Goodwill Hunting!

No, not the movie, silly! The store. I LOVE thrift stores. Like big red puffy heart LOVE them. I just get so excited looking at the new (old) stuff that comes in daily, and I love looking for hidden treasures on the shelves. Luckily, Husband supports this, and also looks forward to thrifting. In fact, I'm pretty sure we've been 7 times to 4 different stores within 5 days. Anyhow, here are some of the goodies I've found:

Old Shabby Shutter. I've been looking for some old shutters ever since I saw someone display Christmas cards in the slats. Well, I finally found one! Two, actually, but the other was beat up pretty bad, and beyond repair. It was less than $2, and now I just need to figure out what color I want to paint it.

Antique Blue Ball Jar with Lid. I love all jars, but blue ones in particular. The rubber gasket fell off, but I think I can fit it back on. SIDE NOTE! Did you know you can take the annoying wax pencil price marks off of glass with mayonnaise? Before washing, just put a little blob on, let sit a minute, and wipe off. Ta da!

Mail sorter with 236 year old sticker I scraped off. Its ugly, but it was $1 so I don't mind. A little paint will spruce this baby up.

Have you found any good treasures at the thrift store lately?

Linking up here:

I am... POOPED!

As in tired. Sleepy. Exhausted.

I started a new job this week (so thankful and glad of that), but I am not having an easy time adjusting to my schedule.

While training, I'll be on 1st shift (NOT a morning person--yet), and then eventually move to 3rd shift (those hours are more like my schedule!).

I was actually too exhausted every evening to even make anything, which is not like me.

I don't post everyday, but I can usually do something once a week.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some stuff done this weekend and this upcoming week.

I have a lot of ideas, so I'm hoping I'll get to all of them!

I have been working on cleaning my craft room (it should be quarantined), which is taking FOR. EV. ER. but I'm being thorough and actually throwing out and donating a lot, so I guess it will be worth it in the end. :o) And, I've taken both before and in-progress pictures (not sure if I'll show them yet or not.... trust me-- it's BAD!) and will also take after pictures.

I know it'll be a lot easier to work in once it's organized.

Besides, I'm itchin' to use my Silhouette, and I promised myself I couldn't even open it until I had a clean room-- and I've been good so far.

I'm hoping to relax and catch up on some sleep this weekend, and I'm excited because I get to visit with some good friends from college tomorrow for a game night!

It's been almost a year since I've been able to see them because they lived in Iowa. Now they're back in Ohio, so all is well! :)

Have a good weekend, and stay tuned for some projects next week!

My Favorite Fruit Dip!

I love summer time and cook-outs and get-togethers it brings! This was the 2nd weekend in a row that we've attended one, and this time I'm brought a fruit platter instead of a fattening dessert. To go along with the fruit, I whipped up this super easy fruit dip! I love this dip-- my mom used to make it since I can remember, and it tastes great with apples, grapes, and strawberries (and off the spoon...).
To make it, you'll need:

• 1 {8 oz.} pkg. cream cheese, softened (I use Neufchâtel, or the less fat kind)
• 1 {7 oz.} jar of marshmallow cream
• 2 t. vanilla (or you can use other flavorings or extracts if you prefer)

     

That's it! Three easy ingredients! Beat the cream cheese and the marshmallow cream together until combined. Add vanilla and beat together. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Eat with apples, strawberries, grapes, graham crackers, or a spoon! Yum!!!

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It's Here!!!

In April, I entered a giveaway to win a Silhouette SD machine from
A Bowl Full of Lemons.

I've never won anything in my life. And, I was merely 1 entry in a sea of 2600. She has an amazing blog, and many followers. Plus, I was brand spankin' new to the blogosphere, and it was my first giveaway.

BUT I WON! I won. Little ol' me! I could not believe it! I screamed when I read the email, and I think I scared the husband! :)

Well, it finally came today! I'm so excited to use it and make all the wonderful projects I've seen in blogland...

...but, I have to clean my craft room first. :(

Lucky Duck!

Today I was making cookies for a cook-out we are attending with friends this evening. I asked husband to take out the trash for me, so he gathered it up and took it out. He came back a few minutes later and asked if we had any bread because there was a baby bird trapped behind the dumpster. We both go back outside and find a baby duck-- like seriously couldn't been more than a week old! I love ducks-- I feed them our stale bread every time they come by our apartment and John just rolls his eyes at me, but I can't help it. We put socks on our hands (we didn't have gloves!) and took our cat carrier out to put the baby in to carry him down to the pond. It took some persuading, but we finally coaxed him out onto the grass.

He wandered into the pond and was reunited with his mom and siblings! Ah-- the cuteness is killing me!

You can bet your sweet bippy that whenever we own a house we will be having a pond with ducks!



ABC Gum Magnets

The other day I was shopping, and I saw a wad of chewing gum stuck to the side of the wall.

First of all, gross. Swallow it.

As I was staring at the chewed up germy gum with disgust, I had a eureka moment!

May I introduce................. chewing gum magnets!

They were super easy to make, too. And I had everything I needed already (love that!).

Here's what you'll need:

• polymer clay (I used a mixture of dark pink and a cream color to get the color above)
• strong magnet
• clay glaze (I used gloss, so it looks all spit-filled and gross)
• paint brush for glaze
• card stock or index card to bake the clay on and a GLASS pan to bake it in (not pictured)

After working with the clay to soften it up, form it into a ball approximately ¾" in width. Now, for this part, you SHOULD probably make a mold from a real chewed piece of gum.

OR............... you could just do what I did (thankfully, Mom doesn't read my blog) and actually chew up the clay. I didn't put the whole thing in my mouth-- just pressed my teeth into it here and there.

Next, I added a strong magnet to the back. Since I wanted it to actually look like gum was holding up my pictures, I didn't want to just glue the magnet on.

I placed another piece of clay over the magnet and smooshed (it's a technical term) the seams together.

Placed the "gum" on card stock, and then onto a glass baking pan (DO NOT USE METAL--- the magnet will stick and pull out of the clay!).

Bake for 15 minutes at 265 degrees, and glaze when cooled. Put on fridge and gross husband out!

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