It’s been a while since I’ve done an Etsy post, so why not start up again by featuring my mom’s new shoppe? Before starting out on Etsy, she sold quality, handmade clothing for Himstedts, as did I. You can still buy a few of her ensembles here {KinderCottageKeepsakes}, as well as see past creations.
Her new venture on Etsy is made up mostly of handmade, anime-style, felt dolls. We have decided they are so weird that they’re pretty cute! She also sells upcycled rings made with vintage earrings and buttons, plus fabric covered button earrings. So stop by and look around. She’ll have new items up soon! 🙂

www.TheWindyHill.etsy.com

I’ve been waiting to post these photos for a while now, and am finally getting around to it. But first, a little story. 😉
My grandparents (on my dad’s side) have FINALLY moved out of their horrible, disintegrating little house in the country, and into a very nice apartment in town. It has been long-overdue. This all happened several weeks ago, and my parents went down to help them clean some things out of their old house. A lot of the relatives were there dividing things up amongst themselves; things that grandma no longer wanted or needed. My mom got in on all of the good stuff and brought home at least two boxes that were stuffed to the top and overflowing. The best treasure…….this dresser drawer filled with vintage containers (both plastic and glass), which in turn, were filled with antique buttons. Most of these were my great grandma’s. WOW! It took a lot of sorting, throwing away of things that were unusable, and cleaning (everything had been neglected and was SUPER dirty…..see pics ;), but we finally ended up with a box full of buttons and beads to be split between my mom, me and two sisters at a later time.
Another treasure that Mom brought home was a box with fabric and aprons. Each of us girls got to choose an apron and the fabric was divided between Alayna and I mostly. I’ll have to post pics of my fabric pile at a later date. 🙂
For now, I hope you enjoy these before and after photos of our buttons, and other miscellaneous stuff gleaned from Grandma’s house. 🙂
This bag and box are both full of fabric, with aprons laying on top.

More fabric, patterns, zippers and other miscellaneous stuff.

The button drawer!

Every container was full of buttons…….yummy. 🙂

Gross! Look at all of that dirt……..

The buttons all washed and laying out to dry.

Ooops…….where did this “before” photo sneak in from?

Some of the really pretty buttons. 🙂

I’d like to share my second apron order since the one I first made for myself several months ago. This one was designed around the vintage handkerchiefs given to me by the child’s mother. I was able to use pieces of the same hankies, both on the child’s apron and also on the matching American Girl apron. Aren’t they cute? And I think that I found the perfect fabric to match the handkerchiefs. When I bought the fabric at Hancock’s, I didn’t know if it would match or not……….but look how nice it turned out! I used handmade bias tape on the edges to give this apron a different look, and switched the placement of the pockets around. Another new thing for me was the creation of several yo-yo’s for each apron. Yo-yo’s have been my most hated embellishment in times past, but I have recently acquired a love for them via Etsy. 🙂 I think they add the perfect vibe to these retro aprons!
All of the buttons on both aprons are vintage, as are the hankies (supplied by the customer). Everything else was store-bought, but it all blends in quite nicely with the whole retro-vintage feel.
The photos don’t do these two justice, but……………
Thanks for taking a peek! 🙂
Click for larger photos!
Together:
Child’s Apron:


Doll’s Apron:


Tag:

I found this great little tutorial for a button adorned, crocheted window curtain at craftstylish.com. Check it out! TUTORIAL

I don’t have time to try it yet………but would love to soon. What a cute, romantic idea!