RAK & swap packages

Hi everyone,

I received some packages today.



This came from a fellow Raveler.  It was a complete surprise.  She sent me tons of ribbon, ribbon flowers, lots of tea, and a dark chocolate candy bar!  Yum!  Thank you so much Caitlin (Earthnut)!


These are the buttons I received from GardenLynn for our Ravelry Playshop button swap.  Thanks Lynn!

Thank You Janet!!

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.

My friend Janet spoiled me this weekend.  She gave me two boxes of stuff that she had cleaned out of her crafting space.  There was a gingerbread house kit box in one of the boxes.  When I opened it I did not find gingerbread!  I found tons of beads, bracelet slides, wire, jewelry findings etc.  They will work great for my altered boxes etc.  There was just too much in those boxes to list but I will be having tons of fun creating projects for a long time.

THANK YOU JANET!!!

Pin cushion and shadow box

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having a fun Memorial Day weekend.

I started this shadow box yesterday and finished it this morning.



Supplies:
Shadow box from Goodwill: $0.39 or $0.59
Dress form, pattern, tape measure, and scissors from Goodwill: $0.79
Buttons from stash: Free
Flowers from garage sale: less than $0.10
Thimble from sister in law: Free
Wood pieces from Goodwill: maybe $0.25
Earring from Estate sale: $0.15
Paper from scrapbooking stash: Free
Sewing pattern from Aunt Michele: Free

I painted the shadow box black after lightly sanding it.  Then I decoupaged pieces of a sewing pattern over the outside of the box.  The background is scrapbook paper made to look like an old catalog page.  I glued the buttons into a stack and then glued the stack onto the bottom of the box.  The dowel that is the base of the table was a scrap from my husbands wood shop.  I had a flower shaped wood cutout from Goodwill that I thought would work well as the table top.  So I had Les cut it down for me.  The chair was in the bag along with the flower cutout from Goodwill.  The thimble came from my sister in law.  I turned it upside down and glued in some garage sale flowers.  I took the post off the back of the earring and glued it to the back ground.  The picture in the center of the earring came from the G45 steampunk debutant paper.






I made this pin cushion this morning:

Supplies:
Candle holder from Goodwill: $0.59
Embroidered table runner from Aunt Michele: Free
White beads from necklace: Free
Small gold beads from swap: Free
Small amount crochet thread from stash: next to free
Polymer clay flat back pearls: small fraction of $2 block of clay
Button from stash

I did not paint the candle holder.  I like the color so I used it as inspiration for the rest of the project.  My Aunt gave me several table runners, table cloths etc.  This one had some damage so I decided to use the prettiest part of the embroidery.  I cut a large circle and made a running stitch around the edge.  I stuffed it with batting and pulled the thread to make the cushion.  It is hot glued to the bottom and around the inside edge of the candle holder.

Then I threaded some crochet thread through the holes of a button and then threaded the gold and white beads on that thread and tied at the bottom around another bead.  Then I hot glued the button on the under side of the candle holder.

The flat back pearls were made by rolling small balls of polymer clay and cutting them in half with a craft knife.  After baking I painted them with white and pearl colored paint.

Best gift ever! and Goodwill haul

This might not look like much to you but it is so important to me!  My Dad made this when he was a young kid.  He was born in 1953 so he probably made this around 1963.  When I was a kid it was in my bedroom.  Over the years Dad has taken it with him each time he moved.  Somewhere in those moves one of the drawers was lost.  I told him that if he ever decided to get rid of it to give it to me.  So he did!  It makes me so happy.  I washed it and oiled it.  I will not paint or alter it but I will use it.  The top and bottom shelf will be good places for pictures frames etc.  I think I might keep some craft supplies in the drawer.

Dad made this out of old barn wood, nails, and glass knobs that they had around the house.


This is my haul:

Small antique inspired boxes (dated 1980) $0.79 each
Basket: Free from my Mom along with a neat looking pin.  She knew I would use it in something
Small chest with three drawers: $0.99
Candle holder: $0.59
Glass Koeze's jar: $0.79

I'm using one of the small boxes for glue storage.  I just put a piece of cereal box in the bottom to catch any drips.  I've been thinking of making up gift baskets to sell and giveaway to friends etc.  The basket might be used for that.  The jar will probably end up with flower making supplies etc in it.  The candle holder is going to be a pin cushion.

I've had a couple of ideas for the three drawer chest.  I think it might end up holding tea in the kitchen.  I'm not sure yet.

Possible Giveaway

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about having a giveaway.  If I do, what would you like to see me giveaway?

I having been thinking of giving away a couple of handmade items and some trims, buttons etc.  What do you think?

The rules would be something like this:

1.) You need to leave a comment on your favorite of my posts
2.) Leave a comment on the giveaway post letting me know whether or not you would like me to start doing You Tube craft videos.

I would like more followers but I will not require people to become followers in order to enter the giveaway.

Please let me know what you think.


Thanks!
Kerri

Altered box and goodwill haul

Hi everyone,

I really love cameos and own a few.  Yesterday I bought a $2 block of polymer clay and made a couple of cameo molds.  Then I made two different cameos out of those molds.  I painted one and used it for this box. 





 

Supplies I used:
Blue, brown and white acrylic paint
Crackle medium
Cameo that I made using a mold from another cameo I have but didn't want to glue to anything.
Beads from Goodwill
Beads from a garage sale necklace
Copy of image from garage sale ribbon art book
Flowers from garage sale
Two colors of perfect pearls for flowers.



Box for altering: $0.99
Black flat marbles: $0.99
Set of stamps: $0.79
Cameo pendant: $0.99

Pin cushion and napkin art

Hi everyone,


This little rocking chair came in a back of wood cutouts at Goodwill.  I paid $2.99 for the bag.  I painted the chair with watered down brown paint and wiped off the excess.  Then I sewed the little cushion and glued it on.  I cut strips of paper to go around the edges of the seat and back and put a ribbon bow around the back of the chair.  The girl is from some scrapbook paper.  The clock is a button with a shank on the back.  The flowers are glued into the shank.


I bought two packs of tissues at a garage sale over the weekend.  They are Sniff brand.  The pencil holder came together with a post-it note holder and a paper clip holder for $0.59 at Goodwill.  I painted two sides of the pencil holder with white gesso then I decoupaged the napkins over the gesso.  There was a white border around the napkin image so I pieced other bits of napkin around the edge.  I painted black on the remaining white areas and wiped off the excess.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  The other side looks better because the printing of this part of the napkin was a little off.  I'm too lazy to take more pics, upload them etc. :)

I'm really happy with both of these projects.  I hope you like them too.

Chair pin cushion

Hi everyone,

I started this last night and finished it this morning.



I bought the chair yesterday from Goodwill for $0.99.  As soon as I saw it I knew it would make a great pin cushion!  The lace on the back is actually a small pocket I sewed.  It will hold a few buttons or beads. 


Supplies:
Goodwill chair/candle holder
Pillow from a jewelry box for a watch or bracelet
Lace from Goodwill and from my Aunt
Small flowers from a yard sale
Pearl necklace from Estate sale (I've used it for at least three projects.  It was a long necklace)
Earring from a garage sale.  I cut the post off the back

1940 ladies

Hi everyone,

In one of my recent posts I mentioned a book I got for free at a yard sale this weekend.  It's the Modern Dressmaking Made Easy by Mary Brooks Picken from 1940.  It has great illustrations.  I copied some and printed them on watercolor paper.  Then I painted them with my new water color crayons.  I'm clearly not a great watercolor artist but for a first try I think it looks pretty nice.  I'm really happy with the project as a whole. 

I watch alot of crafting videos on You Tube.  Lots of ladies love coloring with copic markers.  I'm sure they could do a great job with images like these.  This is the best I could do. I'm sure I will get better with practice.

Altered tin and box

Hi everyone,

I try to do some sort of crafting every day.  These are my latest projects.


This is an Altoids tin that I got at a garage sale for free.  It was full of little plastic animals etc. I painted the bottom of it and covered the top with a piece of wrapping paper.  I covered the wrapping paper with glossy accents.  The chain around the edge came from a Goodwill necklace and the button came from the tin or box of buttons I recently bought.





This box came from Goodwill.  It was green with two birds and a Christmas wreath on the top.  I took the birds and wreath off and painted the box with gesso and then with black acrylic paint.  Last weekend I bought a children's book at a yard sale for $0.10.  I made copies of several pages and cut out some of the images.  I  decoupaged those images around the box.  Once that was dry I painted over everything with beige paint and rubbed off most of it to make the box look a little old.  Then I used the handle end of a paint brush to make the red dots.  The little rocking chair on the top came from the altoids tin.  It was bright green.  I painted it and used E6000 to glue it to the box.


Have a great day!

Garage sales and Goodwill

Hi everyone,

Today my husband and I are celebrating our 11th anniversary.  We were going to go to an antique mall but it turns out that they are not open on Fridays!  So, we went to Goodwill and several garage sales in Charlotte, MI.

Here are some of the things that we found.  I didn't take pictures of everything.


I bought these two dolls at the last sale.  The big one was $1 and the small one was $0.50.  I hoped to use them on a project but they are a little too big.  I love them though and think they look really cute leaning against my vase.  At the same sale I also bought a book called Old-Fashioned Ribbon Art by Ribbon Art Publishing Company.  It was published in 1986 but it has a lot of old illustrations in it.  I plan to copy some of the images for use in various projects.  Maybe I'll learn a little about ribbon art also.  The book was $0.25.


The weaving kit in the purple case was $1 at a garage sale and the black box was from Goodwill for $0.79.


I bought all of these to make altered projects.  The bird house type thing was $0.50 at a garage sale.  The rest of it came from Goodwill for $0.59 or $0.39 each.  The three boxes in the center came together for one price.


All of this was free.  I think my best find of the day was the Modern Dressmaking book.  It has a copyright date of 1940.  It has great illustrations and an entire section of advice regarding posture, charm etc.  It talks about the way you should sit, dress, undress, walk, cross your legs etc etc.  I've found similar books online for $15 - $75.  This one isn't in the greatest shape.  There are some ripped pages.  I plan to keep it.  Again, I will copy some of the pages for projects.

I also bought:

two belts to use in projects $0.39 each
framed cross stitched bird
bracelet to take apart for projects
a carrying case with two decks of cards, a pencil, and a small pad of paper for keeping score
Five free National Geographic magazines

Les and I had a lot of fun visiting and walking for sale to sale.  They are having city wide garage sales in Charlotte this weekend.

ATC projects etc

Hi everyone,

I made some ATCs.


I used water color crayons on watercolor paper for all of three ATCs.  For this one I used black and white Jacquard light body opaque paint around the edge.  The flower is painted with pearl blue Lumiere paint and the stem is Metallic Olive Lumiere paint.


Again I used the watercolor paper and crayons.  I stamped the yarn and knitting needles all over the paper using a VersaMark ink pad.  Then I embossed the stamped images with clear embossing powder.  I painted black over one side and white over the other and wiped off the excess paint.  The stamp came in the box of chocolates swap.


I painted perfect gold perfect pearls around the edge of the water color paper.  I wrapped the ribbon around and then covered the ends with three pieces of painted water color paper.  The edges are inked with a green ink.  The flowers also came from the box of chocolates swap.

I am in the process of altering two different boxes.  We have a little bit of a busy weekend planned so I'm not sure if I will get these done soon or not.

Today my husband and I went to Goodwill.  They were in the process of stocking the shelves.  They had TONS of stuff out!  We got some great deals.  I didn't take picture of anything.  If you want to see something please let me know.  These are some of the deals we got:

Telescope: $5
Three large acrylic quilting rulers (for use with rotary cutter etc) $0.99 each.  I bought three so that I could share one with my Aunt.  This was a fantastic deal!
Three bags of various wooden shapes $2.99 each
Four books, $1 (25 cents each)
A large box of greeting cards $5.99.  It has tons of cards in it.  Most of them are brand new dimensional cards.  The box is a greeting card organizer.  It has dividers for different types of cards.


My sister in law came over.  She gave me a small sewing box, six magazines, two beautiful baskets, and an Ott task light.

I feel spoiled today.   

Tomorrow Les and I are celebrating our 11th year of marriage! 

Altered mini mister caddy

I bought this at a yard sale recently.  I altered it this morning.





I mixed a couple of shades of blue paint.  There wasn't much left of either of them.  I painted the whole thing blue.  While it was still a little when I went over it with white paint.  If I had crackle medium I would have used a crackle finish on it.  I plan on getting some this weekend.  I really like the way this turned out without it though.

Then I glued the lace trim around the box.  The flowers all came from a bouquet that I bought at Goodwill.  I took several of them off and colored them with Perfect Pearl and Forever Blue Perfect Pearls.  Then I glued those onto the box with button centers.

I'm really happy with this project.


This is what is looked like before (bottom right).

Craft projects and creative slump

Hi everyone,

I've been creating but I feel like every project is an epic fail.  Ugh.  Maybe it's just because I'm tired but I like these projects well enough in person but they look terrible in pictures.


The box came from Goodwill.  I covered it with buttons, a wood knob, and glitter/beads.  It needs something.
My Aunt gave me some good suggestions I just haven't finished it yet.


My Mom gave me the tin.  I bought the mini scrapbook years ago at Goodwill.  My sister-in-law gave me the wood pieces.  I just glued them on and put ribbon around the tin.  I need to add some finishing touches and cut the ribbon down on the book.


This is completely finished.  I'm happy with it.  I used the metal flowers that I bought this weekend at a yard sale.  I cut them apart and hot glued them onto the box.  I added some beads.  The ribbon around the box came from Hazel as part of the altered box of chocolates swap.  The box came from salvation army.  I got three boxes for $0.99.  I painted it black and put some copper paint on the edges.  This looks a lot better in person.



I bought the box at an estate sale for $0.25.  I really like the box so I didn't want to cover up the pictures.  I glued pearls (an old necklace from the same sale, $0.50) over the strings of pearls printed on the box.  I also put some lace around the lid.  The lid overlapped two much of the pictures on the side of the box so I added foam core blocks inside of the lid.  I covered the inside of the box with sheet music.


I bought this plastic frame at a garage sale for $0.05.  My Dad and step-Mom bought me a Harper's Bazar book for Christmas.  It has 1000 illustrations from Harper's Bazar (1867-1898).  So, I made a copy of one of the pages and glued it on to a cardboard backing.  Then I inked the paper with brown and green ink.  I also rubbed some white paint here and there.  I glued postcards from Charlton Park onto the paper after cutting the oval, distressing, and inking the cards.  I watched a few projects on You Tube lately where ladies have melted bees wax onto canvas projects.  Bees wax is expensive so I decided to use paraffin wax.  I already have some wax.  We made candles for Christmas gifts last year.  I colored the wax with old broken crayons.  I had some brown wax left over.  So, I melted that over the paper and cards.  Then I made the flowers using a Deed to Statue of Liberty I bought at the Charlton Park gift shop at least five years ago.  I cut the flowers on my Aunt's cricut.  I layered and waxed the flowers then glued them on with buttons glued on the center.  I LOVE the flowers.  The project as a whole is lacking something but it was my first try.  I will try again.  I already know a few things that I will do differently.

I have two other projects that I recently finished.  When I remember to take pictures I will share those too.  They turned out much better.  Why didn't I take pictures of those?  I don't know. :)

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Garage sale!

Hi everyone,

My town is having city wide garage sales this weekend.  We are having one at my house.  While my husband watched the sale today I went to several garage sales with one of my cousins.

We drove and walked alot today.  I had a great time!  Here are some of my finds:


I paid $0.50 for all three of these metal swags.  I will take them apart and maybe alcohol ink them.  They will make great additions to an altered box or frame.



I bought this jewelry box and a gift for my youngest sister at the same sale.  The two items together were $2.


The foam stickers were only $0.25 brand new.  My son and I can make some projects together.  The book was $0.10.  I like the illustrations.  My plan is to either scan some of the pages or take the book apart and use some of the pages.  Several of the pages having drawing on them.  Still work 10 cents I think.


There was a $0.25 sticker on this bead tie.  So I snatched it up.  Then the lady claimed that she didn't know how that sticker got on that item and said she needed $1 for it.  I asked her if she would take $0.50.  It is broken, of course, that doesn't matter to me.  I'm going to take it apart anyway.  She said she shouldn't.  She was just selling those for a sick friend.  She said, "I guess it doesn't matter.  It's not like she will know.  She's really sick and I'm just trying to help her out."  I don't know if she was telling the truth or just trying to make me feel guilty.  She ended up taking $0.50.  It's an interesting item.  My husband thinks I should keep it together.  We'll see.


This was one of my best finds.  The three drawers are divided containers with adjustable dividers.  The three containers and the holder was $3 total!  I was totally happy with that.  It is in perfect shape and very clean.  The tub sitting on top is one of about 15 containers of varying sizes.  I bought all 15 for $1.  They will be great for organizing my supplies.  I sorted all of my buttons in the divided containers by color.  That will really help me find what I need.  So excited!

I also bought my husband several letter stencils for his scroll saw projects along with a couple of project patterns.  Those were $2.25 all together.  I bought a sweater for myself.  One of my sisters is moving soon.  She asked me to watch for dishes and silverware.  I already bought her dishes from Goodwill.  Today I found a set of silverware with red handles in a silver organizer for $1! I sent her a picture message.  It turns out she is going to decorate her kitchen with a lot of red stuff.  So, that worked out well.  I just took a chance and bought them.  Then at another sale I found a red organizer that turns like a lazy susan.  It has several red kitchen utensils with it for $0.50

I had a great day!  Tomorrow I am staying home to work my own sale.  We only sold $16 worth of stuff today.  We live on a dead end so it is difficult to get a lot of people.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Garage sale finds and craft projects

Hi everyone!

I went to some garage sales again yesterday.  I also received a package from an E-Bay seller.


There is a couple that had a sale last summer and again this spring.  They used to own a craft store and they still have lots of stuff including fabric, crochet thread, patterns etc etc.  I was looking at the packages of hankies and the man told me that there were 12 hankies in the package for $1.  I bought one package because I like to embroider hankies and crochet edges on them.  When I got home and opened the package it turned out that there are 24 in the package!  Not bad.  I got the towel hanger for 10 cents.


Friday I went to an estate sale and bought the box for $3 etc.  I went back yesterday with my Aunt.  They had a bunch of stuff marked down.  I bought these four necklaces for $0.50 each.  I will use these for all sorts of projects!


I was looking around and happened to look down and see this tin.  I never saw it Friday.  They had it marked $5 but had reduced it to $3.  My Aunt whispered, "Ask if she will take $2".  So, I asked and the lady was more than happy to sell the tin of buttons to me for $2!!  I was soooo excited.  There are some great buttons in there!




I bought this on E-bay during the week and received it yesterday.  I love the box and things I can fix the hole in the top.  There are fabulous buttons in this box.

Projects made from garage sale and Goodwill finds




This is the tin that I bought at Goodwill for $0.99.  I used:
Eyelet trim from Goodwill
Gold cord from Goodwill
Pearls from $0.50 garage sale necklace
Flowers from $3 garage sale box of goodies
Leaves from Goodwill flowers

I used perfect pearls on the flowers and leaves.


If you look at my garage sale haul pics from Friday you will see a shiny gold framed mirror.  I painted the frame and added flowers etc.



These flowers came from a garage sale on Friday.  It was a pin or brooch.  My brother took the pin back apart for me.


This flower is made from the same flowers I used on the tin above.  They came from the estate sale on Friday.  I used gold perfect pearls and some watered down paint.  I mixed red and white paint with a little water to color the edges of these flowers and the flowers on the frame.  The center of the flower is a bead that was mixed into a huge container of rocks and flat marbles from Goodwill.  I made the stick pins with beads from my stash.  Some of those came from Goodwill as well.

I hope you like my projects!!!  PLEASE leave a comment!

Thanks everyone and I hope you are having a fabulous Mother's Day and weekend!