Thanks for the Memories, Mr. Disney! 12/05/14

Happy Birthday, Walt!  

Tuesday I had the pleasure of kicking off the Christmas season with my two daughters at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Although it poured rain ALL DAY LONG, we were happy with
 the "no-wait" lines at all the rides!

Before moving to the mid-west, I lived for 30 yrs in So. Cal.
I've been to Disneyland so many times, I like to think that I practically grew up there.

A cast member even gave all three of us

 "Honorary Citizen of Disneyland" buttons!

It was a beautiful night.

The castle was gorgeous.

Main Street was enchanting.

The Christmas Season has officially begun! :)

Happy Birthday Walt! Thanks for making the world a nicer place.

Christmas at the booth 11/20/14

YES! I know its not even Thanksgiving yet, but for me it's already Christmastime! :)

Here's what my new booth looked like last week, but since then I've had to rearrange it all twice because big stuff is just flying out of there! And that's a GOOD problem! :) This is actually my first attempt at having my own antique booth and it has been so much fun.

Because of my "Christmas Problem", I shop for vintage Christmas all year long so I have lots to offer. I'm still trying to figure out how to display stuff. I really need some more shelving and small tables. I'm also selling a few of my crafty creations like decorated bottle brush trees. And I have just replenished my supply of glue sticks so I'm ready to roll! 

SANTA Sale part 1 10/30/14

I have a Christmas problem. I'll be the first one to admit it. It's an obsession. So when a customer came into my shop and told me that she went to a garage sale with nothing but vintage Santas for sale, all you could see was a Rosie-colored flash flying out the door!

See these two people in the background of this pic? That gentleman's 90-something year old mother left her Christmas collection to him. And here it was, the THIRD day of the sale! Heaven knows what I missed....

But there was still plenty to choose from....

I have dreams of sales like this.

 $30 bucks later, I had boxes of items to add to my crafting supplies!

Christmas has definitely arrived early!

the thrifting god smiles upon me 10/08/14

After purchasing an MCM desk and swivel chair , I half-promised that I was done spending $ on myself for the month. But for Pete's sake! It's only the 8th!

So I pulled in for a quick look at the thrift store and it took me all of 5 mins to find this swag lamp! I cleaned it up and it is just beautiful. It is white spun fiberglass. And the best part? It cost $2. That's within my budget! :)

Look at that sheen! I had to bleach it from it's 50 yr old dinge. (That nice starburst clock I got about 10 years ago for $3. But it took about 7 yrs to find a key to wind it!) 

On another note...Have you seen these retro"lucite" chairs at HomeGoods??

I want one of these for my new desk! But $129 is NOT within my budget! Maybe if I'm a really good girl, Santa will bring me one for Christmas.

How to make Simple Garden Mushrooms DIY Toadstools 08/08/14

 

This is SO EASY it hardly needs explaining! 

While at a Church rummage sale last week I found these...

...sitting right next to these! And bought it all for a dollar.

I did this...

...with this.

And painted a few white spots on the bowls with plain old craft paint. We had a storm the other night and it rained all day the following day. The paint is still holding fast, not a smear in sight! 

A few Thrifting goodies

Every time I get home from Thrifting or G'sale-ing I say to myself' "I'm gonna blog these finds" and then weeks go by and I haven't done it! Well, today's the day. 

This is just the tip of the iceburg. Check out that cool green FEZ! You never know when you'll need a fez!

Its been a pretty good summer for finds. Hubs graciously followed the road signs to a Senior Center sale. It was the 2nd day...Boo. I hate it when I miss the first day. :( But I still found a few holiday goodies and 1/2 price too.

I filled a small box with ornaments and got a suprise when I got home...If you look closely at the wooden Christmas tree above you'll notice a $1 bill tightly rolled and stuck in there! I paid a quarter for the tree AND the dollar. I like when that happens.

This mercury glass cross was really unusual. The Christmas dog wearing the crown was not old, but was too cute to pass up! Plus, it combines my two favorite things: Dogs and Christmas! :)

I got two adorable vintage magnet signs from Goodwill.

 I  usually call it the "Good-won't" or the "BAd-will" because I NEVER find vintage there. And they had them priced at only $2 each! They must have a new mgr.

 I love these cute graphics!

 

Here is the second one. 

Homework CUTENESS!

I got these "Dick and Jane" alphabet board books for 1/2 price when I was visiting my sister in Escondido. 

There is a book for each letter of the alphabet.

Super cute letter-appropriate graphics on each page!

Each book has 4 "pages" so that means I have almost 100 letters in total. These books will be taken apart to make signs. I can't wait to do it!

Here are some spun head picks. Hubs and I took a day trip to St. Charles and stepped into the most over-priced antique store ever! I reluctantly asked how much these were and after studying them for at least HALF AN HOUR, she said, "A dollar a piece." I bought them because #1: They are so adorable and #2: Laurie over at Magpie Ethel had me jonesing for them. 

See the two little spun heads inside the ornaments? Those only cost me 25c each a week later at the Senior sale. : /

I found these two big-eyed Lee prints on vacation in Wisconsin, $3 ea.

This isn't a very good photo but these vintage animal prints were 25c each at my neighbors g'sale. 11x14 inches of pure smiles, suitable for framing! 

Found these two wonderful bauble bracelets in a bag of kid junk and wore them to church Sunday. They are so fun, they remind me of candy! Huh, well I guess that would make them ARM-candy. :)

Happy Hunting!!

love

rosie

How to make your own Dog Lift Sling DIY 05/20/14

In July my old golden retriever, "Puppy", will be 14 years old...and that's in "People" years.

 Puppy was the runt of the litter. She had a broken tail, a sprained elbow and tiny back legs when she was born. 

We found homes for all 8 pups but Puppy's new owners said, "Our vet said to 'put her down' so we brought her back like you asked." We had anticipated that. We knew Puppy had problems but nursed her as best as we could.

She grew up very healthy and was able to get around fine in spite of the fact that x-rays showed she had NO HIP Sockets! Her tiny back legs were basically free-swinging when she walked!

I know the name "Puppy" is so lame. Well, we called her that because we weren't sure how long we'd have her and we didn't want to get too attached by giving her a "real" name. So it was "Puppy" from the get-go.

Well, 14 years later... she can hardly get up from a lying position. :( and I needed a little help when lifting her rear up the one step from the garage. I looked on line to buy a doggie-lift harness but some are upwards of $100. 

Here is how I spent .50 cents and made my own. 

Puppy weighs 66 lbs so I got a nice sturdy tote from the thrift store. It's not your cheepo Walmart tote. It's a strong canvas tote with a vinyl coating inside. It has extra strong handles.

I simply cut off the sides.

This is a photo of the sling laid out.

She's really good about letting me slip in under her. 

Then you simply lift as she is pulling herself up. 

You can slide the sling up under her chest or back under her hips to 

which ever area needs help. Drop the handles and she can walk right out of it.

Puppy is an amazing dog and has outlived 6 of her 7 siblings. She is a blessing to our family and we want to keep her happy and healthy as long as we can! I hope this post will help other owners of Senior Dogs!