Thrifty Thursday #199

Today's treasures are brought to you by my neighbor lady. :)
She's been cleaning out her garage and had some goodies for me.

She gave me this box full of vintage patterns.

I've been coming up with ideas of what I can do with them. . . stay tuned for that!

Yes, she just recently gave me two smaller boxes of patterns,

so I now have a plethora of them!

She also gave me these two old piano books.
I love vintage sheet music.
I've already started using one in a crafting project.

Not too bad for a free haul, huh?

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless.

He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense; I shall not be moved.

Psalm 62:6

This post is linked to Embracing Change, I Heart Naptime, and Too Much Time. 

Let's Wrap It Up! Fun Gift Wrapping Ideas

I've been so inspired by different gift wrapping that I've seen lately.
I just had to give some of those ideas a try. 

I bought a roll of masking paper in the paint section at Walmart.

It's a bit lighter than kraft paper and worked great as wrapping paper.

I just added some twine and a candy cane to this gift.

I always think tickets make cute tags.

This one is wrapped in a map (that I picked up at a thrift store).

I used a little twine and a cute green price tag (picked a box of those up at the thrift store, too).

I stamped some festive words on regular clothespins to add some charm.

This one has a wide band of holiday ribbon which I taped at the back.

Then I used a short piece of red twine to tie on a tag and a bell.

Looks cute and sounds cute.

I got a pack of snowflake decorations at the dollar store 

and placed one on this gift before tying it with Baker's twine.

Don't you just love Baker's twine?!?

Yep, that's newspaper on this one.

The ribbon really dresses it up.

Guess what these circles are. . .

Cupcake wrappers!

I used a regular size and a mini one.

I adhered them with double sided tape before tying the gift with Baker's twine.

This one was super simple.

Sheet music with a mini ornament and a ticket as a tag.

This one is one of my favorites.

I love doilies and thought one would look cute on the brown background.

I used a glue stick to adhere the doily.

Then I wrapped it with green twine.

This final idea is crazy easy.
It's a wrap for a glass bottle. Mine is a bottle of sparkling grape juice.
I cut off the sleeve of an old sweater so I ended up with a piece not quite as long as the bottle.
Then I slid the wrist to the bottom of the bottle.
I rolled a little bit of the top portion down and added a ribbon.
If you use a printed sweater, you could skip the ribbon.
Isn't that too cute?

Notice that all these ideas are not only simple, but very frugal too!

Doesn't this make you want to wrap your gifts?

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

God is our refuge and strength, 

a very present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1

This post is linked to Too Much Time, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk, and The Crafted Sparrow.

Christmas Ornaments

I love all kinds of ornaments.

I could never go with just one theme on our Christmas tree 

because we have too many precious ornaments that we've collected over the years. 

We have some that my mother-in-law sewed, 

some that my boys made in preschool, 

and we even have one that my husband painted when he was in kindergarten!

I've made a few over the years that I thought we could take a look back at. . . 

For this one, I used a clear ornament and filled it with punched paper hearts.

You can have a little paradise on your tree with this one.

It's a glass ball filled with sand and tiny shells.

This one is covered with pieces of map.

I made several and stamped words on them like "peace," "love," and "joy."

You can go here to read more about them.

What kind of ornaments have you created over the years?

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

Luke 6:36

This post is linked to Too Much Time, Life With Lorelai, Funky Junk, and Lil' Luna.

Sheet Music Letters

I'm still working on completing random letters to make an alphabet wall for my living room.
In my quest to use various mediums, I've somehow forgotten to use one of my favorite things-
sheet music!

The thought came to me when I was helping to decorate for a graduation party.
Both the honorees are avid music lovers.
I thought I'd get the large paper mache letters and cover them in sheet music.

Both the kids' names begin with A.

For this one, I used scrapbook paper that has a black background with white music printed on it.

I love the reverse look of the notes.

This one has actual sheet music on it

taken from a song book that I bought at the thrift store.

These letters are about 15" high.

I couldn't go to all this work without making a letter for my collection. . . .

If you'd like to make one for yourself, get a letter.

I used this N that I found a the thirft store.

I put Mod Podge all over the front of the letter, then laid the sheet music right on top of it

making sure that it was completely flat with no air bubbles.

After giving it a few minutes to dry, I used a small bit of sandpaper to sand around the edges and get rid of the excess paper.

Just a note: if you're using a wooden letter like this, you may want to paint the edges before applying the sheet music. It will give your end product a more finished look.
On the large paper mache letters, I cut strips of the paper and glued them along the edges.

That's it! I'm a few letters away from having a complete alphabet:)

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

I fought the good fight, 

I have finished the race, 

I have kept the faith.

2 Tim. 4:7

This post is linked to I Heart Naptime, My Repurposed Life, The Crafted Sparrow,
and Ivy and Elephants.

Decoupaged Pumpkins

Living in southern Texas, I don't get to enjoy the pretty colors of fall or even much fall weather,

but that hasn't stopped me from having all sorts of fall-ish crafty ideas bouncing through my head. . .

I couldn't wait to cover a pumpkin in sheet music.

Ever since I'd seen one like this on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it.

I tore strips of sheet music and adhered them to the pumpkin using Mod Podge.

I used a white pumpkin as my base so there wouldn't be any orange peeking through.

Then while I was in decoupaging mode, I thought that it might be fun

 to cover a pumpkin with an old map.

Because, quite frankly, if I'm given a blank canvas of any sort, at some point,

I'm going to want to try to cover it with map. :)

What do you think? Kind of different, but kind of cute too, huh?

Make sure to stop back because I've got lots more fall themed ideas up my sleeve!

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless.

For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Romans 10:13



This post is linked to Daisy Cottage Designs, Between Naps on the Porch,

Today's Creative Blog, and Plucky' Second Thought.



Vintage Hymn Necklaces

I love crafting with sheet music.

There's just something so fresh and unique about it.

 

Today I used pieces of a vintage hymnbook printed in 1923 to create these necklaces.

 

Here's the first one. I added a decorative cross to it.

 

In this photo you can see the words on it.

 

 For the second one, I used a larger rectangle necklace charm and a fancier chain.

 

 

Here's the third necklace.

I used a religious charm on this one.

 

 

All three necklaces are double sided.

What do you think? Would you wear one of these?

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;

according to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1

This post is linked to Tater Tots and Jello, FunkyJunk, and My Repurposed Life.

A Banner to Sing About

     I love buntings- also known as banners or pennants. I see lots of different ones throughout the Blogosphere, but I don't usually take the time to make one myself.
     Well, I'm helping to decorate for a music themed graduation party, and I thought that a bunting would be a cute and easy decoration that I could make . . . out of sheet music!

 

Here's what I came up with.

It was very easy.

In case you haven't noticed, easy is my middle name!

 

If you'd like to make one, here's what you need:

sheet music (or map paper or scrapbook paper- I got mine at a thrift store)

paper trimmer

hole punch

twine

piece of cardstock or other stiff paper measuring 7"x 5 1/2"

 

First, take your cardstock and make a fold at one of the short ends.

 

Open it back up and you should see a fold mark. You need to make a diagonal cut from the top right corner to the center mark at the bottom.

Do it again on the left side.

 

You will be left with a triangle.

 

Use this as your template to cut however many triangles that you'd like on your banner.

I made one with fifteen triangles and a second one with twenty triangles.

To make wise use of my paper, I placed the first triangle at the top left of my piece of sheet music. Then I used the bottom right piece that was left to make another triangle. Yes, that means that some of my music notes are upside down on the triangles, but I figure nobody will be looking that hard. And I hate to waste paper:)

 

Then punch holes in the two corners along the short end of the triangles. Sheet music is very thin, so you should be able to stack several pieces together for this step.

 

Then string each triangle onto the twine and tie the twine off at the ends.

 

TA-DA! Pretty cute, huh?

 

Just a thought: if you string this on red/white/blue ribbon instead of twine, it would make a great Fourth of July decoration!

 

This would be cute for party decor, but would even work just to hang in your house. It was so easy, I think I'll make a few to hang around my house. Living with all these boys, I always enjoy a pretty thing here and there:)

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

As for God, His way is perfect;

the word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

2 Samuel 22:31

 

 This post is linked to Happy Hour Projects, Five Days Five Ways, and My Repurposed Life.

 

A Bowl Full of Melody

     Have you ever looked at one of your old bowls and thought, "What could I do to make this fella cuter?" Me neither. But I when I spotted this old stainless steel bowl at a thrift store, I did think something along those lines.

 

I decided to dress up its interior with some old sheet music.

 

Gives it a little something, I think.

 

If you'd like to make one, all you need is:

an old bowl- metal or wooden

a few pages of sheet music

Mod Podge

foam brush

paper towel

 

 

First tear the sheet music into small scraps- about one inch squares (it's okay if they're a little bigger or smaller- we don't want them to be exactly the same, that's why we're tearing instead of using a paper trimmer)

 

Then apply Mod Podge to the back of each piece and lay it inside the bowl. Use a paper towel to press down on top of the scrap to make sure it completely sticks.

 

Continue doing this until the interior is covered.

 

Once it's finished, run a piece of fine grit sandpaper along the top edge of the bowl to even out the edges of the scraps.

 

NOTE: I didn't apply a coat of Mod Podge on top because sometimes when you put something on top of it for too long, it gets tacky and will stick to the item leaving a worn space. I do plan to coat this with some sort of protectant, though.

 

 

 

I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet. . .

 

perhaps in my work space to store some supplies.

 

What else could a cute bowl like this be used for? Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments.

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

 

 

 

This post is linked to My Repurposed Life, Five Days Five Ways, Too Much Time On My Hands, and Happy Hour Projects. 

 

 

A Whole Lotta Pendant Necklaces!

     This time of the year, I am on the lookout for cute, quick, cheap, and easy ideas for gifts that I can make in bulk. I have two large groups of people to which I try to give gifts, and we can't afford for me to just go out and buy them all something.
     Here is one idea I found that fit the bill. . .

 

 

pendant necklaces

 

I was able to make twenty of these for about $12 in supplies!

(Plus I still have supplies left over to make more!)

I got the idea from this bracelet tutorial and modified it to make necklaces.

 

 

I made some with a French map, some with sheet music, and some with old dictionary pages. Each necklace was different.

 

 To wrap them, I used tiny 2" x 3" plastic bags, trimmed tissue paper to fit inside the bag, then folded and stapled a piece of pattern paper over the opening of the bag. Then I printed little labels that said, "Merry Christmas! From, Laura."

 

     These were for the ladies at work. I never know if people are going to like a handmade gift, but personally, I would. They all did seem to like them.

 

     Any of you have a good idea for gifts to make in bulk?

 

     Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love another.

1 John 4:11
 

     This post is linked to Be Different Act Normal, Happy Hour Projects, Tatertots and Jello, Embracing Change, Brassy Apple, and My Girlish Whims.