Tried and ???

These past three days, my cousins and I tried something very different for us...

We bought a booth at our local flea market, and sold the crafts we've been working on for months.

We had a cute booth with great stuff if I do say so myself!  And our display rocked!

BUT, Memorial Day, which was supposed to be the busiest day of the year...turned out to be terrible.  It rained the ENTIRE DAY and hardly even made it to 60 degrees.

We didn't sell much.  It was a bummer.

I had to go back to work for the next two days, so my cousin ran the booth herself, and the second day turned out to be not much greater than the first.  Again, rain, and slow traffic.

But just look at how cute everything is!  We had a mix of things we made ourselves, and antique vintage things, and adorable onesies that my cousin with a brand new baby made.

I would've bought everything in our booth if I was the one visiting it.

We had the best "booth" neighbors too...a retired couple who were very interesting and super nice.

It made the VERY SLOW day on Monday go quicker with them beside us to talk to.

As it is, we will be at the same flea market for 3 days in July, 3 days in Aug, and 3 days in Sept.

I hope it is better...I hope we sell out...that would be an accomplishment.

The things I have left over will go in my etsy shop...except for the larger things that would be very expensive to ship.

We gave it a try...I guess we can slap ourselves on the back for that!

Tuesday Tutorial

I'm a BIG fan of using something you already have, if it saves you some money.

I don't mean make it look junky, not by any means, but use it if you've got it!

I've been in need of some new dining room curtains for awhile now.  The gold ones I had were really faded on the side that faces the sun, and when you looked at them from the outside on the patio, they just didn't look very nice.

I found a pair of tan seer sucker curtains at Goodwill about a week ago for $3.  The PAIR was $3.

Um, hello, GET IN MY CART!

I was super excited, and brought them home, washed them, ironed them, hung them up, and found they were too short!

UGH!

I let them go a couple of days, but it looked too ridiculous!

I've seen in magazines and on Pinterest.com some "morphed curtains..."  Curtains with fabric added to them to improve the look.

I needed to do that, and mine wasn't just for a "look,"  it was for necessity.

I headed up to my fabric stash today and pulled out this full sized sheet with a pattern that I liked.

After measuring to see how much I would have to add to extend my length to the floor, I went upstairs to the sewing machine and got to work.

I measured, cut, and kind of made a "pocket" for the original curtain to fit into.

Then I pinned the outside, and sewed all around it.

Because the sun is so bright, and the fabric thin, you can see through it quite a bit.  It also made my pictures terrible, so excuse the final product...

You can see the original hem through it, and I guess that's ok during the bright daily sun, it gives it a kind of three tone color panel.  At least all the hems are even!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Done.  Knowing me, I'll stare at this for awhile, decide I don't like the way it looks, and redo it.
I'll put that on the to do list for the END of Spring Break this week.

For now...it's good.
Now, onto something else.

Tuesday

I was going to post about a small project I completed the other day...

except I didn't QUITE complete it, because I ran out of one of my supplies.

Which is why I didn't post about it, because I will tomorrow.

After Evan got home on the bus today and he completed his chores...we headed to town.

Still sounds weird to say "Headed to Town," like I'm Laura Ingalls Wilder or something, but that's kinda true.  With gas at almost $4/gallon, and us living not as close to town as is convenient, I try to group all my trips/errands in the same day/time.

Grace had a Junior High Extravaganza after school today.  They all met in the cafeteria after school, finished their homework, had a free supper, got in free to the Junior High girls Volleyball game, or Junior High boys football games, and just had time to have fun.

So, my trusty companion and I headed to Goodwill, Walmart, out to supper, and Menards.

I couldn't ask for a better companion.  He wasn't too crazy about the Goodwill stop, but when promised supper, quickly got over it.

I got my supplies stocked up to finish my project, got some groceries for supper with friends this weekend, and got me some great Goodwill finds.

We picked up Grace at 8pm.  She was bummed she didn't get to stay longer, but we had things to do before bed at home.  

It was a good night.  We leisurely strolled through the stores killing time before we picked up Grace.

It was nice just me and Ev.  We need to do it more often.

Monday Monday

Sometimes Mondays are just ho hum.

I'm not sayin' mine was fantastic, but it wasn't all bad.

Since I have a new job and I am totally IN LOVE with it, everyday of the week is much better.

It actually flew by for me today.

I had a lot of paper work to do at the office.

I also decided I needed to brush up on my instagram skills since I'm totally new to it, but want to love it all the same.

I want to learn how to edit my pics, and do all the cool stuff with them that I see others doing.

I want to love my new android phone.

But who has the time?

So, without further ado...here are some pics.

Some new pillows I made for our couch when I wasn't making them for my etsy store.

Grace doing pretty much what she does whenever she finishes her homework...

My favorite corner of the living room..

The vintage looking juice container I found at Goodwill, but which I use for a flower vase instead...

My new magnetic "bulletin board" that I found at a flea market this summer, but which I've embellished a little bit...

And lastly, our new favorite drink...plain water filled with lemons.  I can hardly drink plain water anymore...

So that's my Monday in a nutshell.

Was yours good?

Busy Bee...

One of the things I LOVE best is making things.

It's hard for me to take time out to do this, because I feel guilty that I'm not doing some kind of household chore.

BUT, sometimes I just need an outlet.

I added some new things to my ETSY store today, so I thought I'd share...

Some new pillows...

Paper covered composition books...

another distressed framed cork board...

distressed brass candlesticks...

and finally, my newest invention...paper covered magnetic clothespins.

Whew...I'm tired, but a good tired.

Next week, I'm thinking of having a giveaway for some of my new ETSY items if you check out my store.
More information on that later.

Have a great LABOR DAY WEEKEND!

Just added...

I added 6 new items to my etsy shop this morning.

I felt inspired yesterday since I hadn't added some things for awhile.

I got on a creative streak last night, and watched 3 movies while I was creating.  One movie twice.

Oh well, the juices were flowing, and while everything I listed wasn't homemade, some were.

Here's what I listed this morning...

The bunting idea came to me just the other day when I needed something for the "picture window" I have hanging above our desk in the living room.  I made this one and loved it...

and decided...Hey, I could make some of these to sell...so I did.

The other items, except the denim pouch, was bought at tag sales and goodwill, and served me well for awhile, but I don't need them anymore...so I'm selling them.

To see what else is in my store, just click on my etsy button over on the side of this post.

Thanks for looking!

See...I'm in style too!

So, I suppose I remember what it was like to be in Jr. High.

Grace is heading there this year, and cannot absolutely wait to go.

I'm shaking in my boots.

THIS year, more than any other so far, determines just how strong of a girl she really is.  There will be peer pressure like nothing she's ever experienced.  There will also be plenty of fashion faux paux I'm sure.

She's already told me of mine.  Many times.

'Course she's also reading fashion magazines, which she thinks are real life, but when you live in a tiny little rural town...oh, honey, it's not real life!

So, back to those fashion faux paux.

I try to stay up on the latest trends as much as any 38 year old should.  I realize skinny jeans and heavy eye makeup are not for me, however.

But, when I see a great deal on something I KNOW is IN as well as EXPENSIVE...well, I'm all OVER IT!

I saw these at Goodwill yesterday.

Tennis shoes, so what, right?

WRONG in Grace's opinion.

If you are currently living with a 12 1/2 year old (going on 25) like I am, you know at a glace that these are SPERRY shoes.  It's what all the girls want....it's reminiscent of the boat shoes that were cool when I was in high school.  Oh yes, fashion trends DO come around again!

So, I picked them up.  MY SIZE.  It was a sign.  Then I started looking them over.  They were listed as $10.

BUT I had my $5 off coupon, so they would only be $5!

They were the real deal too.

Then I looked them over really well.  Each front toe area was split away from the seam.  I was pretty sure I could fix it with my mad sewing skills.

I did, but it was a little tricky.  I hope it will hold.  And I suppose if you look closely, you can tell, but they will be on my FEET, so whose gonna look that close?

Let's just say, I was jubilant over my deal of the day.

I looked them up online and they were listed for $70.

Not bad.  so do you have a great deal?