From Curtains to Cushion Covers

Ages ago, in a little local op-shop, I found a pair of old cafe curtains made from a creamy cotton printed with many beautiful blooms of Australian native flowers. The fabric features detailed prints of Qualup Bells, Christmas Bells, Swamp Wattle, Bottle Brush, Blue Pincushions, Banksia, Waratah and many others beautiful blooms. Each flower's botanical name is printed underneath too. Gorgeous!

Op-shop cafe curtains.

I adore botanical sketches, stitching, paintings and prints and love our beautiful native flowers so, for just a few dollars, I brought these old curtains home with me and stashed them away until I had time to make something from them. 

Printed with gorgeous Australian native flowers.

I followed the steps of this online tutorial, which includes a YouTube clip, to re-purpose these old curtains into a pair of pretty cushion covers. They were very easy to sew and I'm very happy with how they have turned out. 

Cushion covers from old curtains.

Perfect for someone besotted with plants!

Meg

Lined Drawstring Bags

From fabrics leftover from earlier projects and some reclaimed ribbon, I sewed three little & lined drawstring bags. 

Little lined drawstring bags.

This is the YouTube tutorial, from Whitney Sews, that I followed to sew up these bags. While I used an A4 size sheet of paper as a template for these bags, you could make a larger or small version.  The only change I made was to thread one long piece of ribbon right around the casing at the top of each bag before tying the ends together to form a long loop for hanging the bag up.

One little drawstring bag sewn from a sweet fabric.

 A peek at the soft blue lining inside this bag.

These drawstring bags are the first handmade things I've crafted for gifting this Christmas.  I am going to fill them with scented bath products, like these soaps that I purchased a little while ago and these bath bombs which I am very keen to make this coming weekend from ingredients I already have on hand. Together with a soft organic cotton hand towel, that I bought at Aldi much earlier in the year, I think they will make sweet gifts. 

 A pretty and reusable bag. 

Drawstring bags like these are also a very pretty alternative to wrapping paper and can be re-used over and over again. Something to keep once all the sweetly-scented bath products have been enjoyed.

What are you in the midst of making at the moment?

Meg

Some Small & Simple Savings

The savings we make here are not usually of the jaw-dropping kind. While hubby saved 15% off our car insurance renewal last week, with a phone call and a question, most savings here are of the small and simple kind. They are the little things that save a $ here or a $ there. 

$2 for three little plants purchased from a school market.

(One plant at a nursery would cost more than $2 so three is what I consider a bargain!)

Homegrown tiny tomatoes for salads.

(I'm growing these in pots and they are fruiting well.)

A stale bread roll made into breadcrumbs.

(I froze these for later use.)

I purchased an "odd bunch" of pears.

(These are sold more cheaply because they are not quite "perfect".)

Free entertainment for a boy who loves flags!

(Perfect for when it's too hot to kick the footy at the park.)

$2 birthday cards from Big W. 

(Given cards can cost upwards of $5each, I bought 5 and saved at least $15.)

I mended the pocket on my son's school shirt.

(This weekend, I have to mend his hat!!)

I added these half-price crackers to my stockpile.

(My son takes a little tub of these with cheese to school for a snack.)

While none of these little savings are particularly astounding, they all add up. What simple savings have you made lately?

Meg