Quick Christmas Crafts!

I know it's cutting it a little close to christmas but I just have to share these. First is a christmas embroidery hoop bulletin board, it looks a little like an ornament doesn't it?

It was the easiest project I've done in a while. Here is a tutorial for an Embroidery Hoop Corkboard, I skipped the corkboard and the pins still stick! Remember this post?  I used some of the same exact pins and then made a few more with some buttons I had laying around. Pretty convenient that it is the shape of an ornament, huh?

For the next christmas craft is the wreath I made.

Supplies:

Wreath

Tree garland

Berry garland

Little ornaments

Green Floral Wire

Scissors (possibly wire cutters)

In the order of the list, you get the wreath 

Then stack the tree garland on top, securing with the floral wire.

Next comes the berry garland, secure it with wire. Then scatter the ornaments, secure, and there you have it!

Look how darling it is up on my door!

 Pretty quick and painless. Don't the holidays make you feel all giddy? I just love the decorating and excitement! It's fun, kind of makes you feel like a kid again.

I also made a cute little tree with handmade ornaments that I will write about next. So stay tuned!

Lamp and Shade

Sorry for the short absense, Austin was amazing and I can't wait to share my pictures from the photo shoot with ya'll!

So a while back I bought this lamp at a thrift store because it was sooo cool and I couldn't pass it up. But it was shade-less! I bought a white lamp shade but turned out it was too bright of a white and just looked weird on the retro lamp. So I had to come up with some way to decorate it and here is what I did.

First I found some cool vintage fabric I have had stashed away

and kind of wrapped it around the shade. Then I cut off the excess from the top, bottom, and where the ends meeted leaving an inch of room to glue down. This is what it looked like laying out.

I got my handy glue gun and being sure to line up the ends with the seam in the shade, I glued that sucker down. I tucked in the extra at the top and bottom (at the top I had to cut slits every couple of inches so that it would wrap down). Once that was done, I was ready to decorate! I made some cute felt flowers with this tutorial and some jean leaves and pinned them all in an arrangement that I liked.

Then, very carefully, I glued them down. I started from the outsides and worked my way in but it probably doesn't matter how you do it.

Here is the finished product in my room on our little retro bedside table.

I really love how this turned out and the accidental color combos are perfect to me! And I just realized that there's still a pin in the orange flower... but I'm proud of myself (:

Christmas time is coming! Last week we had a little family hanging lights party.

I made my boyfriend climb up in the tree to wrap lights. I have a feeling he was a monkey in a past life? Maybe?

Eliza just thought it was so funny to play hide and seek behind the tree. But I guess when you're that little it would be.

We haven't done the tree yet, I know it's kind of late but that's ok! I'll get to it... eventually.

I'm officially back with an Etsy Update!

Well I'm officially back from my looong break! I finally quit my job and have started back up with my store again! I loved the experience working as a waitress but it made me realize how much I loved doing my Etsy store and it was just the thing I needed to really push my store and make it successful! So without further ado, here are the latest items in the Sam Wish.

This weekend I'm taking a trip to Austin for a photoshoot, so that's going to be cool. I've got a ton of diy projects and other things planned for upcoming posts! Can't wait to start blogging again, I've missed it dearly.

I'll be see'in ya

She's my little showgirl, always wanting all the attention!

Well folks, I'm taking a break due to lack of time with school, work, and the fam. I plan on coming back after New Years though so I shouldn't be too long. I can hardly squeeze in more store now-a-days! I want to focus more on school before the semester comes to an end and then enjoy my christmas break before the hectic year begins.  With that said, I'll see you all in a hop, skip, and a jump in 2011!

Hello Again!

Hi all! I know, I know. It's been wayy too long. Well I've got some news! I've got 2 new jobs! I landed a gig at this local vintage store as their" seamstress". I take their items that need to be hemmed or fixed due to stains or missing buttons and for each that I do for them, I get to sell one of my items in their store for 100% commission!

I'll do a post later with more pictures.

So that's the first one, the second one is a waitressing job at this tearoom/bistro called The Milk Pail. 

It's been kind of hectic but I think I like waitressing and getting out of the house is nice, let me tell ya!

Here's just some things I've been doing lately; I started making wallets that I plan on putting up in my other store. Here's some preview pics.

I used this as a model for mine but created my own pattern.

I made a few jar pincushions:

Also I've made some camera cases that I want to put in my other store as well. I've got a great name for them and really like mix and matching. Here are a few.

And last but not least, I made a backpack to carry things in when I go bike riding. I made sure it was big enough to fit packages because I want to start biking to the post office for a little workout.

I really like how it turned out. It is made from 100% vintage fabric that I was handed down. Remember this post? Hint: scroll down to see my stash. So that was cool.

Basically I've just been working, doing school, and resting in the little time I have in between. The first couple of weeks at my job have been crazy/stressful/hectic because I have to learn so much but it is starting to settle down. I'm hoping I can get back to working in my store a little more once I get the hang of all this! Hope everyone has had a great couple of weeks! I'm looking forward to blogging again!

Tags!

I made clothing hang tags! Here is the gun I bought off Amazon for only $6. It works pretty well too! I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared the first time I used it. I thought it would have like a kick or loud noise but no. See, what you do is stick the needle through the fabric and tag and when you squeeze the trigger it pushes the plastic tag through the needle and comes out a hole at the end of the needle to the other side!  It's pretty cool, I've always wondered how they those things.

Here's the tags I made, I'm pretty proud of myself (:

and the back:

In other news, I went to a vintage store downtown today to check it out and make an appointment to go talk to them about putting my clothes in their store! I'm going back Tuesday so I guess we'll see what happens.

Vintage Shops!

First I would like to announce that I've created a store at BigCartel. Here. I'm just giving it a shot?

Anywho, here is the last of the shops!

First up is one of my favorites just because it has a lot in common with mine: Twisted Moss

The prices are awesome, and the pictures are well lit. I like the way the outfits are styled. Everything is cute and I really like the bowtie necklace things! Her descriptions are very detailed and fun! They aslo include the era which I wish I was better at guessing! Hopefully next semester I can get around to take a fashion history class! From what I can tell she has a mix of vintage and upcycled clothes. Cool store!

The next one I have been eyeing for a while for their hoodies-pure awesomeness! Mungo Crafts

Ok, the last pic I added in because I think it's hilarious and awesome and unique. But I'm really writing about this shop because I love these hoodies! If I had $60 to blow, I would definitely get one of these. They look well constructed and I just love the color combos, they're all great! It would be hard to choose just one! I like the pattern and of course she uses upcycled materials in most (or all?) of them so that's a plus. Looove. This is going on the winter wish list!


This next one I've been a fan of for a while. Madam Chino.

Her models are all beautiful! All her clothes look like they've had some serious time spent on them and are completely unique which I love about her. I also like the different backdrops, all are equally interesting. All the pictures are very clear, well lit, and show all different views. Her listings start off with a fun little saying and are very detailed. Her clothes are reconstructed and on some listings, she even describes how she constructed it which I think is so cool. She does her own screen printing and even fashion shows! That is on my to-do before I die list.


Arrogant Loves- I admire this shop because there are some really awesome finds. 

You don't find things like this at your everyday thrift store. These are truly special pieces that are probably the only copies left in the world. It's a bit pricey but you get what you pay for I suppose. The pictures are well lit, the models are gorgeous, and the descriptions are short and sweet.

The Closet Stuffer is on this list because of the inspiring upcycled clothes.

I like this store because she uses vintage pieces and turns them into modern style clothes. They're not too extravagant, but they're very well constructed and have a bit of flair. There's definitely a personality to her store. You can see the vintage but in a whole new light! Her prices are pretty reasonable for vintage/upcycled clothes. The clothes are well lit. The descriptions start off with a quote and are very detailed about the item.