Happy Belated Holiday!!

Wow... what a month. Super busy! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday. I went on vacation for eight days and DID NOT want to come back home. I asked for "craft stuff" and that is sure what I got. Random embellishments, stickers, a craft book, a scissor set, a sewing box filled to the brim. I also came across my new obsession, Somerset magazines. Studio, Gallery, Life.... they are all so amazing and I am addicted already. Mixed-media art is lovely and I already dog-eared everything I want to try. My new years resolution (one of them at least... the list is dreadfully long) is to try all the crafts I have always wanted to try. The only thing I have to complain about is the fact that they cost $15 each. And they are impossible to find in my area without driving a ways out of my town. If anyone has any that they are done with, send 'em my way pretty please.

I started two swaps on Swap-bot: a Valentine's button fairy swap and an April Fools Day button fairy swap. I hope they are both successful as they are my first swaps I have hosted public. I have so many ideas and I will have many photos to come.

Another successful trip to Goodwill! I purchased yet another scrabble game (my 5th one, haha) a vintage bingo game, cards and pieces all included, a vintage card deck with gorgeous flowers on them and an vintage rare cookbook. I can't wait to use them all (minus the cookbook) for my attempts at making mixed-media art. Any words of wisdom, please throw them my way.

This weather....

I don't know about you, but it has been cold cold cold here. Tonight is the first night that the low might only be 31 degrees. Last night it was so cold, and rainy and everything was frozen. I have spent all of today and yesterday in the house and I am about to go crazy. I have crafts to do, but my daughter is at an age where she wants attention all the time. I really don't have the time to craft these days. Generally I do things after she goes to bed, but then I also do my homework at that time, so it takes a few days to get things done. One thing I did get done is my Step-father's button fairy. He likes airplanes and old war things, so I got some scrapbook paper for 89 cents, cut the airplane shape from it (for the wings) and crafted away. I was told by my boyfriend not to call it a button fairy, since it was for a male, so I guess I will just call it a.... button pilot?!?! I will post a picture. I think it turned out great and the first button fairy... ahem, pilot... for a man. What do you all think? I still have so much shopping and crafting to do. I need some motivation. Lately I have had zero. All I want to do is lay in bed with some hot chocolate and watch The Holiday and Love Actually. Sounds good to me :)

My First Altered Craft Item... Altered CD!!!

I think it turned out pretty good if you ask me! This altered CD is for my swap partner all the way up in Canada. It is for the A is for Altered Item swap. She stated in her profile that she likes red and glitter, so I wanted to incorporate both of those. I had never made one before, leaving the back CD altered-less, so I hope that is okay. Any words of advice from someone who has made these before would be appreciated. Did I do okay? Was I supposed to not to anything to the back? I am trying to get all of my swaps out that my partners are assigned for. I sent all ten of my ornament swaps out, had to buy more tape and envelopes for that, and all together including shipping, it cost me about $30, including all supplies. Sheesh... not sure if I want to do that again, at least when I don't have a steady income, like right now. Now I am left to just send one more swap out before Christmas. Oh craft store, how much money you have cost me. I need to still buy for two more people. It is coming up quick too. What to get them... I better figure that out quick. Is everyone done doing their shopping?

Pix of the day!!

Button Fairy for my Mom! Turned out cute!

This bag of bottle caps times two. That is how many bottle caps I now own. Anyone want any??? (Don't mind the cherrio, hehe)

The stocking ornament for my ornament swap. Using their first name initial for the glitter letter. Had to make ten of these suckers.

My crunchy taco stuffie for KrissyTwisty. Apparently it was supposed to be mini and I spaced that part. It turned out very nice I thought!

3,600 Bottle Caps....

That is what she said when I talked to her on the phone. I am not sure why she knew how many there were. Unless everyone was trying to figure out how much beer they have been drinking. I listed on CraigsList under the wanted section that I wanted bottle caps. A college girl wrote back saying she had 3,600 of them... for free. Score! I don't really need all of those, but they might come in handy next Christmas when I do some bazaars. I already have all my ideas written down. I need a year to get all of my crafts done so by next November/December I can have a booth at all of the bazaars they have around here. I guess I will just hold onto them until then. I also have been trying to finish up my ornaments for my ornament swap I am in. I was to make ten of them. It has been taking me so long because I don't get to sit much and focus on a craft with two children in the house (my daughter and boyfriend, haha). I made a stocking stuffed and added a glitter initial letter to it, a initial on each stocking for all my swap-partners. I hope they like it. I also hope that all of the glitter stays on the letter by the time it reaches them. Two of my partners are overseas so I am a tad bit worried about that. Any tips for keeping glitter in place on cardstock??? I also made my Mom a button fairy for one of her gifts. She loved the other one I made. Since she loves red and black I made her one using those two colors. I have become quite a hoarder when it comes to craft things. If I see cute images or what not in catalogs or even junk mail, I cut them out to hopefully someday use. I went through my recipe box (it is stuffed full) and came across some... whats the flavored syrups that you buy to put in coffee drinks, starts with a B maybe.... anyways, I used to get mail from them with recipes for drinks. They sent me a cute fold-out paper thing with the cut-out heads of a man and a women holding hands and then it folds out with the recipes on their bottom halves. I cut one of the woman's heads off and glittered her hair with a light yellowish glitter and her cheast part with red chunky glitter and glued that on to the button fairy. It turned out so cute. I am happy I kept that recipe book from them. It came in very handy!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I sure did! We ate a ton and played Wii as a family and drank wine. I know, I know. Wii? I guess this is what our advanced technology world has come to. Wii at Thanksgiving. Seriously, Super Mario is addictive! The next day I went shopping for the first time ever. Got up at 3am. Expected big lines, lots of people running everywhere, and what actually did I witness first hand? Not really any lines, very few good deals, and not too many people. It was odd. I have worked the last 5 years at a retail store, and every year on that day we would have lines down the street and our whole store would be on sale. I didn't have a ton of money to spend, thank you very tiny unemployment paychecks, but I got a few things. The Children's Place and Gymboree had excellent deals and I was very excited about that. I even stopped at Joann's to pick up a few items to send my swap friend, and the Simplicity patterns were all only 99 cents. I had to get a few of those too. I still have two people I need to get items for. I need to slow down on my swapping and save some dough so I can get them gifts sometime the next few weeks. Anyone have any exciting shopping stories from Friday? I didn't think it was that bad at all like most people think. So many people hate shopping that day. Why???

Martha Stewart and Christmas Ornaments

Ornaments. I have to hand-make ten of them for a swap on swap-bot. I am so thankful that a whole month was given because my idea had changed already three or four times. I originally wanted to use burlap, but was afraid of customs issues with a few of my partners in other countries. I really liked this idea using a foam ball and fabric, but then shipping costs would be outrageous due to the box I would have to use to house those safely to their destinations. So just watching Martha Stewart this morning I am feeling inspired. I have a brilliant idea in my head, and I didn't even see it on her show. She did however inspire me to do a few things on Thanksgiving. Those place cards.... adorable. And free templates too. I will be getting those ornaments done today and will post pictures later this evening. Anyone notice the button-fairy that I posted a few days ago? Is this something you would like to receive? For my first one, I am a little worried. I am sending it to someone who I am pretty sure knows her stuff when it comes to button fairies. I also saw a few pictures on Flikr of people's fairies that they made for this swap. They are really really good. Please, if you have any criticism, please let me know.

Pictures of my life the last two weeks!

I decorated my table for Christmas with a few items until I pull out all of the good Christmas stuff! The "T" next to the lamp is from Ikea. Only $5. It is perfect since you can hang anything from it all year round. They had it set up with ornaments. To the left is a glass vase with wine corks on the bottom. On top of the corks I placed a candle. I got the idea from an Anthropologie store. They have such great ideas. I just love that store.

I LOVE scrabble pieces. I have about four games worth. I have found the games at Goodwill for $3 each. That beats the regular $15 pirce tag brand new. I have Isabella's name spelled out in her room.

The wooden beaded necklace I made! I got the idea from Martha Stewart. It was super easy, I could probably do a tutorial for it. They also have directions on the Martha Stewart website. I bought the beads on Ebay, a bag for 200 (which you really need all of them) for $5 and free shipping. I couldn't find a single craft store that had just the one size I needed in a package. I would have ended up spending $100 just buying the multi-size packs of wood beads.

I absolutely love this necklace from Anthropologie. I bought it, on clearance, which made it still $20, but that is great for Anthropologie. I want to figure out a way to make this myself. The fabric circles would be simple, it is the hardware pieces that would be difficult. Any ideas from anyone on easy ways to do this type of necklace????

I have been collecting up scarves left and right. There is a blog, Tiny Happy, that I love. She is so crafty and everything she does seems so simple yet amazing. She likes to work with scarves and make little coin purses or what not out of them. I have been inspired by her to try it out. I have found most of them at estate sales, and for super cheap. The most I have spent on one was probably $1.

I picked up this sheet of scrapbook paper that is made for you to color which ever way you please. I used oil pastels. I think it turned out beautifully. I am not sure what I will do with it, but I think it is pretty.

I saw this idea in a magazine to hang an empty frame and then a wreath inside of it. I just hung it up quick, not sure if I like the wire showing, but I think it has potential. I believe it was Country Living. Speaking of... has anyone received or seen the December issue yet? I subscribe, but I still haven't gotten it and I can't find it in the store. You would think I would have gotten it a few weeks ago. I am a little concerned. The frame is vintage and I picked it up for $5 and the wreath at an estate sale for $5.

There is a little Christmas bazaar in my area that occurs only twice before Christmas. I always find the cutest vintage Christmas items. This sign is very old, has a few tears on the outside but I had to have it. I think I paid only $3 last year for it. The other plastic sign I bought this year at a Catholic church bazaar for 25 cents. Can't beat that!!!

I just realized this pic was sideways. I do apologize about that. This was a ornament/sign that my Mom picked up for a couple dollars. I thought that it was so cute and would be super easy to make for cheaper than buying it. All you would need is a piece of cardstock, some glitter, and your own handwriting, if it is great unlike mine, or some rub-ons. Tie a ribbon on top to complete the look!

These are a few earrings I have made (before gluing the posts to them). I thought I would try out the MAC eyeshawdow pots to see how they would turn out, and I thought they were pretty cute. I also am a fan of Jem, the 80s/90s cartoon sensation. Had to make a pair of her name and star and also a Christmas tree pair. Thought they all turned out adorbale.

These I painted up awhile ago. It is funny because I have been very interested in learning how to make ATCs. These really are just like ATCs but larger. I have an ATC swap coming up and I am doing it on Las Vegas. I have some ideas, but I really like how this turned out.

I bought three serving spoons at Goodwill for 50 cents each. I bent them, and after seeing it in Country Living, will hang them on the wall as wall hooks. How cute!!! And cheap!!!

I bought this basket I suppose you would call it for all of my yarn. I got it at Goodwill for $8. I thought it was too cute to pass up, and it is fairly large enough to hold all of my yarn. I am slowly getting all of my craft stuff organized.

Just a quick shot of some books on my craft dresser area. I just bought a really old music book, I believe from the 30s. I feel bad about this, but I got it to tear out the pages. I think that they would look lovely on cards, ATCs, anything. I got it for only $2 at an estate sale too. SCORE!

Just another quick shot of my craft area. Getting it cleaned up! I have added a lot more knitting needles to that area. I have quite a collection now. I LOVE glitter too. I got a lot more where that came from!

A little holder for my random items. ATCs, rainbow bookmark, Hello Kitty tape, bottle caps for my altered bottle caps crafts....

Hi! It's me!!!

All of my lace and ribbon. I have so much, I don't know what to do with it all. I picked up the vintage spools at Goodwill for a couple dollars. I thought I would just wrap some ribbon around them to get some use out of them.

I bought these glass containers to put my glitter in. I picked them up at Goodwill for a dollar each. I love the top, easy pour.

I saw this idea too in Country Living. They showed one for sale and I thought that would be so easy to make. I picked up the clipboard at Goodwill for a dollar, bought some cute scrapbook paper at the craft store for 89 cents, traced it and glue it on, and then added a super cute glittery flower sticker that I have had for awhile. I just bought another clipboard so I can make another one with some other paper I have.

Up close picture of the flower sticker. Amy Butler for KC Company I believe? Did I get that right??

My first Button Fairy ever. I think it turned out great for my first one. It is for a holiday button fairy swap. I hope I did it okay for a newbie to the craft. Any thoughts or suggestions???

This is a huge basket full of FREE thread. I picked up on Craigslist. FREE. Again, score!!!

I picked up this original vintage Iron-on Tranfers at an antique store. I can't wait to use them. I picked them up for only $2 each. I just recently have been getting into embroidery, because of Tiny Happy. She just inspires me in so many ways!!!

I collect vintage aprons, and I bought this one today for only $5. I love it. It is my first Christmas apron. I couldn't pass it up.

Also picked up this vintage apron at the same store. $5 again. I have too many now. I just need to find a better way to store them, as you will see in the next photo. It just isn't working out too well.

Got these few adorable items at the same place. A very cute Christmas-y bazaar at a ladies home. Such a nice lady. She had a lot of really cute items. I need to find her on Etsy. I love the vintage pipe cleaners. They are smaller than the pipe cleaners made today and in cute colors.

I bought this basket today for only $8 to put all my fabric in. Of course it only held half that amount I actually own. I bought it at the same place that I got the Christmas signs in my Living Room.

Cute vintage ribbon picked up today at an estate sale. There is something like 30 yards on each roll. All for a couple dollars.

These might be a bit dirty, but after some clean up I can't wait to use them to store photos around the house. These are so hard to find and my Mom and I found four at an estate sale, all 50 cents each. Later I went to the place where I bought the basket above, and they had some there for $5 each. No thanks, I like 50 cents a lot better!

Anyone know anything about Vera scarves? I keep finding them at Estate Sales and they have such great designs on them. I quickly did an ebay search and I found a few going for $20. To cut up or not to cut up....

I found this pretty item in the free bin at an estate sale and I had no idea what it was. To my suprise it held thread, maybe possibly made to hold crochet hooks perhaps? I had to take it.

Hmmmm, not sure why this photo is also sideways. I bought these awhile ago but just came across them and thought I would take a second to mention them. These three patterns are all Cynthia Rowley, who I love, an I got them all for only $1 at Joann's. I generally don't like that store, they rarely have what I need, but that is the only craft store in my town. They were having a sale on patterns and each regulary $17, I got them for $3 together. I can't wait to make them.

I got all my fabric organized. I don't have much, but what I did have was just in a few cardboard boxes on my floor. They are still on the floor, because we have a small house and a lot of stuff, but at least it is organized.

Some cute vintage wrapping paper for $1. I thought it would be cute to use the images of the whole paper to make cards of decorate match boxes. What do you think?

Ugh, again, I saved this photo as upside but it is sideways... I bought this book for 50 cents at our brand new, opened two days ago, St. Vinnies store. It has the cutest images in it. I told my boyfriend I was using it to get ideas for crafts and to cut out of it. He didn't think that was a good idea because it was a neat book. Oh well. I have already been inspired from it. And for only 50 cents, I can find another one somewhere for him to read.

So, this is what my craft area looks like exactly at this moment. Basically it is a dresser that I have put all of my craft stuff in and on top of, and it is in our bedroom right next to my side of the bed. That is the best it is going to get until we move. I think it looks pretty cute though.

This image of my fabric baskets and yarn basket is across from the dresser and on the floor in front of our mirror. I will see how long this will last in this area from my daughter who likes to get into everything. But, until then, it looks nice and organized.

This last image is what is going on, on top of our TV in the living room. I finally found one of those vintage rulers that can fold, and bent it to look like a crown. I made the blocks, what you can see of them, out of wooden blocks and craft paper. They spell out fall. I also made the mini pumpkins (a closer picture is down in my blog a few weeks back) and the tealight holder I bought on clearance at a craft store for $1. It is very Anthropologie.