So I had this great idea...since I have buttons coming out of my ears, I decided to display them in my empty Frappuccino bottles. Really, they could be used for anything; beads, jewelry findings, sewing notions, even loose change! The possibilities are endless. I wanted a LOT of Frappuccino bottles, so I enlisted s few friends with a similar addiction to help me collect them. Soon enough I had Frappuccino bottles coming out my ears! Hubby says he's gonna blog me if I get anymore, lol! He's so funny :)

 First I washed them in hot, soapy water with a little bleach cleaner poured in. This step is important because you want to kill any bacteria that can make your buttons smell like rotten milk. I know because I have some. They stink! At first I didn't use bleach; in my haste to make this great button display I cleaned with soapy water, dried and added buttons. Later when I opened one to use the buttons, a horrible plastic/rotten milk stench came out! Whew! Needless to say, those first ones have to be re-cleaned and hopefully airing out the buttons will take away the smell. One of my friends rinsed the bottles they collected, keeping the lids off, and the other friend didn't. By the time I got around to cleaning my huge stash of bottles out, I was very happy with my friend that rinsed them for me!

Pinterest!!!

I found an awesome site named Pinterest; a photo sharing social media site like FaceBook, but without the whining! LOL. Users can compile their favorite things from any site on Pinboards on their profile, creating beautiful collages of collected items. Each pin keeps it's source code, so users can pin a recipe, for example, and when they're ready to make it, they click on the picture of that recipe, and they are instantly taken to the original blog or website where the recipe was found. Ingenious! Gone are the days of storing files of pictures & text docs on your hard drive, taking up space and taking 100X longer to set up! Pinning takes a moment; one can easily amass thousands of pins in a matter of days (trust me, I did!) I'm hopelessly addicted to Pinterest, and I know you'll love it too! It's the ultimate organizational tool :)

Here are just a few of my boards: Party Ideas, Beautiful Places, Vintage Goodness Organize it! & Jewelry.

Follow me on 

Christmas Projects

I know Christmas is over, but I'm finally getting time to blog about some fun projects I worked on. This fruit tree was fun but time-consuming. First I cut out shapes with tiny cookie cutters from Michael's in star, flower & bell shapes. Then, using a 9" foam cone and a box of toothpicks, I began attaching the fruit to the cone in a varying pattern. I tried not to put any two colors together, which gives the tree more interest. I started at the bottom & worked my way up, filling in small spaces with cranberries & blueberries. It was helpful to cut the toothpicks in half with my wire cutters using short ones for most of the fruit. For the strawberries, I used 3 uncut toothpicks to stabilize them, since they were so heavy & large. Oh, make sure you start out with a nice plate too; you don't want to move the tree onto one afterwards! Credit: Thethriftymama

 

The gingerbread house was a kit that I bought at Michael's as well. It came with everything you need, including instructions. This took several hours, depending on how detailed your decorations become. I displayed these at our church's New Year's Eve Game Night, and they were a hit! Something naughty & nice ;)

New Presents!

I was so excited to receive 2 items this week to use as displays for my Saturday Market booth! Woohoo! I can't wait to use them. First there's this lovely spinning double-decker display from http://www.rustyvintage.etsy.com/:

Here's how I plan to utilize this lovely display:

Yay! It's the perfect display for my Vintage Button stretch bracelets! When I make enough to fill it, I'll add the top spinner. What a great vintage find! Thanks, Sue! Visit Sue's Etsy shop here to see all kinds of great vintage things.


   This morning, my mailman knocked on my door, (much to my dog's delight and to my annoyance as she woudn't stop barking, which in turn madethe birds go off!) bringing a package containing this lovely glass cabinet:

And look! Inside there's a present! For me!

 Hehehe, How exciting! What could it be?

It's a packageof lovely Silk Swarovski bicone beads! How could she have known what my heart's desire was? I LOVE beads, and next to gemstones, Swarovski's are my fave. Awesome! Thank you, Barbara, from ionesattic on Etsy. Click here to see her beautiful shop full of vintage lovelies!
 

New Buttons!!!!!

Wow, this is the week of beautiful packaging (that obviously took so much time & effort) from Etsy vendors! I was thrilled to open this lovely package, but first I had to take pictures to save it's charm forever!

 I LOVE the sweet Bible verse attached: John 3:17; one of my all-time favorites, and it's nice to unexpectedly meet up with fellow believers out there :)

 And inside that was another CUTE card with some free buttons stitched securely to a cut-out cardstock flower with a raffia bow:)

Inside that was what I actually ordered: 10 dark blue buttons.......

...to use on my stretchy, vintage button bracelets:

Thank you, Jennifer! I will definitely be back. If you want to see her kippyssomature Etsy shop and order some of her beautifully packaged items, click here. Here's a sampling of what's in her store:

Buttons, Embellishments, artisan designed pretty paper, needle felted animals quite woolly, a bit wild, very cute! Independent artisan designed lovely cardstock paper, supplies and more!

Vintage Buttons From Zzlaca

I am so excited! This morning I opened my mailbox to find a beautifully wrapped package of goodies from my friend Zsa Zsa! We did a trade on Etsy, she for beads, and I for these lovely vintage buttons & rhinestones:

I can't wait to use these! They're so feminine & sparkly. You can visit Zsa Zsa's Etsy shop here. Thank you, Zsa Zsa! Everyone, stay posted for my new creations using these lovelies :)

New Jewels!

This necklace is almost like a lei when it adorns your neck! I designed this necklace using a large link sterling chain with clustered gemstones and pearls attached so it can be worn as a 4-strand bracelet, a choker, or a long necklace- it's quite versatile! Smoky quartz, amazonite, moonstone, prasiolite (green amethyst), freshwater pearl, lemon quartz, citrine, labradorite, rutilated quartz, chalcedony, phrenite, coral & sweet little glass bezel-framed window links come together delightfully to form this one-of-a-kind statement piece. Enjoy!

Fully adjustable from 15 1/4" to 23"

To buy, click this link:
http://bit.ly/ZVWmJ