The Redneck Wine Glass

I have been wanting to do this project forever! It’s the one and only “Redneck Wine Glass”! I’ve seen them everywhere from Etsy to Bass Pro Shops to our very own Finger Lakes Wineries, and they sell anywhere from $10-$20 a piece! This leaves a lot of room for profit if you decide to make them yourself! I have always thought they’d be a great item to sell at my co-op considering we are kinda out in the country. I love how they came out and am so excited to share them with you!!!

Start out with mason jars and clear candle sticks. I got all of these at The Dollar Tree, but I am sure you could get them even cheaper if you did some thrifting!

My glue of choice was E-6000, as many other tutorials had suggested. I have seen mixed feedback on using E-6000 for this particular project. Some people say that it does not hold. Others have never had a problem, even after multiple (hand) washings. My glasses seem quite sturdy and I could not pull them apart, even with great force. On the tags I made, I recommended hand washing to prevent breakage (many reports of them falling apart were only after they went through a dish washer!)

The E-6000 dries crystal clear. Use a good amount of glue to ensure a good seal!

I let mine sit like this, undisturbed for 4 days. Those who had problems with them falling apart mentioned they had only let them dry for 24 hours. I’d definitely recommend letting them dry for at least 48-36 hours or more before handling them!

Next, for the tags, I used this brown kraft paper I got at the craft store. It’s a thin card stock and was perfect for these tags!

I made up some a little blurb for the tags: “The Official Redneck Wine Glass ~ Hey y’all – You don’t have to be a hillbilly to enjoy this one of a kind glass, but you do have to have a sense of humor! Fill ‘er up with your favorite wine, beer, or moonshine, kick up your heels, and GIT-R-DONE! Care instructions: Hand wash in warm soapy water & air dry.” This text is a combo of tags I found online with my own twist. Feel free to use this wording if you are thinking of making your own tags!

I used Microsoft Powerpoint to lay out the text, saved the file as a PDF, and kept making test prints to get the size right. I kept shrinking the font size til the blurb fit perfectly into my tag hole-punch! This tag punch is a large one – 3.5″ tall by 2″ wide.

To add some color, I traced the lids onto some scrapbook paper to make little lid covers. I used gingham and stars – but you could customize your glasses for any occasion by using different lid designs and themes!

And here they are! I tied a small strip of burlap on the stem of the glass (you could use raffia or torn homespun too) and then tied on my little tags with some twine.

Woohoo! I looooove them! I only made 6 for now but am totally making more! I’ll let ya know if they do well at the co-op! Hope everyone has a Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Dollar Store Salt Shakers + Vintage Buttons = Button Flower Bouquets

It’s me again! I am on a crafting BINGE! I don’t know what’s gotten into me! Maybe because it’s been sunny and “Spring” feeling these last few days? I don’t know, but I’m going with it!

I have a fun “dollar store craft” for you! I made these cute little vintage button bouquets using Dollar Tree salt shakers (you can also find some at the thrift store for super cheap, like the ones here on the left) and some buttons and wire that I had on hand. So easy and a perfect Spring craft!

I also used twine for a bow accent, and shredded paper (also found at Dollar Tree) to stuff inside the shakers and help hold wire stems in place. I suggest using a pair of pliers that have a cutting edge on them, so you don’t jack up your scissors while cutting the wire.

To make the stems, you are going to twist the two sides of the wire together. Fold the wire piece over and cut it roughly the length you want the stem to be – keeping in mind it will be a tad shorter after twisting it together.

Layer your buttons to make fun, colorful little “flowers.” Slide the ends of the wire through your button flower and start twisting them together tightly, to create a sturdy stem. Cut off the excess wire.

Stuff a small amount of shredded paper down in the salt shaker to help hold the stems in place. You could use more buttons, beads, floral foam, or nothing at all…whatever you want!

Make as many flowers as you’d like! They are fun to make!

My first bouquet is a red and brown theme

And my second bouquet was a blue and black theme

I photographed them for Etsy but decided at the last-minute to bring them to the co-op. They are currently in my booth at The Carriage Place. I can’t wait to make more!

Last night I photographed a ton of new stuff I am putting in my Etsy store, and I wanted to let all my fellow crafters, that have booths or small shops, know that I am going to be selling these word blocks in groups of 6 at a wholesale price. I ordered way too many of them, so they’ll be in my shop this week at some point. They would be a great little item to resell, if you’re into country/prim decor like me!

  

I also wanted to share a few great thrift store finds from today! A great enamelware tin pan, an apothecary style jar (these sell like hot cakes in my booth!) some wooden plaques for future craft projects, vintage tin molds, and a small wooden platter with a glass cloche. I am going to paint the wooden base – probably black with a yellow prim star in the middle.

I was also sooooooooo excited to find some unique Scrabble tiles from a “Deluxe” edition of the game; 100 tiles for only $4! Best of all, they are maroon colored! I love that they are different from the regular Scrabble tiles, yet are a great color for country crafting!

And lastly, I had to share this find…..these brown kraft boxes were only $1 for a bag of 6!!! If you have an A.C. Moore’s, go grab some before they are discontinued!!! I was “that person” who depleted their inventory. Hehe. I am going to stamp them eventually. Love the variety of shapes!

That’s all for today! Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting!!!

Easy Dollar Store Craft: Sharpie Decorated Christmas Ornaments

If you are on Pinterest, or frequently peruse craft blogs like I do, then I know you’ve seen some variation of this Sharpie project! Porcelain mugs, plates, bowls, and more…simply drawn on with Sharpies and baked for 30 minutes to make the designs permanent. Talk about easy and FUN! I love this idea – the possibilities are truly endless!

Though it’s not technically a dollar store, these porcelain ornaments were only $1.00 at A.C. Moore. I betcha you could find some similar at the Dollar Tree. If not, I know most dollar store have porcelain coffee mugs and plates that would work great too. You could also look around the thrift stores and score some cheap porcelain “canvases”!

I looked online at graphics and clip art and got some ideas on what I wanted to draw.  It’s hard to see in the picture below, but I did draw a rough outline of my design with a pencil before taking a Sharpie to it.

I love this little folk art snowman! I copied him from Chestnut Junction Graphics. I did purchase the graphic for use on other projects as well…he’s just too cute!

Helpful tip: While working on your designs, don’t fret if you make a mistake. A little rubbing alcohol will “erase” the Sharpie marker on the porcelain (before baking, that is). I used Q-tips as a way to touch up and re-do some areas.

Here are some of the designs I came up with for my ornaments! I free handed these but you could easily use a transfer method or a stamp as a base for your design if you’d like!

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to make the Sharpie designs permanent. After baking, they look exactly the same. They do not brown or fade!

I cut off the tacky gold string and replaced it with some ribbon and twine. You could use jute twine, baker’s twine, homespun fabric, ribbon, or wire to hang your ornaments. Go with whatever compliments your designs!

Awwwwww, love my lil’ snowman hanging on my lil’ country Christmas tree! What a great, cost-effective idea for Christmas gifts or party favors!

And I hung up the crow themed ornie on my crow shelf. I love crows…can ya tell?!?

And now for something even MORE fun than crafts…FREE craft supplies! I realized that since I started my blog I have never done a give-away! Shame on me! I have so many loyal readers and crafty friends that I thought I’d give away some fun stamps to say THANKS for reading my blog! Leave a comment on this post with your name and you could win one of these 3 stamps!

A large “script” stamp, which would be great for tags or scrapbooking…

A Victorian looking skeleton key

Or a set of 4 vintage “Ladies In Hats” stamps, as you may have seen on my little grubby tags! I have my own set of these pretty ladies!

I will use a random number generator to pick 3 numbers and match those numbers up with the list of comments. For example, if you’re the 3rd person to leave a comment, and one of the randomly generated numbers is “3″, then you’ll win one of the stamps! I will draw 3 numbers a week from today, which will be on Christmas Eve! I’ll email the winners and mail them out just in time to start off 2013 with some fun new craft projects!!! GOOD LUCK!

If you give the Sharpie Ornies a whirl, I’d LOVE to see pics! I’ll even post them here! Thanks! Happy Craftin’!

Another Holiday Dollar Store Craft: Snowman Clothespin Magnets

Hope everyone had a nice weekend! I’m loving the cool, crisp, Fall weather!

I have been working on a project for my show in a few weeks and wanted to share it with you, because I love how it came out! You may remember the tiny little snowman clips from years past, but this is a new take on the same project. I was inspired by my fellow crafter & blogger Lisa to use the larger clothespins and make them into magnets for the fridge, to hold papers, pictures, or whatever. See Lisa’s take on this project here: http://www.booth555.com/2012/09/snowmen-clothes-pin-magnets.html

I started with cheap clothespins from Walmart – a 100 pack for around $3. Score! I know you can get these at any dollar store also, which is why I consider it a “dollar store craft”.

I spray painted them white with Rustoleum Heirloom White. Did one side, let it dry, and did the other side. The over-spray was enough to cover the sides.

I like to do each step in bulk, rather than do them one at a time. I always start with the noses first!

Then I used a Sharpie paint pen for the eyes and buttons. The paint pen was too thick for the little eyebrows so I used a fine tip Sharpie marker (just a regular permanent marker as opposed to a paint pen) for the fine eyebrows.

I prefer the little round magnets, which are also from the dollar store, because they are a lot stronger than the flat magnets. I ran out of them, so I used some of these flat magnets, cut into thin strips, and hot glued on. They work, but do not have as strong of a hold. If I have time, I may go back and replace them with the round ones, if my dollar store still has them in stock.

Here are some of the completed snowmen. Some have scarfs and some have little tin stars, just to mix it up a little!

I also did a batch with vintage buttons!

To display magnets, I normally would use a large tin star, the back of a cookie sheet, or the back of a large enamel pan. This time I had way too many and decided to use this old tin/metal table as a display! The magnets cling to it really well. Using some brown kraft paper from the dollar store (comes in rolls, and I use it for everything!) I just cut a piece long enough to drape over the length of the table, and voila! Thinking about stamping it with my logo stamp, or some fun Christmas stamps!

Here is how it will stand up. I left the drop leafs folded over, and it stands up perfectly. As you can see, I used these little tiny dollar store clamps (the small black ones along the top of the kraft paper) to hold the paper in place. You could easily just tape it on too. I am so excited about this idea, because it will be an easy display to transport, and will give a lot of height to my table!

Before I go, a quick update on the wooden snowman spoons! I thought they were too “blah” so I grubbied them up a bit by rubbing on some Deco Art gel stain, and then wiping off. I then sealed them with sparkle mod podge, which doesn’t show up that great in the picture because it’s a subtle shimmer. They have a little more pizzazz now, and a bit more of that “prim” feel!!!

Well, have a GREAT week and happy crafting!!!

Dollar Store Candles Turned Cute Country Decor

First of all, let me just say I am loving this crisp, cool, Fall weather and LOVE this time for year for many reasons, including:

Upstate New York is AMAZING this time of year…just sayin’. So anyway, on to the latest project – jazzing up some dollar store candles. I ordered this burlap jute webbing with many projects in mind, and I did put some of it up for sale in my Etsy store. I simply cut it to size and hot glued it in place. It is very thick, yet cuts easily. I experimented with candles and plain glass votive holders. I’m loving the tall candles – which can be found at any Dollar Tree.

Using a little bit of twine, I tied on some vintage-looking keys.

I kinda like the look of the burlap covering the entire glass holder. These would be cute for votives or even a small vase / plant / herb holder. I currently am using this one as my tooth-brush holder. Hehe.

Another variation on this project was using some torn homespun fabric. Again – just hot glued it.

Isn’t it cute? You could use any color fabric depending on the time of year of holiday you are decorating for!

There are so many ways you can take these projects and run. I’m thinking of doing a texture fierro coating on the outside, or a cinnamon / mod podge coating to get rid of the stark white of the tall Dollar Tree candles. Hmmm…so much to do, so little time!

If you make these, send me a pic! I’d love to show some variations of the project and see other peoples ideas. Hope everyone has a wonderful week and enjoys this awesome Fall weather!

The “Melted Snowman” Ornament

I have been quite the lazy blogger lately, and for that I am sorry…I have been doing all kinds of little projects and finally just getting around to documenting them all!

This weekend I finally did a Christmas craft project that has been on my to-do list for quite some time – the “melted snowman” ornament! I thought they might be fun for my upcoming holiday craft show. I would consider this a “dollar store craft” because these shatterproof clear plasic bulbs were $1 ea. at A.C. Moore, and most of the other materials could be found at the Dollar Tree, i.e. the salt and peppercorns.

I used salt for the “snow”, whole peppercorns for the “eyes / mouth”, and orange Fimo sculpting clay for the “noses.” The Fimo must be purchased at a craft store, but you could also make the noses out of Sculpey, salt dough, play dough, or even orange paper if you wanted to.

I rolled out little noses and chopped off the thicker ends with a knife to make it look like a real mini carrot. I made little crease marks on the noses to give ‘em texture. To harden the Fimo, bake at 230 degrees for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, I propped up the clear globes in small cups and used a small funnel to pour in approximately 1/4 cup of salt.

Next I added some peppercorns, to represent the eye & mouth coals that have dropped to the bottom after our little man “melted”!

Waiting for the noses to finish baking…tick, tock…

I used black embroidery thread to hang them up, but you could use twine, holiday ribbon, or torn strips of homespun fabric! Infact, I am thinking the black thread is kinda boring and might go back and use some homespun.

I think they’re so cute! I’ve seen some with the addition of small sticks as “arms” and/or a small piece of ribbon as a “scarf.” I like em’ simple, just like this!

I carefully packed them away for my craft show. I’ll let you know if they are good sellers or not. The noses and peppercorns generally stay on top of the “snow” and don’t get buried down in too easily, which I was happy about.

*Update!* Here is the melted snowman as created by my friend Sara! She added a little scarf and also used some homespun fabric to hang it up, which I really like! I might have to do something similar!

Here’s a version made by one of my readers, Alexis! She knits those tiny scarfs by hand! So jealous…I wish I could knit!

Less than 2 months til my big craft show…time to get my crafty @$$ in gear! I will keep you posted!

Dollar Store Christmas Craft: Wooden Snowman Spoons

Evening thinking about Christmas right now is slightly obnoxious, but this project just dawned on me and I felt the need to try it while the idea was fresh in my mind. I have used wooden spoons for other projects but realized their flat round spoons would make perfect little snowman faces! This set of 4 wooden spoons from Walmart wasn’t even $1…they were only $.88! Score! You can also usually find a set of 4 at any dollar store.

I spray painted them with Rustoleum Heirloom White. Any white spray paint would do, and because they are such light-colored wood, one coat worked fine.

Once dried I prepared to paint snowman faces using a Sharpie paint pen for the eyes, a thin black marker for the eyebrows and my favorite rusty orange acrylic paint for the noses.

I played around with different faces…some with mouths and eyebrows…some without…do whatever you think is cute!

Tied on a strip of homespun fabric “scarf”…awwwwww….

They would be great sticking out of vases around the holidays! In decorative jars, a little snowman family grouped in a small crock or jug, tied onto gifts…you could stick em’ anywhere!

Looking at them, I realize there is SO much more you could do with these…

• Add rosy cheeks
• Different styles of mouths (like x’s or a long thin squiggly line)
• Seal with a coat of sparkly Mod Podge to make them shimmer
• Sand the edges and use brown craft paint or gel stain to “grubby” them up
• Glue spaced out buttons down the length of the stick
• Add a rusty tin star around the neck
• Tie a tall one and short one together
• Drill a tiny hole to make em into hanging ornaments
• OR…spray paint the spoons ORANGE and do PUMPKIN faces!!! OOOOooooh…those are going to happen for sure!!!

What other ways could you jazz them up? If you try these, send me pics so I can post them here!

Have a great night and happy crafting! BBS!

The Easiest, Coolest Project Ever: Stamped Paper Mache Gift / Trinket Boxes

Sorry for the blogging hiatus! There’s been so much going on and I have been not been in the crafting mood lately. Now that the sun is starting to shine more and Spring is here, I am getting that itch again. Barn sale season is upon us! In the mean time, here is an easy little project that I was experimenting with, and REALLY like the results!

You may remember these little snowman boxes that I did for my winter craft show:

Well, I decided to play around with stamping some of the brown paper mache boxes that were found in the same area as the white ones above.

I got all my supplies ready to go…

And I quickly found out that larger stamps work better for this project, and I’ll show you why!!!

I tried stamping on the tops like you normally would, pressing the stamp down on top of the surface. The paper mache boxes aren’t perfectly flat on the top – they are warped, have raised edges, etc. Every time I stamped them, parts of the image would be missing, like this:

So, I found out that it worked much better to lay the stamps down on their backs, and press the paper mache surface onto the stamp. That way you can press down all the way around and ensure an evenly stamped image. Hence, the larger stamps work better!

Here are some of my favorites:

I think they would be a good Christmas craft show seller, maybe $1 a piece, to use as small gift boxes.  I’m gonna make more because they were just plain easy and fun to make. I’ll let you know how they do!

I categorized these as a “dollar store craft” because the paper mache boxes, at $2.50 per 6 pack amount to around $.41 cents a piece. That’s not including the half off coupons that you can always find online for the major craft stores. Also, I have had a lot of luck finding really cool stamps for $1.00, like these ones from Michaels:

So have at it! Send me a pic if you give them a try! In other news, I HAD to share with you the “find” of a lifetime…this  35 drawer catalog/apothecary unit…for FREE…on the side of the road!!! That just doesn’t happen! I about died!!!

Every drawer was there, with this AMAZING original hardware…

I was all gung-ho to sell it in my booth but upon cleaning it up, I decided to keep it. After a little soap and water, voila! Isn’t she a beaut? The bottom right have drawer is there, it’s just darker than the rest. It gives it character.

Well, hopefully I can get my butt up and moving with some craft projects and find some inspiration in this beautiful sunny, Spring weather. Hope everyone had a great weekend! BBS!

Making Your Own Pencil Eraser Stamps

I was recently “commissioned” to do a little project for a friend who attends an annual Briard Dog Show and makes up the goodie bags for the attendees. Inspired by some of my handmade Christmas magnets, she gave me this image as a guide and said she would like some magnets made up with this paw print. It’s a normal paw print except for the two little paws on the bottom corner, also known as the “dew claws”.

I immediately thought of the custom made stamps I recently saw on Pinterest and thought I could make my own dew claw stamp to add on to a normal paw print stamp. You may have seen this on Pinterest:

So I bought this small paw stamp from Michaels…

And used a pencil eraser to make my own dew claw stamp. I drew a small oval to guide me when cutting it out with an exacto knife.

It was a little rough around the edges…

So I used a nail file to smooth out the edges. I then stamped it and filed it until it was the perfect oval shape!

Here is the completed paw print stamp! Not too shabby!

Paco gave it his doggie “stamp” of approval! (ridiculous pun intended)

I picked up a variety of colored ink pads to stamp with.

So far I have teal, black, and a magenta color. All I have to do is about 200 more, glue on the magnets and I am good to go! Let the mass production commence!

I wanted to share this because it was so easy carving that little paw out of the eraser…and you could take this project in so many directions! You could carve a small heart, circles, or any simple shape. A square to create a checker board effect…the possibilities are endless! Pencils and large pink erasers could be picked up at the Dollar Store, making it a CHEAP craft as well! Here are some other very cool ideas (linked up to their original tutorials)!

Even MARTHA has done it! Love these handmade cards!

Have you made your own stamp? Are you gonna try? If so, send me a pic and I will post it here! Have a great weekend!!!

Cinnamon Applesauce “Bowl Fillers”

My craft show is sneaking up on me, and I am in super-mega-crafting-mode! Over the weekend I finished a giant batch of cinnamon applesauce ornaments, which are always a hit at the craft show. Instead of hanging them up as actual ornaments, I just package them up as “bowl fillers” that can be sprinkled in with potpourri, fixins, or wherever! I decided to scrap the stars and go with all gingerbread men this year! They almost look good enough to eat!!!

These are an easy, CHEAP craft and would be great to do with kids, as party favors, stocking stuffers, or just for fun. They are made of pure cinnamon so the scent is strong and long-lasting. Google “cinnamon applesauce ornaments” for the basic recipe, and I’ll tell you how I tweaked mine.

The recipe calls for a bit of white glue, which I was out of, so I used some mod podge. The cinnamon was 2 for $1 at Walmart (or at the $ Tree). It also calls for equal parts applesauce to cinnamon, which I find makes the dough too wet. I use about 2/3 cup applesauce to every cup of cinnamon, and just go from there until it feels right.

A normal person would roll out the dough with a rolling pin, but since I am a redneck and apparently do have the most basic of baking tools, I used this empty beer bottle sitting on the counter. It worked great! Git-r-done!

I keep one bottle of cinnamon to dust the wax paper with, so the dough doesn’t stick. Use it like you would flour when baking. Sprinkling it on top of the dough also keeps the beer bottle, or rolling pin, from sticking!

I did all gingerbread men, but stars or hearts could be made all year ’round!

They are taking over! Gingerbread men everywhere!!!

I made them about a 1/4 inch thick. Too thin and they’ll snap easily.

They take a good 2-3 days to dry all the way through. The thicker they are, the longer they take to dry. You can toss them in a little bowl…

…or sprinkle them in with your country fixins to add some holiday flair!!!

For packaging, I am using these little clear “treat bags” that you can get at any craft store in the baking section – these bags come is all sizes & quantities!

And now that they are all packaged up, I wanna make more! Maybe this weekend! Sorry Greg. Hehe.

Have a wonderful Turkey Day!!! Enjoy the long weekend, the great food, and time with family and friends!!!

 

P.S. I updated the previous “Homespun Candy Cane” tutorial with some new pics of exactly how to wrap/glue them. It’s super easy but I thought a few additional photos might come in handy. Happy crafting!

A New Twist on the Homespun Candy Cane!

You may remember the homespun candy cane tutorial I did last year…they were such a hit! I’ve spent the last week making MASSES of them since I sold out so quickly last year at my craft show. This year I did some a little different!

I was at the Dollar Tree getting more of my usual candy canes when I spotted some MINI candy canes! Yay for miniature stuff!!! I knew they’d be easy to pop off their cheesy garland. Another dollar store SCORE!!! There are two Dollar Trees near me…one had them and one didn’t. Moral of the story: be sure to check all your local $ stores, so you don’t miss anything!

So after easily popping them off the plastic garland, I wrapped them up the same way as the bigger ones…how freakin adorable are these??

I thought they were a bit tiny to sell individually (although you could…) so I wrapped them in bundles of 5 and tied them with a piece of twine. I also added a little rusty bell.

Meanwhile, I have piles and piles of the regular sized ones ready to go!

Here’s a little refresher on the how-to. All I did was tear strips of fabric and used a hot glue gun to attach the fabric to one end, and start WRAPPIN’!

Keep it pulled tight as you wrap. At the end, seal off with a little more hot glue.

Trim off the excess fabric at the end…

…and using a dab of hot glue, fold down the end fabric. Be careful! I usually burn my fingers doing this part! DONE!

I figured since I’m doing small and medium candy canes…why not do a few LARGE ones too! How about EXTRA LARGE! $6 at the Amvet for 12 ginormous candy canes…

I also did these a little differently this year. I didn’t bother with wrapping with white muslin to create “stripes”…I liked them as is! Added a sprig of faux pines and two little rusty bells. I only have these 3 done so far, but I think I’ll do a variety of just green and red homespun fabrics.

Some other weekend projects consisted of cleaning this old mailbox and getting ready to bring it over to the co-op. It took a lot of scrubbing…but now she is a primitive BEAUTY! I kinda want to keep it but it’s a little TOO prim for Greg…

Love that old wood showing through! Wish I had the time and patience to strip this thing…

…And had to fit in some spray painting while the weather is still nice!!!

I finally got around to painting some of these thrift store wooden bowls. I have so many fun “bowl fillers” to sell…why not some bowls too?!

I sanded the edges but that’s about it. I can never get it to look quite right when trying to sand a curved surface…they just end up looking messy.

We also got our Christmas lights up. So what if we are the only ones in the county with Christmas lights? LOL…

Fun with slow shutter speeds…hehehe…

Well I guess that’s about it. It was a beautiful weekend and I was glad I could get outside and putter around before the snow flies. Have a great week and Happy Crafting!

Vintage Inspired Craft Supplies & Other Randomness

I rarely feature the “eyeballs by day” part and tend to focus more on the “crafts by night.” So I thought I’d share one of my favorite images that, over the weekend,  won 3rd place at the annual Ophthalmic Photographer’s Society international photography contest! This patient had some major blood vessel abnormalities in their retina. Here, the vessels are illuminated with fluorescein dye that was injected about 30 seconds prior to this shot being taken, bringing out the fine detail of these microscopic vessels.

Kind of a creepy, eh? A little creepiness just in time for Halloween! And speaking of photography…I snapped these pics of the sun hitting the trees in the back yard after a quick thunderstorm just now.  Damn I love Fall! It was suddenly a gorgeous sight out my back door and I had to grab the camera and capture it…

Anyway, the real reason for this post is to share some wonderful, vintage-inspired craft supplies my friend Christine and I found at Michael’s over the weekend! The best part is…they were only $1 a piece! Yep, a dollar!!! If you have a Michael’s near you…go get ‘em now before they disappear!!!

First, we found these porcelain knobs, that are very reminiscent of knobs from Hobby Lobby and/or Anthropologie (but for a quarter of the price)!!!

Imagine a cute cabinet made-over with these knobs?…And how about a skeleton key stamp, and dinner & drink themed marble magnets! Not too long ago, I paid a LOT more for a stamp just like this!!

My favorite are these Victorian-style skeleton keys!!! I totally would have missed these if Christine hadn’t dug them out from one of the bottom bins. We scooped them ALL up, and I plan on going back soon to look for more! I have so many ideas for these!

There was also a nice selection of stationary, like these cards with cute country tea cups. They are blank inside – and it never hurts to have some cute cards handy to jot a hello to a friend or a quick thank you note!

Along with these great finds, I picked up a few more Halloween cupcake accessories. I am so excited…this week is time for Melanie & I’s annual HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE SPOOKTACULAR! Here is some of the fun stuff I have picked up over the last few weeks! My favorite would have to be the blood spattered cupcake holders…

Pictures surely to follow!!! We can’t wait to try the “broken glass” cupcakes, as featured this year by Martha Stewart!

Well, have a great week…I’ll be back Friday night with lots of cupcake pix! And since this post has been incredibly random, here is the other thing I bought this weekend! LOVE all the EYEBALL stuff out this time of year! Yes, they are salt & pepper shakers…and yes…I might have to leave em out all year ’round!

Do you get the feeling you’re being WATCHED? Muah ha ha ha!!!

Super Duper EASY Thrift Store Make Overs, and Some Pretty Jingle Bell Ornaments!

So my booth is stocked with some items found at thrift stores that ended up being really EASY make overs. Make overs that required very little time or effort. Sometimes it doesn’t take a massive over-haul with tons of meticulous painting or whatever…it’s can simply be a matter of cleaning them up and adding a small decoration to make them super CUTE!

Here’s a couple of grapevine wreaths I got at the Salvo…

I added a few rusty stars and some berries found at AC Moore (on clearance after last Fall)…BAM! Fall CUTENESS!

Remember this jar with the wooden top?

There it is, filled with mini pumpkins, after a quick coat of black spray paint on the lid. I sanded the edges…it took literally 30 seconds. The other small jar is from the dollar store, which I can’t find anymore. I’m sad, because I loved using them to fill with stuff.

Found this picture frame at the Amvet. I printed out this cute Halloween poem from my favorite FREE graphics website The Graphics Fairy and it looks so adorable displayed with some other Halloween stuff!

I  found this crock lamp at the Amvet also. It was a mess. Dusty and really grimy. I cleaned it up and it looks brand new! Added this basic shade and VOILA!

This gothic looking window frame was originally REALLY tacky, covered in fake pink and green flowers. I mean COVERED…you couldn’t even see the metal bars inside the window frame. I took them off, scraped off the gobs of hot glue, and here it sits waiting for someone to scoop up and plant some herbs or small flowers in those little pots.

Lastly, these were not a thrift store find per say, but a clearance find at AC Moore’s last January. I like the snowflake cut outs on the bells, but I don’t care for the bright reflective surface.

I decided to tone them down a bit with this metallic spray paint. It’s pretty expensive, but at any give time you can find a 50% coupon on the craft store websites. I never go craft store shopping without checking for a coupon first.

Finished with a piece of twine as the hanger and homespun fabric as a little decorative tie. Wouldn’t these look neat all over your Christmas tree, or in a giant wooden bowl on the table??

You could do this same technique on smaller bells, like these below, found at the Dollar Tree! I’ve also used barn red, forest green, and a navy blue spray paint (in a satin finish, not metallic) to paint these kinds of bell ornaments. Any of these are cute for the holidays.

I’d love to try to do a post about other people’s thrift store finds and/or make overs. What’s the BEST thing you ever found at a thrift store? Send me a pic!

So anyway, I plan on trying to photograph the beautiful foliage around here and I’ll be sure to post them next time. Have I mentioned I LOVE FALL?!?! hehehe. Have a great day!

 

 

A Fabulous, Fall Weekend & Country Pumpkin Pins

Welp, it’s official. It’s FALL! My favorite!!! We had all kinds of big plans and didn’t end up doing any of them…instead we did all kinds of fun, FALL stuff! We got pumpkins from a road side stand and I just LOVE the white ones…

Got out the Halloween decorations including my new OWL from one of my favorite stores, Roses in the Hedgerow! Check out the little rusty bottle caps for eyes with a black bead sewn in the middle, and a Fimo nose. Man, I wish I could sew!!!

Had the “Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Pie” candle going ALLLLLL weekend…YUM!

…AND I got a ton of crafting done for the Kendall Scarecrow Festival in a few weeks! I made some more pumpkin pins, but this time in a more country themed, using rusty tin pumpkins and stars!

Here’s how, incase you’d like to make some! I start with rusty tin shapes that I order in bulk from rusty tin.com.

Paint them up with a burnt orange…

Glue on the pin backs with Dazzle Tac, NOT hot glue. With hot glue, the pin backs snap right off. The Dazzle Tac is a jewelry glue and will hold that pin back there forever!

I lightly dry brushed  some dark brown on the side to give the pumpkin some subtle texture and added the little green curly-cue vine. Then glued on the stars with a tiny bit of Dazzle Tac. Last year I did some black pumpkins too, which were really cute.

I pinned them on my grubby hang tags for sale/display. I can then hang them up OR throw em in a basket.

Meanwhile my latest batch of silicone bulbs were curing in the basement that I dipped Friday night. TIP: I found that using less spices in my silicone mixture made it much easier to work with and the tips came out better and smoother. The trick is adding just enough to get your “warm, cozy glow” but not too much to muck up the silicone! See my original silicone dipped bulbs tutorial here.

The bases sit…waiting for their bulbs!

These have been hot sellers at the co-op so I figured why not put some more out there, too! These have become one of my “signature” items.

Well guess that’s all for today. So much has been going on, I feel like I haven’t sat down since I opened my booth in April. I wanted something to keep me busy and motivated, and boy did I get it! Have a great week everyone and enjoy this wonderful Fall while it lasts…!

Mini Country Jar Candles

I said I wasn’t going to do the jar candles again this year but I just can’t resist the Fall scents! Pumpkin Spice, Vanilla Spice, Mulled Cider, and a new one this year: Pecan Pie! I got these at Wally World, and I think they are an awesome deal. Only $1 a piece, and the scents are very fragrant and long-lasting. Also, the labels peel right off, so they’re great for crafting!

Really, why bother trying to pour your own when you can get these for $1!

Instead of making labels this year, I decided to do something EASY and not as costly, or time-consuming. I simply wrapped the jars with a wide piece of homespun fabric, wrapped with a piece of jute, and finished with a rusty star, heart, or little salt-box house. All secured with the hot glue gun. The pictures aren’t great, because I took them with my phone. Sorry. SOMEONE went to a dog training seminar and took ALL the good cameras in the house!

Originally I was done at this point, but I wanted to do something to indicate the scent. I decided to make little tags to tie around the necks of the jars. I cut down the normal size tags to make “mini grubby tags.” I stamped them with my mini alphabet stamps to spell out the scents – some of which I changed. I didn’t like “vanilla spice” so I changed it to “spice cake.” These mini alphabet stamps can be found at the craft store OR Walmart for $1 too!

Tip: I find it’s easiest to stamp multiple tags at once. Stamp the “p” on all 3, then the “u” on all 3, and so on. It’s so much quicker stamping out one whole tag when you are fumbling around with tiny stamps like this.

I don’t stress if they aren’t perfect…that just means they are one of a kind and have a little home-made charm!

I used to print out labels on brown craft stickers and just tie a piece of fabric around the neck. The labels were a pain in the @$$ to get just right, not to mention those stickers aren’t cheap or easily accessible. Cute, but just not efficient for me.

I really hope people think my new candles are as cute as I do. Guess we’ll find out very soon! If they do sell well, maybe I’ll make a bunch for the craft show in Dec.!

In other news, here are some cool thrift store finds from last week, starting with this very cool, retro scale! I am getting quite a nice collection of old scales and can’t wait to display them together.

Grapevine heart wreaths…for a buck? Heck yeah!

Two country-style boxes, both in great shape!

A round pink jar with a wire frog lid

An itty-bitty rug beater…at least I think that’s what it is! It’s so stink in’ cute!

And lastly, this cool wood pharmacy sign. Not sure if it’s a repro or not but I love the graphics and lettering.

Well that’s all for now! Has anyone else been working on any Fall crafts yet? Or am I the only one who wants Fall to hurry up and get here?! Have a fabulous weekend and BBS!