Showing posts with label fabulous finds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fabulous finds. Show all posts

Monday, November 19, 2012

Make It Yourself - photo/card hanger




You can use an old window frame (minus the glass) like I did, or you could also use any empty photo frame of any size, painted whatever color you'd like!

other supplies:
- metal screw eyes, I used , you can use fewer or more
- jute cording
- hammer & nail slightly smaller than the width of the thread of the screw eyes
- 1 3/4" craft clothes pins

Turn the frame around, back side facing you, and lean it against a wall or other support.

Using the hammer & nail, tap pilot holes at random intervals into the side of the frame. I put the pilot holes in the part behind where the glass would have rested, so that the screw eyes are partly hidden from view. (When screwed in, the screw eyes will be parallel to the wall and the frame - hope this makes sense!)

Turn frame so the other side is down, repeat pilot hole process, spacing these holes so they are staggered between the holes you just created on the opposite side.

Insert the eyes into the holes and screw in. I used blunt-nose pliers some of the time when there was resistance in the wood, otherwise my fingers would have been sore!

Begin threading the jute cording back and forth through the eyes, starting at the top or bottom, until you have created a zigzag pattern across the whole frame.

Tie the jute with a secure knot around the last screw eye. Starting at this end, begin gently tightening the jute from one eye to the next. You don't want it to sag when you attach things! When you reach the other end, secure it with another knot around the last screw eye. Trim the jute by both knotted ends to 1-2" long.

Use clothes pins to clip items to the jute. Use it year round by clipping seasonal items on for added fun!

Stand the frame on a piece of furniture against the wall for display, or hang on the wall.


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

love this book!

I picked up Found, Free & Flea by Tereasa Surratt two weeks ago at the library from the "new" shelf, and have been delightedly thumbing through it ever since.


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The author's husband spent his summers at a small family camp that became available for sale, so they purchased and renovated it. In the process, they uncovered decades of old things, full of character and interest. She began using those items to create collections from flea markets, yard sales, and other inexpensive venues. The collections became the gear and decor for the entire camp!

I especially appreciated the way the author encourages finding useful things, not just decorative things. There are so many wonderful, useful, well-made treasures just waiting to be found and given a second life - the best kind of recycling!


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This book is gorgeous and creative, and most importantly, full of fantastic finds! I have found tons of great ideas and inspiration within these pages. Now I'm itching to head to the flea market again...


"Have nothing in your houses
that you do not know to be useful
or believe to be beautiful."


-- quote by William Morris in Found, Free & Flea

Sunday, March 7, 2010

:: rainy day shopping ::

We are in San Antonio for our family vacation, and I'll have pictures & stories to share when we get home! However, today it rained. Bleck. And what is there to do when it rains on vacation? Go shopping!

This may surprise some of you, but I really don't go shopping much. I guess it's partly due to being pretty busy, and partly because it keeps me from spending a lot of money! Therefore, I am rarely ever at a mall, much less a department store. So today, I enjoyed some time wandering around Macy's with Nicole.

Aren't these fun and colorful mixing bowls?




They're from the Martha Stewart Collection, and the price is very reasonable, plus, in the brick & mortar stores, we found you can buy individual bowls. The best part? They're melamine! No more worrying about a broken bowl when you cook with your kiddos, or when teaching them to clean up the mess after the fun.


Here's what I bought today:



I'm really excited to get it home and try it out with some fresh fruit or cooked pasta!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

what to do with a huge empty wall

I have this huge wall in my living room that I've been staring at off and on for the last year, trying to figure out what to put there to fill it in.

I found this old chippy iron piece at a flea market recently - it's 80 inches long!

some of my photos

The 11x14 frames are all different, from Goodwill for $4 each. I spray painted them white, and added photos I've take myself - three tree shots and two beach shots.

Next up, I'm planning to paint this wall with pale turquoise...

Friday, October 9, 2009

love it ... love it ... l.o.v.e...i.t.!

I am sooo excited about the beautiful new fabrics and patterns
Amy Butler has come out with for her new "Love" line!



I'm especially taken with her new Liverpool top pattern...
in fact, I've preordered it for my etsy shop, so watch for it soon!

But if you ask me to pick a favorite fabric from the line, my brain will go into overload, because I love all of them - every single one!!!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

my newest etsy treasury...

what's in (my) name?

why, Sunny, of course!




go here to view & click each item (until Saturday)...

Friday afternoon update: this one made it to etsy's Front Page! Woohoo!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

more recent flea market finds:



- dresser that fit perfectly behind my loveseat (now holds our videos & electronics manuals, $115)
- table scarf ($1)
- old wire bowl ($3)

I bought the wire bowl because I'd never seen anything quite like it, plus it was cheap - but I didn't know what I was going to do with it. Then one day I was browsing etsy for vintage things, and ran across a bowl filled with fabric balls! "Hey," I thought, "I have fabric!" Hmmm, that's an understatement, actually.

Yesterday I spent about 2 hours slicing fabric strips with my rotary cutter & rolling them up... this was basically free, when I looked at what I had in a new way!




Take a look at what you have in a new way,
see if you can find what you need right there around you in what you already have!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

:: pretty things ::

Go on over to etsy to see my latest treasury:





Click here to go view it, comment, or click as you like!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

:: flea market finds ::

Yesterday, Mom & I braved what turned out to be a very hot day at the Canton Flea Market. They say it's the largest in the country, but that could just be the Texan "we're biggest" pride talking, who knows?

My girls & Skye went... Skye had a ball sniffing everyone she could and laying down in shady spots. The girls love going to flea markets, they always have a couple dollars with them and spend it on cute little kid things like beads or an old My Little Pony.

I found lots of great things myself, which I've been cleaning & finding places for today. Here's a few of my finds...

I hit a jackpot of pale turquoise beauties...
a round Pyrex dish with it's lid ($10)
a vintage ice crusher (which we used today for our lemonade, love it!)
a coffee cup (for a buck!) in which I already planted a succulent, so cute!
a Lu-Ray cup & saucer ($7)
a citrus juice extractor (also for a buck!)





a gold picture frame that will be painted white in the near future ($3)
a white frame ($2)
a wrought iron gate topper (this was a splurge for $40)
a pink window moulding ($10)




And finally, I couldn't believe it when I found this - remember Caboodles??? What teenage girl of the late 80's/early 90's didn't have one of these for her makeup? This one needed a good cleaning, but for $2 I don't mind! (my Mr. Clean sponge did the trick!)



It's going to be put to good use organizing all of our Barbies' shoes and her other tiny accessories...
we have another one that is already holding all of our Polly Pockets...
I love a good organizing tool!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

for you

Happy Mother's Day

to all you fun-loving, hard-working moms out there!







These roses were my gift from my husband & girls.
I love them - thank you!




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on another note...
I created a new treasury on etsy today -

l i m e and c o c o n u t






click here to view, comment, and click each item if you're interested...


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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

yummy pyrex

Don't you just love vintage pyrex dishes?

They remind me of cooking as a kid in Mom's (or Grandma's!) kitchen.




And I have this beautiful blue pyrex bowl listed in my etsy shop right now...

wouldn't it be delicious filled with ripe, red strawberries?

Friday, May 1, 2009

I know, I know

You're probably getting tired of reading about how much I loved the beach...

but when I snagged a Treasury on etsy today, that was the first theme that came to mind when the little box to create the Treasury popped on the screen.






To view it & be able to view the individual items on etsy, click here...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Self Portrait Challenge - { my favorite shoes }

for Self Portrait Challenge's "Headless" theme...



vital stats
age : 2 years
heel height : 2.5"
size : 8.5US
color : black
materal : satin upper, leather soles
comfort on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high) : 4


My husband offered to go with me on my birthday two years ago to buy a nice pair of shoes, which totally surprised me. He sat patiently while I tried on several pairs in a very nice department store. He paid the bill when I picked these.

They make me feel fantastic when I wear them. What can I say.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

be still my heart

I really love to cook, and I love serious appliances that help me do it better. I have come to the realization that my 15 year old food processor is just not very helpful. Its inexpensive plastic components are cracking, and it sparks sometimes when I push the button. So I've been shopping for a new one, only to be dismayed at how much a good one is going to cost me.

And then I found this...




Suddenly the cost pales in comparison to the beautiful blueness
that is this 13-cup 700 watt appliance.


I still haven't ruled out Cuisinart... anyone have a Kitchenaid or a Cuisinart and have an opinion? Please, do share in a comment!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

... sparkly spring ...

Chad brought the flu home from a trip he took for work two weeks ago... I was the last to come down with it at the beginning of this week. Mine was a relatively light case, but I've been so tired and had a hard time catching back up.

In the midst of being sick, a
little treasure arrived in my mailbox from allisonbean on etsy...




Isn't this sooo sweet?
The wire is coated with glitter, and the little white clay egg looks so peaceful. At about 3" wide, it is just dainty enough to fit just about anywhere...I have put mine in my china cabinet amongst my milk glass...
Go get one while they last, she is having a sale! Such an affordable little spring treat!



Saturday, January 24, 2009

* * snow * *

Yeah, right. Not here. Not now. But a girl can dream, right? We usually get snow once every winter, twice if we're extra special. Now, we do get plenty of days where it's at the freezing mark, and the wind here during the winter is almost unbelievable. Kind of a cruel joke, really - teasing us that it's winter, but rarely giving us the white stuff.

I found
this funny listing on etsy... lvsbeadsnthings is sick of her snow!
If you want a good laugh, go take a look:



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Are your kids (or you!) getting cabin fever?

Go try out
Make A Flake! Trust me, Make A Flake kept me and my kids busy for a whole hour!

You "cut" the flake using mouse clicks, and you can preview and then go back to cutting as many times as you want. When you're finished, your flake goes in a gallery for all to see, and you can also save a copy of it on your computer.


Here's one I cut out today:



You should see some of the amazing flakes people cut out! They're all viewable in the Gallery.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

:: giveaway! ::

Last night I decided to make a camera strap cover, which I've wanted to do for a while.
Here's what I ended up with:



And here's the best part...

I made two, so I could give the other one away here on my blog!

Simply leave a comment to this post, and I'll use the random number generator to pick a winner this coming Sunday, Jan. 4th.

The strap fits my Canon Rebel strap, covering the portion that goes around the neck. The actual dimensions are 1 5.8" X 20 1/2", so you can compare it to your camera strap to see if it will fit.

Friday, November 21, 2008

friday freebies!

Laurie over at is having a big Black Friday Giveaway next Friday - she's going to be giving away prizes every hour all day on Nov. 28! Go sign up by clicking here!!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Jenn over at Take A Bow is having a giveaway contest for custom designed Christmas cards from Nounces, a card designer over on etsy! If you want to enter, hop on over to Jenn's blog and post a comment.

Here is the card designed by Nounces for Jenn's family:

Sunday, November 2, 2008

resolved, moving on

The hole was repaired on Tuesday! I put a bowl of baking soda & vinegar in the linen closet for a few days to try to help with the last bit of cleaner smell that seems to be lingering. Finally on Friday, I decided the cleaner smell wouldn't hurt the towels or blankets, so I finally organized them in the closet. Then I moved everything else into the bathroom, and the girls used their new shower for the first time! But that bowl is still there, I'm hoping for some final odor-eating there I guess.


I'm just relieved things are resolved. I had prepared myself for the wall to be excavated & rebuilt, if the odor had somehow permeated the wood & sheetrock permanently. Not to worry, though, as we seem to be in the clear.



I received this beautiful print from
Le Papier Studio, which I ordered because of the resemblance to my girls. I matted & framed it, and hung in the newly appointed bathroom!




Vana has lots of beautiful cards & prints that are very affordable - be sure to check out her etsy shop by clicking here! She is running a special through Dec. 15th - purchase over $75 and receive a FREE 2009 Calendar ($20) - you can stock up on a bunch of great gifts and keep the gorgeous calender for yourself!