Charity Shop Shopping

I am finally feeling more human again now that I can get out and mooch the 4/5 charity shops that have now re-opened in Evesham. I never know quite what I am looking for, I just know it when I see it, something I can craft with or kitsch bits of bric a brac that make me smile, that I can put on my shelves for a while and then re-donate when I find something else to replace them, put towards our family sack of Boxing Day Tut at Christmas  ……..  or even flip for a small profit to help with Christmas etc.

This tealight stand cost me all of 80p, it was the autumn leaves and acorns that did it for me, as it would look lovely on my dining table from September onwards, including Halloween (with a few added spiders), especially with orange tea-lights. I just need to find three tealight holders to go with it, which should be pretty easy as every charity shop seems to have  a little pile of them.

When I did my homework I found out that was made for Partylite, who sell online and via party plan ……..

…… and would have probably been quite expensive when new.

On the Facebook Charity Shop Shit page I am on, everyone seems to be collecting these ugly face pots, so when I saw these two for £1.99 each I thought I may as well join in as they would look quirky on my kitchen shelf above the sink.  I don’t think they are Sylvac, which are the more collectable variety, but when I get bored with them I think they are something I could put on eBay.

The vintage treacle glaze gnome and honey pot bear, cost me all of 50p each. There is one gnome on eBay with a current asking price of £14.99 (???) and a couple of bears at around the £5 mark.  I think the bear will go into the Boxing Day tut with a few sweets or an individual jar of honey (like what you get in hotels). I am not sure about the gnome, at the moment I can see him looking over a pot of cactus’s I seriously need to transfer into a larger bowl (when I can find one)  …….

I had looked at this Widdecombe Fair sugar bowl on the shelf, but couldn’t make my mind up about it, but when the lady on the till told me that she couldn’t put my items through as they came to under £1, I grabbed it for 50p to make the money up.  It’s currently my “bits” pot by the sink.  There should be a milk jug to got with it.  Current asking prices on eBay are between £8 – 9.  It may be worth a punt but if it didn’t sell, it again will probably end up in the “tut” bag with sweets or smellies in …… or perhaps even a cactus?

Last, but not least a Scotch and Soda scarf for £1, (no, I had never heard of them either until I looked up the label)  I wasn’t that keen on the fringe, but otherwise I loved the colours that go perfectly with a couple of new tops I have bought (non charity shop).  I think it may be classed as vintage, having a date is handy. Whether it has ever been worn it all that time is doubtful looking at the condition and unbelievably current designs by the same company sell for silly money, probably more than one of my complete outfits ………….

Well, that’s me for today, the last of the big spenders, looking, hopefully, to a day of charity shop mooching in Hereford later this week, a birthday treat of sorts for my daughter who, if it wasn’t for this flipping virus would have been spending it in Euro Disney with Iris and Bertie and all the family …… bum!!!

Second Wedding Anniversary Card

This card measures 6 ins x 6ins and is made using a white, pre-scored card blank from a bulk pack bought from Hobbycraft.

I made this very simple card made for my neighbours Kata and Laci on their second wedding anniversary.  There’s not an awful lot to it, I just covered the front with a tiny blue and white heart print paper and then added the wooden numbers (from The Works) and the sentiment using black tape in my ancient Dymo label maker.

I was going to leave it at that, but then I got all fiddle farty by colouring the numbers and adding a layer of glossy accents to them. I also decided to add the little wooden bird embellishments, as I had used the same, but white, on their first anniversary card, I guess now I need to think of a way of incorporating them on their anniversary card for next year.  Faux stitching round the edges of the card using a black fine liner pen finishes the card off.

Fairy Door Christmas Tree Ornament

Oh my goodness, I just love these wooden fairy door toppers from Hobbycraft (pack of 4 for £1), when I saw them I knew I just had to have them and what I was going to do with them.

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/fairy-door-wooden-topper-4-pack/649157-1000.

As soon as they arrived I took one of the craft stick houses Marc and I had made during my recent stay with him in Worcester (of which more in the coming weeks, as I gradually complete the projects we started together).

I added Aleene’s Glitter Snow on the edges of the roof and the “shelf”, then added the door where I put a scrap of yellow paper behind the window, to give the appearance of a light being on.

I also accentuated the bars on the door and letter box, added a red door knob and a tiny punch piece of holly with red gem holly berries on the heart.

When the snow was dry I added a tiny snowman, also made during my visit to Marc (some of the others we put in equally tiny bottles …..watch this space) and a bottle brush Christmas tree. 

I cut the bristles off the back of the tree to flatten it out in order to stick it to the house.  I also changed the original base for a smaller red bead to fit better on the shelf.  The tree was then decorated with small flat back gems in red, gold and silver and topped with a gold star.

I was pretty chuffed with my first attempt, it came out pretty much as it had looked in my head, another Christmas 2020 tree fairing idea potentially in the bag …….. but then I got to thinking, if I coloured the house red (in this instance with a red Sharpie pen), it would help to accentuate/bring the door out more to the fore. Colouring the roof green, also made it look more Christmassy, especially when I then swopped the star for a snowflake ………. I am almost there, the roof perhaps needs to be a lighter shade of green or simply completely covered in snow? I think there are a few more tweaks to be made, but hopefully I will get there, so watch this space for a completed update ………..

Charity Shop Puzzle – Were These Painted by Valerie Pfeiffer?

I bought this pair of small glasses from my favourite Vale Wild charity shop in Evesham for about 50p each a while back simply because they were pretty, hand painted and I could see them with a tealight inside.

I thought they’d been perhaps painted by someone amateur having a go at glass painting as some of the lines on the flowers and leaves looked like something I might have done ……

……. but then I noticed that they both had a signature, and curiosity getting the better of me, I did a Google search expecting nothing significant to come back …………

However, I found an artist called Valerie Pfeiffer, Australian born, but now, I believe, living in Canada, famous for her cute bird pictures…….. 

…….. of which many have, in turn, been used to create beautiful cross stitch kits.

   Valerie is also known for her paintings of flowers ……

…….. it was when I compared the signatures that I thought they looked very similar, however that’s as far as I have managed to get, I can’t find anything else about the artist.  To be honest I think the painting on the glasses seems crude when compared to the artists paintings, however the hand painted signature is still intriguing.

Charity Shop Bargain–Polly Pocket Hogwarts Castle.

I don’t “do” Harry Potter at all, so when I saw this “castle” in my favourite charity shop in Evesham for just 80p, I thought I would take it, as something to just put in the toy cupboard for when Iris and Bertie come round.

The first discovery I made, when I got home, was that it took batteries and when I put some in it made (awful) noises and parts moved, which was all very exciting and then when I discovered what looked like a tiny Harry Potter figure in the secret drawer in the back, I thought I had better do some research .....

…… only to find it was a Mattel, Polly Pocket Hogwarts Castle dating from, I think, 2001. All the figures, except for Harry, a table and a telescope are missing. Needless to say Iris and Bertie love to get it out, but it seems it does have a value, even though incomplete.

I have been planning on doing some Ebaying for quite a while now, (last time I did, it paid for Eurovision in Stockholm) but this time lockdown got in the way, now, do I add this to the list of things to sell ...... or do I wait until Iris and Bertie stop asking for it ………that is the question!

Punched Flower Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and uses hand cut and scored ivory linen effect card.

I am not 100% with this card if I am honest, maybe because I didn’t know when to stop ……

……where generally I like to keep things much more symmetrical, this is all a bit too random.

The leaves are just too pale a green and the handwritten sentiment would usually be a huge no no, except for on this occasion when the card was to go with a personal message.

Close to, the card is quite pretty and delicate with all its tiny flat back pearls, but if I were to repeat it, there would have to be an awful lot of fine tuning!!!

Halloween Aquabead Pin Badges

It tends to be Nanny’s job to “do Aquabeads” with Iris and Bertie …………

……….. no one else has the patience, but oh boy they are little blighters to work (the beads, not Iris and Bertie!), one false move and the design can become a sticky, unrecognisable mess ……….

……. and Nanny is called upon to try and rescue them, to make sure such a long period of intense concentration was not all for nothing …….aghhhhhhh!

These (above) are my own humble efforts, but what to do with them once they are complete?  Usually we draw a little background scene to put the designs on, which is then framed to create a lasting memory and recognises that I and B’s work is valued.  I also have far too many frames under my bed that really need using up ……. but as these have a seasonal theme  I needed to think of something else.

In the end I thought pin badges/brooches for my annual Halloween sleepover.  The beads on their own are not all that strong so I applied several thick layers of PVA to both sides, allowing each layer to dry thoroughly which made the shape far more robust. I then added a small pin fastening to the back using an epoxy resin glue again to make the badge/brooch more durable.

It wouldn’t take much to add a pendant finding to the shape to be worn as a necklace or hung from a Halloween twig tree….. I am also thinking they could also be used to embellishments Halloween crackers for the party table …….. hmmmmmm

Memory Glass Christmas Tree Decoration.

I am not 100% with this decoration, but it was an interesting experiment after thrashing out ideas with Marc on ways to attach a hanger to a memory glass project without resorting to glue, which has never been aesthetically successful.

Finally, we hit upon using gold glitter Fimo to seal an embellished, patterned paper between 2 x 2ins glass squares. In making the frame I sank and secured a gold jump ring into the clay that would hopefully work as a hanger.

I used small, self adhesive letters for the sentiment, cutting them everso slightly to fit the glass.

When it all went it in the oven I wasn’t sure if the heat would crack the glass, but it held out.

This first very basic attempt is a bit rough and ready round the edges … leaving the back as it was……..

……….. but I can see how it could be dolled up if/when I have another go.

On the front I added a wooden Christmas tree (Hobbycrafts Xmas 2019)  with a generous layer of  Ranger Glossy Accents and a scattering of flat back gems, including the red star on the top. I also added three snowflake sequins also with a gem to the front of the glass to finish the look.

Everything needs fine tuning, the Fimo needs to be smoother and thinner round the edges, however I can see how being as thick could work if you wanted to create a little scene, i.e. white Fimo around a snowman in the snow…… I also think the lettering is a tad too big, but the hanger, the whole point of Marc’s and my original conversation, worked well, although I think I should now look to using a much smaller one …… so watch this space ……..

Christmas Tree Pin Brooch

This idea for a Christmas brooch/pin follows the Christmas tree decoration experiments of last week.

It’s only very small, measuring just 1.5ins x .5ins, made using a domino piece from a Christmas set found on E-bay which was a cheaper idea by far than buying ready cut MDF shapes, which is pretty mad really and why I always look for old sets in charity shops. It doesn’t matter if there are any pieces missing, they are still a bargain.

I started by painting the back and sides of the domino with white emulsion paint and covering the front with scraps of blue paper and white glitter card, plus a few tiny silver stars and a sprinkling of translucent white micro glitter.

On this first attempt I attached the tree using a glue gun, and then filled in the front with a good layer of Ranger Glossy Accents ………

…….. however, when I make another batch lot, I will put the Accents on first and leave to dry thoroughly before adding the tree as I think it might look neater.

With all that done, I just needed to add the pin/brooch fastening to the back, using an epoxy resin type glue to ensure that it would be fixed securely if/when worn.

I now need to come up with a simple idea for a presentation card on which to attach the brooches when I give them as small Advent presents at the start of December just to make them look a little more professional.

Guest Crafter – My Auntie Beth – Colouring Book Bunting

My Auntie Beth in Bude sent me a small section of bunting she has been making using completed pages from her colouring books

I’m saving it for Iris and Bertie’s next “special” tea party.  But what a brilliant idea for garden parties, weddings and summer fayres, or just to brighten up a room on a special occasion.  I am already thinking of Halloween and kicking myself for not buying a Sugar Skull colouring book I picked up, goodness knows how many time in The Works, after it had been reduced from something silly like £12.99 to £2.99 …… agghhh.  I could have bought it, and then given half to Marc as he loves a Sugar Skull, as well as Halloween.  I am also thinking crackers, and with a couple of coats of Modge Podge or just laminated, coasters, napkin rings, place mats ….. the worlds your/my colourful lobster!

Let It Snow Christmas Tree Decorations

There has been an awful lot of fiddle fart in putting this idea together …….. so for now, this post is more about the experimentation rather any finished articles.

It started with me finally finding these Craft for Christmas metal Christmas trees  (below) again after several years of searching.

I’d had a couple of packets a few years ago and used them on microscope slide decorations, but once I’d used them up that was it, until they popped up on eBay, and yes, I bought in bulk, as I now realise their potential for all manner of projects.

I started off with a wooden child’s domino piece as a base, adding the snowy background using scraps of blue paper and white glitter card, before securing the tree with my glue gun. The legend, “Let It Snow” was made using small, self adhesive, slightly trimmed alphabet stickers with snowflake sequins and stars added to fill in any gaps, and then the whole thing was covered with a generous dose of Ranger Glossy Accents.

It was the sides that I was finding difficult, I tried dipping the edges in melted, ultra thick, white Utee in my Melt Pot, (above) but the effect was a little too heavy and lumpy for me. It was also fiddly with little margin for error. I then had a go at using white embossing powder and my heat gun, but for the time and effort that went into it, the overall effect just wasn’t worth it.

Painting the edges with white Match-Pot paint (above) was OK, but not as “professional” looking as I would have liked.

In the end, although I don’t really like having both gold and silver together on the same project, I decided to try edging the sides with narrow, silver, adhesive foil tape, before edging the front with Ranger Glossy Enamels, with a silver eye screw in the top, I think it works, despite my misgivings, so that is the idea I am going to work with when I eventually organise myself to make more.

I also prefer the dead plain, blue paper (to the right, below) as a background, the more muted linen design paper is perhaps a little too subtle, although there really isn’t a great deal between them.

I am hoping to get at least twenty more of these decorations done, I think the design should work well with the red and green trees, but I might not use the gold, because of my “gold/silver thing”, we shall see.  I’ll post a couple more pictures when I’m done, so watch this space.