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!

Church Rummage Sale goodies 05/09/14

It's still been a little chilly in the mornings but that doesn't deter the die-hards. This is a picture of the line to get into Christ the King rummage sale. That's only 1/2 of the line...there were just as many people standing in line behind me!  

This is always a great sale with a wide variety of junk filling the entire gymnasium area. It's mostly "stuff", not clothing, which is just how I prefer it!

They even have a separate "Holiday Room." You KNOW I make a bee-line straight to it as soon as the doors open. How would this church feel if it knew it was contributing to my Christmas "problem?"

Well, here we go.

Lots of goodies for Ebay.

That Christmas birdhouse will be repainted and will be hung in my new garden.

Nice linen Santa dish towel, a knee-hugger w/green mercury picks, an Irmi baby lamp.

Great beaded ornaments, spaghetti Christmas angel, a shiney brite indent, 

and a flocked dancing Santa.

Check out this crazy mercury glass garland! The large beads (compared to the reg. sized ones in the plastic box in the forefront) are threaded on the electrical wire that lights the bulbs in between! Have you ever seen that before?? It's so old that I haven't gotten up the courage to plug it in to see if it works for fear of setting the house on FIRE!

I bought two original Bild Lilli dolls, the precurser to the No. 1 Barbie. They need some work. I dressed them in some great handmade vintage clothes that my MIL just gave me. 

Another Bild Lilli, an uncut big book of SUPER valentines, a really nice small bell jar for crafts.

This is a box of old candle holders to put on a Birthday Cake. 

I love the Goldilocks/3 Bears graphics!

I'm estimating they are from the 1930's or 40's judging by the graphics.

Some empty Small World Avon pins that will become picture lockets.

CRAZY awful beaded ornament but I love it because of the teeny deer

 and the 1/2" bottle brush tree on the pedestal in the center! It's OVER THE TOP!

Remember baking marbles as a kid?? Someone made this little mouse with that method.

 Too cute.

PS- I sold both the Bild Lilly dolls for over $5000! Woot!