And I am not even home to enjoy it.
MY FIRST CROP OR CROPETTE
CREATIVE JUNKIN
I went to a few thrift stores in Junction City, Kansas. The best deals were at the Disabled American Veterans. What a great little store. I got several things that I have been looking for at a great price. I will show those later. I did get three picture frames to make Jennifer, my daughter, [...]
DEALS
Recently I went to Hobby Lobby and they had a 90% off section. Wow. I loaded up. I didn’t get pictures of everything but some of it will show up in my shop when it opens.
I got many more awesome deals at Hobby Lobby, Goodwill and just junkin. When I get back home from traveling [...]
GOODWILL FIND
I found this box at Goodwill the other day. I paid $1.99 for it. I am not sure what it was used for originally. I intend to put nice fabric, maybe velvet inside the box. I want to add straps across each end and the center of each section to allow me to put necklaces [...]
YARD SALE FINDS
We LOVE to go to yard sales. You just never know what kind of unique items you will find or what great deals are to be had. Not all yard sales are created equal. Some people are just trying to purge and get rid of things. Some think their junk is of extreme value. Some [...]
AWESOME FREE FINDS
Online adds are a great place to start for free items. We have gotten a few things from looking on craigslist.org. Many people just want to get rid of something and they don’t want to through it away or haul it off to Goodwill or other charities.
We have found some things at yard sales that [...]
HELPING FRIENDS
Posted by Joni on June 1st, 2010
The economy is really awful these days. Most of us have been affected by it. Some more than others. My friend Kathy and her husband are one of those couples having a very difficult time. Kathy’s husband has a bad heart that has gotten worse. He has 8 blockages, diabetes and other issues. He needs to have a pacemaker and is on many types of medications. Kathy is taking care of him full time in addition to her having Graves disease. They live in a family members basement and their vehicle has died. They are trying to get disability but it has been 10 months and nothing has been approved yet. Many people wait years to get approved. They have absolutly zero dollars coming in.
The smallest gestures can make a huge difference in someones life. I am hoping that all my cyber friends can make that small gesture to help someone in need. I know that it is hard out there for everyone. All gifts, no matter how small, are appreciated. Your donation to this family in need will make a huge difference in their lives. To make a donation to Kathy and her husband please click on the link to the right in the sidebar.
Some of you may know Kathy from her blogs Happy At Home and The Eat Food Not Money Cookbook.
Thank you for your generous donations. Please ask your friends to help as well
CREATIVE JUNKIN
Posted by Joni on May 12th, 2010
I went to a few thrift stores in Junction City, Kansas. The best deals were at the Disabled American Veterans. What a great little store. I got several things that I have been looking for at a great price. I will show those later. I did get three picture frames to make Jennifer, my daughter, things to hang her jewelry on.
This first frame was $3.00 without glass. The glass wasn’t needed for this project at all. It had a backing that was hard pressed board. I painted the frame black, removed the mat board, covered the backing in batting and then with fabric. I put the back into the frame and then tightened the fabric. I then hot glued the fabric to the back. I purchased sets of fleur de lis hangers from Wal-Mart at 1.37 for 3 and got four sets. I also used a stencil and acrylic paint for the chandelier design. I wish I could have gotten one more set of the hooks but they only had four. The fabric was 2.47 for one yard. The stencils were 2.87 and have 8 different cards in the package and will be used for many more projects.
LARGE FRAME W/ HOOKS FOR NECKLACES
This small round frame cost $1.00. I had the tiny hardware cloth already and the fabric left over from the larger frame. I painted the hardware cloth and stenciled the fabric. I also painted the inner ring on the front of the frame because it was brown. I used the back mat on the frame to cut the hardware cloth and then inserted it into the frame. I carefully wrapped my fabric over the glass and placed it in next. With the ends of the fabric I was able to move it around until I had it exactly where I wanted it. I then trimmed the edges and placed the mat in the back and secured it with the screw that came with it. Since I used leftovers for this project it only cost me the amount of the frame. $1.00.
SMALL FRAME EARRING HOLDER
This next project is probably my favorite. I have had this fabric for a long time and wanted to use it for something special. This project only took a small amount of my fabric. I cut the larger hardware cloth to fit using the mat and then painted it. I sprayed the glass with glue and stuck my fabric on and trimmed it. If I were to do this over again I would have also used fray check. My fabric started fraying but I didn’t have any fray check glue with me. I slid in the hardware cloth, slid in the fabric covered glass and then put the back in. I absolutely love how this turned out. Again this project only cost the amount of the frame. $1.00. I love it.
8 X 10 FRAME EARRING HOLDER
I hope you enjoyed my projects and that it inspires you to look at old items differently. Repurposing is a great way to economize and be green. And in this case, make your daughter very happy. : )
HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW
Posted by Joni on April 22nd, 2010
My sister Robin emailed me pictures of my garden. Most of it is in square foot gardening. It is kind of ghetto because I had to use whatever I could find to make my beds. But hey…it is MY garden. Things are growing. Don’t ask me what they are. It will be a guess because I am not there to see the packages. I am just so thrilled to see things growing. Woo Hoo…..
- PURPLE HULL PEAS, OKRA AND GRASS
SUNFLOWER
SWEET 100 TOMATO MY FAVE
I know I have lost a tomato plant or two and sunflowers as well thanks to Beaux. He is just a baby marmaduke and doesn’t know what he is doing. He likes to walk in spaces like the edge of the brick patio or inside my garden. He will walk along the retaining wall. Just like a kid. I miss that big baby.
Now I have to sweet talk my sister into going to the garden and getting rid of the suckers on the tomato plants.
SOME TYPE OF BEAN
CUCUMBER??
BEAN? OKRA?
I DON'T HAVE A CLUE
BEANS I THINK
CUCUMBERS
DEALS
Posted by Joni on April 21st, 2010
Recently I went to Hobby Lobby and they had a 90% off section. Wow. I loaded up. I didn’t get pictures of everything but some of it will show up in my shop when it opens.
BLACK HIGH GLOSS TISSUE BOX COVER FOR 2.19
AWESOME DEAL ORIGINAL 39.99 SALE PRICE 3.99 LOVE IT.
GREAT BASKET FOR .99 FROM GOODWILL
WOOD BOWL 1.99 GOODWILL
TINY SPRINGFORM PANS .99 GOODWILL
LARGE GLASS ORNAMENT BLACK W/ GOLD FLAKES UNDERNEATH. SO PRETTY IN PERSON 1.99 GOODWILL
CERAMIC PINE CONE BOX THAT HOLDS CANDLES 1.99 GOODWILL
I got many more awesome deals at Hobby Lobby, Goodwill and just junkin. When I get back home from traveling I will have more pictures. I can’t wait to show you some before and after pictures. Slowly moving towards getting my store open. Fingers crossed.
CROCHET BUNNY PEEPS
Posted by Joni on March 10th, 2010
These are so cute. They would be perfect for Easter which is April 4th. I found these cuties on Favecraft. These are a great way to use up those leftover yarn scraps from other projects.
SMALL CROCHET BUNNY PEEPS
Cute little crochet bunny peeps compliments of Alicia Kachmar of Create! You need a small amount of worsted weight yarn and an F hook. For a large peep, check out this Easter crochet pattern.
Materials:
- Crochet F hook
- Any worsted weight yarn in bunny color and brown (I use Red Heart 100% acrylic)
- Needlepoint needle
- Polyester fiber filling
Abbreviations:
Ch: chain
Sc: single crochet
Sl: slip
Hdc: half double crochet
Dec: (decrease) pull up a loop in next 2 sc, yarn over (YO) and draw all 3 loops on the hook
Instructions:
Ch 2; 6 sc in second ch from hook; join (6 sc)
Ch 1; 2 sc in same stitch and in each sc around; join (12 sc)
This forms the bottom circle of the body. The top half is worked by moving across and turning at the end of each row.
Ch 1 (do not turn; right side is facing you) sc into next stitch, 2sc into next, sc, sc. (5 sc)
Ch 1 turn; Sc across row. (5 sc)
Ch 1 turn; Sc, dec, sc, sc. (4 sc)
Ch 1 turn; Sc across row. (4 sc)
Turn the work so that the right side is facing you without making a Ch 1 turn.
Ch 5 (ear); sc, hdc, hdc, hdc, sl stitch into next sc on the top of the body (head)
Ch 5; sc, hdc, hdc, hdc, skip the next sc and sl stitch into the last sc. Finish off.
This is the “front” of the bunny. With a brown yarn and needlepoint needle, make two eyes and a nose. There’s no exact way to do this, but I made each by coming up with the thread and going down vertically in another spot very close by. It took me a couple tries to get it right. You could also use beads to make more uniform eyes and nose.
Repeat the above instructions for the “back” of the bunny, except do not finish off. Place the wrong sides together:
For the body, single crochet into the inner loops to give the bunny some depth. When you’re working the part of the bodies that aren’t the circles, there are no inner or outer loops; single crochet here.
For the ears, slip stitch together.
Stuff the body, but not the ears, when he is about 2/3 stitched together. Finish off.
SHADOWBOX
Posted by Joni on March 9th, 2010
I got this shadowbox at Goodwill. My sister actually picked it up and thought I might be able to use it for jewelry. It really wouldn’t work for that. I did see potential in it though. We got this last summer and I finally painted it over the last two days. I am not quite finished as I think it needs more embellishments. I am thinking a Paris theme. Once finished it would be perfect for a little or big girls room.
This is what it looked like originally.
SHADOWBOX
Almost completed shadowbox. This will be in my shop for sale.
BLACK & PINK SHADOWBOX
SHADOWBOX
What do you think? It has a hanger on the back but I thought about finding pink and black ribbon and adding it as a hanger. Should I leave it simple as is or put some embellishments on the sides or front? I am thinking maybe I could paint the Eiffel Tower in pink on the sides.
OLD THINGS
Posted by Joni on March 8th, 2010
This weekend my brother visited us. We went to his old house and brought home a few things. I found this old Singer sewing machine on a porch covered in dirt and rust. When we have time I want to go back and get the cabinet that it went in.
SINGER SEWING MACHINE BEFORE
THIS TREASURE HAS SEEN BETTER DAYS
I tried to clean it as carefully as I could. It had a lot of rust, spider webs and dirt in and on it. I didn’t want to remove any of the original paint if possible. I used a stiff bristle brush for painting on it, a can of spray air and lots of WD40 with a cloth and scrubby. You can tell that when this machine was new it was pretty spectacular with designs all over it.
SINGER MACHINE AFTER - STILL NEEDS SOME WORK THOUGH
I plan on using it as a display, unless someone wants to purchase it. My sister and I will be opening a small shop in a few months, weather permitting. We have a lot to do before we can though. The old house has a lot of damage. We plan on tearing down the addition to the house, which is the kitchen and a bedroom. That will leave the living room and a bedroom. Hopefully the materials salvaged from the addition will be enough to repair the original house. There is a lot of work to do though.
THIS IS OUTSIDE. SEE THE WEBS. IMAGINE THE INSIDE .... IN THE WALLS AND CEILING. EEK.
Did I ever tell you about my extreme fear of all things creepy crawly? Well it is there. That is why I wanted to start demolition and construction in the Winter. However, all the rain has kept that from happening. We also have it packed full of boxes.
ONE VIEW OF A SUPER PACKED HOUSE
We also brought home other things from my brother’s old house. I got a bunch of old quilting and craft books, a very cute table/shelf and other things I will show you later. Here is an old military bag that I plan on cleaning up and hanging on a wall with some sort of greenery to enhance it.
US MILITARY BAG
TABLE/SHELF WILL LOOK SO CUTE IN RETRO COLORS
Sorry for the poor picture. It was really dark in the house yesterday. The sun poked its head out early yesterday but stayed hidden behind the clouds the rest of the day.
There is so much work to be done. So many projects to work on. I will post them as I can.
BED PREPARATION
Posted by Joni on February 15th, 2010
I ran across this tip today. I haven’t gotten to the nitty gritty of prepping for a garden yet. There is a house in the way at the moment. I will probably have small square foot garden spots all over the place until something more permanent can be done.
Prepare a garden. In the fall, mow a patch of lawn to make room for a dedicated bed. Cover it with four layers of newspaper, then a four-inch layer of shredded leaves or bark mulch. Hose it down. Come spring, the compost blanket will have smothered the grass roots, and the bed will be primed for planting.
CALDWELL AREA YAHOO GROUP
Posted by Joni on February 8th, 2010
I created a new group for the Caldwell Parish area. This group will be for sending posts regarding things you want to sell, services you offer, yard sales, etc. You can also request services like finding someone to do handy man chores or tile your bathroom, etc. I encourage everyone from the Caldwell Parish area to join. The more members we have the more we will have to offer.
Here is a short tutorial on how to join the Caldwell Parish Area group called caldwellarea.
Go to www.groups.yahoo.com . You may need to sign into yahoo first with your yahoo email and password. You should see a green panel to your left that shows your groups such as freecycle. To the right of that you will see a search engine for yahoo groups. Type in caldwellarea. You should see the picture below. Under the little icon with people it has a link that says Join This Group.
Thanks for joining and please tell everyone you know in this area that might be interested. The more people we have the more viable it will be. I have noticed the freecycle group really doesn’t do much. We have to get the word out. Thanks so much. If you have any problems please let me know.
