Rummage Sale Nirvana

Today was the annual St. Peter's Episcopal Church rummage sale and...well... "WOOHOO"! I had to be up a little early to drop my son off to take the SAT's. ***An aside from an educator and a mother: why do they schedule the most important test of a high school student's "career" at 7 a.m.? Is there some valid reason the tests can't be given a few hours later when the kids are actually awake enough to think? Back to the rummage sale: I arrived at 8:50, knowing the doors wouldn't budge until exactly 9:00 a.m., and managed to snag a respectable fifth place in line. I exited the church 27 minutes later, my arms laden with treasures and my wallet a paltry $20 lighter ($5 of which was my donation to the church as "penance" for the amazing "steals" I acquired).
Hubby is not an early riser on weekends, so he didn't accompany me on the first part of my shopping spree. The finale of this particular rummage sale is not to be missed, so John was ready & rarin' to go when we headed back to the church at noon for one hour of heavenly shove-everything-you-can-in-a-shopping-bag for $5 per bag. An hour later we bid a final adieu to St. Peter's and loaded our 6 bags into the back of my car. My favorite part: spreading everything out on the dining room table so I can absorb the full picture of the day's thrifting. There is something infinitely more satisfying about spending $50 for all of these goodies than there is filling my tank with gas. Agreed?

***Not pictured: 2 huge bags of fabric/ quilting squares, 2 pairs of curtains that match our bedroom decor perfectly (freshly washed & drying outside on the pool fence), 4 wool sweaters for hubby (washed and drying in the laundry room) and 2 full loads of "new" clothes (one in the washer & one in the dryer).

Seven baskets & a large batch of gorgeous dyed mohair

Six boxes of hand-dipped, "flower tapers" candles & eight boxes of "slim" candles

Fleece, felt & quilting squares

Brand new Ann Taylor patent leather wedge sandals, Softt clogs (one of my favorite brands) and 4 beautiful leather belts (in a cute tin container)

My FAVORITE find of the day: 4 pairs of vintage gloves in a sweet flowered box

More of my Favorite Things...

Several times, I have mentioned my former employer starting me off, collecting antique porcelain teacups & saucers. During one of my photography practice sessions, I took some pictures of my china cupboard, which was also given to me by my former boss. I can't say I have an "eye" for collecting just yet. I know what I find aesthetically pleasing and, since that varies quite a bit, my trove is eclectic. The beautiful teapot, from Monica, is perfectly at home amongst my pink teacup sets. Some of my basket projects have found their way to the top of the cupboard.

Photo Frustration

I took advantage of my "free" weekend and spent quite a bit of time working on finishing up several projects (in between updating my resume, applying for jobs, getting ready for an interview tomorrow morning & cleaning for a baby shower I am hostessing next weekend). I proudly took pictures of all of the completed masterpieces, in anticipation of sharing them with all of you, and my camera/ Picassa just are not cooperating. I'm afraid I have switched the setting on my camera so many times that it doesn't know whether to snap a picture or scrub my bathroom floor! Although the pictures, clearly, did not come out as I'd hope (as evidenced through the viewer), I thought, surely, I could make them more presentable with Picassa. Not so much, I'm afraid! As I type this posting, I'm holding out hope that the pictures will magically transform between now and the time I hit "publish post".
:::crossing fingers:::
The basket was an ugly red and brown, heart that I glued silk rose petals to. I added my favorite, double ruffle ribbon to the top and made a pretty light blue/ green fabric lining. A bit of sparkle was added to the rose petals with some silver mica. An adorable cherub pin sits angelically on the front of the basket.
The collages are prizes I made for baby shower games. I think they turned out rather well, considering I was assembling them at 1:30 this morning!

Baskets Galore!

During my last visit to my friend Melody's shop, "Once Possessed", I picked up a few vintage baskets in need of some T.L.C. I snatched those up, along with some gorgeous fabric remnants & lace doilies/ runners/ napkins...for a STEAL. Thanks so much, Mel! Both of my kids had friends over this weekend, so I was able to let my creative juices flow...in between laundry, refereeing small disputes & updating my resume. I was pretty pleased with the finished products, so I thought I'd share.

As I was perusing Lisa's blog, A Thing For Roses, I had an idea which I'm not quite sure how to execute. For those of you who are die-hard crafters/ artists, is there a forum for trading excess supplies? Lisa had mentioned, in her blog, that a friend gave her some broken, vintage jewelry that she needed for some projects. It dawned on me that I have an over-abundance of certain goodies (like vintage jewelry) and am sorely lacking other supplies (ribbon, trims, etc.). I'm fairly certain I'm not the only one who has an unbalanced stock of crafting necessities. Food for thought :-)