Easter {Sewing} Basket

Here is another different way to display Easter Eggs.

I began with thrifted plastic eggs, lightly sanded and painted with white acrylic paint. After they were dry I used strips of thrifted sewing patterns and Mod Podge to décopage the eggs.

They are displayed in a thrifted sewing basket with "grass" that is actually an old, green, knit sweater that I unravelled.

I am thrilled to be featured at Marvelously Messy.









I am also honored to be featured at Krafty Kat.

This is linked to:
A Little Knick Knack, All Thingz Related, Baked by Joanna, Between Naps on the Porch, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Cricket Design, Brambleberry Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Fave Crafts, Finding Fabulous, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, House of Grace, I {heart} Naptime, I'm Topsy Turvy, Just A Girl, Keeping it Simple, Krafty Kat, Lovely Crafty Home, Making the World Cuter, My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Paisley Passions, Passionately Artistic, Rook No. 17, Running With Glitter, Savvy Southern Style, Simply Designing, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, Somewhat Simple, Tales from Bloggeritaville, Tatertots and Jello, The Blackberry Vine, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, The Girl Creative, The Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Tattered Tag, The Thrifty Groove, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Truly Lovely, Under the Table and Dreaming, Very Merry Vintage Style and What Allie's Making Now

Polite Estate Sale Etiquette PART II

I admit that I have had shopping fantasies since I went to that amazing estate sale last month where the seller was stressed and unorganized. There were so many unopened boxes that she was just not ready to sell at the time. Happily, patience has paid off a second time. Not only did the seller have a second estate sale but she remembered me as being the polite woman from the previous sale.

She was still stressed and only slightly more organized and she still refused to sell sentimental items but it was a fantasy come true to see what other treasures were hidden in the unopened boxes. There were a lot of Roseville and other vintage pottery but they were priced out of my thrift budget range.

Best find of the day was this beautiful green glass cake stand.

I also found this small, mercury glass vase. I don't know if it is old but it looks like it has been in storage for quite some time so it can't be a recent reproduction.

I love the shapes of these items. The tray is dated 1957 and has grape clusters around the edges. The larger urn and bud vase will be refinished in a shabby chic look. The small bowling pin is solid wood.

There were a lot of needleart pieces at this sale. I bought several embroidered linens, crochet doilies and lots of vintage lace. Plus several bags of thread spools, of which some are lovely silk threads.

There were also lots of vintage floral millinery supplies and these great little paper maché heads that were probably used as cupcake decoration picks.

I don't know why I needed this but I found a Bell and Howell 8mm projector in a case with an instruction book. I just had to have this. I think this reminds me of watching family home movies.

I only went to one other garage sale after this and picked up an Olympia typewriter in a case.

I am happy to have had a second chance to return to this sale and quench my curiosity. Life doesn't always give you second chances and I am grateful for this odd bit of luck.

This is linked to:

Apron Thrift Girl, Brambleberry Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Finding Fabulous, Gypsy Fish, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, My Romantic Home, Tales from Bloggeritaville, The Colorado Lady, The Thrifty Groove and Very Merry Vintage Style

Easter Egg Display "Thing"

Spring is here and I have been decorating Easter Eggs.

I used real eggs with the center blown out. This is real old school crafting. (You can use plastic eggs and prepare them by first, lightly sanding and then painting them with white acrylic paint.) Next I tore pieces of colored tissue paper and applied them to the shells using liquid laundry starch (you can probably use Mod Podge.) The colors from the tissue paper are so intense when applied to a white background and the starch will blend the colors.

My dear boyfriend came up with the brilliant idea of displaying them in the shabby chic "thing" that I thrifted yesterday. I padded each section with thrifted Spanish moss and set the eggs inside.

Regarding the display "Thing", several people commented on yesterday's post suggesting to use it to display Easter Eggs. I have to admit that I was thinking vintage Christmas ornaments instead of the obvious Easter decorations. Also, Mrs BC commented that the "Thing" is called an "apergne" and with a little additional research I found that it might be an "epergne". It is not as refined as the beautiful ones I found online but maybe it was a garden display version. Thank you Mrs BC for the clue.

Whatever it is called, it has turned out to be a fun decorative piece.

This is linked to:
A Little Knick Knack, All Thingz Related, Baked by Joanna, Between Naps on the Porch, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Cricket Design, Brambleberry Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Coastal Charm, Craft Envy, Fave Crafts, House of Grace, I {heart} Naptime, Lovely Crafty Home, Keeping It Simple, Krafty Kat, Making the World Cuter, Marvelously Messy, My Backyard Eden, My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Paisley Passions, Passionately Artistic, Rook No. 17, Savvy Southern Style, Simply Designing, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots & Jello, The Blackberry Vine, The Girl Creative, The Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Thrifty Groove, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Truly Lovely, Under the Table and Dreaming, What Allie's Making Now and Wildflowers and Whimsy

Early Bird Gets the Junk Sale

A fight nearly broke out at an estate sale this morning. My money would have been on the scrappy little woman but the muscle-building hulk wouldn't have gone down easily. They were arguing over who was first in line. I guess if it is your business then you need to be more agressive but I was there just for the fun of it. The funniest part was that there really wasn't anything fantastic at this sale. I saw some of the first people in line leaving empty handed.

I did find a few treasures, some for upcycling and some for craft supplies.

Best find of the day was this shabby chic "thing". I haven't a clue as to what it came from or what it was used for but I envisioned it holding Christmas ornaments in each arm. It is made of metal and quite heavy. What would you use it for?

Click here to see how I decorated with this "thing".

Staying with the shabby chic theme, I found some metal candle holders. I also found this vintage wooden spool. Last large spool I found at a sale was priced at two for $25. This one was only 50 cents.

I bought a bag of feathers for craft projects. I wonder if the person who collected these feathers loved birds as much as I love my ducks.

I bought a bag full of fabric trim. These will be perfect for Christmas projects. 

I found a box with these old Christmas lights. I don't know what I will do with them but they remind me of Christmas past. The last few craft items I found were a bag of wooden beads and two jars of odd wooden pieces that had been carved on a lathe. The beads are in some lovely Fall colors with the green beads in the shape of apples so I can see an Autumn project later this year.

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Brambleberry Cottage, Coastal Charm, The Colorado Lady, Common Ground, Finding Fabulous, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, Tales from Bloggeritaville and Very Merry Vintage Style

For Japan With Love

I would like to apologize for removing the image of ForJapanWithLove.com. When I posted the image I was rushing to post before the March 18th Blogger's Day of Silence but I did so without doing any research. I still believe that they are doing something good to help Japan.

However, after doing further research, I found that the charity they are supporting, Shelterbox, cannot guarantee that 100% of your money donated will be directed to help Japan's urgent need. 

My sister sent me a site that allows you to compare various charitable groups that are working to help Japan. My main critieria was to find a group that could guarantee that 100% of my donation would go to help Japan as well as have the lowest operating costs. The comparison site is called CharityNavigator.org.

After researching this site I found that Brother's Brother Foundation will guarantee that 100% of your donation will go to help Japan. 

I do not want my blog to become political but I want to do what I can to help Japan. My own, very personal connection, is that my mother's family was from Fukushima Prefecture although I do not know of any family still residing in the area. 

Please help in any way you can. Thank you.