Christmas in Feb??!

I know... I know.... A little late, perhaps?

BUT! This works all year round! Simply use different scrapbooking paper! Or even family photos would be super cool!!!

Just start with your average primitive barn star... One that has a horrid finish will make re-doing it even more satisfying! :o) lol!

To measure the paper, simply place over star and crease with your fingernail to know where to cut.

Cut the paper.... It should look like this....

Do one for each star. Another option is to use 10 different papers as opposed to 5. Just use a different paper for each angle on the star instead. More difficult... But way cool!!

Now is where you'll break out the modge podge. My newest best friend!

I. LOVE. THIS. STUFF!!!!

Spread modge podge on each point and smooth paper over it. Be sure do work out all the air bubbles... They will leave bumps all over the thing!

After it has dried, coat the entire thing with some more modge podge. I did 2 coats of the stuff. It'll protect it. You can either use the matte which is a duller finish. Or high gloss which is obviously.... ummm... shiny! :o)

I'm kicking myself that I didn't take a picture of the finished project... but it turned out SUPER cool!!! I added a ribbon and bow to hang it with and TAA-DAA!!!

Way cool star that has a LOT more character! Whoohoo!

L-O-V-E

Wondering what to do with ALL THOSE leftover candy canes??!

How 'bout this?

Here's how.....

Preheat oven to 250 degrees...

Unwrap all your leftover candy canes....

Put them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper....

Cook for 5-10 minutes.... (Watch'em REALLY close! It doesn't take long for them to get too warm... Don't ask me how I know! lol!!)

Immediately start forming them after you pull them out. They'll be warm, but not too hot to handle! If they start getting too stiff, just throw them in the oven for a sec again and you'll be able to bend and mold them! I made lots of L's, O's, V's & E's for Valentine's day.

For that part of it, I spray painted all sides of a 6 in. 2x4... Modge Podged a piece of scrapbooking paper on the front... Super glued the L-O-V-E on.... Sprayed clear sealer over the entire front... (To seal the candy canes. If you don't the candy will get soft, sticky, and squishie by next year! Icky! Thanks mom for letting me in on that secret!! What would I do without you??!) And finished it off with tying ribbon around it with a big red bow on top! Love them!! And what a nifty way to use up leftover Christmas candy canes! Be creative! Make other words... Names.... You could even "fuse" 2 of them together to make a heart! Let me know what you come up with!!! :o)

I'm back!

After a brief reprieve... (And not one that I wanted... the camera just wouldn't upload the pictures for me! And who wants to read a blogpost of mine without pictures??!)

Want to see a bit of what Caleb did for the fair??

Remember these bottles?

Well... Caleb made a "bottle bug!"

Isn't he cute??! Oh what you can do with a bottle... a little copper wire... and a few beads!

And... Do you want to see what he made for the "Recycling" class??!

The thing that got wow's everywhere it went??!

The thing that the judge said was the most creative thing she had ever seen entered in the class??!

The thing that won RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION??! (Yay Caleb!! 2nd year in a row, baby!)

Prepare to be amazed here people!

So what do you do with...

A spindle....

A cast from an unfortunate event this spring...

A very thick medical book, drill, gorilla glue...

And a sock and some stuffing?

Why, with a little imagination and work...

Make a LAMP of course!!!! :o)

Way to go Caleb!!

And now starting on a few of the finishing touches...

And yesterday I also put everything back on the mantle. It's very cute now! Want to see it?

In the center there is my mirror that I got on a garage sale a few years ago for only $2! I was very happy!! It's already distressed and everything.

I got this sign at Goodwill about a month ago. I thought the color would work in the livingroom and got it just in case it fit in anywhere. And it did!!

I bought the star after Christmas... 90% off, baby!! The empty picture frames were from an auction... Got those free! :o)

These are for the curtains... I saw them on clearence at Menards. They used to be 25-something... I got them 1$ for each pair! Whoohoo!

They were a very light oak color, but I spray painted them with cream. After it was dry, I decided that the cream was too stark, so I rubbed stain on it. What I wasn't expecting was for it to distress the areas when I rubbed the stain in harder. They turned out SUPER COOL!

Don'cha just love when that happens?! :o)

And she said... Let there be light!

Okay... so you know how some livingrooms are? The kind that have no lights in the ceiling? I'm not sure if they expect everyone who lives there to be blind and therefore not mind the darkness that comes every evening.... or to keep so many lamps plugged in around the room, it takes fully 5 minutes to go around and turn them all on!

Don't get me wrong! I love lamps! There's nothing much better than curling up on the couch with a book, reading in the peace and quiet, with only the soft glow of a lamp! *sigh*

But if I need light... I want LIGHT!!! :o)

Whatever the case... I figured as long as we were redoing the ceiling... Otherwise known as punching holes, cutting and otherwise mangling the previous double-thick drywall substances... We might as well add some light, baby!

I know you can't tell it now... But soon 2 beautiful light fixtures will be mounted in the middle of the room where they will live forever after, shedding their glorious light, and brightening our hearts because we will no longer be stumbling around in the hazy darkness that has graced this particular livingroom for many years!

Stay tuned to see pictures of those lovely finished light fixtures!

A Start on Christmas Decorating...

Well.... We've started Christmas decorating around here! I absolutely love decorating for Christmas! Here's a glimpse into a few of the nooks and crannies we've beautified so far! :o)

Remember this old doctor's bag I got for 1.00 at an auction? Well here it is again! Filled with pine cones... Vintage ornaments... And other Christmas odds and ends. It's one of my favorites!

This is the curio cabinet in the dining room. It's so pretty with pine boughs, poinsettias, Christmas garland, and of COURSE twinkle lights!!! :o)

When I bought all that Christmas junk a few months ago at the rainy auction... There was an entire box full vintage ornaments. I am having so much fun with them! I'm arranging them here and there in crystal bowls and other fun containers I've accumulated. Which is a lot! :o)

The fireplace mantle is now complete and Christmas-y!

Merry Christmas Ya'll!!!

No... I'm not decorating for Christmas yet... but...

I’ve been seeing so many cute Christmas decorating ideas from my blogging buddies and here’s just three that I finally found the “stuff” to do!

I picked all this up that that auction a few weeks ago. I got all the leftover Christmas stuff for 3.00. This is so cute... It's a candy dish, filled with colorful Christmas light bulbs.

There was a huge box of vintage-ish ornaments… Christmas light bulbs… and lots of other junk. Really junk! It was so bad, I sorted through it by the dumpster! But these took me a grand total of 5 minutes to throw together… If that! :o)

(I also got the glassware in a pile of leftovers for 1.00. Total cost of each project was maybe 1.00 at the most! I love them!

Last Saturday's finds!

All right... Here it is as promised... Pictures!

Yeasterday was the first time we saw the sun! Unfortunately it was short-lived. *sigh* Today was cloudy, cold, and windy. BUT... I did get pictures yesterday just before dark!

I bought 3 tables for 1.00 each... I'm so happy! :o)

There's this one.... One with a white enamel top (you can see a bit of it on the left hand side) ... And another smaller side table that has wonderful spindle legs as well. I'm very happy with them! (I have to be at 1.00 a piece!)

I know.. I know... You're thinking, "ANOTHER TRUNK?!" I'm thinking the same thing too! But it was only 1.00! It would have been absolutely wrong to let it go for that! So.... Just what to do with another one!

This was very cool! One of my highest bids with a whole $6 spent on this single purchase. It's and antique scale... Bet I can re-sell it for more than that. I think it's pretty nifty! :o)

Our porch is absolutely packed with junk right now... Poor mom. But there's so many ideas that I'm just bursting with now!! There's this old Conoco can I got for $1. Not my style, but I can re-sell it for more than that. I also bought 3 of those slow/stop signs... I've got ideas! Muaahaahaa!

I got a TON of enamelware. These pitchers were the most expensive at $2 for one and $6 for the other. I've never seen one for under $25, So I was tickled at these two! (The old guys just weren't interested! lol) I love that blue/white pan too.... Pretty EXCITING!

Anyhoo.... Just thought you might like to see just a few of my great-super-exciting-new-purchases!

It's been a busy week!!!

I know... I know.... It's been FOREVER since I've blogged! This week has been CRAZY busy! Our candle season is in full swing leaving little to no time for my trashy behavior! ;o)

I've been wanting to post pictures of all the wonderful junk I got on an auction last Saturday, but I haven't been able to even take pictures. "Why?" you ask... Well, it has not been very good weather lately. I have not seen the sun since last Friday. *sigh* But as soon as it pokes it's sunny face through the clouds, pictures will be sure to come!

So... despite not having any pictures... I will share with you the adventure I embarked upon last Saturday.


I awoke to the dreary, drip-drop sound on my window early Saturday morning. I was thrilled! Rainy auctions are great! Nobody comes! Yay! Makes for exciting buys, it does!
This particular auction was located a mere 2-3 miles from our house. Oh joy! We made our way there and to my great satisfaction, the only people there were all guys. Old guys. (With the exception of one particular fellow who was somewhere around my age... He had the most serious case of plummer's pants I have ever seen in my entire life! No offence to the plummers out there who might be reading this! ;o) lol)
It had the makings of definately being my kind of auction! ;o) My only grief being the fact that those old guys are a bit difficult when fighting over tools. But reguardless of that fact... I got absolutely adorable tables for a mere 1.00... Beautiful enamelware for next-to-nothing... It was great! I even bought a drill press. Which in itself brought about a conversation that still has me laughing! It went something like this:

I was over in a corner looking through a huge pile of some Christmas junk I had just gotten when behind me I heard a group of guys talking.

Guy 1: Hey... I need this drill press moved so I can get my truck in here. Anyone know who bought it?

Guy 2: Yeah... Ummmm.... I think a girl bought it.

Guys 1, 3, and 4: No way.... Come on.... Who really bought it.

Guy 2: No! I'm serious! It was some girl! She had her son with her. (Note: *Ahem!* That would be my little brother, Caleb)

It was SO funny! I guess I'm just not quite the "normal" gal, am I?!? lol You should have seen the looks on Guy 1, 3 and 4's faces when I turned around, smiled at them and sweetly said, "Oh! That's mine... Would you like it moved?" Priceless!!! :o)

I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as it clears up outside!

Of Copper Wire and Pitchers....

A while back I had posted about my pitcher that I had jazzed up the handle..... Well..... I had gotten the copper wire at Mangelsen's in Omaha. However it was over 5.00 for just a bit of wire. So I got to thinking.... (Uh-oh! Me thinking! That's dangerous!!) And I figured there just HAD to be a cheaper way to get wire!


Well, fast forward to now..... And.... TA-DAA!!!! I found it!

MENARDS.... My hero!

I bought about 4 ft of copper wire for 2.50! I know it looks too thick... but....

It is actually 7 strands of copper wire! So it's 4 ft. long... Multiplied by 7! All for $2.50!!

YAY! Just thought I'd let you all know the cheaper route to go should you make your own fun pitchers! I already got 3 more (Besides mom's that she wants me to do) to use as gifts... Just waiting to be jazzed up! :o)

Meanings of roses....

I am working on getting the roses up on my new website.... So I decided to research the meanings of the different colors of roses. I decided it might come in handy later! ;o)

Thought you all might enjoy what I've found!


Roses themselves express love and admiration. However each color has a traditional, special meaning that can express your true feelings for someone, whether it be friendship or romance. Here is a list of the various colors and the symbolic message they each convey.


A red rose says, “I love you.” It’s romance, passion, respect, and adoration all wrapped up in one single rose.

A light pink rose says, “I admire you.” It’s elegance, style, beauty, and charm!

A dark pink rose says, “thank you.” It is appreciation and gratitude.

A white rose says, “You are pure.” It’s innocence, respect, remembrance and hope.

A yellow rose says “You are a dear friend!” It evokes strong feelings of pure joy happiness, and friendship.

A yellow rose with red tips says, “You are more than a friend.” It symbolizes the transformation from a friendship to a budding romance.

An orange or peach rose says, “You are exciting.” It’s blazing energy, desire, passion, and a fervent romance.

A red and white rose says, “I will be here for you forever.” It’s unity, harmony, honesty, and trust.

A Burgundy rose says, “ You are beautiful!” It’s unconscious beauty.

A lavender rose says, “I fell in love with you at first sight.” It’s enchantment, attraction, and delight.

A blue rose says, “ You are mysterious.” It’s intrigue, fascination and attraction.



There you go!! Now you know!

Someone sent me roses!!!

Some guy from New Mexico sent me roses! 800 roses to be exact! I don't know... Seems like a bit of overkill to me, but... Who am I to complain? Just call him overly amorous!

Okay... Okay... To be perfectly honest... I don't even know the guy. In fact... I had to pay him to send them. So it's not the sweet, loving, romantic act I made it out to be... But that doesn't make me any less excited!!! :o)

I ordered 800 wooden roses... They are beautiful! I am so excited about them! They are handcrafted out of birch wood. They look SO real! I love them! We add scent to them and they smell BEAUTIFULLY! They make incredible car fresheners! ;o)

I'm hoping to do a craft show with my "junk" and our candles this fall, so I'll bring them along too. And even if I don't sell any, I'm having so much fun giving them away!!! It's a cheap way to make a smile!!

My Treasures!

Well.... I went through all the "junk" today and certainly found some treasures!!!

This is the bigger stuff... I'm excited about the sythe. I got it for $6 (You can imagine the comments I got on that one! ;o) It seems I was "The cutest Grim Reaper they'd ever seen!" lol) And a lady beside me said there was one down the street in the antique shop for $45!

I got the antique stool for $3. I'm going to ask my great-uncle Jake if he could make a new seat for it since this one is broken in half... (He does beautiful woodworking) And I'm going to see if Dad can take the rest of it to work and sandblast it. (Dad, If you read this before I get to ask you... Just pretend like you don't know! ;o) Love you!!! lol)

Ive already primed the green box. It has the cutest handle... I fell in love with it. And it was chock full of exciting junk too! And only $1 at that! Yay for auctions!

And I got all of these glass insulators in a box for $5... Not bad! They were so pretty out in the sunlight!!!

I was so tickled about this crate! That's where I found my best treasures!!! And only $1!!! It doesn't need a thing done to it! No paint jobs... Fixes.... It's darling just the way it is! Awww!!!

These were a few of the itsy bitsy treasures. I grabbed the irons (That's not what you call them, but I can't seem to remember what it is! ;o) lol) for $7. That was my biggest purchase. There was another guy who seemed set on them too. They're REALLY heavy, though!

Then there's the glass knob and 2 skeleton keys that I posted last night.

And a TINY leather pouch with a "5 cent trading coin," a Boys Town pendant, and an old army dogtag for Leonard Lyle Davis. Pretty cool!

AND.... These really old goggles. They look like the type that they used for driving in cars or really old airplanes. Anyone know anything about them? They're leather.... With straps that tie in the back... And the little plastic lens. They're in awfully good condition, whatever they are! ;o)

Anyhoo.... Those are my most exciting purchases, anyway! I hope there'll be an auction again soon!!! :o)

Spur-of-the-moment-FUN!!!

Well... Mom and I had one of those spur-of-the-moment evenings! (I love those!)





We were at home.... Just got done working on candles all day... Saw in paper that there was a little auction across the river a mere 15 minutes away... And decided to go! It looked small, and junky. But that's the kind I like! We got there and sure enough... Junk! Yay!

Boxes of nails, screws and other junk going for .25 each! Another Yay!

Here's just two things I found amongst one of my .25 boxes! HAPPY DAY!

When I said it was junk, I meant it! We loaded the car so full we could barely fit ourselves in and came home. We parked out by the dumpster to unload! ;o) lol I sorted stuff for 5 minutes before it got too dark to see. I'll resume in the morning! Can't wait to see what other treasures I might find! YAY!

I'll let you know what I find!

Just a few more projects...

Here's a few projects I worked on this week...

The shelf and the stool, I painted black and then distressed them.

I also made another lamp out of books. They're all calculus, algebra, geometry, ect... books. They'd be a fun one for a teacher! :o)

I got this lamp at a garage sale a few weeks ago. There was just something about it.... The doiley lampshade... the adorable picher base.... I might switch a different shade with the base and use this one somewhere else... but I'll see.

After all... I've spent $2 in worse places, right?! :o) lol

Just give me a glass of lemonade!

Here's something I did last night whilst watching a movie.

By the way... I think I must warn you... I think there's something wrong with me. I can't just sit down and watch a movie like normal people. I always have to be doing something. Jewelry... Sanding picture frames that I painted... And my next "movie-project" is putting the glass panes back in a cute window that I just got done painting! I guess that's not that strange though... Ladies used to knit and embroidery to keep busy. That makes me feel better!

Anyway! Back to my project!

This was just an ordinary, plain glass pitcher. I took copper wire and some of my beads and randomly wrapped it around and around the handle. The curlies are my favorites. Here and there, I'd twist the wire and get a cute little curly thing. It's adorable! A perfect "lemonade pitcher!" And while I was on a role, I made six matching napkin rings too. I'm really excited how they turned out!!!

I already had all the beads... I just had to get the pitcher and the wire... And it didn't take long at all! :o)

Just had to share!

Projects... Projects...

Hey Ya'll!

Here are some pics that I've worked on lately! I'm really kind of into red accents right now. I love them! They just "pop" in a room. In fact, my dream kitchen right now is taupe walls and deep red cupboards. *sigh* But not "orangey" red... more towards the Burgundy red... Like the red I'm using now.

Anyway... back to my projects!

I got this trunk at a garage sale... I know, I know... ANOTHER trunk?!?! I think my obsession with glass bottles has turned towards trunks. I just got 3 on an auction this spring for 1.00 each. Another one on an auction for free. And now this one. But it was only 5.00!!! "And hey... I've spent 5.00 in worse places, right?!?" :o) (That's my pat answer to myself whenever I see some more junk that I don't need! :o) lol) It really was quite the steal! I'm very happy with it!

Empty distressed picture frames are "in" right now and I must admit, I love them! Just randomly arrange them on a shelf or mantle. Have an arrangement in my head for the livingroom... I'll be sure to post pictures when I do it!!! :o)

Random letters are "in" right now too and they're growing on me as well! I got these at a thrift store for 1.00 each. So I brought them home and hit them with a coat of spray paint and then distressed the edges. I love how they turned out!

I got this lovely box at a thrift store as well for 2.00. Let me re-phrase that... I got this now-lovely box at a thrift store! :o)

It was black, ugly, and chipped. But I don't know... There was something charming about it. I loved it's little glass knob. And all it's pretty details. So I got it figuring, "hey... I've spent 2.00 in worse places, right?!?" :o) lol (Told you it was a good answer!)

But I hit it with 2 coats of my new favorite red spray paint... Sanded the details to bring them out... and TA-DAA! I LOVE it!!!

So that's just aa bit of what I worked on this week!

More coming soon! :o)