Last Week's Finds

No yardsales for me this week, but last weekend, on the way home from soccer, I decided to stop at one. It was SO hot & miserable. I felt sorry for people having sales that weekend, it was miserable. But lucky for me, they had marked everything half off. Probably so they could be done with it! I got all that for $1.70.

I liked this chunky frame.

This little glass dish. It says Dynaware on the bottom.

Some old shoe stretchers & some knitting needles. I dont knit, or crochet, but I really want to learn. Any tips?

Some more embroidery hoops. I finally find some metal ones!

And I found this little bag of chicks & ducks. They say 'JC Made in Hong Kong' on the bottom. They look vintage to me?

Thats it! Head on over to Flea Market Style for their "I'm a Flea Marketeer Party" to see what great things everyone else has found!

Pumpkin Time!

It FINALLY feels like Fall in Florida!! No more 90° weather! This weekend at least. We had a yard sale this morning. Did okay, not fantastic. But at least I got some junk out of the house. We decided later to run and get pumpkins. I SO badly wish there were actual pumpkin patches here. Our only options are a grocery store, vegetable stands and churches. We went last year to one of the church's and decided to go back this year.

They walked all over the lawn, up and down and everywhere, looking for just the right pumpkin.



Morgie found hers! (with Daddy's help)




And Layla!

Blake had to be a little different.

I thought it would be cute to get the 3 of them with their pumkins. Morgie was more interested in checking out all the pumpkins than looking at me.

My plans for tomorrow include grocery shopping (blah), making some of those adorable Glowing Jack-O-Lanterns from Not So Idle Hands, making Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies & taking the kids to Spirit Halloween to look at costumes. They still havent decided! Well, Layla mentioned Ariel, Blake has no clue and I dont know WHAT to dress Morgie as. Does anyone else have kids that are still clueless about their costume?

Sweet & Sinister Swap - Sent!

Now that I know my partner, Sue, got her package, I wanted to share what I sent her. She was so much fun to swap with! And I'm really happy she liked everything!




I made the burlap banner that has been floating around blog-land. I made one for myself, too!




Some glitter glue, vintage measuring tapes, buttons, beads, angels, leaves...

Vintage lace & seam binding, some more beads...

Old books, a pearl E, some trees....

I found this little vase at the thrift store...

And turned it into this...

Here are the bottle brush trees again. I made these using Sarah's directions.

I found this lovely apron and thought it would be perfect! I think its kind of unique. It's sheer and could be used on either side. Both sides are flocked with a velvet-like material, and there is chunky glitter embedded into it.

I made this Apothecary sign using some Martha Stewart paper for the background...

And I also found these old bottles, I thought they would go nicely with the apothecary sign.

Thanks for swapping, Sue!

An Oozing Cauldron

One of my favorite Halloween decorations is this bubbling cauldron I made a few years back. I saw the idea in a magazine and knew I had to try it!

I picked up some clearanced cauldrons, some acrylic paint & some expanding foam (in the can). We stuffed part of the cauldron with newspaper, so we wouldnt have to use so much foam. After spraying, you need to let the foam sit a few days, because it wil contract. Then you just paint and you're done! I supposed you could try spray paint, but I used acrylic, and topped it with a glossy topcoat so it would look wet. I have thought about doing maybe orange and purple, but havent done it yet. This is what I traded for the witch fingers in my last post.

I've thought about maybe trying to make some to sell, but this stuff expands & contracts with the humidty and Ive had to touch them up every year, so I dont know.

Here they are on display in 2007.

Check out Along the Way With J&K for more great Fall decor! Would anyone want to see how I made them? Have a great Sunday!

Brennan Apothecary

We finally got the Halloween stuff this past weekend. Even though it feels NOTHING like fall here in Florida. It's been in the 90's all week. Anyone want to send some cool weather this way?

I made this sign last year during the Sweet & Sinister Swap. It was pretty easy, you just need a steady hand! The words are painted on the back of the glass. I have it displayed with my ingredient jars I got from Michaels.



One of the ladies I work with made these awesome eyeballs.

She also made these creepy witch fingers! We did a trade - fingers for oozing caludron. (I'm going to post about them, still gotta dig them out!)

Arent they awesome?! She has also made chicken feet, human hearts, brains, brains with worms coming out & human fingers. She's a nurse so she knows her anatomy pretty well! The parts are made out of Sculpey clay, and she gets her jars, plates & cheese domes (for the brains) from yard sales.

I've got some more Halloween stuff I want to share, just need to get them photographed! We've got a soccer game & cheerleading camp tomorrow, and I also need to make some more pumpkin spice whoopie pies & post about them. So more posts coming soon!

Sweet & Sinister Swap Sneak Peek!

I'm finally ready (I'm so sorry!) to send out my Sweet & Sinister Swap package to my partner, Sue, at My Mother's Pearls. I thought I would share a couple sneak peeks! I apologize for the not-so-great lighting. I wanted to take them outside this afternoon, but we had dance class and my SIL's birthday. So I had to take them in the kitchen.

I hope you enjoy it!

Sweet & Sinister Swap, Received!

I was so excited when I got to my sister-in-law's house today, and saw my Sweet & Sinister Swap package waiting for me! My partner was Sue over at My Mother's Pearls. It was really fun swapping with her! And she sent me an amazing package of goodies!

Some orange hot chocolate, a milk glass dish, some black & white buttons, black & white trimmings...

Some Halloween chocolates (yum!), scrapbooking clips, black & orange candles...

A very neat & pretty bracelet/cuff... (love this!)...

Three spooky old photos (Or are they cabinet cards? I never find good ones, these are awesome!) Oh, and I love that Autumn Mix candy.

Awesome scrapbooking paper and some candy molds & bags (the kids will love these!)

One of her favorite movies, Practical Magic (I havent seen it yet!) and some fun stamps...

And my absolute favorite, this AWESOME wreath! I LOVE THIS! THANK YOU! There is so much awesome detail... buttons, glitter, flowers... but my batteries died and I could not find anymore to take any close-ups. :( Its really gorgeous though!

Thank you again for this awesome package, Sue!! I am trying as fast as I can to get yours finished up, I want it to be as awesome as your package was to me :) This was really fun!