Funky Junk Friday & Some Thrift Store Finds

I didn’t bring a lot home from funky junk last night, but I’m pretty happy with what I found:

Two square fabric prints – those are the things in the background of the photo, I’m pretty sure they have some kind of purpose, but I’m not sure what it is, they are just cute, very “country cottage”.

Four magazines from the 70’s – 3 of them are mon tricot knit & crochet, the other one is fashion maker. They had some good patterns and simple instructions for when I eventually learn to crochet.

A little white basket – cute.

A cream (coloured) milk jug – to add to my fast growing collection of tea set items I really don’t need but can’t help myself.

A little terracotta pot – potential.

A glass candle holder – this is definitely supposed to have some kind of holder with it, but I’m sure I can improvise.

Some more doily things – Another thing I seem to be collecting now.

One of the things I forgot to mention in my last funky junk post is the vast amounts of fabric scraps, sample blocks, off cuts and half finished sewing projects that are at funky junk. I really have to try to stop myself from bringing it all home, because I am bringing home fabric faster than I can use it, and it is piling up. Last night I found some black polar fleece which is probably big enough to make a dress or something for one of the kids. Also a few smaller bits of fabric with cute prints, for smaller projects or possibly one day to make a quilt. And on top of the black polar fleece you can see a few little things like lace scraps which are great for embellishments, bias binding, a set of needles (because I am always loosing mine) and some elastic.

And then there’s the wooden beads (sitting on top) for my daughter to use when she makes pipe cleaner bracelets.

These are some other funky junk finds from a while ago. On the bottom is a couple of vintage aprons, another collection that is growing, but I don’t know what I’m going to do with them because a. I can’t wear them, they make me look frumpy and as much as I would love to have the 50’s housewife look going on, I don’t think I’ll ever have the waistline for aprons, and b. they are too cute as aprons to make them into anything else. They will probably just end up in the dress-up box.

Above that are some pages out of a publication called “Child Education” mostly dated in the 60’s, with some in 1952. I just loved the pictures of birds and flowers, but there are other things like big fold out posters of park scenes and instructions for making things like improvised drama accessories and a railway station model. Lots of vintage goodness.

Then there is a very vintage (1955) Home Chat magazine. The advertisements in there are awesome, I love the really ridiculous things that they advertise like “Freezone – amazing liquid corn remover”, “Germloids – for the effective treatment of haemorrhoids” and “Sorella Foam Bath – for slenderizing”. I mean really, who in there right mind would believe that having a special foam bath could make you lose weight.

Ok, now for some thrift store finds. I had to walk past my local thrift store yesterday on the way to catch the bus, and I could NOT walk past without going in. I am a pathological thrifter. Hello my name is Rhiannon and I’m a thriftoholic.

In the background is a gorgeous silk (?) scarf but the photo doesn’t really show the awesomeness of the blue & black print.

On the left is a piece of cute floral sheer fabric, I haven’t opened it up so I don’t know how big it is, but it feels fairly big.

Some more heart things like the ones here, these ones are pale purple, I guess you’d call it lilac.

A little blue jar, the most expensive thing I bought at $2.50, but I couldn’t resist.

A pottery milk jug, I think. This was a huge bargain at 30c, and the woman at the counter was a bit shocked when she saw that price, I even heard her whispering about it to the woman next to her as I was leaving. She’s just jealous, because she said she has the bowl to match.

A cross stitch that I only bought because I wanted the embroidery hoop that it is mounted in.

Two little swan cross stitches that I only bought because I wanted the wreath things they are mounted in, they look like little nests.

Two little hedgehog figurines – don’t ask why, because I have no answer. I must have stood there holding those in my hand for a good 5 minutes debating whether to get them. They are cute, of course, but that's not why I liked them. I have had in the back of my mind the idea of creating a little moss terrarium, because there is instructions all over the place at the moment to tell you how to make them. So I have been vaguely keeping a look out for any miniature cuteness to live in my someday terrarium, and I thought there hedgehogs might just be cute enough, but are they small enough? Well, even if they are not, I’m sure they will find a home somewhere one day.

And then there is the two hats, to be embellished with some fabric flowers or something, because I am loving hats right now, due to the fact that I am WAY overdue for a haircut and colour so keeping it under a hat is the best look right now.

I will be linking this up to the usual parties, check them out on my sidebar to see other peoples awesome thrifty finds.

This Week’s Creations

Life has been pretty busy lately, and crafting time has been sparse. Here are a few things I have managed to create in the last few days:

Vintage Style Glass – this is a glass that sits on my desk and collects little bits of rubbish, paper scraps etc. Its been serving this purpose for several months now, with an ugly lizard sticker stuck to it, but it never occurred to me that I could make it pretty, until yesterday. So I stuck on some images found here (they were free when I got them, no watermarks, but that was for a limited time only) using mod podge, wrapped some natural twine around the bottom and tied it in a little bow, then attached some tea-dyed lace around the rim with mod podge as well. Now it’s the cutest little rubbish bin ever.

Collage on canvas – Created using some images from The Graphics Fairy (you can download a pdf of the butterflies here), and more of the same images used on the glass. I did this today, but I haven’t decided if it is finished yet. I feel like it needs something else…..but I can’t decide what, I need another opinion. So if you have any suggestions please leave a comment.

Wooden “NEST” plaque – Created using the image here, all I did was paint a bit of wood I saved from the in-laws dump trailer white, stuck the printed out word on with mod podge, added a bit of brown paint to shabby it up a bit and covered the whole thing with mod podge.

The thing I love about all three projects – They were quick, easy and cheap/free! That's my favourite kind of craft project. However, my mod podge is now running very low, and I’m sad, because I don’t know when I will be able to afford more.

Funky Junk Friday

Imagine a huge room, full of objects discarded by people, fabric off cuts, half finished sewing projects, patterns, books, boxes, jars, tins, containers…… And it’s all free. This is the wonder that is “Funky Junk”. This is a place here in Tauranga where people can leave their unwanted “junk” and a place where others can find treasures. So every Thursday night I go to a craft night, which is right across from Funky Junk, and since I started going I have collected some great Junque. This is just like thrifting, only free, which is awesome.

These are some of my recent finds:

3 wooden lamp bases, which have had the wiring etc removed – these will probably be painted, and I have plans to possibly try to make one into the stand for a dress form (decorative).

A bunch of doilies – I just love doilies, one of the reasons I want to learn to crochet is so I can make them myself old-school style.

A metal “thing” which I think is some sort of pot stand – also needs a paint job and a little glass bowl or something to sit in it to hold crafty stuff like buttons (one day when I actually have space to display such things).

A cute little yellow glass bottle – just cause its cute.

Some retro little wooden dipping bowls – I have a set of salad bowls, chip bowls and salad servers to match.

A vintage blue tin with a gorgeous pattern on it – it’s gorgeous, what more do I need to say.

A little ceramic book thing – I want to paint it white, line the bottom with a bit of felt and make it a ring holder.

A metal candlestick – also needs a paint job, I can see the potential in anything.

The blue/green fabric under the lamps is a table runner (I think, at least that's what I plan to use it for), the other retro printed fabrics are placemats or napkins I think.

A cute little hand mirror with a floral design on the back.

A porcelain door knob (I know, that's pretty random) with a really cute floral design.

Little metal tins – there’s only a couple pictured, but I have quite a collection now, they will be altered and given as little gifts at some stage.

A lampshade form – again, potential.

A metal teapot – ummm, yeah, I’m just a bit obsessed with teapots and teacups at the moment, because of the party I am planning. I have found MANY teapots and teacups in funky junk, but they have been put away with the rest of the party stuff.

A whole bunch of wooden placemats – because you can never have too many ;-)

A basket – just because I liked the shape of it.

And more retro printed stuff and some other sewing related bits and pieces.

There’s plenty more where that came from, so I'm gonna try to make it a regular thing – Funky Junk Friday.

Linking up to Sophie's Flea Market Finds and Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures.

One UFO Down......

 

I am terrible at finishing things, like seriously, awful!! So when I get to the end of a day and can see a completed project, or multiple completed projects, I feel happy. The UFO's (unfinished objects) I had to work on today were these necklaces, which are pendants I have made over the last few months, but never got around to stringing on anything. It wasn't a difficult task to complete, just a fairly boring one. But I did it, and I thought I might as well take photos of them too, just in case I ever get around to listing some of my (millions of) handmade items on Felt.

Proud Mummy Moments

Today my little man rolled over onto his tummy by himself for the first time. This was a super-duper proud moment for me, and I was probably way more excited about it than most mums would be. That is because my little man has downs syndrome, which is not overly obvious and sometimes it can be easy to forget because he is such an awesome baby. So, we know that development can be slower and milestones can happen later, and we try to stay somewhere in the realm between hopeful that he will reach those milestones at a fairly reasonable rate and getting our hopes up too much. At six months + 5 days old, I am really proud of my little man’s progress, because he just continues to amaze me with his awesomeness. And to top it all off, (coincidentally or not) he said “mama” very clearly today. I am just overflowing with pride and love!!

Thrifty finds

This last week I tried so hard to be good, I almost managed to resist the urge to go to my local thrift shop, but on Thursday I gave in. I'm quite happy I did, because I found a few great patterns, and some other stuff.
The Floral fabric in the back is a flannel sheet, I just love the colours and the pattern, and one day I would love to include this in a quilt.
On top of that are some heart shaped "things" which I think are some kind of place mat type things, but I plan to use them to make vintage lavender hangers. The book on gift wrapping I couldn't resist, I believe great gift wrapping is just as important as a great gift and I love finding new ideas to try.
I found three patterns, 2 for kids dresses that look fairly simple and 1 for dresses in my size. The adult ones look pretty hideous on the picture, that style would not be flattering on me, but I spent quite some time studying the pattern and I think I have come up with a way to alter it to make it more flattering. Now I just need to get some cheap fabric to do a test run on, because I would hate to ruin gorgeous fabric, and it's quite likely to happen because I've never attempted to make a dress for myself before.
Then there is a few cute things I didn't really need but I could imagine them in my ideal home: A vintage tin with a lovely turquoise bird pattern, a little vintage milk jug and a plastic planter in a kind of Greek style.
Two crafty items, a small wooden embroidery hoop and some iron on backing stuff (I've never used it before but heaps of the things I want to make require it, and I will soon have to buy an iron to go with it).
The last item in the photo is just a cute little book for my little princess, she likes it, and it was only 20c.

For the first time, I am linking up to another blog (I hope I do this right), so to see more thrift store finds for the week go here.

I have been busy all week making party favours for my daughters birthday party in June. We are having a mad hatters tea party for her 3rd birthday, but I will post more about that another time.

Some semi-interesting stuff

Simple Pleasures is one of the blogs I follow, she is a local crafter who is awesome and we have very similar interests etc. Anyway, she's having a giveaway of some cute things she has made and collected. Fingers crossed for me, I would love to win this stuff.


We went to the library in the weekend. I love books, so therefore I LOVE libraries. All you can read about anything you like, completely free (if you remember to return them on time, which I don't). Here is the pile of books I came home with.


This is not a lot of books by my standards, but I had G-man standing there complaining (even though he promised he wouldn't) so this is all I could get. Please note: The Queer eye for the straight guy book was chosen by G-man, not me, and I have a feeling he will not even look at it.

I gave the 2nd sock chicken a face in the weekend, but gave it away to my niece so didn't get a photo. I just wanted anyone who might be worried about a poor faceless chicken to know that she has a face and now a loving home and someone to cuddle.

So many things to create, so little time....

Latest Creations

Things have been pretty chaotic lately, with the long weekend and then having no power in our house for 3 days, so there hasn’t been a lot of crafting time. But I have managed to make a few things, and I have decided I really like hand sewing, it’s easy to do in front of the TV, and its therapeutic.

These are the completed placemats and coasters that I was altering last week. None of them sold at the market, but that's ok, because I plan to try to sell them on Felt when I get around to joining.

These are a couple of sock softies I made, the stripy one is a chicken and the other one was meant to be a cat or a rabbit, but my daughter thinks it looks like Totoro (a character in one of her movies) so that’s what she calls it.

This is another chicken, which hasn’t got a face yet because I haven’t got another triangle button so I am still trying to figure out how to make a beak.

  These are “tattered fabric roses” made using the tutorial here. The ones in the bottom corner have been glued to pegs and will be made into magnetic note holders for the fridge. The rest are probably destined to be brooches and embellishments for clothes.

This is the shelf in our lounge, which I have been trying to redecorate for a while now. So yesterday I finally finished it and we are pretty happy with how it looks. The background for the top 2 shelves are canvas boards that I “painted” with a teabag then glued on some images that I printed from the computer. Most of the images I used were from The Graphics Fairy.

This is a close-up of the top shelves. As you can see I LOVE buttons. They make a great “filler” in decorating just about anything.

Last night I bought home more junque to be transformed, so will be posting about that soon, watch this space……