SUPER QUICK BOOK THONG/SEXY BOOK MARK TUTORIAL

UPDATE: AUGUST 20, 2009
I just had to join in this weeks fun with Kimba over at A Soft Place To Land. Click on the image below to go and find lots of fabulous DIY ideas:



Have you ever purchased a pair of dangle earrings and in a few years asked yourself,"what was I thinking"??? Well, I find such earrings at garage sales all the time and love to find ways to re-purpose them. Here's just one of my favorites:


The Book Thong: It's the SEXY BOOK MARK

Supplies needed:
waxed linen cord (10-14")--I buy mine at craft stores
old pair of dangle earrings
needle-nosed pliers



Step 1:
Using the pliers, remove the earwire from each earring.



Step 2:
Cut a section of the cord to your desired length, depending on if you intend to use it as a bookmark for a paperback or hardback. I usually just cut the cord at a length of 14" so it will work for most books. Thread the cord ends through the "eye hoop" at the top of each earring, pulling through about 1.5 inches.



Step 3:
Tie off each end of the cord, making sure the knot is located very close to the "eye hoop". Trim excess cord, close to the knot.




Step 4:
Open the book you are currently reading and mark your place!




Step 5: (Optional)
One year I decided to make several of these to give as gifts so I designed some cards for displaying them. I cut little slits at the top and threaded on the book thong.




You can make your own "dangles" by using beads, charms, etc. Just be creative!

DIVA TOTALLY PINK DOG COLLAR WITH BUTTON BOW

I just added these to my Etsy shop and am so happy with the way they look! Made with the Diva Dog in mind, everything is PINK, even the hardware (well, except for the nickel D-ring). Hope you like them, too.

"MET MONDAY" Canning Jar Transformation

Susan, at Between Naps on the Porch, hosts a weekly blog party "Metamorphosis Monday" and I wanted to show how to take a simple canning jar and make a lovely little gift for someone special. I just love these jars that I found at WalMart, in the canning section.



After a few crafty steps (see my tutorial), one of them was transformed into a little pin cushion jar:

THRIFT SHOP "HOPPING" SPECIAL FINDS

Once again, I am participating in Rhoda's weekly blog party Today's Thrifty Treasures. Please visit her blog, Southern Hospitality to lots of wonderful treasures.
Now about my new treasures! I spent most of Tuesday morning visiting a couple of my favorite local thrift shops. Here are some goodies I grabbed at one of them. Who can resist a "Ouija Board"? We played with one for hours at sleepovers when I was young. And look at the fine print on the Roulette game: "Senior Outfit"--what does that MEAN??? Price of each game ONLY 50¢!!!
I had to bring the framed print home. I'm debating on exactly what to do with the frame--make another chalkboard or maybe a magnetic message board...Spent $5 for it.
And lastly, I couldn't pass up Eileen Ford's Book of Model Beauty for only $1. Published in 1968, here are the titles of a few of the chapters:
Leg work--How the Models Do It
Wise Walking and Pretty Sitting
Hair--Your Crowning Glory
The Maturing Beauty
This quote on the back cover sealed the deal for me:
"It is never too soon nor too late to be more beautiful..."--Eileen Ford




And take a look at this fabulous lazysusan I found at another shop for only $5!
It still rotates smoothly, but unfortunately is missing its center bowl. I'm guessing that it was probably a glass container, so now I'm on a mission to find one that will fit it properly. If you know of anything that will work, please share your idea!




Thanks for taking the time to look and please share your comments. I love reading each and every one!

CAN YOU GET EXCITED ABOUT VINTAGE BUTTONS? ABSOLUTELY, YES!!!!

Look at the great collection of vintage buttons I managed to find at an estate sale yesterday! I have had such fun cleaning them and separating them by color. I know it must seem strange to get such joy from a bunch of buttons--but that is just one of my quirky qualities, I guess.







Do any of you happen to recognize this button--surely it has some sort of history:

Skip over to Rhoda's Thrifty Treasure Party going on right now!

Hope all of your estate sale treasures bring you joy!

VINTAGE JEWELRY WITH CHUNKY STONES--HOW I SPENT MY FREE TIME

I am an avid collector of vintage jewelry. I like to take apart stands of vintage beads and reuse them in all sorts of other creations. I spent some of my free time the last couple of days creating these necklaces and earrings. Let me know if you see anything you like.

Below, I combined some of my chunky stones with various vintage beads:

Here's a close-up of the "blue" set that I combined with vintage seam binding tape:

And I only had a few of these unique green/teal beads, so I thought a pair of earrings would be nice:

Thanks for looking and I'd love to read your comments.

Christmas in July Arrived at My Home Today!

My very first blog GIVEAWAY concluded at midnight yesterday and the lucky winner is.....(drum rollllll)
mgster, Claudette,, who happens to be the owner of Bentley, a Jack Russell. Congrats and thank you for entering!

Now! I opened my mailbox this afternoon and Christmas had arrived here at my home in the midst of July!!!
Look at the packages I had to carry inside:

The majority of these contained items (and extra goodies) that I had purchased from fellow members of Unique Women In Business. I love this group of talented women and had so much fun opening every package.

First, Aimee with Sapeterapi.etsy.com, makes the most wonderful lip balms! I just had to order 6 this time and she was sweet enough to send along a bar of her homemade soap. This one is named "Intoxicating Roses". Doesn't that sound like Heaven? Thank you, Aimee!

The next package contained the wonderful necklace that I have been wanting for weeks from Tracy, with Polishedtwo.etsy.com. It is even more beautiful in person and just look at those matching earrings! Tracy is a fellow Texan, heralding from Austin and I have been a fan since the very first pair of earrings I purchased a few months ago. Tracy, thanks again!

Finally, Susy just opened her latest shop on Etsy: SoapyPleasure.etsy.com and I was lucky enough to be her very FIRST customer! See that cute handmade box at to top of the photo? It contains the Strawberry Daiquiri handcrafted soap which I needed the moment I saw it in her new shop. Susy is such a sweetheart! She sent along a mini Green Tea Citrus soap and the cutest wooden pendant. You are spoiling me, Susy! Many thanks and congrats on the success of your new shop.

What a wonderful afternoon! Opening packages filled with such lovelies! Just like Christmas!

New Little Treasure Slightly Transformed

An estate sale near our home started on Wednesday of last week. This is a rare event--a Wednesday--for our town. So I headed over a couple of hours after is had begun. I should have known that something was amiss when there were only 2 cars parked out front. I went in and was shocked at the outrageous prices, plus the organization was really lacking. It was being orchestrated by a company from out of town and I guess I am just spoiled by our local fanatics that run such sales. Anyway, I just wasn't finding anything until I went out to the "storage building/workshop" area. Now it must have been 110 degrees in this little room, so I quickly scanned the goods and found this little glass bowl with a wooden lid. For some reason it "spoke" to me, so for $2, I said, "sure, you can come home with me". The lid had some major staining, but that didn't matter because I had my plans already of how I wanted to transform this little treasure.


On the previous Monday, I picked up some Krylon "Blue Ocean Breeze" spray paint with good intentions of using it on some object. Well, now I had a target!
Using Goo Gone Spray Gel, I quickly removed the price from the glass bowl, and added the bowl to my load of dishes in the dishwasher and pushed start.
I gave both sides of the wooden lid 3 coats of the spray paint and now I have another "catch all" for my kitchen countertop. Those are some "tennis ball" sized limes in it now.



My husband and I headed to San Antonio on Friday and I always love stopping in Fredericksburg at my favorite Thrift store.


The parking lot was filled and since the hubby was waiting in the truck with our daughter and SIL's dogs, I had to make a quick run through the store. Not a problem! I picked up just a few fun items:
This great silverplated serving piece will see a transformation soon cost: $2.50.

I loved this $2, 10" square plate--I think it will be wonderful as a little birthday gift with cupcakes on top.

Lastly, I spied this pyrex divided 1.5qt dish with the LID! It has sort of an Americana Themed design on harvest gold, which I have never seen. I had to spend the $4, because I was hoping the lid would fit a larger oval pyrex casserole dish, in the harvest gold wheat pattern, I bought last weekend for $1--best part--IT FIT PERFECTLY!!!



I hope you will take the time to visit Southern Hospitality, where Rhoda is hosting Today's Thrifty Treasures and Between Naps on the Porch, where Susan hosts this week's Metamorphosis Monday.