Boredom & Pain Meds = Crappy Crafts!

Well it's day two of my recovery and I'm bored. Only 5 weeks and 5 days till I go back to work, imagine all the crap I can make! Tonight's crappy craft is sewing pattern flowers. I know the suspense is killing ya so let's get moving. 

First find yourself a cheap sack of patterns at goodwill, this set me back .99

Wistfully look at the cute pajamas on the front and wish you knew how to sew. I don't so let's move on. 

Cut out 10-12 sheets roughly the same size. My first try was about 9 x 11 but the flowers were too big. 8 X 6 works better. Then start accordion folding your paper

Tie off the center with some wire. I tried pipe cleaners first but the stem was too floppy and ain't nobody like a floppy stem amiright?

Round off both ends with sharp scissors. Mine are not sharp so some bad words may have been involved. 

Fan it out all pretty then start spreading out your petals

Have fun trying to keep your new kitties from ripping them apart while your making them (they are lucky they are so cute)

Speaking of cute kitties here's a pic of them when we got them (about a month ago)

Had to throw that in there. Cuz they ARE the cutest kitties ever to roam the earth. Anyway, throw your new flowers in a vase (or your almost gone candle if your too lazy/drugged to find your vase) 

Oooh, so purdy! And no watering! You can't really tell but the black lines on the patterns give the flowers a little extra cool detail. I know you all learned how to make tissue paper flowers back in second grade but a little refresher never hurt anyone. Now go make some fall flowers!

Fun Finds and a Shout Out to the BOYS IN BLUE!

Ok first and formost, for those who don't know, I live in Kansas City. So the above pic is obvious, rooting HARD for our KC Royals to win the World Series! Exciting time around these parts. 

In personal news, I had some knee surgery today. Arthroscopic surgery on my left knee. This is my 4th knee surgery, they have both been scoped twice now. I have terrible knees, and my doctor tells me I really need both of them replaced, but hoping this scope and these shots they give me (fake cartridge made out of the  comb of a chicken...eww) will let me put it off for a few years. I jokingly (but not really a joke) say that for my 50th birthday I am buying myself new knees! Anyway, the plus side is I'm off work for the next six weeks so lots of blogging time, listing time, and getting waited on time. See, there is a plus side! 

Laying in bed, watching the Royals.

In junking news I have a few things I found over the last couple weeks. Went to a great estate sale that was also cheap! (Rare around here) also a church sale and a few garage sales. found some fun stuff!

This was my haul, minus two big items. 

At the awesomely cheap,estate sale I found this bag of reindeer, snowman, santa on skis and santa with sleigh. Total price? 3.00!!!

A box of old lights and a few Shiny Brites (which I was trying not to buy but for $2.00? Come on, who could pass that up?)

Cute metal bread box with pink BREAD handle.

A cute white pitcher, jello molds and great turquoise shell vase.

A set of vintage full sheets, Vera scarf and three boxes of (repro) bubble lights which have already sold on ebay.

I mentioned earlier that I had two big item purchases. The first was this vintage metal chewing gum rack. Already put to use next to my washer holding all my laundry supplies!

The last thing I found was a vintage enamel top table in white and jadeite green. I love, love, love it. It's currently in my basement and since steps and crutches don't mix, I don't have a pic for you. But as soon as I can hobble to the basement I will post a pic. Trust me, worth the wait! How was your week?

Box O Fun!

I signed up for my first ever blog swap. It was hosted by Sarah at Makin Projiks.  I had to make 13 ornaments and I got 13 different ones back. I decided to make haunted houses. I bought unfinished wood bird houses and went to work. (Sorry forgot the before pic) here's how they turned out

They were fun to make but I was over it after number 13. Last week I got my box in the mail full of 13 fun ornaments!

It was like Christmas! And speaking of, I would be perfectly happy with all vintage Christmas presents (hint, hint, family) anyway, I was truly amazed at all the talented ladies out there! Here'sa shot of all of them

Such a fantastic variety. Here's some close ups

Kim at Musings from Kim K made these awesome spun head girls

Sarah made (and sewed!) these cute stuffed pumpkins. The girl has some mad sewing skills. Her quilts are serious works of art 

I happen to love all things owl and black cat so these cute metal ornaments were perfect! From Michelle and Ashley at The Tattered Quilt Cottage

Beth (I don't think she has a blog) is a genius with paper. Check out these awesome cards!

Gail at Crafty Little Beana made these oh so cute pumpkin people. Love that paper hat!

Michaele at Twigs and Tulle made these fantastic witch tags. I love it, totally remind me of the wicked witch of the west!

Tiny little folded book pages make the cutest pumpkins! From Megan.

I love decorating with skulls at Halloween and these clay ones made by Jane fit in nicely, check out the details!

Sheryl made some adorable owls. Have I mentioned my owl obsession?

Colleen made these cute felt pumpkins. Love the polka dot leaf!

Beth made these awesome skeletons in a tiny graveyard. These were my kids favorite! 

Last but not least were these clever bats made from clothes pins! I especially love their tiny plaid vests, so cute!

I really enjoyed this swap and would definitely do another one. Hopefully Sarah will do a Christmas one, I'm in!

The Week in Junk

Well I recapped Junk Ranch for you but never showed you what I bought. For some reason I was drawn to all things metal. My decorating ADD I guess. Good thing my house has a choppy  layout, all separate rooms instead of open concept. I tend to decorate every room a little different style. Anyway, I digress. On to the finds 

First up is this cool metal tin picnic basket to add to my collection, which is now just this shy of enough. Maybe. Or not. 

Next this gargantuan long chicken feeder. I may have underestimated how long this baby was. I had ideas of putting it on my dining room table all full of small pumpkins and gourds and fall leaves and such.  Umm, no. It goes from one end to the other and looks pretty stupid. Gonna have to rethink this one. Any thoughts?

Last I got a metal wheel with spokes thing (what the heck are those called?) My mom has one hanging on her wall with old pictures and stuff clipped to it and it looks cool. It is currently still buried in the garage with the rest of the show leftovers and I haven't found the energy to dig it out. But ya catch my drift.

This weekend my mom and I hit up a few favorite haunts and found some goodies. 

This was my favorite find. An old cloth halloween trick or treat bag. It's small, only about 10" across and 16" long. Of course my kids were all like "that's all the candy they got back in the day?" And I had to explain to them that it wasn't even just candy, people also used to hand out things like apples, and nuts, and pennies. That concept went over like a lead balloon. 

I also found this salt jar with a yellow lid. I had to buy it because I have it's match at home

Coffee!  Not in the best shape but that's ok with me. Neither am I! 

The last thing I got actually came in the mail. I ordered these two vintage Halloween die cuts from Magpie Ethel (thanks Laurie!) and they were just the thing to make me want to get out my Halloween decorations! 

Excuse the bad pictures. But you should be used to them by now, just sayin. 

But looking how cute they look all mixed in with the others

Yes, I know this picture is AWFUL! It's not my fault! Just zoom on in and you'll get the gist.

This is only about 1/3 of the die cuts I have, but I only put up a few this year, and I decided to frame some...ooh fancy!

Since I'm showing off the homestead I gotta share my mantle. I never do scary halloween (I used to when the kids were little, even turned my whole garage into a haunted house one year. Yes, it was awesome) but this year I did all vintage in the front room and decided to go a little creepier in the family room.

I found these old pyrex bottles a few years ago so I printed some labels and glued them on. I think they turned out pretty great

No creepy mantle is complete without a cloche full of skulls

I just noticed my skeleton is missing part of his arm. I smell foul play.  

In other news I went to the pumpkin patch today and Im pretty sure I'm hear cider donuts and orange cream soda calling my name. Till next time...

Junk Ranch 2014

Well I survived my first Junk Ranch. It was a lot of work, a long weekend, but so much fun! My brother came with me and was so much help, I could not have done it without him! He brought his big truck, helped me load, unload, set up, and sell, and most of all kept me and the customers entertained all weekend! That boy makes me laugh and it was so nice hanging out with him all weekend! Plus nice to be able to walk around and shop while he manned the booth. The highlight of my trip was meeting these two fabulous ladies, Lara from Pretty Quirky and Shara from Monkeybox!

Even sweeter in real life than they are on their blogs. Of course they both brought fab stuff to sell!

Shara's cool booth full to the brim of vintage goodies and displayed beautifully!

Seriously I wanted it all! Thanks for the birthday candles Shara, we have exactly the same taste. 

And Lara, with her awesome signs, I'm kicking myself I didn't buy the one with the old Christmas lights on it, it was so neat and maybe I can get her to make me one and buy it next time I come to Fayetteville? (Please, please?)

Seriously so good! 

Wish I lived closer to these two ladies because I would love to go junking with them. Although we'd be rolling in the aisles fighting  over all the same stuff. Kidding! I'd totally win. Lol! 

So many fun booths, and after a cool and windy day on Friday, Saturday was absolutely GLORIOUS!

Isnt this booth divine?

Great displays!

Lots of Rusty Crust junk.

The turnout was fantastic and I sold a ton of stuff. Definitely small things sold better, I only brought a few big things but none of them sold. Oh well. Here's a few shots  of my booth

My best seller was globes. I brought 12 of them and sold all but one! Also pop crates (sold 4) chenille bedspreads (sold all 4 that I brought) suitcases (sold all 5) and tons of smalls.  I declared it a successful trip, even with gas and motel I made some money so I was a happy girl. The only downside to the whole weekend was on the way home, traveling 80mph on the interstate, dark outside, we hit a deer! No little doe either, a big huge buck (I think, I didn't actually see it)  Smashed the grill out of the front of my brothers truck, deployed both the air bags, and scared the bejeezus out of me! Luckily we weren't hurt, and after the tow truck pulled the fender out of the front tire, the truck was perfectly drive able. But man what a bummer! Stupid deer.

After getting home laaate Sunday night, working Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 12 hour shifts, I spent all day yesterday catching up on sleep! Talk about exhausted! But feeling better now, even went junking today with my mom and found some cool stuff. But thats a post for another day! Till next time...