Getting all techy and stuff

Oh I know it's been awhile but I have a good excuse. You see I was just sick and tired of my crappy old point and shoot and it was becoming impossible to enjoy blogging whilst working with such a piece of crap. SO yesterday I went out and bought an ipod which was a big deal for my because as of now I have a Tracfone so yeah...big upgrade.

 

So far I am having lots of fun taking pictures of my meals like "normal" people. These are John's Sexy Swedish Buns (a Jamie O recipe).

 

I have also been spending a lot of time making wooden toys. This one is just for C. A sweet sleeping dragon with a nice cozy knitted cave.

 

And some are destined for a new little coffee shop. There is actually a complete set with rooster, tree, and pig all painted up. The shop is opening Monday and I am excited to see how they do!

 

I have also been enjoying some thrifting. Not as much as I have been since I am running out of room in the old house.

 

And some sewing. This little burlap banner is destined for our farmers' market booth this summer. From left to right we have garlic, tomato, turnip, French breakfast radish, and a carrot. They were made from little fabric scraps and zig-zag stitched onto some burlap. I also did a zig-zag stitch around the edge of the burlap to keep it from unraveling and I zig-zag stitched the twine onto the squares. It was a quick and easy project and I think it looks great. What crafting have you been up to?

 

P.S. you can find me on Instagram now under bigcraftyblog!

Thrifty Tuesday

You know I actually DO have certain items in mind when I go to the thrift store on Tuesdays. In fact I don't go unless there is something specific that I am looking for and this Tuesday I was looking for a shelf. I didn't find the shelf but I did control myself a little. There is a glass case and the stuff in the case is 1/2 off on Tuesdays and there was a whole box of jewelry I wanted to dig through but I controlled myself...a bit. I could not however pass up the following items...

 

These...these most awesome vintage (1934 according to the interwebs) teacups and plate. The cups have some small cracks and the plate is scuffed but they were .25 each so I paid like nothing for them. I should have got more, there were more but seriously...what am I going to do with these let alone MORE of these? I do have some upcycling ideas that may or may not get done in the future. We will see!

 

 

This groovy 60's Christmas candle! My grandma has one like it that is the Little Drummer Boy and I just really liked the church on this one. It reminds me of my Putz houses and I plan to put them together next year...well not too close (the Putz houses being made out of 50 year old cardboard and all).

 

 

And these last two little items. The peg thingy will be spray painted and hung in either the kitchen or the back porch I think. The gold frame I want to spray paint white and hang in our room. Part of me is tempted to chalkboard it but we will see.

 

 

And for those of you thinking "Dude, isn't this a craft blog? What's with the all the pictures of old junk?!" (ok don't know if anyone is actually thinking that), here is a picture of my latest project. The beginnings of a Lego quilt that needs to be finished by Sunday. I need more fabric for the top but the roads were outrageous today so I will venture out tomorrow. The colors were my sons choice and man, I don't know what it is about these colors but they make me queasy. I can't decide if it's because I had a clown lamp in my childhood room in the 80's this color or if it reminds me of elementary gym class (you know, the parachute, and dodge balls, and my gym teachers hideous Jamz). Blech. But my little man wants these colors so that's what he gets!

 

 

 

Thrifty Tuesday Part Duex

So the only other thing I could find that I purchased this week were these awesome handmade puppets! There were quite a few but I felt like I should leave some for someone else to find.

 

A giraffe, a dragon, and a mouse! There is also a frog floating around the house somewhere. Perhaps we will find him again someday...maybe not. There was an awesome lady puppet with super crazy exaggerated features (think Lady Elaine Fairchilde but with long red hair!) but I knew she would freak the heck right out of my kids so I had to pass unfortunately. I am hoping the purchase of these puppets will help me get my act together to make this.

 

In other news...

 

 

This little lady has been a WIP since before my daughter's birthday in September. I stopped working on her when her head turned out the way it did. It's just totally not what I wanted. I was hoping for more of a baby face and hers is a little more mature than I expected. Her feet also turned out ridiculous and her legs are far too short. Her arms, which you can't really see in this photo, make her look like a body builder. BUT I just couldn't stand the thought of those wasted hours so I finished her up last weekend. I also found some little fairy wings at the thrift store and sewed them onto her dress. So now she is a fairy with incredible upper body strength. She actually looks pretty good in this pic but I don't think she as impressive in real life. I keep trying with these Waldorf dolls, I really do. I just can't seem to get it. I made the decision to splurge on an American Girl doll for my daughter (since they were discontinuing my fav, Molly) and make a Waldorf doll instead of purchasing one. Now I sort of wish I had gone the other way...oh well though! Maybe I can just keep trying. What do you think of her?

 

 

Thrifty Tuesday Part One

Sooo I finally got around to taking some pictures of my thrifty finds this afternoon. I had only taken 3 when the camera disappeared and no one would fess up. I just found it under a couch pillow and I suspect my little photographer may have had something to do with that. Anyways here are some of my finds. I will photograph the rest tomorrow....if I can find the rest of my thrifty finds (I already forget what I got and can't seem to find them, for realz).

 

First up, some Holly Hobbyish (I think it's a knock off) fabric that I have NO clue what to do with. Maybe a skirt for the little one? Hmmm. Also some really awesome cloth napkins that have some cross stitch on them. It's very well done and I love the colors! I have been wanting to get back to using cloth napkins so this is a good time to start!

 

I found this green McCoy bowl that is unchipped which makes me happy since the last one I purchased had a giant chip that I didn't see until I got home. I don't even know what I am going to do with it...but I like it so that's all that matters right?

 

And this find pretty much validates my belief in the thrift store fairy. I mean seriously? Red, aqua, and black and white stripes. Muh fav. Anyways I will be back tomorrow with the rest...hopefully.

Thrifty Tuesdays

Just popped in to show you some of the things I got today. Not a ton of stuff (thankfully!) but some really neat treasures.

 

A wool sweater to make one of these. And the fun yellow vintage fabric is about 2-3 yards and was only $1! I see some sundresses for the wee one in the near future (tonight?).

 

 

I spotted these candlesticks and could tell by the look of the paint that they were some kind of good pottery. I thought maybe they were McCoy but the bottom was marked Cowan. I did some research and this pair sells for between $15-$35 on Ebay. I paid $1!

 

 

I was extremely happy to find this painting. I had been eyeballing a small, less well done painting for a few weeks at the same store. It was $10 and I honestly didn't know if I even wanted to pay that for it. This one was larger and didn't have a price. When I asked the lady how much it was she said $6...and it was half price day! $3?! Woohoo! I know paintings are supposed to go at eye level (right?) but I had another idea for this one.

 

 

We have very high ceilings in our downstairs and the empty space above this vanity in our entry area looked weird. I think this painting really fills up the space nicely. What do you think?

Thrifty Tuesday

Yeah I know it's not Tuesday but I have been having the most ridiculous time trying to get photos to load to Picmonkey. Turns out my SD card was going bad. Good to know! Thankfully I had just backed up my pictures a few weeks ago so I only lost a few. So I got a new SD card and now I can share some of my thrifty finds from this Tuesday!

 

First we start with these awesome vintage cookbooks I found. There was a whole box of them plus BAGS and BAGS of recipes cut out from magazines. They were all probably from the 50's and it took some serious restraint to not buy them all up. I mean I could have framed a bunch of the really cool looking recipes...but would I? Probably not. So I passed them up and just picked out two of my favorite books. Tasty Table Treats (the one with the menacing looking lady) is actually a vegetarian cookbook although there is no indication of this fact on the front or back of this book. I think they were trying to trick people? Some of the recipes are such vegetarian classics as parsley loaf (pretty much just breadcrumbs and a crap ton of parsley), Tampa Bay Soup (veggie gumbo with an unreasonable amount of peanut butter, and my favorite...hot slaw which consists of 2 ingredients, cabbage and sauerkraut juice heated up. Ew. I mean just eat the sauerkraut! Let's all be grateful that vegetarian cooking has come a long way!

 

 

I got this awesome olive green McCoy bowl but didn't realize it had a chip until I got home...so I gots plans for it!

 

 

My favorite find of the day...this great vintage cross stitch. The colors are awesome and I have visions of this hanging on my porch!

 

A cute little Peter Rabbit print that spoke to me because of the sweet aqua frame. I plan to hang this in our loft area that houses many toys and books.

 

A tablecloth for farmers' market which is kind of a mustache hound's-tooth.

 

These neat little hand painted bird plates. I have a soft spot for birdy items. I need to grab some plate holders next time I am at the $1 store. 

And not really part of Thrifty Tuesday but I ordered this book of Dale Dearmond prints. My grandma gave me the same book and I looked online for prints for sale but I didn't find much. She was an Alaskan artist that my grandma came across while traveling in Alaska in the 90's.

 

She got the book for me for my 10th birthday which I am sure was promptly shoved in a bookshelf only to be discovered a few years ago. The prints (wood block) are amazing and I have wanted some to hang on my walls. The original gift book has a little message written to me from my grandma so it couldn't be dissected but I ordered this used copy from Amazon for $5.

 

Here is the first one I framed. Love it.

 

Another technically not "Thrifty Tuesday" item which was "thrifted" from my basement which is actually full of thrifty goodness I keep forgetting about. Maybe I should just start going down in my basement and going through boxes on Tuesday? Would save me a bit of money! This awesome potato chip tin from the 40's is just too cool. I didn't know potato chips were a health food...sweet! I plan on using it as a trash can for thread and scrappy fabric bits in the old workspace.

 

I am also trying to start a Thrifty Tuesday Pinterest board so everyone can share their own thrifty finds. Follow the link and email me to request to join!

 

http://www.pinterest.com/bigcraftyblog/thrifty-tuesday/

 

Thrifty Tuesday

Well it's only been about a million years since I made a Thrifty Tuesday post!!! You can check out my old ones under labels on the right sidebar if you want. I have been trying my best to only go to the thrift store when I am really looking for something. Lately it has been boring stuff like organizational items for homeschooling. I went today specifically for some fabric to finish my daughter's quilt. I was also looking for some frames for an exciting project I have coming up (as soon as that darn Amazon book gets here!).

 

A frame I did find! Actually two but I forgot to take a picture of the other one (looks pretty much like this one!). Well wouldn't you know that piece of cardboard backing, when turned around, is this kind of awesome vintage farm scene. It's just a print but darn it if I don't love it. Well shucks, I guess I will just have to go out next Tuesday to look for another frame to replace this one!

 

 

And well you know I had to look at the other stuff while I was there. And I do have this thing for vintage mugs. Boy did I score!

 

 

Isn't this the most awesomely awesome vintage airplane mug you have ever seen? I'm not even an airplane person but this is just too cool anyways. It might even be better than my penny-farthing mug I found a few years ago.

 

 

I also found this cute little handmade doll jacket that should fit our American Girl Molly just right. You know my thrift store (yes it's mine, I mean I don't own it...but it's still mine) has all these nooks and crannies where they try and pile things that "make sense" together. There are lots of shelves with drawers to go through. One time I found a drawer full of nothing but vintage Christmas lights (the really old big ones). This time I found a drawer labeled "doll clothes". Now we have just recently been getting into dressing the dolls for different occasions and such so maybe I just missed it before, but I'm glad I know where it is now! This little number needs some repairs in the armpit but for .25 I figured it was well worth it! Especially since I was informed last time we took Molly out that she needed a jacket. Well now she is set! How do you guys like my finds?!

 

 

 

 

Thrifty Monday!

Ah I swear I have not forgotten my blog I promise!  I was having some issues with Blogger.  It wasn't letting me upload photos.  Then little man broke my camera which is actually a blessing as I need a new one.  I just have to figure out if I want to buy a good one.  So here is some stuff I bought last week at the thrift store. 

I will start off with my most favoritest find...maybe one of all time favorites (ok top 5?).  It is one of those canvas baskets you see people carrying around the farmers market.  I find it is very useful to take to the store as well because you can carry your groceries around in it and leave with no bags!  Of course this only works if you need a couple of things.  I paid $1.50 for this!!!  The book is a book about the Pike Place Market which I bought the same day for .25!

A groovy little pyrex dish, perfect for a small loaf of zucchini bread.

Every lady needs a pair of black shoes...and apparently needs a pink pair of slippers with some kind of weird bunny.  Ah I couldn't pass them up!

And a little amber glass dish...completely useless really but I just love the color of the glass.

Thrifty Tuesdays

Well I got this stuff on Sunday so I decided not to go today.  I also didn't get pictures of everything...lazy!  Anywho I got...

This valance!  I have been looking forever for a valance for this window.  Story goes that I bought some fabric to make valances for this window and two other windows in this room (living room).  Well I didn't buy enough and when I went back it was gone.  So I only have enough to make the two other windows.  Well I figured I could try and find something neutral to go with them.

Up close...I like the natural look.

And this skirt that is really fun to twirl around in...uh I mean I am assuming it is...(hehe)

And a little scarf to use here and there.  I paid 6 1/2 cents or something for it...sweet huh?!

So as you might tell I have a lot of stuf.  I really need to pick and choose and get rid of some stuff...soo as cliche as it sounds I think I am going to open an Etsy shop!  Hehe...it wouldn't be a crafty/vintagetype/thrifty blog if I didn't!  So hopefully more on that soon!

Thrifty Tuesdays

Warning...this post will make you super jelouse if you are a crocheter/knitter/lover of yarn.  That being said...look what I found!

Eeek!!!  I looove these colors!  Ok I shouldn't make you any more jelouse but I am going to.  I paid $2.00 for all of this!!!!  Really I need more yarn like a need a swift kick but whatever.

Do you know what this is?  A tortilla press!  I have been wanting one for oh so long but they are like $30.  This was 1.50!!!

This is for a future crafty project I will share with you later.

Happy Thrifty Tuesday....BTW Sunday is 75% off at my little thrifty spot so I will probably be doinga Thrifty Sunday post.