Keepin' Up With The Tatums

I've Moved!

2011-10-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a while since I blogged here. I've been working on a secret project... a new blog! I decided to switch over to Wordpress. It provides a few more options that I've been wanting plus for just a little $ I can removed the "wordpress.com" from my url. My blog will now be more related to just my business. But from time to time I'll still share a little from my family & friends. Including the "31 Days of Thanksgiving". Be getting ready for that. It'll start soon!

Anyway, come over to my new blog and join me there. Leave comments & let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.

Thanks!

Fall Fairy Earrings

2011-09-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged in a week! But if you follow Duct Tape and Denim on Facebook you'll see what I've been up to lately. I've actually been spending more time on Facebook than my blog. One of the things I've been doing is making jewelry for the September opening of Room With a Past. And the Fall Fairy made her appearance this week, in spite of the 98 degree weather! If you're new to the blog you may wonder who the Fall Fairy is... It's just a fun tradition that I started with my daughter a few years ago. Since I have Tuesdays off (I know, a strange day to have off...), when I was ready to decorate for fall I would send her off to school and then spend the day home by myself and change all my summer decor for fall all in one day. I never tell anyone before or after I do it. I just sit back and wait for their response. I love decorating for fall but I think the family only cares about the candy corn! lol...

I didn't add any new decor this year (at least yet) so I didn't take any photos. But you can see last year's photos here, photos from 2009 are here, and 2008 are here. If you have any new decorating ideas for fall please let me know. Send me links!

In honor of the Fall Fairy's appearance I created the pumpkin earrings you see above. I will be giving them away to one of my Facebook followers (Duct Tape And Denim, not my personal FB acct). If you don't already "like" me you can visit my page here.

My Dirty Little Secret...

2011-08-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

"fOuNd nO. oNe"

Hoarders is one of my favorite TV shows. Jordy & I love watching it together. We have to watch it when Glenn's not home. He can't even stand to be within hearing range while we're watching it! It is disgusting at times but somehow we got hooked on watching it.

I think I must have a little "hoarder" in me, too. I love collecting things and am always thinking about how I can reuse them.

"fOuNd nO. tHrEe"

I have challenged myself with this latest collection of jewelry. I call it "fOuNd". I am trying to use up all the little things I've collected or had leftover from other projects.

"fOuNd nO. tWo"

I have trouble deciding which is my favorite. Usually I pick this one. I love this old clock face and I love the style of this key.

I was going to save this one for Halloween but thought someone might want it now so I listed it, too.

There are a couple of other things that I enjoy about watching Hoarders. 1) Spending time with my daughter and 2) it makes us both want to clean house!

You are Invited to my Virtual Party!

2011-08-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

My sister is a stay-at-home mom that recently started selling Lilla Rose hair accessories. I loved the way they looked but I have been even more impressed with them after I got one. So I'm hosting a virtual party!

They are extremely well made and comfortable. I like putting my hair up in the summer and have been using those cheap plastic claw clips. But if you wear those you know that they're not always comfortable... especially when you're in the car or sit in certain chairs and the claws dig into the back of your head.

There is a size for every type of hair. Here's my cutie little niece wearing a fairy clip -- not sure if that's a small or extra small. I wear an extra small because my hair is very fine.

We had a little hair party while we were visiting back in Texas. Got to try the different styles & sizes.

Here's my daughter. Her hair is NOT fine. She has LOTS and LOTS of CURLY hair. This is a medium size clip just for her half-up but it is a little loose. She chose this clip with wooden beads on it. She can also twist her hair and hold it up with this one.

Here's my beautiful sister's dark, thick hair (notice I didn't say anything about the silver hair... lol). These are "You pins". This is such a beautiful & simple do.

BTW, did I tell you about the "silver hair" I found last week? I was so upset every time I got into the car I had to double check if I was seeing gray hairs or if it was just the sun reflecting.

My niece again... it's hard to get her still long enough to get a photo that's not blurry. This is a large clip for her ballerina bun. Keeps it all in place while she's dancing.

And my sister's best friend... more thick, beautiful hair!!! These are the hair sticks. Another simple do that looks amazing!

They also have hairbands and bobby pins. If you see me this week I'll have some print catalogs for you to look at and I'll try to have my flexi-clip with me so you can see the quality of it, too. I think I'll wear it to work tomorrow!

My virtual party is going on until September 4. Please go by and take a look. Thanks for supporting a stay-at-home mom & a home business!!!

2011-08-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is opening night at Room With a Past! It doesn't seem like a month since this last sale. They go by so fast! I made some changes this month. Actually, I make changes every month but this time the changes are a little bigger. Tell me what you think...

First of all, I removed one of the shelves, giving me a taller space in the middle. I've had trouble displaying some of my longer necklaces so hopefully this will help. And no jewelry on the sides this month. Remember my UFO? There's the finished object on the side of my shelf.

I also have a new neighbor behind me. She sells jewelry, too. Her's is a little more steampunk than mine. Other than that, there wasn't much else set up to photograph when I was there.

Middle shelf: My longer necklaces fit better here. And I'm something else new -- instead of putting all the earrings together I'm displaying them near a matching necklace or bracelet so you can see how they might go together.

Right side of middle shelf: There are the only (tiny) globes that Glenn didn't get for his office. I kind of combined the travel & back to school themes.

Top shelf: I haven't had many skeleton key necklaces the past few months. They usually sell pretty quick for me. But I found more this month and tried out some new styles. This was one of my favorites. I love this color of freshwater pearls!

Bottom shelf: Those vintage books for teachers that I love! Lovely sketch of the Eiffel Tower drawn by the world famous Jordy! Number playing cards, measuring tape, and something new this month -- map shapes - hearts, circles, birds, and butterflies!

Bottom shelf: There's jewelry for every price range this month! And more of the floral headbands.

Middle shelf: One of my girls' favorites -- cameos! Plus Boy & Girl Scout books.

More of the top shelf: Still some turquoise left.

Hope you can make it out to the "Room" this month. I'll be working Saturday 10-2 so come see me! If you can't make it I'll be bringing some of the jewelry to work next week and listing a few pieces on Etsy as I have time.

But I don't have too much time to do that. I've already had several requests for the ruler & faucet jewelry that was featured in GreenCraft Magazine so I'll be working on that soon, too!

What Didn't Make the Cut for RWAP

2011-08-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

Had to work yesterday so my schedule for the week is a little off. I'm probably gonna think this is Thursday all day today. But it's still only Wednesday!

I sat up my shelves at the "Room" this weekend and took lots of pictures. I was going to post them but I'll wait 'til tomorrow -- opening day!

This month was supposed to be a travel theme and one of the things I've been shopping for is globes. I found a few & brought them home. But they're not going to make it into the shop. Glenn has commandeered them! He loves them. Now they are decorating his study area at home. So, here are some photos of items that WON'T be at Room With a Past this weekend!

Globe bookends - now holding up Glenn's books. In front of the maps that I framed for his wall and right beside the Eiffel Tower. (The dog is Glenn's addition to the decor.)

More globes...

This is upstairs on the landing. I'm almost glad these things didn't fit in the shelves. The lovely fire hose nozzle that my bil IDed for me. It is very heavy, brass I think. The black part it's sitting on isn't part of it, it's a very interesting frog.

And my favorite find from Texas, the lunchbox. My sis & sil talked me into buying that in Waxahachie. Would have been great for my spot... combining travel AND back-to-school.

And a collection of smalls that didn't make it into the shop will be decorating the bottom shelf in my hall this month. BTW, I picked and dried that lavender myself!

Oh, I do have lots of those little definition cards. Let me know if you want some. I probably would have room to add a few packs of those to my shelf. Some of the words are so funny to me!

Come back tomorrow and you can see what DID make it into the Room.

Books Should Be Made of Paper

2011-08-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Carmen Moreno.

For as long as I can remember I have loved reading books. I still have books that my parents read to me when I was little, many of my childrens' picture books, the Little House on the Prairie series that we each read 4-5 times, my own favorites that I love enough to read again, and LOTS of books that I'm saving for my nieces, nephews, and future grandchildren. We are still a book-loving familly (Glenn read 6 books just last week!)... but now there is a conflict. My husband has an ipad and has discovered ibooks! He loves them but there's something disturbing about that trend to me.

Photo courtesy of http://selinalake.blogspot.com/.

I think it reminds me of Star Trek. Much of our technology seems to be beyond what they had now! But remember how Captain Kirk had an antique book and pair of reading glasses?

I heard recently that Amazon.com now sells more ebooks that physical books. And our Borders recently closed. I'm guessing because people aren't buying books anymore. Where am I going to sit and read and drink coffee now?

Well, I'm still buying books! And reading them. And decorating with them. I'm sharing some of my favorite book photos from Pinterest. Don't just leave your books on the shelf. Stack them on tables or the floor, lay them on the coffee table, open them to your favorite part...

As you saw in a recent post, I'll have some books available for sale on my shelves at Room With a Past next week. There are some great titles for teachers! This photo below was one of my favorites. Reminds me of when I used to read paperbacks in the tub and they'd get all soggy. You can't do that with an ipad! :-)

I'll leave you with a quote from Ray Bradbury and let you make up your own mind about ebooks/ibooks, ‎"(in response to Kindle) Those aren’t books. You can’t hold a computer in your hand like you can a book. A computer does not smell. There are two perfumes to a book. If a book is new, it smells great. If a book is old, it smells even better. It smells like ancient Egypt. A book has got to smell. You have to hold it in your hands and pray to it. You put it in your pocket and you walk with it. And it stays with you forever. But the computer doesn’t do that for you. I’m sorry."

Photo from kohler.com

Vintage Key Necklaces & an Update on Margie

2011-08-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

I just listed these in my Etsy shop... except for the one I decided to keep for myself. Then I couldn't figure out why I just listed them since I'm going to take them out this weekend to set up my space in the Room. So they'll be in my Etsy shop for just a few days, then they'll go to Room with a Past for the next sale.

I haven't written an update on Margie lately. Physically she seems to be doing very well. And as I've told some of you before, her illness (vascular dementia) isn't a steady downward trip. It's more like stairsteps. I think she went down another step while we were in Texas. She was doing well before we left. Usually she could remember that we were going, just not when. She would ask us up to 5 times in one visit when we were leaving. We were gone on a Sunday and Glenn called her that Sunday morning. She thought I was going to come pick her up for church. Glenn told her we were still in Texas and she was surprised to hear that we were there.

Since then she has been very confused. Every time I've seen her she tells me that she's very tired because they had to go somewhere to take showers the night before. One day when Glenn & Jordy were with her she insisted that she takes showers in the building next door. Glenn took her down to the bathroom and asked her if that was the place. "No." She took him by the hand and told him that she would show him. She went outside, around the wall, and into the parking lot next door. Nothing there. She was confused but still refused to believe that she showers in the same building.

When I was visiting with her she asked me how far away from this place she lives. I had to tell her that she lives in that room down the hall. She's worried that Glenn and I won't be able to find her one day. So every time we talk to her we remind her that we always know where she is and that we talk to Hazel and know what's going on with her all the time.

She still remembers her son's names (although sometimes Glenn is George) and her brother's name. But sometimes she doesn't call their wives or children by their names, just "his wife" or "their daughter." She also asked Glenn how long it has been since George died and how he and her mother died.

Thank you to everyone who asks about how she's doing. There are some things you can pray for too:

that the VA will approve her for funds that will help pay her living expenses there
that she won't be worried about us not being able to find her
her health (which seems to be very good at this time)
her other sons who aren't able to visit with her now because of their own health problems
for Hazel and her other caregivers (we are VERY thankful for them!)

A UFO

2011-08-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

No, not a flying saucer... an UnFinished Object! A project I need to work on this weekend. Have a great weekend!!!

Back-to-School Books

2011-08-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the next sale at Room With a Past already! I love decorating with books and I'm always looking for books with interesting titles. My favorite is, Mental Hygiene in Teaching!

Run, Don't Walk, to the Nearest Bookstore!

2011-08-01T03:22:00.000-07:00

Friday I came home from working late, opened my mailbox, & found my advance copy of GreenCraft Magazine!!! I wrote TWO articles for this one. And I got a surprise -- they included two more of my projects that I didn't even know where going to be in it. I don't want to spoil everything by showing you all the photos & articles but this is what the cover looks like and the photo below is one of the surprises.

The official date for the mag is August 1 but sometimes it takes stores a few days to get them in. I have found them before at JoAnn's, Michaels, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.

What You Might Find on a Sidewalk in Berkeley

2011-07-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

Remember our trip to Berkeley several weeks ago? We were walking down the sidewalk between antique stores and saw a sign that said, "FREE". Behind it was a stack of furniture and 4 black shutters. I couldn't believe that someone was giving all that away. It's a good thing I didn't have a truck or a garage or lots more would have come home with me, too.

Today I cleaned them up a bit, took off the hinges, & added hangers to the back. Jordy helped me hang them.

BTW, what do you think of our bench? lol... The table is new. We had to take the back seat of the van out to get it in. Then when we moved the table in we sat down & decided to leave the van seat there so everyone would have a place to sit until we found more seating.

So let me know if you have a bench for sale. Maybe I should go back to Berkeley and see if I can find a free bench on the sidewalk!

A New Bracelet

2011-07-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

We did ALL our back-to-school shopping in one day today. I'm ready for bed now. But I did want to share one photo of a bracelet that I listed in my Etsy shop. I have more to list but it will probably take me a while to get to them all. Maybe I can do one a day?

July at Room With a Past - part 2

2011-07-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

Aileen's spot is as beautiful as ever!

I'm out of town but my space at Room With a Past is set up for the sale. It starts tonight and goes through Sunday. Don't miss it!!! While everyone is putting last minute touches on the Room today I'll be junquing with my sister, sil, & dd. Picture from our shopping day probably won't get posted 'til I get back next week.

A close up of Lisa's space.

Lisa's corner.

I was tempted to buy this before the sale even started!

And here's another sneak peek of my shelf.

July at Room With a Past

2011-07-18T03:29:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation but I've scheduled a few blog posts for while I'm gone. I'll be in Texas visiting family, sightseeing, and doing a little junquing with the girls of the family. I'll post some photos when I get back.

The first official day of my vacation was busy. Since I won't be here next week I had to have my space in the Room all set up. Jordy helped me. She's great at staging and photographing my stuff. The photos on this post are from my iPhone. Her's are much better... I probably should have waiting for her to upload them.

Then we went by & walked with some ladies from my office for the Walnut Creek Relay for Life. After that we did some other errands & picked up Margie. She was having a good day... just kept repeating herself. This will be the first time since she's been out here that we've all been gone at the same time.

Remember this 'thing' I bought in Berkeley? I told ya I'd be using it. It was almost too wide for my shelf but we got it in there.

Lots of blue this month. I'm really liking turquoise for summer.

Wow, I just noticed that it looks like my tags are coming off. If any Roomies read this, would y'all go by my shelf & stick them down for me? Thanks!

What's left of the rhinestone bracelets after my custom order last week.

I sewed up some little packets full of shells and named them after local beaches that we've been to.

Blue books, shells, and a measuring tape cuff. Wish you could see the photo of the girl in the vintage swim suit in the candle holder! I like books with unique and fun titles!

I love numbers, too. Have a few more packs of 1938 playing cards and measuring tape.

That flower on top is missing already... it showed up in Jordy's hair after we left. :-) Her payment for helping me set up.

And a big thanks to Deb for filling in for me at the sale next week!!!

Guess what? You can 'like' Room with a Past on Facebook, too! And if you 'like' them, you can 'like' me, too.

Custom Orders for Measuring Tape Jewelry

2011-07-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

On top of all our other activities this week, I've had two custom orders that I've been working on. The first was a measuring tape choker for another cosigner at Room With a Past. She has bought a bracelet and necklace from me before. One day in the shop we were just messing around and she said, "Hey, I could almost wear this around my neck." Then she decided it really was a good idea and asked me to make one for her. It's not something I could wear myself. I tried it on and having things that close to my neck would bother me. But it's gonna look cute on her! I'll see if she'll share a photo of her wearing it. The long chains are a necklace I made & like to wear myself. I forgot about it being in the photo.

The next custom order was for a batch of bracelets from the owner of Red Barn Boutique in Stillwater, Oklahoma. They have semi-annual sales. You can follow them on Facebook and if you're nearby you can go see my bracelets in person!

BTW, don't forget you can follow me on Facebook, too!

Most of these & others will be going to Stillwater, OK! If you'd like something special, please let me know.
I love doing custom orders!

Where Bloggers Create Party 2011 - The Evolution of a Craft Room

2011-07-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

The right side of my room. The shelf unit from IKEA holds my books, cigar
boxes full of supplies, baskets, frames, & other projects waiting for me.
I stage the top with items going into the next RWAP sale. Large items on
back wall are waiting for the next parking lot sale. The small basket on
the floor is handy for taking projects from room to room.

I've been looking forward to this party. Karen Valentine, from **My Desert Cottage**, hosts this blog party every year. I love to see how everyone stores their supplies and makes room in their homes for crafting & blogging.

You may want to check out my craft "room" last year. Not much room in my "room". But since then I've moved into my now-married daughter's old bedroom. She just left last week after a month long visit so it hasn't quite been restored yet.

Right side, jewelry desk. Left side, sewing/paper crafts desk. Bulletin
board holds old necklaces that I'm going to repurpose. Glenn put the
peg board up when this was his music room but it's great for storage.

So, decision time... do I clean my room and show you how it should be? or do I let you see the real deal?

I decided to be real with you. This is my craft room without any changes to it. Sorry about the dark photos. The room is pretty dark & I wasn't using my daughter's good camera for these. :-(

These are the two "partner desks" I mentioned in an earlier post. The one on the left is a basic IKEA desk. I try to keep it semi-clean so I can sew or lay out projects on it. The right one was bought at a garage sale but has drawers. It's my jewelry desk.

This is what my jewelry desk looks like. This is pretty normal. I don't ever clean it. People ask me how I find time to be creative or where I get my ideas. This is my secret. I just buy stuff that I like and leave it out on my desk. Sometimes I'll see things laying next to each other that I never would have thought about putting together. It's also easy to go work on something when I just have a few minutes. I am very thankful that my hubby let's me use this space!

I buy unique boxes & baskets when I find them, too. This one was once a drawer from an old sewing machine. I keep my measuring tapes, chains, and other trims in it now.

My Dremel stays out on my desk, too. One of my favorite Christmas presents from last year!

And since my hubby is now a blogger I'll show you where he is creative, too. Here's his blog. He's a musician so he has a different kind of mess than I do. He was using the extra bedroom upstairs but decided that I needed it more. And he likes to work downstairs with us. So we fit him into the awkward area under the stairs. He likes maps & globes so I've been collecting them to decorate his space. I made the map collage on the right. BTW, there are two desks here, too, facing each other. You can see the back of our family iMac on the right. The shelf unit is the same one from IKEA that I have in my room. Just a different color. There's usually either a ukelele or a keyboard sitting on the top of it. Don't know where it was that day.

Hope you enjoyed seeing how my creative space changed since last year. I expect it to be much different next year, too. I already have some ideas and plan to be at the "Where Bloggers Create 2012." Come back then to see how the room has evolved through the year. But don't wait until next year to come back for a visit. Follow my blog through Google or email, follow me on Pinterest, "like" me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter. Take some time and visit all the other blogs in the party, too. Thanks for reading!!!

Where Bloggers Create 2011

2011-07-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

My Desert Cottage
I'll be participating in the "Where Bloggers Create 2011" party on Friday so come back to see photos of my spaces. If you want to see the spaces from last year's party, click here.

Back to Petaluma

2011-07-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Jordy & I went back to Petaluma. Summer Cottage had a booksigning with Fifi O'Neill who wrote Romantic Prairie Style. I finally got my copy. It's a beautiful book. Jordy & I were trying to decide which styles we are on the way home. I think she decided that she is "elegant prairie" and I am "vintage prairie."

But before we went to Summer Cottage we walked through some of the other shops. We saw Jesus at the first shop! He was almost life-sized. Well, I guess not life-sized for Jesus... but almost 4 feet tall.

I showed her the shop with all the French antiques. Love it, but too far out of our price range.

Then we went to have an early lunch at Petaluma Pie but they were closed!!! One of my main reasons for taking Jordy back. So we have to plan another trip back now. Maybe we can bring a few of you who wanted to go with us last week but were out of town.

We finally made it to Summer Cottage Antiques. It was crowded. Looked like lots of people getting their books signed. So we shopped for a while, talked to Michelle (who's cabin is in the book!), and got her permission to take some photos.

We saw more bedsprings. I still love those. But Glenn would really think that I've lost it if I ever came home with a set.

Jordy had a tray full of goodies.

This room reminded me of Texas. Lots of rust & tin. SE, you've done some projects with tin. Think you can make one of these?

This sign reminded me of my niece, Elizabeth.

Even saw a bowl full of dust brooms.

If you like the fabrics in Romantic Prairie Style, 52 Flea is having a giveaway over at her blog!

Sorry about the jumbled photos. Blogger was giving me problems today.

Before She Left...

2011-07-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

One of the things I enjoyed with Lauren while she was here was sharing my "partner's desks" with her. (It's not actually a partner's desk... just two desks we set up facing each other. You'll see them Friday when I join the "Where Blogger's Create" party.)

One afternoon I was busy with jewelry on my side. When I looked up, this is what I saw. Lauren had completely covered my lamp with Scrabble tile magnets. Do you see the message?

She's down in L.A. right now. Tomorrow she'll head back to Canada to rejoin her hubby.

I'm Almost Back...

2011-07-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

I hate summer colds! All week I've felt like I need to be tucked under a blanket, eating soup, and sipping hot tea -- even though it's been hot & sunny outside.

I'm feeling a little better now but still having trouble breathing.

I've got to get better this week! A week from tomorrow we leave for Texas and I have to be completely set up at Room With a Past before we go since the sale will be the week I'm gone.

And Tuesday Jordy & I will be going up to Summer Cottage Antiques in Petaluma for their booksigning. Fifi O'neill will be there to sign her new book, Romantic Prairie Style.

I have listed a couple of new things in my Etsy shop, including these vintage button earrings.

Here's What We Bought on Our Antiquing Adventures in Berkeley

2011-07-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

Actually, this is just a part of what I bought...

This little display stand is what I was most excited about. Judging from the labels on it (patchouli, maddipal, citronella, sandal, musk, jasmine, etc) I'm assuming it was made for incense sticks. But I think it'll be great for displaying my bracelets!

Also bought a straw hat to decorate for when I work at RWAP. After last week when I got sunburned at the parking lot sale I think I need a wider brim!

The clear plastic bottles in the photo above and these little goodies came from a Japanese dollar store. I'll show you later what we're doing with the plastic bottles. I needed jute to tie up my monster tomato plants (not yet on my neighbor's side of the fence, but close) and I love the Japanese craft tapes!

I also love the Japanese/French labeling. I think these roses may go on the straw hat.

These old microfiche boxes came from the East Bay Reuse Depot. I guess the library doesn't need microfiche copies of the New York Times anymore. It was filled with the individual boxes that I'll be reusing to ship my jewelry orders from Etsy.

Lauren found another frog for me.

And lots of little bits for jewelry! Great embossed wrapping paper from the Japanese store. And a lovely old reindeer that wanted to come home with me. We found it in the scary out building at the antique shop I mentioned yesterday. I brought it up to the lady at the front. At first she told me $1.00. Then she said, "Oh, it's got a broken leg. You can have it for 50... oh, you can just have it. I'll catch you next time." A little superglue and he'll be as good as new.

And it's all on our new dining table! I'll have to take a picture of that for you, too. It's decorated right now for our Canada Day party.

Our Antiquing Adventure in Berkeley

2011-07-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

I just had to share these pictures with you. I wasn't expecting to take photos today so I didn't bring my camera. These were all taken on my phone with very little editing. Not bad, but not as good as I would like for my blog readers!

The girls and I decided to go shopping in Berkeley today. We went to "the best thrift store in the Bay area first." I wasn't too impressed. Then we went to Naan N Curry. The most delicious naan I have ever had -- garlic! I had some kind of chicken curry but I don't even remember what it was called.

We walked around for a while enjoying the eclecticness of Berkeley then went back to an antique shop we saw. It was UNBELIEVEABLE!!! I had a handful of goodies, all unpriced, and the cute little owner said, "How about $10.00?" I'll show you what I got tomorrow.

Then her son said, "There's more around back if you want to look." So here we go around the back... The truck was the first sign of what was to come.

Don't run!

Behind that sign was a stack of tricycles and big metal Tonka trucks.

There were body parts all over the place in the back yard! Signs, furniture, benches, and several out buildings. Not to mention what was hanging from the trees, which I didn't even take pictures of. Including a carnival horse!

We had met another customer inside. He reminded me a little of grandpa. He saw a "Turtle Crossing" sign that Jordy had in her hand and told her that if she didn't buy it he would. Seems he has a pond full of turtles and they keep crossing the street. So she gave up her sign to save the turtles! He didn't look like the kind of guy that would be buying doilies, but that's what he was looking for.

He called over to us "Didn't one of you have a camera? You've got to come in here & take a picture... I think that's a Rolls Royce!" Yep, right behind the sofa and underneath the deer head.

Lots of architectural salvage, too. I kept thinking -- "Hope there's not an earthquake while we're here. They may never find us."

Jordy liked all the windows.

The other outbuildings were stacked high with furniture.

This is just ONE of the huge stacks of chairs that caused Jordy's Facebook status earlier today.

We felt like we were in an episode of either American Pickers or Hoarders!

Then we went over to another of my favorite stores, The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse. You never know what you'll find here. The store is aimed at school teachers and has lots of leftover supplies.

These bins reminded me of church before VBS. You can buy egg cartons, tp rolls, lids, baby food jars, etc. Everything sorted very neatly and really pretty clean.

There were also shelves of games and books. A teacher's dream. Lauren bought some books for 25c each.

I think that's enough pictures for today. Tomorrow I'll show you some of the goodies we bought.

Surprised by Somerset Life

2011-06-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

I was a little surprised to find the July/August issue of Somerset Life in JoAnn's already this morning. Magazines were on sale this week so I bought it. It was a rainy day here so both daughters & I were laying on the bed this afternoon reading magazines when Jordy asked, "Mom, didn't you make something that looked exactly like this?" I took a look and squealed, "Those ARE mine!"

I love surprises like that. I just wish I had known before I bought it. If I do get a copy in the mail I may have a giveaway on my blog!

Key Rings & Charms... And a Coupon!

2011-06-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

These were my new item in the shop this month. I've bought several large lots of keys to make my skeleton key necklaces. The lots always seem to have some of these flat keys in them so I was playing around with a way to use them.

These charms can be clipped onto your purse, key chain, zipper, necklace, etc.

Everything is old & vintage except the clip iteself.

These with the TINY cameos were my very favorite! Thanks to Bumbershoot Supplies for these!

This tiny floral cabochon also came from Bumbershoot. Sorry for the blurry photos. I forgot to take pictures of these before I took them to the Room so I had to use my iphone & the lighting wasn't so great inside.

And, just for Jordy, I'm trying to add more color!

I have these and alot more to add to my Etsy shop but I'd like to clean out some of what I still have there. I finally figured out how to create a coupon code so now I can offer 30% off to all my blogger friends when you use this coupon code at checkout: BLOGGER30. You can see what's left in the shop here.