We have a winner . . .

Hello all! Thank you for entering my Halloween give away. The winner is . . .  comment #2! Rebecca at Pink Pearl Studio! Check out her Halloween banner! It's sure to get you in the creating mood. :)

Rebecca - send me an email with your address so I can get your package in the mail right away!

I wish I had a project to share but I must admit that I've been very lazy lately! Isn't that awful? You sit around wishing you had more time and then you just sit around. Oy. So how about some projects I would LIKE to make?

From the last issue of Somerset Home:







I love all three of these projects! Especially that Shabby Union Jack pillow. Love the vintage measuring tape looking trim. The little bird in the wreath on the cover is cute, too, and wouldn't they be cute Christmas ornaments? And the tassel is just shear whimsy. Love it. Now if only my crafty mojo would return. If you find it hiding under your sofa, please tell it to come home immediately.

cheers ~ RR

FINALLY. Return to the Thrift Store

So I seriously haven't been to the Thrift Store in like 6 weeks. I. Know. Vacation, new job, cleaning (blech) all get in the way and disrupt my thrifting schedule. I've been trying to get to the Elephant's Trunk Flea for a few weekends now with no luck. I'm going to try (again) to go this Sunday if I can get everything else I need to do squared away first, of course.

This past Sunday I got up with the chickens and got a jump on my way over due housework. So by 10:30 I didn't feel too guilty about jumping in the car and heading out. While there was only one real stellar find, I am happy with my goods.



A small collection of vintage fabric and napkins. I love that blue rose print. There is a good amount and I already have an idea for it. The floral fabric in the center is a pair of pillow cases and those are TWELVE Vera napkins on the bottom. Cute, I know, but stellar? Not quite.



Some inexpensive scraps of new fabric. Sunday is half price on 4 colors so almost everything I picked up was 50% off. Still not stellar though.



I love to rescue handmade items, particularly cute baby blankets. I have to say, I love this color combo and it might be close to being my favorite find of the day but not number one . . .



Little aqua apron . . . adorable! I actually scored two of these and couldn't leave them behind. A future give away perhaps? Should they be decorated?



I love this shabby basket. The liner is a bit dirty and not very cute but I plan to use it as a pattern to make a new liner. I'm thinking of using that blue rose fabric. Then I'll pile up my vintage baby blankets in there.

And while I know you're expecting something like vintage table cloths or Pyrex so my stellar find MAY surprise you:



The corkscrew on the left is a vintage French Zig Zag. I believe it was made in 1953 and I found it in a bag for $1. I knew it was neat and I've been picking up vintage corkscrews here and there (the one on the right is a vintage Swiss design) but when I did some Googling on the Zig Zag it seems they are quite popular! One sold on Sunday on Ebay for $200. So a $1 true antique find? Stellar.

Stop by the Examiner for my latest article on making Halloween Cracker Favors. And remember to leave a comment HERE to win a little pack of Halloween goodies including Martha Stewart and K & Company items.

Give Away Time!

As promised, I went through a bunch of stuff in the craft room of doom and pulled out some Halloween goodies to give away.



Up for grabs is a Halloween Tricks and Treats magazine (from last year but still full of fun!), a K & Company sparkly "Happy Halloween" banner (the picture looks dark blue to me but it's really a royal purple. Some fun Halloween "crime scene" tape for decorating, Martha Stewart glitter stickers (they are sticky on both sides and you put glitter on top and they look very cute!) and a collection of Halloween greeting cards (all blank inside) with images of vintage ephemera on the front.

All you have to do is a leave a comment and tell me what you're working on right now. I love to hear everyone's projects (craft, decorating, organizing, you name it!) and get inspired! If you've blogged about it include a link so we can all check it out. I'll pick a winner on Thursday and get it out in the mail by Saturday so you'll have it to enjoy for the holiday.

And the winner is . . .

Around here we like our winners shaken, not stirred . . .



drum roll please . . .



Red Rhiannon! Congrats! Please send me an email with your address.

Luis and I headed out to watch the World Cup yesterday and ended up staying out all day. After watching the USA/Ghana match at Hooters (of all places!) we headed to the Nautical Mile in Freeport, Long Island.



It's a strip of cute restaurants, hoppin' tiki bars and adorable little shops. We sat at a bar and had a drink and then had a nice dinner in a pretty fancy restaurant. I had oysters, crab and wine. Oh la la!



We stopped in these cute little shops where I picked up a gift for my Dad and some cute little nautical Christmas ornaments.



It was a fun spontaneous adventure and made me feel like I was on vacation. :) I think I'll go to the beach this week, too.

Happy summer! ~ rr

Get Thee to a Big Lots! (and a give away)

Okay, so I've been to like 4 Big Lots in the last week and a half. Seriously. Thrill of the hunt, no? When I stopped by last week I hit the mother load of quality Martha Stewart Crafts and Making Memories supplies:



At the time I posted this the photo was upside down even though I corrected it 3 times. Hopefully it will right itself. :) Everything you see here was $1 each. I picked up some clear stamps for my Mom (who has that type of stamping set), some paper, glue sticks, stickers, tissue paper and scrapbooking supplies.My favorites, of course, are the pressed paper pine cone boxes.



I coveted these at Christmas but couldn't bring myself to pay the $15 for them. I plan to use these as favors for my annual Christmas Craft party.



Coming in a close second was this ribbon from Making memories. It's from a collection called Chloe's Garden and I have a few other scrap booking embellishments in this line like really cute butterfly paper clips. But the ribbon! Love.



I also snagged three packs of these sweet vintage inspired alphabet cards. Really cute! Not sure what I'll do with them so I'm sending one pack to a friend and putting the other in a give away.

Oh yes, it's time. Since I have way more than I need I gathered up a few things to share:



So here we have the set of cards, a package of the ribbon, some pretty blue cake stickers and some post cards found at a different location. You want it? Just leave a comment here for an entry. If you visit my latest Examiner article by clicking HERE and come back and tell me what craft I shared you'll get a second entry!

Due to the weight of this package I can take US participants only. You have one week to sign up, through next Saturday. I'll announce the winner on Sunday June 27th.

Cheers!
Rebecca