Snowmen and Ornies and Strainers, oh, my!

Hello, my peeps.  I have been a busy little crafter this last week.  After finishing my suitcases, I dug through some of my thrift store finds......

 Got this bag of little round metal boxes for $2.95.  I don't know what these little boxes were for initially, but when I see round, I think snowmen.  I had a bunch of round magnets so I glued them on to the back.

 Then I just painted on some cute little snowmen faces......  I love doing snowmen.  They are so easy and they don't have to be perfect!  I usually sell out of magnets every year.  These should be really popular.  Oh, yeah.  If you are displaying magnets at a craft show, cookie sheets or old metal bowls make great displays!

So this thrift store that I go to, packages like items in plastic bags and sells them really cheap.  The good thing is that it is really, really cheap.  The bad thing is you can't see what all you have or if anything is broken.  I never pay more than four or five dollars for a 'bag o stuff'' and it is always worth it just to see what goodies I get.  One of the bags I bought had these giant bells in it.

 I simply added a hanger and some ribbon and made ornaments out of them.  So easy and so cute!

This little box was an item I picked up at one of the craft stores after the holidays.  I painted it red and then crackled it with a light buttermilk paint.  For the cut-out, I quilted some green plaid fabric.  I glued on rusty bells and a star.

I bought this strainer last year while on the 127 sale.  I had to drill a hole in the handle for hanging.  I simply glued in some moss and greenery, added a snowman and a homespun bow and it becomes the perfect holiday decoration.  Wouldn't this look adorable in the kitchen??

 This is another box that I bought a while back from the thrift store.  I think this centerpiece looks so cool!

Time for me to get a few things finished up.  I am working on a new pattern and hope to have it ready this week.  As soon as I get it done, you will be the first to know!  I can't wait to show you!

Hope your week is great!

Snowy weekend.....

Yep, I know it is Spring but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature.  Here in the Rockies, we got around three feet of the fluffy white stuff and though it is beautiful, it sure doesn't seem very Spring-like.  Maybe Ma Nature is having a midlife crisis??

But when you cannot go outside, stay in, my friends, and craft away.  I finished up a couple of suitcases:

 I've been working on these for a while.  These were both brown, not too Christmas-like.  So the first step is cleaning the inside and painting the outside.  I have to do this in a few days since I paint the bottoms, tops and sides.  Then I use a white chalk marker and draw on the design and wording.  Then over the next couple of days, I do the actual painting, shading, and embellishing.  Finally, I take them outside and splatter them, add a little bit of Glitter Blast and when dry, spray a final coat of clear acrylic.  When they are all dry, I cover the handles with homespun and add a bow and greenery.

I bought these little metal trees at the thrift store a few weeks ago and didn't quite know what I was going to do with them.  They had wire strung through them with pearls, but they were kind of dull looking.....what to do.....what to do.....

 I have an entire drawer full of lace, so even though this is not really my style, I glammed them up by first removing the pearls and wire, then gluing on lace.  Yards and yards of lace.  I added a few of the pearls and some gold stars for sparkle.

Well, my friends, its off to clean a bit and then work on some snowmen.  Have a great week!