That Jolie Girl

Balloon Magic Made Easy

I picked this DVD up for one dollar this weekend.  Oh yeah, I'm going to be the life of any party!

Short Fuses - Out in the World

My day job is working at medical school.  The bookstore manager at my school was nice enough to let me set up a display to sell my wares.   I go visit my jewelry often making sure that everything looks just right.  I always count the number of pendants and do a mental happy dance when the number is smaller than before.   I'm so thrilled to be actually selling my jewelry.  The dream is becoming a reality.

*I bought the display at Value Village for three dollars.  I've had really good luck finding displays at thrift stores.   It really helps keep expenses down.

Garage Sale Finds

I haven't been going to garage sales as much as I've wanted to this year.  On Saturday, I was out running errands and saw a sign for a block garage sale.  I stopped by since it promised to have many sales in one area.  Overall, it was pretty disappointing.  I love to get books at garage sales and nobody had any.  Don't people read anymore?  My luck changed when I got both Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea together for one dollar.  I was so giddy.  I've watched both of these on OPB since I was a small child.  I even have a very old taped version complete with the OPB station breaks.  I've pretty much worn out that copy. 

My husband has no idea what fun is in store for him to watch all 8 hours of Anne's adventures. 

The only other thing I purchased was The Incredible True Adventure of Two Girls in Love.  Normally I don't buy movies, let alone VHS tapes (Anne of Green Gables is an exception).  But finding good gay/lesbian movies used is extremely difficult.  I got this for some friends, but I think I will need to re-watch it again before giving it to them. 

Perpetual Calendars

The only thing I bought when I went to garage sales with my family on Saturday was this perpetual calendar.  I bought it for a quarter.  I have no idea when this was made, but it's the coolest thing I've seen in a long time.  It's in perfect working condition. 

By turning the top towards yourself the day changes.   

At the end of 31 days, it prompts you to change the month down below. 

The month and day of the week are printed on paper and glued to a round block of wood.  I'm surprised this survived all these years. 

This is the only other perpetual calendar I own.  You guessed it, I found it at Goodwill.  I can't wait to find more.  I think these practical little gadgets are something I can really get into. 

Family Outing to Goodwill

My In-laws stayed at my house Friday night.  Saturday morning we were up bright and early and at Goodwill at 8:30 am.  I love that my in-laws (along with my family) enjoy thrifting as much as I do.   We had a blast going to Goodwill, Goodwill Outlet store (also known as the 'bins' and a tad scary) and many garage sales.   We got to spend quality time together and also got find lots of treasure.  Here  are the craft jems that I found. 

Above is a linoleum cutter.  I've always wanted to try this, but never looked much into it.  Now all I need is a block of linoleum and I'm on my way.  I can't wait to try this out.

I got very excited when I saw this Stitch-it  Kit by Sublime Stitching.  I almost bought this new when it came out.  It was in perfect condition and nothing in it had been opened or touched.

I picked up 10 unopened packages of bias tape for $1.99.  I love that there are several packages of the same color, so I can complete a project without having to try and match the colors.   Who knows how old this bias tape is?

Lastly, I found this unopened package of char-kole drawing sticks.  The beauty of Goodwill is that you can find stuff that you aren't really looking for.  Of course, my husband just calls this being a pack rat.  I know I will use this for something in the future.  For a couple of bucks, you can't go wrong.

Goodwill Goodness

I went to Goodwill this weekend to find some new work clothes.  Now that I've started a new job, I need to look a bit more presentable.  At my last job I could wear jeans and wrinkled shirts every day.  It was really nice.  Now I need to step it up a notch.  I can't wear jeans and I need to get out my forlorn iron.  And while I did find much needed clothes, I also found a few other goodies. 

I got this monogramming kit that attaches to my sewing machine.  The directions say I can be monogramming stuff in seconds.  We will see how long it takes me to get this up and running.  Of course I have to factor in the time to dust off my sewing machine.  All the pieces were there and if this actually works, it's going to be a great find. 

Yes, it's a cigar box.  What's so great about that?  Well, I've been looking for cigar boxes for ages.  They seem super hard to find.  Plus, this was tagged with the lucky 50% off color.  I'm going to use this to make an assemblage in the style of Claudine Hellmuth.  I have devoured her two books and two DVDs.  Now it's time to start making something. If you haven't checked her out yet, do.  She's amazing.

I couldn't past up another quilling tool for 49 cents.  This was missing the quill quiky, but I already have a similar quilling tool.  I think it will make forming quills much easier now that I have the quilling designer.

My husband just rolled his eyes at this one.  I got the short version of the famous 'you have too much crap' lecture.  Still, I couldn't pass this up, especially with the 50% off color tag.  It's a complete Betty Crocker recipe set from 1971.  I could tell it had to be from about that time since it had one whole section devoted to fondue.

These recipes are priceless.  They have the morbid quality of not being able to look away from these crazy concoctions.  I'm thinking about making cards that have a recipe on the front.  I would attach the card, so it could be removed.  Then the gift would keep on giving since the giftee could make the dish.

What a great day at Goodwill!  I am really good at collecting this sort of crazy stuff.  Now I need to start making stuff with it.  If only there were more hours in the day!

Crewel Book

Yes, another craft book.  I'm trying to not buy everyone that I see.  This crewel book is amazing.  I found it at Goodwill for a couple of bucks.  Some of the patterns are a bit dated, but I think they could be easily updated.  Some patterns have come back into fashion.  The coolest thing about this book is written at the bottom of the cover.  It has iron-on transfers for every pattern.  The transfers were in the back of the book and had never been opened.  Talk about a total score.  There are 42 different patterns and a complete alphabet to choose from.  This will keep me busy for years!

Magic Spool

One more thrifting find that I forgot to mention is the Magic Spool.  This little guy was made in Holland in 1978.  I don't think it has ever been used.  It's in mint condition with the yarn it's original yarn.

It definitely took several tries to get the cord going.  Once I got the hang of it, I could quickly turn out lots of i-cord.

The directions are just those two red boxes.  It's simple enough, so the pictures did the trick.  What's up with the cowboy?

This is the project gallery for the magic spool.  I can't wait to make a hat or an egg cozy.

Goodwill Finds

Oh Goodwill, how do I love thee?   Here are my latest finds from Goodwill.  Even when I don't find anything, there is something about the  hunt that is just so much fun.  This book is so cute and it actually has great instructions in it. 

Every page rhymes. 

The book also came with 43 patterns to hand sew felt animals. 

This is all of them laid out on my kitchen floor.  So many cute ones to choose from.  I love the elephants.

I have been thinking that it would be nice to re-learn how to crochet.  My mom and mother-in-law both do an amazing job crocheting.  I figured this would be a cheap and easy way to get back into it.

The amazing thing about this book, besides the great pictures and directions, is that every technique is shown for right handed and left handed people.  My mom is left handed and I know that it's always a struggle to get directions that work for her.

Another thing I've always wanted to try is Quilling.  This is a kit for kids to make barnyard animals.  I love that it came with 20 googly eyes.  Although I'm tempted to make this instead of the barnyard animals.  A lot of times, I like finding kits for kids.  The instructions are just so much easier to understand.  I'm not sure what that says about me....

OK, this is the find of the day.  I can't wait to make the men in my life underwear.  How funny is that?  I love the model complete with the 70's mustache.  Every time I think about this, it makes me laugh.

Goodwill Paper Book

In the same trip that I got the needle punch at Goodwill, I also came home with this book.  It's a very thick book at 512 pages and over 300 hundred ideas.  I really don't think I will need another book on paper crafts.  Granted about a third of the book is either redundant or has ideas that I probably wouldn't use, but there are still a huge plethora of things that I will use. 

Here a just a few of the ideas that I really like.  Besides the normal Origami of making cranes and frogs, there are some really beautiful designs as well.

Poppies are one of my favorite flowers.  How pretty are these!

This book has lots of patterns on making different types of boxes.  I'm really excited about that.