Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Season’s Greetings

I feel like I’ve been lazy since I haven’t posted anything for the past couple days.  I decided to share one of the Christmas cards I recently made.

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I just bought the text background paper from A-muse Studio.  It is text of the ‘twas the night before Christmas tale and perfect for a subtle background for holiday cards.   The background stamps are TAC and I think the main image is from the Stampin Place, a stamp company not too far away.

 

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Shutterfly Free 8 X 8 book offer

If you’ve never tried Shutterfly for your photos or photo books want to try them and get  free photo book?  I’ve used Shutterfly for a while and have always been happy with the fast shipping and the quality of the photos and books I’ve ordered.  I just received photos this week that I ordered last week.

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I have a couple coupons that will get you a free 8 X 8 photo book for free, you pay only shipping which is usually $7.99 on 8 x 8 book.   I received the coupons but they are good for new customers only so I can’t use them.   If you aren’t a Shutterfly customer and  want to try them out and get a free photo book leave me a comment and I’ll send the first three responders one of the coupon codes I have.

There is limited to new customers, limit one per household and expires 9/26/11.

The link to use from the coupon is www.targetphoto.shutterfly.com/targetreceipt if you want to check it out.

 

I’m not receiving any compensation for this – just offering to pass on savings to you!

June

Friday, September 16, 2011

Junk hunting….

I’m taking the day to go look at junk, well funky, cool, oh my good I’ve gotta make that, who would have thought of that type of junk.

Junk Bonanza here I come.

 

Last year I got lots of great idea and I can’t wait to see everything this year.

I’m hoping to take a few pictures to share some of the not so junky junk with you.

 

June

Thursday, September 15, 2011

$3 Thursday – silver pumpkin – repost

Since I’ve been struggling to be creative this week I thought I’d share a project from last fall.   The weather has been a bit cooler and I’ve been thinking of decorating for fall soon.  This is one of the things I’ll be putting out soon.
 
Doesn't this silver pumpkin look like it was more than a dollar?
It reminds me of some glass pumpkins I have seen.
I got the glass look with a thrift budget.
A few weeks ago I picked up this pumpkin for 50 cents.
What a steal.  It still had the original price tag with $5.99 on it!
I knew I wanted to paint it so I gathered some painting supplies that I had on hand.
Silver paint, a shimmer gold paint and a gloss sealer.
I have painted a few projects with these cans already so the cost of paint per project was pretty minimal.
Since it was a bit windy today I set up a painting box.
I painted the pumpkin with a couple light coats of the silver paint.
Once the paint was dry I put some water on it.
Yeah seems strange but I thought it would help me get the look I wanted.
While the water was still on the pumpkin I sprayed silver and then the gloss coating on it.
I was hoping for some spots to help it look more like glass.
Since it was cool here today I did use a heat gun to dry the water drops.
The paint and gloss did dry into small drops, sort of like bubbles you might see in glass.
I wasn't able to get any good pictures to show the subtle texture it gave the pumpkin.
You will have to take my word for it.
It is there, just like I wanted.
It will be a great addition to my sweatshirt pumpkins from last week.
I like the contract of the sleek silver pumpkins with the more rustic looking pumpkins.
I'm not ready to pull out all my fall items quite yet but I did make a small display for now.
My cost for this silver pumpkin -  $.50
I did use some paint and gloss that I had on hand.
Enjoy,
June
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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Quick and simple – Sew Lovely

100_8753 I decided to use the dress mannequin stamp without paper piecing.

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But it didn’t mean that I couldn’t add a little glitter to the dress and card.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Thursday, September 8, 2011

$3 Thursday – Old World Style Globe

I decided to try another globe makeover project and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that I liked the way it turned out.

I didn’t take pictures while I was making it over but I started out with a traditional looking globe like this one.

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And with a few supplies I had on hand turned it into this old world looking beauty.

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I decoupaged some tissue paper all over the globe to give it a bit more texture.  I wasn’t worried about the wrinkles, in fact I tried to create wrinkles all over the globe.

Once the globe was covered and the tissue paper was dry I wet it down slightly with some watered down Mod Podge and sprayed walnut ink over it.   I used a brush to blend in the walnut ink.

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The ink really brings out the texture of the tissue paper while still allowing some of the globe details to show through. 

I wish more of the globe details showed but because I covered most of the globe with a couple layers of tissue paper it obscured a bit of the fine writing.  If I did another one I’d try to use a single layer of tissue paper.

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I first sprayed the base with Oil Rubbed Bronze but it was a bit too black looking for the globe so I added a generous coat of metallic rub-on that I had.

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It looks a lot better with the walnut inked globe.

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Ah, an antique looking globe at a thrift store price.

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It makes a perfect addition next to the leather look bust I made a couple weeks ago.

Hmm, a globe covered to look like leather?  That might be next on my list but how would you see the details of the globe?  Any ideas?  Maybe a quick outline of the continents?      

 

After I finished my globe I did find this globe from Ultimate Globes that is actually made from leather.

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It is regularly $199.99 on sale for $169.99.  Sure it is a nice globe but for $169.99 I think I’ll take my thrift store makeover for about $6.99.

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Supplies:

Globe

Tissue Paper

Mod Podge

Walnut Ink

Foam brush or sponge

Oil Rubbed Bronze or similar colored spray paint

Rub-on – if you need to adjust the spray paint color.

Total cost:   $0*

 

*I had  the globe and all the supplies on hand so this project really didn’t cost me anything.  Most crafty people will have most of the supplies I used and might even have a globe stuck in the basement or in the garage sale pile.   I’ve had my globe for a while, it was a thrift store find.  I’m not sure what I paid for it but they usually they run $5-$7 in my area.

So anyone want to pay me $169.99 for my old world looking globe?  I’ll throw in free shipping! :)

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Thrifty finds

I know I haven’t posted in a while but I really just haven’t have anything new or creative to share.  I have found a few items over the past couple weeks that I thought I’d share with you.

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The picnic basket, sconce and coasters are finds from this weekend, the rest have been in hanging out in my car trunk for a few weeks.

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I love this little vintage purse that I found.  I knew right away that I had to bring it home.

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I love the fun pop of color inside.

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I loved these little cases for only a few dollars each.

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I thought this was a hat box and hoped to find a great hat in it but I didn’t expect this….

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A wig!  It’s a wig box I guess although there is lots of room for a hat in there too!

It was sort of creepy to open it to find a wig inside.

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In fact, I didn’t even open it all the way at the sale to see this lovely patterned inside.

100_8731 I couldn’t find out too much about this case. 100_8733

I think it was some sort of travel case, maybe for a shaving kit or cosmetic case.

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It was made my Congress Luggage Corp from Roselle, New Jersey and is very heavy for it’s size.  I’m think it is a mid century piece.

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There is only one small tear in the back of the case.

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For some reason I’m drawn to vintage picnic baskets.  I loved the uniqueness of this one.

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It had a few bumps and bruises.

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But considering it’s age I think it looks great.

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I even bought a few pieces of enamelware that might have once been used in a picnic basket.

The coasters were new from Goodwill and will be taken apart and covered with leather and suede from my stash.  I haven’t tried coasters from suede yet but know I want to try them soon since I have  some great colors of suede to pick from.

What have you found lately?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties: