Thrifty Thursday: Chemistry Finds at Lucketts

I know some bloggers show you everything they got all at one time.  

I tend not to do that.

I don't go thrifting every week.

And I like to savor my finds.

When we went to Lucketts this spring, my daughter came and got me from one booth to show me "some cool chemistry stuff".

We found all sorts of goodies.

I am just going to show you what I chose.

My daughter got a bunch of cool chemistry stuff herself.  

She also told the seller what the pieces she had left were used for and how they went together.

I got all the glass test tubes she had.

I have never seen ones with caps.

Some had plastic and some had metal.

Very, very cool....

I also got these tiny glass bottles.

They are destined to become little reliquaries and vials filled with treasures.

And last but not least, check out these tiny little bottles.

So much possibility...

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.

Fun Finds for Future Designs

Summer is coming.

It is one of my favorite times of year...

Like a kid, each day stretches ahead of me, open and filled with possibility.

On a recent trip to the surplus store I picked up some fun finds.

These little light bulbs came in many shapes and sizes and beg to be used in some jewelry designs.

Currently I was saving the tiny bulbs from our landscape lights and such as they burn out but these are great shapes and very reasonable.

As lightbulbs go, I think they are not the best quality so I am not upset to use them in fun designs.

 and my other fun find was these drawer pulls.

Yep, it is a mouse.  

I am not sure yet how he will be used, but he will definitely be used.

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.

A Craft Show and a Donation....

A few weeks back, I went to a local craft show.

While it has not been the most profitable one for years, it is just down the road from me and I run into lots of people I know.

It was a pretty winter day and a rather quiet show. 

 I did have a major highlight for the day though.

An old friend brought me box of her old craft supplies.

Lots of little bits and baubles...

Wiggle eyes, pom poms, sequins, etc.

She said she was meeting a friend who also was bringing some of her old supplies.

Well....

did she ever!

There were 2 bags of supplies and a box of jars full of buttons.

I could not wait to share them with you... 

So here goes!

These are the good stuff...

Old buttons in old jars...

She had already sorted them by color.

The jars are even pretty cool.

I just kept turning the jars and looking at the buttons...

So happy.

And then I started to spill them out to show you...

It just got better and better...

I am not the kind of lady to squeal, but these make me want to.

Aren't they gorgeous?

My head is dancing with ideas for all these little darlings.

Truth be told, these will most likely be hoarded for a long time....

Too special to use...

I may use one or two here and there, but the collection will stay intact for the most part.

Did you see that crown button?

It is perfect for about 100 ideas so I will take forever to decide which idea is worthy of that button...

I even love their grubby goodness.

I have not cleaned any of them yet.

Decades of dirt...

These wooden ones are fabulous too.

They make me think of vintage toys.

Must be the colors...

When I get the courage to use some of these, I will be sure to show you....

These were the highlight of that day...

Thanks for stopping by...

Thrifty Thursday~ Score!

I stopped by the thrift store last week for a quick drop off.

In and out.

That was the plan.

In the back room where they sort and price stuff,  I saw these goodies when I carried in my donations.

Six thread racks.

$1 each.

And a package of really big coffee filters for 50 cents.

I did not come home empty handed....

WooHoo!

Three of the racks are regular size dowels for spools and three are extra big.

I am not sure yet where they will go.

Maybe in the studio.

Maybe in the booth this fall to hold something.

I'll let you know....

Thanks for stopping by....

A Raggy Rug from Old Sheets... A DIY Tutorial

I showed you in an earlier post how my daughter dyes some old sheets from the thrift store to use for a rug.

After she dyed all the sheets, she ripped them in strips.

Each strip was about an inch wide and the length of the fabric.

She removed all those loose strings.

And she cut the strips to about 6 inches long.

She cut a piece of non-slip rug mat to the size she wanted.

Hers is quite small.

About 18 inches by 24 inches.

Then she just started looping the fabric pieces through the non-slip rug mat. 

Some tutorials she had seen had merely slid the strip in and centered it.

She wanted hers to be strong so she tied each one.

Yup!

Each One.

She worked on it for about a week while watching TV.

About 1-4 hours a day.

I adore her colors...

And they actually match another rug we bought her before so they will go together.

She did every square in a row and then skipped a row between.  

She also left two rows around the edge to keep it from curling.

The back is pretty too.

Viola!

Finished!

She was very pleased wit it.

She should be.

It is awesome.

I already had the RIT Dye since I am on the Rit Dyesigner Team.

Check out my board here.

But if I had purchased it, I would have spent less than $15 on dye.

The sheets were $3 total.

I have seen other raggy rugs where this is where they really racked up the cost.

You could use fabric you already have or use old sheets like we did.  

Our thrift store sells stained sheets as drop cloths for 50 cents to $1 each,

Since we were dying them, a couple stains did not show.

And we had the non-slip rug mat already.

Sizes vary but buying one big enough for your rug will run $7-10.

So you could do this for about $30.

Ours cost $3.

My daughter entered it in the fair.

When I went to enter it, the little girl that was carrying things back to the judging tables, held it up to her face and rubbed her cheek against it.

A good sign...

Thanks for stopping by...

We will be linking up with these great blogs.

Wile RIT Dye did provide me with the dye for this project, all opinions are my own.

Thrifty Thursday...Glass Mushrooms for the Garden....

A trip to the thrift store with my daughter yielded supplies for a quick garden project.

Thrift stores never seem to lack glass vases and glass bowls.

I picked up 5 of each.

I gave them a wash in the dishwasher.

It was a really hot, humid day when I did this.

You can see the glass steamed up when it came outside from the cooler house.

I used some of Beacon's 527 glue.

I put the bowls on the driveway and ran a line of glue around the raised edge of the bottom of the vase.

Then I just set each one in the bowl and let them sit until they were dry.

It took mine about 4-6 hours before I actually took them in the garden for placement.

I would recommend over night or longer just to be sure.

You may wonder why on earth I glued the vases that way...

I have a good reason.

I don't want them to keep tipping over.

I took a piece of rebar and pounded it in the flower bed with a hammer.

I slipped the mushroom on and we are good to go.

Even a heavy rainstorm or small animals running by won't tip these mushrooms over.

This would be a super easy kid's craft.

You could even paint the glass with glass paints.

I wanted the subtle clear look this time.

Since I made 5, I have plenty to go around.

I added a piece of rebar to the planter in front of the garage.

And the mushroom perfectly fills a little space there.

You may already have everything you need at home for this quick project.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs...