Great day!

My family and I had a fabulous day today.  We went to the Vermontville Syrup Festival.

The festival has been a family event for me as far back as I can remember. http://www.vermontvillemaplesyrupfestival.org/

It's a great festival.  We went to the pancake breakfast, listened to a bagpipe band, watched my cousin sing with her choir etc. 

After the festival we went to my in-law's for dinner.  On the way there we stopped at a yard sale.  Check out my finds!


I love this thing!  I was looking at it for a minute but it was partially covered by a box.  The man saw me looking and said "How is $1 for that?"  I said "Okay!".  He chuckled and said, "I could have gotten $2, huh?"  I said "Yup, probably, but $2 it is!"  He was a very friendly man.

It is clearly handmade with hand stitching all around all of the crock images.  Each one is 3D with batting stuffed and had sewn shut on the back.  Love it!


Craft people!  Check this out.  I got this box for $1. It had all of this stuff in it.  Five office stamps, two bottles of gloss enamel paint, stencil correction fluid, stiff brush, stylus, and instructions.  Obviously the enamel and correction fluid is probably not any good and will have to be disposed of correctly.  But isn't this a fantastic find!!  The newest date on the date stamp is 1957.  One of the stamps was from a congregation of Jehovah's witnesses.  I'll probably alter is to use it as a distressing tool.


I like it.  It's a tin with a "S" on top.  That is our last initial.  So, I bought it for $2.


The two plastic frames were $0.05 each
1930's Juliet DeLuxe clock $3
Bag of beads $0.25
Boxes for altering $0.25 each.
Change purse $0.10
My sister in law and her husband don't want me to alter the one with the picture on the front.  I might not.  It came with the music box inside but it doesn't go to that box.  It plays raindrops are falling on my head.


Everything in this picture was in the free box. 

The altoid tin was full of little animals, dolls etc.
vintage trim
random key chains
length of ball chain
red envelopes
embroidery floss.  It's in great shape.  I don't need anymore but I thought I might sell or give it to someone.
1946 & 1947 day planners.  There is no writing inside.  They are in great condition.

Let me know what you think of my finds. 

In the next day or two I'll have some craft project pics to post also.  I have two projects almost done (not with this stuff).

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Midwest Miniature Museum

Hi everyone,

I recently learned about a museum about 30 minutes from my house.  I never knew it was there.  The Midwest Miniatures Museum is amazing.  The exhibits are spectacular!  The amount of work that goes into the buildings and all of the furnishings is incredible.

The museum is on the campus of The Gilmore Car Museum. 

Check it out!
http://www.gilmorecarmuseum.org/html/content_page.php?content_id=35&

Crochet thread spool project

Hi everyone!

I worked on this project last night and this morning.  There are still a few things I want to do to it but I don't have the things I need.  I'll keep an eye out for some things and post more picture if/when I change it.





I have been given a lot of crochet thread.  I have also bought alot at Goodwill.  So, I decided that I wanted to use some of the rolls/spools that didn't have much thread left on.  But I wanted to use the spools in a different way.  This is what I came up with.  It will hang off the wall or from the ceiling.

I painted some of the spools and then covered them with a copy of an old crochet pattern.  The black spool has steel crochet hooks sticking out of it.  A picture of my Great Grandma Smith is peeking out of one of the spools.  I would like to add a small doll sitting in the larger empty roll.

The hanger is an old knob with a ball change threaded through it.
What do you think?  I am really happy with it.

Altered drink coaster

Hi everyone!

I made another decorative tile.

This could be used an decoration on my wall or as a cover for a mini.

I think I will hang it up for now and then change it to a mini cover some day.



My last post showed some things I bought at Goodwill including some coasters/beer mats.  I used one of them as the base for this tile.

I covered the coaster with pieces of sheet music and inked it with two shades of brown and some blue ink.  Then I covered a smaller square of foam core with some more sheet music and inked it the same way.  I glued the foam core square onto the coaster and then covered the small square with ribbon. 

A fellow raveler (Liz) sent me some beautiful brown ribbon.  I cut that ribbon into shorter lengths and weaved it together.  I hot glued it around the edges.

Next, I glued a couple of stick pins that I made under a large button.  The button came from another Raveler (Hazel).  The last thing I added was a flat back marble from Goodwill.

Cost:
coaster: $0.04
sheet music: $0.01
foam core: I have had it for several years and have no idea how much I paid for it.  There are just scraps left.
ribbon: free
beads: super cheap or free
corsage pins: free
button: free
flat marble: $0.01

So, I made this project for less than $0.10

Let me know what you think.

Small goodwill haul and cheap project

Hi everyone,

I went to Goodwill today with my hubby. 



Round box: $0.99
Square box: $0.59
Square and round coasters/beer mats: $0.59
Beads and string: $0.99

The boxes will be great for altering.  I think I might be able to scrape the bird and wreath off the top of the round box.  If not I might be able to use gesso to cover it up.  I don't have gesso but I can get some if I decide to do that. :)  I bet Les has something in the workshop if I decide to do that.  We'll see.  I really don't have a plan for the box yet.  When I got home I noticed that the square box had a clearance sticker on the bottom.  Whatever store this was sold in originally had it marked down to $0.47.  I paid more for it used at Goodwill! Funny.

The coasters will be used for mini scrapbooks or altered tile type projects.  The beads are all plastic faceted beads.  I can use them for all sorts of things.

Okay, now on to my project.

I made this decorative tile:



The base is a piece of cereal box cut square.  I covered the box board with some of that pretty wrapping paper I bought at Ace recently.  The flowers were given to me in the altered box of chocolates I received from Hazel.  On the left there are three dots that look a little like flat back pearls.  They are not.  They are drops of hot glue covered in perfect pearls.

The square that is the focal point of the tile was fun to make.  I cut a piece of cardstock and covered it with a good layer of Aleene's tacky glue.  Then I covered it with nails.  They are nails My husband pulled out of the boards in the closet when he put my shelves in.  Instead of throwing the nails out I wanted to use them for something.  After placing all of the nails in the glue I sprinkled some glitter all over it.  Once the glue dried I tapped off the excess glitter.  The glitter I used is called Seashore Beads.  I think it came from Club Scrap several years ago.  It's like tiny beads with some glitter mixed in.  The brown ribbon was given to me by a fellow Raveler. 

I'm happy with the finished project.  What do you think?

If anyone has any ideas for any of my Goodwill finds feel free to leave me comments.  I LOVE comments.

My favorite place! Historic Charlton Park

Hi everyone,

I want to share my favorite place in the world.  Charlton Park is a beautiful park in Barry County, Michigan.  The park is celebrating it's 75th year this year!!

I started a Flickr group a while back:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1400861@N25/

The Charlton Park website is www.charltonpark.org







I took these pictures a couple of years ago.

The park has been a part of my life since I was a young child.  It's a beautiful place to relax, learn, and meet some amazing people.

There are many special events throughout the year including a civil war muster, father's day car show, tractor show, yard sales etc.  I volunteer for many of these special events.  Volunteers answer questions and teach visitors about the history of the park.

If you are looking for something fun to do this summer I hope you will consider visiting me at Historic Charlton Park!

Goodwill and Ebay haul

Hi everyone,

I don't usually buy  things from ebay but I've been trying to sell things lately so I started looking for a few things.  I found two things I really wanted.  Also, one of my brothers went to Goodwill with me today.  He didn't buy anything but he helped me buy things!


Eddie found the snowman boxes and handed them to me.  He said, "Here, I know you'll want nesting boxes!"  He knows me so well.  I didn't realize that it was a snowman until we were at checkout.  It won't stay a snowman.  I will probably alter the boxes in four different ways.  It is a cute snowman though.

Snowman (4 boxes): $1.99
Green ribbon: $0.59
Paper flowers: $1.99

E-bay (including shipping)
Paper bags: $5.79
Cameo brooch: $3.99

The paper flowers are meant to be for gift wrapping.  They were in a bag marked S/16 paper roses gift bows, Made in China.  I really like the colors.  They were a little smooshed in the bag but I'm sure I can fluff them up and make them beautiful again.  They will probably see a fair amount of glitter, perfect pearls etc.


I really love this brooch.  It's small and perfect for wearing when I volunteer at Charlton Park.  I LOVE cameos.  I have two cameo necklaces but I didn't have a pin. 

Okay, now I need to craft craft craft!!

Some of the paper bags are going to become paper bag albums. I have already made two.  They will not be pictured here though.  Hopefully, they will be part of a tutorial I wrote for scrapbook-crazy.com.

Wrapping paper deal

Hi everyone,

I bought five sheets of 27 1/2" x 19 1/2" wrapping paper for $1 yesterday at our local Ace store.








I bought two of this one.

I'm going to use it to alter boxes etc. 


We went to Ace so I could apply for a job.  They won't even hand out applications unless they have a specific job posted.  So frustrating. 

Oh well, I have some beautiful paper to craft with.

Altered box of chocolates swap

I participated in a swap recently.  The idea was to alter a box of chocolates and fill it with lots of goodies.  The swap was in the Playshop group on Ravelry.

My box arrived today!





This box is gorgeous and everything in it is fantastic!  Didn't Hazel do a great job!!  She packed the box full and had a couple of things outside of the box.  I'll be able to make all sorts of beautiful projects with these goodies.

Thanks so much Hazel!

Goodwill craft haul

My hubby and I went to Goodwill today to look for dishes for my sister.  I found a great set of dishes for $5.

I also bought some craft stuff.



Thomas paper pack, $2.99
Napkins $0.59
Green ribbon $0.79
Pearl bracelet $0.59
Rocks and glass marbles with container $2.99



The red ones are all heart shaped.  One of my sisters likes to make mosaic tile projects.  Maybe she can use some of this.  I'll never use it all.  Some of them will make great flower centers or feet for altered boxes etc.

Do you have any ideas?

Captured Fairy

Recently I watched several videos on You Tube showing these captured fairy altered bottles.  I love them.  I have been wanting to make one for over a month.

So I made this:


They can't all be winners.  I gave it a try.  It definitely looks better in person but it didn't turn out as nice as I would like.

Oh well.  Maybe I'll try another one.

Shabby chic inspired box

I made this using one of the boxes from my March 12, Crafts and Books post.  The trim is from the free place mat that I got this weekend.  It is pictured in my post from earlier today.

I painted the box with a thin coat of white acrylic paint.  Then I brushed streaks of light brown and blue paint.  The knob is screwed to the flap of the box so I took that off and painted it white.  When I put the knob back on I threaded the screw through one of the blue circles on the lace trim.  I cut the trim off flush with the sides of the flap and used parts of the cut off pieces for the sides of the box and for decoration behind the flower.  The elastic cord that fits over the knob to hold the box closed was brown.  So, I crocheted a scallop trim over the elastic cord.  I hot glued the paper flowers and pearl beads for accents. I also glued a button over top of the knob.  I painted the button white and then sprayed it with blue homemade glimmer mist  Then I painted it with white perfect pearls.  The trim at the bottom of the box and along the top of the lace trim is vintage trim that I bought at Goodwill a long time ago.  It's vintage trim that was unopened and marked with an original price of 15 cents.

This whole project cost me less than $1.

Please tell me what you think.  Should I add something else to it?

Teeny Tiny Haul

Hi everyone,

I went to my local Ace Hardware store this weekend and bought a couple of things.  They have a section of used and discounted items.  They have books, wood, yard, fabric, lace, office supplies, postcards etc.



The baby themed "Our Story" pages were 20 cents.  I'm going to use them for Dad and Karen's family scrapbooks.

25 shipping tags for $1.29.  I will use them for cards, altered items, gift tags, mini books etc.

The place mat was free.  They have a few shelves with all sorts of things just thrown together.  There are a few free things mixed in.  I imagine this was free because it is kind of ugly.  I'm going to take the trim off and use it for something else.

pin cushion

Hi everyone!  I hope you are having a great weekend.

My husband, son, and I went to The Habitat for Humanity re-store yesterday.  Everything was 1/2 off yesterday.  We spent $1.50!


I bought these three things.  Both frames were marked 50 cents so I got them for 25 cents each.  The one in the middle was a dollar store frame.  I really like the legs on it.  The picture below shows what I did with that frame.  The dowels on the right are apparently manufactured right here in my town.  I didn't know that.  I have a couple of ideas for these dowel rods.  They had several sizes.  I wish I would have bought more.  The package of two dowel rods were originally marked 60 cents, so I paid 30 cents.


I made this pin cushion with the frame in the middle.  This is what I did:

1.) Sanded the frame and painted it black.
2.) Sprayed it with homemade glimmer mist and rubbed some of it back off
3.) Hot glued a piece of an old hankie to the frame back and stuffed it with batting.
4.) Cut pieces off of a piece of lace applique that I bought at goodwill for $0.99 (for two)
5.) Colored the applique with two colors of homemade glimmer mist then brushed on some perfect pearls
6.) Cut a dress form from the G45 steampunk paper and coated it with mod podge
7.) Painted the needle threader with antique copper paint and threaded a couple of beads on the wire
8.) Hot glued everything on.  I glued a button to the bottom of the thread spool so that I can insert flowers, crochet hooks etc without having them fall through the bottom.

Supplies and cost:

Frame: $0.25
Applique: probably used less that $0.25 worth of it.
Two beads: They came from two packs of over 100 beads. I paid a couple bucks for each pkg.
Buttons and all other embellishments: free
Spool: free (I didn't have to do a thing to it.  My sister in law gave it to me just like you see it, thread and all.)

Total:  $0.50

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Altered Spool

When I showed this project to my brother he had three things to say:

1.) It's obvious you used toilet paper rolls
2.) It's gaudy
3.) It looks like a child's craft project

Well, I disagree.

I have been thinking of ways to reuse all sorts of items around the house for a long time.  Then I watched a few altered spool videos on You Tube.  I decided to make my "altered spool" out of toilet paper rolls and cereal box board.

Two rolls would be too tall and one is too short so I cut one roll in half and glued the roll ends together and covered them in scrapbook paper.  Then I cut two circles out of an old cereal box and covered those with paper.

The "spool" features two pictures of my Grandma Rugg.  She was an amazing person.  I picked two of my favorite pictures of her.  I embellished it with the following:

1.) Two pair of her earrings (not permanently attached)
2.)  Some of her crochet thread and one of her crochet hooks (not permanently attached)
3.) Flowers and frames cut with Aunt Michele's cricut
4.) Scrapbook paper, paper doilies and beads from my stash
5.) Homemade glimmer mist
6.) Words that describe her printed on white paper and inked with brown and blue ink
7.) The thread card/holder that has crochet thread wrapped around it was printed from a free collage sheet.  The collage sheet was offered free on You Tube from emeliemaccie

This project is going to be be displayed in my craft room.

Napkin art box

I used one of the napkins that Hazel gave me to make this box.  The box was part of a set of three nesting boxes that I bought at Salvation Army for $1.

These are the supplies that I used:
Two shades of green paint
White paint
Mod Podge
Perfect Pearls
Wooden knob
Lace
Trim
Pearl bead sprays







This project was a lot of fun.  I made it start to finish this morning.

I painted the entire box, inside and out, with dark green paint.  Then I used a lighter shade of green and just brushed the color randomly around the box.  Once that was mostly dry I used a wet paint brush to outline and tear the flowers out of the napkin.  I decoupaged the flowers onto the box.  Once I brushed over the flowers to seal them in they lost their definition. So, I painted white spots around the box and glued more flowers over top.  That gave the box a nice dimensional look.  I also painted and rubbed both greens and the white paint in random areas around and over the flowers.

I painted the knob white and glued a flower over the top of the knob.  I took the pearl sprays from my wedding bouquet and glued them like flower petals under the knob.  The lace was glued to the bottom of the knob and then glued on top of the pearls.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  Half way through I though it was going to be hideous and that I was going to have to paint over it.  But now I really like it.

Anyone want it?  I made because I want to make it not because I need it.

Book review

I belong to librarything.com.  They have a new Early Reviewers list of books every month.  You request the books you are interested in and get free books to review. 

I was lucky to get a free book last month called Department 19.  Today I received Umpire In A Skirt, The Amanda Clement Story.

You can find it here:
http://www.sdshspress.com/index.php?&id=228&action=912

This is a great children's book.  I really enjoyed it.  I had never heard of Amanda Clement before but the book definitely makes me want to learn more about her.  

craft room closet organization

Hi everyone,

My husband made a closet organization system for me today.  He started it last night and finished it today.  It took me a while to get everything all put away and neatly organized.  I'm really happy with this though.  I ended up sorting out two medium size boxes of stuff to donate to Goodwill.  I also have two drawers full of things to sell or gift.

My wide angle camera lens isn't working so I couldn't get the entire closet in one picture.


The top shelf is full of things that I don't need everyday:

1) Binders that need to be covered or painted for scrapbooks.  My sister in law gets them from the law library where she works.  They throw them away so she saves them for me.
2) My husband and brother's old birthday cards and baby books
3) Duplicate photos and negatives
4) Yarn for a future crochet blanket project
5) Plastic potholder loom, knitting kit, and paper making supplies
6) Grandpa's candy dish.

The next shelf down has five cubbies for crochet thread sorted by color.

The third shelf has craft books, some of my son's kidergarten papers, small photo albums and scrapbooks.  The black organizer is full of papers that I want to add to our family scrapbooks.

Shelf number four has flower making supplies, homemade bias tape, lace, and ribbon.

Shelf five has paints, jeans to repair, flowers, fabric for making lollipop flowers, a glue gun, and a heat tool.

I have batting, stuffing, jean material, and a couple of clock faces on the floor.  I also have a white plastic cabinet with three drawers.   The top drawer is full of t-shirts for reconstruction projects.  The second and third drawers are full of projects to gift or sell.



The right side is hanging storage.   The white things hanging down is an organizer that I bought at goodwill for $0.99 a couple of weeks ago.  I filled it with lace and ribbon.  The blue unit holds most of my yarn.  The fabric on the right is most of the fabric that I have.  It includes some vintage embroidered pillowcases, table runners, place mats etc.

I feel so much better now that this room is organized again.  My husband is awesome!

Organization

I am re-organizing my craft room.  There are lots of things that I am going to give away or sell.

I'll post some pics when the room is done.  My brother in law and his wife are going to let me borrow their flip cam so I can post some video to You Tube also.

As I have been sorting my stuff and watching You Tube videos I realized there are some things that I would really like to have for scrapbooking.  One of them would be unlimited money but since that is not possible I made a wishlist on bluemoonscrapbooking.com  It gives me something to work toward and helps me decide what I really need and what I just want.

I need to get a bunch of pictures printed and get my son's books updated.  Wow I have lots of projects going right now.

Anyway, I'll have new pics up in a couple of days.

Have a great weekend and spring break!

another e-bay auction

I have another e-bay auction right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260762666998&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

I went to the thrift store!

Hi everyone!

Is anyone out there?  I know Hazel and Janet read my blog.  Does anyone else?  I'm just wonderin'.

Okay.  So, I went to the Goodwill today. Twice.

I went once after getting groceries and then I went again later with my mother-in-law.  She need shirts for work and found a really cute sweater.

Of course, I was looking for crafty things.  I was also looking for a brooch to wear when I am working at Historic Charlton Park.  I think the jewelry is a little overpriced.  The brooches are $0.99.  I found out later that the earrings are $0.99 also.  I should have just bought a pair of big earrings and had two brooches.  They had some earrings that would have probably worked.  Oh well.

So, this is what I bought.



A lot of people use old sheet music for mixed media and altered art projects.  I really like that idea so when I saw these music books I got really excited.  The books at my goodwill are 4 for $0.99.  I bought these three and a book for my son.  The copyright dates are 1922 and 1945.  I don't know the date on the third book.  I googled the books.  The one of the left and the one in the middle are listed online for $12 to $18 each.  I couldn't find the third one.  So, I might sell those two instead. 

I'm going to try to dull the finish on the brooch a bit.  The necklace was $1.99.  It has four lockets.  I think the lockets would work well for mini scrapbooks and altered boxes.  They could also be used for other jewelry pieces.  The chain could be used for all sorts of things.  I would never wear this necklace as is!

The vial has earrings bags and blanks in it along with a pin back.  It was $0.59.