Sorry it’s been quiet the past week or so. We took a week to visit friends and family, and I took a break from the computer/social media/my phone (or at least tried to). It was very relaxing, and it was awesome getting to celebrate my mom achieving one of her life-long dreams to walk in commencement for her AA degree. Go, mom! A few weeks ago, in an effort to raise funds to re-do the house, I held a yard sale. Aside from nearly everyone asking how much we’d take for Bean (sorry, he’s priceless), I have a few funny stories to share with you. Part of my sale included several items from a friend who was moving and didn’t have the time/space to hold her own. One of the boxes she brought me contained a smaller box, which looked like a bracelet or watch box. Inside the box was a foam frame, which looked to me like it had held a pen, with a smaller slot on each side, each containing an AAA battery to the exact dimensions of said batteries. I was confused, and intended to take the box back into the house, but got caught up in laying everything out and forgot about it. Later, someone was going through my sale, and held the box up for my attention. “Are you seriously trying to sell an empty box with batteries?!” The question was posed to me incredulously. Apparently - and I had no idea - I had broken part of the sacred code of yard sales. Oops! Another box from my friend contained several DVDs. A lady interested in several stated that she always checked to make sure that the DVD was in the case, since she had previously purchased several at a yard sale and come home with empty cases. I told her that I totally understood her need to check, but that I was trustworthy and would never try to scam anyone. The first one she opened was empty. 0.0 To my friend’s defense, I know she didn’t mean to give me an empty case, and both the yard saler and I laughed it off. I still love you, L! One of my personal items in the yard sale was a solid wood nightstand. It’s a pretty thing, it just doesn’t match the look we’re going for, and it’s only one and I need symmetry. An older lady asked me what I was selling it for, and I told her that I was asking $30 for it (more than reasonable, in my book). She got really excited, and asked if I could load it into her car for her. As I was going to pick it up, another lady asked what I was taking for it, and I informed her, regrettably, that it had already been sold. As I walked towards the first lady’s car, the second lady left disappointed, got into hers, and drove away. When I got to the back of the first lady’s car, I noticed that she had three $1 bills in her hand. Three. Dollars. That was one big pile of Nope for me. As we stood at the back of her car, hatchback raised in anticipation of a new nightstand, I repeated myself. “I’m sorry, we’re asking $30 for the nightstand, not $3.” She gave me a look of shock, then of disappointment. She said didn’t have $30 on her, and even if she did, she obviously didn’t think the table was worth it. The table is back in the house, waiting for my next shot at a yard sale this weekend. I have to tell on myself with this one. All of the curtains in our house I have despised since before I moved here. I had planned to replace them as the first thing, but never got around to it. When a lady asked if I had any curtains for sale, I overzealously raced into the house to pull down a couple panels. In my hurry to get rid of them and make a sale, I undersold myself less than half of what they were worth. -_- HOWEVER! During our trip last week, we were able to find replacement curtains that I LOVE for a very good deal at a discount store, so all is righted. I still have a couple of piles of random things around the house, and I really hope to get rid of them this weekend. I’m also about to go through the one room I skipped when collecting things for the sale – the bathroom – and hopefully come up with a few more things (like hair accessories and nail polish I never use). Fingers crossed! Have you ever had something funny happen to you at a yard sale/flea market/etc? Tell me about it!
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This has to be one of my favorite projects so far. I love the organized chaos of it! I've been seeing this project all over Pinterest and have been dying to do it myself. Even though I'm posting this in May, I did finish it last week, so it still counts for April ;) Since I'm trying to keep costs down, I used as much as I could of what I already had on hand. I already had the white acrylic paint and paintbrush, Bear already had the nails and hammer. I got the plaque and nail-in hangers at Hobby Lobby for <$5 a couple months ago for something else, but ended up not using either. There were several hangers in the pack, so I got to use one for this project and have a couple left over. I'll probably use one or two for my birch tree painting so that I can actually hang it up and not have it sitting on a shelf. The only thing I needed (not pictured) was the yarn. I got finger weight cotton yarn at Hobby Lobby for <$3. The nails Bear had ended up being a little too big, so I got some 3/4" (18 gauge) nails at Wal Mart for <$2. Altogether, the project cost me less than $10, which is awesome, since finished products like this easily cost $25+. I started by applying a few layers of white acrylic paint, then let it dry overnight. In the meantime, I printed up the silhouette of the bear I used as an inspiration for my logo. The next day, once the paint was dry, I taped the silhouette to the plaque as centered as I could, and nailed around the outline. Once I finished nailing, I carefully pulled up the tape and tore off the paper. It was way easier than I thought it would be, and Bean even got to help some! Bear had an excellent suggestion! In order to string the nails easier, I took apart a cheap pen I had, leaving myself with just the shell. I pulled the yarn through from the back out through the tip, knotted the end on a nail, and started stringing! This was by far my favorite part of the project. There was so much freedom in wrapping around random nails and watching the bear appear, with no specific steps to take. I made sure to wrap around each nail at least once, though some got 2-3 times, especially in the smaller places. Then I tied it off with Bear's help (seriously, 4 hands were needed for that part), and Bear hammered the hanger in the back, and it was all done! I honestly wouldn't mind having several of these around the house. I already have some ideas for pieces to do as gifts for specific people. (Can't say who or what yet, don't want to ruin it!) What would you do if you did one? Your state? An animal? Specific character?
Did this inspire you? I'd love to see any projects that you have! |
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AuthorMama Bear of one Baby Bear, Bean, who both love Papa Bear, and live in a crafty, gluten-free cozy den. Archives
June 2017
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