Saint Salvage

I had a scratch on my "Blueberry" Dodge Caliber. Someone hit my car in a parking lot a few months back. Here's the scratch before attempting the repair.... Just above the passenger side rear wheel. I went to the local Walmart and spent $1.97 + tax for  Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Nail Polish 730 Frozen Glacier I had a four-sided nail buffing block already onhand. After sanding the rust off and blowing off the loosened rust, I painted on the paint. Not too bad...

I found this cute pair of vintage cone shaped pierced earrings at one of my favorite local thrift shops: Kathleen's Closet . Their sales support the  Community Food Bank of NJ . I love finding bargains that help the Food Bank and other helping organizations. I bought this pair with the plan of using this as part of a DIY. I had these fringe beads sitting in my stash... they turned to be perfect for this quickie DIY. I bought them last year on clearance from  Michaels . I selected the brown, black, red and silver fringe bead strands because they were the only duplicate colors. I took them off the chain, and separated them; one for each side. I took a gold tone head pin and threaded it through the top of each cone. I threaded the beaded strands onto each head pin. Then, I curled each wire and trimmed them. Last step... I bent the wire back up into the cone. Here I am, modeling my new creation. Not bad for about 10 minutes of...

Guess what? Mother's Day almost caught me by surprise this year. Ack! Panic mode... What to do? So, to get inspiration, I went to my local  Goodwill Store . I found this box of vintage "china" cups and saucers.  It was marked $5.99 for the whole box, but lucky for me, red tags were one of the two colors on the 50% off weekly sale. So, the whole box was $3, plus tax. Then, I went off to my local garden supply center... Yes, a mom and pop place! It's called  Bob's Garden Center . They close at 9 PM on Saturday nights, and I got there at 8:45. I scored three "Hens and Chicks" for $4.99 each, plus tax. They're great succulents! This is the "quickie" part. You pick a cup and saucer, and pick a plant. Depot it GENTLY, and remove enough soil over a paper bag or newspaper, etc... to keep the mess to a minimum. Place the succulent in the cup, and clean it up! Easy peasy! It was quick, affordable, environmentall...

I live in a two story townhouse, with next-to-no entryway. I had a small plastic organizer there before that became a messy area that my two cats would climb all over. They would knock things down, too. I also have books that I wanted to organize in my small place. So..... I called ahead to one of my favorite thrift stores,  Glassboro Thrift Village . Not only did they have "lots" of bookcases, but they were having a 30% off sale for furniture! Whoo hoo!!!! I drove the 45 minute ride, and settled on one that was $50 before the 30% off, which worked out to be $35, plus tax. It has five shelves, plus a nice top for the kitties. My son and I brought it home, moved the plastic organizer, and set up the bookcase. I cleaned it, filled it with my books, and put their bet bed on the bottom shelf, and a fuzzy blanket that they like on the top of the bookcase. My female cat, Sydney, approved of it! I also have plenty of room!!! 

I wanted to give myself a new gel polish manicure today, and I opened up my gel polish kit, and oops.... out of those lint-free wipes that are used with the gel cleanser (which is isopropyl alcohol). So, I looked around, and I found a 80 count package of "baby wipes", that I got at the local dollar store. After removing 2 wipes, I dried them with a blow dryer. I folded each one into thirds, and cut them along the fold lines. I folded those sections into thirds again, and cut them again. So, I have a total of 18 squares.... ready to be used! Here they are, in a mini zip-top bag. They are safe for more gel manicures.

I was bored one day, and decided to take on a "quickie" DIY. I pulled out scent reservoir. I used a standard, slotted screwdriver, and popped off the top that holds the wick in place. I decided to use some of this Victoria's Secret "Hazelnut Truffle" body mist that I hadn't used. I got it for $2. It was on a 50% off sale at a thrift store. I filled it up, and reattached the cap. I plugged it in, and enjoyed. Took me about 5 - 10 minutes.

I bought a Marc by Marc Jacobs top through an online "previously loved" threadflipping clothing website. My size. Love the colors. I can wear it with lots of things I have in my wardrobe. Figure flattering. In came in, and it looked great. The "girls" look fantastic, but the arms... Meh... the elastic and sleeve length was not great. So, out came the seam ripper.  No more elastic..... So much better. I love it now!

This weekend, I went through my closet for the twice a year update for seasonal changes. I pulled out my vintage pair of Ferragamos (the kind with the ribbon bow in the front). So.... I bought a tube of Shoe Goo. Sounds like fun stuff, huh? I pulled back the insoles in both shoes, and applied the "Shoe Goo", and allowed it to dry. The finished product..... 30 year old Ferragamo bow front flats that are good to be worn, with no loose insoles. Yay! Happy feet!

I found a vintage milk bottle while walking through a nature preserve near my home, and I was inspired to make a diffuser. This is the finished DIY project. I started with the bottle, after cleaning all the dirt that had built up inside and on it. The added charm is that is a half-pint (1940s era) from Sterling Davis Dairy, which was from Wrightstown, NJ. It makes me smile that I can give a forgotten item from my home state some new life. I have some Phlox plants that are in my front yard. It's the end of the season, so I cut off some dried stems for conducting the scented oil. This is the scented oil I chose. They are from the local Dollar Tree.  Sugar Cookie and Pumpkin Pie are very complementary. These are the Phlox stems, after I cut them. This is a cross-section of a stem. It acts as a straw. It's easy to cut and arrange the stems. The last step.... pour in the scented oils. The finished project:

  I was inspired by the many studded friendship bracelets I've seen. Here's just a couple of them:       Michelle Roy Los Angeles             Gypsies + Debutantes       or on Etsy Here's what I did:   I took a belt that I bought from a bulk deal (cheap clear plastic, but lots of studs)   I stripped off all of the pyramid studs... Phew.... lots of studs!   I bought a friendship bracelet.   I laid out the studs in a even spacing.   I pushed the studs through and secured them.   Ta dah! Ready for sale at the next craft show!