Pallet Make-Over

Take a look at this transformation!

Before - old shipping pallets left in a dumpster.

After - Santa's Shipping Crate.

We cut the crate up and threw away the side supports, then screwed the sides and bottom together to

form a 12" x 24" crate, painted it Fire Engine Red and painted the letters. 

Topped it off with a coat of dark stain.

This will be great for display at the craft shows and because it turned out so cute, I will be making a few to sell.  Wouldn't this be cute on your kitchen counter with candy jars in it or maybe on Christmas morning filled with assorted coffee mugs and a steaming pot of coffee!

I don't get it!

Do you Tweet?

Do you post your latest creations on Flickr? 

 Do you constantly update your Facebook wall?

Well I don't!

(OK, I said it and I can hear your gasp from here!)

 I know I should, or at least that is what every crafting business blog post and online article says I should be doing. I get bombarded by Etsy's weekly newsletters and forum posts telling me how Social Networking is the only way to get my products noticed, and that you really should, no let me change that to must, do all this to keep people informed of your every move.

GET OVER IT!

Here is a news flash! You and I are not that important.  People are not hanging on every word I speak or thought I think, so why would I Tweet? I like real people and real conversations, so why would I want to just post a random blurb on my Facebook Wall?  I want to connect with the people who read my blog or buy my things.  I find inspiration in human contact and honestly who has that much to say about themselves!

Do you remember what it was like when you were young and your parents didn't seem to be able to do anything with technology?  They didn't seem to understand cable TV, or how to program a VCR and God forbid the electricity would go out and they needed help resetting everything.  (My in-laws thought if they hid the remote control to the television no one could steal it because they wouldn't be able to turn it on!) 

I'm not that bad, but I must confess I don't know how to use my cell phone to it's fullest and I don't even have a "smart" phone and more than once I have told someone that I don't know my own cell phone number.  I'm not afraid of technology, I just want to un-plug from a few things!  I want to be free from Tweets, Facebook updates, text messages and email. Being disconnected is wonderful,  I love running with scissors and working without a net, this is true relaxation!

But I will drag myself into this century and find the balance between Social Networking and being Social.  I am going to make a big effort to learn how to use Facebook efficiently and learn my cell phone number! Tell me how you navigate social networking. Where do you find the right balance and what are some of your best tricks on how to stay in touch.

So someday I can say "follow me" on:

 

Fast and Easy Fix

I told you I would be back on Friday and here I am to share with you our newest re-do.

We found this great sofa table at Goodwill for only $5.99!

It had great bones but the side rails were missing and it was a little wobbly.

And now it is a beautiful addition to my craft show set-up.

It is amazing what a little black spray paint, some sandpaper and paste wax can do!

Mr. MySpareTime added the leg supports and that fixed the wobble, he sprayed the legs black, sanded the edges for a time worn look and then finished it off with a good coat of paste wax and a good buff.  (He left the top the natural stain)  Bet someone tries to buy this at the first show!

Talk to you on Tuesday.

Scored!

Yesterday, Mr. MySpareTime said that we needed a break from all the websites, blogs, craft show stuff and kids, and that we need a day to play.  We headed out for lunch and a treasure hunt!  I had several things in mind that I wanted to look for and this was the perfect opportunity to find them.  I needed small odd shaped bottles for a big Christmas gift for my Santa Exchange.  Usually I just tell Mr. MySpareTime what I want and he goes into "scanning mode" and comes up with some great things.  Well today was no different!

Our first SCORE were these humble (and obviously dirty) vintage Christmas glasses.

There is a long story behind these glasses and they have a special place at my holiday table.  Many years ago, 28 to be exact, Arby's was giving these away if you bought their breakfast sandwich.  I didn't eat breakfast sandwiches, but I wanted these glasses.  So my dear brother-in-law, Dan, ate an Arby's breakfast sandwich every morning for 8 days to get me those glasses as my Christmas gift, and these Arby's glasses have been on my Christmas table ever since.  Well, when we all had kids and they grew up and were able to eat that the "Big" table I needed more glasses.  I searched EBay and found 4 more and the tradition continued.  Well fast forward to yesterday, and we were in Goodwill and Mr. MySpareTime brought them over to me and knew they were destined for our house.  All of the kids are now grown; some have married and some have girlfriends, but I have enough glasses for everyone!

Here are a few more of the assorted things I found! 

Just "stuff" to use in my crafts, or for Halloween decorating. I am consumed with Halloween right now, well to be honest I have been all summer.  I caught the bug when I found a vintage Ouija Board on EBay and had to have it.  Many of these treasures will show up in later posts transformed into something else (except the olive boat - I lost mine and found this one for $2)

I have so much more to show you but I will save that for Friday. Okay, I know that is tomorrow, but I hear a glass of wine calling my name and I must heed the call.

Talk to you on Friday.

I Have News!

If you love Primitives and are a primitive crafter, customer or just love talking about Prims then A Primitive Journey Community is the place for you. 

This community is full of wonderful women who all have things in common.  There are wonderful tutorials, informative crafting information, links to wonderful sites and super friendly members who welcome you with open arms.  Diane, from A Primitive Journey, has come up with a great idea, Primitive Chapters all over the country.  Each Chapter will meet the 3rd Saturday of every month, each meeting will be planned by a different member of that particular chapter on a rotating basis, meetings can include primitive shopping, antique shopping, going out for lunch as a group, crafting day, crafting classes etc... whatever you can come up with that is FUN and agreed upon by your members.

The chapters are intended to bring together like minded gals, for friendship, crafting, learning and networking, but you have to be a member of the Primitive Journey Community to join.  So hop on over to the Community and sign up, then let Diane know you are interested in joining a chapter and then let the fun begin!

In an earlier post I showed you the cabinet I found at Goodwill.

Well take a look at that baby now!

What a perfect piece for display in my booth.

All the displays in my booth are primitive black.  I think it makes the things inside pop out. Mr. MySpareTime fixed the wobble in it and then I painted it and added the vintage style glass knobs.  The cabinet was $29 at Goodwill, the Kilz base coat paint was $25, black paint was free (used it on my office desk) and I already had the knobs from something I took apart!  I don't think I could have found a piece any better for under $55!  You watch someone will try and buy it at the craft shows. 

Well better get to work, have a long weekend ahead of me. Thanks for stopping by, talk to you on Tuesday.

Buried Alive!

Do you ever feel like the more you work the more behind you become?  A couple of weeks ago I felt like I was so far behind on painting that I would never be ready for my first show. (That darn little widget on the right hand side of my blog is taunting me!) So for over a month now, I have been really trying to get a regular painting schedule. 

A few days ago I thought, boy I'm tearing right through this stuff and then the next day didn't hardly get anything accomplished.  I guess even though you work on several things if they are not completed you don't feel like you have gotten much done.  Like I've mentioned before, I like to work on several pieces at one time, that eliminates the wait for drying. So the studio is filling up with almost finished Santa's and Snowmen and the game room is starting to have almost as many finished pieces and unfinished pieces, but the work continues.

And who could get any work done with this little friend hanging around?  My husband calls him Mr. Stinky but that cat has him wrapped around his paw, he is a real people cat.

I also wanted to show you all the cutest things ever.  I love Halloween and have been hitting Etsy pretty hard lately.  I found this wonderful Etsy Shop, Northwind Star, that has such great things and at such reasonable prices.  The first thing I bought was "Buzzy" her wonderful buzzard.

Then Buzzy needed friends, so I got three of her fantastic bats.

 And to save on shipping (wink,wink) I added something else to my shopping cart. 

I thought this wonderful cornucopia would be perfect all through the Fall season.

You know right now Fall seems a long way off, but I put up my Fall decor around the first of September, that is only 49 days. EEK!  I better get off here and head back over to Etsy, I had my eye on some adorable Black Cat Ornies!

Talk to you on Friday.

Back to Work!

Well, the holiday is over and time to get back to work.  The 4th of July was kind of a bust here in South Texas, it rained very hard all day on Saturday and finally cleared up late Saturday evening.  It has been so very hot here and that coupled with all the rain made for the perfect sauna, so most folks stayed inside and that included me!

I had a goal for myself, and as usual I didn't quite make it.  I think I have my target set to high, but if you don't aim high you never get anywhere!  I have all my large wooden Fall and Snowmen cut, painted and assembled.  Now I need to finish about half of them and I will be able to put those things behind me and move on to Santa's.  We got two sets of the Santa's cut and sanded this last weekend and have about 12 more sets to go!  I was hoping to get all the Fall and Snowmen completed by the 4th, but came close. 

Well in my "Spare Time"  I thought that I wanted to add handmade potpourri, room sprays and primitive tin can soy candles to my craft shows and website.  My husband said "Absolutely NO!  I was already spread too thin and I couldn't take on anything more right now".  But I know they would be a great seller at the shows and I already knew what I wanted, my only problem was finding the time to do it.  Well ask and you shall receive!  I was talking about it at the dinner table and my youngest son, Graham and his girlfriend, Ashley, were there.  I just asked in passing would you all be interested in starting a small craft business and make the coordinating room sprays, potpourri and soy candles for me.  They jumped at the chance.  Problem solved! Now I have my youngest son in the craft business.

Mr. MySpareTime always says I think to much about stuff, but I don't like surprises and I just want to be prepared. So along with all the other things going on this weekend I got to thinking about my craft booth. I have always been very proud of the way our booth looks at shows and feel like we go the extra mile to make our displays look inviting.

And now with the addition of many more small items and the room sprays, candles and such I needed a new display.  I don't like my things to be expensive or store bought, I like for them to be upcycled items that we find or purchase at thrift stores or garage sales.  I knew exactly what I wanted but was having a hard time describing it to my husband, head of the production department.  I needed to run some errands yesterday and look what was waiting on me at Goodwill!  Score!!!

This is just what I wanted!  It needs some fixin up, but nothing big, just a little trim and some paint and it will be good to go.  What a perfect addition to my set up.  It has space for the stuff I am getting from Graham and Ashley and extra display space on top and doors to open and display handpainted holiday tea towels and maybe inside a place for pillows and such.  I will keep you posted as to the transformation.

Well better get busy around here, got a lot of orders over the three day weekend and need to start on that.

Talk to you Friday.

Featured Crafter!

Hey, just wanted to let you all know that one of the websites I own, Kraft Outlet, has been named the Featured Crafter at Honey Creek Market.

Stop on over and check out the advertising opportunities that Kristie has to offer.

At Kraft Outlet we sell all kinds of Kraft Paper products for the artist, crafter and small businesses.

I am headed to the garage to stain about 25 items I have ready.  I try to do all that messy work at one time.  We are having rain today, leftovers from that hurricane, so it will probably take forever for this stuff to dry.

I will talk to you all on Tuesday!