Sunday, February 1, 2015

Yard sale find, rearrangement, raccoons

 

Good evening Folks ~ Here it is the first of February already. Wow!

We had some chilly weather this past week, yesterday was a perfect day, and I was at work. That’s the way it goes sometimes.

On the way to work yesterday I stopped at a few yard sales. At one I found out I had just missed a quilters cutting mat, etc. Dang!  That’s on my wish list, with the clear ruler and the rotary cutter. I did get a nice storage cabinet though at another sale.  I almost missed it, as I didn’t really see it until I was getting back into my van.  I got back out and went over to give it closer inspection. I asked how much and he said we just marked it down to $25.  We had $50 on it. I looked at it and didn’t really want to spend that, so offered him $20, which he rejected and said he’d just keep it.  Well, I was thinking on it, then decided to walk away, when he said Ok, you can have it for that. I gave him the $ then he loaded it into my van and off I went. Happy as a lark.

I really didn’t know where I was going to use it, I thought the bathroom, but alas the space I had in mind was too small. Bathroom is tiny. I was disappointed and thought to myself, I shouldn’t have spent my money. Went to bed to read before sleep and dang if raccoons weren’t on the roof at 7:30 and were around until 3:40 this morning. Twice on the roof, then screaming their high pitched horrible screams off and on somewhere around here, the rest of the time.  I was even dreaming about them screaming. Needless to say, my sleep wasn’t all that great. I finally fell asleep after they quieted down, and didn’t wake up until almost 7, which is really ‘late’ for me as I’m usually up at 4.

During my two cups of coffee this morning, I started rearranging the bedroom, dismantling and making a space for this cabinet. I was excited. I worked for about 4 hours, ate lunch and took about a 2 hour nap.

This is the piece I bought. It is 62 inches high, 17 3/4 inches wide and 10 3/4 inches deep. It has cute little bunny knobs on it.

02-01-new-cabinet

02-01-bunny-knobs

Inside the door. I’ll show what’s in the egg cartons later in this post.

02-01-inside

This is how the area looked before rearranging.

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Here’s how it looks now. I brought an old painting with holes in it from the workshop, to cover the wall where a window used to be.  My dear B-I-L will be helping me soon with putting up faux bead board paneling and I probably won’t leave that painting there.  It works for now. Smile

The cupboard to the right of little white cabinet was found last year or the year before, curbside.  The little wicker rocker was bought at a yard sale last year for $3. I’ve got more shelf liner to cut to face the drawer fronts in the larger storage units.

02-01-new-arrangement

I found these little shoes in a box of my dear husband’s childhood stuff, given to us several years ago. It was in a stack of things in a closet and I looked in the box today and inside these dear little shoes was a little note ‘Mark’s first shoes’. I see these kinds of things displayed all the time on blogs and thought, why not?  These have special meaning to me, of course. Underneath this vignette is an old raggedy prayer rug.

02-01-vignet

Now here is what is inside the plastic egg cartons.  They make great little storage boxes for small things.

These are crocheted wire baskets surrounding either glass marbles, or flattened on one side, glass bits. The ones in a fine silver wire are done with what we think could be a nickel wire, size 38 gauge, very fine. The others are made with artistic wire, not as fine a gauge. I made these in 2009, then got bummed out after I posted about them and a guy told me to be careful working with nickel as it can cause blindness. WHAT? I have a whole spool of this very fine wire that DH gave me and it was the start of my crocheting with wire, and then I lost interest. So here these things all sit.

02-01-crocheted-wire-beads-glass

02-01-crocheted-wire-beads-glass2

02-01-crocheted-wire-beads-glass3

02-01-cl-up

Here are little baskets with beads around edge and on the handles.

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Here are the first pieces I crocheted with the fine wire.

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07-19-crochet-wire-heart

These are little crocheted seashells, and babies.

02-01-shells-babies

Ok, this is long enough. I’m going to go get horizontal to read before sleep.  I hope you all have a nice week. Count your blessings, learn from lessons good and bad, be well, be thankful and be happy.

Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

P.S. ~ The leak is fixed. Thanks be to my dear B-I-L Todd. We had a good visit too.  I fixed chicken divan in the crockpot, made Idaho instant mashed potatoes and heated up yeast rolls (from a pkg.) and we had key lime pie from the grocery bakery.

23 comments:

Julie said...

What a neat cabinet, Lorraine! Love the bunny handles! Your area looks great. Ways good to have more storage/organization!

I can't believe you made all of these wonderful crocheted wire things! I LOVE THEM!

I HAD JUST THOUGHT of maybe trying it one day after learning more crochet skills!!!!!

You are seriously amazing!!!!!

Xoxo-Julie

Julie said...

P.s. Did you use a pattern for those tiny babies??? So cute. I would love to try that!

Recycled Cottage & Garden said...

I have never heard nickel could cause blindness but I found this article, http://www.herbalremedies.com/nickel-toxicity-information.html
Maybe you could wear surgical gloves while working with it.

Nancy J said...

Beautiful, truly beautiful, fine work, lovely designs, and to think maybe we haven't seen these before. Love the cabinet, and the glass front dresser next to it, every find is a good one, and the best, it can always be given away if it doesn't suit. Hugs, keep cool down there as your spring weather soon comes.

KathyB. said...

What a deal, affordable storage that fits into your work-space !

You do such intricate & detailed work. I never even thought fine metals could be crocheted, beautiful.

Raccoons, a few hours ago my dogs were barking and on checking what was going on I heard raccoons chirruping, screaming, and making sounds I'd never heard before. I went out with a flashlight and shotgun to investigate. We've lost so many animals to raccoons over the years. Just glad the dog was closed in on the porch, raccoons can kill even big dogs. Anyway, didn't find them and all is quiet outdoors for now.(phew ! )

Blessings and happy reading to you.

crafty cat corner said...

I love the wire crochet Lorraine though never heard of going blind through using that wire, did you research it?
Such a shame that you stopped as they are so beautiful.
You sound like me with your bartering but it doesn't always work out does it. Many a time I've walked away because they wouldn't reduce the price and wish I'd bought the item. lol
Briony
x

Rose ~ from Oz said...

Dear Lorraine, I've been missing a bit lately and it's a joy to catch up with all that you've been up too. I'm a 4-5am riser too! Best part of the day! Must be lovely having the cooler weather finally there, I so appreciate the relief you'd feel. It's still stinkin hot here! Lots to catch up on with your recent posts, but it's lovely to do so.
Hugs
Rose

BernieH said...

So glad to hear the leak is all fixed now thanks to Todd. Your new find fits perfectly in its spot. Meant to be, I think.

I really adore those fabulous crocheted wire baskets. Such exquisite work. Well done. Is it really true that working with such fine nickle wire will cause blindness? How sad that you can't continue with these creations.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

You find the BEST things at sales and on the curbside!! Your little crochet items are very cute. The baskets look like they would sell well at Easter time.
xx, Carol

A Whole Lotta Magic said...

Your crochet skills are amazing, Rainey!

sweetbay said...

The pieces you made look wonderful!

Jean Campbell said...

Rainey, I am in AWE.

Tante Mali said...

Oh Flower Lady, you are chrocheting with a fine wire. Doesn't it hurt? Your little pieces are looking wonderful. So light and fragile! I'm not a good chrocheter at all - so I'm absolutely fascinated by your handy crafts!
Have a wonderful time and all my best from Austria
Elisabeth

Art and Sand said...

The piece looks great and helps with your organization. I love those bunny knobs!

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

Never seen anything like those wire creations. Wow. Glad the leak is fixed and your new cabinets seems to work just great for you!!

Ruth Hiebert said...

I had never heard of crocheting with wire,but those are some pretty creations.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Are you still working at the antique store? (I'm pretty sure that's what my memory is saying you had been doing.) I love seeing photos of your place! You have such lovely old items, and Mark's baby shoes are a wonderful addition to the shelf they are on.

Those pieces in the egg shells are pretty. I hope you find a spot for some of them as well.

I'm glad to hear your leak is fixed!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great cabinet... Looks like you got a good deal. You are a 'master' when it comes to buying good deals. Love it!!!!

Glad your leak is fixed... Your BIL deserves a huge pat on the back. Glad you fed him a good dinner.

Hugs,
Betsy

Anonymous said...

I refuse to comment one more time about how your intricate crocheting amazes me. :-) I break out in a sweat just thinking about working with those tiny beads!

You asked me once if I had "critter" problems. I think mine are kept in check by our feral cat of residence and the fact that our four dogs are let out every 4 hours (yes, even during the night). So I think most critters know to avoid our yard. We've had some encounters where the dogs have caught a critter from time to time, but that's never a good scenario (rabies and such).

May you have a wonderful week.

Love and Hugs,

eli

Jillayne said...

Your wire crochet work is amazing! I've never seen such finely detailed work Lorraine - gorgeous...
There are so many wonderful things about this post, the best being the shoes. Such a lovely little treasure they are and so right to have them out where you can see them. I love all of that vignette, and they look so perfect there.
This is another wonderful newsy post - I enjoyed it very much!
a big hug from me,
jillayne

Rue said...

Very nice work! I love those bunny knobs :)

Gayle said...

The shelf fit perfectly in your crafting area!

M.K. said...

Those little wire delicacies are exquisite! So pretty, so dainty. I think you could sell them. A shame about that fellow, but I do wonder if he was right? And the cabinet is wonderful -- what a find! I would have bought it for those adorable bunny knobs alone :) take care, dear, and stay warm :)