Soap

This will seem weird and random…but it seemed appropriate for a time when guests may be coming and going.  More often than not, when my guests wash their hands, they comment on my hand soap.  It smells great..and little expensive.   I’m REALLY finicky about smells…especially in body products.  Don’t even get near me with a Vanilla candle.

Last year, I finally found a scent I really like…and it’s dirt cheap.  The Motif line at Target has a handful of nice choices…but the winner for me is their “Cypress and Pear”.  Today I saw that they are now offering a bar soap line in the same scents.  I don’t use bar soap anymore, but I picked some up for the guest caddy in the upstairs bath-some people can’t give up the bar.  It’s a fresh, yet earthy smell without being musky…and not too sweet to put men off.  For $3.49 a bottle…you can’t beat it.

Motif Cypress and Pear

Avian Obsession

It’s that time of year….the Titmice and the Carolina Chickadees will eat an entire feeder of black sunflower seed in a single day.  It’s crazy.  Because I’m not content to just gaze out the window at them while they gorge, I picked up a little sumtin’ on Black Friday.  While everyone else hit the mall…I hit the junk stores and they were refreshingly quiet.  I even found another pair of birdies for $6.

tufted titmouse

Carolina Chickadee

my new birds

birdies in full

more new birdies

Everyone in my neighborhood already has their holiday decorations up…sheesh.  Not ready for that yet, but I guess I’d better start decking the halls before time gets away from me.

Open for Business

It’s been a long week! Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to cleaning and whitewashing the booth, I love the red floor and the light, so white will show off the stuff the best..especially since so many other booths are painted dark colors in a dark place. As I was moving stuff in on Wednesday, I went home to get another load …and returned to my first sale…yipee!! The chair had only been in the booth for an hour!

First sale...in only an hour!

It’s still a bit sparse, but I’d rather hold stuff back than to let it get cluttered. It needs more…but not too much more. I have to give Morgan at the Brick House a shout out since I copied her furry bench job. I wanted to use Icelandic sheepskin, you know, the really long hairy kind, sometimes referred to as “troll hair”?  Well, it’s too pricey for this project, so I went to TJ Maxx and bought a throw of faux fur for $40 and took a seam ripper and scissors to it.  I covered 2 stools, with some left over for another project. I really love the touch of color on the tips of the fur.  I’m only putting one furry stool in the booth at a time…don’t want to look like the “fur booth”.

furry throw seam ripper and scissors

benches before

furry long bench

ready to take to booth

booth 2

Today I went to add some more items and someone bought the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree I had as decoration!  I debated whether to put a price on it, but I know how much I hate it when things aren’t marked, so I did…figures!  I’ll go get another one this weekend.

For those wondering how this shakes out…My little wedge of 71″ x 82″ x 31.5″ costs me $95 a month.  They showed me another booth that was big and nice, but it was $200…too much pressure.  The mall takes 10% and pays all sales tax for me.  They’ll take my rent out of my sales (when there are enough sales).  I’m keeping a spreadsheet of inventory to help me keep up with things.  Phew…the goal was to be open by the weekend and I made it.  Tired.

Foiled

Maybe you’ve seen these already, but I REALLY love the new Bailey Doesn’t Bark Holiday cards.  That gold foil on top of the black ink….so nice.

bailey doesn't bark cards 20 foe 8

Set of 8 for $20…a bit pricey for froogs…but it is nice eye candy… or perhaps inspiration for your own crafty project.  I came home from Michael’s a few weeks ago schlepping some metallic embossing powder…can’t wait to give it a spin.