Pirate noise makers~

Its pirate season for me... I've finally set a date for this years yearly pirate party that we host... the last weekend in June. *gasp, thats right around the corner!* I better get crackin'!
I picked up this huge lot of noise makers last summer at a yard sale, I think I paid a dollar for the lot. I had visions of making them into something a little more "piratey".... Sooooooooooo... I bought a book of maps for .50cents and glued-cut-shaped-glued some more until each one was covered. Then I distressed the edges and added some pirate stickers... Taaaaaa daaaaaaa pirate noise makers!I also made-over this ring toss game, it was originally painted in bright colors. I used sisal rope and some Jute.
Now, I've just got to stash these in with the other pirate stuff and get busy working on some more things~

Resin Charms~

Well...I've been fooling around with my resin again. I had bought a silver bracelet for .25cents at a yard sale that had a seashell in each bezel. I pried each shell out of each bezel so I could use it to hold resin. If you've priced bezels... you'd know what a bright-bright girlie I am. *lol* The first layer I added some aged paper to the back and sides... then I added some teeny-tiny berries, added some resin and let that set up overnight. The next day, I added a teeny-tiny fairy and some moss to each one to create a fairy sitting in a nest then another coat of resin. I think they turned out pretty cute.The little one on the right is my favorite~ When you view these in person they are very clear, I don't know why they photographed all funky like they did.These little charms were made using some bezels from a .50cent watch I got at another yard sale. I pried the faux stones out of each bezel... added some vintage German text as the base... added a fairy and the resin and taaaaaa daaaaaaaaa more fairy charms.

These two are my favorites~These silver pieces I picked up at a local bead store. The large was $1.49 the small was .89cents. They are really shallow.... but I thought I would give them a try. I dunno.... I'm not to thrilled with them. I think I'll still play around with these two. Maybe I'll add some glitter and try to add some more resin. Finally, I tried my hand at putting resin in a frame instead of a bezel that has a back on it. I used packing tape to keep the resin from seeping out from the frame. I don't know if the tape will come off-- but I'm thinking it will. *fingers crossed* The silver frame I tried to place a thin-thin coat of resin on it so I could put layers on it--- its still a work in progress. The paper is discolored because the glue I used to seal the paper wasn't completely dry~ Well, I'm off to go work out in the yard-- I'm taking full advantage of this beautiful day and I hope your day is beautiful as well!

Saleing~

Ahhhhhh the winds are blowing wonderful yard sales all over town..... Look at the fun treasures I recently came across. The stack of music books and vintage recipe booklets were fa-reeee. I got the glass shadow box and the glass domed cheese trivet both for a dollar. The Russian stacking dolls were .25cents, the silver frame .50cents.Look at these vintage linens.... dreamy huh? The tablecloth and the 12 matching napkins for only $3. The green flower pot was $1.I also picked up this fabulous glass jar with the lid for $1... the beautiful dusty vintage wicker tray was also $1. The two books from the 1900's were .25cents each, and the silver candlestick was .50cents.I also got some pirate things.... the two matching candlesticks and the candelabra were .25cents each. The huge beautiful tin was only $1.Lastly, my two little fellas that I picked up for .25cents each. I just love the angry face on the gold one.... he is looking at the other guy saying, "Stupid, stop trying to do jazz hands-- you don't have any arms!" lol....

Show and Tell~

I picked up this painted photo with the oval frame for the whopping sum of .50cents at a yard sale recently. Isn't it precious?

It had the original gold paint on it...and someone painted the do-dads with green and pink paint. I felt it wouldn't hurt the .50cent value of it if I painted it white.

I took the whole thing apart and cleaned the glass and the painted photo. I think this piece had dirt on it dating back to the early 1900's-- it was sooooo dusty inside and out! On the backside of the painted photo is information on what colors to paint everything...including rosy cheeks. Ahhhhhhh! I painted the frame with a flat white paint and dirtied it up a bit with some Ralph Lauren stain. I hung it over my grandaughter's changing table in the nursery at my house. It hangs next to a .25cent taffeta christening gown I picked up last year. Next to 2 vintage blue hat boxes that were .25cents each and two robins egg blue wooden shaker boxes that were $.50cents each.... Oh... the gold framed, double-matted botanicals? $1 each..I know! I know! (wooden shelf was $3, dolly was $4, milk glass fluted bowlie was .50, red rose ball-- free. Also, the vintage changing table was free. I got that off of Craigslist)This is why I have so much stuff in my house... I get things so cheaply!!! I've linked this post to: My Romantic Home

Resin~

Well, I now can say I've tried my hand using resin... It was easy-peasy I must say. The hardest part was waiting the 24 hours to let it cure. I am not a patient person by any means. I used Envir-Tex Lite 2 part resin which I purchased at Michael's-- I used the 40% off coupon. If I remember correctly that made the cost around $8 for the box. The directions say to measure/measure/measure... umm... I didn't measure the resin precisely, thats just not in my nature I just winged it. I didn't want to use a lot of the product to start off with, just incase my winging it didn't work out.... I used a plastic spoon to measure equal amounts of both the resin and hardner. Every single batch I've made this way has turned out perfectly~You just mix the two together until it is blended, then I just spooned a little into each mold I was using. I added glitter to these ones pictured below. If I was to give advice to anyone wanting to try this...it would be this. Don't mix to much resin, a little surprisingly goes a long way. Another tip? Find a level shelf or table for these to set on for the needed curing time. Seriously, I think my entire house and contents are on a slight incline! I've got another batch I'm working on.... now what to do with them all??

PVC candle tutorial~

Here is a tutorial on how to make your own pvc candles.
Your going to need some: pvc pipe any diameter, cardboard or foam core, spray paint & acrylic paint, twine or embroidery floss and a lot of gluesticks.

Firstly, I cut the pvc pipe using a hack saw into various lengths keeping in mind that if you were to light them all at the same time they would be about the same height when blown out.... so cut them about 1/4 to 1 inch in different various heights. 2.) I then cut circles to fit each circumference of just one end of the pvc pipe. I poked a hole in the center of the circles and fed a double thickness of embroidery floss through to use as the faux wick.3.) Next I used my hot glue gun to drip/dribble glue around the pvc pipe to give it the appearance of hot wax that had dripped down the sides of the candle. You can do a lot...or just a little bit whatever is to your liking. I went around the entire candle several times so it had a nice build up of melted/dripped wax.

4.) After melting hot glue down the sides of all the faux candles, I spray painted them with a brown paint called Nutmeg. 5.)When the candles had all dried, I quickly painted black acrylic paint over each candle rubbing off most of it to give it an aged look. You can see below the difference the black paint gives each candle. I wanted them to look old and dirty.... these are going to be used as props at our yearly pirate party.

Here are five of the candles sitting on a $5 candelabra that I picked up a few years back from a second hand store.

Of course I was careful not to disturb to much of the dust on the candelabra-- I'm going for an authentic look of course ;-P
big hugs,

Cheryl

Vase & platter~

My mother gave me this vase and platter recently. Its hard for me to say no to anything, seriously. It is etched along with being painted, I was thinking I'd paint it white, its a little to 1980's for me --but still cute. Yes, yes I do tend to paint everything white....Hmmm what ta' do-what ta' do... *lightbulb moment* why not stick the platter on the vase with some e6000 glue and make it into a bird feeder. I traced the circumference of the top of the vase to use as a pattern on the underside of the platter so that the vase would be perfectly centered when the glue dried. Once I had the pattern cut out, I traced the circle onto the platter... then I just slathered the glue onto the vase and set it in place.The hardest part... waiting for the glue to dry~24 hours later.... Now, I've just got to wait for the rain to subside so I can place it outside and fill it with birdseed.

Happy Easter~

Here is a fabulous cookie recipe I thought I would "gift" all of you with. Seriously, this is a fabulous soft/light/oh-so-yummy cookie that you should go make right now. Once you try this recipe, you'll find yourself wanting to make it all the time. It is wonderful! Personally, I like them better without the frosting, and this is coming from someone who loves things sweet. Try it both ways.... you'll be so glad you did! Don't they look beautiful?Easter egg cookies
6 cups of flour
1 & 1/2 cup of sugar
6 eggs
6 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. milk
1 & 1/2 cup butter
2 tsp. vanilla
Cream together the sugar and the butter. Add the milk, eggs and the vanilla. Once thats all mixed, add the flour and the baking powder. Powder your hands with flour and roll large balls of dough in your hands. Once you place them on the cookie sheet shape into an egg. One tray can hold 15 cookies. They will rise and spread, so don't place to close together. Bake at 350 degrees from anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes depending on your oven. (my oven took 20 minutes to bake them perfectly)
Frosting:
1 box of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of butter
add milk 1 tsp. at a time
Heat the butter until melted, add the vanilla and powdered sugar. Slowly add the milk until the frosting is smooth. Place spoonfuls into different containers and add different colors of food coloring to make fun spring egg colors. The frosting will set up nicely, then you can stack them without them sticking together.

ENJOY!!!

Beautiful day for sale-ing~

Well, I managed to go to two block sales today. This is the start of the sale-ing season for me. Ahhhhhhhh to be looking for treasures... arrgh! Here is my bounty!
I got this antique picture frame with the hand painted photo of a baby in it for... hold onto your hats.... .50cents! What??? I had asked the gal, "How much for the baby picture?" You know, playing it all cool~ She replied, "Fifty cents".... I said, "For that" as I pointed to it. She said yes-- you could sense that she was waiting for me to say a quarter lol... I stuck it into my handy-dandy shopping cart and forked over .50cents! Wow!The wire leaf metal basket was $3. It is super lovely, I got compliments on it while holding it-- thats always a good sign its a good buy! The oblong dish, which is actually a beautiful creamy pink was $4. The elderly lady said she had purchased it in 1952 and had it all these years. The white dish with the roses on it was $1. The gal I bought this from said she bought that in England on a trip for a lot of money. I told her, "Why? you could have picked it up at a yard sale much cheaper. lol I also got a Shabby Chic duvet cover with the matching pillow sham for $10, that is the pink floral fabric under all this stuff~The jewelry that is in the dish was .25cents each! The Disney pins were .50cents each. Those run from $5-$10 at Disneyland, I know because I was looking at some just recently at Disneyland. Ohhhhhhhhhh and the gold filigree oval container was .50cents. Fun, fun day of sale-ing!

Nests~

Somday Crafts is having a nest party. Here are some nests I've recently made. This large birds nest I made yesterday. I shared how I made it on the previous post. I've started making some wire nest pendants. Oh-my how addictive these are to make! I've used a beautiful pink pearl on these ones~I have a lot of real nests in my home. Last summer I bought 16 real birds nests for $8 off of someone on craigslist, blogged about here. Lucky me huh? Here is a photo of some of them~

I've even helped a young dove couple build a nest in my yard which resulted in several babies being hatched over a few months time.I am always drawn to nests as is everyone else! If you type in the word "nests" in the Google search bar on the upper right corner of my blog it will take you to some more posts about nests that I've blogged about.

Make your own birds nest~

I was wanting a really large bird nest to use as a bowl to hold some pearl and wire birdnest necklaces that I'm making..... so I decided to make a nest/bowl myself. I used a $1 wreath that I picked up a few months ago and clipped off the wire pieces that held it together. Next, I pulled the inside of the wreath to the bottom to make it into a nest shape. You can see in this photo below the depth of the nest already taking shape. For the bottom of the nest I cut a circle out of foam core and covered that with some vintage sheet music. I used hot glue to attach it to the bottom of the nest. I glued green & brown moss in between some of the sticks to fill in some of the larger open areas. I covered the edge of the foam core at the bottom of the nest completely with more moss so you cannot see a sharp edge at the bottom. I finished it up with some pink berries and a few small flowers. Easy peasy~ Now, I'm in the market for an even bigger wreath to make an even bigger nest!
I have linked up to the following blogs:
Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge
It's a Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life
Spring Has Sprung @ Fun To Craft
Show & Tell @ My Romantic Home
Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous
Show & Share day @ Just a Girl
Ideas under $100 @ Beyond the Picket Fence
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
Nest linky party @ Someday Crafts