Package Pals–from C.R.A.F.T

I am participating in a craft exchange, hosted by Jami at C.R.A.F.T.  A girl after my own heart, she likes to create things for free :)

My package pal is a young woman that lives on the beautiful island of Victoria in British Columbia. She is a math wiz and teaches school.

I put together this lined, burlap tote, with some burlap flowers, which she can use for her lunch or shoes or whatever.

She told me that she loves giraffes, so I cut out a bunch for her to use and put together some gift tags for her as well. I also included some butterfly cut outs that I made from paint chips.

I have a bunch of scrabble tiles and I thought it would be cute to put them on a bracelet with her name, if she is not a bracelet kind of gal, she can take them off and use them somewhere else.

 

This week I received my package pals package from Lisa!  Oh my goodness, this girl put me to shame!  She wrote me the sweetest letter, and I wrote her a tag that said “enjoy!”.  I’m glad to see that young people are more courteous than my ol’ butt. LOL

Lisa sent me such thoughtful things. Some fantastic and funky papers, some photo mount strips, a gold pen, two pop-up cards that she made herself and HAND WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS to make my own!  How incredibly thoughtful of her. There are also some paper flowers and a small canvas with acrylic paints; apparently I forgot to tell Lisa in my introduction, that I have zilch ability when it comes to painting or drawing Ha ha .

Thank you to Lisa and again to Jamie for allowing me to participate in this fun exchange.

Painted bamboo étagère's

I finally had some nice weather today to finish spraying the two étagère's that I bought a couple of weeks ago.
I love how they turned out and I will now have some fun playing around with the display.  I gathered some things from my old bookcase and weeded out others.

Here is a before

Sarah Richardson used a very similar one to mine, in season 4 of Sarah's house. Her price $225 for one, my price $70 for two!  And we live in the same shopping market.

After I took the photos, I realized that the hippo looks like he is taking a bite out of the bamboo :)

Sharing here:

Junkin Junky

Suzani embroidered cushions–a splurge

I don’t often shop retail; what I don’t find at thrift stores, I will come up with a way to make it myself. But, every once in a while I find something so fabulous that I must have it. Today I decided to treat myself to two new cushion covers (pillow covers, tomato – tomato, potato – potato, you know what I mean).

They were on sale though and well worth the $44 I spent for both.

I have used green as an accent colour in my home for a long time. I’m always drawn to it’s vibrancy, varying shades and earthy feel.

I found this artificial cat grass planter last week. A pop of green is always fresh.

It’s still a little chilly around here, and there was snow earlier this week. My plants are coming up very slowly, but it won’t be long before I can see my hostas again, my favourite plant.  This chocolate something or other is so pretty and only blooms in the spring. I’m not a gardener so I have no idea what the names of plants are, but I do remember that this had the word “chocolate” in it’s name, ha ha.

Have a wonderful weekend friends.

Baby shower gift

I am going to a baby shower this coming Sunday for a cousin, twice removed, that I’ve never met. She is registered but I’m not a registry kind of gal. Instead I made her something, that I think will be more meaningful.


She knows she is having a girl, hence the pink :)  The wood is 16” x 16” and the white frame is 5” x 7”.
I have never made one of these before and I learned some lessons along the way.

1st lesson, don’t buy laminated wood.  When I drilled the holes to cut out the hole for the frame, the veneer splintered to bits. Next time I will buy solid wood.



2nd lesson, buy solid wood, then I won’t have to iron on banding, saving me a whole lot of sanding.

And the 3rd and final lesson is to pay attention to the directions on the bottle of gorilla glue. It really does expand 3 to 4 times it’s size.

The opening of the frame is 4” x 5” where she will be able to put a picture of her baby. After the baby is born, I will personalize it with her name and date of birth at the bottom.


Linking at the following parties:

Pagoda style bamboo etagere–score!

Recently a new Habitat for Humanity store opened in my city. I popped in after work yesterday and found these beauts!
I didn’t buy them. Then I worried all night that I should have bought them and they would be gone for sure the next day, because that’s the kind of luck I have.  Uh, uh, they were there when I went in after work today.  Of course I called earlier in the day and asked them to hold them for me.

yep, two of them.

They have their glass shelves intact (not shown) and are sturdy.  One of the legs has a slight blemish, but I’m ok with imperfection.

When I first saw them, I was a little put off by all of the detail on the sides, but once I took a closer look, I love it.

and the pagoda top is just gorgeous.

So, now to the price.  They reduced the damaged one by $10, so it was $29.99 and the other one was $39.99, and NO TAXES :)

They are going to get a good cleaning and will be sprayed in a glossy white.  I can’t wait to get started. Woo Hoo!

Recent Junkin’ finds and an amazing present

Most Fridays, my local Goodwill has a 50% off sale. I don’t often go because the people are cah ray Z!!!  For a week now, I have had my eye on a ceramic planter that I really, really wanted, but it was $6.06 and I’m much too cheap to pay that much. I waited until Friday to go to the GW after work; I’m telling you, I was on pins and needles all day. I walked in, and there it was!

A big ol’ fat hippo planter. Love it!  Well worth the wait and the $3.03 I paid. I think you will agree

Just look at that cute butt :)

I have no patience for plants. Even succulents die under my care.  I found this rubber succulent in a bamboo planter for $2.02, so I scooped it up.

I received the most amazing gift this past week. 

This is my friend Sue.

She is a great gal and learned to knit as a child in England. She made me this cable knit throw!  I am envious of her amazing talent, a true lost art form.  How beautiful.

 

I hope you are all having a great weekend.

Sharing my Junkin' finds at

Home made gifts and other ramblings

There are so many birthdays amongst my family and friends in April; my mum, my daughter, two of my sisters, my sister-in-law, two friends.

Buying gifts for everyone is out of the question, but when I have time, I like to make home made gifts.

A friend mentioned to me that she would love to have one of the coffee sack pillows I make, so I made her two, and a monogrammed burlap tote bag.

This friend is a potato fiend. She loves them prepared every way you can imagine, especially french fries.  Recently my daughter has created a new series of drawings that she named “Potato Problems”. I had to beg her to make me a couple of cards, since they are so cute.

                           

Another friend is hosting Good Friday dinner tonight. She ordered some signs for Mothers Day, so as a thank you for the invite I made her signs early, as a gift.

And every once in a while, I am blessed enough to get something for free.  I will be picking up this entertainment unit tonight from Kijiji (a Canadian version of Craigslist)

I have some thoughts on what I will do with it, which will definitely involve paint and adding two bookcases, one on each side.