Picker's luck hits again!

 

A few weeks ago my daughter said she wanted to make a mother's ring. Pearl and sapphires are the boys birthday stones. Plus a diamond which is her husband's birthday stone.

For the past few months I've been working with two guys who buy gold and silver. With the market going nuts, I've been referring them to a lot of friends!

When they have gold jewelry to melt down they remove the stone which is then sold to a jeweler. The only gem I've never had in my collection is sapphires. I asked that they let me know if they come across some. Doesn't have to be big as my daughter's design for her ring would be a band. They found some earrings that checked off all the boxes. I'm not sure if my daughter will want to change the earrings into a ring because it has everything she wanted, so I also purchased the earrings that were just sapphires. These earrings would be easier to take apart. 

 

Yes I brought bags of dirt

 

I'm slowly building my raised garden beds at my place. I really wanted to get these bags of dirt at Costco but lifting them into my already filled cart wasn't going to happen. Good thing Matt is going to Costco sometime this week. He has the muscle mass to lift these suckers into his truck. :) 

I don't think I'll have a successful garden this year as it's still a work in progress but it's getting there!

Latest binge foods from Costco - 2026

I'm so glad that Costco and Trader Joe's aren't on the boycott list! 

I go to Costco about once a month, mainly for the gas and the basics. I don't go down each aisle as I know I will pick up something I don't really need. I do allow myself one impulse buy when it comes to food. With the California cold weather (anything in 40's is winter for us) I've been craving soup. My daughter is great at making soups something she didn't learn from me. :)

Going out to eat is so outrageously expensive that spending a little more for something I can make at home is worth. I really like the brand bibigo. I didn't know at the time that the spicy mushroom soup and dumplings are something they recommend combining. Looking forward to making it after I finish all my leftovers in the refrigerator.  My other splurge was the seaweed and salt chip, another favorite. The Costco size bag cost the same as a small bag at the Asian store. Do I really need to eat that many chips, no I don't but I'll enjoy it anyways!
 

Vintage Matchboxes Collections

Last month I picked up a tub full of matchboxes. The dad had a hobby of covering the walls in the garage with matchbox covers. I thought a crafter would be interested in the ones that didn't make it to the wall. Since everything I put in my booth has to be tagged, it wasn't practical to tag all of them. Not knowing anything about match box collecting, I decided to lump them together. I've been in search of a big glass jar ever since. In slowly cleaning out my death pile in the garage I found one! I'm slowly getting the garage cleaned out to make more room for the home gym that's in there. The gym area is useable but it would be nice if I didn't have to step over things to get to the weights and bike. 
 

Chop Wizard

Chop Wizard a

I like kitchen gadgets and it's fun to see if they really work. Of course I will never pay full retail but if it's cheap enough I will play around with it. This is the "seen on tv Chop Wizard" that was new in the box. How well does it work?

When the boys were here I made cottage style hash browns a lot. Yes, it doesn't take long to chop everything up but the potatoes do cook fast when all the same size. With the family coming out to visit this summer, I'm testing if this is a time saver. So far it's working well with potatoes but doesn't really save time if you good at making everything the same size. I can see it working if you can't hold a knife for very long. You still do have to cut things to fit into the wizard. Still deciding if it will make the keep list. 
 

Lucky California Oranges

I heard that the orange groves are ready to harvest but there's no one to pick them. Of course that's no surprise with all that is going on. :(

Living in California we're able to grow fruit trees in our yards. There is a volunteer at the store that has a yard full of fruit trees. She will bring in bags full of whatever is in season. This month it's oranges.

I did use most of the oranges for my smoothies but I also dried few. The orange color stayed so bright that I don't think I'll have to paint them when I make them into mushrooms. I've learn low and slow on drying everything works the best in keeping the color. Oranges and lemons make the best for mushrooms, limes not so much. All the slices are being storage until I make my holiday potpourri. 

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Muffins

Back in the day gluten free products were so bad. It's come a long way. I saw post about Trader Joe's gluten free muffins. I normally don't even go down any bread aisle in any grocery store. I searched these out and decided to give it a try. It's very pricey but groceries over all are very high now days. The muffins aren't bad. Had the taste of raw cookie dough or I could have gotten a batch that wasn't baked all the way through. Very light and not overly sweet. It doesn't have a lot of flavor but overall not bad for being gluten free. The list of ingredients is a mile long but that's expected. 

Stamping Up - The Gang's All Meer Set

 

Since I bought that huge lot of stamps and dies, I held back about 30 sets. Some are the interactive ones that I wanted to try when they were first released. They were way too expensive to just try out. So my 2026 goal is to try out all the sets I kept and then sell them off. 

"The Gang's All Meer" was a set I was going to buy several weeks ago when it first came into Cottage Crafts. I talked myself out of it because I really don't need any more stamps. I was thrilled to find it in my crafting haul. I'll try it a few different ways, watercolor, alcohol markers etc... before passing it along. 

Reselling = Patience

During Thanksgiving I wanted to do a cornucopia for the table out front. I have all the faux fruit and veggies but not horn. I knew at some point I would find one at a price I'm willing to pay. Being a reseller, patience is the name of the game. 

It's really dirty but I have to wait until we get warmer weather to wash it. So now it's gathering up all the parts and put in storage for next year. 

 

Creative Prep Time 2026

It's been on my creative to do list for a while now. I saw a photo of dried lemon halves made into mushrooms. I dried a lemon and it worked out pretty well. The lime tree produced a lot last year and many are now on the ground. Even thou they don't dry as well as lemons I'm going for it. With all the rain I had to wait before I could pick them up. Luckily with the cold weather I don't have to hurry. 

It's nice to have a full size garage again! I can now set up my big dehydrator and not have to worry about the smell. I also decided to make holiday simmering pot potpourri. I made a batch for Christmas years ago so thought I'd make for batch for this year. I hate for the limes to go to waste!

 

Life of a Reseller - pillows

Not sure if there's a resell market for these handmade pillows. I liked the color combination and the quilting was done really well. 

I'm not a pillow person but I couldn't pass these up. It's not a category I know well but with Mother's Day coming up thought these would sell. I don't do much for Valentine's day as I like to resell items that can sell all year round. I have to think about storage for seasonal things and in the past the storage fees ate up any profit I would make. 

Life of a reseller - death pile

Death Pile

For those who don't resell, they think we're able to sell everything we get. There isn't a reseller out there that doesn't have a death pile. Things no matter how hard or how famous you are don't sell. At some point you just have to let it go. 

Since I brought out a crafter's stash last month, it was time to get rid of the dead stock. It was a bulk sale to another reseller. Will she make money on it? I really don't think so. She's reselling in a category she doesn't know much about, at least not yet. I didn't lose money on the deal, so it wasn't a total loss on my part. In the reselling world you have to know when to cut your losses and move on.