Jeannie Marie & Company

Found Object Last week when I painted the cool air return I found an interesting object in the 5 gallon bucket of paint.  This was used to scrape excess paint off  the roller.   So it was interesting looking and I thought "How can I repurpose this?" Not just any old way. I'm in space saver mode and every object I keep must have a purpose.   So I set it out to dry while I began thinking. I've been wearing earrings again but they have been just lying on the dresser.  So I took the pin from the corsage that I saved from my son's wedding last October and put the tiniest hole in the wall and hung it up.   The pin is surprisingly sturdy, the rack doesn't move when I add or remove earrings.   I love the vintage look!   Necklaces can be hung on the hooks instead of the doors of the jewelry box.  The top leans out so I hung bracelets on the corners.  Practical.  Rusty.  Repurposed.  White. ...

I wanted to share with you a nice surprise I received a couple of weeks ago.  I've been waiting until I sent my Christmas thank you notes to post about it so I could show off a bit....but pride goeth before a fall!   I admired a sealing wax set that Paulette from Cheerful Thrifty Door  had posted at one of the parties I visit.  I commented about how lovely it is to get a letter sealed with stamped wax.  I had blogged about a lovely note I received with purple sealing wax  entitled The Beauty of Actual Letters .  Paulette looked up the post and decided I should have the sealing wax set!  She sent it to me along with a sweet note in early January.  I was certainly surprised and delighted when she wrote for my address and I had a few days to anticipate the gift.  Really, it was such an out of the blue gift!!  It certainly made my year! When it arrived the perfect opportunity to use it presented itself, I had several thank you notes...

My latest treasure was this gray metal frame with a white stone, embossed with a very Frenchy design.  I actually passed it up this $3.00 treasure because it wasn't the exact thing I was looking for.  I wanted something wider and scrolled to cover my cool air return.  After I woke up thinking about it, I hustled myself back to the thrift store.  I decided if it didn't work, I could certainly use it elsewhere, propped up on my mantle maybe. I've been meaning to get my cool air return grate painted since we moved in, but the bucket of paint left by the contractor got taken out to the shed and other fun things got in the way.  I decided to take care of it today.   I'm always stunned that I lived with something so long. We've been here several months. Finished :-) I'm still on the hunt for the perfect piece to hide it entirely, but this will do for now! The fun thing was discovering this in the bucket of paint left by the contractor: A metal gr...

I have only been thrifting a few times this week, My DIY project has been watching Susie and Smokey while their mother is out of town.  A twice a day visit to feed, water, change litter and spend time with them takes a chunk out of my day.  They pay no attention to me.  They are quite haughty about the whole visit.  I'm not surprised a bit. Smokey  But, during our hunt this week we did find the shelves that we needed.  We wanted solid wood bookshelves and have looked forever.  These came our way this week and we snapped them up.  Two bookshelves 5.7 wide, 7 feet tall and 1 foot deep.  Each unit has 12 shelves.  I haven't arranged them yet, but here is a sneak peek. The basket with the blue lining is the first basket I bought for my unit by my desk. The other basket I had.  My bookshelves will hold my overflow books but are primarily I need baskets for crafts, photographs, and items I can't bear to part with but you wouldn't deco...

 The Green Pig Angry Bird  One of the two finished projects I did last month, but couldn't blog about because they were stocking stuffers.  I had fun making the Red Angry Bird, so I went ahead and surprised my grandson with two more.  I don't know why a green pig is an Angry Bird, but then I don't play the game.  I'm not supposed to know why kids want something, just what they want.  These are crocheted patterns I found on Ravelry.com.   This Angry Bird is The Black Bomb Bird.   I believe he is the mean one...he looks like a real Angry Bird!   After making all three Angry Bird Toys I began seeing Angry Bird stuff everywhere.  It reminds me of the Troll doll fad.      If you would like to see the Red Angry Bird, you'll find it  here   . Has anyone else made any?  Anyone play the game? Partying this week with: The More the Merrier Tami's Amis FO Friday  Masterpiece Mo...

It's mid January here in our retirement nest. I said earlier I wouldn't but I did.  I frogged it.  This is two skeins rolled together of sock yarn.  It just didn't thrill me as a shawl.  Truly a work in progress.  Is this my signal that I must make myself learn to knit socks this year?  An easy "beginner" sock pattern would be wonderful.  Send me your favorite socks via a comment.  I'm anxious to get to the next step with this yarn!  Bath yesterday.  She drives me crazy!    Fall is officially here today, mid January.   I feel like I'm in a time warp.  It's 79 degrees and it would be Indian Summer if I were in Ohio Look what I discovered around the side of the house!  It's huge!  Look at all those brackets!  Looking at it from the underside. Click on it to make it big...it really shows off how gorgeous it is. I have some smaller ones by the front door that I almost pulled out because t...

My real treasure this time was finding nine vintage Vera Neuman scarves in one thrift store!  They are all so similar it is interesting to speculate, was it a collector that donated or one owner with a love of polka dots?  Each one is in excellent condition.   I was thrifting in North Carolina and secreted my treasures across state lines home. The scarves were fifty cents each.  This leather handbag was fun to find.  The flash really picks up the colors but it's really quite muted when I carry it.  The bag was priced at $7.00.  More like this, but the previous picture really brings out the detail.  It is great to carry when wearing animal prints!  This little gem comes complete with a chipped nose which gives it an authenticity of having been around for "ages".  It could have been dug up in distant ruins, but I suspect it was probably from the local nursery and happily displayed until it was chipped and discarded as "ruined"....

I used to always feel blue in January...  ...but no longer.  It's sunny here and although cold this week, the weekend promises to be warm and toasty.  Even overnight temps of 25 degrees don't scare me one bit.  So, since January has always felt blue, I'll embrace it.  Even here. In a new way. My knitting is blue.  My unfinished knitting.  It's Pomp a Doddle and is supposed to knit up fast but there is a little problem.  It doesn't pull out of the skein nicely.  I tried to roll it into a ball but began knitting when I realized a ball probably would not unroll well.   Well, the skein is now a tangled mess and will require time to find the end and I'll have to roll from the back end!  The Seafoam Shawl has not progressed as I hoped.  It was to be done by Christmas yet it isn't too much further than this.  I could be blue over it, but I'm not.  I was earlier this month.  I was going to just frog it and use ...

My grandson Kyle is all about green.  He chose this solid olive green yarn for his scarf which appeared in his stocking half finished with a promise.  I designed the pattern, knitted at either end and in between it's stockinette with a knit border.  The pattern naturally folds for a comfortable fit, doubled for warmth and a thinner look. I finished it on the long ride home from North Carolina.  I really tried to finish before leaving but we were so busy every day!!  Before mailing it I tried it on his handsome Pappo. I designed the pattern so that when it's tied, it spreads out full.  I couldn't resist a try on myself!  We could certainly use it this week here in Florida with temp's dipping into the 20's, but it will go back ASAP to North Carolina to Kyle before his short winter season is over! It's fun to give when I designed the pattern to make it extra special. Added to Creatively Living's Linky Party! Tami Amis  The Frugal Girls