Pickin'

So I guess I wasn't technically picking, but I've been inspired by watching American Pickers! I love the history and information in the show, but I especially love when they get a good deal on something and can make some money on it. Last weekend Tom and I took the boy on a walk to some of the shops up the street. There are quite a few antique shops that we like to wander around. In one of them, Tom saw something that caught his attention. It's a wall-hanging that has 3 instruments on it, a thermometer, a barometer and a hygrometer. Tom didn't end up getting it since he wasn't sure if it worked or not. After talking to his Grandpa I decided I would go back and buy it for him. Tom's grandpa has all sorts of cool old tools  and he assured me that if it's in good shape and in working order, it would be worth it. Sure enough when I went back it was still there and from what I could tell it works! Also, I found a plate stand that I'm going to use to store our produce. One little bowl doesn't hold it all, so hopefully this will! I still have to get some plates to go in it and possible paint it, so I'll have to post updated pictures once I do. The plate stand was $10 and the instrument was $15. I asked for both for $20 and she agreed! I was so nervous to even ask, but I felt like a regular negotiator after all the hours of watching American Pickers and Pawn Stars :) A very successful antiquing trip!

This is the barometer 

This is the hygrometer

 The thermometer

 My plate stand/produce storage

Yesterday we got out of the house and went downtown to Michael Levine's to get some fabric and sewing supplies. They have so many options of everything it was pretty overwhelming at first. 

I'm working on making a tester bag that will ultimately be a bag for my Mom. She wants a custom bag that she can use in her teacher's cart at work. She's looked and looked for something that has the right dimensions and can hold her laptop, but hasn't found anything she likes. She called me a couple of weeks ago and told me what she wanted and I happily agreed to attempt to make a tester and send it to her to try it out. I've never made a  structured bag, so this is different than anything I've sewn but I love a good crafting challenge. After finding various tutorials for similar bags online, I drafted out my own pattern pieces and got to work on the tester. I'm almost done with it, but didn't originally purchase enough interfacing and although I thought I wouldn't need it for the tester I decided I want to make sure it's the right stiffness, so went downtown to buy more. While I was there I went ahead and bought the fabric for my mom's bag. Originally we had talked about doing the outer fabric with corduroy, but I wasn't crazy about any of the corduroy they had. They had some great corduroy prints, but all of them looked too young or casual. So, we went ahead and got this really beautiful gray suiting fabric, with a purple liner and gray and white paisley for the piping. (I don't know why but in the lighting of this picture the purple looks more like a wine color, it's definitely more eggplant than wine though in real life....hmm)

I'm SO excited to see how it'll turn out. I only have a few more steps for the tester, so I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm finished with that one.

Michael Levine's is inspiring though!! Tom and I were dreaming of all sorts of things we could buy fabric for and make. He kept picking out fabrics that he liked, suggesting things he wanted me to make, like new pillows to throw on our sofas. We also saw Rami Kashou from season 4 of Project Runway and Project Runway All-Stars, which is airing now! 

Like Tom said, if Rami shops here, then this is the place to be!  :)

After shopping we headed over to Philipe's to get some french dip sandwiches for lunch! I was surprised with how busy they were since we got there around 2:30. But, Tom waited in line and I found a table to sit down with Jack and feed him. As always the sandwiches were delicious and Tom also got potato salad, pickles and a brownie for us to share. Overall a great outing downtown!