Burford Designs

Announcement from Grosgrain

This week Kathleen, from Grosgrain, will be offering a glimpse into a new (free) series she plans on offering next month. The series will be called From Semi-Scratch Sewing: Using small patterns to transform your wardrobe.  It will consist of individual patterns to use for thrift store refashions... something that I really love to do.

She will be taking a thrift store find and using a new sleeve or collar or skirt pattern that she has designed to transform the piece into something new and amazing and she will be offering that pattern in PDF for you to use yourself. 

 

This is what Kathleen wrote about her new series, “I really like the concept of taking an already sewn piece because it's a great way for beginners to start in their sewing journey without feeling overwhelmed. AND it's a great way to have a new piece in a much shorter time than sewing from scratch.”

 

She just finished up her latest series, Free Pattern Month, of free tutorials and patterns from guest bloggers and you can see any and or all of them on the sidebar at her Grosgrain Fabulous blog.

 

I know that I will be following along... how about you?

Bizarre Bazaars

Last Saturday Mommy and I spent the day going to different holiday bazaars, craft fairs and the Who Let the Girls Out event (originally written about here).  It was all very interesting and a lot of fun, although as I guessed, we did not make it to all of the events (we decided not to go to Blanchard because we spent all of our time at the other places).

 

We started our day going to the God’s Provision Holiday Bazaar.  The ladies from the thrift store stock up all year and it can be hit or miss for fabulous finds.  This year, everything seemed to be really pricey, and I wasn’t pleased with that (usually the prices are wonderful (as in great deals) or at least right on the mark and this time I just really wanted to hurry through because most things were marked $5.  I’m talking about things like Christmas tins that you can pick up at most garage sales or thrift stores for 25¢ or 50¢, definitely under a dollar, but $5, give me a break.  But I trudged through and meandered around the tables.

 

I did notice a few things that caught my eye, three things to be exact, and none of them were priced.  At most events (especially garage sales) I don’t like to ask the price unless it’s something that I REALLY want and I hate to ask when I believe the prices are already exorbitant.  After walking around the entire room I gathered the items that I wanted and looked around to find one of the volunteers to help me.

 

Caroline, a lady who works at the thrift store and knows Mommy and me from there came over and priced my items.  I asked about a bunny salt and pepper shaker set, a lidded soup tureen (that I would like to begin collecting), and a partial set of green clay plates and bowls.  I haven’t been able to take any pictures of those finds yet.

 

Although they aren’t open on Saturdays during the winter Caroline told Mommy that since the weather was pretty good the store was open and were having a dollar a bag sell so we should go check it out.  If the item doesn’t have a price on it then it can go for a dollar a bag, which is a plastic grocery sack.  Most clothing and items such as books have listed prices but are not individually priced, but larger or collectible items like a wedding dress or a Beatles album are individually priced and are therefore not included.

I purchased some clothing and Mommy got a few things.  Between the buildings there were two pretty neat sofas (one a full fledged couch and one more of a love seat) that were in need of some TLC but I really liked them.   I could totally see the couch recovered and with new legs as something that Baby Boy would want.

 

After that little spree we went to the Lioness Craft Fair at the junior high school.  We looked forward to this craft fair because it was pretty good last year and we were surprised by that.  This year, it was highly disappointing.  One of the first tables was a lady who was selling brown paper lunch bags covered in red construction paper and cotton balls trying to look like Santa.  At first I thought she was trying to sell something her kids had made, but when I asked who had made them she exclaimed that she had made it all herself.  In addition to her booth, there were a few stand out crafts people, but most of the tables were for different home businesses that sell their wares with home parties and from catalogs.  When I go to a “craft” fair then I expect the items to be handmade crafts otherwise just call it a bazaar then at least I know what I’m going to.

 

From there we went to Who Let the Girls Out, but that’s another post.

My Treasure

I actually purchased something when I was a vendor at Treasure on Foxwood.  Usually I am not a customer for several reasons, the first being that I rarely leave the booth other than for a potty break and the other reason is I try not to spend money when I am supposed to be making it.  This was one of those rare occasions when the deal was just too good to pass up.

 

Can you tell from this picture what my treasure is?

 

I first spied it during set up that Friday night (there were actually a couple of them but none like this one) and mentioned it to Mommy.  Then on Sunday while Mommy was talking to the vendor she mentioned my love for it and the lady said that she would give me a great deal if I really wanted it. Her daughter had spent a good time in my booth all weekend so all of us had gotten to know one another pretty well by then.

 

Her deal… $25… yep, twenty-five bucks for this beauty

 

I have wanted an old baby cradle/ bassinet for some time now and this white spindle beauty is over 100 years old and just perfect.

 

There was one years ago that I passed up that had the original lace cover but now I don’t mind giving it up.

 

I’ll let you in on great deal too… in the beginning the asking price was $125!

 

Amazing!

Fabulous Friday Finds

During that yard sale I wrote about last week, I also found a couple of other treasures (I just didn’t have them handy last week so I didn’t have pictures of them then).  The first find is the 2007 McDonalds Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz Dolls (sorry, no picture because I didn’t open them from their original packaging).  I’m still looking for most of the complete set of the 2008 dolls (especially the flying monkey and the munchkins) but was very happy to find these dolls mint in package.

This picture is what I have of the 2008 dolls

 

However the find I wanted to share was the jewelry I purchased.  I love jewelry, even broken jewelry, so to find this box with about five different old pearl necklaces was truly fabulous

 

just look at how gorgeous these clasps are (they were a find in and of themselves)

 

And this is all of the necklaces spread out so that I could see what I actually purchased.   

At first Mommy and I only thought that there were about three necklace so I was happy to see all of them. Right now they are going into my pearl jar (a small apothecary jar that I am putting broken pearl necklaces into) until I can figure out what I will do with them.

Fabulous Friday Finds

Here’s the latest installment of my Fabulous Friday Finds (I know it has been a little while since I last had a Fabulous Friday Find.  I’m not sure how frequent they will be, but for now I’m happy I have one to post.)

 

Last weekend while Mommy and I were driving to pick-up my treadmill we spotted a bunch of tents set up on the lawn next to a bar in a little po-dunk type town.  We pulled in to see what was happening because we figured it was probably a large yard sale… and it was.

 

Quite a few of the different “vendors” had ridiculous prices for pure junk so we quickly bypassed those tents and searched for real treasures and finds.  One booth caught my eye and I was able to pick up a few goodies that I’m always on the lookout for… like these darling gloves

 

There was also this vintage spool holder and not just because it is green and super cute, but because I was looking for a spinner unit similar to this one to hold my bobbins and had looked at one online the night before finding this treasure.  There were also six wooden spools with the best shades of green thread.

 

I also picked up this grouping of old sewing notions: an embroidery pattern, three cards filled with buttons and a roll of rust seam binding.  I love the buttons and can’t wait to see what I end up doing with the large yellowy gold ones… I have several possibilities in mind.

 

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

The Long Haul

Last week’s May Day sales were highly disappointing, however, that doesn’t mean we didn’t get stuff.  Normally Mommy and I only end up going to a few sales (because they are fabulous) and end our day early.  This past Saturday, we left the house at eight to get to some sales that began early and ended up back home at four (an entire work day) simply because we would not give up hope trying to find something spectacular.

 

Now, almost a week later, I would still have to write that it was pretty blah.  We did get some deals like a few boxes of fabric for fifty cents and Mommy bought a smoker for ten bucks (so we can have some home smoked salmon).  Don’t get me wrong, I am happy with my purchases, I was just saddened that at each sale there may have been one thing that I wanted and/or purchased.

 

This is a bunch of bags and boxes of stuff Mommy and I got.   A couple of bags are some cute clothing items I purchased.

I did get a flower press for $4.00… cheaper than making one myself and one less project for me to do.  Mommy bought the mirror that’s hiding behind the flower press.

Mommy also got this print that is currently living in the kitchen

she really likes it.

 

Hopefully upcoming sales will be better for us.

 

Happy Friday!!

May Day Sales

The first weekend in May is the official kick-off of yard sale season up here in northern Idaho and the one time a year there are actual traffic jams!  No fooling.  It’s quite a feat for a town of about 1700 people.  Although most of the sales begin today there were a few that started yesterday and Mommy got the jump on some of them...unfortunately I wasn’t able to go, I had to work, but that’s why I love Saturday.

I’m on the lookout for a few specific items, don’t know if I’ll find them, but the sales around here are always good for some blog fodder.  One of my favorite sale stories was the house that has various prosthetic limbs in different rooms.  I guess the couple was disabled and their kids wanted to sell EVERYTHING.  It was a little creepy and disturbing, but for me and my sense of humor it was hilarious.  I really wanted to buy something and send it to Baby Boy but held back.

I will be taking my camera along this time, whether I take pictures or not, but hopefully I’ll be back later today with some tales to tell and pictures to share.

Happy Saturday!

Time Off

I took the weekend off from most responsibilities and even most frivolities.  The one thing I did do was go to an antique show with Mommy to see if there was anything that interested us and to see what things were going for.  There were a lot of people there and I saw sales being made, it really just depended on what booth one was at and what items they had to sell.  I really like to look around, possibly get things to add to certain collections or as gifts, and to see things that I have (or Mommy and Daddy have) that someone has put value to.

 

There were a couple of things that I wanted but would still like to find them for a better deal like the printer’s type drawers…

 

There was also a lot of fabulous furniture and so many cabinets with all the different drawers and niches… that I don’t have the thousands of dollars to purchase…but I can dream.  There were also some really beautiful farm tables and lawyer bookcases at a bunch of booths.

 

The show was uneventful for us, other than giving me a break and some eye candy, and we both walked away empty handed. 

 

That doesn’t mean that our weekend was a complete bust….  While I drove around trying to find a couple of businesses that we wanted to stop at, Mommy and I spotted a business with a great deal on some old windows so we snatched them up and plan on completing several projects for the house and for the upcoming shows we will be selling at.  I’ll post pictures when we have them finished.

 

Overall, good times!

Good News – Sales Are On The Way

Another sign that spring is really on its way (no matter what the calendar reads, the weather, especially the snow tells a different story about what season it is) is the emergence of sales – garage, yard, estate, junk, etc.  There haven’t been too many since fall, even indoor ones are few a re far between because of the inclement weather, but I was informed the other day that there are some that are being planned.  One good thing about living in a small town is that I have made friends with a lady who runs a side business with her husband of holding garage sales and estate sales. 

Tudy and Lee (the abovementioned couple) will go to your house and do as much as needed to put on the sale.  They clean up, set-up, price everything, run the sale and the haul things off that didn’t sell if necessary.  The prices tend to be pretty reasonable so that’s always a good thing. 

Mommy and I met Tudy and Lee when we first moved up here simply by going to some of their sales.  We became familiar faces at their sales but we still weren’t quite on a first name basis, just simply recognized faces.  It wasn’t until I started working at the school district and found out that one of the ladies in the office was the Tudy and Lee’s daughter did I get to know them more.

Now, through this connection, I get to find out about the sales as they are being set up before the general public gets notified.   Here’s to happy hunting as the yard sale season begins.

Fabulous Friday Finds

Mommy and I both collect bits and pieces of dish patterns.  Sometimes it’s whatever strikes our fancy and other times we seek out specific pieces.  For the past couple of years Mommy has been on the lookout (and has found some pieces) of certain Christmas dishes and glasses that she has a few of already.

Recently she had a find of this lovely Zylstra fine bone china from England. The pattern is called Ada and reminds me of Tiffanys.  She has a couple of pieces already but we’ve never seen more that a piece or two at a time so this was a large haul for us.

 

This is a great picture of the set.

 

There were also a few of these pretty floral plates…so perfect for spring.

 

I love this rooster plate and it is green and cream (my faves).

 

And this crazed beauty. 

It reminds me of the Bordallo plates that I would love to have and learned more about here.

All of the above dishes were purchased earlier this week at the same place.  These attractive green rose plates were bought a few weeks ago.  There are several dinner plates and many salad plates as well.

 

Really, I’m all about mixing and matching china and other dinnerware.  I would love to have a large pantry collection to use when I want to have a pretty

tablescapes. 

 

Happy Friday and happy hunting!!