country living valentine upcycle

if you are not familiar with country living magazine, i suggest you hop on over to barnes and noble and get yourself a copy.

if you are not familiar with upcycling, it is just this:

"The practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value"

i love upcycling!

this is an easy and fun upcycling project.
we all see the paint strips in home improvement stores. 

                                        

there are a plethora of colors and they are free!

pick yourself up a few at walmart today!!

grab some in the reds and pinks

                                 

and you can create this:

          

add some unique letter stamps in black and you've got yourself some great valentines!

go on country living's website and check out some other great ideas!

http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/valentine-day-crafts-cards#fbIndex3

happy country living crafting!

vintage valentine decals

another great internet find:

these look like images from the 1950's and can easily be printed for make several decorations for individual valentines.

i found them here:

http://carlahoag.wordpress.com/category/crafts-paper/page/2/

happy crafting!

name brand bag

i had to share this find!

i had to take my car to the local tire place, which happens to be next to a nail salon (got my nails did!)  and also a goodwill.

i had time to kill, so i perused the aisles with no intent to buy.  just wanted to have something to do instead of sit and stare at tires!

i went through the books first.  they always have a ton of good titles there.

just so happens that the purses are hanging directly to the right of the bookshelves, and i almost passed them by.

glad i didn't.

i saw this doozie peeking from the back of the rack, hiding there.

let me preface this by telling you, that usually, the "brand name" items are displayed in glass cases at the front of local goodwills. this is definitely one of goodwill's greatest money making ideas:

auctioning the high end items off, so they are able to make even more money on them.  every saturday morning there is some great stuff being auctioned off!

brilliant!

i usually don't attend the auctions, mainly because they are on saturday mornings, and as you know, my saturdays are filled with sports. 

but i pulled one over on goodwill yesterday! 

this name brand bag must have slipped through the cracks.

it has the greatest black and beige plaid pattern.



here is a close up of the basket weave.



and i loved the pattern before i even knew the brand. 

but the brand name was the bonus!

it was on both of the black leather straps.  and if i had any doubt....

the name was stamped boldly on the inside pocket!

such a great find and the price was truly right! 

wait for it.......

$5.99!!!!

for a cole haan purse!!

so if you think you can't find a great name for a great price, then you just haven't been looking!

stop by your local thrift store or goodwill and see whats waiting for you!

happy shopping!

valentine book mark

again with more vintage........

these are the perfect valentine images for an impressive bookmark.

i found it on yet another great website:

http://www.juniorsociety.com/2010/02/02/vintage-valentines-food/

make one for your book club, your kids, or heck, even for yourself!

this would be perfect, paired with the treat box from yesterday's post!

click and print!

happy vintage valentine crafting!

vintage valentine cuties

i love valentine's day.

i love vintage.

i love crafting.

ok, enough already.

here is a cute website for darling kid's crafts:

http://www.craftjr.com/

i found this vintage valentine box there.

it is a template with wonderful valentine images on them. 

i plan on handing them out to my son's third grade class on valentines day.

go on this amazing website for the printable and make some of your own!!

http://www.craftjr.com/valentine-treat-bags/vintage-valentine-treat-bag/

happy crafting!!

rainbow

in a world full of chaos, sometimes its nice to just appreciate the simple things.

like rainbows.

i don't see them often, but when i do, i want to share them.

i think this is probably one of the best ideas i have ever seen with cake.

i found it on http://www.marthastewart.com/

of course she found a new way to see a rainbow.

now thats talent...........
                                                   

nothing to do

i have a question for you.

if you have nothing to do, how do you know when you are done?

do you cross it off a list?

i will never know this dilemna...............

funny money

when i was a kid, whenever we played board games, my nana used to call the fake money, "funny money"

i always thought it was funny.  no pun intended. 

i found some darling funny money.

i have posted before about this website/blog. 

http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

for exact printables of the below items, please visit her site.

they are love coupons, just in time for valentines day:

they are vintage currency from the "bank of true love".  good luck getting cash back on these!  they come in the above vintage sepia.

or a pale pink for valentines, if you are into that sort of thing.



and if you really want to wow your sweetheart, throw out a few in this bright carnation pink!

such cute "funny money" to give out on valentines.  wouldn't nana be pleased?

go on graphics fairy and print off a book of these to give to your darlings!!!

more valentine ideas to come.......

vintage handkerchiefs

my next obsession:

vintage handkerchiefs.  i have always loved them.  dishtowels, handkerchiefs, aprons.  i love them all.

but i especially love how you spell handkerchiefs, as opposed to saying it.

try it.  spelling first:

hand  ker  chiefs

now say it:

hank  r  chiffs

just funny, the english language.  no wonder its so hard for people to master it.  

i digress.

i found some cute handkerchiefs on a darling website i thought i would share:

http://www.lins-antiques.com/

they are definitely not for blowing your nose!

more of the frameable type.

i especially love the state handkerchiefs.

                                

oklahoma is OK!

and check out this sooner state version:

                                

there's tons of states there.  and in a bevy of colors.

here's texas:

                              

but they don't just have handkerchiefs on this site.  there are christmas decorations (my fave), jewelry, household items, etc.

you can order online and they are in kentucky.

here are a few more states:

                                
                                
                               
                                
                                

go check out this super cute website!

and if you know any other great sites for hanky's, let this ole southern gal know!

happy martin luther king jr day

for most people, holidays are good and bad.  they are really an oxymoron and can be somewhat bittersweet.

some people see this day as the final day of a long weekend with rowdy children and what will they do with them today?  this picture seem familiar?

others see it as a day where all the weekend trash piles up in the bin waiting for the next trash day, only it won't be today, because its a holiday.  rats!


still others see it as the day they rush to the mailbox to see if their long awaited package has arrived, only to be shunned by the postman, since he is off today.  remember, its a holiday.

but martin luther king jr day really is more than a holiday.   its a remembrance of a crazy but important time, and if you get a chance to go on the history channel at any time today, you can really buff up on your civil rights knowledge.

go online and read the "i have a dream speech" and see some of the vintage photos.

i think everyone should know about it.  and even if you think you know about it, you probably don't know as much as you should.

we will be watching at least one documentary on it today.

and thats all the politics i will talk about........

peace out.....

what my hair looks like now

ok, so originally, i was a blonde.

well, not really ORIGINALLY.  unless, you are counting, when i was a kid.

when i say "originally", i actually mean, the color my hair has been the longest.

so, originally, i was a blonde. 

then, back in october, i got crazy, and went for some sort of reddish/brown shade.  it was much darker than i actually wanted.  but i liked it.

then, the inevitable happened.

if you have ever had red color infused in your hair, then you know too that it fades.

usually, one would frown on this type of behavior.

but i didn't.  i actually like it. 

here is what it looks like now.

its kind of red, still, with blonde highlights.  i guess one would call that "strawberry blonde".

i like it.

let me know what you think.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

whew!!  i have been busy!!

i have not had a moment to breathe.  school is back in full swing after 17 days off.

i always have called january my "clean up" month.  once all the christmas decorations have been put away, and all the children are back in school, it is easy to see what needs to be done around the house.

having said that, i still just want to create things!    and valentines day is just around the corner.

i have a wonderful project i am going to post soon, having to do with valentines day, but before i get to valentines day, i wanted to post come precious images to celebrate all that wonderful snow that is going round town!!



is this the cutest thing?   i love the knickers! 


                             

and this darling image from an old children's book.  i love how they say "mama" and "papa"

                                   

and i love this old postcard.  just remembering all the times i made a snowman warms the cockles of my heart.....
  
                          

and how bout this creepy one??  who hasn't always thought what would happen if a snowman came to life?  i think i actually thought he might be a little more like frosty, but this poor little girl, got the boozer snowman.  how cheeky!

no matter what condition the snow has left your city in, make some lists of some cute crafts you want to make.  and keep checking in, as i will be adding a ton of great projects for everyone to make with things around the house.  you just need a computer, a printer and some everyday items.

happy new year and lets get ready to craft!!

heidi

happy new years!!!!

 i know, i know, christmas is over!!  but i just loved this vintage wrapping paper collage and had to share it!

cut and paste it onto a word doc and print it off. 

it will make you very happy!

happy new years, ya'll!!

heidi