Shoe-matoes : )

We love to raise all of the vegetables we possibly can in our small city yard, so we sometimes get creative in our planting.  Sometime I will take pictures of the recycled fun and useful items we have plants growing in, but for now, I will show you one of my favorites:

Shoe-matoes!  We have tomatoes growing so many places, including a hanging "Topsy Turvy" planter.  All of them are doing pretty well, except the ones I planted in a pair of garden shoes we had lying around outside this spring (nothing is safe from being used as a container! lol!).  That's ok with me.  I just love to look at them hanging on the fence so whimsically : )  I can see them from the house, and they make me smile everytime I look at them.

We put soil inside the Croc type shoes, and carefully poked tiny tomato seedlings in from the outside.   I think we planted yellow pear tomatoes in the shoes so the plants wouldn't get terribly heavy.  I'll take more photos if they do, indeed, set on fruit. 

Those are tomatillos, cucumbers, and green beans growing in the garden beneath the shoes, along with some strings tied so they can climb up the fence. It is our first year for tomatillos. Last year, we got some in a Bountiful Basket, used them to make salsa, and really liked the flavor. They have a ton of blossoms on them already, so we are hoping for a great crop.

Happy gardening!

The gift apron is a perfect fit!

Having guessed at the right size to make this little apron for the little daughter of a friend, I am so happy to find out that it is a perfect fit in all ways. She loves it! I wanted to show the photos I received today of little Michala wearing her apron made of vintage sheets. I'll be making more of these, for granddaughters and other little girls we know.

Little Girl's Apron Made From Vintage Sheets

I can't wait to show the project I've been working on this week. It took me most of an afternoon what with making the pattern from scratch, but it had no cost investment at all. A wonderful friend of mine who happens to be our former pastor's wife, mentioned to me that her sweet little 6 year old daughter wanted an apron. Well, an opportunity like that just doesn't come along every day!





I went right to work looking at photos of children's aprons and drew up a muslin pattern of what seemed to be an apron of about the right size. It retrospect, the circular ruffle could have been a bit more full.

For a couple of months I have been collecting vintage bed sheets, hoping to use them to make quilts for all of my children and grandchildren and some other special people for Christmas 2012. With the help of my teenage daughter who is blessed with lots of creative ability, I chose three of the sheets that looked cute together to use to make the apron. I also chose ones that were pretty much 'new' so the material would have more body. I couldn't resist making a little potholder to go into the apron pocket. I even quilted a little heart into the center of it. Then, we added a couple of fun cooking extras to make it even more exciting for her. In trying to get the lighting just right on this cold, wet day in the Midwest, I took photos in a couple of different locations in my house.

The apron is going in the mail today to the sweet little recipient. I hope to get a photo of her wearing the apron to add to the blog at a later time. Almost immediately after seeing it finished, I thought of several other little girls in the family who are certain to be needing a cute apron, so I guess I'll be making several more. I'm just thrilled with how it turned out, and I hope my friend and her daughter will be also.

Not really sure how to do this, since I've never tried it before, but I'm going to try to link this post to The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday link party, and Made By You Mondays at Skip to My Lou. Wish me luck with that : D