Break Time

After about a year and three-quarters, I am putting my blog on a hiatus while I will be busy with other things.  Thanks to all who have stopped by in that time.  Best wishes to you!

Diane

Smashing Bob And An Answer

I added another page to my favorite quotes Smash book last week. I have a few old postcards in my paper stash and chose this one as I thought it looked a bit Bob Ross-ish. I also knew I had some scrapbook paper with paint brushes on it but could not find it. So I resorted to painting a brush right on the paper.  It didn't take watercolors too well, but good enough.  And, yes, I came across the paper with the paint brushes a couple of days later.  Too late!

I had to show this odd little note that is on the back of the postcard.  Isn't it strange? The postmark is hard to make out, but I think it reads 1907.  Think Mary was on a special diet?

Here is the answer to yesterday's little quiz.  That Mammy type doll I posted is a decorated bell.  I had never seen anything like that before, but I did find some on Etsy and Ebay.  A few were souvenirs of New Orleans.

Have a bell ringer of a day out there!

Funny Day At The Thrifts

A couple of days ago I found this object at one of my local thrift stores.  It must be pretty old by the look and feel of the fabric. Do you know what it is? Apparently it was a somewhat popular thing to make. If you're stumped, check back tomorrow, I'll reveal its true function.

So why in the world is she showing us boxes of toothpicks? At a second thrift store that day, I saw a crocheted potholder that I knew I had seen recently somewhere else-- which is weird.  Where would I have gone to see an old crocheted potholder? Then I saw a stack of toothpick boxes and it dawned on me-- a garage sale. I had seen both at a garage sale a couple weeks before. I thought about buying a couple boxes of toothpicks since I use them for applying glue when crafting, but I got distracted by something else and forgot to buy them. The garage sale folks must have donated these items to the thrift store after their sale. So the toothpicks found me after all.

Hope your day isn't too weird!

Wacky Answer

Ovaltine was the product spoofed on yesterday's (10-22-13) Wacky Pack.  Very interesting history-- did you know Ovaltine was developed in Switzerland over 100 years ago?  Here is a link for you trivia buffs.

Murals

Once upon a time, I was younger, healthier and undertook projects like this. These are two murals I painted 14 years ago on my front porch. Taken from photos in magazines, I used ordinary tempera paints that have held up rather well. That bird is not painted by the way; it's one of those that "fly" when you pull a string underneath.

An older neighbor told me there were windows on these two walls years ago.  They were covered over (or taken out) when the house was sided, probably in the 60s or energy conscious 70s.

The real views on the other sides of these walls look nothing like what I painted. Kind of a nice escape.

Have a fanciful day!

Wacky Pack Wednesday

Looking for a beverage to serve at your Halloween party? Try some Eviltime! If you've ever seen A Christmas Story, you might remember the radio show Little Orphan Annie was sponsored by this product. "A crummy commercial?!"

Have a good day!

TT/Autumn

Very seasonal theme this week at Tag Tuesday: Autumn. The apples background is from a scrapbook paper I had so decided to use that. Apples are rather fall-ish. Especially taffy apples-- yum!

What is your favorite apple to eat? I'm partial to Red Delicious.

The Day After

You'll be thrilled to know I survived our garage sale yesterday. The weather cooperated I'm happy to report with the exception of a few wind gusts. Many of my handmade note cards and such sold. I must admit I'm kind of surprised about that.

Didn't sell much vintage dishes at all.  Surprised about that too.

The books didn't move either. What did sell? Some electronic equipment, kids' clothing, mother-in-law tongue plants-- believe it or not. I separated some of my plants and sold 4 large pots worth.

So it just goes to show, you can never be sure what will and will not sell at a garage sale. And I am in no big hurry to do this again!

Happy Sunday!

Clanky Thrifts

I hit two thrifts stores (hmm... sounds like I robbed them, no I paid for these items) on Wednesday and bought 75% metal objects.  Odd coincidence. The old loaf pan I plan to "upcycle" with painted numbers or a word on the side to be used as storage. I haven't decided just what yet. The other two tins will go on Etsy. The clown one is pretty cool. I know not everyone is a fan of clowns, but the style and colors look 60s to me (and they're not scary). The other tin is a very traditional holly design. I have a smaller tin in this same pattern I put out at Christmas.

And here is the other 25% of my haul that did not "clank" when I was getting in my back door (almost fell out of the too small bag however!). A rather large (about 14 x 17) needlepoint picture. Isn't it pretty?  I really like the colors.  The frame doesn't impress me.  If I was keeping it, I would replace it ASAP but will try selling it on Etsy.

Hope you are enjoying your Saturday-- we are having our garage sale.  Will report on that tomorrow (if I survive).

Leaf Tour

I walked around my yard a couple of days ago and shot some leaves just as is-- didn't move any. As you can see, some are still turning here.

Hope you have a nice Fall day!

Wacky Answer

Yesterday's (10-16-13) Wacky sticker just goes to show even wolfmen can be vain. Apparently "Just For Men" found a new market.  Ha, ha...

Thrifty Books

I found a nice selection of vintage children's book at a local garage sale this past Sunday, believe it or not. A few my daughter wants, a few will go in the Etsy shop, and the Spook book is being added to my Halloween book collection. I really like the cover. Oh, and the Donald Duck box on the bottom is a jigsaw puzzle.

Get the price on this one.  I've said it before: what ever happened to that world?

I will be linking to The Thrifty Groove with prices like that!  Have a nice Thursday.

Wacky Pack Wednesday

Another Halloween type Wacky for this week. This is a newer one, but it still makes me chuckle.  Get the color name; LIGHT by the full moon BROWN.

Have a howling good day!

TT/Shoes

"Shoes" is the theme over at Tag Tuesday this week. Since I had a photo of my old ice skates from a post last winter, I decided to use that even though it's a bit ahead of the season. Personally I can live without seeing snow in October. The music and text are from an old piece of sheet music. 

So what kind of shoes do you have on today? Sneakers for me.

Hallmark Ornament

I don't think I've ever shown a new product on my blog before, but I thought this was cute enough to share. Every year I buy a special Christmas ornament for my daughter, and we recently spied this one at our local Hallmark store (plus I had a five dollar off coupon). The bottom doors open, there is a towel hanging on the side rack, the back is finished to look like outdoor siding-- it's really fun. By the way, I don't own Hallmark stock or anything; just thought this was sweet!

Have a fun, little day out there! Happy Columbus Day!

Smashing Simple Quotes

I finished two more pages in my "Quotes" Smash book. Both quotes are pretty simple and to the point so I kept the designs simple too. The cowgirl on the right is one of the original Smash pages.  I might just leave that as is.

Happy Sunday!

Garage Sale Love And Hate

My daughter talked me into having a garage sale this Fall.  Or course, it has rained every weekend since I've been ready. The exquisite items for sale are accumulating on my front porch, waiting for a sunny Saturday.  

I usually hit a couple sales every Friday or Saturday in my area which is often a waste of gas more than anything.  Here is my haul for 45 minutes worth of driving yesterday. A bag of ribbon for crafting and package wrapping. A dog book for my daughter, and a Hollywood issue of AD that I didn't already own. That's it. I think when advertising garage sales, sellers should be required to label them truthfully such as:
The Nowhere To Park Sale
The Baby Sale
The Nothing Here Made Before 1992 Sale
The I Didn't Bother To Clean Anything Sale
The I Didn't Bother To Price Anything Sale
The I Have Less Stuff Than You Just Donated To Amvets Sale
The Overpriced Clothing Sale
Hmm.. did I miss any?  Feel free to add to my list.

I have found some nice things at sales over the years.  Here are garage sale purchases from Summer's past that I currently use as decor. The bottom leather looking thing is an old horse bridle.

Have a nice day and here's to no rain next Saturday!

Wacky Answer

Yesterday's (10-9-13) Wacky was an easy one. Not much of a stretch from Windex to Windhex.  Did you know Windex has been around since 1933?

Faces

"Faces" is the theme at Inspiration Avenue this week so I decided to "Smash" some famous faces in my "Favorites" book. If you don't recognize all of them, click on the picture to read their names on the right. The quote is from the film Sunset Boulevard. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

Almost Friday!

Wacky Pack Wednesday

In keeping with the Halloween theme for Wackys this month, here is an oldie but a goodie.  Just the thing for cleaning a haunted house. Who remembers this pump type sprayer?? 

Enjoy your day!

TT/Tattered and Torn

Tag Tuesday's theme this week is "Tattered and Torn." So I used the picture of this 1891 Psalm book from my Etsy shop.  It's very tattered. The background text is from an equally tattered pocket Bible I've had forever. The copy of the signature tucked under the string is from the inside of the Psalm book dated 1894. As you can tell, I then abused the poor tag; roughed up the edges, inked them, tore the hole, taped it... It was kind of fun not to worry about smudges or glue marks. It will be interesting to see what the other taggers come up with.

Happy Tuesday!

Smashing Art and Smashing On

I "smashed" two more pages in my "Favorites" Smash Book. I chose favorite paintings. I imagine most folks will recognize at least a couple of them. Click on the photo if you want to read the small print.

And... yes, I bought 2 more books.  Amazon had them as "add-on" items for five bucks each.  Too good to pass up as I was ordering from them anyway (started Xmas shopping).

I decided to use one for favorite quotes and finished one page so far.

Happy Saturday-- hope you see some flowers!

Train ATC

Think Monday, Think ATC has an intriguing theme this week: Train.  I have several old playing cards in my collage stash that feature trains.  I liked the bright green on this one.

All aboard!

Wacky Answer

So who wants to give away their age by admitting they drank Tang in the 70s?  I did, although I never much cared for it. We even had a Tang pitcher-- narrow glass with an orange top. Tang goes back to 1959 but didn't catch on until the '60s when NASA began to use it. The inventor also came up with Cool Whip and Pop Rocks among other products.  Who knew?  So for anyone who was dumbfounded by yesterday's (10-2-13) Wacky, Fang, it was Tang.

Wacky Pack Wednesday

I decided to go with Halloween type Wackys again this year for the month of October. Up first, is an old favorite of mine. I read they still make it-- I haven't had any since the 70s! It definitely no longer comes in a glass jar.

Enjoy your day!

TT/Beads, Buttons, and Bows

Tag Tuesday is using embellishments this week as the theme is "Beads, Buttons, and Bows."  I don't have many beads, and when I read the theme, I thought of the old song "Buttons and Bows" from the movie The Paleface with Jane Russell and Bob Hope. So I found an image of the sheet music and went from there.

Now try not to get that song stuck in your head-- I've done enough of that lately to cover everyone!