Springtime at the Flea

Springtime weather has finally arrived in the midwest and with warmer weather comes the flea markets. I thought I'd share a few of this past weekend sites.

Mother Nature & Father Time always create the best distressed finishes.

I feel like I should know exactly what she is, but I don't.

There's always nice framed art there.

Then there were these creepy babies.

Cool old store display pieces.

Old lamps that have seen better days.

I can't pass up the opportunity to take a photo of a neat old purse.

Pretty painted glass shades.

Play kitchen appliances.

What a sharp looking old piece of luggage.

Julia was there.

  And Mel too.

  A crude little Gypsy fellow.

 Someday I'd like to restore an old trunk.

 I bet some fun times have been had on this bike!

 What regal chairs!

 A clever sign, but I didn't see any ladies flocking there to buy the new models.

 A floral dog :)

 Old glassware and an old fan with super shiny brass blades.

I told myself last year if I lost enough weight I'd buy one of these pretty dresses. Hmmm... 15 pounds to go. It seems achievable. Wish me luck!

Please keep the good folks in Boston in your thoughts and prayers tonight and in the coming days and weeks, as another city tries to heal from a senseless tragedy.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Beaded Stilettos

Do you know SkyMall? It's a catalog that's found on airplanes. I remember a comedian once saying the catalogs were full of things you never knew you needed until you saw them there. In some ways Pinterest is like that for me. Take stilettos for instance.. The only stilettos I knew about before Pinterest had to do with shoes. 

Did you know these are stilettos too?

I didn't. I saw them at Pinterest and immediately repinned them onto my Tutorials board. These are the lovelies that I discovered there.

This set was made by the Empress of the Universe over at her blog, (what a cool blog name.. I'm totally jealous!). When I saw them at Pinterest the pretty beads caught my eye so I clicked through and read about them. 

They're handy little tools that can be used in a lot of areas of crafting and sewing. From guiding fabric near the presser foot on the machine, to turning narrow hems up at the iron, and even something to manipulate objects around wet glue or paint. 

I looked for the turkey lacers for awhile after discovering the stilettos at Pinterest, but didn't find them anywhere. Then, a couple of weeks ago I ran into Bed Bath & Beyond and remembered that was where the Empress mentioned finding hers.

I found the same ones she did. They were $.99.. A craft project for a buck! (That's Mr. ShowMe's favorite kind! heheh) 

 I bent the angled ends into loops with my jewelry making tools.

 Then went through my bead stash and pulled out beads with holes big enough for the lacers. 

 What a great way to use up some of those pretty onsies lampwork glass beads! It was so much fun trying the different beads on the lacers and figuring out which ones went together! Once I got that part worked out I decided on which glue to use.  

Then put a bit of glue between the bottom two beads and at the bottom of the last one. 

I took the Empress' tip and clamped the looped ends in clothes pins and set them up like that to dry overnight.

And voila!

I named them from left to right, Her Majesty, Heavy Metal, Circus Circus, He Loves Me, Woody, and She Swims With The Fishes. They were a blast to make and I've already used them countless times. Oh yeah, and I found the perfect place to store them... this little Florida souvenir toothpick holder that I picked up at the flea market for $1.

Has Pinterest helped you discovered something that you never knew you needed and then just couldn't do without?

I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks for stopping by :) 

Christmas Sleighs

I've been blog absent for a long time. Between working 60-70 hours a week and getting ready for Christmas, it hasn't left much time for anything else. Even though I haven't been able to post anything, I haven't completely forgotten about my blog. I've been taking pictures and have lots of blog posts to put up. I wanted to get this one up, in case it might inspire some of you to do something similar while you still have time. I made something like these years ago, but this time I decided to challenge myself to see if I could do it on the cheap with all of my components coming from thrift and dollar stores. 

I completed the challenge by creating two fun and festive center pieces at a fraction of the cost from my previous versions.

I started in early November watching the thrift stores for just the right sleigh basket. The ones I made in the past were wicker. I found this wire one at a Goodwill and paid a little more than I wanted, $3, but I had been looking for sometime and it was the right size at 15" long and in good condition, so I went ahead and bought it. I found a smaller wicker and metal version at a much better price since it was in my Mother-in-Law's basement making it free. (Yay Free!!)

While I was watching the thrift stores for sleigh baskets, I was buying up festive bobbles, picks, sprigs and candles. I actually found one big bag of misc stuff for $1.40 at one shop.

At another I found a bag with two short pillars and a nutcracker candle still wrapped in cellophane, never used, for $2.00.

I hit the Dollar Tree for the clear plastic bowl that I needed for the wire sleigh and a bag of Potpourri so they would smell AND look pretty.

With all of the components finally gathered I spread them all out on my work surface and started putting them together. I started with the wire one, since it was bigger. I knew I wanted the silk flowers standing up in the back, so I cut a piece of the floral foam that I had to the right size and wrapped it in aluminum foil since it would show through the sides. With the poinsettias inserted in the back piece of foam I added the bowl to the body of the sleigh, wrapped another piece of foam in foil and inserted cinnamon sticks at the four corners. I poured the potpourri into the bowl around the block of foam and placed one of the pillar candles on top of that foam piece.

Then I filled it in with some of the little sprigs and sprays that came from that mixed bag that I bought at the one thrift store. I added straight pins and secured them into the foam under the candle where I needed.

Of course the candles not for burning, but it adds a pretty festive touch, don't you think?

For the smaller sleigh I decided my nutcracker candle should be the driver so I positioned the remaining piece of floral foam in the basket, carved out a small section for him to rest in and set pins around the parameter to so he wouldn't topple out too easy. I poured the rest of the potpourri around the foam and added more sprigs and sprays to fill in. I decided it needed some height so I added the golden berries at the back.
 

I have about $5.00 cost in each which is pretty cheap for large, floral, fragrant centerpieces. They were really fun to do and came together really fast. And I must admit, the best part was in the hunt for all the pieces in the thrift stores! I'll have to keep my eyes open for another sleigh. I think I have enough of the decorative bits for one more. Potpourri and flower foam is easy enough to come by if I find the right vessel to make one more.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm linking up at Debbiedoo's  , Home Stories AtoZ and other fun parties listed on my Link Party page. See you there!