Make a Linen Pillow Case For Next to Nothing

Linen Pillow Case

Linen pillow cases are wonderful. With its, dare I say, magical properties, linen keeps you cool and promotes restful and peaceful sleep. I've wanted a linen pillow case for some time but prices run from $15.00 a piece on Etsy (one wonders if it is 100% linen) to $40.00 a piece at Restoration Hardware; $50.00 a piece on Amazon; and $25.00 a piece at Pottery Barn.

While shopping at a thrift store, I found a nice 100% white linen skirt with a nicely done hem. It looked to be a perfect size for a pillow case so I bought the $5.25 skirt. (If I'd gone on half price day, I could have had it for $2.63!)

Here is how I made the pillow case. It's an easy project.

• First, cut out the lining.

• Soak in hot water.

• Place in dryer. You want to shrink that fabric before you cut and sew.

• Next, use a standard pillow case as a template. Place the pillow case on top of the fabric. Measure and cut fabric 1/2 inch or so beyond the edge of the pillow case. 

• Place wrong sides together. That's right - you are sewing the seam up on the right side! This will create hidden seams.

• Iron

• Trim away excess fabric as close to the stitch line as possible.

• Turn your linen pillow case inside out and sew another seam making sure to enclose the already sewn seam. You don't want your luxurious linen pillow case to have raggedy seams. 

You can see in the picture below that the edging is embellished and oh so pretty. Thanks to the pretty skirt hem, the decorative edging was no work at all. I am so thrilled with my pillow case. Now I must look for a skirt for my husband! I'm sure that he would like a linen pillow case too!

Linen Pillow Case With Embellished Edge

Baltimore's Best Thrift Stores - 2nd Ave. Essex

Thrift Store Coat

Second Avenue located in the store formerly known as 
Village Thrift at 10 Stemmers Run Road in Baltimore, Maryland offers a huge selection of clothing, textiles, 
shoes, toys, and books. Although it is a chain, the size
of the place and their wide variety of goods, keep
me coming back. 

As in any thrift store, the best way to shop is by following 
sale days, which seem to change often. I like to stop in with an open mind; that seems to be the way to find the best as well as unique items. If something is dropped off and set out, if it is totally fabulous, it won't last long. 

My favorite purchase at 2nd Avenue is the coat pictured above. The long robe like coat has a label that says "Sofia New York." It is made of cotton with a beautiful vintage style lining. The black decorations are actually long zippers. There are no fasteners. It is so soft, I am wondering if it was originally a robe. I can find no information on it online. This was not picked up on a sale day, so the beautiful coat cost me a whopping $12.00. I have heard people complain about the prices here, but you can't beat finding something this special for that price. 

My husband always finds clothing here and I have found everything I need for my cheapo wardrobe.

Thrift store vintage silver plate flatware

Against my own best advice, I have found brand name shoes with no wear at all. I once found vintage plastic curtains, hideous yes, but they were like new.

Second Avenue displays flatware and kitchen utensils in baggies hung above the shelves. While I used to enjoy pawing through the boxes of mixed flatware in my search for vintage silver plate, the new display allows for a very quick search. Learning to master the art of the quick search is an essential here. The store is so big that it would take forever to look at everything. I scan the clothing racks with certain fabrics in mind. It's easy to spot linen, or a favorite pattern if you just skim along the tops of the hangers.


Second Avenue is located at 10 Stemmers Run Road, Essex Maryland 21211. There is a convenient drop-off truck stationed in the parking lot.

Low Light Flowering Houseplant - Clivea Miniata

Clivea in Bloom

I love houseplants but my house is not the best for the kind of muted bright light most houseplants need to thrive. There is nothing like an east facing window to keep most plants looking their best. My largest window faces north east and is quite dim in winter when the sun light moves south. So I am always on the lookout for plants that like low light conditions. 

Clivea Miniata is a beautiful flowering houseplant that fills the bill. In order to get Clivea to flower, decrease the light and lighten up on watering during the winter. Cool nights are a help as well. The combination of these environmental conditions create a rest period so that the plant can store up the energy it takes to bloom. 

After a 6 - 8 week rest period, allow the plant to get a bit more light. Of course if Clivea is in a north east facing window, this will happen naturally as the sun "moves" north in spring. Increase your watering schedule and feed lightly with a weak liquid fertilizer. (I say weak because most fertilizers tell you to use more than is necessary) 

When you water any houseplant, use water that has been allowed to set out for at least 24 hours so that it can off-gass chlorine. (Funny how it's okay to drink the stuff)

The beautiful luminous flowers of the Clivea  remain in bloom for several weeks. After the flowers have faded, cut the flower stem off close to the plant. Even after the flowers are gone, Clivea is a wonderful plant with beautiful foliage. Dust off those deep green strappy leaves every so often. 

Clivea produces small shoots from its (rather unattractive) roots. Cut off a shoot and plant it. You may have to wait a few years for the new plant to produce blooms. This easy reproduction will give you the opportunity to have a plant to trade. I love free houseplants and trading is the cheapest way to increase your little houseplant community. 

Fixing Up Some Trash - My Free Settee

Settee found in trash

 I found this ugly little settee set out by the curb one day and carried it home thinking it would make a nice piece of extra seating when we had guests instead of the folding metal chairs with someone else's name scrawled in sharpie across the back.

It needed a redo, sad as it was, and I thought that I'd just cover the seat and give it a quick paint job. All sorts of fanciful ideas floated - silver paint with blue and gray fabric, antique white or French gray with a piece of grain sacking. Of course I put if off, stuck it in the basement with the rest of the projects waiting to happen.

Then a party loomed and I was in the mood! The fast, emergency chair redo went like this:

• Rummage through the fabric scraps to find something big enough

• Clean off the wood and caning

• Glue loose parts with wood glue (I just tied it all up with rope for support til the glue was dry)

• Cover bench seat - wrap like a gift, tack, and staple (whoops, the bench seat was cracked so I just filled the crack with glue then taped over it)

Cover the seat with fabric

• Spray the fabric with Scotch Guard

• Screw the seat onto the frame (through the screw holes below)

Once I popped the covered seat onto the frame I realized that it looked just fine without a paint job. The wood that had looked so horrible was now perfectly acceptable paired with the attractive new fabric. I was so happy with the quick change!

My family likes it too! They want to keep it upstairs instead of relegating it to the basement to bring up for company. My son no longer accuses me of stealing chairs from the people whose names were on the backs of the old ones. 
Instead of sitting on cold metal, ugly folding chairs left behind (or purloined) my honored guests can sit on a cute little settee that I pulled out of my neighbor's garbage!

Ice Candle

When the days are cold and the nights even colder, you can make one of these beautiful ice candles. Or you can make a lot of them. They are practically free! Brighten up winter nights or illuminate a pathway with these luminaries created with a block of ice and a tea candle. 




Here's how to make an ice candle:

• Grease the inside of a bucket. 

•  Fill the bucket with water.

• Set outside, away from the house (it's usually a few degrees warmer close to the house).

• Make sure the ice bucket will not be sitting in the sun.

• After 2 or 3 days (depending on how cold it is) upend the bucket. The water freezes from the top and sides, leaving a  hollow at the bottom. 

• Set the ice block on top of a couple of bricks, or raise it from the ground some way. You want it elevated so the fire gets oxygen.

• Set a lit tea candle below the concave bottom of the ice block. 

When the ice melts, water droplets follow the ice walls down and do not drip onto the candle. 

Of course, it must be below freezing for this to work. Temperatures just slightly above 32 degrees F during the day should not melt the ice. If the temperatures are not freezing, or in warmer months, you can do the freezing in a large freezer. Wouldn't that be pretty in summer?

Ice Candle

Garden Art - Make it Personal

Savannah Bird Girl in my garden

After spending some years working on my garden by adding and rearranging plants, I decided to amp things up a bit by introducing some art. Sculpture, attractive stepping stones, amusing junk displays, and other man made items personalize your garden by creating a space that reflects your interests. 

My first little statue, found in a catalog, was a replica of the Savannah Bird Girl that was featured on the cover of one of my all time favorite books, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (John Berendt 1994). So maybe the famous Bird Girl no longer graces Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery, but a smaller version stands in my yard, a testament to my love for birds and novels.

Glass Flower

But not all garden art costs money. Or at least some garden art can be had for very little. My friend, Leola, has created some lovely glass flowers from cups and saucers, bowls, and candle holders that she picks up at thrift shops. When the real flowers start to fade, these glass flowers hold the spirit, catch and reflect sunlight, and are just plain pretty.

I like to place certain items inside shrubs, or under trees, almost hidden from view to add a whimsical surprise. I found a ceramic doll head at a thrift store and just knew she would wind up tucked between some evergreen boughs. She reminds me of a faerie peeking out of the greenery, an elvish face studying on passersby. I figured that few would even notice her, which somehow made her more interesting to me. Well, someone did notice her. They stole her. I wonder where she is now and hope she found a good home. She'd become a bit weathered and her hair had gone ratty. I still miss her and am glad that I took a photograph.

Garden Art - Doll Head

 A young friend of mine made this attractive piece from salvaged bathroom tiles, rebar, and chain. The piece hangs on the edge of the garden, sometimes obscured by plants, but revealed when the growing season passes and in Spring when this picture was taken.

Garden Art made of salvaged material

The books in the bike basket below is spewing water. If you look at the right side of the book pile, you may notice water dribbling down. Now, I hate the idea of ruining books but this is one original idea!

I love how this looks like plants growing in a pot. Actually, the pot, one that I loved, a gift from my mother, broke in half. I could not part with it, so upended it in the soil to mimic a standing container. The plants are growing in the ground, but seem to burst out of a container that is much too small. I like containers but hate the constant watering. Using salvaged material is a great way to add interest and a bit of humor into a garden design.

Container that is not a container

I would not want to use this lovely mosaic stepping stone to actually step on, so have set it on the edge of a garden. Mosaics like these are simple to make using concrete and broken tiles. Craft stores offer kits that you can try out to see if you enjoy creating your own unique stepping stone. It's best to bring them indoors for winter storage.

Mosaic Stepping Stone

Upended bottles used to edge gardens, hanging unusual objects from tree limbs, incorporating architectural salvage as an art form - you can create a personal space in your own back yard. You can add one or two art objects, or go wild and turn the place into one whole art piece. And when you think to yourself, that there is no place like home, you will be right. 

Collections - The Sentimental Value of Children's Books

Vintage childrens' books

Somehow, I accidentally own a collection of old children's books. Some were mine when I was a child; others given as gifts. 

Some are in poor condition and some are nearly pristine. 

The collection is not an investment, nor am I a collector who appreciates the value of old books. These are sentimental items. I love the illustrations and graphics, the adventure, and the old fashioned values. I appreciate how we've changed and old stereotypes seem far-fetched and absurd.

Vintage Bobbsey Twins

Often, children are drawn into the habit of reading by series books. For me, it was the Bobbsey Twins. This old copy of The Bobbsey Twins: Merry Days Indoor and Out by Laura Lee Hope (Grosset and Dunlap, New York, 1904) offers a view of a bygone era when people rode in horse drawn sleighs and happy children yelled things like, "Hurrah!"

If you are not familiar with the Bobbsey Twins, they were two sets of fraternal twins with Nan and Bert the elder set, both sensible and adventurous; and Flossie and Freddie the younger, a bit silly and wild. 

As I paged through the book, I found one page featuring Dinah, the African American cook who ran the house and assisted in all aspects of the lives of the famous twins:

"Well I declare to gracious!" she exclaimed. "If yo chillun ain't gone an' mussed up de floah a'gin!"

"Bert broke my boiler," said Freddie and began to cry. One must wonder - where is Mrs. Bobbsey and what is she doing? What the heck is a boiler and why is a kid playing with a boiler? 


The Bobbsey Twins at Home, circa 1916, is filled with chestnut hunting orphans, a staged train hold up for the "moving pictures, children lost in lumber yards (where they like to play), and grown-ups leaving 5 year olds to tend boiling sugar. Times were different then.

I remember reading an old Hardy Boys book to the boys where folks are shocked by the sudden appearance of a woman wearing pants. Villains  were swarthy foreigners, and all the brats were red haired boys. The boys got a kick out of the way life was presented in the past. It gave them a little window into history, the way people looked at the world. Vintage stories can feature uncomfortable stereotypes. They can appear mawkishly sentimental.  Sometimes it was a wonderful world, where kids ran wild with a freedom most kids just don't experience today. Sometimes it was ridiculous.

I hold these books with tenderness. Most of the original owners of these old books are long dead, children who took these books to bed at night, or read them on the porch on a summer afternoon. Some of these books could not stand up to another read. They have cracked spines. They've been read to death. They've been loved.

Old children's books can be found for next to nothing at yard sales and thrift shops. They may be found in your grandmother's attic, or tucked away in a forgotten corner of your own home. They can be found in the way that you live as you suddenly find your favorite hobby or interest presented in one of these old stories. They can be found in your dreams. They live in your heart.