Playing with Scrabble Tiles

Anyone up for a Scrabble tile necklace? I sure was as soon as I saw them on Etsy...so of course, it became one of my projects ;) Thanks to some recently purchased vintage Scrabble games, I now have loads of tiles to play with.

I played around with drilling in different locations on the tile - through the front, and down from the top. Drilling from the top broke both my A tiles:

but worked on the M and E. I used the smallest drill in the drill set, and when drilling from the top, it drilled through the tile in a slanted direction. Oh well. Practice might make it easier.

A head pin was threaded through the top drilled tiles, and a large jump ring was used on the front drilled tiles.

Cord is simple and easy to work with and looks great with the tiles. A pearl dangle was added to the E, a crystal was added to another. Any little charm would be so cute with this! Bend a connector in the head pin, thread the cord through and add the ends. Easy!

Love simple, easy, yet meaningful jewelry. I can see making more of these...until the tiles run out :) Here are a bunch I made for the girls in the neighborhood - I love giving little gifts like these.

Each one got a different little charm on it for a unique look. These were a hit! I even made one for myself on a silver chain just because :)

Linking this to these parties to show off:

FunkyJunkInteriors SNS #83
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Somewhat Simple Strut Your Stuff
It's a HodgePodge Life Friday
Tater Tots and Jello Weekly Wrap Up
Debbie Doos Newbie Party
Homemaker on a Dime 

While I Was Away...

While I'm away on a little vaca, I asked Stephanie from Junker Newbie to write up a post for me. Here's her story and a link to an exciting new Linky Party! Enjoy! -Junky Vagabond Jill

First, a huge THANK YOU to Jill at Junky Vagabond for inviting me to my first guest post!

A little bit about me…I’m “30-something”, I live in South Carolina now and have lived in the South all my life. I’m married, have a son who is 4 and a dog, Chance, who thinks she’s my assistant. Much to my hubby’s chagrin, I love old houses! We live in a 50’s craftsman style home that has four fireplaces!



I have always loved old items whether it’s an old window, letters from long ago or a dresser that can be given new life with paint. I guess I like the idea of “saving” things! That doesn’t mean I don’t shop at Target and Ikea though. Anyway, I went to my first estate sale last year and was hooked! I got back in the habit of attending yard sales and added estate sales into the mix. I also LOVE Habitat for
Humanity Restores. I decided to start my Junker Newbie blog in January of this year as way to share my adventures, help other “newbies” and meet folks with similar loves.

So, how do I junk?

Well, I try to visit local thrift shops and Habitat for Humanity Restores once a week. I don’t make it to yard / estate sales every weekend but try to make several a month. I’m always on the lookout for salvage items to turn into something (like an old window frame that I could turn into a mirror), furniture that needs refinishing, and other cool odds and ends like glass bottles, vintage linens, lamps, etc. I’m really starting to get a feel for prices and even turned down a $2 item recently because I thought it was “overpriced”! (I couldn’t even believe myself, I said to my mom “they were trying to get $2 for that, can you believe it?”). That’s when I knew I was becoming a seasoned junker!

What do I do with THAT?

If there’s something you see that you like, you’ll probably find a place for it. People are always so worried if something will “go” with what they have. If it’s your taste, I bet it does! Don’t be afraid to bring outdoor things inside, like this window I incorporated into my mantle display. If you see something you like but aren’t sure what to do with it, do an Internet search and/or look through your favorite blogs and magazines for inspiration. If you are reselling, be sure to give folks some ideas of what they can do with a piece (if it’s not obvious!) like this shoe mold or gas can.

You Want to What?

That’s what my hubby said when I told him I was going to start an antique booth. We could all predict it right? It was bound to happen. I wanted to keep buying but didn’t have room for anything else! What to do? Well, I found a booth at a local antique store and opened up “Allie’s Antics” (named after my pup that passed away last year). It has been fun so far but is a TON of work. I’ve sold a couple of furniture pieces like this stool and chair. But I’ve mainly sold smalls, such as my drop cloth pillows and items from yard sales like these.




I’m trying the booth thing for a while to see if it makes sense longer-term. It’s a lot of work plus you of course have to pay rent so I need to see how things balance out. In the meantime I decided to try Etsy. I love Etsy! I’m just getting started but I think the concept of only being able to sell vintage or handmade items is phenomenal! The only drawback for me is that it is not easy to sell large items (like furniture) which I really enjoy refinishing. So we’ll see what happens.

My Tips for Success…

• Go with your gut! If your gut says something is a good deal & you think you can do something with it, buy it. You don’t have to have all the details figured out (and while you’re figuring them out, you’ll blink and someone else will buy it!).

• Communicate – Yes I have a blog and Etsy store but I also started a Facebook page and Twitter account. The amount of people I meet, creative ideas I witness and support I receive has had a profound impact on me this year! Remember though, it’s a two-way street! You have to take the time to read what others write and comment – otherwise you’ll just be known as the person who shows up when they have a question.

• ASK – I have been known to talk to other folks at an estate sale, antique stores, you name it! You never know what someone might be willing to share. Last week I ended up meeting someone at an estate sale  who is a fellow Etsy seller! If an estate sale is being run by a company, talk to them, get on their email list, let them know what you are interested in. Get to know the folks at your local thrift shops. If you are looking for something you don’t see, ask them if they ever get that type of item in – they may have something in the back that is just not out yet!

Lastly, if you've ever walked out of a shop or away from an estate sale and wondered if you passed on something good, join us for my new "Would You Buy It Wednesdays” linky party! I'll post a picture of something I saw at a thrift store, estate or yard sale, etc. I'll include any other info I have - price, condition, etc. Then, I'd like to hear from you - would you buy it? Tell me why or why not and what you would do with it (fix it up, repurpose, etc.). THEN, (here's where the linky party comes in!), you can post a link to something YOU found and get us to weigh in. Anytime I walk away from a sale or store I'm always wondering, "if someone else was with me, what would they have bought? Did I miss a hidden treasure?" So this is just a way for us to do that virtually. It all starts THIS Wednesday!




Ok, before I use up all of Jill’s blog space, I’ll stop here. I hope this has helped someone and I would love to hear from you! Now go out and find some junk!




Thanks Stephanie! Looking forward to seeing what everyone links up on Wednesday!

Science Anyone?

Thanks to the magic of scheduling a post, I can still post a before and after while on vacation!

I found this in a thrift shop and knew immediately what it was going to become. Was this some sort of spice rack? Spoon holder? Anyone know?

It got a coat of primer, then sprayed a pretty Ocean Blue

Now comes the science part; test tubes! These weren't as easy to find as I thought, but they finally appeared at an artist's market here in town.

Isn't this adorable? Now, I have fake flowers, but real flowers would look very pretty too - and they would last with a little water in the test tubes - genius!

My fav photo spot in my backyard

Sometimes, the inspiration is immediate but it takes time to put the pieces together. Other times, a piece has to grow on me for it to reveal what it should become. I have a few of the latter in my office that are sitting there, waiting to reveal what they were meant to be.

Anyone else have pieces that they don't know what to do with? Need some inspiration? Post it to my Facebook page and let the crafting community help you out!

Linking this to these parties:

Coloradolady Vintage Thingee Thursday
Junker Newbie Would You Buy It Wednesday
Polly Want a Crafter
Stuff and Nonsense Fridays Unfolded
At the Picket Fence Inspiration Friday

I'll Be Back

I'm so excited! We're heading off to San Diego for a few days...things might be quiet for a few days here at   the blog.

Hopefully, I'll have a few minutes to blog a little during that time, and I hope to have a guest post to keep things interesting!

Happy Junking, Crafting, Thrifting, and Blogging!

Thrifty (?) Finds

I don't know about you, but do you think Thrift Shops are onto us? The prices are outta control!! I went to 4 shops today and got all this:

The chairs were picked for me by a friend - they are awesome and solid (and were free!!), but the rest were thrift finds.

I'm a sucker for anything wood - I can redo it all with spray paint :) I'm in a green mood and snatched up those 2 green metal trays.

4 old Scrabble games!! Planning on making some necklaces/altered art with the tiles. The old, old books are bibles - couldn't pass them up for $1 each. Wire tote just because, and a box with compartments which will get some type of makeover. The wood board is becoming signage.

Aren't these cubby things amazing?? The might be perfect storage for my paints, unless they get turned into something else ;) They were only $2 each, so I guess all in all, my finds were cheap. There was so much that wasn't - it stayed in the store :)

At this point, I'm having much better luck at estate sales - where do you find the best deals?

I Won!

I'm such a slacker! This wonderful little wire caddy with mini clay pots was part of a giveaway by the Fabulous Miss Mustard Seed...and I won it!! ...about a month ago...bad Jill...

It is amazingly rusty, dirty, rustic, over the top cute! And it doesn't have a place (yet) in my home. We have a big project that has been delayed by all the rain and cold weather. So my wonderful gift has been sitting by the front door, waiting patiently.

The home project cannot be delayed much longer (it's May for pete's sake), but I have to at least share it with you and where it will end up...once the project is completed.

Maybe on the concrete patio? Or splendor in the grass? LOL!

A few more beauty shots until the real location is finished:

OOOOOOO - aren't you just loving it?? I'm so honored to have won this, and from a true artist. Miss Mustard Seed has the most inspired furniture makeovers - go drool over her projects, and then read her generously offered up tutorials to try some yourself! She's one of the reasons I look at old furniture in a whole new way...and want to paint it all :)

Stamped Necklaces

Design distraction anyone? Like I don't have enough going on, I decided to try stamping. There are so many cute designs out there and I wanted to make some myself.

I bought a stamping set of letters/numbers/basic symbols to start with. The nail set is for a 'period' symbol. The square metal thingee is called an anvil and is what you stamp the piece on. A hammer is used to strike the top of the stamp, making a depression of the symbol on what's being stamped. It takes a pretty good hit, so the anvil protects the desk.

Since experience has taught me to not use the most expensive materials to practice a new skill, I bought some washers to try this out on. Turns out that was a good idea. These are, from left to right, my first, second, and third tries at this project. Spacing is obviously as important as positioning. Oh, and getting the letter going the right way...

The 'D' in pride on the left stamp is backwards

The stamps are held perpendicular to the piece to be stamped and hit with a hammer (once if you're good, more than once if you don't think it came out deep enough.)

A piece of painter's tape holds the piece on the anvil while it's being stamped. It also helps line up the stamps if stamping in a straight line.

Longer words = harder positioning = more skill needed ;)

This was a 'try-it-and-see' on the back of one of the earlier mistakes. It's a definite maybe.

The finished project. I added a 1mm black cotton cord, and a couple of charms. My sister loved hers, and my sister-in-law's is in the mail (hope she doesn't read this before she gets it!)

The copper piece in the pics above isn't finished - doh! I'll update my facebook page when it's finished if anyone wants to see it. Wasn't able to get anything done while in Chicago this weekend :)

UPDATE: I know you don't want to leave my blog for even a second (LOL), so here's a pic of the copper necklace I was working on above:

Linking to:
Skip to My Lou
Debbie Doos Newbie Party
Polly Want a Crafter?
The Girl Creative
My Cottage Charm

PS: Forgot to add: to get the letters to stand out more, I used a black marker pen - it wipes off easily from the metal but stays in the stamped letters. Just in case anyone is thinking of attempting this themselves!

Table Makeover Tutorial and Reveal!

Whew! This was a big project for me, but it was a lot of fun getting back to working with wood furniture.

This table was at the curb, unloved and ready for the landfill. It was weathered and chippy, but I thought it could be saved.

Here's a quick photo timeline of this project to bring you up to date or you can read about it in more detail here:

Yuk - it needed a good cleaning from being out in the weather

Check out this chip-tastic leg!

Taken apart to clean and sand

Sanded, cleaned with bleach, glued and clamped

At this point, the tabletop was put back together and was ready for its top treatment. I'm in love with the signs that are everywhere on the web, and thought one would be cute as a tabletop. I broke out the freezer paper as this was going to be a big stencil. 

Tools needed were rulers, exacto knives, a tape measure, pencil and tape. I don't know why I had the needle nose pliers out *shrugs*.

The freezer paper was taped onto the tabletop. The letters were drawn free-hand to get an idea of the scale.

If you don't like to sketch, and have access to a vinyl-cutting machine, this would be much easier. Letters in the desired font could be printed out on regular paper and then transferred using the pencilled-and-traced method. I liked the look of the letters, and went with the sketch as they were.

I was making this table to use in the basement, mostly as a place to play games or set out food if we're having a party. I wanted it to be personal to my husband - he's Frank, he's a cyclist, and he works on his bikes. I wanted it to look like an old sign that was re-used as a table top as there was no way to disguise the weathered look of this wood!

I cut the big letters out with the exacto knife, but scissors would work just as well. The free-hand bike didn't look old enough, so I got one from clip art that worked better.

Now that the stencil was sketched and cut out, I put it aside and it was time to paint the top. I hemmed and hawed a little a lot about the color, but red is the color in the bar area, and it seemed like red would be a color that an old sign would have been. Besides, it's only paint. If it didn't work, I can paint it again, right?

I didn't want a completely covered top and dry-brushed haphazardly (my favorite painting method). The red was a little bright and a little shiny and needed a good sanding.

This is after some sanding

The stencil got put back on and taped down. Now, the wood was pretty warped, and the stencil ended up being more of a guide than an actual stencil. I did find that by painting from the stencil onto the wood, instead of from the wood towards the edge of the stencil, it bled less underneath. I just held it down as the paint was going on.

As you can see, I was too lazy to cut out the 'Sales/Service' bit. With the stencil not being able to be stuck down, what was the point? I would just free-hand it (like the 'p' in 'shop').

Here you can see the difference after sanding the lettering down. I sanded this A LOT to get the look of a sign that had been out in the elements for a long time. It was all done with hand sanding so I could stop, take a look, go back over it, etc. More control = happy Jill (in 99% of my life experiences). Plus my arms were getting a great workout!

Started working on the table right out of the shower - no make up, in curlers. Just keeping it real :)

After painting and stenciling and sanding...it still looked a little off somehow. I decided to use a mix of glaze and jacobean stain to take down the bright factor.

Glaze, stain, rags, paint pen, sandpaper and protection for my hand

Here, only one leaf was done. I brushed it on and quickly wiped it off with an old t-shirt. The wood soaked up the stain, and I like!

More glaze/staining, wiping off and giving the top some depth.

I still wanted to futz with it, so I took my silver paint pen and outlined the 'Sales/Service' and old time phone number. Which made it too shiny. Which means even more sanding.

My arms informed me they would mutiny if I outlined/sanded the larger letters, so this is where I stopped. Sometimes, I need to step away and let it sink in before making any more decisions. Turns out my arms were right and I love it!

 The legs got a coating of poly to keep them from chipping any more and to seal the bare wood.

This corner has been a dumping ground for awhile...

...and I won't lie and say all this stuff has found a permanent home, but it's a work in progress. 

Here's the table in that corner

I need chairs, stuff on the walls, etc. This is just the start :) Working on the chairs - a friend went pickin' and found a few for me to work on. Thanks Anne Marie!!

Sharing this project here:

Tales from Bloggeritaville
Someday Crafts

Todays Creative Blog
A Picture is Worth 1000 Words 

Domestically Speaking

Bargain Shopping Paradise

The TShirt Diaries

The Shabby Chic Cottage

Somewhat Simple 
Handy Man, Craft Woman
Primitive and Proper
Funky Junk Interiors SNS
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Friday