Over 40...

Can someone please explain to me how, after a certain age, you suddenly have to pluck hair seemingly continuously from your face, neck and body and do so religiously but, one day, you catch the light a different way and find this....

(pardon my shocking computer drawing skills for what looks like a mattress spring coming out of her neck)

(no, that isn't me)

...which apparently has been growing for 3 months and you never noticed it before!  Just delightful.

Pear terrarium

Received my fine white sand!  I need to rearrange it a bit but otherwise I LOVE IT.  Seriously love it.  Like 'walk through that room on purpose as a detour so I can look at it and smile' love it.  I think I especially love the tiny little starfish and shell that Robin Charlotte from Etsy included with the plants.  I can't wait for the plants to grow up a bit now.

I had some sand left over so A made one in my rose bowl vase.  I think his actually looks better and I really like the addition of twigs.  I might have to get the sweet boy to rearrange mine for me.

Of course, now I have to buy more sand so E can make one (twist my arm - not).  Oh, looky that, I have a good reason to go to the thrift store again for a suitable vase/terrarium planter!  Oh wait, I would have gone anyway.... :-)

Thrift Store Tuesday - a bit early

Phew, those last few weeks flew by... between school and after school activities and dog stuff and health issues etc. etc. it is crazy around here!

Ok, well I promised to show some more of my thrifty finds and here they are!  After this, there are going to be some fantastic crafts coming up so stay tuned...

I found a bunch more (ok, 14) of these blue mason jars and they were cheaper than the other three I bought.  Of course, I probably have too many now but I am sure I will find a use for them... they are so pretty I couldn't resist!  This sweet little apothecary jar was just $1.  I am not sure what I am going to fill it with but I now understand my sister's obsession with all things glass - I love the sparkle and reflectiveness of it.  I am still a sucker for porcelain as well but glass and crystal is definitely working it's way in to my heart too.

I found these two leaf prints and knew exactly where I could put them in our living room.  They really make this little corner of our rental feel much more homey.  Funny how little touches can do that.

I am picking up just about every clean white planter I can at the moment.  I am hoping my little collection of indoor plants survive the winter with me (not known for my green thumb...).  I really love having indoor plants as my daughter is horribly intolerant of flowers (bad hayfever) so I very rarely have cut ones inside.  Which is a pity when you have a husband who loves to buy them!

This lovely is a vintage (antique?) crystal lampshade that I kept on seeing at the thrift store over weeks and weeks.  I don't know why but it just kept whispering to me (ok, anyone who antiques/flea markets etc. knows exactly what I am talking about!).  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but thought maybe it might look nice upside down on a candlestick.  So I went to that section of the thrift store....

and look at what I found....  perfect size to make this......

They fit together perfectly thanks to a large'ish cloche on the candlestick.  I have been umming and aahing over gluing it all together but think I will leave it loose so it will be easier to change the candle.  I really love how it came together.

But, the piece de resistance is saved for last!  I was having a quick wander through one of my regular haunts when I spied this high on a shelf above me (which probably wasn't very high if you saw how tall I am....)....

for only $5!!!  I grabbed it so fast I nearly got injured.

If you have been here awhile you might recall I have been coveting this one from Viva Terra.  I could not believe my luck.  So I immediately went on line and bought some air plants (from this shop on Etsy) and am waiting for my order of fine white sand (from Discount School Supply - love these guys!) to arrive.  So, for the princely sum of around $25 (including the plants and sand and shipping) I have what sells for $79.  Not bad!  I will show you how it looks after my sand arrives.

Thrift Store Tuesday

Look what I scored at the thrift store last week - a perfect fit for my cute little cake stand!  Actually I did get some other beauties as well but I will show you them later...

Jeggings to shorts recycle

My daughter has about 6 pairs of jeggings that she used almost the entire autumn and winter for school last year. They still fit her but the knees are worn through on most of them (some of them got patched for school).  I don't know how long we will have warmer weather for here in Minnesota* but to stretch her wardrobe for a bit longer I thought a bit of scissor action is all we needed.  I just cut the first leg and then folded the jeggings over to follow that cutting line on the other leg.  Then I used the cut off piece as a guide for the rest.

Now she has 6 pairs of long denim shorts.  Yay for recycling (upcycling?)!  She wouldn't even consider me hemming them so this is about one of the easiest clothing refashions you will ever do.  I will just have to snip off threads as they come loose over time I guess.  Now I just need to find another 6 pairs of jeggings in the next size up to last this coming winter...

(* since I wrote this, it has been feeling all autumn like here the last two days...  we missed a month of summer and don't feel ready for autumn yet!  please wait mother nature!)

Book racks

I was going to actually use these Ikea spice racks for ....wait for it.... spices!  Radical thought I know.  But then I saw all these great pictures of people using them for book racks so their destiny was changed.  There is a sofa sitting right next to that red table so it makes it easy for us to choose our favourite books to snuggle up and read.  A shout out to my wonderful landlady who doesn't mind me attaching things to walls.  She is awesome.