Mod Podge Fail

Not all my creative projects turn out the way I think they will. I picked up this home made flower press for the boys. At some point another child had scribbled on it and not in a cute way. So in my mind I thought I would Mod Podge this napkin over the top of it. I've not used Mod Podge before but how hard could it be? 

About 5 seconds into the project I knew it wasn't going to turn out well. So now do I sand it all down, leave it as is or keep adding to it hoping to make it more artistic. :)
 

Tomat Sauce with Butter & Onion by Marcella Hazan

Finally made the famous Marcella Hazan recipe"Tomato Sauce with Butter & Onion" in the Food52 cookbook "Genius Recipes". 

 The onion is suppose to be thrown out but I just couldn't do that. Not really sure what the onion did for the sauce but with the first go around I follow the recipe. I put it over rice because I was to lazy to make the gluten free pasta. Working with limited number of burners, things have to be done in stages. Long gone are the days I had massive six burner Wolf range. The recipe is a good base to add the other things. I know next time I'll add sausage and garlic to the finish sauce. The next day I made fried rice with the leftover onion and rice. 

Staffordshire Spill Holders

I'm a night owl by nature so my most productive time is when most people are asleep. I've been cat sitting for the last two weeks and still have one more week to go. Haven't gotten a whole lot done around the house and things are starting to pile up! Had to force myself to clean off my desk and get it organized. 

I picked up these Staffordshire "spill holder" on MaxSold this weekend. Back in the day these would be on your fireplace mantel holding scraps of rolled up paper to help start your fire. I thought they were interesting enough to place a low bid. Was a little surprised I got them for $7.00. Getting tagged today and boxed up to go to the Cottage Crafts. 

Santa in May 2026

This Santa plant holder was in the lot of metal fish sculptures I picked up at the auction house last week. Being a Santa fan, this just had my name all over it! Now I have to decide do I go with poinsettias or green pine. Real (yes, I have real ones) or fake?

It will go on sale during the holiday season but for now he's out in my garden.
 

Mochi Pancakes for Posey

Gluten Free Pancake Mix

Today is Posey's 10th birthday so I made her very favorite snack - mochi pancakes. 

This mix is from Costco and I've had it for awhile now. It calls for milk which I don't normally have in the house. In my failed attempt to use almond milk in my coffee, I still have a whole carton in my refrigerator. Not wanting to waste it and thinking Posey wouldn't really care, I gave it a try. Turned out pretty good and so much better than the breadfruit one. Posey beelined it to my door when she came home from her morning walk. Didn't even say good-bye to her dog walker. :) 

Booth Make Over 2026

I always forget to take a before shot but here's the finally make over of my booth. Doesn't look like five hours worth of work but it did take that long. I did try three times to get the display cabinet I picked up at auction to work but it just wasn't working. Moving all those smalls takes a lot of time. I still have to go in to marked down several things that will go into my sale booth. Things I pull from my sale booth I will donate to another reseller. Nice guys who is always happy to help with the heavy lifting or cleaning out the spider infested sheds at my estate clean outs.  

All of the metal artwork I picked up is getting used in the store so that should help cover costs of my last auction adventure, at least I hope it will. :)

 

Upcycle Display Piece

Before

That's my one and only coffee mug that I've had for over 20 years. It's a big mug but fits nicely in the cubbies. I think it's funny that I drink coffee every morning but only have one mug and I don't even use it for coffee. :)

I'm sure this cabinet was used for CDs back in the day as those fit it as well. I've had cabinets like this before and they do make nice storage displays. I paid up for it, $100 so I won't ever get my money back. Those extra auction fees really add up! Going to use it in my booth. 

At the end of the auction I started chatting with another reseller. She and I were both looking for display pieces. She is getting ready for a street fair in Watsonville. I could tell we had the same taste in the "look" we wanted for a booths. It was very nice that we could chat and not get upset that we out bid each other. Now that I know her, I'll go over my list with her before the next auction. We can sort out what really is important to us. This is a big no no at auctions and I've only done it one other time many years ago for something I personally wanted. 

Update: Spent five hours redoing my booth and after trying three different ways, it just wasn't working. So it was used in another part of the store. Tami (store owner) was a good sport handling all the auction stuff I dragged in and finding places for everything. 

After

Howard Kron - MCM Siamese Cat Lamp

Total lot was $226.80

This is what put me over budget at the auction house this weekend. I didn't put my bidder number down fast enough. From what I was told there was a lot interest in these lamps. 

These are TV lamps from the 1950's and 1960's. Back when TVs where in big boxy cabinets. These would help diffuse the light and glare in the room. They are fun pieces but not big money makers. Hopefully I'll be able to get my money back on them. The auction premiums really add up fast!

 

Another Auction Score - Wooden Jewelry Box

Handmade Jewelry Box $31.50

This little box was the reason I went to local auction house this past weekend. It was in jewelry section and what was in it was trash. I can't even say junky, it was that bad. I can only guess it went up for auction before and the good stuff was taken out. Then it was consigned it back to the auction house. Yes, dealers do that all the time. Either way it was a good deal for me because it didn't get a lot of attention. I'm always in search of handmade boxes to add to my collection. Fits nicely on the very top!

As always the art has to speak to me and of course be in my price range. :) There were three piece of sterling silver in the box but still not worth a whole lot.

Inside the box 

 

Another Auction Day

I went to DGW auction this weekend not expecting to find anything. It's always hit or miss with them.

I'll do better photos once I get everything home. The check out line was too long so I'll go back on Sunday to pick up everything. 

The cats are TV lamps. Back in the day they sat on your TV for backing lighting. I went a little over my budget (well a lot over my budget) but they are super cool. I won't make a lot on them and I know that. $180.00 

The little cubby shelf, I plan to use as a display piece in my booth. I would use it to display coffee mugs, but I don't own that many. :) $80.00

The wooden jewelry box was what I really wanted and it went under budget. It is filled with junk and I mean toss it in the trash stuff. The box is cool and handmade. $25.00

After getting a short lesson on cast iron pans from someone who refinishes them, I know what to look for. One of the pans is a Wagner #8.  I use a 10" cast iron pan everyday and my daughter wanted one.  Smaller  cast iron pans are much easier to use. There really isn't a big cooking difference in old cast iron pans so long as you take care of them. Your just paying for the name. In the lot was a metal pepper/coffee grinder that Alton Brown (big fan) uses. Can't see in the photo. I want to give that a try before selling it off. $45.00

I'm planning a doing a display of "heavy metal" items and was just talking about it with Tami (CCB store owner) the day before. Then I saw this lot and it just was meant to be. Can't wait to put this display together. $60.00

Union Antiques - New Kid In Town

This week on Maxsold I bid on 4 frames. There's no resell value at all in them but it was the cheapest thing I could bid on that I could do something with. This seller was posting a lot so guessing it was another reseller, I wanted to check them it out. To my surprised it's a new antique store I knew nothing about. Tiny store but they do have very nice things.  I didn't even look at the prices, knowing there was nothing there I could flip. They are doing a friend a favor by posting on Maxsold and having the pick up at the store. The best part is people are finding out about the place, like I did.  

I bid on the frames (paid $4) thinking I could use them as displays to highlight my jewelry. I used tin snips to cut the metal, which was a hot mess. In the end it worked out but it was messy. Now just have to get it into my booth. 

Banana Pudding Cookies

Banana Cookies In The Making

There is a volunteer at the HD that brings in homemade bake goods every Saturday. That's her thing and she's really really good at it! Because of my gluten issue, I have to prep days ahead of time, knowing that I'm going to eating something I shouldn't on Saturday.

When I babysit the frenchies, they ask (the owners not the dogs) what snacks I would like in the house. Normally I don't ask for anything because the kids have the best snack drawer. This time I asked for some banana pudding cookies from Magnolia bakery. I didn't know that the ones I scarfed down last time came from New York and are pretty pricey! The reason I wanted one was to have M try it and see if she could duplicate the recipe. Well M loved them, looked up the recipe and made a batch dough that same day. It's waiting to be baked up fresh for Saturday. Happy dance! Hopefully I will be able to get M to make a batch when the boys come out this summer. Banana bread is their favorite so I know they will love these!
 

Breadfruit Pancake Mix - Pass

I finally got around to making this pancake mix one of my cousins gave me. It calls for milk which I never have in my house unless the boys are here. So it's been several months.

I'm cat sitting for the next 3 weeks but I go home every morning to shower and make breakfast. It's much easier and faster. I drive by a Trader Joes on my way home. My daughter is asking for me to stock up on the small trader joe bags. It's still a hot item in Europe so reselling them is her side hustle. I've had the best luck in finding them when the store opens at 8:00 am. I really didn't need anything today but I didn't want to waste a visit when there was no bags. So I picked up some real whole milk and bananas. TJ bananas are better than Costco for ripening. 

This mix wasn't all that good but Posey really liked it. She's a chocolate lab and she just likes eating so she can't give an honest review. :) Next up is the Costco mochi pancake mix which also calls for milk. 

 

Harry Potter Audio Book Score

I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter audio books read by Jim Dale. The earlier books are hard to find on CDs as they were all done on cassette tape. Most of the time when they do come up for auction or at the thrift stores they are priced way too high, almost full retail. 

Thinking I was going to get out bid on MaxSold, as the last ones went for big bucks. I bid $4 and then totally forgot about it. Well got the notice my $4.00 bid won! Happy to add to my collection and someday I'll get all of them. :) 

It's rose season

Yellow roses are my favorite rose. It was a nice surprise when I went out to the backyard at the frenchies house. Not a lot of green landscaping but there is a very tall yellow rose bush in full bloom. 

Taking the dogs for a walk twice a day in a very old neighborhood with well established and maintained landscaping is a treat. All the roses are in full bloom. 
 

Art doesn't sell too well at CCB but there sometimes I have to fill a big space in my booth. I personally like this oil painting so if it doesn't sell I will add it to my collection or take is up to my son's house. 

I haven't been able to actually see a super bloom but it's on my list. This is the closest I'll get for now. :) 
 

Wool Roving Score at Savers

 One of the project on my list of things to do is felting. I have everything but the wool roving. It's a little to $$$ to buy new so I've been searching for it at the thrift stores. I popped into Savers today (senior discount day) to pick up a few puzzles. I'm dog sitting this week so I do puzzles to make sure they have all the pieces before I sell them off. I normally don't buy things at Savers if the box has been torn open. Not sure why people do this. Since all I really wanted was the roving, it didn't matter if everything else was  in the box. Turns out the only thing missing was the needle. So for $2.50 I have a nice selection of earthy colors to practice with.  

When you have nothing to wear moment

I haven't been to a funeral in a long long time. Many families are doing private services at the burial. When I was growing up I think I went to more funerals than I did going to church. That's just the way it was back in the day. 

I don't wear a lot of black so I didn't have anything appropriate to wear. I also realized I didn't even have a pair of black pants. I'm a denim shirt and shorts type of person. I wasn't too surprised I didn't find anything at HD as there's not a lot in plus sizes. I went to Savers (they have a bigger inventory) and with time running out (only had two hours) had to find something I didn't have to alter too much. I only found one pair of pants that were the correct length but way too big. Not being able to try anything on I had to go bigger. Took in the waist a few inches as I knew my jacket would cover the make shift dart in the back. I did have this light jacket and a silk top stash away in my closet. The reason for the rush was I got the wrong date in my head and thought I had a few more days. 

Carol Kennedy Artwork

I was checking out the halloween bin at the store as I was chatting with another volunteer who was working on the jewelry. She needs help in looking for hallmarks on the gold and silver jewelry. 

As I pulled out the big halloween bin that is next to jewelry, right on top was this primitive artwork. I flipped it over to see if it was handmade. To my surprise it was made by a dear friend Carol Kennedy! She made amazing primitive artwork and was also an antique dealer. I have a few of her Santa dolls so I will add this to my collection. Carol passed away a few years ago and sadly her inventory was tossed away. Long sad story about that but I won't go into it. Will focus on the positive and how lucky I was to find this. 

 

Tomatoe Sauce with Butter and Onion - Food 52

Recipe by Marcella Hazan on the cover

 I went to get the ingredients to make a famous tomato sauce that is very simple. Can of tomatoes from Italy and one onion. That is all I got. I heard about it from several sources so it made it on to my list of must try. 

I was asked if I found everything I wanted. I said yes and that I don't impulse buy anymore. The checker was a little surprised by that. With the high cost of food and all the recalls happening with prepared foods, I'm much more selective. I did check out the gluten free cupcakes but I was just window shopping. :) I do pick up one thing when I'm at Costco that's not on my shopping list. In my area they carry a lot of Asian foods I haven't every tried. I only go there maybe once a month for gas so it's never over the top. 

Recipe:

Can of Italy tomatoes (that's important) 

Butter (a lot of it)

Half an onion (not chopped up)

That's it. Then whatever pasta you want and grated cheese. 

 

Waffle Potatoes?

Late last night (I'm a night owl) I saw a Youtube on making waffle potatoes. I did have a small bag of potatoes that are headed to the compost heap so if there was one that hadn't sprouted I would give it a try. I'm not a potato person but my grandsons are.  So I thought if this works, it would be a fun breakfast idea for them. Well it sort of work but it makes a hot mess of the waffle maker. I think pan fried is faster and make a crispier hash brown. This is a past for me. 

 

Cyanotype and watercolor experiment

I thought why not try and do some sun printing (cyanotype) over a watercolor. Yes, the first red flag would be that watercolor paint reactivates when it gets wet. Found that out on my first try. I thought if I was fast enough on the rinse cycle it wouldn't be a problem. That theory sort of worked. I'm also not sure if the watercolor paint that got on to the brush and then into the sun solution did anything to change the chemical reaction. I didn't notice anything but I'm a newbie to all this. 

What does work are watercolors that stain the paper - reds and oranges. They don't easily wash away. You also have to towel dry the paper quickly after the final rinse. Water can't drip or puddle on the paper at all or you'll have a hot mess. 

I also experimented splattering on some paint over the prints and that worked out very well. 

Now I just have to decide what to do with it all. :)

 

Another Surprise!

When I saw this I didn't think is was that old. I did a quick google search just to get the name of the pattern. Found out it was made from 1940's thru 1960's. Being that old I wondered if it would glow. To my surprise it does! It's called Chintz by Fostoria. It doesn't have a high resale value but it was a nice surprise! 

Can't be in two place type of day

Saturday was auction day at the local auction house in Sunnyvale. Since I'm dog sitting I wasn't able to make it as I can't leave Russell home alone for to long. I also didn't want to leave an absentee bid as they start too high. 

I really want to see if I could get this vintage (glows green) crystal ink well stand. Super cool piece but a limited resale market. All the junk lots have  high opening bids so I would have to be there to see just how high. There was also this small folding table that would have been cool to get if I could have attended. I think I'll stop by on Sunday and see if these lots sold and if they haven't, I'll make an offer. 

 

"Fabulous Felt" Project First Round

Pattern From Fabulous Felt by Corinne Lapierre

I worked on the Halloween banner while dog sitting. The lighting isn't good for these old eyes but I plugged along anyways. 

I first tried just doing a single layer of felt but it wasn't turning out too well. I finally did what the author said to do and doubled everything. Yes, it worked out much better. 

My blanket stitch is still wonky and it shows but I got pretty good at making french knots. 

Now I have to decide if I want to make a whole big banner of these. Thinking maybe I'll use my sewing machine but I sort of like the rustic handmade look. :)
 

"Fabulous Felt" by Corinne Lapierre

I'm dog babysitting this week so I rounded up several crafting books from the library. It's just for a few days so I don't want to haul a lot of my crafting supplies over. 

This book "Fabulous Felt" by Corinne Lapierre is very fun and has a lot of ideas I want to try.  I've started coping out some of the patterns and added everything to my list of projects. I think doing a garland of witch's clothes for Halloween will be fun. The chicken egg cosies is just too funny not to try and make. It's way too late for Easter but I'll still give it a try anyways.

Big Store Project Done!

Doing any project at the thrift store involves a lot of spinning wheels. This display cabinet was donated for us to use and not sell. The store of course would not have taken such a big piece otherwise. Some very old metal shelves that had seen better days (you can see the lines) had to be unbolted and tossed out. That required a work order with Pacific Clinic. The next task was telling the volunteer that her section was being moved. She doesn't like change and yells a lot about everything. Moving everything off the old shelves and finding a new home for everything while customers were in the store was also a challenge. I was motivated to help get the project done as having this big piece in the backroom was getting in my way during intake. I think it turned out nice and shows off many items I didn't know the store had!

Where's the snow? 2026

One of our plans was to have Henk learn to ski but the snow didn't hang around long enough for that to happen. We did go running around and Henk had a snowball fight with Uncle Chad. I was in charge of make the amino. 

You can see the lack of snow and it was very icy.  It was still nice to finally to use his green snowsuit. 

We also went to all 4 thrift stores in town to find a coat rack.  It's surprising for such a small town how many there are. Of course prices are high and not much of a selections but there's really no other shopping around. Specialty stores of course but those are for the tourists. During snow season online and mail service is at a stand still. 
 

Finally Got The Art Hung

I got these vintage photos in custom made frames at auction several months ago. My son has a huge bare wall at his place. I finally made the drive up to deliver and hang them. The wall still needs a few more things to balance it all out.

The other thing I needed done was being able to download photos to my blog. I had no idea why it wasn't working but everything went haywire after I update my computer and iphone.

I was a little nervous driving up but the heat wave melt most of the snow. The ski slopes are closing down a month early. 
 

Strawberry Coffee

I still can't figure out how to add my photos to my blog. Waiting until I find someone with more tech savvy to help me out.  So my blog will be a little boring. 

This morning I'm getting ready for a visit from my grandson and daughter. Stock the house with food and make the house baby proof. I spent last week stashing boxes of all my crafting projects up in the attic. 

I did try the new coffee hack of adding freeze dried strawberries to your coffee. I give that a 👎.  Not sure why anyone thought this was a good idea. Good thing my grandson likes strawberries. 

Really hate software updates!

 

I found out why I was getting blurring images with I was trying to emboss on velvet. Using a stamp mounted on wood will make the image move. Since almost all my red rubber stamps are the old fashion wood mounted, I'm limited on what I can use. As I was doing some tidying up of my craft supplies, I found a very old unmounted set. It worked out very well!  

I really hate when you have to update your computers and they friggin change everything. Like why? I can't add photos to my blog anymore so I have to do a work around, which took me days to figure out. I know someone who's a techie could figure it out but until I find that person I'm going old school. Cut & Paste. 

Comfort Food 2026

One of my comfort foods is fried rice. 
 I usually make it when it's time to clean out my refrigerator and use up all the little bits of veggies. I'm getting much better at not leaving that one little piece of broccoli or cucumber. I wonder why we feel the need to save one little piece? It's not like you can really do anything with it other than watch it wilt away in the bottom of your refrigerator. 

Yes, I picked up another cookbook. Since a lot of recipes I like are from Food 52, I thought I would check it out. In researching who this company was, I found out that American Test Kitchens just purchased it at auction. I'm glad that I found an older copy because I don't have high hopes that ATK will do anything for the brand.

 

Accidental Surprise

I went to Savers on Thursday to drop off and do a little picking. It wasn't senior discount day so it wasn't too busy. I still ended up with a cart full of stuff!

I did find a small pressed glass bowl (sorry no picture, I already have it at CCB) and it had a purple tinge to it. I didn't have my UV light so I gamble ($1.99) it was uranium glass. Got it home and it turned out to be just plain glass. What did surprise me was my measuring cup I use to make my coffee. It was sitting on the counter when I was testing the bowl. It blew up bright green when my UV flashlight passed over it. All this time I thought it was a reproduction! 
 

Tea Leaf Salad Update 2026

This attempt at making a tea leaf salad was way better than last time I tried. It's good but I think I need to add more garlic. It just needs a little more punch of flavor.

The tomatoes are from my garden. Yes my little cherry tomato plant lasted this long. The cold weather we had a few weeks ago finally did it in. I think it may reseed so fingers crossed it will grow again. I will make this recipe again and add the things that fit my taste palette.

Sun Printing 101

Today I did a little more experimenting with sun printing. 

They said if it wasn't really sunny, it would just have to be exposed longer. It was a little overcast this morning and it was a hot failure. Really need bright light to make it work. 

I know you can sun print on fabric so I gave it try when the sun came out. That turned out ok except you can't hang the fabric to dry. The star fish started to bleed and when I realized this was a problem it was too late. The fern one turned out so much better. The next step is to wash the fabric and see what happens. 

 

Tea Leaf Salad 2026

Year ago I went to a Burmese restaurant and everyone said to try the tea leaf salad. Sadly that mom and pop restaurant didn't survive the pandemic. I like it so much I tried to make it home. I wasn't successful at all. 

Now fast forward and when a good friend took me out for lunch to a new Burmese restaurant we of course got the tea leaf salad.  It inspired me to research authentic recipes. Many recipes are dumb down to what you can find in main stream markets. Living in the Bay Area that's not a problem most of the time. I did have a heck of time finding Sencha loose leaf tea. I'm not sure because of the tariffs or it's not something that sells well. I remember seeing it in the store back in the day. Sure miss Imhara's produce! 

I picked this recipe from Food 52 (recommended by a food group) because you have to ferment the dressing for two days. That to me just seemed right to get that extra layer of flavor. It tastes great right out of the blender so we'll see what fermenting does. 

 

Shadow Box Project 2026

One of the many projects I'm working on. This is a gift to one of my daughter's best friends from college. She flew out to Holland to help celebrate her birthday. They both love to travel and this is one of my favorite photo. All the parts for this project sat for weeks on my crafting table waiting for me to decide. 

I'm planning on doing shadow box project with the boys but this one is an adult version. 
 

Waffle Maker Bust

This looked like a good idea for a waffle maker but it was a hot mess. Totally understand why it was discontinued!  

It does make a really thick waffle but getting the right amount into the pan is the hard part. If you measure incorrectly you either get an over flow (which is very hard to clean up) or just a partial waffle with brunt edges. I was using my gluten free ube pancake mix so I give it a little slack for that.  I'm not a waffle pancake fan so I only have the Trader Joe's ube pancake mix because it's a favorite of the boys and Posey. Yes I make the dog pancakes for her snack time. 

It's going back to the thrift store or maybe the recycle bin. 

 

Should I or shouldn't I

I was thinking it would be fun to do hot pot meals when the boys are here. I know my daughter would love it and I think the boys are old enough for it to be safe. Now that Costco has all the fixings it's doable without all the prep. 
I found this noodle pot that is made to heat up fast and stay hot. Normally I don't buy electrical things at thrift stores as you never sure if they work correctly. This one was very clean and didn't look like it was used very much. I think I walked around for about 30 minutes trying to talk myself into getting it. With the 30% senior discount it came to $7.75. And it does work very well. Going to do a test run at some point.