Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Rednesday - Christmas again?

It has been soooo long since I have posted anything for Rednesday.  I have some pictures taken, it's the motivation I lack.  Well, I have rededicated myself to posting, at least once a week.  C'mon, how hard can that be?  So, last week the garage sales finally started to pay off.  It's now a weekly ritual that my mom, my dad and I hit the sales.  It's a great day.  Coffee, talk and treasure hunting!

One thing I can seem to count on, Christmas.  I always find Christmas items (as my last post confirms.) This week didn't disappoint.  Half my haul was Christmas.

 
The candle has no cord, but how could I pass it up for 25¢?  The ornaments were a good score, that my mom found before me, but she let me have them, thanks Mom!  The Santa is kind of a sad story.  The lady told me it was her husband's when he was a boy, and now he's 40.  What?  He's too old for Santa?  I gladly took him home.  The dictionary was another 25¢ item.  I plan to use the pages for craft projects and making cards.  The trowel, another 25¢ item!  I hope to make something similar to Jane's towel holder, fun stuff!  I also scored a couple pillow forms, but I didn't think you needed to see a picture of those.

So, not a lot of goodies this week, but enough to wet my appetite.  This week looks to be good.  Lots of sales listed. so I hope I have a really great post for you next week.

In the meantime, make sure you head over to Sue @ It's a Very Cherry World.  Our wonderful Rednesday hostess.  You'll get your red fill for sure!

Monday, March 12, 2012

A Really Good Auction....A Rare Find.

My post title is little deceptive.  I didn't acquire a rare find.  The fact that it was a good auction is the rare find!  It seems I hit a really good auction only about once a year.  Really great auctions are getting harder and harder to come by.  I knew when I saw the online listing it was decent, but I had no idea it would be this good.  I almost didn’t go!  I had slept terribly that night and could barely get myself out of bed.  In fact, I only arrived 15 minutes before the start time, when I usually like to be there an hour before.

I could (and did) write a really long post and the trials and tribulations of this auction.  The dealers from hours away, the long wait I endured until they got to the items I was interested in, the bidding wars I lost.  I'll spare you the long and sorted details and get to the heart of it.  I came home with a car-load of stuff!  It was the Christmas motherload!  Despite the dealers from far and wide I got these boxes on the cheap!  I was on cloud nine!


Here's what my kitchen center-island looked like when I unloaded.

Sunday morning it came time to sort.  I sorted and sorted.  It became mind-boggling the amount of stuff!  I had to take a break and clear my mind!  Monday the sorting resumed.  Garage sale piles, Ebay piles, keep piles.  Decisions, decisions.  I've tried to make this post as neat as possible, so you are probably only seeing about a third of it.  I may break it up into a couple posts, too.  However, this is the bulk of it.


Trees of all sorts.  I counted 37, I think.


Knee-huggers.  All sizes and types.


Glass Garland.  Some still in the package.  Wow!


Tinsel garland.  Some old, some not.


Would you call these icicles or some sort?


A super assortment.  The figural vase was in one of the first boxes I bought.  When I won the lot at a great price I thought it could be the beginning of a wonderful day.


Picks, bells and all kinds of crafty goodness!


Trims of all sorts!

Amazing, isn't it?  I wish I could say that a full week later all this stuff is neatly sorted, priced and packed but it's not.  It simply migrated to the basement, piled along the walls in boxes, bags and flats.  This will be a big job for some time to come!

Monday, February 20, 2012

President's Day - Altered Box

Happy President's Day everyone!  Funny thing, I wasn't thinking about posting today.  This morning I took my coffee down to my craft room and was looking for something to work on.  I've had this vintage box for a while now.  I finally began playing with it a few weeks ago, when I quickly ran out of inspiration.  As I was working on it today the light bulb went on!  The perfect motivation to finish it and post!



The image was found on an internet search which took me to Encore Ephemera. 

My husband would give me a hard time if I decorated for President's Day!  So, packed away 'til summer it goes!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Under the Gun!

Well, my foray back into the blogging world hasn't been as seamless as I would have liked.  I've been trying to keep up with Reader, leaving a few comments and I still feel I'm falling short.  It's not helping that, I have TWO blogs, let me tell you.  Still, I am determined to get in this post before Valentine's Day is over!


The Hoosier cabinet was spiffed up a bit, with mostly vintage bird Valentine's.


Hanging them off this ribbon allowed me to show off quite a few.



I was scrambling for an idea for the few baseball themed Valentine's I have.  This idea is very mediocre, but it has potential.  It's a handmade pencil holder I bought at a garage sale for 50¢ and the copper rods that came out of my library card catalog cabinet.  It's been up for a few weeks and I've never taken the time to tweak it....never got a better idea.


Thanks so much to Sonya @ Dime Store Thrift for this wonderful wreath idea.  I finally got around to making one.  The whole time I was constructing it I was certain it would end up in the trash!  I didn't think I had enough bulbs, I was unsure of the bulb placements.  I ended up loving it!  Truth be told, though, my technique leaves a lot to be desired.  When I hung it up, everything shifted and two balls fell off.  Another is broken and still holding on.  This picture is AFTER this happened.....so don't look too close!  I figure I'll fix it after the season.

Whew!  Mission accomplished!  Feels good.

PS- After checking out my post, it seems to me my pictures are blurry.  Plus, the pictures were a bit on the small side.  I changed a few things and made them bigger....are they too big?  I'd love to have your input.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Daughter's Valentines - Conversation Hearts

I do have another Valentines post to make but I thought I'd get this in, just in case somebody is in need of a quick and easy Valentine idea.  This isn't a new one.  My friend Jeannie sent me this idea, probably two years ago!  Well, I finally made them.  So cute and easy, I don't know what took me so long.



Aren't they the cutest?  And oh, so easy!  The idea originally came from Family Fun magazine.


I guess the only "glitch" is that now there's the Ipod touch.  Do they even make them like this anymore?
Just wonderin', have you seen this craft before?

Hee! Hee!  I see my watermark from my papercrafting blog....ooops!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Can I Sneak This In?

It's been sooooo long!  I may be talking to myself and I would be OK with that. It would be fitting, considering I haven't been visiting blogs either, not on a regular basis.  Still here I am, at the very least, keeping a visual record on my "treasures."

I have done a few crafty things in the past year.  I should get around to posting them sometime.  Considering the time of year,  I'll share my more recent projects, Valentine's projects.  So, here we go!


My mantel seems the easiest place to start.  I made these crepe paper flowers this year.  Using THIS tutorial.



I actually made these silhouette portraits of my kids last year, but I never posted them.  These are mounted on two cork-backed coasters bought from the dollar store!


Shhhh!  Don't tell, but these are actually two angels I had out at Christmas.  I think they can fit into multiple holiday decors!  The heart vase was an estate sale buy last year.


A little sparse here.  I wanted to share my favorite "G" man Valentine.  Plus, the easel I made to hold it.


I took a stab at this project after seeing it.....somewhere in blogland.  Not a bad first effort, but it's amazing how difficult it was to bend exactly where you wanted without moving other parts.

So, I don't want to spill everything at once.  I need to keep myself interested, too.  Interested in posting that is!  Check out my previous post if you want to see the banner that is still up, and my anthropomorphic Valentine's.  I wasn't up for the editing my ceiling fan out of those photos another time!