Thrifty Miss Priss

This is the Life!

When my daughter was about 5, there was a moment that is etched in my brain forever.  I'd taken her to rent a block buster movie and get a McDonalds Happy Meal.  As I drove home I heard her say from the back seat "THIS is the life!"  It struck me because the innocense of a little child can sometimes remind us to see the little things.

 

Fast forward about 20 years.....I saw this sign somewhere on the internet.  When I clicked on the link It was over $100.00.   

I decided to try and make the sign myself.  I went to our local Habitat Store where the cabinet doors are around $2.00 - $5.00.  I liked this one in particular because it had the raised detail aroun the edges to "frame" the words.   I spray painted the sign in Heriloom While, as this is the color I wanted the text to be.

I printed out the words to see if they would fit.  Then I taped my words to a piece of contact paper and CUT OUT the individual letters.  I know this sounds incredibly time consuming but honestly for these 4 words it took about 30 min. max.  You are also probably thinking "use a cricut machine" ....well I personally do not like how perfect those machines cut letters.  To me, it makes the sign look like it was something purchased new in a store.....made in China type thing.  I wanted slight imperfections in the lettering.  

I adhered each letter to the White Cabinet door, then I spraypainted it in black.  The paint bubbled up in a lot of places.  After about 20 minutes I peeled the contact letters off and this is what I had.  

I felt like it was an EPIC FAIL and decided this would be going straight into the trash.  I was so bummed because I had this in my head forever and it looked awful.

I finally went back to it, and with a lot of sanding, adding some black paint wash overtop of everything, and finally a coat of wax, it looked a little better. 

On Christmas morning I still didn't know if I would give it to her.  My younger daughter convinced me it was PERFECTLY imperfect (like I wanted) and convinced me to give it to "baby mama".

Here it is...hanging in her house.....

And she too has never forgot that time in the car...when all it took to make your life complete was a rented movie and a Happy Meal.

 

- inspiration for old distressed signs started a long time ago when I first discovered Donna at Funky Junk Interiors!

Getting Ready!

Do you need last minute EASY gift wrapping ideas?  Beth (Gathering Dust) has made some WONDERFUL tags available for download...for FREE!  They are absolutely terrific!  

After I printed them out in multiple pages...I cut them all out at once by layering the paper.....made things much easier.  Then I was bummed about having to put them on my bright red wrapping paper...I didn't think they'd show up very well.  So I decided to REVERSE the wrapping paper and use the WHITE side......I love the look of the neutral colors and the tags really POP now!  Thanks Beth!

Here's a few fun vintage things I've found this season

And while I'm thinking about junking.......

My friend Sue has recently  published a calendar  that I missed out on last year!  I just placed my order just in time for the NEW YEAR!

I'm late mentioning this...but my friend Sue and another blogger,  Inis Lovely have published an e-book "Selling at an antique mall"  I downloaded it right to my ipad and devoured it immediately!  Totally worth the LOW COST if you are considering doing booth space or flea market sales.

Speaking of selling in antique malls....hop over to The Faded Farmhouse for the latest news!

I hope this season fills your heart with happiness!

Merry Christmas!

Knee Deep in scrap(s)

I forgot to share the gifts I made at Christmas for my twin sisters.  We long ago decided not to exchange gifts at Christmas.  Everyone usually shows up to the party with one wrapped gift and we all pick a gift and steal from others if so inclined.  

I decided I wanted to do something extra for my sisters so I stole this picture of them from my moms photo album and made these little.....gee I don't know what to call them!  I copied was inspired by Lori at my faerie window.  She made the cutest gifts for a group of bloggers that came to Virginia last May.  I used to small gift boxes from Macy's as the base.

 

I also used to gift boxes to make these ornaments for them.  

 This was A LOT more fun than searching through stores for the perfect gifts!

Last weekend I mentioned I was working on my journal for The Remains of the Day online class.  It's so addicting creating this thing...I didn't even want to stop to eat.  Therefore my Christmas Tree did not come down over New Years.  I urge you to check out the blog for the class and consider doing it!

 We have a box of PAPERS in our basement that we've had for TEN years....it's full of stuff from my husbands Grandfather, who passed away in the 60's.  I guess they packed up his little apartment and these were all things that got thrown into a box.  Little things that he kept...that my husbands family could never bear to throw away.  I searched through that box and came up with a treasure trove of ephemera.  I'm swimming in it.

I added a tag for journaling...you can see it slipped into the end of this very cool envelope.

the pipe cleaner pack above is also now a pocket....a tag can be slipped into it for journaling the days events.  There's a business card at the top of a tobacco salesman, his grandfather was in the tobacco industry in North Carolina.  On the right is a lift up page with another pocket.

old yellowed security envelopes....these are just the things that I needed for my journal.  

 I sewed this little heart on the page, and look what happened to the back side....

My family kept asking what in the world was I working on for all those days....I showed my daughter and she said "wait...I don't get it...what are you doing with this stuff?"  so I explained it all to her....how cool it was that I was using all this ephemera from her GREAT GRANDFATHER and she had a blank stare on her face.  She said "so you're making a book?"  No.....I explained.....it will be a journal when I'm done, where I can write thoughts, quotes, record things....and she said "thats the part I don't get!"  So maybe it is a little "out there" and I know MOST people don't get it...but I knew my friends in Blogarita Ville would appreciate it!

a few of these images are things I've found on the internet and stockpiled for my scrap stash.  I think the image on the left is from The Graphics Fairy...she has fantastic graphics for FREE.  I'm sure you all know about Karen already.  She's so incredibly sweet to share her images.

So I'm knee deep in scraps and ephemera but loving every minute of it. At least it's finally being used or dealt with some way and not sitting in a box (although there is still tons of stuff in that box)  I might set the stopwatch and take down my tree in record time this weekend so I can get over the guilt of it still being up and get on with my life!

One last little treasure I found in that box.....a Valentine my husband made when he was about 7 years old for his parents.....he even used a little doily!  I brought it upstairs to show him and hung it on my white wreath.  This is one of a very few things that his mom saved that he made.  It must have meant the world to her to hold onto it all those years!

 (we have no clue why he wrote "to the Mods"....my vote is that he was trying to tell his parents they were "cool" or "Mod"

 Have a wonderful week!

What a Beautiful Mess I'm in.....

Happy New Year everyone!  I, like many others use this time to reflect to see whats good and not so good about my life.  Things I have control over and things I don't.  I always feel like this is a great time to make BIG changes in ourselves.....fresh clean slate...all that.  But POOF!  I usually do not follow through.  Actually each new day is a clean slate and a new opportunity to change or do better.

I do feel a shift coming on though....I'm not blogging nearly as much as I used to and my family doesn't have to pry me off the computer kicking and screaming anymore.  

Maybe I got overloaded with all the Christmas preparations everyone was doing.  I just sort of STOPPED getting on.  I've sat and watched t.v. with my husband.  Good movies....HILARIOUS movies(The Hangover) crime shows....the whole shabang. 

I made a commitment to myself to finally finish my journal that I started last Spring. 

 

 I spent the day after Christmas sitting in Barnes and Nobel by myself, with a big stack of books that I've been wanting to look at forever.

I took this picture with my phone while I was there and sent it to my husband I told him not to expect me home for several hours!  It was pure heaven sitting there without a care in the world while everyone was busy making the shopping deals of the century at the mall.  I don't have the need or desire to get in that chaos.  I have more than I want or will ever need and then some.  One tiny resolution for me is to STAY out of thrift stores so often.  I will still go but not as regular as I have been.  It's all just STUFF and I have way too much now.  In fact I've started cleaning out bits and scraps in my art room and will be listing some collage packs one day soon I hope.

 

Speaking of collage.....

 

I've been eye balling this online class forever and finally jumped in with both feet. The Remains of the Day is a Journal  made entirely from your paper SCRAPS on hand.  They are all sewn together, then sewn into a scrappy cover and tied tight.  I can't get my link button to work but you can read all about it here:  http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/dispatch_from_la/rotdoci.html

Her pages are incredible!  She offers TONS of videos and printable instructions too.  Once you pay the site is available to you until December 2010!   Once the journal is put together and assembled it only takes a few minutes to write your journal entries.  I want to take a lot more photographs this year.  I plan on tucking them in this journal.  Otherwise they sit in my computer and I don't enjoy them nearly enough. If you get the chance go look at Mary Ann's Journals.  They are certainly drool worthy.  You can also look at the Flickr group she has set up here

http://www.flickr.com/groups/purexperimentation/pool/

(my link button is not linking!)

So I made the cover last night.  Actually it was all day of watching her videos, hunting gathering scraps, supplies...cleaning off my art table....junking up my art room....I'll let the pictures speak for themselves

(my daughter snapped this of me on the floor cutting out the fabric. I instantly told her "DON'T take my picture in this mess!" I planned on deleting it...but I wanted to remember this moment!  Of course Sarah had to be in there on my lap, and trying to lay on the fabric.

   

oh this fabric is so soft and comfy...

   

 

And guess what?  My Christmas tree is still up.  I don't even care.  It's fake so it can stay another week.  Right now there's more important stuff going on around here.

 

Here's hoping 2010 gives you all health, peace and happiness!

Pure Joy

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.  ~Charles Dickens

Merry Christmas to all of you who take the time to visit me! 

 

Dreaming of a white Christmas

Virginia is being pounded by a huge snow storm. It's been declared a state of emergency.  We have not seen this kind of snow since 1983.  That means all three of my kids have never seen this much snow.  I stopped at the grocery store last night along with everyone else on the East Coast and they were out of EVERYTHING.  No potatoes....what is that all about?  

We had some huge tree branches removed yesterday because as you can see they were very close to where we park and knew they would come down during the heavy snow.

Our driveway is probably 75 yards long....and all we have is one little shovel.  Should be fun.

The dogs on the other hand are WORSE than little kids...begging at the door to get out there AGAIN!  

   

Just keep your fingers crossed that the plows come through and I can get to work on Monday! (not that I WANT to go...but pretty much HAVE to!)

We got some snow here last weekend.....just enough to make everything beautiful and quiet....

 Just look at her.....both back feet off the ground!  You'd never know Heidi is 13 years old (91 in dog years!)  She's as frisky today as she was as a pup.  I know our time left is limited but if she can stay active and healthy like this until her time comes I will be grateful!

This is what Sunday afternoon was all about.....laying around enjoying the sights of snow out the window and relaxing.  Does this look comfortable to you?  Who needs a snuggi when you've got this? 

We recently got a new computer....an apple...and it's a whole new way of doing things.....so just when I had mastered downloading photos and editing them...I have to learn a whole new way of doing it.  This computer is supposed to be the cream of the crop but I just sit here and cuss at the monitor when it won't do what I want.

I finished my Christmas shopping!  This is the earliest I've ever finished!  I'm even catching up on some projects I left incomplete when I left Silver Bella.  Pam Garrisons Holly Days class was supposed to be an advent type wreath and I started it in class.  I couldn't get my holly leaves to look right so I gave up.  I recently found several white poinsettia silk bushes at the thrift store.  I bought them not knowing what on earth I'd do with them besides put a few around the tree.  I dumped them in my craft room and then I had the light bulb moment.

since I was not too good at cutting out the holly leaves in class, why not use the white silky-velvetish leaves from the poinsettia?  This way I can leave it out all year too...it's not really a "Christmas" wreath.

  

 I started this project around 10:00 on a work night.  I just kept adding more and more stuff to it....and was determined not to leave it unfinished.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out and nothing new was purchased for it....all stuff I had already.  I have enough leaves left over to do two more wreaths so I might make another one for my etsy shop..which is EMPTY now!  YAY!  My little wallpaper packs all sold out!

OH!  The fat books are finished and in the hands of their owners!  We had 12 participants and one dropped out at the end, so we all made 12 pages.  Which means I have an extra book.  Haven't decided what to do with it yet, but may auction it on ebay with the proceeds to go to my animal shelter for Christmas.

 

 

 

The theme was "Winter Whites".  I was happy with all the pages and the way they all looked together in the book.  I will definitely host one of these projects again someday....with trial and error I now know what is involved in doing this!

I hope you all get the chance to slow down and enjoy the season and soak up all the beauty of it!

lots of Christmas going on! 

   more sugar houses that I painted and glittered this year

 

  I hope your weekend is full of Joy!

Wallpaper, Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I was able to get a few wallpaper packs listed tonight!  If you want some beautiful paper and some BONUS vintage sheet music from the early 1900's check it out here!

  This is one of my favorites!  It reminds me so much of Pam Garrisons Journaling style!  I got to see her journals and hold them and feel them at Silver Bella!  That was on my top FIVE of all time "Moments" at Silver Bella! 

And this last one...so hard to capture the true mint green color on digital-

 After work I shopped for Thanksgiving....made Chili, dragged up several boxes of Christmas decorations and took several boxes of knick knacks back down to the basement.  I fee like I'm in Holiday mode now and don't want to go to work tomorrow!  I've been listening to Christmas music all the way to work everyday and it puts me in the BEST mood.  At work I have pandora playing on my computer and it puts everyone I work with in the BEST mood!  I've never decorated at Thanksgiving time for Christmas.  But the way I see it, if you wait until December to decorate, it's just not enough time to enjoy the sparkliness of it all!

The tree is the only thing I did not get up yet.  The family will have to help with that.  Then I'll be taking it all down on New Years Day by myself, as my husband and daughter watch and call me Mrs. Grinch.  Maybe this year I'll let them decide when it comes down.  We may still be looking at it all by Easter!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving...I hope you get to spend it in a warm house, with family and friends and an abundance of food to eat.  Anything over and above all that is gravy!

Silver Bella Projects and Wallpaper to share!

 This is the sweet little book that my "Big Sister" Karla presented to me at Silver Bella.  She volunteered to be my big sis back in the Spring when I signed up.  The role of the big sis is to show the little sis around and help them navigate all that is Silver Bella.  Since there is nothing "big" about Karla (other than her wonderful personality) and there is certainly nothing "little" about me...I've been teasing her that she's my LITTLE big sis.

Anyway....she found this sweet book on one of her trips to Virginia last year.  I was with her when she bought it but she kept it a secret!  She took it apart and made it especially for me!

Even the way she wrapped it was special.......She must have an abundance of vintage sheet music with my name because she has gifted it to me a few times!  The "Robins Egg" blue ribbon and the bird feather were a sweet little touch!

Vintage wallpaper, little embellishments everywhere....even the little girls have little crown on their heads!  (click to enlarge)

"Once there was a big sister and a little sister....."And they took a trip to Omaha!"

I think everyone almost fainted in the glitter lounge when they saw me opening each page!

Even though Karla didn't have to tie a rope around me, I DID willingly follow her wherever she took me!

I just love all the little details..

Karla was the BEST big LITTLE sis anyone could have ever asked for!  Thank you Karla and to all the other wonderful girls I met for making it a perfect weekend!

This is the cone I made in Anna Corbin's class.  It was one of the few projects I actually finished.

And this little wool felted snowman.  He was one of my favorites!  Jennifer Murphy was the instructor and she's been making the most adorable little felted creatures since the age of 12! She brought several of them along for us to see......they were adorable.  Just like her!  

(Jennifer and I)

My other projects are almost completed...I thought I would rush home and dig right in, but after getting sick and having to go to work anyway I just didn't get around to it yet.  I did manage to cut some of the fabulous wallpapers and get them ready for my neglected Etsy store.

These papers are so incredibly delicate.  They almost feel like chalk drawings when you run your hand over them.  They do tear very easily also.  The colors just blow me away.  I got all florals....four different patterns.  I'm excited to share these because it will justify my purchase, and maybe one day allow me to buy MORE!  

I've also dug head first into a glittery mess....

I have a huge supply of little metal stars and never knew what to do with them.  Thanks to a very generous gift from Jocelyn, I was able to finally try using the REAL German Silver Glitter!  Oh it's just beautiful!  I will have a hard time going back to regular glitter after this stuff!

So now I have a bunch of glittered stars.....what do I do with them?  

I made these cuff bracelets!  They are not quite finished yet...I have to add the snaps but I love the way they turned out.  I will list these in my neglected Etsy store as well.  I hope to have everything listed by Tuesday evening. 

Thanks so much to all my blog friends who stop by on a regular basis and leave such sweet comments!  It really brightens my day to hear from you!  And if you're a reader but don't comment.....please say Hi!  I'd love to come to your blog to meet you too!