This and That and What I Bought!

Hard to believe it is already December - the end of November has been busy and December is gearing up for the holidays.  Low key, as we are still hiding from Covid and be VERY careful as the cases are high in our area and the vaccination rates are not great.  But, I still decorated for the holiday and finally got around to making new pillows for our living room.   

These are the old pillows.  When we moved here I thought we needed a change - and made these to pull the colors of the apartment together.  I also made a drape for the table between our chairs - 

but I never really LOVED the fabric.  I had some fabric leftover from our last home.  This fabric was used for the drapes in the living and dining room - and when I saw photos of our old home I remembered how much I loved this fabric and it would work great here.

Walmart had pillow forms in a larger size than what I used before and I bought several.

I used the packaging as a pattern...

Then I cut out two smaller, overlapping pieces for the back of the pillow.  I decided to make the covers removable so if I change my mind again or see fabric I like in the future I don't have to purchase any more pillows.   

I turned over the ends on the backing pieces, put right sides together and got ready to sew...

Digging around in my sewing supplies I found navy piping 

and added it to the edges.

then started to sew the whole thing together.  This is my 48 year old Sears Kenmore sewing machine.  Wow...has this served me well.  Made more clothes, pillows, etc. - and still going strong.

I sewed together the ends of the piping to fit the size of the cover...

It took me a few minutes to remember which presser foot to use.  I used to sew a lot...now, not so much except for crafts and repairs.

Once the sewing was complete I inserted the pillow...

And there it was!

I love the way the piping turned out...and the richness of the fabric.

With some scraps I made the other accent pillow...

The table cover completes the look...

and one more pillow to finish off this chair.  I am so glad I saved the fabric and love the way this project turned out. 

The rest of the last few days has been busy with cleaning out the upright freezer in our laundry room to get ready to store holiday baking...and shopping.  

Here are some of my latest finds - 

I had one of the old Misto olive oil sprayers for several years and it was not spraying very well ...so I found this one on Amazon, and so far, so good.  Sprays a nice, fine mist!  

You can find it here - 

Oil Sprayer

There is a nice little thrift shop near my favorite grocery store.  I always stop in to look for some books and found all of these for 1.00 each

I rarely look at the clothing - because I have WAY too many clothes already - but the 1.00 rack was being stocked with NEW items - I think from the tags they are from the recently closed K-Mart.

These two shirts looked cute, and were supposed to sell for 5.00 but there were several of each style for a dollar!

When I got them home I found the original tags...

This one looks like it would be good with black leggings for the holidays...

And I loved the colors of this teal and navy one.

Then made a stop at Good's Store...a treasure trove of everything you need and can't find anywhere else...plus many things I did not know I needed.

Happy to find this shoe stretch product that I have been looking for - works great on tight boots and shoes.

The next day was a sale day at Yankee Candles...this medium two wick jar was only 9.00 and I think the scent will be nice and fresh after all the holiday scents are finished in the New Year.

Last stop was the Talbots sale...50% off of any one item and I have several pants that will work well with this sweater.

And that was it...no more shopping for me...at least until next week.

Have you been shopping and sprucing up your home for the holidays ?  What are your favorite buys or bargains.  Please leave a comment below and let me know - and thank you so much for stopping by Our New Vista.  Have a fabulous week !