Tole Tray Rescue

A 12x8 inch Tole tray I rescued from a thrift store for $2. I'm searching for more information on the maker so I can find it an appropriate home. I want to make sure it's not a valuable antique before I give it away to someone who might like it, but wouldn't necessarily treasure it. Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

A Cute Giveaway Takes Me Down Memory Lane....*sigh*

So, before I start tearing up from nostalgia, let me first introduce this adorable giveaway at:


They are giving away a sweet collage of the winner's choice soon, and so I clicked through to see what was being offered. I saw this little guy and thought about the first time I saw my little guy.

You see, I'm a big girl. I'm over 6 ft tall and Polynesian, so suffice it to say that I'm no toothpick. When I had my first baby, he was also a big boy at 9 lbs 5 oz with a head the size of a kindergartner! LOL! He was so big the nurses didn't even bother with newborn diapers, they went straight to #1's! All the nurses kept coming in and telling me what a BIG BIG boy I had and they couldn't get over it. I looked at him and told him (and the nurses listening) that they didn't know what they were talking about. Sure, he might be big compared to all the little baby birdies that they have in the nursery, but he's just my tiny little baby elephant and I am his Momma elephant! (Cue "Baby Mine" lullaby from Dumbo! haha!)

So, seeing this elephant and bird together completely took me back to one of the first times I saw my boy. *sigh* Time for kisses and cuddles!

DIY My Little Pony Canvas Bags with a 3D Tail!

Hey all! I'm still pretty new to blogging, so please excuse some of the sideways pictures and the lack of all the pics of the "ingredients" before I got started. I'll get better as I do this more! haha!

Anyhow, this is how I made over a dozen super cute My Little Pony canvas bags for my niece's guests to paint at her My Little Pony birthday party. Total cost per pre-painted bag, around $1.25, if you already have glue and the main tools.

First, you'll need:
*Canvas Bags (I got mine at Michaels for about $1)
*1 fine tip Sharpie
*1 pair of Scissors
*A little bit of masking tape, just to hold things in place
*Print an image of a pony from the internet
*Hot glue gun and same size glue (don't make my mistake and get regular glue for a mini gun! ARGH!)
*Little wig headbands in varying shades (purchased at the Dollar Tree, LOVE IT!)
*A light box. If you don't have one, you can probably use a window, but you can also hack something together, like I did below.


Glass brownie pan + hanging work light = LIGHT BOX!

Turn on your "light box" and tape the printed pony to the glass. Then overlay your canvas bag and tape that as well. Or just hold it firmly in place, like I did! =) Start tracing your image. Do NOT trace the tail. It would be better if you could erase the tail from your image before you print it, as I lost at least two bags when I absentmindedly drew in the tail! TWICE! Geez....

If this were turned the right way, you poor souls wouldn't have a kinked neck. Sorry folks. Here I have finished tracing and have successfully managed NOT to draw in the tail! YAY!

These are the Dollar Tree play wig things I got. As long as you get colorful curly play hair, you can substitute anything.

You don't need much hair, I quartered each wig to get 12 bags out of the 3 bands. I cut the hair WITH the cloth so that I didn't have a million strays running around. Once you get a firm grip towards the end, glue the heck out of the last inch and then wait until the glue is warm to the touch but is still workable and squish/roll it together so it looks like this:

Then cut off the end bit of material.

Here you'll make a small incision (NOT TOO LARGE!) and poke the tail through, starting from the right side and ending on the wrong side. Then tie a knot and glue that little guy in place within an inch of its life! Make sure you're gluing on the inside of the bag at this point!

Then, on the outside, place a dab of glue near the tail in the direction you want the tail to go. I wanted a perky tail, so I angled it a little higher than the incision. Twist the hair and then press the tail in the glue.

Fluff out the tail and voilà! There you are!

A cute little craft station bag for the girls to paint and decorate! It can also double as a party favor bag! FUN!

These were a BIG hit! Paint, glitter, sequins and rhinestones go a long way in making little girls happy!

To see more fun DIY projects, follow this link!

I managed to catch these photos with my little point and shoot Nikon. I touched them up in iPhoto. Pretty decent, huh? It helps when you've got gorgeous little models.
My little guy and beautiful niece, enjoying the California beach.
Arapata looks so picture perfect, doesn't she?
Her total model pose!

My HUGE AMAZING Goodwill score!

Ok, so I know that I linked onto this party before, but what I scored today at The Goodwill (yes, I call it that, too! hehe) really needed to be posted on this party! Thanks so much, Thrifty Decor Chick for hosting it! In fact, I joined blogspot after a year of reading other people's blogs SOLELY for this party! LOL! What can I say? It spoke to me?? :)

Everything you're about to see was $1 or less each item. EVERYTHING. Yes, even the snowboard, solid wood desk and gliding rocker w/ottoman. (The PAIR was $1!!!) I kid you not, this was probably the best day I've EVER had at a thrift store! YAY!!!

My total? $53 for merchandise + $5 cash donation to the Goodwill= $58 out the door! With amazing deals such as these, I felt like I NEEDED to donate something more than the bags and boxes of stuff I'll be dropping off later this week!

This party not only reaffirmed that my passion for thrifting is not exclusive to me, it has given me so much inspiration for new projects! Thanks ladies! Keep posted for the before and after posts and guides for most all of these items! I'm so excited! Now where did I put that spray paint???

A Poster Collaboration for a Play

A dear friend of mine wrote a play that is being produced at a festival in New York this summer! I'm so proud of him so I of course jumped at the chance to design a poster for him to use to advertise and promote the play!

Devan's older brother, Ryan, provided the sketch of the two men and I worked my Photoshop skills and, voila! Promotional Poster!

If you are in the New York area July 17th-20th, be sure to check out the festival and his play!

Customized Luggage via Paint Pen

My family needed new luggage, and it's important to note that while I love simple black on most things, that love quickly evaporates when I'm at the airport baggage claim, sifting through EVERYONE ELSE'S black luggage on the carousel, trying to decipher which black bags are OUR black bags. But seeing as I am almost ALWAYS on a tight budget, I needed to go for affordable, which meant mass produced, standard black.

So, armed with a black Sharpie, a gold paint pen and inspiration from a wonderful graphic from Lewa's blogspot, I took to four $29.99 rolling duffel bags from Ross and made them easily recognizable. The Sharpie was used for plotting out the general design, as I was too lazy to search for a pencil or chalk. The gold paint pen really did all the work.

My four year old thinks they're awesome because he adores "wishing" dandelions.

I love the graphic (Thank you Lewa!) because:

#1 Its simple lines and circles meant I could actually freehand the design.
#2 Seeds blowing in the wind really seem like an appropriate theme for travel luggage.

Goodwill Party - Egg Basket, Candy Dish, Bread Box

A wire basket from Goodwill, grabbed for $0.69.

Just washed and filled with eggs, ready for scrambling!

A discolored brass-ish candy dish for $0.99 that I cleaned up and spray painted a creamy white.

These Dollar Tree birds ($1 each) were sprayed with the same creamy white and are perched on top of a rehabbed bread box awaiting some crumbs. (Thanks for the bird inspiration, Kimba!)

The box was $1.50 on half off Saturday and was a gross dark, gunky, glossy brown. Deconstruction, sanding, paint, reconstruction and a new knob transformed it to a this black and white beauty. I'm terrible at taking "before" pictures, but I vow to really make a better go of it from now on! :)

Goodwill Party - Earring Lamp

Ok, so I'm famously bad at taking "before" pictures, but here's the backside of a little votive holder I picked up at Goodwill for $1.50 on half off Saturday. I wanted to use it to decoratively display and store my collection of earrings I never have time or occasion to wear anymore.

And yet, I continue to buy them...*sigh*

I thought the mesh would be perfect to space out the earring hooks.

I added a little shot glass where the candle should go to hold my small studs.

As you can see, the glass fit perfectly and is really easy to remove when I want to sift through them to find a pair. Sadly, as a frenzied mom, I tend to use these more than the rest.

The little decorative elements of the original lamp were perfect for me to stash my few rings.

And, finally, you can see how the "shade" part turned out. I absolutely love this. Even though I don't get to get gussied up as much as before kids, seeing this in my vanity area makes me feel almost as if I DID get to wear them and I still get the sense of being a young, hot thing. :)