retro homemaking night

Sorry to be so absent this week!  I've been prepping non-stop for another ladies event at my church, which was held last night.  I no longer have as much responsibility as I've had in the past (phew), but these things are always a lot of work.

 We had a retro-themed homemaking night, complete with classes about pressure cooking, making apple pies (in a jar - cute!), and sewing an apron.

Our tables were decorated with a fun assortment of vintage items, and a sweet bouquet of flowers in a can (idea from Rachel Ray, which I saw on Pinterest).

 I love my blue Singer.  I don't actually use it, but it sure is pretty, right?

My favorite part of the night (besides the fun activity, delicious food, and wonderful company, of course) was definitely getting all dolled up with retro hair and make up.
As a mom who is admittedly frumpy and often sports a wet french braid and no makeup, I felt fabulous last night!  How weird would it be if I started rocking a retro look more often?  Because it was kind of awesome.  I found really helpful hair and makeup tutorials on YouTube.  Is there anything you can't learn on YouTube?

I lead the apron sewing class (with lots of helpers - thanks Holly & Lori!), and we made the apron in a hour that I posted about previously.  Since we are always on tight budgets for these types of things, we had to find a great deal on fabric ... which last week lead me here:

the Fabric Barrel in Solvang, CA.  I kid you not, this was one of the nuttiest places I've ever been.  Crazy, I tell you!  There are two buildings, two stories each, plus a separate cafe, all manned by one lady.  On the bottom floors are several rooms of fabric, some on giant bolts, others just piled in bins, like the photo above.  All the fabric is 99 cents a yard, and you cut it yourself.  There is not an employee to be seen (she is busy in the cafe, cooking burgers).

My friend Lori and I went together, with four toddlers in tow, and it was an adventure to say the least.  When we first walked in, I was so overwhelmed, I didn't think we would find a thing.

Fifty yards of fabric and 20 zippers later (zippers are 5 cents, buttons only a penny), we hauled our kids and our spoils over to the cafe for hot dogs, burgers, and root beer floats.

There were so many great knits ... and 99 cent fabric makes me kind of dizzy with excitement.  I can't wait to go again, but definitely without kids!

Anyway, that's what I've been up to.  I haven't forgotten about the vinyl wipes case template - I'll post it next week!

p.s. today is the last day to enter the Just Bunch Designs giveaway.  Don't forget to leave a comment if you haven't already.  :)Thanks for subscribing!