Friday Goodies

I have been spoiled lately by some new found blogging friends. A couple days ago I received a package from Sarah. I won a drawing on her blog in celebration of her first Etsy sale. Congrats again Sarah and thank you!! Pictured above are the fabulous goodies she sent. Love those vintage sheets!!

Yesterday I received my swap package from Rebecca for Vallen's mounted ATC swap. She did not disappoint! I love her ATC and I love the way it was mounted!! I also received a preview of her latest invention - the adorable whimsy clips...zoom in so you can check them out. She is planning to list them in her Etsy shop soon!! So cute! I am just giddy with all the vintage buttons I've been getting! (My mom is soo jealous, I just know it!) The adorable feather pen has been mysteriously abducted by Sydney. The giggle when the feather tickles her is just too much. I can't bear to take it away from her! There was some amazing chocolate too...hmm where did that go? :)

Thanks again ladies. I am feeling very happy and spoiled today! Have a great weekend! I'm off to go hunt for bargains!

Picture Heavy Bargain Bost

A whole post of great deals and freebies...are you up for it? I've been having a ton of fun hitting the spring garage sales. This week was holy week for all the cheapos in Fargo! Its clean up week, which means you can throw away anything you want without getting charged extra. Fridges, lawn mowers, highchairs, you name it! Scavengers come from miles around to drive up and down the street and dig through other people's trash. As embarrassing as this obviously sounds, I had to join in! My friend Stacy and I packed up the little ones into my husband's truck yesterday and hit the streets. Here are my scores!!

(Don't you love that turquoise chair!! And the wooden one on the right folds up!)

(I plan to slipcover the stool and paint the ladder to hang blankets on.)

Also did pretty good at last week's sales. The highlights were these men's XXL Lands End cashmere sweaters for $3 each. (You may notice the bedspread underneath...$2!!). I also got this pile of fabric in a garbage bag for 50 cents!! I have most of it used up already - that project coming soon!

Charitable Bagging

I finished up these two purses which were part of my mass production last week. I had initially thought that I could get them done a lot faster by doing them all at once, but I'm not sure that was the case. I'm afraid they take just as long regardless. Plus, I get really bored doing the same step over and over again. These two will be donated to my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at church. We are having a Spring Tea next week and they needed gifts for door prizes. I hope they head off to a happy home!

My First ATC

I finished my first ATC for Vallen's Mountable ATC Swap. For once in my life I was ahead of the game and sent my package off early. My swap partner is Rebecca over at Thrifty Goodness, you should definitely check her blog out! Very cool stuff going on over there!

It took me a while to find some sort of inspiration for the ATC. The fabric from this bag was eventually what helped me. The mounting part was really fun! You may remember this frame in its former life fencing in a nasty old goose. It received the same treatment as this. The fabric covered tacks you may remember from here. The rest is just framed cork and shiny black paper I got from Mary Ann. Hope you enjoy it Rebecca!

Warning: Cute Kid Post!

Okay, you've been warned! If you continue this post you cannot be annoyed by me going on and on about my child!!

Sydney tried painting last week. I took her out to the backyard with some acrylics and old mat board and let her go wild! She had a great time and was really focused, as you can see!

Unfortunately it was extremely windy so we didn't get to stay out for very long. But she did complete 4 paintings, of which she is very proud. She tells everyone who sees them "me paint" pointing to herself and then the pictures. Pretty cute stuff.

In other cute news, I received this awesome box of goodies from my friend Ann-Margret. It came all the way from Canada and I love it all! Thanks again Ann!!

Spring has Arrived!

I spent the day outside yesterday working in the yard. I pulled all the dead stuff out of my garden and raked a ton of leaves. (I know, most people do those things in the fall. Oh well!) After all that work, I enjoyed my favorite (or at least one of my favorite) parts of spring - spray paint! Spray painting is just one of those things that you can not do around here in the winter. Trust me I've tried, it doesn't work. Its just too stinking cold. And sometimes, you just can't beat spray paint in a project! This was definitely one of those cases. We got a hand-me down set of little kid table and chairs from my sister. It was adorable, but filthy!

She had tried everything she could to clean it as had I. Everything. Bleach, Magic Eraser, everything. It has a wood grain texture in the plastic and it was just not coming clean. So it was begging for a coat of paint! I used Krylon spray paint that is specific for plastic. Its a little spendy (almost $4 a can) but well worth it. It worked like a dream. Here is our after shot!

Bright fire engine red! I love it! I think we will be taking our lunch outside from now on!

Busy, busy, busy

Trying my hand at a little mass production.