I'm Still Here

Hey friends!  I know it's been a while since I've posted and I apologize.  I've been busy- moving again, working, and spending time with my big sis.  And visiting family and friends.

Let me clarify on the "moving again."  I moved into a new apartment about ten minutes from the first one.  I also transferred to a new Starbucks- the other was not what I had hoped.  My new apartment is much nicer than the previous.  I love the area and the apartment is great.  I have a small balcony, however a couple hundred feet from a railroad track.  But interestingly enough, you do get used to it.

I have been crafting a little.  Here are some things I've been doing:

The bird pillow was quite time-consuming but so worth it!

I also have some photos I took with my phone:

I visited my good friend, Sunnie, in Ohio and she and I went antique shopping in Amish Country.  These are my treasures.  I also found a cool metal coat tree.

My craft corner in my living room.  It actually looks a little different right now.  I moved my dining room table over there for my sewing (it's a small table).  Then that silly shelf kept falling so it was replaced by a smaller one.

Cookie Dough Truffles.  Yum!

 

I found this table in my sister's basement.  I believe it came from my dad.  It was broken.  I fixed it and now I have a small coffee table... for free.  Score!

I made a couple of pillows the other day.  There will be more of these soon.  I love beds covered in pillows.

So, anyway.  I've got a lot going on.  I need to start taking more photos of my projects so I can share them with you guys.  I'm going to start some posts about how to decorate an apartment, since I've been looking for months for some helpful tips and haven't been able to find much.  I think more and more people are moving into apartments and need some tips.

Oh, and I just signed up for Craftaholics Anonymous Summer 2013 Handmade Gift Exchange!  So, that craft will be posted soon as well.

Until next time,
Sarah

My Aparment!

Well, now that I have my own place, I've been decorating like crazy.  I've been buying things here and there.  Mostly at Goodwill, antique stores, and Target.  And some things I've made.

Here are some photos of the highlights (when a room is completely finished I will post pictures):

Nice and mostly organized pantry {more on that later}.

This cabinet was at my dad and step-mom's house and was passed down from my dad's side of the family.  It holds "junk" in the top drawer, table linens in the second, and more of grandma's china in the bottom.

The cabinet above was dug out of my grandparents' basement and it will soon be turned into a bar cabinet.  The sign was from a bar my dad used to go to in Florida- it had a large ear of corn drawn on it and took about 2 hours to get off.

 

 



My sister had left a couple of the plastic bins in the linen closet and a bunch of her leftover "extreme couponing" purchases, so I went and got a couple more bins and chalk wrote on them perfectly.

 

 

Free dresser from Aunt Sandy!

 

Curtains made from a twin flat sheet dyed pink.  Cheap mirror on the left with coffee filter flowers.  And the painting by ME!

{sorry for the blurry-ness} I got this library stool from the Derby City Antique Mall.  I can't decide if I actually like it with books on it like this, but we'll see if I can figure out how to change things around.

Craft corner decor.

 

Well, there is your sneek peak.  I will post more as I finish each room.

DIY Vintage Jello Mold Catch-All

My cousin, Leah, and her friend and roommate, Stephanie, came to visit a couple of weeks ago and we went to breakfast then to the Crazy Daisy Antique Mall.

 

{Taken with Instagram}

It's a really cool place!  I actually went there a few days before then and bought a table and bar cart (stay tuned for photos).

When with Leah, I got these cute little jello molds.

Supplies:
Sharpie
Wire
Metal Punch

Set your tins in the pattern you want them and mark where to punch your holes to attach them.

I was going to use jump rings, and you can, but then I decided to just use some thin wire and wrapped it like this:

I laid mine out ina six-sided shape.

Now it's my catch-all for all things metal- safety pins, decorative keys, alligator hair clips, pin backs, and ring bases.

Snag a Pin

I have become OBSESSED with Pinterest.  If you're not on there, then you should try it.  Unless you don't want to waste hours of your life on the computer then you should stay away... far away. 

There's a little preview of what my page looks like (there are a few that got cut off).  I also put a button over to the left so you can follow me if you'd like.

So, now that you know my guilty pleasure of staying up till ungodly hours on this site, I have something cool to show that I've made from an idea on Pinterest.

I found this idea (I tried to get the link to the orignal, but it's not working).  A photo holder using an antique glass insulator.  I recently bought one and when I got it home I had no idea what to do with it until I found this pin.

That photo is probably from 1994 or 95.  That's me on the right.

My Dad's Doll

My dad, Tom, is the coolest dad.  He and my mom divorced when I was about four, but he always made it a priority to spend time with us on Wednesday nights and weekends.  Since then, my sister and I have tried to stay close to him even though we don't all live in the same town anymore.

(Yes, I look just like him)

Well, my step-mom sent me a package the other day and sent me some things that were my grandma's and she sent me my dad's doll from when he was a little guy.

Yeah, he's not the cutest doll.  But, for being 60 or more years old he looks pretty good to me.  His name is Stevie.  And was made by my great-great grandmother (my grandma's grandma).  I'm glad to have him.  I hope I have kids one day and I can display him in their room.  Right now, I think he's going to go into my "hope chest" with the other items until I have a home for them.

** My great-great grandma had some serious crochet skills :)

Can't Resist Antiques

Usually every week I have Thursdays off of work.  And most of them I spend at home doing nothing.  Well, this last Thursday, like some in the past, I decided I needed a day out- a day antique shopping.  Despite not having much money I headed to the best, and largest, antique store in Temecula "Granny's Attic."  I LOVE that store!  It's so huge I could spend all day there (and almost did).  I had to pull myself away after about two hours.  I had been going in just about every booth until I realized I juat had to get out of there before I spent too much money I didn't have, and I started to go into the booths that were having sales.  Yes, I am even frugal when antique shopping.  So, here's what I found:

I also bought a large wooden spool (I had displayed it already at my crafting corner and forgot to include it in the photo).

How, much do you think I spent?

$30, $40?

Nope, $18!  See, it pays off to look for sales.  A good time to go is right before or after any holiday when they want to make room for new inventory, or before Spring or Summer or Fall.  This time I hit some Spring sales.  Look for signs!  And make sure what you pick up has the same booth number as the one on the sale sign!

The milk bottle and Hershey tins have new uses:

Just a head's up: I work at night a lot, so most of my photos are kind of dark because I do a lot of my blogging and crafting at night.  Not ideal, but it works...most of the time.

Anyway, go buy some antiques.  Fill your home with things that have a story and a previous life.  And support local businesses!



 

Antique Find of the Week

This past weekend- that flew by I might add- my best friend, Kristina, and her husband, Eric, came to visit from Tucson.  They came to visit for the Super Bowl.  Not that any of us were particularly cheering for anyone specific team, we just have watched the Super Bowl together for the past few years we lived in Tucson, so we decided they had to come here to visit us to watch it.

They arrived on Friday and we went to Old Town Temecula.  We went to a country club that we were not too impressed with to be honest.  The drinks were kind of weak and the food wasn't great.  We line danced and failed miserably.  Anyway, it was still fun.

Saturday we went to Dana Point Harbor and ate at Proud Mary's, which is my favorite place on the coast.  Then we headed down to San Clemente where my mom grew up.  It's kind of like another home for me because we used to visit quite a bit when we were kids.

Here are some of the yachts in Dana Point Harbor.  A lot are for sale anybody have $90, 000 laying around?!

The view walking down the street where we parked in San Clemente.  Love it here!

 Donyvan, Mom, Eric, and Kristina with San Clemente in the background.

 It was a gorgeous day!

Then after we walked on the beach we went to a street called Del Mar- it's lined with shops and restaurants.  And I found an antique store that only Kristina would go in with me.  She found a camera that was cute then she led me over to another set up cameras and I found this little beauty.  I love it!  It was a little steep in price, but I couldn't resist.  It's from 1926. 

This week I probably won't be going to any antique stores- just because I need to cut back on my spending :)  However, I did get a little something from the IRS, so there will be a new additiong to my sewing table (that is non-existent right now).

Have a good week friends!

Antique Finds of the Week

Nan and I went Antique shopping the other day.  I was setting out looking for a few things specific: some cool glass bottles and a globe.  The glass bottles are for a project that will be in our foyer.  And the globe is just to add to my travel corner of my room.  The first store we went to was so expensive, I believe that because it's in Old Town Temecula where there are tons of tourists that they can jack their prices up kind of high.  So, we didn't buy anything.  Then we went to Granny's Attic (the 30,000 sq ft of antiques, oh yeah).  There the prices are better, or at least if they're high in one booth just keep walking and you might find the same thing in another booth for a lot less.

I didn't find any bottles that I couldn't live without, but I found a GLOBE!

It even has a little rust on the base to make it look pretty cool!  I love it.  I was thinking of writing something on it like I've seen some people do, but I'm not too sure yet.

Then I was supposed to go to some estate sales with Nan and my mom yesterday, but I wasn't feeling well.  However they found some good stuff in my absense.  My mom bought these two cameras.

 This is a Brownie No. 2.  They were made in 1931.  I believe it's from the UK or Canada, I couldn't find any information on one from the US.

This is a Brownie Hawkeye, which is the camera Nan had when my mom was little.  My mom remembers getting her picture taken with it.  Nan is going to search for some photos she took with it.  This one was made betweeen 1949 and 1961.

Those are the finds of the week.  Stayed tuned to see what I find next week!