A New Thrift Store Find Transformation...

Hi Girls...

If you've been a long time visitor to my blog, you may recall that about this time last year, I shared with you one of my very first thrift store transformation projects which was turning this boring but functional desk caddy.....

Into this.....

You can see that post here.

Well, I recently found a similar desk caddy at one of my local Goodwill stores for just a mere $2.99 and of course, I just had to buy it as I've been itching to give something new a little makeover.

Here's what it looked like when I bought it....

When I first started this project, these were the papers I intended to use, already cut to size.  I first cut pieces from some regular heavy card stock paper to get my pattern pieces, then I traced them onto my scrapbook paper before cutting...

But then, I changed my mind about some of the scrapbook papers I wanted to use, so this pile shows my final choice...

After choosing the papers I was going to use, I then painted the edges of the desk caddy to cover the areas that I knew wouldn't be covered by the scrapbook paper..

I let that dry overnight, then all I had to do was Modge Podge all the pieces in place.

And this is what it looks like now..

For the front edge, I had to do a bit of fudging to cover the entire section.  The desk caddy is more than 12 inches wide so I was short a few inches on the paper as the paper was only 12 inches wide.  I had to cut an extra smaller piece to cover the gap..

I have to admit that transforming this desk caddy was a bit more difficult than the first one because of the curved edges which made it much harder to cut the paper to size.  The first one I did had simple square edges.  With the curved edges on this one, I had to do a lot of delicate trimming of edges to get them to fit just right.

But it was worth it as I think it turned out pretty good.

Just remember.  Don't pass up good functional items from the thrift stores just because they don't look the way you want them to.  Things like this can be transformed very easily in very little time.

Well, I hoped you enjoyed seeing my little weekend project. 

See you soon!!

New Stamps.....

Hi Girls..

Just popping in real quick to show you two of my newest rubber stamps I recently purchased at Michael's when they were having a great sale on all of their stamps.  Plus,  I saved an additional 20% using a coupon.   

I think Michael's and JoAnne's have become two of my favorite places to shop as I love adding new supplies to my stash to use in my craft projects.  

Now, if I could just triple the size of my craft room and add some great furniture pieces for storage and display , I might just have an easier time finding places to display,  store and organize all of those things.

Well, until I can make my dream craft room happen, I guess I'll continue creating amongst all the pretty scrappy things scattered amongst my craft table and on the bookshelf nearby.

See you again soon !!!

Crafting Shabby Style....

Hi Girls...

I was busy in my craft room this past weekend creating some more shabby style wall hangings and tags.  Something I love to do.

Here are my latest creations, starting with a shabby heart shaped wall hanging to which I added some paper crepe trim.

Then there is this pretty wall hanging that I added several different types of embellishments to.   The pretty background paper is some new scrapbook paper I found recently.  It is from the new Graphics45 collection called "Ladies Diary".  The entire collection is just gorgeous..

And last, but not least is a tag I created using up a few more of the small paper scraps from my stash....

Well, as you can see, it was quite the productive weekend for me.

Now I must go see what other pretties I can create.

Vintage Pretties.....

Hi Girls,

In addition to the pretty little ceramic basket I shared in my last post, my recent day of antiquing also netted me an awesome vintage find.  One that has been on my wish list for quite some time.

And that particular thing would be a pretty vintage shoe organizer..

I was so happy to find this one at a very affordable price and of course, in great condition to.  
 

And the fact that it's made with a pretty rose print fabric makes it even that much better.

Sometimes, the good things are worth the wait.

Tiny Treasures...

Hi Girls,

A trip to the antique shops today netted me this darling little ceramic weaved basket in the prettiest shade of  pale blue for just a mere $3.50...

It's just the perfect size to hold some other small treasures  like vintage calling cards....

Or maybe some of those pretty buttons....

It will likely hold many different little treasures over time and that's what makes it such a versatile find. 

I found another great treasure today too, but I'll share that in another post.

See you soon!!

More Crafting With Leftover Scraps...

Hi Girls,

I'm back to show you another quick little project I did on Sunday.

It's been a while since I made one of my shabby patchwork wall hangings and I thought I would make a new one in my effort to use up some more of those leftover paper scraps I have..

I love the mix of soft shabby colors and florals and am very happy with how it turned out.

These are so quick and easy to make.  All you need is a piece of pre-cut shaped chipboard (I buy mine from the $1.50 bins at Michael's where they sell them in packs of 5 to create mini-albums), some Modge Podge, a sponge brush and left over scraps of scrapbook paper.  

And of course, we can't forget those cute embellishments to add a finishing touch.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  See you again soon!!

Quick And Easy ........

Hey Girls..

Don't you just love when you can whip something pretty up very quickly and easily?

I did just that today making this pretty little tag using some of those leftover paper scraps that I'm realizing I have way too many of as well as an image of a beautiful Victorian lady that I cut out with my super dandy Martha Stewart craft knife.. 

Realizing just how many of those small paper scraps I have, I'm really going to try harder over the next few months to try and use up as many of them as I can, especially the larger scraps, before I start cutting into a new sheet of scrapbook paper.  Whether I'll be able to do that or not remains to be seen.

Well, that's all for today.  See you again soon !!!

Altered Journal Project ......

Hi Girls...

Well, it's time for another photo heavy post..Do you recall a few posts back when I showed a vintage journal/ledger book that I had recently purchased with the idea of using it in my first attempt to create an altered journal, one similar to so many that I have seen and admired here in blogland and on Pinterest?

Well, I dove in and got to work on it shortly thereafter, altering the inside pages of the journal in what I consider to be phase one of the project.  This first phase would involve creating a base or background of sorts, to which I will eventually add more elements as time and materials allow.

I did this by using two of my favorite products.  Gorgeous scrapbook papers and Modge Podge, turning those boring inside white into pages like these....

This project allowed me to use up some of those smaller leftover pieces of scrapbook papers that I had been saving...

I wanted this journal to have a shabby/vintage look to it, so I tried to stick to that theme by using scrapbook papers that fit that theme and I think I succeeded.

It's far from being perfect.  If you look closely, you can see air bubbles and such on some of the pages, but  I think that just adds to the overall vintage look I was going for.  The journal actually looks much better in person than it does in the photos.  The photos really don't do it justice. Because of  terrible lighting and my poor photography skills, they don't show the true colors or finer details in the scrapbook papers.

Well, I hope you made it to the end of this post without getting too bored, and I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest project, even with its imperfections.

Well, that's all for this time.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

See you again soon...