Weekend Treasures

Here are my latest treasures from several weekends past...

 I bought a large box with tons and tons of pirate loot. It was all mixed together so I sorted through it so I could use it in various places around my yard.... aargh...

 This was the best score of the day. Two hundred and fifty gift bags for only... wait for it..... dying to know aren't you? Ok, ok, ok... I got 250 gift bags for only $3.00. Yep. The man I bought it from said the box of new gift bags cost him over $100 dollars, and he sold it to me for only $3.00. ScOrE. I also bought 500 sheets of pink tissue paper-- still sealed in the package for $1.00!

 My friend Juan whom I always try to buy something from... sold me a HUGE box of fabric for $8.00. My girl friends have huge stashes of fabric... me, not so much. Now I do! *woot-woot* I have been saving some pins on Pinterest of some really cute small zippered pouches that I'd like to make. No excuses now!

Here are some smaller pieces of fabric that were in the box ranging in price from $2 to $5. Yikes. This is why I don't have stacks and stacks of fabric laying around! Fabric is so expensive! In amongst the fabric was a quilt top too. Lucky me~

 I also scored on the folding up rolling cart that is holding all of my new fabric stash... that was $5 well spent.
 
I found a large bundle of zippers... $1.00 for 300 of them.

 I also got a few dollar items for my backyard... boxes and some do-dads that quickly filled my cart.

 This heavy wooden box was only $5. I am going to make a cushion for it and make it into a small seat.

With the summer heat fast approaching I've got big plans to sit inside and do a lot of sewing. New fabric, plenty of zippers.... and a lot of pins on Pinterest. That is the plan anyway... unless I go all magpie on something and lose my train of thought. *wink*
big hugs,

Ice Resin

I tried using ice resin for the first time... I'm smitten. I used a piece of an 1890's bible along with a Holy Cross and some pink rhinestone to create this piece below. I've let the rhinestones sit a little higher than the resin itself... I think this makes them a little more sparkly. 
 I used the double syringe ice resin which seemed to work nicely. Here you can see the rhinestones under the resin. Rhinestones above the resin are more sparkly~

The ice resin was fun to use....BUT..... when I went to use the remaining amount in the tubes the next day-- the finished hardened resin on the other pendents I made was tacky to the touch... so more ice resin is needed to seal the stickiness. eiy-eiy-eiy... I am sure it is a ploy to get you to buy more. *snort* Which is what I'm going to have to do. Drat, another trip to the craft store. *wink*
big hugs,
 

Weekend Treasures.....

It was a fun treasure hunting weekend for me this past weekend. Look at the cute as can be little barrel with a lid I found. It has a small plastic container inside it so it would be perfect to hold some iced drinks.

 I didn't have high hopes of finding any treasures seeing how there wasn't a lot of vendors selling.... 

I was happily wrong. There were treasures everywhere.

My husband scored all of this below... The skulls were a nice find.

I've been on the look out for more "Moroccan" decor for my yard. I scored these two lanterns for $3.00 each.
I have a large collection of wire trees, so when I spotted this one, I just had to have it. The leaves on the tree are made out of sea shells... I may pull some off and use them to create some sort of necklace--- one of these days. But for now, its just sitting in my yard *wink*

I seem to always find lanterns of some sort...

Some other odds and ends to round out the treasure hunt. The metal urn is a new favorite. I love the look of pearl necklaces spilling out of it.
I have a lot of fun hunting for treasures on the weekend, but the fun doubles when I get home and get to use it in my yard!
big hugs,
 

Granite Electrical Covers

I love the new addition of the granite counter tops in my kitchen... although, I wasn't loving the look of the stark white electrical covers that were smack dab in the middle of the new granite back-splash.  I immediately knew I could make them match the granite, so that is what I set out to do. 

 I scanned a piece of the granite. The only down side is my printer/scanner gave the image a tinge of pink... where as the color copy I had gotten at the copy center gave the image a tinge of blue. I think if I redo these electrical plates, I would place a dark piece of fabric over the opened lid in hopes of coping a truer color of the granite. I used black acrylic paint along the edges of the openings. Once everything was dry I coated everything with a layer of Mod Podge. Once the Mod Podge was dry, I sprayed an even coat of thick clear gloss over each switch plate.

 Here is the plate installed... I know, kinda pinkish... in this photo it shows up even pinker than in person. But you get the idea... much better than white!

These will do until I get a truer color copy of the granite. Who knew granite wouldn't copy well~
I've linked up to My Salvaged Treasures "Vintage Inspiration Party"
big hugs,
 

Remodeling

Recently I've had a little bit of remodeling done on my kitchen. Although the workmen are gone and all there is left to do is paint--- you'd think I'd be working at a feverish pace to get it done... But no... I've  been remodeling things out in my backyard instead.

I added a new fountain to the backyard. I love the sound of water spilling  from one pot to another. My cat Puss-puss loves water and she is doubly happy to have a new water feature too.
 
This pirate skeleton is sporting my grandson's first pirate outfit... This pirate is not only holding a sword but in his other hand he has a pistol as well... aarrrggghhhh~

 I remodeled the gate entrance for those brave enough to enter... I was lucky to find a store locally that sells sphagnum moss in bulk. I've been having fun stapling moss to things... I really like how it makes things look old and kinda scarey.

 I've also remodeled the smaller of the two pirate stores. I had bought six hard-plastic panels at our swap meet a few years ago for $3.00 thinking I'd use them someday... well someday finally came and I finally used them. I think this really finishes off this store perfectly.

 I added the Boutiki sign I had made two years ago above the counter...
This little area beside the store has always been empty until now. I took down some sheer curtains inside my house... and added them to the fence. I think they look like ships sails. I also reworked the pirate name generator too. I screwed it onto a stand and painted a sign that reads, "Spin to find your pirate name." I am going to purchase some "My name is" stickers and place them on the table next to the name generator along with a pen so that if the kids want they can wear their new name.

 This huge piece of drift wood had to be moved from its previous location. I added some moss and a large plastic skull and just set it in this spot... it is one of my favorite new display pieces.

 I am trying to go around the yard one area at a time and make some last finishing touches for this years pirate season.... The next area will be the pirate ship and the area between the ship and the second pirate store. Fun times... fun times~

aarrgggghhhh~
big hugs,

Homemade Invitations

I finally finished making some homemade invitations for my grand kids to pass out to their friends for their yearly pirate party that I host for them. Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh~
While searching the web for idea inspirations, I came across a pop up card that had a ship in it! It was love at first sight. I decided to incorporate that into an invitation. I had a book of maps that I pulled sheet after sheet from to use as the base of each card. Here is the inside of each card. I think they turned out pretty cute!

I used the template from Robert Sabuda, he not only has the pop up ship, but a lot more to choose from too *free of charge* I printed out his template and cut the pieces out and then I made my own template to suit my needs a little better. For example, I traced as many sails as would fit on one sheet of paper and then I used Picmonkey to add text to the sails to create the invitation information. Then it was just a matter of printing and cutting out everything. Easy peasy.

I was at a loss as what to put on the front of each invitation. I didn't want it to be really grand as it would take away from the awesome pop up ship on the inside. So I kept it very basic. I used a large skull stamp my friend gave me and then just added some red glitter to the heart shaped eyes. (I am determined to use more glitter this year) I also crinkled up the paper and then added some ink to make it look old. I tore the edges and just glued each one in place....

Lastly, I tied each one up using some raffia. I added a beautiful bling-ring to each invitation along with hand written tags my grand kids wrote. Taaaaaaaaa- daaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Invitations finished -check!
Forty five more days... not that I'm counting.
big hugs,

Happy Easter~

I managed to spend a few hours actually making something in my studio yesterday. Easter is the time of miracles don't ya know *wink* I created two one of a kind Easter eggs for my two grand kids...
 I had two cardboard egg shaped containers previously filled with See's candy that I covered with some embossed metal tape to create the two eggs. For my grand daughter I used a fancy embossing folder to create her egg. For my grand son's egg I used a pattern wheel to create the look of rivets on the metal tape to make it look like it was made of riveted metal. Lastly, I added pink and black acrylic paint to bring out the detail of each egg.

 Surprisingly the two eggs hold quite a bit of candy---
as I was going to eat the left overs but they all fit. Nuts.
big hugs,