Happy Monday !!!

Just popping in to say Hello......

And that I wish you all a Happy Monday. Have a great day!!

I Just Love When Other Bloggers Destash Thier Studio's....

Do you ever find yourself wanting to squeal in excitement when you see something featured on someones blog and that person just happens to mention that they are doing a bit of destashing and are offering that exact thing for sale in their Etsy shop?

Well, let me tell you Girls.. I did just that thing a few weeks ago when Gail at Little Beach Designs http://littlebeachdesigns.blogspot.com/ mentioned that she was destashing her studio and was offering for sale the most adorable little doll chest all decoupaged in vintage wallpapers.

Now, who in their right mind would not squeal when they saw this....

And, it just happens that my favorite colors of Pink and pale Blue were the predominant colors in this cute little doll chest. The pretty rose pattern wallpapers didn't hurt either...

I thought for sure that it would be outrageously priced, beings that's how my luck usually goes, but when I zipped over to her Esty site to check out the listing, I was happily surprised to find that it was for sale at a very reasonable and affordable price, so I just had to buy it as a little gift for myself.

So........ This adorable little doll chest that once belonged to Gail, now has a new home in my craft room where it's fits in just perfectly amongst all my other treasures.

So Gail, if you happen to be reading this, I just want to say thank you for destashing your studio and allowing this adorable little doll chest to find a very a happy new owner..

Junk Bonanza - Day 2

Well, I did it Girls...

I went back to "Junk Bonanza" on Saturday, this time all alone, so I could wonder as I please and linger looking at everything that I wanted to without having to worry about anyone else besides me.

As I had been there the day before, I knew which booths in particular that I really wanted to spend some more time browsing in and looking at all the goodies for sale. And my, oh, my were there lots goodies. Good thing I had already set aside money for spending at Junk Bonanza and knew exactly how much I could spend, or I could have gone crazy and bought way more than I did.

My treasure hunting on my return visit scored me several more items.

Like this adorable three tier corner shelf that now sits on my crafting table waiting to be filled with pretty items for display.....

And this vintage sewing tin...

A few more packs of paper ephemera that I'll use someday when I finally use that crafting table for something more than just displaying all my pretty finds on...

A vintage soap box in a pale yellow color with a bouquet of flowers on the cover. This I will add to my collection of yellows that I have displayed in my living room...

And how about this cute distressed looking key.. Shabby perfection. It has two hooks on the back for hanging, but I haven't' figured out yet where I'll hang it. I'm thinking maybe in my home office as it will look very pretty against my pale blue walls. I'll think of it as my "Key to Success".. Hee, Hee. How do you like that idea?

And as a keepsake to remember the fun time I had at "Junk Bonanza", I bought a Junk Bonanza commemorative T-Shirt that I'll be able to wear. Probably not until next summer though as it's gotten quite chilly here in Minnesota and I'm already wearing my long sleeves and sweaters to stay warm.

What a fun weekend this was and I am already looking forward to next years Junk Bonanza event. But for now, it's back to work tomorrow. Time to earn some more money for my next treasure hunting adventure :-)

Junk Bonanza...

What a fun day a friend and I had today.

I have the privilege of living in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis Minnesota, less than an hours drive where a wonderful event is taking place this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

That event is called "Junk Bonanza", an amazing gathering of vendors displaying and selling their antique wares and handcrafted items. My friend and I spent the morning wondering through the building and checking out all of the different booths where an amazing assortment of goodies was just waiting to be found.

We discovered several booths where the dealers were selling beautiful jewelry, including chains and charms that could be purchased separately and then the dealers would put them together for you using their tools of the trade.

I bought for myself what they referred to as a bubble charm which has both a front and back bubble piece in which is enclosed a graphic script with my initial "K' in black. Each size of the charm has a different type of script. I also purchased the chain as well and had it turned into a necklace.

This is one side of the charm...

And this is the other side ....

The charm itself is about the size of a quarter in diameter and I'd say approximately half an inch in depth. It will be fun now for me to search for small little charms that can be added to the necklace.

Another item I purchased what this pretty little altered bottle. The crocheted doily is not new. This I already had. I just used it as the background in this case.

I also found some vintage and maybe not so vintage paper packs that I someday hope to use in creating altered art pieces.

I'm terrible aren't I? I keep saying someday for all the crafting things I want to try and do. I'm hoping that come winter when I'm stuck indoors, that I'll finally be able to focus more and put some of my words and thoughts into action and get creating for real instead of just dreaming and talking about it.

I saw so many other wonderful things at the Junk Bonanza that I would have loved to have purchased, but sadly, a few of those things would have eaten my spending money up in to time at all. After I got home today though, I kept thinking that maybe I should go back again tomorrow and see if I can find a few more treasures to bring home, using my already allotted Junk Bonanza spending money that I didn't spend today. While I loved having my friend with me today as we shopped together, each of us has very different tastes in the things we like to collect and our styles of decorating, so I felt a bit guilty lingering in booths and over tables that had items that appealed to me and not so much to her. Because of that, I went through them a bit more quickly than I would have liked so as not to bore her. I definitely find that I am more of a lone shopper when it comes to my antiquing and treasure hunting. I like to be able to take my time lingering over all the items I wish to pursue and not have to worry about another person. Being able to go again, just by myself next time, would give me more time to look at more of the kinds of things I like.

Guess I'll have to think about it tonight and decide if I should go again tommorow, all by myself this time.

Would you go again if you had the chance?

Resharing Some Oldies But Goodies...

Hey girlies, I'm back just like I promised. This time on a wet chilly, wet and gloomy mid-week hump day to share a few more oldies but goodies from my photo archives.

Nothing helps better to beat the gloom for me than being able to see all of my pretty things I've collected over the years.

What could be better on a cloudy and gloomy day than seeing a little pocket of yellow sunshine in the corner of my living room where I have gathered most of my collection of yellows.....

Or seeing one of my sweet little lady planter figurine's.....

Or maybe even a small gathering of some pretty pinks.....

Or maybe some scrumptious looking pale pink faux cakes...

Or to be able to sit at my kitchen table having some tea and scones and admiring my beautiful collection of china...

Or maybe seeing and smiling over just a portion of my vintage crocheted potholder collection that I keep displayed on my kitchen counter as I complete that mundane daily task of doing dishes...

Or sifting through a tray of some sweet pastel colored vintage baby cards.....

Ahhhhhhh.. I'm feeling much more cheerful already. And, to make it even better, I see that the sun is FINALLY starting to peak through the clouds here so maybe I'll be seeing some real sunshine today after all..

What cheers you up on those gloomy rainy days?

A look back at some of my favorite things...

Hey there girls..

I know I haven't been around very much lately. Just haven't had much new to share these past few weeks, so just to make sure you know I'm still here and so you don't forget about me, I thought I would go back and dig into my photo archive's and pull out some pictures of my favorite things to reshare with you today.

Things like my sweet little lady planter figurines...

And a few regular planters too...

And one of my favorites, the bluebird planter displayed alongside some of my favorite rose china plates..

Jars and small dishes filled with pretty pastel buttons...

China baskets filled with some scrumptious pastel fabric covered Easter eggs...

And pink wicker baskets filled with pretty pincushions...

A sweet vignette of some pretty pale pinks...

And a bookshelf filled with a display of mismatched china pieces....

This was only a small portion of some of the older photos I wanted to share, so I'll be back in a day or two to share some more.

Until then, enjoy what you're seeing here and elsewhere around this wonderful world of Blogland and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

A Weekend Project......

Oh my goodness. I can't believe it's been over two weeks since I last blogged. Man, where did that time go??? I bet you've all been wondering where I was. All I can say is that I'm sorry I stayed away so long. I must have been in one of those blogging ruts I fall into occasionally where I just don't have much to say and don't have anything new to share.

Well, that has changed and I'm back today to show you another fun transformation project that I did this weekend. I had so much fun several weeks ago when I transformed a grungy yellow colored wicker tray into something pink and pretty that I wanted to try and makeover something else.

What did I chose to makeover this time??

This time, I decided to give an inexpensive brown wood Lazy Susan a little makeover. I found this at the Goodwill store sometime ago for just $6.00 and while it is perfectly good condition, I'm not a big fan of brown wood, so I wanted to shabbify her up a bit.

Using up what was left of my can of Ballet Slipper Pink spray paint, I gave her a nice coat of pink to brighten her up. Already, she's starting to be much more to my liking. Pink will always do that you know!!

Then, I did some decoupaging to make her even better. I had found this beautiful photo on someones blog (please forgive me for not remembering who's) a long time ago and saved it my inspiration folder for my own enjoyment. I loved the coloring of this image with the pale pinks and blue and the pretty feminine postcards. Underneath, I layered a square lace paper doily.

Well, let me say one thing. I am thinking that adding the paper lace doily probably wasn't the best idea. I don't think it was made to stand up to the wetness and stickiness of the hodge podge medium. It had a mind of it's own and bubbled up and tore in a few spots, but I decided to continue and see what would happen. Figured it I messed it up too bad, I could hopefully either start over or just give up and call this little makeover project a loss.

Then once that was mostly dried, I added the 5x7 photo that I had printed out on heavy card stock paper.

It's definitely far from being perfect and has more than a few rough spots, but I have to say that overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. It's better than what I started with so that's a definite plus in my eye.

I'm definately going to have to practice some more on this decoupaging before I'll consider myself an expert at it, but it was a fun little makeover project and gave me something to do this holiday weekend without spending any money and using things I already had on hand.

I hope you are all enjoying this long holiday weekend yourself and that maybe you're finding a few little makeover projects to do as well.

Tiny Treasures..........

When you're a girl like me living on a fairly tight budget, but still can't stay out of the antique shops or give up on your quest to hunt down some new little treasures, you must learn to shop within your means and hunt up little treasures that won't leave too big of a hole in the wallet.

That's why, whenever I've felt the need to do some treasure hunting, but knew I didn't have much money to spend at the time, I could still enjoy my favorite past time and browse the antique shops looking for just small little items that may only cost a few dollars a piece.

Besides my extensive and ever growing collection of vintage crocheted potholders that can usually be found for anywhere around $3.00 to $5.00 each, I also love to collect pretty vintage and maybe not so vintage postcards and calling cards.

The colors and graphics can be so amazing at times.

Finding these pretty little treasures at very little cost allows me to still satisfy my craving for treasure hunting without breaking the bank.

Tucked in a little wicker basket and set on my coffee table, I can reach for the basket at anytime and sift through all the pretty cards inside.

What little treasures do you keep within easy reach that you can sit and admire each day?

Embellished Beauties....

This past weekend found me in a lovely little shop called "The Wren's Nest" located in Anoka, Minnesota. Anoka is a suburb of Minneapolis and is only about 10 minutes from where I live.

The shop is only open on Friday's and Saturday's, except for the second weekend of each month when they are also open on Thursday's and Sunday's as well.

I had no luck finding any goodies in the antique shops I had visited prior to stopping at this specialty shop, but as soon as I stepped in, I felt my disappointment melt away and I realized immediately that I had unknowingly saved the best shop for last.

It was a girly girls paradise. The shop is by no means large in size, but it was filled with all sorts of treasures, both old and new, including some handmade items, antiques, china, home decor and clothing.

I could have spent a fortune in this store, but I restrained myself and only purchased four lovely embellished gift card and tag sets. I've seen similar ones in different Etsy shops and on websites here and there, and I am happy to have found these.

Just look at how pretty they are all blinged out with glitter and embellishments.

They were bit pricey, but not overly so. No more so than what I've seen them going for on different Etsy websites and I know it must have taken the creator of these cards and tags quite some time to make.

And, I justified my purchases knowing that I would be keeping these for myself to use for display purposes and not for passing them on with a gift as they were intended to be. They are just too pretty to give away.

The shop also as an amazing collection of jewelry pieces that looked to be vintage jewelry pieces re-purposed into new designs. I'm definitely going to have to look closer at the jewelry the next time I visit this shop.

Until then, I'm going to enjoy my lovely purchases and even use them as inspiration for some tags I hope to create myself someday. Seeing these close up and all the details will sure help on that part.

I know you all would just love this little shop and I wish I could take you all with me the next time I visit.