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

New Year, New You . . .

Happy New Year! My holidays were filled with family, friends and fun and they went much to fast. So now it's that time of year to make resolutions that I promise to keep this time. I WILL get healthy. I WILL get organized. Those are the two big ones. I feel like I'm losing myself in the hustle bustle of my life and need to get back on track. I have loads of smaller resolutions as well like sticking to a budget, using more moisturizer and learning a new skill. Anyone else out there making resolutions?

Now that's it's January I am roaring to get a move on to all those projects on the January List. Once I get my house in order (decorations away, cleaning done) I plan to dig in deep in my craft room. It's a mess. And I am not exaggerating. My 10 year old niece opened the door and said "WHOA." So you know it's bad. Anyone who has any unique storage ideas please send them my way. I'm working with a smallish room (maybe 12 X 10) with no closet and one wall that has a radiator and window. I have two desks, two bookcases, yarn cubes and a small sewing table. I need some serious help! :)

Sweet Louie gave me a new camera for Christmas! It's a Canon Elph SD950 and has all sorts of fancy features I have yet to understand. I should probably read the book. :) And what do you think the first picture I took was of? My dear husband? My sweet doggies? My family? Um no.



It was of cupcakes. I just thought they were so pretty. Want to see them close up?



See the sparkly sugar? I guess that is what 12 mega pixels will do for you. So my 2nd picture was also of cupcakes. What a crazy lady. And speaking of cupcakes . . .



Seems to be a bit of a theme, hmmm . . . Maybe I should call this blog Thrifty Cupcakes or Cupcakey Goodness? The cupcake sippie cup and tea towel are from Target from their Valentine's Day line. I went on the day after Christmas for our annual sale hopping and couldn't resist them. (I was in shopping mode!) The stuffed cupcake is an ornament I found at JC Penny of all places for 70% off. Too cute to put away for next Christmas don't you think? I got some other things at Target like two table cloths, some napkins, an apron and some rag rugs I plan to use on the porch. They were with the Christmas stuff but are blue and brown. Perfect as they were only $4 each. :)

I also hit the Macy's to prowl the Martha Ornaments. I got a few small glittered houses and some of those elves made from pine cones. Also got a Santa tree topper. Everything was 75% off. I picked up these as well:



The top one is a box and the smaller ones are flat ornaments. I also plan to leave these out and think I'll hang them on my Easter tree.

Next stop? Michaels to dig for half price Martha craft goods:



I tried to pick up things that I could use now like the wrapping paper, rick rack and those cute treat houses which I plan to use for Easter. The ornament kit, glitter card kit and an advent house kit (not shown) will go away for next year and we'll see what projects I can use that glitter on.

So good thing I put myself on a budget AFTER this shopping trip, right? :) I also did some thrifting while in Baltimore but don't have much to show. I'll share those small finds later this week.

So now that I've gotten all my babbling out and shared my treasures with you I'm off to talk myself INTO going to the gym today. Time to get started on the new me. ;)

xoxoxo
Rebecca