Crafty with Old Leather (with tutorial link)

One of my good friends asked me to make some leather cuff bracelets for her nieces for Christmas gifts.  They are made out of old leather belts.  It was so much fun to do.  One of my favorite things to do is getting crafty and creative!  Now I just hope she loves them as much as I do! ;)

Beauty Full

Joy & Love

Edited to add:  I am far too lazy,  I mean, busy to do a tutorial so I will just show you the one that got me started. It is by a friend of mine from high school who is super talented and crafty.  Alicia does a great tutorial HERE  if you want to learn how to do this.  I look for cheap leather belts at yard sales and at the Goodwill, there are so many awesome ones that you can get for like a couple bucks or less (50 cents is my typical yard sale price).  I have advanced to the stage where now I try new things like the stamping of metal accessories, etc.  Yep, so advanced.  haha  

If you try it, let me know how it goes!

Good Will Hunting

When the weather starts getting colder, and the sales go away I start GoodWill Hunting.  You can find some great deals at your local Goodwill.  This past weekend I was on the hunt for some blouses that I can wear with sweaters rather than the usual tshirts I wear all the time.  Part of it was inspired when I read THIS BLOG.  Part of it came from looking at my wardrobe.  Anyway, I was off to check it out and this is what I found...

I found this Old Navy blouse that was a red tag special .. whoohoo... that means it was HALF OFF.  

So I paid $2.00 for it.

This Banana Republic blouse was $3.99

This blouse was Ann Taylor for $3.99

And this Merona sweater (that's a Target brand) was just $4.49

Now garage sales can make me kind of a cheapskate and I will think, man, I could get that for a buck at a yard sale.  But then I remind myself of how much it would cost at the retail store and I am like, oh yes, this is good.  Especially when they all look brand new and the total was under $15! I love a deal. :)

Bag it

Do you use reusable grocery bags?  I have a bunch of them and I love them.  When I first started using them years ago, I did what many people do . . . forget them constantly.  Now I can't think of the last time I forgot them because it is so ingrained in me now to use them.  I have them hanging in the garage by the door and grab them on my way out.  I have been known to turn around and go home for them (Okay, well, I'm not a freak about it, just if I am still in the neighborhood). You can fit so much more in them, and then you don't have a billion random plastic bags around your house.  But here is the thing.  You have to WASH THEM.  Seriously.  If you don't, what you are trying to do that is good is actually really bad.  There was this study done where they found most people (97%) don't wash theirs and it contained all kinds of e coli.  However, by washing them you kill nearly all the bacteria (99.9%).  Which is a very good thing.   


After that, I feel compelled to end this post with a little Jack Johnson . . .