Tiny Easter Baskets

I was inspired by Sarah to attempt some of the crafts from the April issue of Martha Stewart Living. I don't have any white, yellow or pink pom-poms, styrofoam eggs or perle cotton in my craft stash, so it had to be the Pipe Cleaner Baskets. And of course, the colors of pipe cleaners I have are more neon than Easter pastel and I only had five stems in each color. What to do, what to do? Mix and match naturally!



I didn't glue on a base as Martha's instructions suggest. Just flattened out the bottom a bit. Honestly, I didn't have enough pipe cleaners or patience to glue on a base. Besides, my dear 4 1/2 year old son was having a lovely time cutting the remaining pipe cleaners into itty, bitty pieces! I don't know what he thought he was going to make, but his project was abandoned when Curious George came on PBS.

The Peter Rabbit softie in the photo was thrifted yesterday at the Goodwill Clearance Center (can't keep myself away) for all of thirty cents! I bought it primarily because my MIL has one that all the grandkids love. Nathan saw it and asked if he could have it. How could I say no? So, Peter Rabbit went to lunch with us at Burger King and went shopping at Walmart. Not sure why Nathan's become so attached to Peter so quickly, but it is very cute.

Making progress

I'm happy to report that I've finished up two, well technically three, projects this week. Unfortunately, I have no photos to share with you.

The first project was a baby blanket and tag-a-long for Charlotte, the new bundle of joy born to our very dear friends in the UK. I was so excited to finish these and get them wrapped up and shipped off that I forgot to take photos. I used the same fabric for this blanket set as the set I did for another friend back in November. The photos for that set are here.

The second project was very, very simple. My son is a huge Thomas fan and has his bedroom all decked out in Thomas bedding and other Thomas/train paraphenalia. He has one Thomas pillowcase and one sort of wonky shaped red jersey pillowcase. I thrifted a toddler size Thomas sheet a few weeks ago and made a spiffy new Thomas pillowcase for his second pillow! Not much creativity, but Nathan was excited by it. I probably have enough of the little sheet left to make a valance or possibly cover a small cornice box. We'll have to see how that goes.

I also thrifted this week. Really the only things worth sharing are some soup mugs.

There were 11 Campbell's mugs (1 chipped) and one Tomato Soup mug. I paid $5, which is a little more than I wanted to pay, but I've been looking for some nice soup mugs. Figures, now that it's getting hot here I find soup mugs!

I was curious to see if they might be worth anything on ebay, so I took a look when I got home. A set identical to the set of four mugs recently sold for over $21. Not a huge profit, but hey, I wouldn't turn down $20 for my $2 investment. So, they're listed here on ebay.














Guess that's all for now. Hope you're having a great weekend!

Not a happy blogger!!

I wrote out this really nice, long post. Clicked "Save as Draft"....then Blogger tells me it's undergoing a brief maintanence session and will be back up in a few minutes. Blogger ate my post!!! Arrgghh!

So, now you get the abbreviated version. :)

Had to go to the Goodwill bookstore yesterday (for reasons you'd know if Blogger hadn't eaten my post!). DS got a book and I happened to pick up a few for myself. Not my usual, current reading material, but there are reasons for buying these.













The Snowman - My SILs favorite story.
Pupper Party - Look familiar Mom? I had this when I was a kid and when I saw it, I just had to have it. Yes, I am a bit nostalgic!
Where The Wild Things Are - Another one from my childhood. This was a favorite of mine and I'm looking forward to reading it to DS.

And some crafting.

DS's teacher commented earlier in the week that she didn't have anything green to wear to school today. So, I borrowed this idea from Sarah (not the shrinky dinks, the pillow) and made this. It's a simple pieced Shamrock appliqued onto a cotton tee shirt. His teacher was thrilled with it! Rave reviews from several teachers and parents.

Oh, and I almost forgot the best thrifted book.



I have no idea what any of it says, but it's a beautiful book. It looks to be a word/picture dictionary. The photos are great! Not sure what I'll do with it, but I couldn't pass it up.

My newest obsession

I just have one thing to say - Goodwill Clearance Center!

Really, I think it's addictive. They have an area filled with huge cardboard bins that are full of stuff, that is all sold by the pound. And they have nicer things and bigger items that they auction off every day. It's amazing to see the variety. You never know what you might find. I have to admit that I could go in there every day and find something!



Today, it was this marble rolling pin ($3) and two pairs of jeans ($3), that will someday be turned into handbags.




On Monday, I got this lot:
Themal Caraf $1
Ceramic Tea Pot $1 - just decorative, but I love it!
Little Jug .50 - says Japan on bottom
And a couple other things.



I think I need to put myself on a time budget for the Goodwill Clearance Center. I thought I might just go once a week, but what if I miss something wonderful? Oh well, there are several people that I've seen there on a regular basis, so I guess it's not a big deal to go in there multiple times a week. Stay tuned for more thrifted treasures!

Fun Photo Friday

Well, maybe not....

I was going to post some fun photos of the goodies I got in the mail and at JoAnn's today, but hubby took the camera to work. Let me just say that I got some of the cutest Japanese looking fabric with cats on it, at Walmart for $1.00 a yard! I'm thinking I'll make a tote bag or drawing case and maybe a matching kids art apron. I also received a little gift from my MIL (how sweet) and my first Swap-bot swap package. So, hopefully I'll have photos of those to post tomorrow when I have a camera and some decent light.

Just to add something of interest to this post and since I did title it "Fun Photo Friday", here are a couple photos from our zoo trip last week.



Nathan practicing his balancing act.








No Lions, No Tigers....but here's the Bear!

I have returned to Blogland!

Yes, I've found my way back! I have been reading other blogs, but just haven't had the time or inclination to post myself. I've seen some great projects out there, which, of course adds to my list of projects to attempt some time in the future. I haven't been crafting much lately due to lack of time. We had a wonderful visit from my Mother-In-Law last month. We got to spend a lot of family time together and had a few day trips that were lots of fun. She's back home in the UK now and we're getting back to our normal routine. (Well, it's sort of normal.)

I have made time for a bit of thirfting. Mostly books, which I need like I need a hole in my head! But, I just can't help myself. Even if I never get around to reading them all, I love to have books around me.

I hit the Goodwill Clearance Center again today and was in time for the daily auction. There really wasn't much that I was interested in. I did pick up this large bowl of miscellaneous sewing stuff for $2. It's mostly vintage seam binding, trim and rick rack. Hey, maybe I'll do an apron this month for Tie One On! The theme for March/April is Rick Rack and who doesn't need an apron trimmed with Gold Lame' rick rack?


No idea what I'm going to do with it all. Anyone need vintage seam binding? I'm the girl to call!



On a slightly more sane note, I also got this cute pasta bowl for $1. Can't wait to make a big batch of yummy pasta to put in it!