Red, White and Blue Swap

Hello! Yes, I know, I know, what a craptastic summer blogger I am. Summer is NOT my season. I haven't done much in the way of crafty lately. Hopefully that will pick up soon. :)

I did just participate in the Sweet Goodness Hurrah for the Red, White & Blue swap and I had a FANTASTIC partner. Sarah is amazing! Hold onto your seats . . .



The whole gorgeous red, white and blue lot of it! Vintage paper and millinery flowers galore! Plus hand made goodies including . . .



How fabulous is this mask? And while I know this was an American swap this mask makes me think French masquerade ball. I love it! I'm trying to come up with a way to display it on my wall, perhaps in a shadow box? Don't you love that red glittery peacock?



This lovely star ornament is even better up close. The rosette is made from vintage ledger paper which Sarah was kind enough to also include in my package. I have a plan for it that I hope to share this week.



And can I just say WOW! I love LOVE this bracelet!



Also included was this glittered star pick and a fabulous selection of ribbons.



This sweet paper doll is just adorable. I also hope to make up a shadow box to feature her! She has a little dress to wear but I love her polka dot undies, don't you?

Thank you Sarah for one heck of a great swap! I hope we can swap again some time.

Sarah has a lovely Etsy shop with some of the most beautiful vintage inspired jewelry. My next treat to myself will surely come from there but watch out! It's so hard to pick a favorite! I love them all. :)

Here is what I sent to her:



I, too, included vintage papers, sheet music and Italian wrapping paper. I also included a vintage Fire King milk glass pie plate. Gotta love flat rate shipping boxes!



Sarah has three boys so I tucked in red, white and blue salt water taffy, jelly bellies and M&Ms that I picked up at a fancy candy store in Atlantic City, NJ.



The vintage Japanese mother of pearl pin comes off of the cotton cockade I made OR she can wear the whole thing to show some REAL spirit LOL.



I always include buttons in my swap. I lucked into a huge lot of carded buttons a year ago and still have plenty to share. The other bag has some patriotic pins and beads to wear to a 4th of July parade perhaps?



A baggy of red white and blue ribbons similar to what she sent me and a bag of fun vintage jewelry including a pair of Air Force wings from my friend Sergeant Nine. Sarah's husband is also in the military keeping our country safe. :)



I love this cross stitch pattern of a simple statue of liberty lady. I turned her into a simple door hanger and thought she came out quite cute. Hope you like her, Sarah!


What a fun swap. Sarah plans to join my aqua and pink swap that I'll announce later this summer so some lucky girl will get paired with her and surely be in for a treat.

Louie, the dog herd and I are headed back to Maryland to enjoy the 4th on the water. I'll be back next week with major shop updates - I lucked into the CUTEST vintage aprons and will list, ahem, most of them - and perhaps have a give away?

Have a safe and happy holiday!

cheers
Rebecca

PS - there is still time to join my craft challenge!

Craft Challenge #2

Yes, I know, I've been ABSENT. Not just from writing but from reading as well. You know summer, busy busy! So since I have nothing much to share in the way of thrifts or crafts, how about another craft challenge?

In order to allow for more players I've picked an item many of you will already have. The wooden spool!



Here is my collection! So how about some rules?

THRIFTY GOODNESS CRAFT CHALLENGE #2 - THE WOODEN SPOOL

You can use any medium you want but the main piece must be a wooden spool. Size matters not, you choose. Ideas? Let's see . . . spool dolls, spool notes, ornaments, jewelry? You name it! The idea is to be creative!

Try to use supplies you already have in your stash. It's nice to use up some of those treasures, right?

We'll give it a month - finish your spool by July 17th. Here is a Flickr pool where we can show off our craftiness! Post your picture in the pool by the 17th. Then we'll do a little voting to pick the top three favorite spools. I'll send a little Goodenss to the winner! Prize is at my discrection but I think it will be something you'll like. Sound like fun?

Leave a comment here if you'd like to join in so I know who is playing! spread the word!

Happy Crafting!

Rebecca

PS - See the results of Craft Challenge #1 HERE.

Red, White and Blue

As many of you know, the most recent swap over at Sweet Goodness Swaps is :Hurray for the Red, White and Blue." A very fun summery theme, don't you think? My partner is Sarah from My So Called Junky Life. I love that title! Take a swing by her blog, you won't be disappointed!

Sarah and I have been chatting and we both love the color combo of pink and aqua. I think it's so fun and shabby chic. So I'm thinking of having my own little swap this summer with those colors as a theme. I would probably call it the Shabby Pink and Aqua swap or something more creative than that I hope. What do you think? Would any one be interested in a swap like this? It wouldn't start until the end of June since I am already doing the other swap plus have some travels planned. Leave me a comment if you think you would be interested. No commitment at this time, I'm just curious to see if it would fly.

So I've done some thrifting though don't have too many photos. I've been in an organizational mode so everything gets put in it's place right away. (yeah, we'll see how long that lasts.) I did find these photos, though:



Aren't these the sweetest things? And they are sort of pink and aqua! They are two framed "prints" of little girls playing. The pictures are actually quilted pieces of fabric! The frames them selves are a lovely shabby pink. Not sure what I'll do with these yeet. I'm guessing they were decorations for a little girls room in the 70s maybe?



Okay, that little box cracks me up! Know what's inside? A little folding fan. Too cute but pretty beat up. I found the fan and the tiny purse packs of Knit Cro-Sheen at the last Treasure Sale. Now I wonder, were women knitting on fly back then that they needed purse packs of yarn? Hmmm.



Two adorable hat box style wig boxes! There were wigs inside but I got rid of those. (Sorry Dita, I know you wanted to be Edith Bunker for Halloween but they were freaking me out.)



And I couldn't resist this giant piece of leopard material for a dollar. What will I ever do with it? It's plush. Nice. Me thinks I'll make me a coat! (yeah right)

That's all from me until next week. I'm taking a last minute get away to Atlantic City with my Mom and Sister. See you soon!

xoxoxo
Rebecca

And the Winner is . . .

Drum roll please . . . .

The winner of the Goodness paper pack is . . . .

Jessica at Funky Finds!! Jessica, I'll drop you an email for your address.

Thank you to everyone who left comments. I'll be doing another give away soon. :)

xoxo
RR

For the Love of Paper

Hello all! How was your Memorial Day weekend? As usual my parents annual luau was a blast and I SWEAR there is not a You Tube video of me singing "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" into a beer bottle. ;)

So onto the Goodness. I have some lovely finds to share with you from some thrifting with Mom but thought I'd do a special post just about paper first. I love paper. I have loads of it. I collect vintage ephemera just to look at it. One of these days I'll bring myself to use it. Maybe. I put together collections of papers, playing cards, etc. and put it for sale in my shop in the hopes that someone else out there not only shares my love of all things paper but might actually be the type of person to USE it rather than just covet it.

I dug through some old wrapping paper I found at the last Treasure Sale and found the most gorgeous pieces! Mostly baby and wedding themed, these are some of the prettiest I've come upon.




(might be my favorite EVER!)








(these last two are foil and embossed. Very light and delicate, not like current foil papers)

I will be putting some of this in the shop and saving some for my own collection. I also plan to put together some vintage book page packs and some sheet music packs as well. I've decided to really trim down my craft room so everything must go! But before I start recycling/donating/trashing I plan to get as much into the shop as possible in case any of you would like to feather your nests a bit. Look for updates soon!

In the mean time, please visit THIS POST and leave a comment to win a special Goodness paper pack I put together just for you.





It's loaded with vintage wall paper and wrapping, playing cards and tallies, vintage book pages and music and various other bits. I keep stuffing things in there so you never know what you'll get! This is more than twice the size of a normal Goodness Paper Pack so I'm sure there will be something in there you'll enjoy. I'll pull a name on Monday so you have all weekend to stop by and leave your comment!

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In other news, sign ups for the Sweet Goodness Swaps summer swap - Hurray for the Red, White & Blue - is going on now. Visit THIS POST for more details and then send in your email to sign up. Hurry! Slots are going fast! Sign ups end tomorrow 5/29! Don't forget to sign up for the mailing list to be the first to know about future swaps! Have any ideas for swaps? Drop me a line!

adieu!
Rebecca

Doh! Giveaway time!

Oops! I forgot to put up the post for my paper pack giveaway! Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the prize but it's a lovely folder filled with vintage wall paper and wrapping paper, game cards and score sheets and vintage book pages. Loads of fun paper for all sorts of projects.

Leave a comment here and I'll draw a winner next weekend. When I get home from my long weekend I'll post a picture of the Goodness.

have a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend!

fondly
rebecca

What's on Your Table?

So literally, or figuratively, what's on your table? What are you working on? What plans do you have? Crafts? Cooking? Vacation? Now is the planning season. Even though I don't have to plan around kid's summer vacation as many of you do, the onset of summer brings lots to do. In travels we have a wedding in Baltimore in June and just booked a short vacation to Las Vegas with friends at the end of August.



In crafts, I've been enjoying some simple cross stitch. It's relaxing and easy to pick up and put down as things arise.



Red, white and blue are on my brain now so I've been contemplating some patriot crafts. Any suggestions?

I've been reading through old magazines and pulling out recipes to try. I have plans to buy a kitchen cart to add another workspace and hope to finally dive in to some more complicated meals. I also have plans to redo my laundry room. It's so drab and I feel I spend way too much time in there. So why not pretty it up a bit? I found a sweet wicker chest of drawers that has inspired the makeover style. I'll share that with you soon.



Also on the table are plans to spend more time outside. We started yesterday with a trip to the dog park. Fun was had by all. That's hubby Louie with Mason, Lincoln and Kaiser in Forest Park.

And literally on my craft table is the start of a Goodness Paper Pack I plan to giveaway this week. Sign ups will start Wednesday so please stop by for a visit!

Now tell me your plans! Either leave a comment or do a blog post and leave a link in the comments. I'm sure there are many inspiring ideas to be heard!

Fondly
Rebecca

Seriously . . .

Okay now, a show of hands . . . who out there REALLY thought I was going to finish up other projects before playing with my new yarn stash?



Okay, don't be shy, admit it . . .



No one? I guess I am predictable. :) I couldn't wait so I rolled up one hank of the cotton silk (which was a nightmare, don't ask) and started on the garden plots.



I like it and think it will be lovely. I should get 2 squares from each ball and with 20 plus skeins I'll have enough to make the 36 square pattern and edging. It will probably be a bit heavy and if I had a choice I'd use a different kind of yarn but I have this and so be it. I'm off shopping anyway. I have WAY more stuff than any one person needs. So stand by for updates on my afghan!

hugs
rr

Lucky Penny

I always love how Sarah says that her husband is her lucky penny when he goes thrifting with her. My lucky penny is definitely my friend Nine. Every time we thrift together, which isn't too often as she lives 4 hours away, I find something fabulous. Our trip to the thrift this past weekend was no exception.



Now first I will tell you that I did spend about $50 (including high New York taxes) for this fabulous find but believe me, it was worth it. Yarn. And not just any yarn, YARN store yarn. The good stuff.

For you non-knitters out there, the yarn from the craft stores is okay. Most of it is crap but there are some nicer yarns put out by Bernat, Patons and Lion that I do like. I'm a cotton girl so the choices are limited. Yarn stores stock abundances of fabulous yarns from all over the world. Problem is that they are uber expensive. I'm talking $8 to $10 for a small ball. When you want to make anything larger than a tea cozy you need upwards of 10+ balls. You do the math. So while $50 is a HUGE price for me to shell at any thrift, this was the deal of the century for this avid knitter.

In my stash I found:

23 Balls - Rowan Handknit cotton (made in England) - retail cost: $6.00 a ball - $138.00

11 balls - Phildar Marjory cotton (made in France) - retail cost: approx. $6.00 a ball - $66.00 (no longer produced)

10 balls - Stahl Schuler Lambada cotton viscose (made in Germany) - retail cost: $7.00 a ball - $70

26 hanks - Classic Elite Willough cotton silk (made in England) - retail cost: approx. $8.00 a hank - $208.00 (no longer produced)

So what's that . . umm . . carry the one . . . $482.00 of fancy yarn ALL of which are cotton. Bliss.

Included in my $50 splurge are also a skein and half of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (about $8 a skein), 7 skeins of Bucilla Wondersheen (a vintage crochet cotton used for making super fine doilies and table cloths) and 5 skeins of Coats & Clark Luster Sheen which is also a vintage fine gauge yarn.

Whew! So you can see why I'm excited, right?? I can't wait to dig in! Of course I REALLY need to finish a few projects first before starting another, right? RIGHT? lol I'm dying to start making that cotton silk (all the white you see there) into a Garden Plot Squares throw.

There is one thing that saddens me about my yarn find. You know there is a knitter out there that gave up. Fancy yarn store yarn does not randomly show up in this abundance at the thrift store. Don't worry fair ex-knitter, I'll make you proud. :)

Give Away Update:

I will announce a giveaway next week before I leave for a long Memorial Day Weekend. I do believe the prize will be a nice fat Goodness paper pack to include vintage wrapping paper and wall paper, all sorts of vintage tallies and playing cards, vintage book pages, ephemera, you name it. Lots of fun stuff for you to play with. I think most of use have a fondness for all things paper.

Until the next time . . . same thrift channel, same thrift time . . .

rebecca

Dis

Disorganized
Discontent
Discombobulated

You name it, I feel it. I can't explain it though I'm betting that lack of organization is behind it all. Sigh . . . so I'm going into hyper drive tomorrow to get this place in shape. Not just regular cleaning but real SPRING cleaning. I think that by clearing the cobwebs in the house I'll clear the cobwebs in my mind. What do you think?

Sorry I've been such a crappy blogger as of late. That is also part of the mix. I plan to change that too.

And because I like to have a picture with each post:



Two sweet little sweaters I made for my new little "nephew" Charlie who came into the world around 9:00 pm on Wednesday April 29th. His mother and I have been friends for over 30 years. He's her first child and he's a cute little button. :) The top sweater is from Mason Dixon Knitting and the bottom is from Baby Crochet. Both wonderful go to patterns when I need a good baby gift.

Give away info coming soon!

fondly
Rebecca

Finds

So . . . remember when I was complaining about the thrift and how I never find anything? Yeah, well lookie here:



Four aprons. Oh yes FOUR of them. All handmade and all gorgeous. I do not think these are vintage only because they are so clean! I'm sure they've never seen kitchen duty or even have been washed. This is my favorite:



The fabric at the top there is a hankie. So cute! Now what to do with them? Hmm. Well I'm sure I'll keep one and probably give one to a friend and perhaps I'll put one in the store. But in the meantime I'm just going to enjoy them and the fact that I finally found something worth sharing at the thrift.

Also found on that same trip was this adorable hand made bag:



This I am keeping. I've actually already carried it once. I love the fabrics and the shape and well everything about it!

Also that day I snagged these two handmade pillow covers:



Now me thinks that all of these lovely handmade things probably came from the same person. It makes me a little sad because I wonder did this person die and their relatives just shoveled all their handmade goodness into garbage bags and dumped it at the thrift? I'm hoping this person bought a condo in Boca and had to down size and is now playing gin rummy with the nice lady from next door. :)

What a stellar thrift trip! I also netted these vintage cake toppers:



These will definitely be in the store soon.

So I guess that makes up for the more lackluster trips, you think? I went yesterday and did find some sweet Shabby Chic tablecloths and the prettiest turquoise chenille bed spread. They are in the wash and I'll share soon. Perhaps the tide is turning?

xoxo
RR

Random

Spring is in the air. Thus making my brain feel muddled and unorganized. I don't want to be at this computer. I want to be outside twirling around. Well maybe just outside would do.

I've been trying to gather my thoughts for a post for a few days now to no avail. So instead here are some random thoughts:



A sweet bib I made for my expectant friend. The baby is "scheduled" to make his appearance on Wednesday but you know how babies are. They show up when they want to.



My handsome hubby at the new home of the New York Mets, Citi Field. This was a preseason game in March and it was so cold! I can't wait to go back for beers, baseball and hot dogs in the sunshine.



I thrifted the lid to this piece of Friendship pattern Pyrex about 2 years ago and then last week I found the bottom. Kismet! Total price of $7.00.



My little collection of Pyrex is growing. Of course I never use it so I don't mess it up. LOL

I promised a giveaway last week and I am sticking to that BUT I am going to wait until I return from my trip to Baltimore at the beginning of May. I'm visiting one of those Treasure Sales and hope to find something fun to put up for grabs.

Now I'm off to stick my head out the window and soak up some sunshine. I'll be back this week with something crafted. Cross my heart.

hugs
Rebecca

Hoppy Easter

Yes. I know Easter was days ago. I swear I've been in some kind of candy induced coma or something. Or just yet another case of lazy-itis. I looked for something to do today. I brought yarn and needles to the sofa but nothing happened. I couldn't even bring myself to cut recipes out of my myriad stack of magazines. Sigh  . . . I need a spa day. :)

So how was Easter? I love Easter crafts and wish I would have made more this year. (lazy-itis!)

I did fill my leafy basket with some cute speckled eggs. I really love how this turned out! And how simple. I love that!



And look how cute my little chenille baskets look with speckled eggs! 



Don't they look adorable on my Easter feather tree? As I've said before, Sarah sent it to me and I love it more and more each year. You can see Sarah's tree here. So cute!

Something new I tried this year, chocolate covered strawberries. With soe help from my sister these were very easy and were a huge hit.



I made another Tiramisu. I added less Kahlua this time and it was even better. Who would have thought LESS alcohol would be a good thing? LOL



Here is my super cute nephew Christopher enjoying his thrifted bunny. 

All in all it was a fabulous day. :) 

Please send me some good vibes to get off my butt and get some things done. It's about that time for me to drag the sewing machine out and attempt to make something presentable.

xoxox

rr

Go for a visit . . .

Before I rush of to AC I'd like to share a link with you, please visit Erin HERE for her wonderful 100th post giveaway. Wait until you see the goodies. You'll thank me. :)

And speaking of give aways, I think it's about time I had one, too. Come back next week and see what I've put together for you to win.

Now wish me luck at the roulette table. :) Black 22!

A Tisket, A Tasket . . .

Chenille stem Easter baskets!



I followed these Martha instructions and it was pretty easy. I used stems I already had but I think the pink and gold came out cute!



The white one was made with bumpy stems and is also cute but I think I like the pink better. I plan to put them on my table and fill them with Robin's Eggs candy, what do you think?



I also made this little basket after seeing these on the Martha web page. It's sort of cute, you think? And the cost was only 69 cents for the basket and 69 cents for a bag of artificial flowers and leaves. I want to pick up some kind of grass to put inside and I have a few faux speckled eggs that would be cute in there.

And speaking of Martha, has anyone picked up her A-Z Craft Encyclopedia? I decided to go for it and since I had a nice coupon for the Barnes & Noble I got it for a good price. I like it! There are new projects and also classics from the magazine. One thing I like is that there is a list of basic supplies and then instructions for for each topic including candle and soap making, rubber stamping, paper making, decoupage, you name it. I have already bookmarked a few things to try and hope to share them soon!

L. and I are off to Atlantic City this week to celebrate his birthday. We'll be back before Easter.

Fondly,
Rebecca

Thrift?

Has anyone been finding anything at the Thrift lately? I know I'm not much up on my blog reading but those I have read haven't reported too much. I have found some things but nothing too blog worthy you know? I did dig through and have picked the best of the bunch out to share. :)



I felt so lucky to snag this vintage Florida table cloth! It's not in the best shape, someone wrote on the corner in magic marker? Why? But I love it anyway and it was only $2. :) See Lincoln there? He thought I was taking his picture.



Alright, boy, there you go. Happy now? He's getting so big but still acts like a wild puppy. :)



I also found this table cloth. It's not hand made but it is large enough to fit my table (I need 102 inch length at the very least) and at $4 was a steal. It's a little stained but not too bad and I plan to use it for Easter brunch this year.



Also found these vintage pillow cases. Isn't the pattern divine? I'm trying to decide to keep them for pillow cases, put them in the shop or make something from them. If you were going to turn them into something, what would it be?



The red Dansk pitcher is a real mess. It has black marks all over the bottom showing through the enamel. But I love it anyway in all it's shabby glory. :) The little silver bread basket was too cute to pass up and the dessert server is for my mother who said she didn't have a nice one. Hmm. I find that hard to believe. Anyway, the quiche dish in the copper holder was in a box from Macys. I do make quiche a lot and now it will be that much fancier. :)



I also found this sweet heart shaped sewing box. The inside is yellow silk and is in fairly good shape. I'd love to add some vintage flowers to the lid maybe? I'm not sure what but I do think I'd like to decorate it. Maybe I'll try to make some velvet strawberries like I've seen on this blog which is one of my favorites. I think I'll check out her store for some of that vintage millinery.

May the thrift be with us all. :)

RR