I decided it still needed a little sumpin' sumpin'. A corsage was in order, so I fiddled around with some of my vintage handkerchiefs but couldn't bear to cut into them. I remembered some fabric in my stash which looked like vintage handkerchiefs. I cut into it and layered some "petals" together with a running stitch. I then added an old crocheted table napkin "ring", stitched on some matching buttons, tied the crocheted flowers around my petals, and glued on the pin back. 

 
 I was tickled to get out my Christmas present purse my daughter purchased for me from GeorgiaPeachez. I just love it and think it went perfect with this shirt.  
  
 
Here is my newest "favorite" bracelet that my friend Bobbye encouraged me to buy at Dressin' Gaudy in Longview, Texas. What is it about shopping with friends that make you buy? She said I would wear this all the time, and she was right! I DID not wear the earrings...they were just overkill-silly-too-much-going-on with everything else. 

 My husband took this final picture of me in my Macy's Makeover shirt. It's sort of blurry, but I was happy, and was off to teach Sunday School in my latest craft project.

 
  

Make sure you visit the other Red-lovin' ladies at It's a Very Cherry World! Sue has a great blog and just opened up an Etsy shop.