Vintage Christmas DIY

This week, I'm sharing some vintage Christmas DIY projects I've pinned on Pinterest.  My mom collected vintage Christmas goodies before they were called "vintage", with a hefty price tag.  Those days it was just called old junk. Seeing vintage Christmas ornaments, plastic figurines, glittery paper mache snowmen, vintage artwork, and holly strewn tablecloths brings back a lot of memories!

The pretty gingerbread house artwork above came from Free Pretty Things For You.  Click on the pictures below to go to each DIY web page. (Links will open in a new window.) 

The Memory Budget

I get a lot of questions about how we afford to go on so many vacations.  So I thought I'd share our method regarding the finances and philosophies behind it.  We call it the Memory Budget.

Creating A Steampunk Persona

The following pdf is the entire powerpoint from my Creating A Steampunk Persona panel, debuted at the Alaska Steamposium Steampunk convention on April 16, 2016.

Pattern Storage

If you sew, you understand the never ending circle of doom called storage!  I'm still working on a solution for fabric, but today I'll share my victory over patterns...

Lolita Headwear Workshop Materials List

Konnichiwa fellow Lolitas!

This post is a materials and sourcing list for a workshop I'll be teaching for the Frozen Lolita Club in the near future. We'll be making bonnets, Lolita head dresses, and bows.

Fabric Rose Tutorials

Good morning blog friends! I'm working on yet another dress and needed a fabric rose for the hair accessory. So, a-searching I have gone. There are several tutorials out there in the aether. I liked these best and there's one for just about any look you want.

Lolita Bow Tutorial

PLEASE NOTE: You may use this entire tutorial on your personal noncommercial site if you credit me, link back to my blog, and leave a comment here that you're using it...Thanks!

This is a basic bow without any frills. You can add lace, pearls, charms, multiple fabrics, etc. to make it unique. To wear, slide it onto a headband, stitch on a barrette, hair clip, or pin back and you'll be the belle of the ball!

Sew Lolita Panel Notes

Sewing Lolita! The following are helpful hints I've learned on my own sewing Lolita adventures.

Steampunk/Neo Victorian Easy Bustle Tutorial

Thought I'd share my method for creating a simple, no stress, yet elegant bustle. There is no exact right way to do it. There are some essential steps, but for the most part the finished project will be whatever looks good to you.

6 Gore Skirt Tutorial (For Big People, Little People, And American Girl Dolls Too)

I would encourage you to check out this awesome website where I found the tutorial for the basic skirt www.patternsthatfityou.com. There are all kinds of great tailoring tips and online classes. I'll reiterate the instructions here (for myself as much as for you) just in case it disappears someday. (Go to their home page and click on the 6 Gore Skirt Pattern Class on the right side. It's free, but you need to add it to your cart and complete the process.)

I've added my own instructions for both a high pointed waistband and a high straight waistband to use with this skirt. The original uses a regular waistband and those instructions are also included here.