Day of the Dead Inspired Sugar Cubes

 

Inspired by the Day of the Dead sugar skulls, I tracked down this candy mold at the dollar tree. I do add brown sugar to my morning coffee so I thought why not make fun little sugar cubes. Didn't really know if it would really work so I did a test run last night with just regular sugar. At the last minute I decided to add food coloring just to see what would happen. The the skulls turned out super good. All you do is add a little water. You want the sugar to look be a sandy texture before pressing them into the mold. The tombstones didn't turn out but everything else looks great. Going to try it with brown sugar tonight then add it to my coffee bar. 

Life of a reseller

I guess last year these beaded purses were trending as the hottest things to buy. You Tubers were buying them up like crazy, wanting  them for content. I wanted to find this sushi bag out in the wild but there's no way I was going to pay $40 for it. I just took a picture of it as proof I found one. :)

Back before the pandemic Tuesday Morning was the place to go for craft supplies. I watched resellers fill shopping carts with everything in the crafting section. There were also You Tubers posting videos on what was new and their hauls. One employee told me that most of what these content creators were getting would be returned in a few days. Yeah that's a thing some resellers do. If it doesn't sell they return it to the store. Happens a lot with high end clothes. 

So I was wondering if this was the same thing happening with these purses? The purses are cute but not really functional and the quality is very low. I'm now looking for the "rare" sardine can purse just for fun. :) 
 

Getting that Halloween Vibe

A friend gave me several empty magnum size wine bottles. None of them were really fancy = $$$ wine, so I kept a few to turn into Halloween decorations. The signed bottles went into the store to see if they have any resell value.

The original plan was to paint the glue red. Since these will be seen from a distance, maybe I'll go with a multi-color look or just keep it as is. Now on the hunt for creepy hands holding a wine glass. :) 

Life of a reseller

Booth fillers

Crystal glass doesn't sell well and most resellers will pass on it. This auction lot ($30) was all vintage glass, with some of the pieces glowing green. It even had some of the big names like Waterford. It was an impulse buy that I should have passed on. This lot was right in front of the auctioneer stage, so I had to wait until the auction was over before I could pack it up. That alone should have been enough to pass on it.  The last half hour there was no one in the audience other than me, but an auction rule is not to walk in front of the auctioneer. Because it's not a money spinner, I put everything that would fit into the dishwasher. Still takes a lot of time to tag and get it into the store. 

 

Life of a reseller - auction week

One of 5 lots that didn't sell

There wasn't a whole lot at the auction house this past week. I wasn't even going to go after the preview on Friday. 

Someone's collection of oil lamps was there. Very impressive collection, many I've never seen in the wild. They don't sell well at all, at least for me. Another reseller at the store does well but she only prices them at $20. The opening bids on these lots were super high. Out of the five lots, only one sold. That's a really bad sign when other resellers passed on them. No one thought there was a profit to be made. 

I did pick up these mirrors (I'm in a mirror phase right now) which I think would make a great Halloween prop. 

I also picked up this cubby, which I think displayed a coffee mug collection based on the dust pattern. I drove everything to the store right after the auction. The cubby went right into the day of the dead display. I still have a tub of crystal I have to wash. That was my one impulse buy, which I should have passed on. It's not a money spinning and I have enough inventory for the holidays. Happens when you get bored at an auction. :) 

 

Rubber Duck Bouquet - Happy Birthday B!

One of my good friends is having a really big birthday that has an zero in it. Her words not mine. :) She is someone who has everything and really doesn't need anything. We do go out to lunch for her birthday. Being that her husband is a picky eater and I'm not, she can choose the restaurant and order whatever she wants. She has a small collection of rubber ducks so I thought it would be funny to make a bouquet of ducks for her birthday. Something silly she would find funny but not take up a lot of space. 

Craft with what you have

I picked this up at the big estate sale last week. Some how the tops broke off on the way home. It wasn't like that when I put it in my box. 

Being crafty I thought it would make a nice little vase so I couldn't throw it out. I'm slowing trimming back the lavender brushes in the front yard. The bees really like the lavender but it's time for it to be done. 

Thought my little side project turned out pretty cute!

New drying rack!

Ikea Coat Rack

I've been looking for a drying rack to hang my cyanotype and bleaching projects in the garage. 

Today coming home from Savers, I decided to use surface streets instead of getting onto the freeway. Someone must be remodeling their closet as this was out on the street. Did a couple of u-turns (it was a busy street) and I threw this into my car. It's in perfect condition and very clean. Being so light weight so I'm sure it couldn't hold a lot of clothes but it's perfect for what I need!
 

Another Brown Cow 2026

 

I get asked all the time at the store about the value of vintage items from customers. Most of the time they've already Goggled it and want to sell it for the highest price they found. I really hate to tell them the hard part is finding a buyer. Of course they don't want to do the leg work it takes to sell something online or even in person. 

Last week a man came in with a baggie of vintage uranium glass. Yes, he had four pieces in a baggie. He wanted to know if it was worth anything. It was an usual pattern (clover pattern) and glowed green. It was his late wife's collection. I had a lot of questions about it, only because it was a pattern I've never seen before.  

1) How big was the set?

2) Did he have the serving pieces?

3) Willing to sell things individually? 

4) Condition of the pieces?

It turns out it was only the four (salt shaker, sugar, creamer and a chipped wine glass) that were in the baggie. The rest of the dishes were broken when they moved to California. As a thank you, he gave me the sugar and creamer. He kept the salt shaker just as a memento of his wife's family collection. 

The next day he dropped of this cow and I'm guessing it was a thank you to Tami for helping him out. We all know I collect brown spotted cows so it came home with me. Now I'm very curious what else his wife collected!

Life of a Reseller - Cast Iron Cauldron

I've been visiting HomeGoods since they have a tons of Halloween out. I like the Johanna Parker line that is vintage inspired. I'm guessing the image trademark has expired but I still like that look. I'm not buying any because flipping them in my area isn't worth it. 

Today I went in looking for rechargeable wall sconces that don't need to be hot wired. It would nice to have in my bedroom but not really necessary. The first department I went to was the lighting section. Found two that were just ok in the clearance section. Tossed them into my cart. I walked around the Halloween sections several times and then talked myself out of getting the lights. I went to put them back and I found this cast iron cauldron (it's the real thing) just sitting with the lamps. I know it wasn't there when I first arrived. There was no hesitation, it went straight into my cart! It's up for sale at CCB but I won't be sad if it comes back home to add to my collection. :) 

 

Estate Sale Etiquette

This was used as a night light in one of the guest rooms at the last estate sale. It was passed by everyone, even the people that flipped over all the mattresses. This was the first time I saw people check the mattress which wasn't that bad, but not putting them back in place was just rude. 

I thought I could up-cycle the little frame so it came home with me instead of going into the dumpster. I'm guessing it's a scene of San Francisco. So far I like it as a night light so it may be a while before I switch it up to something else. :)


 

Bleach Printing

 

I did a little running around today looking for a beach ball. I want to make a giant eye ball for Halloween but it's not the season for beach stuff. I got lucky at Michael's and found some at 70% off! It's not as big as I wanted but it was all I could find. 

When I got home I decided I really had to give the bleach printing a try. I have all the parts so there is no excuse. My first attempt didn't go well. That the first picture. So with trial and error this is what I learned. 

1) I used a 50/50 mix of water and bleach. Lined the inside of the shirts with cardboard to keep the bleach from leaking to the other side. 

2) Remove the lace as soon as your done spraying the beach on.

3) Go lightly and don't over spray and soak the garment.

4) Let it sit for 5-10 minutes or until you get the look you want.  The black shirt took the bleach super fast. The denim shirt took a little longer. 

5) I threw everything (including the lace table cloth) in the washing machine and used the quick wash cycle. It was super hot today so I just hung everything up to dry. 

I'm going to keep experimenting on the denim shirt and see how far I can go until it falls apart. :)