Something Created Everyday

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2012 - February

2012-02-26T10:05:00.014-08:00

As most of you who Follow my blog have realized by now, I have been in a creative slump. Blame it on being busy at work or freelance design jobs or life in general but I just haven't had the inspiration to create anything in a while.

Well leave it to the every-inspiring Tim Holtz to come along with the perfect kick start to get the creative juices flowing. He has started the 12 Tags of 2012. Check it out and join along if you are so inspired.

Starting with his tags as the inspiration, my goal will be to create all of these tags using thrifted and vintage elements as much as possible although I have a ton of his product to include as well.

The February Tag:

I began with pink cardstock that I embossed with the Valentine Background Texture Fade. I rubbed wax over the raised words then sprayed it with Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist. The wax acted as a resist to the Glimmer Mist. I wanted to highlight the letters a little more so I used a brayer and rolled on white acrylic paint in some areas.

I die cut the cupid out of Grunge Paper using the Love Struck die by Sizzix. I painted it with red acrylic and added some thrifted glitter.

Tim used two strips of the Vintage Lace Decorative Strip die cut but because I used real Scrabble Tiles for the words I didn't have enough room to place two strips on my tag. So I added one strip along the bottom as a decorative edge.

I made this Vintage Lace decorative edge by using a sheet of thrifted vintage music. It was too fragile to be used alone so I applied some Tissue Tape along the back to add stability before I die cut it. I further "aged" the sheet music with Tea Dyed Distress Ink.

Because the Heart was the focal point of the tag and I didn't have the honeycomb paper that he used I had to dig through my thrifted stash. I found a silver heart and hand-gathered some old lace into a ruffle to go around the heart.

I had the Trinket Pin and the Philosophy Tag in my stash. Among my thrifted treasures I found a vintage earring that added the perfect finishing sparkle to the piece.

I attached the Scrabble tiles in a crooked manner because I liked the playful appearance. The cupid is attached using glue dots that raise it above the card surface for a little dimension.

This has been a great inspiration to get back into the art of creating something everyday. Thanks Tim!

This is linked to:
Craft Envy, Home Savvy A to Z, Homemaker on a Dime, I {heart} Naptime, Marvelously Messy, Sew Can Do, Singing Three Little Birds, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative and The Southern Institute

Opposite Day at Estate Sales

2012-02-25T18:08:00.006-08:00

We went to two very different estate sales today. The first one was in a large old house. We signed up and waited. The estate sale company opened the door and let everyone rush in. It was chaotic but the worst part was that there was absolutely nothing worth buying in the house. The best part was seeing the inside of this house. It even had a basement which is rare in Southern California.

The second sale was almost the exact opposite. It was held in a small, old bungalow. We were allowed in according to the sign up sheet in an orderly fashion. The house was packed with goodies at great prices.

My favorite find was another ceramic glove mold. The new find is on the left. The one on the right is from the sale in Hollywood.

Keeping with the "hand" theme, we found these glass hand trinket dishes.

I didn't know what this mechanical metal woodpecker was at first until someone told me that it was a toothpick grabber. The bird tips down and grabs a toothpick in its beak.

We also found more sewing supplies. I found a sewing basket filled with spools as well as several different vintage advertising sewing kits. Plus I found this button jar that I haven't had a chance to sort through yet.

The last item is this decorative, chippy cast iron garden lantern. It was originally a pale blue but is now chippy and rusty and oh so lovely. I will be putting this and some of the other items into my Stuff To Treasure store soon so please check it out if you're interested.

The other part of the Opposite Day was in the people we met at these sales. We met a nice man while waiting for the first sale. We saw him again at the second sale and even left the sale at about the same time. When Dear Handyman and I got to the car we couldn't find the key. The nice man asked what was wrong so we told him. He actually remembered seeing Dear Handyman drop something in the garage area so he ran back inside and found the key for us. Wishing you good karma dear sir!

At this same second sale there was a woman who stood in a doorway looking at jewelry and blocking all passage. As I stood there asking her if she would please let me pass, another man, who obviously knew her from previous sales, said "Oh she won't move for anybody" then he shoved her aside to pass and the woman didn't even acknowledge him. I would no sooner intentionally block a doorway, ignore a polite request nor shove someone aside which meant I had to move a small table and squeeze by. What a strange encounter.

Karma rocks! I hope everyone had a great thrifting day.

This is linked to:

Apron Thrift Girl, Cherished Treasures, Coastal Charm, Her Library Adventures and Hey What's For Dinner Mom?

I've Been Under The Weather But Still Thrifting

2012-02-19T15:52:00.006-08:00

Last weekend found me feeling under the weather with a cold. I'm feeling better but not quite at the top of my "thrifting" game. This weekend we only went to two sales and both of them were second day sales.

My favorite find was a Bottlebrush Tree still in the 1960s original box. The box is printed with fluorescent colors. The tree originally came with electric lights but are missing on mine. I never realized that old bottlebrush trees might have come in boxes and with electric lights {especially considering the center of the tree is metal}. It is also interesting that the fluorescent inks on the package have stayed bright and yet the tree seems to have faded to a mellow tan color.

My other favorite find was this egg crate found inside a barn. I just couldn't resist this with the metal label from a California egg farm.

I have a fondness for vintage hankies and especially for souvenir State hankies.

Panama

Americana "Good night"

We found this small shaker jar. It has larger slits in the top so I'm not sure what it dispensed originally. I plan to fill it with glitter.

I found this nice Westclock alarm clock. I liked the dark face which made it stand out.

The last goodie we found was a stash of vintage honeycomb decorations. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these just yet. One piece is marked "Made in Denmark" {Hello again Lisbet!}

I hope everyone had a wonderful thrifting weekend.

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Brambleberry Cottage, Cherished Treasures, Common Ground, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, Junker Newbie, Mod Vintage Life, Tales From Bloggeritaville and The Thrifty Groove

Decorating with Dominoes

2012-02-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

This is a knock-off decorating idea from PB. I saw this in the background of a catalog photo and thought it was a perfect way to use vintage, thrifted dominoes.

These are heavy, plastic dominoes lined up on the windowsill. It is a very subtle display but just right for an out-of-the-way window.

The old dominoes were actually a very pristine creamy white so I wanted them to look a little more distressed. I lightly applied Alcohol Ink in the Latte color to give them a more aged character.

The two on the left are in their original state and the three on the right have the Alcohol ink applied.

Taking Care of Business {and a bit of thrifting}

2012-02-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

We had some "grown-up" business to take care of today which meant very little time for thrifting. We did sneak in one sale and found a couple of fun items.

My favorite find were Pushcards from around the 1940s. These were a type of lottery game card where the cardboard spots were punched out. What a great piece of ephemera to use in some projects.

We also found an unused paper garland with butterflies and flowers. This will probably go in my store so I won't open it but I thought it looked cheerful and bright.

This is a souvenir glass from Arizona. I can tell it is old because it is politically incorrect by today's standards. The glass is frosted with touristy scenes of Arizona around the cup.

The last item is a glass flower frog. It has a wide glass bowl that holds the frog tightly in place. This would be a unique way to hold make up brushes, art supplies or even flowers.

I'll try to post some of these items in my Stuff to Treasure store tomorrow. I hope everyone had a nice thrifty day.

Thrifty Crafters Are Trendsetters!

2012-01-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

I just got back from opening day at CHA {Craft and Hobby Association} Winter tradeshow. It is the largest tradeshow for the crafting industry. I can only describe it as fun, exciting, entertaining and enlightening.

I admit that I am a bit star-struck by the famous crafter/bloggers in the industry. The first favorite person I saw was Tim Holtz. He is so popular that I got just a quick hello and then he was off talking to the retailers.

I was lucky enough to get to spend more time and walk the floor with Karen Burniston. She is such a talented designer and such a beautiful person.

I also had the pleasure of spending some time with Eileen Hull. I attended a seminar on Industry Trends where she was one of the guest speakers.

So it turns out that the combination of thrifting, crafting and upcycling is the predicted hot trend right now. I really didn't expect to hear that something I thought was a fun hobby would turn out to be a trend. But as I walked the show floor I saw examples of this trend repeated on many booths. Many companies used old "junk" as display props and even as a line of scrapbooking paper.

So enjoy the photos of some of the displays around CHA in lovely Anaheim, California.

The first batch of photos are from Tim Holtz's displays at the Ranger and Sizzix booths. Look at all of the wonderful vintage treasures.

These Putz houses are new from Melissa Frances. They will come as a kit where you would assemble the houses and then decorate them. They would also include the bottlebrush trees. I don't know when these will be available in stores but I so want these!

Below is an example of how October Afternoon displayed a vintage typewriter in their booth.

BoBunny had an entire line of product called Weekend Market. The printed scrapbooking paper has images of things you would find at garage sales or flea markets. See the scales, postage stamps and ruler papers? Again, I don't know when these will be in stores but they are very cool.

The seminar on Industry Trends also highlighted the fact that because of this down economy, people are returning to the idea of reusing what they already have. They used the term "Granny Chic" as in returning to the things we remember that our grandmothers had but repurposing them in a modern way. An example would be, maybe we remember grandma's tea cozy but we don't drink as much tea. How about an iPad cozy instead, using the same techniques and fabrics as what grandma had.

I walked away realizing that I am part of the Trendsetters. For the first time in my life, I am on the cutting edge even if it means I got there by way of a lot of old junk. So anyone who thrifts and/or crafts with thrifted items should realize that you are setting an industry trend!

Perfect Garage Sale Weather

2012-01-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

Winter in Southern California = 81 degrees, t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops. Perfect weather for some garage sales. We only went to two sales because we found some really fun treasures and decided to relax for the rest of the day.

My absolute favorite find was a vintage string of Christmas lights with little Spun-head and chenille stick winged angels. These are so amazingly sweet.

At one garage sale I was two steps behind a woman who was buying for her local antique shop. She picked up every vintage toy the seller had. I was able to find just a couple of items that she missed. One was a Fisher-Price toy lunch box. It is missing the toy thermos but was instead, filled with little doll accessories. I liked the little toy clothes hangers.

I found two boxes of paper dolls from 1942. I used to love paper dolls. These are great because the paper clothes are classic 1942 styles.

I found two children's records from 1950 by Remington Records Inc. The graphics on both the covers and the records were so interesting. There are also three smaller records that are made out of very thin vinyl.

I couldn't resist these 1960s era prints of the little girls from the Northern Tissue packaging illustrated by Frances Hook. These just brought back a flood of memories. I remember my mother must have sent away for a set because we had a set safely put away in a box {I don't know where they went.}

This last item is a cardboard and metal cookie bucket by the Sunshine Biscuit company. There is something about a vintage bucket that says "Toy" that catches my attention.

I also found more buttons and spools which will just get added to my growing collection.

Off to enjoy the warm sunshine. Hope everyone is having a great thrifting day.

Biscuit Tin Organizer and CHA Preparations

2012-01-25T21:31:00.000-08:00

I've had a couple of vintage biscuit tins sitting around just looking pretty. I knew they made great storage solutions but with a bit of luck I discovered the perfect use for them.

If you're a paper crafter then you know that some scrapbooking supplies come in 12"x 12" sizes. Papers are easy to organize by theme or color but what do you do with things like 12" Grungepaper or 12" stencils or 12" chipboard alphabet sheets?

I discovered that they will fix perfectly in a biscuit tin. The larger sheets are in back and the smaller, bulky items fit in front.

My biscuit tin is sitting on a wooden stool that was my chair when I was a toddler. I like that it places the container higher so that I can tuck some sewing supplies underneath.

The two strawberry canisters hold vintage millinery supplies. On the wall to the right are some of my Tilt Bins holding items like acid free drawing ink and Glimmer Mist. I'm slowly but happily organizing my studio.

On a personal note: I finally completed the two catalogs, 47 packages and three booklets for Tim Holtz's new Sizzix lines for CHA {Craft and Hobby Association trade show} this weekend. This should explain why I haven't had the energy to do very many creative projects on my blog recently. I love working with Tim but his "creative genius" brain keeps me hopping. {Luv ya t!m} Hopefully I'll get my studio organized and be back making projects soon.

And in a few days I'll be at CHA in Anaheim, California and have a chance to meet up with some talented friends from the crafting industry. Hopefully I will get some great sneak peek photos of what is new and trending in the crafting world. It is very exciting!

This is linked to:
Coastal Charm, It's a Very Cherry World, Mod Vintage Life, Savvy Southern Style, Tales From Bloggeritaville, The Thrifty Home, Thrifty Decorating and Very Merry Vintage Style

Finding Treasures in the Rain

2012-01-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

Rain was predicted for Saturday so lots of people cancelled or rescheduled their garage sales. Luckily some people rescheduled their sales for Sunday. I only found one but it had some nice things and the prices were reasonable.

My favorite find was this pair of paper storks with honeycomb bodies made in Denmark {Hi Lisbet!}. Both are very fragile and one is in better shape than the other but they are both so cute.

I also found some vintage aluminum pieces. It is usually the bright aluminum colors that catch my eye. This candy/nut dish is a most amazing bright pink. In the center of the dish is an oak leaf and an acorn.

While I was reaching for this bright pink dish I also noticed a very beautiful, soft pink, aluminum butter dish. It was just the sweetest shade of retro pink.

Yesterday I discovered a fun blog called Magpie Ethel where she shares her overflowing, treasure-filled studio. I don't have the space she does but I was inspired by her display and use of vintage trays and tins. Having said that, here's what else I found today.

First, a cracker tin from 1969. The lid was such a nice blue to go with my vintage studio trash can. But if I took the lid off then the colors would be a patriotic red, white and blue to use for holiday decorating.

I also found seven State souvenir trays. These are so cool but I don't have enough wall space to display them properly. These will go into my store unless I find an undiscovered new wall somewhere.

Next weekend's weather is supposed to be dry so there should be lots of sales. Hope everyone had a fun thrifting weekend.

I will try to get some of these items listed in my store as soon as possible. Please visit StuffToTreasure.storenvy.com later this week.

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Brambleberry Cottage, Cherished Treasures, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's for Dinner Mom?, The Colorado Lady and The Sound How Sweet

Joy of Thrifting

2012-01-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to say that I'm back on track finding some sweet vintage treasures. It was a fun day which started early in my own city and ended at a house next door to my cousin.

My favorite find of the day was this vintage "card display". Well, it isn't really a card display but when I first saw it I assumed it was. The old cards are from previous sales and together with the wire display it just makes me so happy. Can you guess what it was originally? Here's a clue: Originally it would have been used either in the kitchen or outside.

Here is how it should look.

It is a utensil that holds food flat on a grill. Now doesn't it look better as a card display? I just need to remove the handle.

Another treasure I found was this Anchor Hocking Serva-Snack Set of glass trays and cups in a near-new box. Amazing condition for something from the 1950s. The glass is in perfect condition. And it even had the original price tag on the box.

I also found this vintage, painted tin trash can in a beautiful delft blue. I'm thinking of remodeling my studio using vintage pieces so this will probably be the studio trash can. It needs a lot of cleaning and a fresh coat of white paint on the inside but it will be perfect.

The last item is this sweet, shabby chic bud vase holder. The seller used to have an antique store and said that it was old. I just fell in love with the delicate glass vials and the sweet fan shape.

I hope everyone had a great thrifting day!

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Brambleberry Cottage, Cherished Treasures, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, Home Savvy A to Z, It's a Very Cherry World, Mod Vintage Life, Savvy Southern Style, Tales From Bloggeritaville, The Colorado Lady, The Southern Institute and Very Merry Vintage Style

A Quiet Thrift Day

2012-01-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if I'm just being more selective in my thrifting purchases or if there just wasn't anything worth buying out there right now. It was a very quiet day and the few sales out there were extremely over-priced. I did manage to find a few treasures.

My favorite find was this ceramic figurine of three Wirehaired or Sealyham Terriers. The figurine is of a mom and two puppies. The puppies are absolutely adorable in their poses and expressions. I think it is from the 50s because it is marked "Made in Japan" on the bottom.

Keeping with the dog theme, we also found this pillowcase of Poodles on Parade. I think the technique used to embellish this was called Liquid Embroidery. Who could resist pink and aqua poodles?

The last treasure we found was a silver plated baby spoon with the Gerber baby portrait. This version was from the 1950s by the Winthrop Silver Co.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day of thrifting.

This is linked to:

Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures and Hey What's For Dinner Mom?

Thrifting in My Own Attic

2012-01-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

I started the new year by spending the day in my own attic. I went up there to look for something, started organizing and ended up finding lots of things to add to my store. And the best part was that it was all FREE!

The experience made me remember that I have a long history of thrifting. I spent part of my childhood rummaging through thrift stores with my mother. She would buy things for a nickel and then dream of selling it for a profit. Of course there wasn't eBay or Storenvy around back then so she didn't have any way of reselling these items easily. I feel like I'm bringing her dream around full circle by having my Stuff to Treasure store.

Here are a few things that I found in my attic:

I designed this packaging when I worked for this company.

My friend worked for Matchbox when this came out.

A set of six drinking glasses with the RCA logo. Dad got these as a promotion item through RCA.

These were my mother's old Japanese silver and glass dresser jars. I can't read the Japanese hallmark.

An old Japanese porcelain vase. Again, I can't read the Japanese markings.

My mother was going to throw out these food color jars and I saved them because they were so cute.

Mom collected a few pieces of Carnival ware.

I saved these 7up bottles from the 60s. Don't even ask me why.

Old, French perfume bottle that my mother had. The gold-leaf bottle looks so amazing.

I was into toys, my dad had connections with RCA and my mom collected glass pieces. At least now I can have some fun looking into the history of these items. And many of these pieces will go into my store soon. I already added a lot of new items so please stop by often and take a look.

I hope everyone had a great beginning to the new year. Let's go thrifting and recycle the fun!

This is linked to:

Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures, Hey Mom What's for Dinner? and Mod Mix Monday

Last Thrift Haul of 2011???

2011-12-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

I don't know if there will be any garage sales on the last day of the year so I anticipate that this is my last thrift haul for 2011. It has been a good year and I've been working hard to get more items into my store.

My favorite find is this vintage tablecloth of apples, pears and cherries in my favorite retro colors of red, blue and green. I love the feel of old tablecloths.

I also found a red/blue/green tea towel. I am just drawn to this color combination.

We found this little address holder. I guess it would have been carried in a ladies' purse. Not real pearls but still a novel little piece that caught my eye.

The last thing we found was a violin bottle. My mother used to collect old violin bottles. I think this one used to have perfume inside.

I'm off to work on listing more items in my Stuff to Treasure Store. I wish everyone a healthy, prosperous, creative {if you're a crafter} and {if you're a thrifter} successful thrifting New Year.

This is linked to:

Coastal Charm and Very Merry Vintage Style

Christmas Decorating With a New Puppy

2011-12-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

I love decorating for Christmas. I have been collecting ornaments since the early 1970s. This year we have a new puppy that is a little too curious for her own good. So this year I am not putting up a full Christmas tree and exposing my ornament collection to the whims of a very nosy pup.

This year we are decorating in miniature and high off of the ground.

I placed my silver tree with all of my small Shiny Brite ornaments on top of my display cabinet.

In the cabinet I placed my other vintage Christmas items as well as some dolls and silver. Everything is thrifted except for the Midge doll.

I had to find a way to display my larger Shiny Brite ornaments so they are nestled in a tiered basket along with my large vintage bottlebrush wreath.

My final bit of decorating is my stack of vintage doll suitcases. I tied them up with large red ribbon to look like presents.

So far the puppy hasn't been able to reach anything. The house isn't quite as festive but at least everyone and everything is safe.

This is linked to:
Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Cricket Design, Brambleberry Cottage, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Life Made Lovely, Mod Vintage Life, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Rook No. 17, Savvy Southern Style, The 36th Avenue, The Colorado Lady, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Southern Institute, Thrifty Decorating, Type A and Very Merry Vintage Style

Christmas Pocket Card

2011-12-19T19:36:00.000-08:00

I finally completed my annual Christmas card for Dear Handyman's sister in England. Yes, I know it is terribly late. Inspiration doesn't always obey the calendar.

Every year I like to send Brenda a mini-scrapbook Christmas card. She doesn't often get photographs of her family here so I like to send a card that is filled with photos. I'm not going to show the photo tags but you can imagine all of these pockets having photos and stories. I created this using the Sizzix Pocket Page & Tag die.

This is the front page. I used the Basic Grey Curio line of papers. I wanted a two-sided paper that was in a non-traditional red and green color palette. On this cover I used vintage lace that I tea-dyed, a vintage Bingo number and vintage holly leaves. The Christmas quote was from an old Christmas card that I scanned. I stamped the words "Merry Christmas" on a die cut Tattered Banner.

I kept this next page very simple. I first glued a piece of vintage 8mm film around the page. Next I scanned and printed an old Christmas sticker of Santa Claus that I thrifted here. I trimmed it and glued it inside a bottlecap. I then filled it with a layer of Glossy Accents to add shine. Here is a detailed image below. You can download the Santa image at the end of this post.

This is the other side of the page above. You can see the film strip here as well. I sewed some vintage buttons to a ticket.

This next page was to announce the engagement of her nephew. I used some small white silk flowers and tied them to the word key. I glued on a clear heart button on top {hard to see} and then glued everything to the ticket.

On the tag below, I used a vintage earring as the embellishment. I cut the back off of a piece of costume jewelry and glued it to the tag. Because the tag was decorated, I kept the pocket page very simple.

The last page has a rubber stamp of Santa because I love this Retro Santa stamp by Tim Holtz.

I know this won't get to England before Christmas but it is the thought that counts and there is a lot of warm thoughts in this card.

Here is the vintage Santa sticker that I used inside the bottlecap. Feel free to download this as long as it is for non-commercial use. Merry Christmas!

This is linked to:

Blue Cricket Design, DIY Home Sweet Home, Home Savvy A to Z, Life Made Lovely, Making the World Cuter, Passionately Artistic, Sew Can Do, Sew Much Ado, Singing Three Little Birds, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Southern Institute and Vintage Wanna Be

Slow Thrifting Day

2011-12-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very slow-paced kind of day without any of the hustle and bustle that is usually found at garage sales. We didn't find anything at the first two sales although we were the first people at both of them.

The third sale was better. I think these people were garage salers that were selling their previous garage sale finds. In any case, they had similar tastes to what I like.

My favorite find was this vintage, pink plastic tissue box. I believe it is from the 50s. It has a lovely shabby chic look to it. The roses are a creamy color and the lid is hinged in back. This going to be a Christmas gift to a Thrifting friend.

We also found a red and green, vintage metal table mat. I must be attracted to the red and green patterned kitchen pieces since I've collected so many pieces this year {cake tin, sifter, canisters, biscuit tin, dustpan, matchstick holder and spice rack}. Some of these have sold in my store. I will add more pieces soon.

The last item we found was some vintage Christmas wrapping paper. Perhaps these will be used in a crafting project later.

I hope everyone had a good thrifting day!

This is linked to:
A Very Cherry World, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's for Dinner Mom?, Mod Vintage Life and The Thrifty Groove

I've Been Published!

2011-12-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to announce that I've been published again in Inspired Ideas magazine! Amy Powers has out done herself in putting together an awesome publication for the Holidays. It is unbelievably exciting to be featured among such talented people as Mary Englebreit and Matthew Mead.

To make this even more exciting, the Holiday issue is now available in a print format. I guess I'm just old skool and really enjoy holding a printed copy of magazines and books.

So whether you enjoy an online or print version, this magazine is truly amazing. Amy is one very talented artist and her love of crafting shows in everything that she creates.

I hope you get a chance to check out this online publication because it is inspiring and very well designed. {Plus you get to see my Magic Blooming Stocking project that I created but couldn't share on my blog until it was published.}

Here's a sneak peek. The instructions are included in the magazine.

Enjoy!

This is linked to:

Brambleberry Cottage, Passionately Artistic and Somewhat Simple

Thrifting Through Southern California

2011-12-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

I have been working long hours in preparation for the upcoming Craft and Hobby Association {CHA} tradeshow. Unfortunately I haven't had much time to create a lot of projects to post on my blog. I have been creating a lot of things {catalogs, packaging, booklets} but it is all top secret until CHA in January. So my few moments of fun and relaxation have been in thrifting on the weekends and this weekend was FUN.

We covered a lot of miles, across a lot of Southern California today. I saw an ad for a garage sale listing vintage Halloween and Christmas items. Oooh, how could I pass up a teaser like that? My favorite finds were these vintage plastic holiday figurines. The large snowman has an opening in back to hold candy. I adore the kitschy look of these.

I also found these Holiday Putz Houses.

There was a lot of Halloween items but I wasn't sure if they were truly vintage and some were huge scary skull faces that would have terrified my poor dog. I had to pass on those but I did find this metal hanging cone. Hmmm... not sure if this is vintage but it looked old and wouldn't scare a puppy.

On the way back from our early thrifting I received a text message from my friend saying that there was an amazing estate sale close to home. We got there rather late but found some wonderful things. The owners had a building in back that was set up to look like a vintage mercantile shop. They were avid collectors of ephemera, cigar items, old food tins and shell art. I can't even imagine how much stuff must have been in that house when they first started the estate sale in the morning.

We found two scrapbooks filled with old cards. One had mostly Christmas cards from the 1920s. The other scrapbook had some Easter and Birthday cards from the 1930s. Here are just a few pages from the books. I will scan a few images and share them later.

This is such a hectic time of the year but it is so much fun to find treasures every weekend. I hope everyone else had a lot of fun treasure hunting.

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom? and The Thrifty Groove

The Hunted and The Hunter

2011-12-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

I woke early Saturday morning in anticipation of some good garage sale hunting. Because of my two recent coyote encounters, I am much more cautions when walking my dog when it is still dark outside. This morning we were about 20 yards from my front door and I just happened to glance behind us. A coyote was coming towards us at a fast trot. I made myself look big, I yelled and I had pepper spray ready. The coyote paused about 10 yards away then started to advance again. My dog started to lunge which only caused her leash to wrap around my legs. Finally a car came down the street and the coyote casually walked away.

We went back inside and called the police. They informed me that an earlier report in the area described a pack of three coyotes. Later that day I bought pepper spray that will stop a bear. I live in a gigantic urban city and am not accustomed to being hunted by predatory wildlife but I am becoming more prepared.

Things I've learned about urban coyotes: they will approach large dogs as prey, they are not scared of humans, they will approach downwind so be aware of your surroundings and a single coyote will try to lure an animal into a trap situation where the pack can attack.

Well so much for being the Hunted.

We did have some good treasure hunting later. My favorite find was this engraved silver tray. On the back it reads: "To Lyn, From your friends at Mattel, 11/21/75". I love that this is a bit of Mattel history. 1975 was the same year that the original founders, Elliot and Ruth Handler had to resign from Mattel.

My other favorite find was sheer serendipity. We were at a garage sale when the seller asked if I was interested in any Japanese American memorabilia from the World War II Japanese Internment Camps. I have done some genealogy research on my family so I knew where they were interred. It turned out that the seller had a large batch of propaganda photos showing how "happy" the Americans of Japanese descent were while being interred in these Camps. The photos all have captions neatly typed on the back so I have a lot of reading to study up on. I feel like I've bought a bit of my family's history today.

Manzanar Relocation Center - Manzanar, CA, 5/30/1942

Colorado River Relocation Center - Poston, AZ, 12/31/1942

Jerome Relocation Center - Denson, AR, 11/18/1942

On a lighter note, we found this vintage cake stand and cloche that I will use to decorate for the holidays. I found the vintage bottlebrush trees and mercury glass beads from previous sales here and here.

We also picked up a sweet Christmas hankie just in time to use for a bit of holiday decorating.

I think we did very well on our treasure hunt. I just hope we don't continue to be the hunted.

This is linked to:
A Very Cherry World, Brambleberry Cottage, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's for Dinner Mom?, Mod Vintage Life, Savvy Southern Style, The Colorado Lady and Very Merry Vintage Style

Beach Retreat Bathroom UPDATE

2011-11-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

I finally found everything I needed to complete my Beach Retreat bathroom. You can see the first reveal here. The only thing I was missing was a place to hang towels. I needed the right shelf and planned on using vintage glass door knobs. I found something even better last week.

Here is how it came together.

The shelf is from CostPlus. I removed the original hardware, painted it white and distressed it.

The knobs are old porcelain fixtures that we found at a garage sale in West Hollywood last week. They were old and dirty when we found them. I forgot to take a before photo of these still attached to the original brass piping. Dear Handyman had to work his magic to find new piping with the right thread and make it all come together.

Now I can display some vintage treasures on the shelf as well as have the perfect place to hang towels. I sewed a piece of seam binding to the edge of the towels to allow them to hang nicely.

I am honored to be featured at:

Someday Crafts

This is linked to:
Between Naps on the Porch, Blue Cricket Design, Brambleberry Cottage, Cherished Treasures, Chic on a Shoestring, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Designer Garden, DIY Home Sweet Home, Homemaker on a Dime, Keeping it Simple, Life Made Lovely, Making the World Cuter, Marvelously Messy, My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Passionately Artistic, Rook No.17, Savvy Southern Style, Sew Can Do, Sew Much Ado, Singing Three Little Birds, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, Somewhat Simple, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Colorado Lady, The Girl Creative, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Southern Institute, The Thrifty Groove, The Trendy Treehouse, Thrifty Decorating, Type A Decorating, Very Merry Vintage Style and What Allie's Making Now

Thankful Thrifting

2011-11-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for although sometimes I forget to count my blessings but I'm working on correcting this.

My favorite find was this shabby chic wooden tray and stand. It is such a handy size plus it has two little drawers. Love it!

I don't know if this is old but I found a little metal dachshund figurine. It is laying on its back waiting for a tummy rub. How can you pass up a dog asking for a tummy rub?

I also found a vintage tomato salt and pepper shaker set. These are marked Japan on the bottom.

The final item I found was this metal, vintage, matchstick holder/dispenser. It has such a great red and green retro look. It would also make a great paperclip dispenser or key holder. I can imagine so many uses.

I will be adding some of these items to my Stuff to Treasure store soon so please stop by and visit if you are interested in any of these items.

Thankful for my Followers :)

This is linked to:
Brambleberry Cottage, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's for Dinner Mom?, Mod Vintage Life, My Romantic Home, The Colorado Lady, The Shabby Nest, Thrifty Decorating and Type A Decorating

Hooray for Hollywood!

2011-11-19T21:02:00.000-08:00

We decided to go to an estate sale in the Hollywood Hills today. We had other errands to run up that way so it worked out well. Our travels took us past the Grauman's Theater, Kodak Theater and the intersection of Hollywood and Vine. I haven't been in this part of Los Angeles for a long time. Hollywood looked exceptionally nice at 7:00 in the morning.

The estate sale was in the hills above Hollywood. It was quite an adventure to drive through the canyons and find parking.

My favorite find was this ceramic glove mold. I have never seen one of these at any other sale so I fell in love with it. Can't you imagine it dripping with vintage necklaces or old mercury beads! It is about 16" tall. This one is the size of an average hand. There was a second mold at the size of an industrial glove but that was too expensive for my budget.

We also found this Pennyweight Scale. I like scales and this one was so simple and delicate.

We also found this vintage pencil pointer {sharpener}. It is made of a very heavy metal and matches my father's old tape dispenser. Plus it was still in its original box.

There were other amazing treasures but the prices at this sale were kind of high but then again, we were in Hollywood.

Hope everyone had a fun day of thrifting.

This is linked to:
Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom? and Mod Vintage Life

Happy Thrifting Day

2011-11-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

After surviving a case of the Thrifting Withdrawls, I wasn't going to let the threat of rain nor a cancelled holiday deter me from having a Happy Thrifting Day.

This toy stove isn't in great condition but I never had a Suzy Homemaker stove when I was a kid. In fact, I never even knew there was actually a toy by this name although I had always heard the term "Little Suzy Homemaker". I always thought of Easy Bake Ovens when I thought of toy ovens. So, because the price was so cheap, I just had to bring this home. Plus I loved the colors of the knobs which sounds rather silly. This lovely little stove is 12.5" wide x18.5" tall x 11" deep.

My favorite find of the day was this box of uncirculated, foreign stamps. I think I'm becoming a stamp collector. I also bought a U.S. stamp collector book from 1979 at this same sale so I am guessing that these stamps are from around that time. These appear to be originally purchased from a stamp dealer because they are all neatly priced and marked.

I also found a Kewpie doll. I don't think it is very old but I just like the look of them. This is the third doll that I've bought from an estate sale so I hope this doesn't mean that I am starting a doll collection.

These two booklets were probably printed in the 1920s for Dr. Miles' Nervine tablets and Alka-Seltzer. The advertisements are funny. Some of the ad headlines for the Nervine pills {nerve pills} are "She couldn't stand to hear the phone ring... " because her nerves were on edge. Or: "He used to throw dishes at his nurse" because he was so irritable. Or my favorite headline: "Is it nerves or are you a natural grouch?" Another ad suggested that you "snuff Alka-Seltzer" to clear up a cold.

I found an Erector set in a metal case. This set even has an electric motor.

I also bought this old Monopoly set. The box is in poor condition but I just wanted the game pieces for a project.

I can safely say that I am fully recovered from my Thrifting Withdrawls. I hope everyone had a good thrifting day.

This is linked to:
Her Library Adventures and Hey What's For Dinner Mom?

Rainstorms, Racecars and Thrifting Withdrawls

2011-11-07T20:10:00.000-08:00

My son had another driving event this past weekend. I'm really proud of his driving skills and enjoy supporting him but it also means that I don't have time to go to any estate sales. The stormy weather and dark evenings don't help either. I think I'm having Thrifting Withdrawls.

To ease my withdrawl symptoms, I decided to rearrange some of my thrifted treasures only to find that I had several treasures that I never posted. So to make myself feel a little better here are a few items I found but forgot to share.

I love collecting world globes and this one is no exception. The wooden base was probably designed to hold papers on a desk. The surface has raised topographical features. This globe must be from before 1989 because it still shows the Country of Burma.

I don't think that this metal, deer-head bowl is silver but it will look really nice as a Christmas centerpiece. The bowl is hammered metal.

I found this vintage, glass, salad serving set. I like the feel of vintage glass. It feels so much better than something made of plastic. This is the Candlewick pattern by the Imperial Glass company.

I spent the entire weekend surrounded by lots of fast cars and people who drive them. On top of all of this, we were caught under a rather small tent in some very wet weather. You can see the threatening skies which dropped a lot of rain on us about 10 minutes after I took this photo. Oh the things we do to support our children's dreams!

It was quite a weekend. Hopefully I will have a chance to do some thrifting this upcoming weekend.

Please be sure to visit my Stuff to Treasure store where I have some of these items and a lot more listed for sale.

Short and Sweet Thrifting Day

2011-10-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Since we had a special birthday party to attend midday, we rushed through only two sales. Two things I learned today: 1) sometimes being the first person to a sale means that the seller hasn't realized yet that their prices are too high and 2) double check the start time of an estate sale because it isn't fun to show up late.

We found some amazing things at the first sale but the seller was asking antique store prices for garage sale items. The selection was good but we had to pass on everything.

Since {I thought} the second sale was at 9 am, we decided to stop for breakfast. When we got to the second sale there was a short line so I thought we were early. Well, we were actually late because the sale started at 8. Oh well...

We found two nice Pyrex Butterfield refridgerator dishes. I love the turquoise color.

I also found a vintage mirror tray with ornate metal edges. I plan to alter it a bit. While looking for a place to shoot the photograph I forgot that I now have a curious puppy who had to come and investigate this strange new object.

Hope everyone had a great thrifting day.

This is linked to:
Her Library Adventures and Hey What's For Dinner Mom?