Monday, August 30, 2010

Some recent finds

A couple weeks ago I ended up at a 'free' garage sale.
What is a 'free' garage sale?
Well, everything was marked but there was a sign that said take whatever you could use.
I wonder why someone would go through all the work to mark everything and then
amend the signs to say to just take what you can use?
Oh well, not for me to judge other people.
I decided I could "use" a few things.
It had rained the day before I stopped by and a lot of the things were damp but I could see that they had been covered up to try to keep the stuff dry.

I picked up this basket that had been marked $1. 
It was pretty wet and I'm glad that it dried out without any funky smells.



I picked up a few Halloween items.
Every October when we visit my sister in Wisconsin our daughters usually plan a Halloween party so these should come in handy for the party.


Originally $2.97, garage sale price $1.00, free garage sale price - free for the taking. :)
Four items that had been marked $1 each was not a bad sale.


The following items I picked up this past weekend.
A gumball machine for my daughter.
She saw one on our trip to Des Moines a couple weeks ago but it was more than she had to spend.
This one was a lot cheaper. 
It didn't have a stand but I think it will work out better in her room this way.


It takes quarters so maybe it will help her save money??
A Mom can dream.


This one doesn't need a key to open, any flat screwdriver or flat object will open it.


I'm hoping to leave it red but my daughter was hoping that I would paint it blue to match her room.
I'm hoping to hold off long enough on painting it that she will be ok with the red. 
Shh, don't tell her that.

My favorite find was this twin bedspread.
I love the colors and the large graphic images.


I'm planning to make a few reusable bags with this material.
Now to decide what shape to cut the bag and decide if I keep the finished edge.


What deals did you find lately?

June

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Sneak peak

I started revamping a frame last week.
 Remember this frame I found a couple weeks ago?


I loved tdetail of the frame, they remind me of roses.


After I took the backing off I couldn't believe all the dust on the back of the frame. 
Eww...


I'm going to add some paint and a burlap bag.......



Here is the clean frame drying outside.


Hopefully I'll have a finished piece to show you soon....

June


Family Time

Yesterday I spent some time with my family my niece's wedding.
It was nice as all of my sisters were together for the first time in 8 years.
Here we are with my parents at the church.


Here are our parents all dressed up.



I hope you had a nice weekend with family and friends.

June

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Three Dollar Thursday

I thought I would start a regular post named Three Dollar Thursdays.
I will feature crafts that cost $3 or less tp complete.
  
I got a lot of nice comments on a few of my posts about crafts that cost about $3 or less so I've been thinking about other crafts that I can showcase that cost $3 or less.

Most of the crafts I show are usually fairly inexpensive but the ones I'm most proud of are the jewelry holder I talked about here, the $3 kitchen wall art I showed here and the covered photo albums I showed here.



 
On to my first official $3 Thursday craft.   I'll show you a reusable bag makeover.
I really try to use reusable bags but I know I can do better and can probably use a few more bags.
I sometimes don't immediately empty bags when I use them so the more bags I have the more that should be in the car at any given time for me to use.

This is what I started with, a cream reusable bag I bought from Walgreen's.
Walgreen's had a coupon this week for two bags for $1 so I purchased two bags to makeover.

 

I thought of possibly using some leather from one of the leather jackets I've found lately but in the end decided I wanted something lighter.

I decided to use this black and white floral print fabric I picked up at JoAnn's last month.


I paid $1.29 a yard.  Yep, that's right, $1.29 a yard.
Well technically I only paid $.64 (sixty-four cents) a yard for the piece I used.  I only used about 8 inches so really my fabric cost me about sixteen cents for two bags!

How did I get a yard of fabric for sixty-four cents??

I was at  JoAnn's one day I saw a display that said 90% off fabric.
I zoned in on it right away even thought I really wasn't looking for fabric.
The regular price was $12.99 a yard so I thought I would get a couple yards and maybe attempt to make of of those fabric flowers that are popping up everywhere in blogland.

When I went to get it cut I realized that there was a small piece of about a yard that was already cut. 
The gal at the cutting table asked if I wanted that piece at 1/2 off.
She said it would be 1/2 off of the sale price.
What???

I asked if that was right as it was already 90% off and she said yep,
it would be half of the $1.29 yard sale price.
Sold.
Consider it mine.

I thought about getting some of the other fabrics that were 90% off but I really didn't like them and didn't even need the fabric that I was buying.  :)

OK, back to my $3 craft.

I decided I wanted a big floral circle to cover the Walgreen's logo.
I had four logos to cover so I folded the fabric so it was four layer thick and I traced a couple different round items.


I made rough circles, I didn't care if they weren't perfect. 
I ended up cutting four different size circles.

I cut eight of the largest circle, four of the next circle and eight of the smallest two circles.
Here they are all stacked up.
The largest circle is about 7-8", the smallest one is about 2".


I gathered some fabric glue and some pearl brads I thought would tie the black and white floral print in with the ivory color of the bag.


I decided I didn't really like the pearl brad as the center of the flower so I looked in my supplies and decided to add a black flower to the center.  The black flower was about the same size as my smallest fabric circle so I decided not to use the smallest circles I had cut out.


Much better, the black flower is just what it needed.
I punched a hole in the center of the fabric circles and put the pearl brad through the black flower and then through all the layers of fabric circles.

 This is my completed circle flower.


I started a large spiral of glue over the Walgreen's logo.
I didn't want to completely glue down my fabric, I had about a 5" circle of glue.

I put the circles on the glue and then put a little bit of glue between the two large circles.
I thought they might flop down a bit, that's why I put a little glue between the two large ones.
I figured the smaller circles weren't big enough to flop down much so I didn't glue them.


Petty simple, here is one side all done.


I wanted to finish the other side right away so I pulled out the insert that was in the bottom of the bag and kept it inside the bag in case any of the glue would seep into the inside of the bag.
It didn't appear to be doing this but better safe than sorry.

I was able to fold the bottom of the bag so I could get a flat surface to attach the fabric circles to the opposite side of the bag.


I did the same thing for the other bag and ended up with this as my finished bags.


Close up of my circle flower.
 I'm sure my fabric will fray, and I'm OK with that.
I think I'll like them better the more tattered they get.


The two fabric embellished bags took less than 10 minutes to complete.


I might have to see if I can pick up a few more bags to embellish this week.
They might make great gift bags.


Now if I can just remember to use my reusable bags a bit more often....

Thanks for checking out my first official Three Dollar Thursday craft.

June

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

More Halloween cards

I thought I would share a few more Halloween cards that I made to list in my etsy shop which you can check out  by going here to see my cards and other items for sale.
I don't have these listed yet but will be putting them in sets of three and listing them this week.
I think I'm about done making Halloween cards unless they sell fast.


This time I made quite a few 6" x 6" cards.
I can't decide if I want to sell them in sets of their own or a square card with two rectangle cards.


I'm still loving the Boo border punch when used as an accent letting the paper underneath show through.



The Trick or Treat accent is a stamped image, one of the few I used on these cards.


After crumpling, sanding and then inking this skeleton paper I attached ribbon around a empty tag frame and put eyelets through the ribbon to hold it in place.


I love how the glittered black pumpkins show in this picture.
I'm loving the ghost button badge too.


These bug stickers were deep in my stash, I'm glad I brought them out.


Love the specimen stickers that came with the bug stickers, both are from Martha Stewart Crafts.  I don't remember if they are from last year or the year before, I know I've had them for a long time.


Gee, school has not even started here yet and I can't stop doing Halloween crafts.


I'm sure my daughter will start thinking about October 31st pretty soon...... what about you?

June

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Monday, August 23, 2010

99 cent finds


Yesterday while cruising blog land I read that Savers has a colored tag 99 cents each Monday.
Well, I knew I had been in the store when a tag was 99 cents but I didn't realize it was every Monday.
So off to Savers I went this morning.
Yep, all yellow tags were $.99 and all orange tags were 1/2 off.

I had hoped to find a strainer or something similar to replant the hens and chicks I bought earlier this year.

I had them in a enamelware pot with no drainage and they are getting too much water with all of the storms we have had this summer.
A couple times there has been so much water I can see it was all the way to the top of the pot.
I have tried to drain them as well as I can but they would stay too wet for weeks on end I didn't want to put a hole in my enamelware pot.

I did find an enamelware strainer for $2.99 that will work but my big find of the day was a pair of sandals and a purse that were yellow tagged so were only 99 cents each.


The purse is from Eddie Bauer.  It is a cute summer bag and just happens to go with the shoes I found.  The colors are similar but I think they will go together well.  I usually don't buy used shoes but these had almost no wear marks.
I'm not normally a red person but I think I can get by with a red purse and red sandals.

Here is the purse, it is a sturdy canvas bag.  Not too large and not too small.
Just the right size.

Here in the inside, no noticeable stain or wear on the inside of the bag.


It has a sturdy base that will help the bag hold more and protect it if it gets accidentally set down
 on a wet surface.

I noticed one small area with some stitching missing.
I can live with this for 99 cents.


There is two small stain marks on the opposite side but nothing too noticeable.
I will try to spot clean it but if they don't come out I'll still use it.


Here are the shoes.  Ignore the toenails in need of a new coat of polish. :)


I've been looking for sandals and these feel good.
They are leather, comfortable and I don't think they make my feet look too large.


They are from JC Penneys, St John's Bay brand.
I'm guessing they were regularly $50 or more based on similar sandals I have seen.

I'm trying to decide if I want to cut off the strap and make them more of a mule sandal.
Strap or no strap?


I'm pretty sure no strap, but I have not cut off the strap yet. 
I know there will be no going back once I cut them off.



I'm pretty happy with a 99 cent bag and a 99 cent pair of sandals.
Maybe I will be a 'red' person after all.


I wish I could say I left Savers spending only a few dollars but I did spend just over $23.

Here is the strainer I bought for $2.99 with the hens and chicks planted in it already.


Not a perfect fit but it will do for now.  At least it will be easier to drain the rain water off of them.


Hopefully these baby chicks will have a fighting chance.


Most of my money was spent on two pairs of jeans. 
I rarely buy jeans and can't believe that I found two pair that I liked.
One pair is Levi Strauss and the other is Seven brand.
Good finds for the price.
Neither of them were 99 cents, one was $12.99 and the other was $5.00. 
The $5.00 pair was marked $9.99 but is was an orange tag so it was 1/2 off.


I usually have a hard time finding jeans I like so when I do I usually wear them until they have holes in them.
Two pair for under $20 is a steal so I'm a very happy gal today.

I hope you found some great deals lately.

June