Finally a Sale!

Finally an estate sale!  I was starting to go stir crazy.  Caring Transitions had an estate sale in Huntley.  Today was half price.  I spent a total of $2.50.  I bought a colander for $1 (I am going to plant something in it in the spring) and a Pennsylvania tray for $1.50.  That will go into my mom's mother's day package.  Even though I didn't find a lot, I had a fun time.  I can't wait until there are more sales.

On a side note:  I stopped at the Huntley outlets today and found some good sales at Tommy Hilfiger.  It is worth the trip if you need some winter clothes. 

Since I was in Huntley, I thought why not stop in the Goodwill and Sweet Repeats Thrift store.  I only found a Japanese Pokemon dvd for the boys at the Goodwill for $1.99.  At Sweet Repeats, they were having a clothes bag sale and they were doing a bingo ball game to determine what percentage off you got on your purchase.  I got 10% off.  As I was walking through the store, I spotted milk glass under a silk flower arrangement.  So, I lifted out the flowers and found a wonderful milk glass bowl for $12.  But, since I was getting 10% off, I thought why not.  It is really beautiful and I didn't have anything like it.  I didn't find any chips or cracks either.  I was so excited with this new addition to my milk glass collection.

I Love! Pillows

I love making pillows!  I am running out of space in my house to display/use them.  I will probably need to be making them for gifts soon. 

I saw the cutest pillow on the front of Sew-it magazine Feb/March issue.  They used yo-yo fabric for flowers.  I have so many of those yo-yo's made from vintage fabric.  Last summer, I bought a box full of already cut vintage fabric circles to make the yo-yo's.  I also bought some already made from the Historical Society in Union during a sale.  So, I used them with garage sale fabric.  The fabric is a blue color with a flower pattern.  I chose 3 that blended well with the vibrant pattern.  I didn't use stems/leaves with this pillow.  I liked the look without them.  I did use vintage buttons to hold the flowers in place.  My mother had sent me a tin of vintage buttons that she got at a garage sale for $1.  (I showed them in a past article.)  I am so happy with the look.  I decided to put the pillow on the sofa with other similar colored pillows.  Just a little rearranging. 

I do have some other ideas for using the yo-yo's in future pillows.  I want to make some yo-yo's from all of that fabric I have that is already cut.  Someone took a long time to cut the circles and I want to finish it for them.  I must have about 150 circles.  Just enough for a few more pillows.....

New Pillows

I have been wanting to make some new pillows for my living room.  Every time I read a magazine, I think of pillows and colors that I want to use and make.  All of the magazines are showing such wonderful colors for spring like seafoam green and pale blues.  I love the colors and wanted to brighten up my living room.  The pillows really did make a difference.  Maybe just because they are something new.  I'm happy with the look.

I have been going towards seafoam green and pale blues a lot recently.  So, I went through my stash of garage sale fabrics that I had and picked the ones closest to those colors.  The one pillow has blue and brown in it.  I didn't want to put any trim on it because I thought the pattern was wonderful just the way it was and wanted to draw attention to the color and pattern.  The other pillow has a great floral pattern with a greenish background.  I found an applique piece that I had made a few years ago and used that as the focal point for my pillow.    I kept these two pillows simple this time.  They blend in well with the other pillows that I made. 

There are two more pillows that I would like to make.  I'm coming up with ideas for those, but already have the fabric picked out.  I just may keep those simple also. 

2013

I just finished putting away the Christmas treasures.  It always looks so bare after.  I like the change of seasons/holidays because I get to start fresh.  I always have something to decorate with that adds to the decor.  I put up some Valentine's items and red and pink/white doilies. 

I have also been so busy purging.  I have the biggest pile of stuff to sell at my garage sale and bags and bags of clothes.  I'm sure that I will have so much more when the time comes for my garage sale.  I have been selling on Ebay (milena2000) and have a lot listed right now.  It's a great way to make some extra money for when treasure hunting begins again.

I have been redecorating and reorganizing my house.  A lot in the kitchen.  (The junk drawer can actually be opened and things found).  I have gone through my yarn and fabric stash and have come up with some great craft ideas.  As I do them, I will show you pictures.  I started making snow globes to have ready for next Christmas.  They are so fun to make.  I need to eat more artichokes so that I can use the jars. 

I have had so much fun blogging my pathtojunkentreasure.  I hope you will join me for 2013 as I look for treasures.  I have set up a page of tips that I hope are helpful for reorganizing and purging your household.  There is no better time to renew and refresh your space then the new year.  Hope your 2013 is healthy, happy and full of junkentreasure!

Happy Happy New Year!

I can't believe that 2013 is almost here.  This year has gone by so quickly. 

I bought Charizard Pokemon fabric this summer at a garage sale for $4.  (Pokemon material is hard to find.)  Anyway, the boys wanted me to make them a quilt.  I do love to quilt so I was up for the challenge.  I used fabric that was bought at garage sales since I have a large amount of great fabric.  I made a simple quilt so that the Charizard figures would stand out.  I hand sewed POKEMON on one edge and then hand sewed 2 letters per side (sort of) to make the word POKEMON.  It came out really neat.  I wanted it to be done before the new year and it is! 

I have soooooo many other projects that I want to start, but this was an important one for me.  I didn't want to have too many unfinished projects laying around.  I finished a knitted scarf the other day and when I washed it to felt it, it didn't come out the way I wanted it to.  So, it's back to the beginning again.  I will use the scarf for pieces on other projects.  That happens sometimes when you felt.  Things don't always wash the way you want it to.

Wishing everyone a very happy healthy New Year with lots of paths to junkentreasure!

Merry Christmas

I made this pinecone tree years ago and still have it.  I keep it with my Christmas treasures and love to bring it out every year.  Sometimes, like this year, I have to reglue a pinecone.  I have it on my kitchen table so we share all of our meals and homework with it.  It reminds me of when I was a new homeowner and watching my money.  I collected little pinecones until I knew what I would do with them.  (I still collect pinecones and have them contained in a vintage metal tub in front of my fireplace.)  This is what became of some of those pinecones.

Merry Christmas!

Music Boxes

I stopped in at Interiors Anew on the Woodstock Square.  It's always nice going in there.  You never know what treasure awaits.  With Christmas being only a few days away, I was hoping to find some charming holiday item. 

As soon as I walked in, I spotted a small table with wind up music boxes (only the shell of the music boxes).  Each one played a Christmas song.  I bought the three that played "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for $3 each.  I will keep one and put the other two into Ethan and Austin's Christmas stockings.  They still had music boxes that played "Deck the Halls."

I think that they are wonderful now; just the way that they are.  I'm not going to put them into anything.  I remembered that I had found a frame with vintage looking sheet music with "The 12 Days of Christmas" on it.  So, I grouped them together with some gold glass pieces that I had.  It had just the right effect that I was hoping for.   A little touch of yesterday.

Cookies and Buttons

Cookies and buttons.  Some combination huh?

I spent this morning baking chocolate chip peanut butter cookies (I found a really great recipe to try.)  I had been looking forward to this all week.  So, in between eating and eating the cookies (I needed to make sure that they tasted good for others), I went through a tin of buttons that my mother had sent to me.  She found them at a garage sale for $1.  So many of them were vintage.  They were also pretty dirty so I wiped off each and every one of them.  I didn't really mind since I was waiting for batches of cookies to get done. 

The buttons were so wonderful.  I separated them into piles of what I would be using soon.  (I added them to my red suitcase button collection.)  I am trying to finish up on a scarf that I am knitting.  It will have flowers on it and I'm going to use the buttons for the center of the flowers.  I have my idea in my mind.  I just hope that it comes out the way I am planning.  But, sometimes I love what happens instead.   It's the surprise ending that comes out better than I could have planned.

I'll be making peanut butter blossom (kisses) cookies this weekend.  Notice the theme of peanut butter.  I love peanut butter! 

Happy baking!

Look at this Vase!

What a wonderful vase!  I was at the Goodwill in Huntley today and found this great vase for 99 cents.  I just couldn't pass it up.  It goes so well with my other larger ones on the windowsill in my office/guest room. 

You have to check out www.holidaywithmatthewmead.com to see the wonderful pictures that he posted of the sale he had recently.  He is also having a contest for a great cake stand and jelly jars.  You will be inspired to create.  I know that I am.  He created groupings for displays that go together so well that you will be looking throughout your own treasures to do the same. 

It was nice today to take a break from all of my organizing and purging.  It started to snow periodically throughout the day.  A white Christmas would be so nice.  Now I can focus on baking and enjoying the joy and peace of Christmas.

May you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

Creating and More Creating

I have been busy, busy, busy organizing and purging my collections.  I just finished going through all of my vintage tablecloths, hand towels and needlepoint treasures.  I have a pile that I am going to part with.  That leaves room in my closet to begin collecting again when the sales start.

I had been collecting pretty plates and items that would make a fun project.  (I used a clear glass candlestick, a milk glass drinking cup and a gold gilded ashtray.  Each item cost me between 25-50 cents.  Each cake plate cost about 75 cents to $1 to make.)  I wanted to make pedestal cake plates.  I made a few the other day.  The glue that was recommended didn't work as well as I had wanted it to, so I had a lot of redos.  But finally, they stuck.  I'm happy with the results.  They will make nice presents.

Last year, I made a few Christmas stockings with vintage tablecloths that had holes in them.  (Remember, never cut up perfectly good vintage tablecloths.  Only the ones that have holes in them or have other major problems.)   I also used vintage ribbons that I had been saving.  I gave some of those stockings out as gifts this year filled with goodies. 

And Even More Jewelry

Boy, did I have a busy weekend with Holiday parties and family activities.  But there was still time in the schedule to go back to the estate sale on Grove Street in Crystal Lake on Sunday.  She sold a lot, which was great for her, and she put out the rest of the vintage costume jewelry which was good for me.  My cousin Barb had spent the weekend with us and she also found some great jewelry buys. 

I ended up buying 9 pins and 2 bracelets for $18.  What a great deal!  I found a few rhinestone pins and was very pleased to see that one was marked Weiss on the back.  That was a very good deal!  I only have a few Weiss pins in my collection so I was so very excitied.  Those deals and finds don't come along every day.

I hope that there are more good sales this week.

Sooooooo Much Jewelry

Another fun day going to estate sales.  The one in Crystal Lake on Grove Street was great!  She will be adding more stuff on Saturday and Sunday.  I bought a lot of vintage pins and bracelets for $3 each.  I can't resist vintage jewelry.  I also can't resist elf or santa vintage items so I bought 2 elfs for $2 each and 1 santa for $1.  I also got a vintage Mrs. Claus ornament for free.  Another of my finds was a working roulette ash tray from Las Vegas for $1.  It is so cool.  I'm not sure what I will do with that yet.  It was just to cool to pass up and for the right price.  I'm going to try to make it back this weekend to see what other treasures she has.

I also went to 2 estate sales in Woodstock. 1 was on North St in the new townhomes.  What a magnificient place it was.  Sometimes it is more fun to look at the building and structure than to shop the sale.  I did find some PC games for the boys for $2 each and even a brand new, never opened DVD of King Kong.  Everyone needs a King Kong DVD.  The other estate sale was on the corner of Raffle Road and Banford.  I didn't find anything there.

The estate sales this past week have been fun and I've found some really nice treasures.  I was glad that most of the sales had lots of vintage items.  Too many of the sales recently didn't have many vintage items.  I hope there are more sales like these in the next few weeks. 

Estate Sales Treasures

I went to 2 estate sales today.  One in McHenry and one in Crystal Lake.  I had the best time at the one in McHenry.  Not to mention that I found some treasures there.  The garage was opened first and I found 2 wonderful turtle cookie jars.  One had a chip inside so I got them for $10 each.  I thought that Ethan might want them for his turtle collection and I was right!  If he didn't want them, I was going to give them to my mother for her cookie jar collection.  See how collectors can cross over into other categories.

Inside the house were other treasures waiting for me to purchase.  I found 3 hankies for $2 each (1of The 3 Little Pigs, 1 of a child and ducks and 1 of hearts), more turtles from $1-$5, a wastebasket that is hand painted for $3, a vintage orange pin for $4, 2 Christmas vintage ornaments for 50 cents each and an aluminum cup that collapses for $2.  I don't see them anymore and this one had a note inside that it belonged to someone in the army.  Kind of fun to find that note.

This was a fun sale and a large house so all of us on line got to go in right away.  No waiting this morning. 

At the estate sale in Crystal Lake, I found a children's book on the 3 Musketeers for $2.  Nothing else.

Tomorrow are a few more sales.  I'm happy that sales are still going on because there may not be that many soon.  At least I have had more time to go through my own collections and to rearrange and purge.  It's been fun.

My Work Space

I spent a few hours today posting auctions on Ebay of vintage Christmas tablecloths from my collection.  It is definitely time to give them to another home.  So, I thought it might be a good idea to show a picture of where I spent most of my time.  My desk is really a vintage dressing table.  I took off the mirror and stored it.  The desk is the perfect size for the space plus it looks vintage.

I have a wonderful seashell "topiary" on my desk next to a picture of a seagull from Atlantic City New Jersey.  I love the ocean and it makes my day to look at these day in and day out.  I use a vintage flower frog to hold my pen.  On the other side is a head lamp that I bought years ago at the Volo Antique Mall.  I also use an aluminum box to hold notes.  On top of the bookcase, which is filled with gardening/knitting/craft/quilting/antique books, I have a vintage floral painting that blends well with the vase next to it.  I also made a wreath out of vintage hankies years ago and I love how it looks.  There is also a pink milk glass bowl and white milk glass pitcher on top. 

I love being surrounded by things that I love.  I like for things to be neat and organized and I'm also a homebody that likes routines, so this area is my comfort zone.  Recently I added some vintage cow farm toys to the shelves.  They were a true find. 

Christmas Tree

We put up our tree this weekend.  It is always decorated in white lights (which is the part I have a hard time doing).  Nothing like having Neil Diamond's Christmas songs playing in the background while decorating the tree.  It really was a lot of fun and the kids love fighting over who gets which ornament to hang.

I tried taking pictures in all kinds of light, but the pictures didn't come out like I wanted.  I'm posting one of them, but it doesn't do the tree justice.  It is very wide and full.  This year we used vintage ornaments, whether really vintage or just vintage looking but new.  I also hung a lot of the crafty ornaments that I have. 

It was a good time to sort through my ornaments and set up a discard pile for my garage sale.  I managed to clean up quite a bit so that I have room for all of the new ornaments that I bought this year.  I'm doing the same thing with the vintage Christmas tablecloths that I have.  I'm going to be selling some of them on my Ebay site:  milena2000.  It always feel like I'm losing something from myself when I get rid of things from my vintage collection.  I know that I need to pair down regularly, but it still feels hard.  Matthew Mead (see his blog and website:  www.holidaywithmatthewmead.com) is doing the same this weekend.  Too bad I don't live in New Hampshire because I would be adding to my collection instead of cleansing it.

Potting Bench Shelf

I rearranged Austin's room for what I hope is the last time for awhile.  When I was growing up, my mom would rearrange our bedrooms about every month.  My brothers and I loved it!  It was like having a new house.  It was a surprise for us when we got home from school.  So I guess I do that on a smaller scale for the same reason.  I used the potting bench for Austin's nutcrackers and it fit well into the space I wanted it to go into.  I then had to rearrange his other shelves.  He liked the changes. 
Hopefully there will be enough room for the nutcrackers he is getting for Christmas or I'll have to figure out yet another room change.

Vintage Tablecloths

I love vintage tablecloths.  All kinds.  I have a very large collection and I am trying to be choosier when buying them.  Today I was just happy to find so many of them for $6 each.  I haven't been finding them lately so I bought 5 today at 3 different estate sales.  I went to estate sales in McHenry, Crystal Lake and Woodstock.  I also found a vintage hand embroidered Christmas tablecloth for $4, a wooden box for $3, a glass rooster for $1, a frog figure for $3, a tin plate for 25 cents, a glass candle holder for 50 cents (to create a cake stand with), a pin for $4, a lady head vase for $8 (for my collection and I didn't have one like it), and lots of doilies for 25 cents each.  It was definitely a me day!

I'm soaking a few of the tablecloths at a time.  I was surprised that they were all in good condition.  No holes and only a few stains. 

Once again, I'm redoing Austin's room.  I am putting a child's size potting table in his room for his nutcracker collection.  He used that table when he was little and I just stored it in the garage for later.  Well, later is now and I think it will work.  His nutcracker collection is growing too quickly to display.  He told me today that when he gets older and buys a house, he'll make one room just for his nutcracker collection.  I can see it now......

Looking for Treasures

Since today was pretty nice outside, I just had to go looking for treasures.  I started at the Carriage House Antiques and Other Good Stuff in Crystal Lake.  They will be having their Holiday open house starting on Dec 6 at 3pm through Sun Dec 9.  Their open house is always fun and they have treats to sample and raffles.  I love this shop.  They always have such cool, just priced right treasures.  I found a New York hankie (I have been shopping for a New Jersey or New York hankie and was sooooo happy to find one for $4).  I also found a vintage Santa ball ornament for $3 and a troll for my mom for $1.  Another thing to add to her Christmas box. 

I went across the street to a newly opened antique store, Crystal Lake Antiques.  I found another hankie, but of Paris France for $3. 

I just didn't feel like heading home yet, so I took a detour into Ridgefield.  The shops held their Holiday open house Thanksgiving weekend, but I couldn't make it.  They still have lots of Christmas items, which was mainly what I was looking for today.  I found a vintage Santa bell ornament for $2. 

I can't wait to put all of these "new" to me vintage ornaments on my trees.  Not only was I shopping today, but I was also pricing Christmas items that I have.  It's always fun for me to see what my items are worth.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I always knew that some of them were real "treasures."

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Kohl's had some good clothing deals on Black Friday.  I just had to go since I had a $5 off coupon plus a 15% off coupon.  I finally found the black cowboy boots that I have wanted and only for $20.  They are the shorter ones, but I like them anyway.  So, for every $50 you spent, Kohl's gave a $15 coupon to spend this week.  Of course it was burning a hole in my pocket, so I went and found the cutest Christmas tree decorations. 

All of the ornaments were on sale and I only paid around $3.50 for each one.  The Christmas tree ornament and the snowman snow globe look vintage.  The snow globe was around $4.50.  I couldn't find an Ethan ornament, but I did find an Austin one.  Since Ethan collects turtle figures, I found him a turtle ornament.  I love adding ornaments to my collection every year.  I am going to weed out the ornaments this weekend when we get the tree and start to decorate it.   I like to use a lot of vintage looking ornaments, but also add in some craft ones and others that just catch my eye.  There is no specific pattern to my tree.  Only what I love. 

Overall, I only spent $5.23 for 5 ornaments.  (I bought 2 of the trees.  I couldn't resist).  I would like to find an Ethan ornament and will try to get to another Kohl's this week.

Santa, Elf and Angels Collection

I love spending time in my Winter Wonderland reading or just sitting with a cup of coffee.  I always run out of room to display my Christmas collections so I have to choose what to put out every year.  I use the bookshelves in the living room to display a lot of my Santas, elfs and angels.  It's fun to look at.  I usually find a few that I don't have over the course of a garage sale season. 

In the next few weeks I will be going through my Christmas collection to make it better organized and to weed out those that I don't want anymore.  My pile for a garage sale is growing daily.  I'm going to run out of room to store things that I will be selling in the spring. 

I'm looking forward to adding to my Christmas collection.  I can't wait for garage sale season to begin!

Christmas Wonderland

I host Thanksgiving every year, but I'm always thinking ahead to the day after when I begin decorating for Christmas.  After the Thanksgiving dishes are put away, I begin putting away the decorations in anticipation of bringing out the Christmas decorations.

I spent about 5 hours today putting up my Christmas Wonderland.  I found a few items that I no longer want and will be putting them up on Ebay.  I love looking through my collection because it seems like new each time I go through it.  I have so many amazing items, but my favorites are my Santa and elf collections.  I also bought quite a few vintage ornaments this year and put them on my tinsel/aluminum trees.  I have a theme for each of the 3 trees I have.  Santa/vintage glass ornaments and vintage figures tree.  Our real tree that we'll probably get next weekend will be covered with craftier more modern ornaments and ones that the kids have made.  Each figure/ornament in my collection brings me happy memories.  I love this time of year!

We went to the lighting of the Woodstock square tonight and I walked through Seasons by Peg.  You have to go through that store.  Her decorations are amazing.  It was too crowded tonight so I'll have to go back sometime this week to really enjoy it. 

May the holidays be merry and bright for you!
  

Shelf Redo

I took advantage of the warm sunny day this week and spray painted white the black wrought iron stand that I bought for $12 at an estate sale last month.  I used Rustoleum Glossy white.  I like how that color shines.  The stand came out nicely with only a small patch of white on the grass. 

I put it into Austin's room to hold some of his Pokemon cards/tins that were lying all over his room.  It looks nice right next to his desk.  He has a lot more room on it to hold more Pokemon as he gets it.  I moved the white iron stand that was originally in that space to the other side of his room to hold his every growing collection of nutcrackers.  I had to rearrange them off of his windowsill since he is getting more for Christmas.  At least it looks cleaner in his room right now. 

I also had a chance to rearrange the bookshelf holding his nutcrackers and have more room now to add to it.   It's fun to rearrange a room, even if it's not that much.  The room always looks so new when you do that.  He was happy with how I added to his room.  He couldn't believe how much more space he has now.  Just a little bit of organizing goes a long way.

Speaking of organizing, I have been working on adding to my garage sale pile.  I rearranged some milk glass in my bathrooms for a new look.  I have a nice collection of milk glass and just want to use it more often.  No sense in keeping it hidden.

Yesterday, Ethan and I went to the Goodwill and Savers in Lake Zurich.  I had never been at the Savers there.  They just opened in October.  I found 2 really nice bracelets.  One was handmade for $2.99 and the other was a vintage Coro for $5.99.  We found a few books and at Goodwill the loose leaf wide ruled packages of paper were 10 for $1.00.  We go through so much for school that I couldn't pass up this offer.

Cheese Trip to Monroe Wisconsin

We do a yearly family trip to Monroe Wisconsin to get cheese.  It is usually in November and for the most part we have been lucky with the weather.  A few times it was snowing on our trip, but today it was mild for awhile before the rain started.

Our first stop is at the Maple Leaf Cheese Store on the way into Monroe.  Then, it's off to Alp and Dell in Monroe.  What a great place!  They remodeled the store and it seems bigger with more selections.  They always have a clearance bin that we check out first.  There are also samples to try.  It is funny how we only go once a year (sometimes more often) and they remember us.  Today they were so surprised at how big the boys got.  We buy a lot of cheese and freeze it.  It does last us for the year.  The only cheese we found out that doesn't freeze well is cheddar.  It crumbles when thawed. 

Next, is our stop at Swiss Colony which is just down the street.  We stocked up on cakes.  How can you not when most were $2?  They freeze well and are good even 1 year later.  Caldwell found a great pair of black suede shoes for $30 on clearance.  They also have the Seventh Avenue outlet attached to the store. 

We always stop for lunch at Baumgarteners on the square.  It is a fun place to get more cheese to eat and you can even have one of the staff throw a $1 bill to stick on the ceiling.  They donate the money every 2 years to charity.  They said that this summer they had about $8500 to donate to 2 local charities.  The kids love watching them try to get the money to stick on the ceiling.  We usually walk around the square (not much is open on a Sunday), but today since it was raining, we just left. 

We were early enough to stop at a favorite antique/junking store, Van's Antiques.  It is not far from the town of Walworth.  He is only open from April to Nov and next weekend is his last weekend for the season.  He is only open Friday to Sunday.  I didn't know that he was closing next weekend, so I was glad that we made the trip today.  I found another metal lawn chair for $12.  Everything was 20% off.  Caldwell found a fishing rod holder for about $10 and I found a great bracelet for $2.60 that just needs to have the clasp fixed.  He is a nice guy and always answers the many questions that the kids have.  He also remembered us today and couldn't believe how big the boys were.  This was the third metal lawn chair that I have bought from him.  I have also bought a dresser and many other items. His prices are really good and he always has a nice selection.  I never leave empty handed.  I'll be looking forward to April when he reopens for the season.

I look forward to our yearly trip up to Monroe.  It is a great town and there are lots of stops to make on the way.  It is our way of beginning the holiday season.

Last Rummage Sale?

I went to the last rummage sale (I think) of the season at St Pauls Church in Crystal Lake.  I had a chance to follow up with my fellow rummage sale friends.  I found, or my friends at the sale found, 3 brand new purse handles for 50 cents each, a turtle for 50 cents for Ethan's collection, a necklace for $2, 2 hand embroidered pillowcases for 50 cents and about 100 Christmas cards for $1.  I have to write out my Christmas cards this week so it was perfect timing.  I always send out my cards, with the kids pictures, right after Thanksgiving.  I enjoy spending some quiet time writing out the cards and writing a short note to loved ones. 

The kids and I went to the Algonquin library book sale and I bought all of their knitting books and a few gardening books.  I'm having fun going through them.  Even better that they cost between 50 cents to $1 each.   The boys found some video games and DVD's.  I found an organic gardening book by Elliot Coleman for 50 cents.  I was so excited because at the recent Master Gardener Conference, we were selling the book for $24.95.

Check out my page on 2013 listings for flea markets, book sales and other sales that I love to go to.  I will be updating it as I get the dates.

Mistletoe Magic

I love going to Mistletoe Magic at Grace Lutheran Church in Woodstock!  It officially kicks off the Christmas season for me.  They always play Christmas music to get you in the mood.  I bought a lot of jewelry this year.  Pins, earrings, rings and necklaces.  The table was pretty cleaned off in about 1/2 hour.  Some I will keep for myself, some I will use on my felted bags and some I will give as gifts.  They only cost between $1-$3 each.  It was quite a bargain.  I love adding to my costume jewelry collection.  I have begun weeding through my collection to give away pieces I no longer like to wear.  It's good to purge every so often.  I always get in the purging mood around the holidays.  So, I do a little every day. 

Ethan and Austin and their friend Mark let me shop by myself for awhile and then joined me when it came time to buy the cookies.  We bought some bacon chocolate chip cookies which they ate in the car and I had to go back inside to get more.  We always look forward to the cookies that you buy for $8 per pound.  You get to pick your own assortment.  This year we liked how everything looked so we bought 2 pounds.  Each of those cookies is delicious!  We also bought some chocolate chip toffee sea salt cookies and some peanut butter cup cookies.  We have to savor them until next year.  Mistletoe Magic is the first Saturday of November.

Friday is the rummage sale at St. Pauls Church on Woodstock Street in Crystal Lake.  They are 1 week later than usual but I'll be there.  This will probably be the last rummage sale of this year.  (Boo hoo). 

Home for the Holidays

Every year the Floral Department at McHenry County College puts on a Home for the Holidays show.  Last night was the night.  The students and instructors made floral arrangements for Thanksgiving/Fall and Christmastime.  It cost $10 to attend and your name is entered in raffles that they do throughout the 2 hours.  I won a beautiful "transition" piece.  I was so excited.  I also bid on a Christmas arrangement in the silent auction and won it for $5.  The silent auction is a nice way to get beautiful floral arrangements, either live flowers or artificial, for a small price.  It was a nice time spent with some friends that I knew from the McHenry Garden Club. 

The McHenry Garden Club has their Floral Extravaganza at McHenry West High School on Nov 29.  Doors open at 6pm, but the event starts at 7pm.  There is a cost to attend.  This is another good way to get beautiful arrangements made on stage from local nurseries/florist shops.  Your entry ticket is entered into a raffle for a chance to win the arrangements made on stage.  There are also tickets to buy for themed baskets.  The baskets are wonderful to win also. 

Tomorrow is Mistletoe Magic at Grace Lutheran Church in Woodstock starting at 9am.  My favorite craft/bake sale event of the season.  You can buy cookies by the pound made by parishoners, buy knitted/crafted items, other baked goods and vintage items/jewelry.  I always find lots of things for reasonable prices.  Make sure to attend this event.  The money raised is divided up between charities.

The Algonquin Library holiday book sale is on Nov 8-11.  There is a cost to attend on the 8th, but the other nights are free.  This is one of my must go to book sales.  I anticipate each one that they have.