How Bazaar, how bazaar...

So a couple of times a year, the naval base hosts bazaars where vendors from the community can come in and sell their wares.  They had one a few weeks ago to benefit the high school on base, and as we were in desperate need of some furniture we went shopping!  

We walked into the the high school gym and were bombarded by gorgeous sights everywhere we looked.  Beautiful hand painted furniture, gorgeous scarves, hand thrown pottery.  We went on Saturday, but didn't buy anything as the prices were pretty hefty.  

But Sunday we went back and everything was half off!!

So yeah, we bought some stuff - wanna see?

Our first purchase was for our bedroom - it's a hand painted dresser in the Tibetan style.

I just need to get a mirror to sit on top of it.

Second purchase - also for our bedroom.  We brought no bedroom furniture, so we've had things laying around in boxes.  It's kinda been driving us crazy.  So we bought this bright and cheery dresser.

Then Ryan spied these sweet little Japanese quilts - so we bought one for baby girl.

I love how she did the hand quilting around the appliqued girls.

We also weren't able to move the quilt ladder, so after the bazaar we headed to a Japanese recycle shop - their version of a thrift store.  We bought this little thing - I'm not exactly sure what it's supposed to be used for, but we thought it would make the perfect quilt rack.

It's in our living room...which is starting to come together.

We also bought that media stand at the recycle shop.

In other Japanese news, Charlotte and I went to a Mochi Pounding ceremony last Saturday while Ryan went on a snowboarding trip.  The Japan-American society came on base and put it on.  They dressed us up in Kimonos and we went to a tea ceremony - it was really fun, although we weren't really fans of the mochi itself.

All of the Japanese ladies said Charlotte was super "kawaii" (cute), and I must agree :)

....and...

I finally have a giveaway for you coming on Monday involving some fun Japanese fabric and goodies!!!  YAY!!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

xoxo

jessica

My New Obsession...

...rug making - part 1. 

I am so excited about this I feel like buying an RV and traveling the country convincing everyone to jump on the punch-needle rug-making bandwagon.
In fact...I started another blog called A Lovely Path to devote solely to rugs.

It's not going to be like this one where I post every day - I'll probably only post once a week or so but I feel so excited about this that I really want to spread the news. 

I also want to start a line of patterns (I have grand visions of appearing on Martha Stewart...;) 

Now - this is not a new craft.  In fact it is a very very old one and there are not many people still doing it.  

I'm not sure why because it's awesome!  But it needs some freshening up.  Most of the patterns are not that stylish (at least for my taste), but there is so much potential. 
So I started out making a chevron rug for my kitchen.
 
Here are the supplies I am using:

Amy Oxford's 1/4" Punch Needle

Rug making stand - kindly built by my talented husband

Monk's cloth

Wool strips - which I cut from 100% wool clothes found at thrift stores. 

 I brought the clothes home, cut the linings out and felted them myself by washing in hot water, then drying on high heat.  I then cut them into 1/4" strips using my rotary cutter.  This is a little bit of a process, but I bought an ENTIRE GROCERY CART full of wool clothes for $16.  I have a lot of wool.

Last summer when we first moved up here, we stayed with a couple from our church.  His mother is Amish and had made amazing rugs for their home - I mean they look like they're straight from Anthropologie.  I was smitten.  But he said she hand hooked them, and from what I can tell that takes a really long time....and as much as I wanted to do it, I was kind of dragging my feet.  Well, last week my mom and I were downtown and we wandered into a craft and stitch store.  We stumbled upon these punch needles and were delighted by the store-owner who gave us an impromptu lesson.  She showed me hooking and punching side by side and you COULD NOT tell the difference.  So I came home with the needle and monk's cloth and got to work. It goes so quickly and is a great thing to do while sitting around watching a movie or something. 
Here's how the front looks so far:

Stick around for a full tutorial on the process next week (and hopefully pictures of my finished rug!!)

Meanwhile, head on over to A Lovely Path to learn more about Punch-Needle Rug-Making!!

xoxo

jessica 

Estate of Mind

Have you ever been to an Estate sale? There was a time that I wouldn’t have even considered going to them. I felt that the word “Estate” implied “Expensive”; which at times it can, but what the word really means is “All of household items for sale”. I recently started going to a few that were advertised in the paper while I was in town after dropping the twins at Preschool. Sometimes I would see nothing that I wanted or was willing to pay a large sum for, but sometimes I would find some gems.
Let me show you what beauties I found this past Friday.

(I apologize for the picture placement, Internet Explorer and I are having a tiff)

Look at this HUGE sewing box filled with all of these treasures. There were so many unopened packages of stretch lace in a variety of colors and several packages of Hem facing, along with a fantastic bag filled with vintage buttons. There were also two hand crocheted pin cushions, pins, tailors chalk, grosgrain ribbon, thread and several sewing items. I don’t even know what I am going to do with the stretch lace, but WOW, what a treasure trove! I only paid $10 for the whole Kit-n-Kaboodle. That is less then what a new sewing box would cost, and I REALLY needed a new sewing box.

And take a look at these little vintage lovelies.

 6 yards of this posey lace,

4 yards each of these black laces and

7 yards of this embroidered linen.

The posey lace is my favorite of all these and they are each 6 inches wide, and the linen is 8 inches wide. I have NO idea what I will do with them yet, but they were too pretty to leave behind.
And then I found this.

No, it is not a table cloth. It is 6 ½ yards of 36 inch wide lace. It is delicate and soft and the edging is so lovely. I can imagine so many clothing options for this piece. Now, let me tell you the best part. I found all of the above lace in a room with a sign that said, “Fill a box for $5”. Yes Ma’am! I purchased all of that beautiful vintage yardage for five smackers. I also added a few other things to the box as well, so think 20 items. That is 25 cents and item. I KNOW, right?

Giddy with excitement, I strutted my way to the cashier to pay for my treasures, when I spied these.

Look at those delicious colors! This is a set of eight aluminum tumblers and an aluminum pitcher (which I have NEVER seen before). I have such fond childhood memories of using these rich hued tumblers when we would go camping in the mountains. I HAD to have them. They are such a wonderful outdoor serving set for sipping tea on our porch in the summer evenings. They were a splurge at $20, but even that is a great deal for these precious pearls from the past.

Now I realize that my purchases do not compare to Jessica’s Farmer and Flea finds, but I bought something that I needed, something that was a fantastic deal, and something that provided great memories, rich color, and fun to outdoor dining. I am happy with my $35 purchase.

Have you found some amazing things at an estate sale or yard sale? I encourage you to take a jaunt through an estate sale if you have never been. It takes very little of your time, but you may uncover some amazing treasures. And sometimes. . . items are marked 50% off the following day. . . Happy Tuesday!

Shannon

Farmer and Flea

It's market season!  Hooray!  Today I went to the Farmer's Market and the Flea Market. 
Here's what I scored:

An old white trunk for $20 (I think it looks very Anthro).  A vertical frame for $2, a bag of delicious, fresh tomatoes, and a basil plant.  Stay tuned on Monday to see what I have done with that frame...
happy mother's day all!
jessica

Thrifty Transformation

Looking through several DIY magazines this holiday, I was inspired to organize my crafting area a bit.  I found this little thing at a thrift store for $4, and decided it would be perfect for organizing ribbon, trims, buttons, etc.

Obviously it needed a little love.  

SO I  removed the little birdhouses, and bought a can of spray paint.  

I thought a happy blue would be nice. 

I painted it - not worrying about being perfect because

I wanted it to look old.  

Once the paint dried, I got out the sandpaper.  The trick to making something look vintage is to distress it in the areas it would normally be worn down.  

Such as around the knobs and corners, along the edges, or where light may have faded it.  

That was it!  Then I just filled it with lots of little notions -several of which I got for Christmas - thanks Jo!  

One step closer to a more organized chaos.  

Have a great Monday!

jessica

*Guest Post Thursday* - King of Consignment

Today we are going to learn a thing or two from my hubby.  

I will brag for a moment - he gets more deals and free things than anyone I have ever known.  Here are a few examples of things he has acquired for free:

baby grand piano

toyota camry

2 pottery kilns

I'm not kidding.  Isn't that crazy!!?!  Well, in addition to being a magnet for amazing free things, he also has a knack for finding great deals at thrift and consignment stores.  Want to know his secrets?

Here they are:

1. Go often - Thrift stores are very hit or miss. Find a few stores to frequent.  Often some stores are great for certain items but they never stock other items you want

2.  Don’t buy it just because it’s cheap - Only buy an item if you know you will use/wear it.

3.  Only buy things in good condition - A shirt that looks old and dingy is not cool and vintage; it is old and dingy.  If it does not fit right or has stains/tears/discoloring/needs repair - do not buy it. 

4.  Value and quality are important - $3 pair of Lucky Brand Jeans is a better value than buying a $3 pair of no name brand jeans

5.  Shop with specific items in mind - This eliminates the likelihood of buying things you don’t need and usually makes the trip quicker.  You won’t be overwhelmed as easily.

Here are some of my recent thrift store finds:

Wolverine Hiking Boots - Brand new @ wolverine.com $190

Brand new at Goodwill - $6

Shimano cycling shoes - Brand new price - $75-150

Barely used at Salvation Army - $1

Steve Madden casual shoes - $ 65-100

Barely used at Goodwill - $3

Perry Ellis portfolio dress pants - $45-60

New condition - $ 2

Quality dress shirts - $ 25-90

New condition - $1-5

Thanks Ryan!  We all like to learn how to stretch a buck or two.  Most of his clothes come from thrift stores, and because he shops for only quality items, you would never be able to tell. 

*BONUS TIP*  For finding free goodies he suggests joining freecycle.org or looking on the "free" section of your local craigslist.org

What are some of the best deals you've ever found at a thrift/consignment store?