Forcing my homemade crafts on people

Summertime presents itself with birthdays and quite frankly, a bunch of crap I can't afford to buy for.  Somehow, I convince myself that it's better to spend money on craft supplies; they go farther.  So, I've been making flower hair clips and I don't care who doesn't want them.  I now have a stockpile and everyone I know is getting them.  

My supplies:

fake flowers from Dollar Tree

different sized gems & alligator clips from Hobby Lobby

 The first step is pulling apart the flowers and tossing those ugly excuses for stamens.  

The next is hot gluing each individual layer to make the flower look fuller.

 The next two steps are interchangeable: hot glue the clips and the gems. 

Since then I've made orange ones, white ones with gems of color, and other combinations that people probably aren't going to be that psyched about for years to come.  :)

Rummage and reuse

My best rummage sale finds so far this year:

These amazing pink Chucks. I lost my shit when I spotted them.

Pinterest is my motivation and also my procrastination.  But we'll focus on the motivation part today.

I have quite a few candles boxed up, years old and now scentless.  When I came across this pin, I had to try the boiling water technique because the freezer technique seemed a little stupid.  I mean, chipping away at cold glass doesn't seem like a great idea.  

Much better, right?  Until I find something to store in them, I'll just leave them there.

What's been goin' on

Two weeks ago, I spent the day with my grandparents.  Not only was I able to photograph them (a big deal since my grandma had brain surgery a week prior) but we also had lots of time to bond.  It's been a really long time since I got to hear my grandpa's stories about WWII.  He has this wooden box with a bunch of little treasures from his time in the service, and it only comes out every few years.  The entire time he talked, he was teary-eyed.  It was wonderful to hear all of the stories about the pieces and photographs in the box again.  The last time I remember hearing about everything was the first time, and I was probably eleven.

My hero (Grandpa Bud) helping Grandma get around. :)

This chair is from the first kitchen set they had as a married couple.  It's over 63 years old.  :)

This image is the best thing I've done all year.  I haven't edited shadows or anything yet, but the fact that I got them with my [copied] sign makes me so happy.

My new camera bag came and I couldn't be happier.  Copper River Bags is an amazing company.  The products are stellar and the fact that they're made in the U.S. really floats my boat.

I haven't been spending much lately, since we're talking about buying a house.  I did buy this for myself though, just to take the edge off of my work week.  Thank you, Kelli Murray and Etsy.

Miniature Miracle Machine

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time.  I got this fancy little Hamilton Beach Personal Blender last August.  I first saw how easy it seemed for Jenna Marbles to take along with her.  Then I had to have it.  Truth be told, I haven't used it nearly as much as I thought I would.  But that's not because it isn't convenient; I'm just lazy.

Anyhow, I purchased mine from Amazon, because I don't think to check local stores when I find something online that I need.  I can't complain though, if I'd gone to Walmart, where they had it for $15, I'd have definitely spent more.  :)

Hopefully I can make a habit of using this and get a little closer to healthy.  

Jess Riley made my day. And I don't even know her personally.

I just want you to check this local artist's blog out.  The post from May 11th made me smile, hopefully it'll do the same for you.

http://jessriley.blogspot.com/2012/05/cant-complain.html

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