Vintage Baby Gift Tags - Decorated Grapevine Tree

Have you ever had a friend who did something so precious and wonderful for you that just seeing it moved you to tears?



My dear friend Mary created this sweet little grapevine tree using the Vintage Baby story gift tags. When I posted about these earlier, so many of you contributed such creative ideas. (Thank you for your suggestions!) Your ideas caused me to remember this little grapevine tree tucked away in the attic.



Using her imagination, Mary created this magical little tree using tulle, ribbons, flowers, and her very own little beaded creations. She made beautiful little pink ribbon flowers~~~



She wrapped the gorgeous pink tulle all around the tree and then added the little Vintage story tags. Don't you love that little bunny? And how about that little bunny stamped ribbon - my favorite!

She glued some of her beautiful crystal beads to the tulle~~~

Those pink plastic flowers were part of a collection that once belonged to my mother. My mother use to own a little florist and she was a master at creating floral arrangements. After she passed away, I found several boxes of these plastic flowers in her attic. When Mary's daughter got married a few years ago, I made several flower arrangements for her bridal shower using some of my mother's flowers. Mary in turn, took these flowers and gave them new life in this little grapevine tree. I think it was seeing those flowers again that really set me to bawling.

Here is my favorite little tag - the one that says "The End." I just love that one. I love the little heart on the tag also - so very sweet.

Is this not the most wonderful gift of time and talent from a friend? Can you not just see the love that she put into this creation?

She made these little beaded flower vines from her fabulous bead collection. (Mary makes the most beautiful jewelry - I simply must show you the piece that she made for me on the occasion of my 50th birthday!)

Some little piece of beauty and imagination every where you look~~~
And just for me - this cute little turtle because she and I both love turtles! Isn't he just adorable? This is going to be the most beautiful thing at the baby shower!

Here is a picture of her work in progress~~~

and here is a picture of the tree in her little craft room - the place where I first saw it and had to sit down and have a big cry!

Tomorrow is her birthday and yet the one who got the gift is me. Thank you dear friend. Happy Birthday~~~

Vicki

Moses Basket for "Little Baby No Name"

For 30 years this little Moses basket sat in my attic, wrapped in sheets and plastic bags - all but forgotten - until last week~~~


My Mother found this little basket at a flea market near their winter home in Florida. She lovingly hand made a little mattress, blanket, and decorative edging all around the basket that we used for my son when he was first born.




Sadly, my parents are now gone and when I brought this little basket out to the light of day last week, I also brought out a flood of precious memories.


My mother had decorated this basket with a gingham fabric that was printed with bunny rabbits in reds and blues. Just perfect for a little newborn boy. Just seeing it again after so many years, made my heart stop.
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There was no way that I could preserve all of the fabric decorations, so I ever so gently removed my mothers careful stitches one at a time so that I could make this little basket brand new and fit for a little Princess. I know my Mother would have loved and approved of this little creation, but it broke my heart to have to undo some of her stitches.
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Even though I removed the outside fabric, I saved the mattress as it was originally covered by my mother. I just simply wrapped the mattress in this little pink blanket, tucking it in along the sides - it can easily be removed for washing. I also have saved the original blanket that she made - just in case. (Don't you think that it would be sweet to take a picture of our grand baby laying on the matress and covered by the blanket that was once used by her Daddy?)



The outside of the basket is decorated using two crochet lace pillow shams that once belonged to my paternal grandmother. This bedspread and pillowcase set was one of the treasures that became mine when she past away last year. (I am planning to use the bedspread as a table covering at the baby shower---).
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The pillow shams were then tacked to the basket from both the inside and out. I like the way that they are lined with the muslim cloth, it seems to make the lace design look prettier. They are also rather heavy and seem to hang nicely along the basket.

The top and sides of the basket are decorated with pink ribbon roses, pink satin yo yo hearts, crochet green leaves, some green ribbon from my stash, and a beautiful flower that is complemented by some exquisite ribbon embroidery.

Each piece is individually sewn on by hand and it took me one very long day to complete this project. This is not the kind of project that you can do in your lap - so I had to stand and lean over the basket to do all the sewing. (Ouch for my back!)

This last little heart is not actually attached to the basket, but rather hangs freely from the little green ribbon. (I was feeling a little whimsical I guess--).

The beautiful green ribbon was left over from my last year's Christmas gifts that were wrapped by my friend, Mary. (She knows that I save everything!) I was thrilled to have an opportunity to use this pretty ribbon in such a delicate and dainty way. There is also a little tiny piece of this beautiful ribbon in the top of the beaded hat that I knitted for "Little Baby No Name". (Go back to the top of that posting and see if you can see the ribbon!)

The lace design on the pillow shams was just perfect for me to weave the ribbon through along the edge of the basket. These little bouquets of ribbon roses look so pretty around the bottom of the basket and also at the sides, near the handles.

Decorating this little basket was indeed a labor of love. Following the stitches created by my Mother, with my own little hand made stitches, gave me a feeling that I can not describe - except to say that it filled my heart with some tender feelings that I know have not been there in a very long while. (I miss her so--).

("Can you see this Mom? I hope you like it---")

vicki

And so it begins~~~ A trousseau for a little Princess.

Finally - I can begin to show you the little baby treasures that I have been working on for so many months~~~



Little "baby no name" is expected to arrive in about 5 weeks. We are calling her that because her parents are keeping her name a secret. Fine. (so much for any personalized heirlooms!)
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The very first thing that I made for our little princess was this little beaded hat. (I painstakingly pushed every single bead to the outside so that none of them would be against her little head.) Pink tulle adorns the top of the hat - and in the middle of the tulle is a little piece of green ribbon. (You kind of have to look hard to see the green - it did not seem to photograph very well.)

Do you remember the pink beaded yarn that I showed you earlier? I knitted a little princess coat from that yarn. I kept the pattern simple because the yarn was already so exquisite.



The little coat has 3/4 sleeves and is meant to fit like a little loose coat or cardigan. Like the little beaded hat, I literally spent hours pushing all the little beads through to the outside of the coat. This was one of the projects that I knitted while we were gone on our travels.

While we were strolling around on the beautiful island of Curacao, I found a little fabric shop on one of the side streets in the city of Willemstad. (!!!!) Inside this sweet and dainty shop was a delightful display of laces, all of them handmade there on the island. I bought this beautiful assortment of laces---

The pale pink beaded ribbon was the perfect trim that I needed for this little princess coat. I hand sewed it around the neckline and up the front of the coat.

The exquisite beading is rather hard to photograph - I hope you can see the beautiful detail of the lace from these pictures.

(That is the little Moses basket peeking out in this picture - I will show you more about that later---).

So, do you like her little trousseau so far? She really will look like a little princess wearing this coat and hat, don't you think?

Not everything has to be pink does it? I also wanted to make her something a little more traditional. (Traditional meaning, not pink and beaded---).

This little boat neck sweater has rolled sleeves and a rolled hem. The sweater is knitted from one strand of Lorna's Laces shepherd worsted. This is the softest yarn to knit and work with - an absolute delight to your hands. This yarn comes in a variety of fabulous color variations, (and I have quite a stash going!) The little hat is knitted using 2 strands of Lorna's Laces shepherd sock yarn. (And yes, I have a bit of a stash in that also!)

The adornment is my own design. OK - I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with those little green tags that come attached to the Vera Bradley handbags. (I mean totally obsessed!) I save every single tag from every piece of Vera Bradley that I own. My family and friends - they give me their tags also! Here is a picture of my "green tag" stash in a teacup in the Sacred Yarn Room. Admittedly, this is pretty weird.

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Here is a little heads up for you---. I will be giving away a beautiful purse from the newVera Bradley Spring collection in a "Welcome to Spring" give away, probably around May. When the winner receives their beautiful purse - rest assured that I have ALREADY removed the little green tag. (Yep - I already did!)

Using those little tags in this design was so much fun! They naturally twist and curl, and this played into the design on the hat and sweater. (I have been waiting for just the right opportunity to decorate with my little "stash" - and this was the perfect chance!) Don't you just LOVE it when you get to do something really creative with your "stash"!

The little off white ribbon flowers were purchased - (but they were part of yet another stash, and I have had them forever. Don't remember where they came from.) The little green leaves are actually little glass beads.

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This little hat takes FOREVER to knit. It is not hard, just basically round and round, and round. But - when you get to the part where you have to put it on 4 needles (!) - then you have to knit that way for about another 6 inches, because that is the part that ties in a knot at the top of the hat.

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Picture this - I am sitting outside on the top deck of the cruise ship on a sea day. We are cruising along and the wind is about 15-20 miles an hour. I am sitting there trying to keep my yarn straight and keep it from blowing into the ocean below AND I am knitting with 4 double point needles. The best part - just watching the looks on the faces of the people as they walked by me. Hilarious! (I think I have pictures of this to show you later!)

The back of the hat and sweater features a little adornment also. Part of the design on the sweater actually starts on the front of the left shoulder and crosses over onto the back. The picture below shows the back of the little knitted set.

This is just the first of so many little things that I want to share with you. There is another little knitted heirloom to come - my beautiful storybook blanket. (I can't wait to show that to you!)

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Remember the vintage baby story gift tags? My dearest friend, Mary, created the most beautiful treasure using those little gift tags. She showed it to me today and I was moved to tears. So that is yet to

come---. (And the Moses basket, and the beautiful lamps, and the sweetest little doll baby pram that you have ever seen, and the bunny basket and the diaper cake---- AND the baby shower is next Saturday! )

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If you are not just totally enthralled with baby things - you might just want to skip the next SEVERAL postings! Being a grandparent is really such a wonderful blessing!

Vicki

Sacred Yarn Room Explosion!

The Sacred Yarn Room is a disaster! You have to promise not to show this picture to any one. (I am only sharing this with you - LOL!!) The baby shower is next weekend and I have been working day and NIGHT to get my projects finished. Obviously, I am not cleaning up as I go----

Last night I was up until 3 am sewing lace around the little princess coat that I knitted from the pink beaded yarn. Today - I am working on the "Moses in the bulrushes" basket that you see on the couch. We used that when my son was a newborn - (I will tell you that story later----).

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There are just a few more days before the shower that I can devote to the projects and I am burning the candle at both ends. (If you guys were here - I would have a project for each and everyone of you!)

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So - give me a few more days to wrap this all up and then I will show you the baby heirlooms, the decorations, the gifts, - the whole baby event! And then - after this is all over - you know what I have to do next? Somehow I have to put some order back into this Sacred Yarn Room!

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Make me feel better - tell me if your craft room ever gets out of control like this ----

Vicki

One World One Heart ~~ A Magic Carpet Ride

2/15/10 UPDATE - the winner is Ragmuffin girl! I have emailed you dear lady, so please email me with your name and address as soon as you can. (I am leaving town for 3 weeks tomorrow-----!) Congratulations on winning and a special thanks to everyone who participated in this event! This was a wonderful celebration of blogging all over the world. Through this event I made so many new friends and visited so many fabulous blogs! I am already looking forward to next years event----
Vicki



I am so excited to be able to offer a whimsical and unique experience to my new blogging friends. Through the One World One Heart Event - you all have the opportunity to literally travel around the world on a beautiful "blogging" magic carpet.



Hundreds of bloggers, (actually almost 1000 so far!) are participating in this fun and exciting event. This is your chance to make new blogging friends AND to win some great prizes. (Think "hundreds of give aways" all at one time!) To begin your travels, simply click here to be taken to the host blog. Listed there are the hundreds of blogs who are participating - including mine! (I am #751 on the list)

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Here are the "official rules"---

Visit as many blogs as you want between now and February 15, 2010. Leave a comment on the Contest Posting for every blog that you visit. You can only leave one comment per blog. You must have a valid email address where you can be reached on February 15 - should you be chosen as a prize winner by any of the participants. No Anonymous comments can be accepted for this event. Check your email on February 15 to see if you have won a prize or maybe 2 or 3!



This little handmade porcelain heart brooch is my prize entry for the event. Isn't it cute! Who wouldn't want to wear this sweet little brooch on a hat or scarf or coat? Hand formed from beautiful white porcelain clay, it has had vintage lace pressed into the clay before being bisc fired. The crimson red glaze makes this a beautiful accessory piece for your wardrobe. For your chance to win ~~~ just leave a comment on this posting.



Enjoy your blogging travels --- make new friends--- and hopefully pick up a treasure or two along the way!

(This beautiful little heart brooch was created by Karen at HodgepodgeArt. She has a shop full of lovely things---)

Vintage Baby Story Gift Tags

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes--- the baby shower! Between the knitting and the baby shower planning, this little grandma is burning the candle at both ends! These little baby gift tags made from a vintage Beatrix Potter children's book are my newest treasure. Aren't they just adorable?


Wouldn't they be lovely displayed at the baby shower somehow? They would be so cute as a focal point of the decorations.



I would love to hear your ideas about how these little treasures might be used and displayed at the shower. My blogging readers are sooo (!!!)creative and I just know that you can all help me with this little project.


So set your minds in motion and share your ideas with me about how to best display these little gift tags~~~~

And also - could you please share with me your thoughts about how to use these in the baby's room after the shower? I am so excited to hear your ideas!

Don't you just love the little one that says "the end"!

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I want to thank everyone who took the time to share with me your ideas about how to use the little blue cabled blanket. I really appreciate your show of support in the thinking that this would be a loving gift for a little baby girl! Thanks to your creativity, I now have some lovely plans for the blanket. I will be excited to share with you the new little girl cabled blanket soon! In fact, I plan to share the whole baby shower experience with you all. Consider that you are all invited!

Baby Blue ~~~ ( What would you do? )

This little cabled baby blanket has been a challenge for me. I started it last year (it pains me so to admit this----) and it is still not finished. But - it is ALMOST finished! Obviously, it did not get completed for the birth of our first grandchild, our precious Mason.



As you know, we are expecting our second little grandbaby in April. Soooo---- if you were me, and you wanted to give this little blue blanket to this really special little baby girl - what would you do to make it look - well - more girly?




Does anyone besides me think that little girls can also wear blue? Believe me - this little girl is going to have lots of PINK little things to wear! Remember the pink posting a few days ago? I am frantically knitting a pink baby trousseau----


I have invested so much time and love on this baby blanket. This little project has literally, travelled all over the world with me. On the beaches in St. Martin, on the beaches in Florida, on a cruise ship that sailed around South America, on a cruise to Bermuda, and traveling hundreds of miles as we drove back and forth to Atlanta to see Mason and to Florida to our condo - this little blanket has logged some serious miles! I can't bear the thought that I might lose an opportunity to give this to a special grandchild.
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So, I am open to your suggestions and ideas. I really do want to know your thoughts. If you think that this blanket is not meant for a baby girl - you can say that too. Just give it to me straight----