Tuesday, October 23, 2012

...from Sea to Shiny Brite 'C'ing!

This past weekend was the 'infamous' PUMPKIN CARVIN' (27th annual for 'the crew') !!!!
J chose to practice his photography skills while I was 'playing' @ cleaning!  cool effect though...



 Of course in prep, there was the standard Cleaning, rearranging, Halloween decorating... oh, and breakage!
NOT TO FEAR! NO HAEGER WAS HARMED - YEH!!!!!!  This week we have moved onto glass.
My 'ALL HALLOWS EVE' decorating went a little more 'literal' this year, and the 'cutesy' decos were left boxed up. I'm doing a NOD to All Saints' Day /Day of The Dead and anything 'SPIRITUAL'...
Friday... I was scheduled to meet up with one of the members of 'The Crew' (pre-carving), on her way into town so we could do a little 'STUFFING', and a little 'SEA GLASSING' 8-) !!
New in package prize ribbon, Retro scarf (how could I resist that pattern?), Mini bowling pin, Bakelite Handled chrome sugar/creamer, retro Trick-Treat bags - TOTAL $2.19
VERA 2012 #17 .25¢


Ahhh... SEAGLASS, or rather 'LAKE'glass (with that single Cougar picking up more than glass! ;)
**Beach conversation**
L: 'So what anniversary is this?'
S: 'Depends on "what" you are talking about.  11, 27 or 14.'

 Time to get home and get down to BUSINESS!!
*While carving... continuation of beach conversation...*
S to L: 'Did you figure out the anniversaries 11, 27, 14? '
J: '11 is OUR anniversary'
A:'Is 27 the number of years we've been carving pumpkins?'
S:'Yes, and 14 is MY accident.'

 Saturday morning we added a 'new twist' to Pumpkin Carving weekend... 'Crafting'!  L had a desire to attempt the ever-popular ornament wreaths she had be seeing and hearing about, and I had a multitude of supplies in the studio, so....
When the 'arsenal' of glue guns and Shiny Brites came out 'the weak of heart' departed for the safety of their own homes and the golf course!

L's BEAUTIFUL gold/red LARGE wreath.  J came home and dubbed it the "MACY's" wreath!  Guess that says it all ~ not bad for a first attempt... huh?! (brat!)  If only J had taken this photo so that it came out CLEAR!! (must have been the hot glue burns on my fingers)

L was really on a roll, so she did a second, 'FALL~WINE wreath' for the member of the crew that went AWOL when 'the guns' came out, it's to be an early XMAS present, and now I have ruined the surprise by putting this photo on my blog - but I couldn't help myself.  She is awesome!!

What was S doing while L was working her magic?  Attempting her FIRST lightbulb 'thing'.  Bah.  NOT impressed.  We'll just leave it at that.

Maybe as a surround for a vase?
OR
Maybe it will just go in the discard pile with my failed 'Canning Jar Lid' Wreath...
 I CAN'T leave you with THAT image!!
SO,
Back to our CURRENT SEASON 8-)

 
HOPE YOU ARE ALL ENJOYING OCTOBER TO IT'S FULLEST!!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

...always be prepared!

Friday morning I had NO INTENTION of going SALING (honest!!).  There was Lots that needed to be done at the store, and I was headed in early (7:30am), prepared for a l-o-n-g day.  BUT, what should I see when I was 10 minutes away from work?
A 'little sign', on a side road, as I detoured around construction work, ESTATE SALE FRI & SAT 9-2
 
Soooo....  I kept driving to work...  and I worked for an hour..., then F.I.N.A.L.L.Y., I could stand it NO Longer!  I explained the situation to my boss.  He told me I had better hurry, or I would miss all the good stuff!
 
I got there, and there were only 2 cars... no lines??
Did I have the right house? Right day? Right time?
Yes.  I went in.  I was the only customer there!!  They had done NO ADVERTISING!  Actually, they had done Very Little.  Parents house.  Kids came in and took what they wanted, donated the clothes to the local thrift, stacked the boxes from the crawlspace storage in the two bedrooms, then they put out SALE SIGNS and opened the doors.  No real organization. No prices.  Half the boxes had never been opened.  Kinda creepy.
 
I found a corner that had 'Holiday Boxes'... HALLOWEEN... I broke the ancient duct tape seal - Junk (bummer!), EASTER... pealed back the old duct tape, again - Junk (bummer!), onto the stack of CHRISTMAS boxes.  Now mind you, I'm still all.by.myself at this 'estate sale'.  Upstairs, in a corner bedroom,  just digging through dead peoples stuff... Really, almost wishing other customers would show up and hoping that the couple holding the sale aren't ax-murderers or something... but I've got more important things on my mind, like sealed Xmas boxes (like 'candy' to small children??).  After opening several more DUD CHRISTMAS boxes I open one that looks like it might have some okay stuff in it (I pulled out some mid-century plastic ornies...), rather than digging through to the bottom, I just grab the box and decide to 'get out of Dodge' while I can! 
 Last night, in the comfort and security of MY HOME, I unpack the contents of 'The' Christmas box...
 There was some of the usual 'junk'.  Some already in the garbage.  Others destined for donation.
And there are some funny little picks - not spun-heads, but along that line, with chenille limbs.  Destined for the ETSY shop.

 OH! and a set of 4 of those GREAT little Birdcage spinner ornaments!  I had to get those on Ebay quick before I got attached to them!! 
and handpainted Poland oversized Balls, and 1920's bells, and indents, and a few 'distressed' ones that I won't mind sacrificing to future wreaths, and atomic plastics, and, and - 51 keepers overall!!  ((sigh))

As well as the box of Christmas, I also purchased a large tote of crochet/hankies from the estate sale.  When I asked them how much for the two, they himmed and hawwed and we settled on $10.  They wanted to get rid of things - and obviously there weren't a LOT of customers!!  I haven't gone through the linen tote yet.  That is for another day 8-)

I guess you just have to be prepared to adjust your plans when an ESTATE SALE sign gets thrown in your path!!

Monday, October 8, 2012

...'tis the season!

Let the Hallowed decorating begin!

... throw in a few Fall Craft Festivals with Church Rummage Sales to really get you into the SPIRIT, and Life is Good 8-)!
Sweater Clips 2012 #15 & #16 (.50¢ each)

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

...SUCCESS!

It's SOOO nice when things ACTUALLY go as  Imagined!
 Case #1: THIS PIZZA! Attempted from a wonderful 'WE CAN DO THAT MEMORY' (come on, you know what I'm talking about!!).  White, fresh Basil leaf, garlic, meat, and fresh tomato 'replica' of a heavenly late nite 'pie' we had in NH a couple of weekends ago.  Turned out tasting as WONDERFUL as it looks!!!!

 Case #2: Recent attempt at DRILLING some of my beloved seaglass to create some different types of pendants.  IT WORKED!!  (and the 'learning curve' was minimal - only a couple were broken in the process!)
...since we had the father-inlaws drill-press all set up, and we were in the groove ~ no point in only one or two... right?!

...now I'm in the process of trying various different looks with cords, chains, etc... (all from sale finds - of course!!)

Then, onto the next project...
hmmmmm...