diy jewelry board

Yay! Christmas is here. I don't care how old I am I still get excited about opening gifts. I get just as excited about giving them as well. I'm sharing a pic of a gift that I'm giving to a good friend of mine...it's a thrift store frame with foam core covered in fabric and ribbon to make a cute little  pin board accessory holder. I've become obsessed with making them. Not only are the cute and easy to make but they are great gifts.

A couple quick and easy Christmas crafts that I did a few weeks ago...

Origami balls folded out out an old atlas...I got a great pre-lit tree at Goodwill...originally 80 bucks and we snagged it up for 20...love it!...anyways...I folded this little balls and slipped them over the light bulbs already on the tree...they look great on the tree in daytime and they look even cooler as different colored balls on the tree at night! I learned how to fold these in elementary school but there are tons of tutorials out there if you just google them.

I've seen these wreaths everywhere...and no wonder because they are suuuper easy to make! All I did was buy a few tubes of ornaments at the dollar store and strung them on an old wire hanger I had from the cleaners....you may need to hot glue the ornaments to their loop things...I had a couple pop off but for the most part mine were good I just slipped them back on. I had some holiday ribbon and an ornament, also from the dollar store, that I attached before hanging up...

These ornaments came with a bunch of little gold strings that are meant to be looped through the ornaments and hung on the tree. I had no use for mine so I used them to string some origami stars that I folded out of strips of paper that were about 1/2 a inch wide and 9 inches long...but thats on average...I varied the strip sizes so my stars would be different sizes.

 

and thats how I made this very simple and delicate star garland.

Thrift Store Finds

Who doesn't love a fabulous thrift store find?! I usually go to all the thrift stores in my area once a week...there's so many around here it would take two whole days just to see them all at once but I usually spread out my visits. I've really been into vintage china pieces lately. I found some really great plates, teacups, and saucers at the Salvation Army. I don't know that much about china but I check the markings online using my phone. These are just a few pieces that I came across yesterday...the Knowles dishes and the Taylor, Smith, and Taylor dishes were .50 a piece after a military discount of 25%...

I found these cute dishes I'm saving up for a craft....not quite sure what I'm going to do with them just yet...but they were so cheap and sooo cute I couldn't just leave them there...maybe I'll save them for tea parties if I have a little girl someday...

and this cute candy dish? I don't know but love the look of milk glass...

this cute Pyrex dish was a dollar...HAD to snap it up!

I found a few yards of red and green felt for only $1.99 at Goodwill....I do have to advise that if you're looking at multiple fabrics that you open it up...probably common sense but had I not checked I would have gotten pieces that were half the size of these for the same price...glad I did though because these were huge pieces in comparison.

I found this great yellow vintage looking flat sheet.

a small piece of fabric...I'm a fabric hoarder!

this i found at a local thrift store I'm not even sure what it's called...i loved the colors! I'm thinking apron, pillow for breakfast nook, or just great wall art.

Picked up these books for .50 each...the small one is from the 60s...the colors and drawings were way cute... the middle book is actually a modern journal but i loved the look of it, and the last one is a 50s book that just looked awesome...

This adorable Limited skirt! Its actually navy and white though it looks black in the picture...it's kind of big so I'll have to take it in but too cute to not pick up!

Purses. Need I say more? Didn't think so....so, when I found these Fossil bags for for $7 and $4 each I was beyond excited!

Siiiigghhhh* I love days like these! They make me so happy!

First of Many...

So...this is my first post...I doubt many people will see it but you have to start somewhere.

I've been scouring the internet for crafts, diy ideas, decorating inspriation and anything that looks like it would be fun to make myself. I just moved to Virginia and am currently renting a house that is somewhat like a time machine. Built in the 70's it's retained much of the original design...which would be cool if it was fun and retro looking...I love vintage, old-school style...this house however is far from cool. That being said I have been looking for ideas that could inspire my decorating...this being a rental I refuse to put too much money into a place  that I am not going to be in for very long....so that along with a budget of next to nothing, as I'm sure many people can relate to, I've set out to tackle some projects on my own. 

Who can complain though? Isn't crafting the fun part? I find that my new found love of crafting has taken over my brain. I have a collection of ideas stored away in a binder...I had to put them somewhere because I had so many ideas that I was thinking of at one time that I couldn't sleep at night. The excitement of creating fun and beautiful things was keeping me awake! I just had to get my hands on my glue gun, my sandpaper, my paint...anything to take the edge off!! I sound like an addict...and I guess I am. 

Hello, my name is Kim and I'm a craftaholic. 

Anyhooo...I haven't tackled any big projects..I've been looking for a piece of furniture that catches my eye. I'm not in need of anything in particular so I'm just searching for the right starter piece. So far I've done a couple Rosette Holiday Balls...they are adorable and so easy to make. I've also created a couple jewelry pin boards. I used to work in retail management so I have jewelry on top of jewelry that I've collected over the years and I needed place to put it. I also have some adorable fabric colored storage boxes and some black frames that got a fun update with beautiful scrap book page inserts. 

I'll be adding pictures, posts, and tutorials on all of my creations. I'm looking forward to all the fun!