THRIFTING

HOW WAS YOUR WEEKEND? 

 HERE ARE SOME GOODIES I PICKED UP THRIFTING! I AM DEFINATELY KEEPING THE ADOREABLE ALUMINUM CAKE STAND...AND ACTUALLY PONDERING WHAT GOODY I COULD CONJURE UP TO PUT UNDERNEATH THERE TODAY!!! TIME TO HIT THE RECIPE BOX.... 

AND THE NAUTICAL-ISH BAG.....IS GONNA BE A HIT ON RECYCLEDCHICK.ETSY...AFTER I COFFEE DYE IT AND STITCH LITTLE REDWORK ANCHORS DOWN THE FRONT...<3

 SOME OF THESE WILL GO ON  mimisSuitcase.etsy BUT I AM HAVING A HARD TIME DECIDING WHAT TO KEEP AND WHAT WILL BE FOR RESALE....SIGH... THAT'S A TRUE SIGN OF A SUCCESSFUL THRIFTING TRIP!!! LOVING IT ALL SO MUCH THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO PART WITH IT!!!

THE GLASS PITCHER WITH THE PLASTIC LID WAS APPARENTLY A PROMO FOR LOG CABIN AND HAS THE LOG CABIN LOGO ON THE PLASTIC LID....BUT I THINK IT WOULD MAKE A GREAT PITCHER FOR HAND SQUEEZED JUICE. IF YOU HAVE EVER MADE JUICE BY HAND, ITS NOT THE EASIEST THING TO DO AND A SMALL PITCHER TO FILL SEEMS MUCH MORE ATTAINABLE!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS AND IT INSPIRES YOU TO HIT YOUR LOCAL THRIFT SHOP! 

HAPPY HUNTING FRIENDS! 

P.S. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY FOR ENTRIES INTO THE GIFT CERTIFICATE GIVE AWAY FOR MIMISSUITCASE! WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER VIA FACEBOOK AND THIS BLOG TOMORROW!!!!

HAPPY(NATURAL AND ORGANIC) SPRING CLEANING

I (ACTUALLY) LOVE CLEANING!!!!!!

I just wanted to share my 3 favorite natural cleaning items... and if I had to add 2 more, they would be salt and peroxide!!!!

Its spring cleaning time...and I think I am a fairly clean and orderly person until I embark on my spring cleaning list!!! I start lifting things up and moving them around and eeeeeek!!!! total humiliation!!!

anyway, I got to thinking about sharing some easy(and might I add way cheaper than chemicals) cleaning solutions I  have....and in all honestly, they smell better and work just as well as their chemical counterparts. I personally find the smell of bleach to be most offensive... so here ya go!

and as a p.s..... I am closing out the drawing for a gift certificate to mimisSuitcase.etsy.com on April 30th...so this is your last chance to make a comment or become a follower to get entries.

Window Cleaner: use one part distilled water and one part vinegar in a spray bottle to clean glass surfaces. Using linen dishtowels will leave a streak free and lint free shine...If you don't like the scent of the vinegar you may add a few drops of  essential oil to this mix also

sinks and tubs: cut a lemon in half and sprinkle with course salt, using the lemon as a natural scouring pad. sometimes I will also sprinkle my tub and sinks with baking soda for an additional abrasive element.

note: lemon also has natural anti-bacterial elements, to help eliminate nasty germys. 

drain cleaner: ever seen the horrific ingredients list on drain cleaners???? yikes! here is the solution, i swear by, and to be honest it  works wayyyyyyy better than the store bought death in a bottle. pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain, then pour 1 cup vinegar in the drain and let sit for 5 minutes. you will see it fizz and bubble up, this is what its supposed to do! After the 5 minutes, flush the drain with boiling water...the result, unclogged drain and no stinky drain smell...i do this every week to 2 weeks to keep it from clogging in the first place.

and of course vinegar makes the ultimate natural coffee maker cleaner! run 2 parts vinegar to 8 parts water through with no filter. Then run 2 to 3 pots water through your machine to remove all residue.

another environmentally conscious tip: avoid cleaning supplies that encourage you to create more trash, the top violator is SWIFFER. Yes, its oh so convenient but think of the amount of waste associated with a days cleaning with your swiffer. I use the swiffer with dust rags attached. You still get the convenience of the swiffer, minus the waste. I do not buy paper towels. I use only reusable rags and I keep lysol wipes in stock for emergency only uses.

hope this makes your spring cleaning smooth! feel free to add your own natural tips in the comments

  

OUR NEW ETSY SHOP

 Meet my lifelong friend Amy....Our parents met when our Dads were both in the Army. Her Dad was in Vietnam and my dad was still stateside. Our moms were fast friends and stayed best friends for life. Amy and I gained our love of "junk" from spending weekends with our parents cruising flea markets and antique shops. Our prize for behaving on these trips? Beautiful jars of antique marbles, that we traded and collected, packages of amazing "sea monkeys", and big bags of Lays potato chips... Some of our fondest memories of childhood....Fast forward 30 years and we find ourselves knee deep in a love of thrift and the joy of the hunt.... We decided to turn this love into an etsy shop.... devoted to sharing fun, retro and vintage finds.

Our logo: designed by lindsey at thepostmansknock on etsy.com, She also designed the banner for my shop, www.recycledchick.etsy.com She does excellent work and is soon to design my daughters graduation invitations. 

We only have a few items listed currently but plan to load our shop with goodies as the week goes by.
comment here to win a gift certificate to our shop. Become a follower of my blog for a second entry.

creating an upcycled tote

 I just wanted to share a little bit about how I create my upcycled tote bags...

 I found this cute cloth tote at my local goodwill, took it home, washed and coffee dyed it  to the desired color.
How do I coffee dye? I just keep adding coffee and or tea to boiling water(i like to dye in my kitchen sink) until it reaches the color I desire for each individual project. I then soak the fabric,usually overnight. and line dry. I like to leave coffee and tea bags in the water as my products dye to create  interesting color patterns.

 Next, I decide what i want to use to embellish the bag.The inspiration for this bag actually came from the script fabric that I wound up only using for the wool birds wing, below. 

 I love this vintage pattern fabric, very Cath Kidston, who I adore!

I hand sew all my bags so here is the finished product, modeled by my daughter, Sierra

I love this cute little tote for spring and summer :)

Finally! I got these done!!!!! I got the idea for these in an issue of Country Living magazine.....i was just learning to do redwork and thought that this would be an amazing beginner project for me. It was so easy! I just traced the kids hands with their name and age in my handwriting(which makes them even more personal) onto white computer paper then traced the design onto muslin with a red colored pencil and voila! I had created my own redwork pattern!!! I am lucky and blessed that my dad made these frames, then framed them for me out of barn wood from their 1800s barn! which again, adds to the sentimental value of these.... so for about $2 each I have an heirloom!!!

These hands remind me of a song my mom used to sing to me and that I sing to my kids now:

I'll walk in the rain by your side, 

I'll cling to the warmth of your tiny hands

I'll do anything, to help you understand

I'll love you more than anybody can-

And the wind will whisper your name to me

Little birds will sing along in time

leaves will bow down, when you walk by

And the morning sun will shine...

reminds me that their hands only stay little for a season.... love to capture the memories and savor each one

something I thought to add.... on a related note, here are the redwork charms that I make and sell on my etsy shop: custom made for you!!!! www.recycledchick.etsy.com

Have a blessed day of making memories today!