Our Annual Smith Spooktacular is tomorrow evening, and here are the trophies for the Costume contest. The $1 store is my best friend lately with the Smith household budget cuts, but that doesn't mean we still can't have spectacular trophies!!!
The "VIP" award will go to the person who is the Best Party Participator. I know that I will have a tough decision to make tomorrow evening if it is anything like all the past years of Halloween madness...
Keep in touch!
The drawing will take place that afternoon at 4:30. You do not have to be present to win. I will also be painting a demo. in front of the gallery and schlepping my prints and greeting cards from 10am to 5pm. I think it will be a fun day for the family to see all those cool cars and cool art. Maybe I'll see you there?!
The girls brought this stash home from SAS the other day. These bolts of elastic were each $1 and they could not pass by the bargain. They are using "some" of it to make hair bands for the little girls in the family. Of course, there is only one place to store it.... my studio. I can't complain, I would have taken advantage of this deal too. Once again, "Fruit doesn't Fall Far from the Tree"
After completing that task, we then camped outside of the Old Navy store. We were just a few people behind when the last free Wi games were handed out. bummer....
Then we drove to the Walmart by Anthem. I stood in the toy aisle for 45 minutes ready to grab the assigned merchandise that I was instructed to get. The stacks literally flew down to nothing in 2 minutes. It was getting "uglier". Then I went to stand in line to pay for all these great buys and when I let two of my daughters in with me, (I was already pushing two carts full of their stuff) when the people behind me started calling me the "B" word.)
Well, you know how it is: shopping can be sometimes fun or frustrating. Yesterday it was FABULOUS! After my doctor appointment and waiting for my car's oil change, I thought I would visit a few of my old favorites in my old side of town. My first stop: Nordstroms Rack. I got these wonderful Naughty Monkey shoes for $29. I looked up the designer on the Internet and now this brand is my new favorite! I love, love, love them, and they are comfortable too! (not to mention that the price was a quarter of what they are selling them for online.)
Then, I took some of my better cast off clothes that my girls wouldn't be caught dead in to A Second Look. It has been two years since I have traded clothes there and they still had a $86 check waiting for me! I got these never used Etienne Aigner boot/shoes for $8.95!
And I could not pass these Wild Rose tweed boots up (also never used) for $12.95! I think they might look great with this blouse and blazer below. The teals are slightly off but with jeans or a skirt in between I think it might work. I will of course have to consult with my fashionita daughters for a go ahead.
Now back to real life and cleaning the kitchen... but thanks for letting me brag-share!
This week I have been sewing like a wild woman. When I set up my machine, I try to get a lot of projects done, as even though I have a "sewing room", there is really no room to sew in it. It is really a quest room where I store all my sewing stuff. I still sew in the kitchen like I used to at the other house. Anyway, I have wanted to line my basket to hold treasures found at Swap Meets for a long time, and now was the time to do it!
I used left over material from the bedding I made for our quest room. The cover is from a remnant from the curtains I made out of these wonderful tablecloths that I got for 90% off last year at Bed,Bath and Beyond. The table cloths where 120" long and the fabric is really nice. They worked out perfectly.
I used more tablecloth remnant to make this pocket to hold a memo pad and pencils, my notebook of measurements of my home's windows, rooms,etc. and of course the ever useful tape measure when I am on the hunt. Boy, I never would have imagined how useful the math skills that I learned in school would be in all the artsy/crafty things that you do in life. Yeah for math and remnants!!!
I bought this bench at the used hotel furniture store. I think they said it was from the "Princess" in Las Vegas. (I also bought 2 upholstered chairs and a footstool from the same "collection").
So, here it is! I think it turned out nicely.
and, my friend Stacy, gave me this FABULOUS apron Saturday as a thank you gift for some invitations I made for her baby shower. I LOVE it! It is exactly my style!!!! Now, do I send her a thank you for the thank you?! This is when it starts getting confusing to me...
After a long day in the very HOT sun (we were there the one day a heat wave came through), anyway we started making a pile by the exit where the babies could have some shade. I'm so excited about this vanity!
Here are my girls starting to load up two sets of old lockers, an old two piece oak filing cabinet, a very cool birdcage, the bottom half of a mannequin, a crib for Kelli's new baby due in July, a rocker for baby Carma, and a ton of "good crap" that we couldn't resist.
another shot of our stuff....
Kelli watched the babies in the shade.
and we are all ready to go home. That old army trailer we have is the best! It pulls great and the back gate can be hung like a table for cooking when we go camping. I'm thinking of painting it red and painting "Red Rider" on it like the Howe family did. I'm getting tired of the "giraffe" spots that were supposed to be leopard spots that I painted 15 years ago. This weekend was a FABULOUS girls trip for my daughters and I. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!!!
Last week I went to some of my favorite "Antique" Stores. I quote the word "Antique" because there are really only a few actual antiques but there is a TON of good "old" stuff. A vendor was going out of business and I happened on her area. There were two piles, one said "Everything $1" and the other pile "Everything $2". One of these crates was in the $1 pile and one was in the $2 pile.(?) I grabbed both and started making my own pile by the cash register. Needless to say, I felt a need to help this vendor get rid of some of their good "old" stuff. I think I'll keep the picnic basket in my kitchen's sitting area to house any projects that are bulky and need more time to create than one sitting. And aren't those big cards great! Gotta LOVE those "Antique" stores!
Yesterday, I went to Dillards with my girls for their bi-annual Shoe clearance. Twice a year the store discounts their out of season shoes 75%. Then a little while after that they take of more and more %'s. I got 4 pair of shoes for $49 as Dillards was taking another 30% off!
As I was organizing my fun "china" a decided to put a few of my bird pieces together...
It's funny to see that both sets of salt and pepper shakers look to be the same age, but when you turn them over, you can see that the set on the left is old and the set on the right is new. (cork vs plastic)... that's all.
All morning I have been cleaning and re-organizing. I am still not totally unpacked from our move into this house in June 07... So anyway, My oldest daughter is having a very small, but elegant "birthday tea party" at my house this Saturday for her 3 year old daughter. I am setting it up and of course she is bringing the food. Well, I have been collecting new and old china to use while entertaining. As I was unpacking these items and I had forgotten that I had stuffed these darlings in one of the boxes the day I had bought them at a thrift store in the "get ready to move crazyness". I love finding things like that, it's like Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Yea! all together without expecting it!
My brother gave me this FABULOUS photo album for Christmas this year. He originally bought it at a thrift store for a "White Elephant" gift exchange. After looking at it for a while, he realized that I would want this wonderful piece of kitsch. I'M SOOOOO GLAD HE DID!
Can you fellow artsy/glitter/grunge girls believe that this album would be a JOKE gift ?!!!!!! I absolutely LOVE it! I treasure it among my MOST FABULOUS POSSESIONS EVER! I quess it is true, Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder.........thanks David!!!!
Don't you just LOVE Target's $1 bins ?!!! They have the BEST stuff for decorating and small little gifts and object lesson goodies. I made this "LOVE" banner entirely with TARGET $1 bin merchandise. I bought 2 packages of paper (I wouldn't have needed both, but I messed up my measurements at first, no worries, those pieces of paper can still be used by my grand kids to make valentines). I bought 1 "LOVE" garland and took the ribbon off and cut it up to attach after I made each triangle. Oh, and I also bought 1 package of matching brads and 1 package of matching ribbon. I also have plenty of brads and ribbon left. One of these days, when I have more time, it would be fun to see how many things you could make with a few $1 scrap booking items. So BRAVO! TARGET, for seeing a need and making affordable fun items available for all our your patrons.
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