Belts Galore

Yesterday I was at my very favorite thrift shop.  Actually it is the only thrift shop here in my home town of Goodland, Kansas.   Nevertheless, it is a wonderful thrift shop!  The prices are great, and the selection quite varied, from housewares to patterns to clothes to linens.  You know, thrift shop stuff!  What was even better yesterday was that they had a 25 cent sale.  All the clothes and shoes were only 25 cents each! What a bargain.  My best purchase, though, was the 27 cotton webbing belts that I bought.  As a matter of fact, I bought every one they had. Gee, at 25 cents, how could I pass up such a treasure trove?   

So, you ask, what would one do with 27 cotton webbing belts? Repurpose them into market bag handles!  Has anyone ever priced a yard of cotton webbing?  Let me tell you, the cost is definitely more than 25 cents!

Here is my passel of 27 cotton webbing belts, fresh from the thrift shop.   There are lots of different colors, widths and textures.

Here are those same belts, minus the hardware, all washed and ready to be recycled into market bag handles.  So many yummy colors!

If you are ever traveling on I-70 through Western Kansas, make sure to stop by our wonderful thrift shop in downtown Goodland, Kansas.  You never know, you might stumble upon a 25 cent sale or even better yet, their sack sale when everything you can moosh into a shopping back is a dollar!  Now there's a bargain!

Little Bitty Boxes Tutorial

These cute little boxes are a good way to use up all those leftover greeting cards.  I have also picked up greeting cards at yard sales and thrift shops EXTREMELY cheap!  They are lots of fun to make and go together really fast.  I made a ton of them on evening and put them in a big basket in my craft fair boot and gave them away as an extra little gift to each of my customers.

Step 1:  Gather the following tools and supplies:

- Leftover Greeting card

- Quilting ruler

- Glue stick

- Rotary cutter

- Bone folder

Step 2:  Cut the greeting card in half at the fold with the rotary cutter for a nice straight cut.
Step 3:  Cut about a 1/16 inch sliver off one short end and one long end of the inside half.  That way the bottom of the box will fit nicely into the top.
Step 4:  Take the bone folder and score both cards 1 inch (2.5 cm) from every edge and then cut 1 inch (2.5), using the score lines as a guide, on the short ends only to the score lines (see the picture).

Step 5:  Bend in all score lines on both cards.  Glue the short tabs on the ends inside the longer end tabs.

And now you're done!  You have just made a cute little gift or treasure box from a recycled greeting card.  Now, what to do with all the leftover envelopes???

Flocking

Look what I woke up to this morning - frozen fog!  This is one of the most beautiful weather phenomena here in the High Plains of Western Kansas.  I like to call this "flocking" but the technical term is "rime ice." Some people call it "frost feathers."

I looked rime ice up, and according to what I read, rime ice is formed when super cooled water droplets come in contact with a surface that is also at a temperature below freezing.  The flocking effect happens because the miniscule ice particles are somehow mixed with air pockets.  

Sadly, as soon as the sun came out, all the flocking was gone, just a memory in a photograph.  

Shredded Wheat Bread

My very favorite cereals of all time is shredded wheat, the miniature ones frosted with sugar.  I buy it in those big bags.  I am in such a rut - Every single morning I fill my soup bowl with the handle on it with shredded wheat and soy milk.  The bowl is the perfect size and the portion is just right for a good breakfast that gets me going in the morning.  The only problem is when all the little shredded wheat biscuits are gone, a pile of crushed cereal remains in the bottom of the bag.  Call my picky, but I really don't like crushed shredded wheat and milk.  

So rather than throw away perfectly good crushed shredded wheat crumbs, I searched the internet for a shredded wheat bread recipe that I could bake in my bread machine and found a great recipe called "Joan's Shredded Wheat Bread." 

Here's the recipe:

1 1/4 cup water

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP honey

1/2 tsp salt (You can put less in to taste)

1/2 cup shredded wheat finely crushed (this is where the crumbs in the bottom of the bag come in)

1 1/4 cup bread flour

1 1/2 tsp yeast

2 TBSB gluten flour

Then you just turn on your bread machine according to the instructions.  I did discover that it works better if you put all the dry ingredients in first.  

Here's my loaf of bread - It really turned out good.  Thank you, Joan, wherever you are!

A Present for Myself

Well, I went and did it - I bought myself a present.  Ever since I saw this post  on one of my favorite blogs, Laughing Purple Goldfish, I have coveted a yarn ball winder so I could make my thrifted yarn stash look like little yarn cupcakes.   

Here is my stash, though not quite as impressive as Laughing Purple Goldfish!

Don't you just love this white-on-white texture?  This came from a 1960s wool sweater that I took apart.  The shimmery stuff in the first picture came from a couple of funky-looking scarves that I picked up at a garage sale for 25 cents each - don't you just LOVE a bargain!