I do believe this is my favorite one yet! (More Caboodles craziness.)

I decided to swing by the Goodwill on Wednesday before picking my son up from school and look what I found! It's pink with peach hardware! So 90s fab and I love, love, love it! I really hope to find a black and white one with a hot pink handle one of these days. These are so much fun to collect! I just hope my husband doesn't call me out on to this madness. 

I was so excited to snap a photo of this baby that I didn't even notice that I missed a couple spots when I was drying it off. oops!

Stampin Up! Meets Pottery at Bisque N Beads!

I had the pleasure of helping out with our church's Girls in Action group this year. The girls were amazing, but what was more amazing was the work and dedication of Mrs. Lisa, the group's leader. I knew there was no way to thank her in a way that could begin to match the time, talents and resources she put into the group, so I did the next best thing. I made her something!

Last Friday, I loaded my Stampin Up! Boatloads of Love, along with my All in the Family stamp sets into my craft bag and headed to Bisque n' Beads. This year's theme was Anchors Aweigh, so a nautical themed plate was perfect!

I was so excited to get started on this gift for Mrs. Lisa. I mean really excited. So excited that I showed up about thirty minutes before the place even opened! Now I know. Bisque n' Beads does not open until 10 a.m.. Matter of Fact, NOTHING (except for the little pharmacy) opens before 10 a.m. on the square in downtown Hickory. Hmph. Luckily the weather was nice last Friday morning so I walked down to the pharmacy, bought a Coke and sat on a bench and waited for the store to open.

Once they let me into the store, I went to the wall, picked out a big plate that would be the perfect size for Lottie Moon cookies and got started. I stared by stamping the images directly onto the bisque. I used Memento Tuxedo Black (my favorite). It really didn't matter what ink I used at this point. The ink will fire out. If you want your line image to work directly from the stamp, you have to stamp with actual pottery glaze. In this case, I traced back over the lines with a fine tipped squeeze bottle of pottery paint. This was a good thing because I accidentally stamped a cloud a little too close to where Mrs. Lisa's head was supposed to be stamped! I had a little bit of overlapping going on for a while!

After that, I painted, and painted, and painted! I was there for over two hours, but here it is. My gift for Mrs. Lisa. I gave it to her on Wednesday night and she loved it. There's just something about hand painted pottery. Love it! :)

My little terrarium.

I've been wanting to make my own terrarium for about a year now but never got around to it. Until today, that is! I found this little glass jar this afternoon at the thrift shop and knew that today would be the day to make my very own terrarium! 

The jar is a little Anchor Hocking candy jar. It probably sat on some cute little old lady's coffee table for years filled with stuck-together-in-one-solid-lump hard candy. It is now filled with rocks, marbles, potting soil, a little bit of moss from the yard, and a little plant that my son gave me for Mother's Day. Not exactly an edible switch, but neither is that old hard candy! I also hope to find a mini mushroom and cute gnome figurine to place inside. I'll probably find these items on Etsy. I'm sure of it.

This is such a fun and easy little project. I see a few more terrariums in my future! If you're a friend of mine, I hope you like them too. Don't be surprised if you get one from me as a gift. :)

I'm officially Caboodles crazy!

Since buying that pretty blue Caboodles (and that big Sassaby) less than a week ago, the wheels have been turning. There are so many things that I can store inside a Caboodles, so I was thrilled to find two more today!

The pink and lilac one is my favorite, but boy was it a mess! It was covered in scuff marks and grime, but nothing a bottle of orange cleaner & degreaser, an old toothbrush and my Magic Eraser couldn't handle! Also, a little furniture polish works wonders when it comes to removing old stickers and gunk.

What I love about this pink and lilac beauty is its size. It is made just like the caboodle that I used to have back in the day too! My old buddy, oh how I miss you! It has two tiers of shelves, a removable tray and a mirror. You could call this the deluxe model! :) Now that it's all cleaned up, I've decided to move my makeup over to this baby! I need that mirror.

I do have one word of caution about cleaning your Caboodles with a Magic Eraser. Don't wipe it over the logo. I'm pretty sure I did that on this one. See where it's a little rubbed off on the top? It doesn't take much elbow grease to either! I didn't realize I had done that until I was drying it off. Sigh.

Here's how the oval shaped caboodle opens up. I'm really not sure how old this one is. When I look on eBay, I see that some people are saying this one is a style from the '80s, but I don't agree at all. The mirror looks brand new and the plastic doesn't look very old. It also has a recycling symbol with the number 5 inside. That's a dead give away that it isn't as old as the others. I think I shall call this one my new nail polish kit!

These boxes are just so much fun. They come in some funky colors that I'd really like to have so my quest continues! Meanwhile, I'll be happy with the ones I have for now. I'll also be happy to share them with my daughter. You know Caboodles crazy tends to run in the family. :)

Vintage 90's Makeup Storage à la Caboodles!

If you were over the age of 12 at any point during the '90s, then you probably had one of these! I know I did and I toted my Caboodles with me every time I went to sleep over at a friends house and when I went off to summer camp. I packed it with all of my make-up, trinkets and items to trade (remember trading?!), Rave extra super mega hold hairspray, curling iron, crimping iron, and Lord knows what else!

These cases came in so many sizes and had so many compartments (see below) that you could fit lots of stuff inside! This art deco beauty below is not a Caboodles, but competing brand Sassaby. While Caboodles where on top back in the day, I have to say that the Sassabys with their art deco styling just might be my favorite today!

I actually picked up this Sassaby at the Good Will this morning for a buck fifty! It has all of its compartments and dividers and after a good cleaning with some household cleaner, toothbrush and a Magic Eraser, she cleaned up nicely! I originally bought it for my daughter, but I'm tempted to keep it for myself! Still debating on that one. :)

I believe the Caboodles I actually used in the '90s is still at my parent's house. I might hit my mom up for that one as it's bigger than the one I just bought. I can't believe I ever stopped using it in the first place! After years fumbling around, digging for make up in the many, many make up bags I've had since ditching my old Caboodles, I'm glad to have a new one in my possession!

I know they make newer models that you can buy at WalMart and Target, but there's something about the old ones. I just love them! 

Architectural Letter Photography

Now, I don't get out much, but I just love historic cities like Charleston and Savannah or Washington, DC. I love walking the streets of these places just so I can take in all the beautiful buildings. There's just something special about a structure that someone has taken a little more time to build. Not only is it interesting to just look at these buildings. It's also fun to see how many letters of the alphabet the shapes of these building's (or bridge's, fence's, or whatever's) archways, windows and roof tops can make.

I decided to sit down and play with Photoshop for a bit today and spelled out a couple names (Vicky and Charity, or my mom and me). It's also great to print these as regular 4x6 photos so they can be matted and framed. They make great wall art!