Cole & Son at FabMo

FabMo is a non profit who's original mission is to keep things out of the landfill from what they gathered at the San Francisco design center. Million of fabric and tile samples were headed to the dumpster after each season was over. Fast forward to now and they get fabric and art supplies from everywhere. This week I was in charge of stocking the wall paper sample books for the sale this weekend. Not sure why I flipped through this book but it has amazing Japanese themed wall paper. When I saw the persimmon tree design, I knew the book was coming home with me.$2.00. If I was ever to build another big house, I so would spend the $$$$ to use this wall paper. It's a work of art all by it's self! Prices are very very low to help keep things out of the landfill but they do have to make some money to keep the lights on. 

Bleach Printing

 

practice tee shirt

I've been collection a ton of  stuff for my bleach printing project. Lace table clothes, doilies, stencils and even placemats. I have a rack of dark clothes out in the garage for me to practice on. 

I did learn bleach will get weaker the longer it's mixed with water. Guess that could be a good or bad thing depending on the look you want. 

I was so thrilled to see the rubber coasters I picked up at auction last month worked out super well! Not sure how long they will last getting blasted with bleach but I didn't pay much for them. Also plan to use them for sun printing so doing double crafting duty. The lace strip came for a very worn pillow case and that worked out well too!

rubber place mats and coasters

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Using what you have - African Violet Pot

I've been looking for a African violet pot but the prices are a little too high to justify getting one. So thinking about, I just need a porous clay pot sitting in the glazed pot. All of my clay pots have holes at the bottom but late last night (I'm a night owl) I thought why not just seal the bottom with a rock and hot glue. Walked around my yard tis morning and found what I think is the perfect pair. I like the bright yellow and the clay pot is tall enough. Have no idea where I got these pots from but they have been sitting just waiting to be used. :)

Update: Went to Savers and guess what I found? It was in the exercise and furniture section. I first found the inside pot then searched for the outside pot. $2.00!

Two year project banner project done!

One of the many projects that had been on my  to do list for two years is finally finished! One of my daughter's good friends ask me to make a party banner with fabric she brought back from her travels. I think maybe she got the fabric while she was in the Peace Corp years ago. 
 I made a lot of banners for my daughter when she came out to visit a few years ago. The hand cutting, finishing off all the edges took a long time. On top of all that working in a tiny space made it even more difficult. Fast forward to now and what I learned along the way. I researched getting a Acc Cut banner die. It is very pricey and I waited over a year for the price to go down on eBay but it never did. Finally pulled the trigger and got. Then is sat again for another year.  Then after seeing how other crafters made their banners, I picked up some fusible interfacing at FabMo. No more having to finish off the edges. Those two things were game changers. Finished two banners in one day! Also having the space now to spread made it go even faster! 

Terra Farms - Total Fail 2026

Sunday is my domestic diva day. Getting things done around the house as I avoid going anywhere. I like to meal prep for the week so I only have to clean the kitchen once a week. 

I've been wanting to order from Terra Farms for at least a year. It's a local farmers group that delivers to your area at one location for you to pick up. Because I was always at the thrift store on Saturdays, I could never do the pick up. Since I'm not at the thrift store anymore, I finally was able to place an order. I was so disappointed and shocked with what I received. It was so bad that I'm sure the stuff was pulled from a compost pile. The onions were already going bad, ends were moldy. The broccolini was so old the ends were dry and hard. Had to be weeks old. The cherry tomatoes were soft and mushy, again picked a while ago. I really hate to leave a bad review, but paying premium prices for subpar food isn't ok. 

 

Persimmon Soap - Does it work?

With all the recalls/lawsuits on shampoos and soap, I've gone down the rabbit hole looking into alternatives. Many years ago when I traveled a lot to some very remote places, I tried solid shampoo bars. Back then it felt like  you were washing your hair with straw and grass clippings. Didn't like it at all. Fast forward to now and small companies are making good solid soap bars, using very simple ingredients. During my search I came across persimmon soap. As we age, we get a build up of oxidized lipid = old person smell. The persimmon tannins in the soap is suppose to neutralize the body odor. There isn't any solid science behind this claim, but it's been popular in Japan for years. I was at the Japanese grocery store picking up several boxes of green tea for my daughter. She flying back for one of her best friend's birthday. It dawned on me I should check and see if they had persimmon soap. Bingo! On the very bottom self  there was a whole line of soaps. The upside was they didn't cost an arm and leg either. This type of soap is very pricey online. One of the many reason it's great living is the bay area with a big Asian population. 

 

Vintage paper & Lawn Fawn HB

This background paper has to be at least 25+ plus years old! Don't even know how many moves it has had with me. I also found out I have three of the Lawn Fawn happy birthday die. I know one came from the big buy out I did several months ago, but not sure where the other two came from. The little beaded cupcake was an extra I made awhile ago. I thought the card needed a little something. I'm still in the process of trying to use up my crafting supplies. Doing the Gentle Art of  Swedish Death Cleaning, crafting version. :)

I'm finally back home after pet sitting for almost a month. I once again have piles of stuff that I swear multiplies when I'm gone. Sorting and tagging on high on my to do list today. 

 

Life of a reseller - Savers and Goodwill Haul

 I wasn't planning on doing any picking when I did a drop off at Savers. It's been a few months of finding nothing at the thrift stores. 

First thing I found was this Waterford vase - $10. Vases in general are hard to sell but Waterford is the exception. Doesn't sell for a lot but the name recognition is everything.  The pumpkin ($12.00) is a hobbyist piece, but very well done. Paid a little more for it because I liked it. If it doesn't sell, it will just go into my collection. William and Sonoma ginger bread men candle holders, new in the box $2.45. 

Since I was having such good luck at Savers, I stopped by Goodwill on my way home. This is a smaller store and most of the time I find nothing. They get a ton of donations, like traffic jam to drop off donations. Not sure where it all goes, because it doesn't end up in the store. Found several uranium glass pieces. Candle holders $3.45 each and toothpick holder $1.45. Covered turkey dish $6.00, covered candy bowl $3.45.

The best score was the wine glasses made in Czechoslovakia. There are millions of wine glasses at thrift stores. I been looking for ones with a flat rim, which I've been told by wine snobs are the good ones. These wine glasses are still current and sell on Amazon for $86. Having the box is a plus and the labels are still on the glasses so I know the glasses are legit. Paid $3.45 which is way cheaper than buying the cheap ones individually priced for $2.50.The only impulse buy was the large German Christmas market tin $3.65. Thought maybe my daughter would like it for storage as she actually goes to that market during the holidays. 

The Christmas Stocking Die

I was happy to find out my Christmas stocking dies from FabMo will cut felt! I'm going to try and cut Warm & Natural batting next. If I had to guess this was originally purchased from Temu. The quality just feels off and it came with no packaging information. I think I paid $3.

Now I have to decide what size I should make. The plan is to make a garland with stockings and ginger bread men. Still working on how I will embellish them and stitch them. 
 

Stitched Christmas Card - WhMemory Bite and Gold

Memory Box Stitch Die

I tried something different with my stitched Christmas tree cards. I've almost used up all my green DMC floss, which is a major goal! Even with selling off a lot of my thread stash, I still have a ton if it. For some unknown reason, I have a lot of white. Thinking maybe a white tree would be interesting and maybe adding pink rhinestones? I also have a lot of gold metallic thread but it's was really hard stitching on paper. Not sure if metallic embroidery thread is just hard to work with in general. 

I think the die I'm using to make the holes for the tree is a Memory Box die. 

Hero Arts Color Layer Stencils

Today was a meal prep day. While I was making my standard pasta dish, I whipped up some peanut butter cookies. By making them super big, it cuts the baking time. 

When I finished all the cooking and baking, I gave my new Hero Arts color layering stencils a try. Not as impressive as the poppies set but still fun. Very tight fitting on a A2 card size. Getting them to line up was a challenge too. Plus the very skinny parts would lift up if you weren't careful. I think my distressed inks aren't the right colors to use. I'll have to dig out the older ink pads I have. Fingers crossed they are still good. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for them stencils . 

October FabMo Crafting Haul

October Fabmo Haul $30.00

Do I need more crafting supplies? What a silly question. :)  

One thing I have been looking for is the Hero Arts color layer stencils. I had so much fun making the poppies a few months ago, that I've been waiting to see if more would get donated to FabMo. Was so thrilled when I found three in designs that I liked for $3 each. I was also looking for small cling sentiments stamps so pick up this set ($4.00) which I think is a Tim Holtz design. The snowflake die, embossing folder and stamps I'm pretty sure came from Temu but for a $1.50 thought I'd give it a try. The Christmas stocking die is another Temu item which you can get for $1.50 but FabMo priced it at $3.00. Planning on make some mini felt Christmas stocking like I did a few yers go. Fingers crossed it will cut felt or if all else fails, thin fabric.