Smalls Saturday:How to Hand Sew an Invisible Stitch (Tutorial)

I was recently asked by the shop owner at one of my consignment shops if I could make some outdoor pillows.  So I bought some really pretty outdoor fabric and made up about a dozen pillows.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to do any tutorials or pictures, but I thought I would share with you a new stitch I learned.  In the past when I made pillows, I would either close them with a machine stitch or hand-stitch, but the seam was always visible.  Neat, but visible, no doubt.  I didn't know any other way!

Well, I finally bothered to learn how to close pillow cases (or stuffed animals, for that matter) with an invisible seam.  It's called a blind-ladder stitch, and I found it pretty easy.  So I'm posting a YouTube video here so you can learn how, as well.

Give it a try, your projects will look so professional!

Wordless Wednesday: The Creative Process

Makeover Monday: Ladder Display Shelves

I bought a couple of old ladders through the online yard sale sites. Ten bucks a pop.  I wanted to use them to make display shelves for the vendor fairs I'll be taking part in.
(First one coming up May 6th, yay! )

So today, being the drop-dead gorgeous day that it was, I took my beat-up ladders out to the driveway, and I gave 'em a good old-fashioned white wash.  Just watered-down white paint.  I wanted a nice chippy weathered look, and I had some milk paint, so I used that.  It wasn't enough to do both, so I used chalk paint for the other one.

Then I pawed through my stash of barn boards and found enough to use for shelves.  I measured, pulled nails, and cut down till I had what I needed.

And it's perfect!  Exactly what I was after.

I can't wait to put them to use!