Vintage Book Love

Anyone else have a thing for vintage books?

I actually have to resist buying them all the time so I don't become a book hoarder. There are some I just needed to add to my book shelf.

Some are absolutely hilarious like this one!

I especially love the old children's books if you are into this kind of thing, old books are actually pretty easy to find and really cheap (if you are looking at the right places). I think this kind of thing would be really cool in a baby room.

Broken to Beauty

I just wanted to post this quick easy little DIY I did today.
My mom bought me this huge deer head a couple weeks back from Home Sense with only one antler! I have always loved these over sized chrome deer heads but was definitely not willing to fork out $40-$50 on one for my place. This one was obviously really reduced to $10 and the person ringing my mom through probably thought she was insane buying this broken thing. During the holiday we always loved looking at the Roots windows where they decorated christmas trees with bright pompoms and wrapped really vibrate embroidery floss around sticks to create a really awesome take on the holidays. We pointed it out a few times thinking of different ways we could do something like this!

This is what I started with. A poor little one antlered deer.

I picked up a stick from outside and cut it down to what size I liked.

All I did is wrap different colour embroidery floss around the stick in various areas until I liked the way it looked. I used super glue to hold the ends in place.

I then taped the stick to the broken spot and made sure it would all be held together strongly. I wrapped the tape in embroidery floss until you couldn't see it anymore.

All done!

Upcycling Boy Addition

I wanted to share with you a really cool upcycling project my brother Travis did.
Travis lives in Nova Scotia where he is attending school. He is pretty crafty himself and whenever he is home he often has some sort of project on the go. He definitely is into more industrial and rustic DIY projects which is a lot different from what my mom and I do. I love his style. I always love to see what he is working on. Over christmas break he was working on some leather coasters and a few summers ago he was making rings out of old coins.
He gave me this one for my birthday years back! I still love it!

The project I really want to tell you about is this bar he made last summer.

This bar is made all out of recycled wood, more specifically pallets. He took apart all of the pallets that him and my mom found on the side of the road, so basically wood for free! He stained all the wood with different colours and planned everything all out. He did all the staining and planning in London then brought everything back to Wolfville and put it all together.

  

I haven't seen the bar in person but the pictures look really awesome. I especially love the carvings, makes it look one of a kind!

Loving Love: DIY Lavender Eye Masks

Since Valentines Day is coming up, we wanted to post one or two DIYs that could be given as a little gift to someone special.
I know there are a lot of Valentines Day haters out there, let's be honest some years this holiday is just the worst! If that year is this year for you, why not take this day to pamper and love yourself. You always have to love yourself first!

I am making these lavender eye masks for the great volunteers at my work!

These things are seriously a simple way to feel amazing. We used to get these at yoga class and they would just make you feel so relaxed and flipping good. The lavender in them makes you feel so calm and the flaxseed gently weighs on your eyes giving you a really grounded feeling. If you haven't used one of these masks before all you do is lay down close your eyes and put it over your eyes. In a few seconds you will feel AMAZING!

All you need is:
*Scrap fabric (I am using some old linens my Grandma gave me over christmas, hooray for Grandmas!)
*Sewing machine
*Lavender
*Flaxseed
*Some lace or any kind decorative trim laying around your place to add to the ends of your mask
*Embroidering floss and needle (if you want)

Here is what you do!

Measure and cut your scrap piece of fabric into a rectangle that can be folded over to form a sleeve. You can just measure the size you want by putting the piece over your eyes to see what works for you. Be sure to make it a little bit bigger because you will be folding a little in when you sew!

If you want to embroider on the mask do so now! I did little eyes on one of mine.


Iron your piece of fabric so it is nice and flat.

Vola!

Sew the bottom of your sleeve together inside out (the longest end).

Turn your mask right side out.


Measure or cut out any trim that you want to use.

Fold one end of your mask in and add the trim, then sew together.

Mixed together lavender and flaxseed. The flaxseed is used as a weight so add as much flaxseed to lavender as you'd like.

Fill up the pouch with your mixture. We personally like the mask to kind of curve to your face so we don't fill it up too much!

Sew the last side together with the trim just like the previous side.

All Finished!

Don't forget to add a few little things with this gift, like handmade chocolates or a note.

I really hope this all made sense to you! If you have any questions just ask!

All About our Wool Blankets

We find our blankets really anywhere we can get our hands on them. We have a rotation of second hand shops in and around London we like to visit. The most important thing we look for is that they are all 100% wool. Almost all blankets will say so on the tag. Let me tell you, the tags on these babies are quite possibly the coolest thing ever, and will tell you so much about these blankets. If you are anything like us, we see so much importance in shopping locally, and buying things we can trace back to somewhere. Most wool blankets we find are Canadian made, lets be honest, these blankets are so stereotypically Canadian and we can't help but love them. Another really cool thing about these tags is that they will say exactly where they are made, whether it is in Blyth (so close!) Montreal, Toronto or many, many other places.We also happen to find a lot of blankets that are from the army. We love the dark greys and reds these blankets bring the table, a very Moonrise Kingdom feel. We love knowing We are wearing something made right here in the Country we live in.
The majority of the rest of the blankets are made in England. The Hudson's Bay blankets are made in England, as well as other amazing quality blankets.

What we love about this little business we have is that we have used so many blankets that we have recieved as gifts. So many people we know have had these blankets for years and years (talk about amazing quality!) and let us take them off their blacks. How great is it that something old can be brought new life. We have used a blanket my parents got as a wedding gift almost 40 years ago, blankets from Aunts and Grandparents, even some generious people who knew about Sew Deer and wanted to give away a few. We love seeing people come together as a community and recycle!

Favourite Second Hand Finds Part 1: Jennie

My mom has always been a second hand enthusiast.  She knows all the coolest and junkiest thrift shops around.  Myself, on the other hand, have always loved different things, but admittedly went through a few "too cool" stages.  The past few years second hand shops have been where the majority of our shopping is done.

We have found some amazing things. Those who do second hand shop, you know that feeling, the hidden treasure high! I swear, it is the best feeling!
Here are a few of my favs!

1. Little Jam Jars
These I know aren't that hard to find or even that exciting but I just love them!
I saw them in a little chairty shop a few years ago and thought these would be so awesome for all my loose leaf tea.  I was with my mom and she did the usual "You don't need that, you have too much junk!" so I said fine and left. Later, I kept on thinking about them and obviously talking about them, because the next day my mom went back and picked them up! After years, I still just love these cute little things.

2. Hudson's Bay Jacket
I wanted one of these coast for so long! I would always look at them on the Hudson's Bay website, dreaming of the day I would finally get my hands on my very own. Probably about a year ago I got a call from my mom saying she found one in my size at the by the pound store. The craziest part of this story is that the coat was $2! This year I found a damaged jacket exactly like mine with a hood, so I snagged the hood and made mittens with the rest of the coat.  Now my jacket is the real deal, hood and all! I must admit though I am still on the hunt for an original Hudson's Bay jacket, you know the one with the yellow, blue, green and red stripes. One day!

3. Brown Leather Bag
I got this bag years ago at a second hand shop down in a part of London I barely shop at. I picked it up without even thinking about it but now many years later it is still in my purse rotation. I actually think I got a job because of this bag. It made me look a lot cooler than I actually am.

4. Brown and Black Wool Coat
There is actually no real interesting story behind this jacket my mom just picked this up for me from the Salvation Army knowing I would love it and I did!

5. Edith Piaf Record
I think I got this record for 50 cents a couple summers ago. I loved the movie La Vie en Rose and was excited to pick it up. At the time I had a new puppy at home that was out of control and would cry all night long. I started to put records on for him at night to see if it would calm him down, but of course that was a no go. One night I put on the Edith Piaf record and he fell fast asleep. I was in shock! He would even cry when the record needed to be turned over! After that this record turned into Alfie's record, and anytime I would put it on he would lounge around like a true french doggie. It was hilarious.  Last year I went to Paris and now that record reminds me of sitting in a cafe, sipping a coffee on the streets of Paris. I want to go back one day but until then, my dog and I will just lounge around listen to this record and pretend to be in Paris.

Starting That Summer Thing

We have made our first bag! Hooray!
There are a few things here and there that need to tweeked a little bit, but overall I think it looks awesome!
I wanted to show you what goes into these bags, because personally, I think that is the coolest part.
For this bag we used a black leather skirt, a hand woven small carpet, or table runner (who knows), a piece of cotton fabric, some sample pieces of fabric, a scrap of leather, and some secondhand beads and yarn.

I will be using this bag this weekend to see how much damage it can take and do not worry I will not be gentle.


We have lots more coming so I cannot wait to share the progress with you and hear any of your suggestions of what you would like to see. We are really into the navajo blanket vibe, as well as the super colourful and bright thoughts of India, but I would love to hear what you are into!