How to Make A Hamper from A Pillowcase

A little while back Jaime spotted a totally adorable Pillowcase Hamper Tutorial made by Sarah from Emmyloubeedoo. It's a vintage pillowcase turned into a gorg way to store laundry - obviously, we had to ask if she would please, please guest post this one-of-a-kind creation for us. Thankfully, Sarah agreed and is very excited to share her tutorial below.

Make sure to stop by her site, Emmyloubeedoo, to see many more creative tutorials such as the Foxy Pillow and the Sunshine Swimsuit. She even shows us that no spot is too small for a creative nook in her Sewing Room Re-Reveal post. Take it away Sarah...


Hello Prudent Baby readers! I'm Sarah and I'm crazy excited to be here today! I blog over at EmmylouBeeDoo where I share my sewing and crafty projects. Come over and say hey!

So do you want to make a hamper?! For like, less than 10 bucks with one of those vintage pillowcases you've been collecting fo-evah?!

Yay! Let's, then! Get the full Pillowcase Hamper Tutorial after the jump...
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GLORIOUS FLEA MARKET HOW YOU TORTURE ME SO!

Sunday was a spectacular day of sun and beauty and grandma offering to babysit so I could thrift in peace at the World's Greatest Flea Market. Jacinda and I have dueling flea market scores and regrets from our visits to Canton (for her) and the Rose Bowl (for me).

My flea market strategy is to take a picture of whatever I like, then sit down with a diet coke and review the pics when I'm done browsing. If I still like it and it's still there, I figure it was meant to be and I'll get it.

Well I was TIRED AS HECK after 5 hours stomping about the furniture and doo-dad section of the flea market, so I ended up letting a lot of stuff go and only taking home a few treats. Good for the wallet, but now I have regrets. I did get business cards though, most of them are local, and they'll be back next month. Take a look at what I left behind and tell me what to try to hunt down next time. PLEASE!

Check out many weird and wonderful flea market finds after the jump...
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The Thrifter's Revenge

Last April I went to Canton for the first time and happened upon a booth filled with the most gorgeous vintage table cloths. They were all bright white, ironed and folded, hanging in a row. I gasped for air, brushed my fingertips along the edges and promised to come back later as it was one of the first booths we had visited. But then when I went back it was nowhere to be found. Like a DREAM!

I went back in the Fall and looked again. No luck. But this past weekend we went again and there it was right in front of me! In that instant I decided to spend every last penny in my pocket on vintage table clothes. I mean, I might never see them again!

Am I crazy? What should I do with them? Since none of them actually fit my table. HA!

Give me guidance oh Prudent Mamas and you might win a LOVELY child's chair from Belle & Blue!

The Craft Room Redesign Project: The Recovered Chair!

BEFORE:

I told you all about the Craft Room Redesign Project, then I asked for your advice on my thrifty finds that I've been scooping up from goodwill, thrift stores, ebay, craigslist, and also this chair I found abandoned on the side of the road. I thought about recovering it myself, but it looked like a pretty daunting project and many of y'all were being hardcore enablers in the comments - telling me I saved so much by thrifting all this stuff that I could splurge and get it recovered professionally. Well, that's what I did.

Check out the "after" pictures after the jump...
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How to Paint Brass Finished Finds

Before:

After:

So many adorable things are in an outdated shiny brass finish, much like this sort of awesome table, one of my thrifty finds for the Craft Room Redesign Project. I read all of your advice, then looked at the space, then still couldn't decide, then just went for a bright shade of red.

There's a few tricks to re-painting brass finished items, but overall it's easy peasy. Imagine what you could do with cheapo thrift store brass light fixtures! Find out how to repaint brass after the jump...

What do you think of the red? Have you re-painted anything brass or brass-finished? Tell us abuot it in the comments, or post a picture on facebook. You could win some adorbs ueklele fabric!
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The Craft Room Redesign Project: Advice for My Thrifty Finds?

This craft room redesign project has been crazy fun so far, much less daunting then expected, thanks to all of your help here and on facebook. I've been scouring craigslist, ebay, local thrift shops, goodwill, and a nearby stored called TINI (stands for This is Not Ikea) for vintage and inexpensive stuff to outfit the new room. One piece I actually found just sitting on the street. Here's what I've found so far!




Any advice on what to do with it all? Leave me a comment, you could win some of Jacinda's pom pom trim in the color of you choice! Check out some more finds and questions after the jump...
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FREE Felted Wool Tree Tutorial

Here's an easy little tutorial for these adorable felted wool trees from Jamie of Little Nest Designs. I want a bunch for my mantel. Sounds like a sweater thrifting trip is in order!


Click here to get this easy & fun Felted Wool Tree Tutorial.

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Simplicity Deluxe Rotary Cutting & Embossing Machine - Bias Tape Eureka!

I know, the GIVEAWAY is over and you didn't win. lame. And now we're back with another cool thing that the Rotary Cutting Machine can do even though you don't have one. rude. But I just can't help myself, you must know! Because pretty soon I am just going to be able to lay on the floor eating Halloween candy while my various contraptions make beautiful bias tape from start to finish and I can't keep that information to myself because I'm a giver. But no, I won't give you my Rotary Cutting Machine, it is my BFF, or at least my FWB

Ok, so this is really just a slight variation on Jaime's awesome How to Make Bias Tape Tutorial so you want to be familiar with that first... but here's what I did to turn a fat quarter of vintage fabric (read: an 18"x22" scrap of an old sheet) into 16 feet of purdy bias tape in no time flat.

And don't forget to leave us a comment because you might win a nifty set of bow tie hardware. Have we convinced you to make bias tape yet? Are you inspired to find some old sheets for cheap and sell them by the fat quarter at a 5000% mark-up? Did your grandparents have these sheets?

Read More for the full Bias Tape Eureka!
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I need your help

Dear prudent people who read Prudent Baby, I need your advice. During my trip to Canton, I acquired these two adorable rocking chairs. What should I do with them?

Should I leave this one as is, maybe just give the wood a dark stain? Or re-upholster?

I definitely want to reupholster this one. It has a crazy 1976 bicentennial fabric. You remember, it was on your grandpa's recliner? But should I keep the box pleat style at the bottom? It needs some type of skirt. Should I paint the wood? What color scheme? I want it to work for a boy down the road, is that not realistic? Any fabric ideas?

I have plans to actually get to some of these thrifting makeover projects this month because (1) they are starting to pile up and it's embarrassing and (2) I'm going to have my third child in January and will never have time to do anything ever, ever again. What do you think? Make it good and you will win that pretty Alexander Henry fat quarter up there.

Flea Market Finds

Last weekend, I ventured out of my Texas Summer hibernation and returned to Canton with a few pals and Miss Quinn Frances who, I must note, was the most chill baby ever to ride in a car for 3 hours and ride in a stroller for 3 hours without a fuss. Thank you for being you Quinn!

SO... I thought I would share some of the goodies that I spotted. It's like watching American Pickers. Vicarious thrifting!

Rows and rows of vintage boot. Can someone get me over my fear of used shoes? It would open a world of footwear opportunity for me.

Board game covers would be so excellent framed in the nursery.

As would vintage pennants. Wish I had snagged a few at $1 each!

And there's more after the jump! Remember any comment you leave this week could win you the pretty Alexander Henry fat quarter. Tell me what you can't believe I left behind. Or tell me what you have found lately. Or tell me what I need to do to get over my fear of used shoes. I'm listening...
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What Color Should I Paint This Mirror?

Ladies!  I picked up this awesome mirror at Goodwill for $19.99.  I've been looking for the perfect mirror for above the fireplace, Score!  But I can't decide what color to paint it, or if I should paint it at all.

It's hardwood and I kind of like the dirty bronze sheen, but up close, it's a little grungy as you can see:


Our living room has a distinctive turquoise couch, so I'm not sure which way to go. White? Silver? Gold? Bright red? Mustard yellow?

If you really want to take this assignment seriously, there are a ton more photos of the living room in question on my Apartment Therapy Home Tour.

Please weigh in down in the comments. Your feedback could even win you this week's best-comment prize, that Aleene's Tacky Pack! XOXO

DIY Oil Cloth Bath Seat

Does your back hurt? Mine does. All the time. Bending over the bathtub doesn't help. I found this stool at a thrift store for $10 and recovered it with this gorgeous Heather Bailey Nicey Jane oil cloth so now I can sit comfortably (yet water-resistantly) by the bath!

Visit our Refurbished Footstool DIY for the full tutorial (it's a super easy beginner project) and get thee to a thrift store! Your back will thank you.  And if you have any other back or hip-saving tips, please share them with me, I beg you.

Cheap Stuff I Bought That I Love

Did you see Jacinda's Canton flea market scores? Hi, jealous. With all the fancy pretty things out there in the universe to lust after, why is it it's the cheap stuff we love the most?


One day I had this random thought that from then on every time I went to a dinner party I would bring a set of vintage salt & pepper shakers as a hostess gift and try to theme them to the recipient. I went on ebay and bought about 40 sets for a dollar or two each. We don't go to a lot of dinner parties anymore, and I've already given a set to everyone I know, so the rest just sit on this shelf. Now people think I collect them, which I don't, unless "buying in one frantic ebay session" equals collecting:

The two birds in the top pic are my favorite. They look kind of angry. They get to sit on my desk.

This captain's wheel from the fairfax flea market serves no purpose whatsoever. When I brought it home my husband just laughed. But whatever, I like it.

I found that frame to the left in the clearance section at homegoods for $15 and took it to a local glass shop and had a mirror put it. Everyone thinks it's vintage, but it's just cheap and broken.

First edition Gone With the Wind from an antique shop on Sutter Street in Folsom, CA. I didn't name my daughter after Scarlett O'Hara but she's rad, and so is this book. Score!

And for all of you book collectors out there, I know it's a book club edition and therefore not worth thousands of dollars. That would be a bummer anyway, because then I'd have to sell it.

One crazy watercolor from an insane man on the side of a bridge in Budapest. Don't know what it says. Love it. 1,000 forints = $5


I don't know what this piece of furniture is supposed to be. It's super run down, the top lifts up on hinges, but it's not deep enough to fit bar stuff, has no holes for record player wires, and wouldn't fit a sewing machine, but it does a good job of holding stuff. $30 at a swap meet.

Oh, and my mom picked up that rocking horse for $1 at a yard sale. Once, and only once, it made a neighing sound. We can't figure out how to get it to do it again.

George Washington cameo, you're tiny and weird and I love you. Picked that up somewhere in berkeley during college and it's followed me around ever since.


This painting is on glass. I found it at a thrift store in Corry, PA on a family vacation. It was $1 and it says 1936 on the back. The frame is falling apart, I guess I could re-frame it but should I?


So there's some cheap stuff i bought that I love. What about you?

Canton Scores!

This past weekend, the girlies and I, along with my mom and my sister-in-law, took a road trip down to Canton, Texas for the infamous Canton First Monday Trade Days... "The World's LARGEST Flea Market." Ladies {and dude[s?]} It blew me away! There was such amazing stuff... I'm hooked.

Check out the vintage paint-by-number originals that I scooped up for Clare's bathroom.



And this adorable owl hangy thing that would be a perfect toothbrush or comb holder (but not together because that would be disgusting, gag.) I was going to paint it but now I'm totally loving its worn paint (and rhinestone eyes, of course.) Don't paint, right?


Click thru for more of my flea market finds and let us know your latest score in the comments. We're already jealous.
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