Anyway, so I’m trying to tell you that I rented an airplane hangar. One-third of a hangar, to be precise, which is plenty of space for me.

Funny…My grandfather being one of the first licensed pilots on the country, my father being a pilot, one brother working as an aerospace engineer, another working for a national airline.

I don’t fly, but I’m the only one with an airplane hangar. I think that’s kind of funny.

[Dad's edit via email this morning: "Your grandfather was flying before there was pilot licenses!!"]

And now I know my dad reads my blog.

Anyway, so what I’m really trying to tell you is that I rented an airplane hangar and that I’m going to use it to store and fix up neat old furniture. Stuff like this:

But if I were to pull you aside and whisper in your ear, I’d also tell you that I’m very much looking forward to warm days with my family in the countryside, away from the TV and internet, and letting it all wind down with a view like this:

I can feel my soul freeing up, moving like a thawing river, gaining some momentum, getting ready to create some good stuff.

More to come…

So I got hold of a used coffee bean sack and the rest was all stuff I had on hand. I mean, granted, it’s not a project destined for Project Runway, but it’s a fun, quick, and super easy project that you can whip together in under an hour. Think of how proud you’ll be when spring rolls around and you go tooling along through your favorite market with your cuted up cart.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 6″ wide strip of oilcloth (or any fabric you like)
• 4 grommets
• 4 12″ long strips of cotton ribbon, cording, or rope
• 1 burlap sack (procured from a coffee roaster or feed store)

First, situate your burlap sack so you can assess how tall it needs to be. Let it pool a bit at the bottom. That’ll get filled up with treasures. You’ll need a little extra bulk down there.

Hem the excess height from the top of the sack.

I pinned then stitched about a 1/2″ seam around the top of the sack, then trimmed the excess with pinking sheers.

Now, these burlap bags have 1 side seam, and when you fold it over to make a hem along the top of the bag, it’s going to make a marble-size bit of bulk. I trimmed off as much of the bulk as I could without getting too close to the stitches I just sewed.

Next you’ll need to trim a 6″ wide strip of whatever non-stretchy fabric you like, the same length as your bag is around. Just eyeball it, but give yourself a little bit extra. You can trim extra length off after you pin it in place.

Once you get your trim cut, fold it over and pin it. I’m sure there’s a better way to do this, but for the oilcloth I just pressed it with my quilting ruler to make a crease. If someone knows a better way to make a crease in oilcloth, I’d love to know about it.

Fold the trim over the hem you sewed along the top of the sack. Pin it, stitch it, and Bob’s your uncle. Again, I used about a 1/2″ hem. Next, we grommet!

I cut a small X with a box cutter keeping in mind the size of my grommets. They need to be large enough to fit your ribbon or cord through for tying to your cart. Then fit both sides of the grommet through the hole before smashing it closed with my grommet gun. (I love grommets!)

The final step is to take your 4 strips of ribbon, rope, cording, or whatever you like and tie it to your folding shopping cart.

Here she is! A super cute folding shopping cart liner ready to cruise the outdoor markets all summer long.

What do you think? Would you try this? If you do, please let me know!

From the most vibrant to the most plain, I think it all looks wonderful. When such a rugged material is paired with sweet fabrics, it only enhances the pretty factor.

For quick projects, it lends tons of character and is incredibly affordable. In these tough economic times, I think it makes all of us look for affordable materials to feed our creative sides and the fact that so many things have been made out of a “throw away” material both warms my heart and inspires me.

I know this is just the tip of what is out there. What are some of your favorite ways you’ve seen burlap used? Have you made anything with burlap yourself? Any tips for sewing with it? I’m considering recovering some chair cushions with it this weekend. I LOVE comments and look forward to your ideas below.

Click through to my Pinterest board for more creative ideas for using burlap:

NEW ON KITSCHY KITTEN
Don’t always make it to KitschyKitten.com? We’ll come to you! Don’t miss a post.
Click here to sign up for the newsletter >>

My friend Carrie over at Loyal Order of the Glamper had this one made from oilcloth, which inspired me to look around for other examples. Isn’t it cute? Love the vintage styling, and the oilcloth would certainly be durable and easy to wipe down.

Then I looked around on Etsy and found a couple other examples, finally settling on this one designed by Karla at Remixed Stitches as the style I’m going to try to make. I love the resourcefulness of her design. The old coffee bag trimmed with scraps of leftover fabric…charming and hard-working. At $28, it’s a great deal for something unique and handmade. I’d buy one if I didn’t feel like I wanted to try making one myself.

I’ve ordered a used coffee sack to upcycle and I have plenty of cute vintage fabrics to use as trim along with a grommet set for attaching ties to the basket. This should be a fun and easy thing to knock out this weekend. Can’t wait to get it it!

Sources for materials
Oilcloth: Fabric.com, Oilcloth Addict, Oilcloth.com
Market carts: Amazon, Container Store
Used coffee sacks: Artisan Coffee Works (Etsy)
Pattern for sewing a shopping cart liner: Perfect Pie Lady (Etsy)

NEW ON KITSCHY KITTEN
Don’t always make it to KitschyKitten.com? We’ll come to you! Don’t miss a post. Click here to sign up for the newsletter >>

In an act of closure and appreciation, my brother put together a video documenting their journey that is so sweet and beautiful that I just had to share it. Even if these are not people you know, I don’t know how anyone couldn’t be moved. I’m so proud of all of them.

Enjoy.

NEW ON KITSCHY KITTEN
Don’t always make it to KitschyKitten.com? We’ll come to you! Don’t miss a post. Click here to sign up for the newsletter >>

• Bake a cake from scratch
• Bake a pie from scratch
• Make pasta from scratch
• Can something
• Participate in a couple of good blogger syndicates
• Lose weight (1/17, joined Weight Watchers)
• Build out our backyard to look like a New Orleans courtyard, including brick pavers
• Organize the garage
• Purge everything we aren’t using in the house (clothes/toys/furniture)
• Organize a Loyal Order of the Glamper gathering
• Polish our Yellowstone vintage camper
• Replace the bad wood inside our vintage camper
• Sew an awning for our vintage camper
• Get all the water running properly in the vintage camper
• Get all the original external electric all in the vintage camper
• Find a warehouse to rent Done! Renting 1/3 of an airplane hangar.
  - Create an artist co-op so we all have work spaces.
  - Have a warehouse gallery show/sale.
• Get serious about my picking/antiquing/vintage home goods business (thus the warehouse)
• Have a Bluebird Goods booth at the Country Living Fair
• Sell at no fewer than 3 regional markets as Bluebird Goods
• Get a national publication to do a story about Bluebird Goods
• Get the entire house in proper shape so I can follow up on the offer from Apartment Therapy to do a home tour.
• Take the kids to Washington DC
• Take a road trip to Memphis, just because they have awesome BBQ
• Canoe the Des Plaines River
• Canoe the Salt Creek
• Participate in at least one Salt Creek maintenance effort (cutting up old trees, clearing out strainers, etc.)
• Take the kids to at least 1 fine arts event per month
• Get my kids together with their Colorado cousins for a family weekend
• Get the family out on at least 1 camping trip per month through the warm seasons
• Start learning to fly fish
• Take Sophia fishing

NEW ON KITSCHY KITTEN
Don’t always make it to KitschyKitten.com? We’ll come to you! Don’t miss a post. Click here to sign up for the newsletter >>

So as you, like many of us, take stock of your house situation for the New Year, consider some of these creative ideas for organizing. Perhaps don’t just head to the Container Store, but look around for interesting items to re-use instead.

• Old galvanized buckets: I have several and they work for everything from organizing backyard toys in a cute and shabby way to something to soak your tootsies in on a hot summer afternoon. I use them for planing invasive herbs like mint, or for stashing coiled garden hoses.
• Vintage TV trays: Pull the legs off (they usually snap on the back), hang it on the wall, and it’s a super cute magnet board.
• Chalkboard Contact Paper: With a pretty punch, make great labels for all sorts of containers that can are frequently reused for varying storage needs.
• Old wooden crates: On the wall they’re rustic shelves. On the floor next to a heat vent, they’re a great place for corralling winter boots. In the garden, they are a pretty holder for little pots of flowers or herbs.
• Wooden clothespins: I always keep a vintage clothespin sack in my kitchen. They’re great for pinning closed bags of sundries, or glue them to an old, weathered yardstick for displaying schoolwork and important reminders. For embroidery floss, wrap around the pin to keep your thread neat and tangle-free.
• Blue Ball glass jars (the ones with the zinc lids): Oh my gosh…endless ideas. Votive holders (wrap bailing wire around the neck and hang several from a tree in your yard), dry good canisters, planters, tiny clutter holder (all those little things that end up on a mom’s kitchen window ledge), cotton balls. Refer back to the chalkboard labels to make this one work even harder.
• Antique tackle boxes: Great for everything from jewelry storage to crafting supplies. I have one that I keep stocked with basic tools in case I get a bug to make something while we’re out in the camper. I have another that I use when I go to markets with Bluebird Goods that holds my markers, price tags, calculator, receipts, and business cards. Fill one with a supply of pretty thank you cards, stamps, and a favorite pen to make correspondence convenient.
• Vintage cake plates: On my kitchen island, it holds salt, pepper, cinnamon, sugar, and honey…all the frequently used breakfast needs gathered up in a pretty way. Stacked in the craft room, they hold 2 tiers of glitter, tape, small jars of buttons, you name it.
• Interesting old wooden dresser drawers: Use them much the same way you would old crates, but if you can get your paws on some old stair spindles, whip up some legs and turn it into a storage table. Make a lid for a storage ottoman and stash your knitting and reading in it next to a favorite chair. I’m working on one right now to make into a butler tray for holding cocktail mixers when we have friends over.
• Thick branches: This is probably my favorite brainstorm from the year. Go off into the woods, find yourself a thick branch, suspend it from the ceiling or wall using attractive cording. I used mine to hang my instruments, but on a smaller scale, it could be so pretty in a bathroom for necklaces, or over a dining table for hanging votives. Best of all, it’s free!
• Vintage clothespin bags: I tied one to the side of our porch room daybed for holding remotes and a handful of coasters. Other great uses include hanging on your most commonly used door for keys and those “don’t leave the house without” items. Hang it on your guest bed nightstand with travel-size lotions, a piece of chocolate or two, and a book for visitors. Perhaps hang one where it would be handy to sort mail.
• Old lunch boxes: Spray paint white, add a bright red cross, and use for a homemade first aid kit. Keep a couple of them well-stocked, one for your car, one for home. Another use: paint it a bright color and make a road trip kit for the kids. One for each, filled with fun things to make the time pass. Check out my road trip tips from last summer.
• Old tin loaf pans: Use one in the fridge for all the small bottles that tend to get lost in the back of the shelf. Then just pull out the pan and voilà! There are those sneaky capers!
• Vintage printer drawers: On the wall they make great storage for jewelry or nicknacks. If your daughter collects Japanese erasers like mine does, it’s a nice way for her to display them. In a sewing room, use them for organizing anything from spools of thread to little jars of needles and buttons.
• Collect old hard-side suitcases: Stacked up they make a cute end table with tons of storage. We have a daybed in our porch room and I use them for storing linens for guests. Also, another great and fun way to store games and activities. My daughter has one devoted just to her magic tricks. I keep my toddler’s wooden train set in another. Stack them up, they make a cute display, then when they’re ready to play, they can drag the activity case to any room they’d like to hang out in. We don’t use them so much for general toy storage, but for keeping all the pieces of a certain activity together.
• Thrift store china cabinets: Not just for dishes…paint it (think Anthropologie) and add some interesting hardware. Now you have the prettiest linen cabinet in town. Or use it like a Hoosier cabinet in a kitchen that could use some extra storage. Or in a guest room to stash craft and sewing supplies to make the room work a little harder.

I just like anything that’s an alternative to an object with a specific intended purpose, especially new ones which don’t seem to add character to my surroundings. Why use a new plastic bin when you can repurpose an old canvas bucket? See? So much more interesting! If you have ideas of your own to add to this list, or if this list has inspired you to try something out, would you please leave a comment below? I love hearing your ideas!

*NEW ON KITSCHY KITTEN
Don’t always make it to KitschyKitten.com? We’ll come to you! Don’t miss a post. Click here to sign up for the newsletter >>

One year I bought him a set of really nice wireless headphones. We lived in an apartment and Sophia’s bedroom was right off the living room. So when she went to bed, he couldn’t listen to his beloved collection of old punk vinyl. I knew he was missing that, thus the headphones. I thought I had hit a total home run. As a total afterthought, I tucked a pair of expensive insoles in the bag because he stands at his job all day.

As he opened the bag, it went something like, “Oh…(blank face)…HEY! INSOLES!”

So when I saw this post over at Fresh Vintage, I decided he would be the perfect person to grill on the topic of gift history.

What is the best gift that you ever gave someone?

(Takes a really long time to answer) I don’t know. I can’t even remember any gifts I’ve given. Wait…I remember I made my grandpa a squirrel feeder once when I was a kid. I was really proud to give it to him.

What is your favorite gift that you ever received from someone?

Baby Will? (He asks. This is a question.) My watch? The Bears mug I got from Sophia? Those were good. For the best gift I ever got, it would probably be the year I got those insoles. (Well good. I’m glad I went to the trouble to procure an autographed football from Mike Ditka and a video of Lance Briggs where he says my husband is awesome.)

What would be the best gift EVER?

A dinner.

Dave partaking in the joys of a newly gifted nose hair trimmer.

I give up. He’s either the most impossible man to shop for in the whole world or the cheapest. Maybe I should just stock up on Old Spice and Dr. Scholl’s.

*NEW ON KITSCHY KITTEN
Don’t always make it to KitschyKitten.com? We’ll come to you! Don’t miss a post. Click here to sign up for the newsletter >>

This is an automaton music box my Aunt Patty gave me several years ago for Christmas. As the music plays, all the characters dance around and play their musical instruments.

When I was a young girl my wonderful stepmother always had one of these out. The angels spin and ring the bells when the candles are lit. Will LOVES watching it.

The elf is keeping a stern watch over a very grumpy 2 year old.

The nativity set I picked up in Mexico to remember my grandmother by.

The mistletoe is just an excuse for more cheek smoochin’.

My very dear friend Holly gave us these side chairs for me to refinish. They belonged to her aunt. I’m honored to have them in my home. Her friendship will always have a presence at our table, which is a wonderful thing.

I got these snowmen for my husband’s siblings to remember their mom by. She loved snowmen. This makes me think of her and smile. She was a real sweetheart.

Hot coffee at home on a winter weekend in pajamas always feels luxurious.

Dave bought chicory to mix into our coffee for me because he loves me and knows it reminds me of home. He got hooked on it during our trips to my family’s home in Galveston and then to New Orleans.

An early Christmas present from Sherry, one of my vintage camper girlfriends. This has been one of the most fulfilling activities I’ve participated in all year. I’ve discovered a treasure trove of amazing women. Smart, self-sufficient, funny, compassionate, and incredibly creative.

At least the winter provides pretty light.

Will enjoying a Grandma Judy tradition.

Hope your week before Christmas is happy, peaceful, warm, and sweet!

Love,
Alana

*NEW ON KITSCHY KITTEN
Don’t always make it to KitschyKitten.com? We’ll come to you! Don’t miss a post. Click here to sign up for the newsletter >>