tobacco stick fence? yes, please!

I won't lie when I say I hoard. I do, the load can get pretty bad. About a year and a half ago I bought some tobacco sticks. They just sat and sat in my garage. I had ideas, but I did not have time.

About a month ago, I ventured to a barn dated back to the 1800s with a new good friend of mine. We crawled, we dug, we got dirty, and then, we found it. The stall slammed full of tobacco sticks. So, like any friends do, we agreed to split and dragged them all out! 

Taken by Lady Day Vintage

 My husband, needless to say, was less than thrilled given the fact that I already had tobacco sticks and had done nothing with them. So, like any husband would do on a one year anniversary, he got to work.

And thanks to him, I have this quick tutorial for you!

Making a tobacco stick garden fence:

With all necessary safety equipment, grab your circular saw, jig saw, hand saw, or anything that will cut through a small stick of wood.

Cut random sizes at an angle. (Don't you love our makeshift cutting table. It's a vintage filing cabinet I picked up for $5 that we haven't yet brought inside). He ended up cutting the large stick into about three or four smaller sticks. He also did not cut the sticks all at one, but cut more as needed. (We can't waste these precious tobacco sticks now can we ladies? I could have another project down the road!)

The next step requires some muscle and endurance. You have to hammer all of those cut sticks in. Ours are in pretty deep, so they definitely aren't coming out without some additional hard work. It's a good thing our land lord is in love with them!

So summing it up: cut, hammer, cut again, and hammer some more until you have all that you need! Now, my husband asked if I wanted these around the flower beds in the back yard. I'm not planning on that because our dogs play rough and the sticks are sharp...and well, I can just see someone getting hurt. We're doing brick in the back...so I will share that when its done!

 I'm pretty sure this is the best present my husband has given/made for me! What's been your best gift? 

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Clean Garage

Would you believe me if I told you this was a clean garage? I got in there this weekend and rearranged, making a side of "ready to gos" and a side of "needs to be fixed." I sawed my work table in half to give me some more walking room. My husband and I worked on the farm table I mentioned here. It just needs to be repainted now. But yes, this, in my terms, is a clean garage.

What does your work space look like?

Vintage Fabric Finds

Estate sales are a great place to snag fabric. It's always cheap and you can awesome vintage fabrics. Learning to sew is on my to do list, so I grabbed a grocery bag full of fabric for less than $5!

Vintage Pillow ticking and lace. The red and blue ticking is already sewn in to a pillow form and has a small hole for stuffing. That should be an easy first project!

  
Really love the gray/pink/blue and whit/pink/green floral fabrics shown above.

  
The red fabric is Waverly - for mere cents! And below, more awesome vintage fabrics.

Final picture shows most of the fabric I bought.  Do you have any project ideas or tips for a newbie to sewing?