Okio B Designs

I confess. I splurged a whole 5 bucks this weekend when we went to a salvage barn by my parents' house. Well, they actually have three barns of "junk." We didn't have time to sift through everything - mainly because it was freezing but I did see this vintage soda crate:

It's in perfect condition. A little dirty on the inside but it's basically perfect!

I'm planning on adding some wheels to the bottom. I think my hubby has some already in the garage that I can "acquire" without him knowing!

Overall, I think it was $5 well spent!

Jeanine

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Who knew a paper shredder could come in handy for craft projects?! I just love the look of shredded sheet music and I have used it in a number of projects. I decided to use it for these sweet Valentine's Day bags too.

First I printed off the images from The Graphics Fairy. I used my Cricut to cut them into circles. Then I used some Sticky Dots paper to make them into stickers. Place them towards the bottom of the bag and then start stuffing in your sheet music.

I fill them as close to the top as possible and then tie them up with some twine.

Then I made some of these Chocolat glassine bags using some clear Avery label paper. It's hard to see but there is pink, faux pearl embellishment on the top. I just love the look of glassine bags! These are for sale in my Etsy shop.

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday and The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday.

Jeanine

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Sticking to my new year's resolution to use what I already have for future craft projects, I whipped up this sweet little lavender sachet today. I have a gazillion of these little glassine bags and thought they'd make for a nice sachet:

I simply hand-stamped the French script on the front. I added the little birdy as an after-thought and I quite like it now.

Then I added some lavender buds. I stitched the opening closed. And guess what happened? You couldn't smell the lavender! Doh! So I had to poke itty bitty holes all around it so you can actually smell the aroma. I get just enough of the smell without it being to overpowering.

Now to figure out if I want to add it to my unmentionables drawer or the hallway closet. Decisions, decisions...

Linking to The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday.

Jeanine

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My craft room/office is a disaster. There, I said it. I'm slowly trying to get things in order starting with some of these jars:

I'm really loving this chalkboard paper. I wish I had heard about it sooner. I used my Cricut to cut it into these cute tags.

Now I can easily identify what I need instead of digging through a pile of everything.

I'm just giddy over how organized I am now!

Now to get to the rest of the mess.

Jeanine

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**Update: the blogger I mention below is Susan from HomeRoad!**

I visited a blog last week (of course, now I can't remember which one!) that reminded me about this decorative bedspring I had ordered from Somerset Living a few months ago. I had originally planned to use it in our bedroom once my husband re-painted it but when I saw the other blogger had added her's to the kitchen, I decided to do the same:

My 4 year old helped me collect some photos to add to it. We clipped them on with some of my French clothes pins.

The little numbered lavender sachets are from Faded Plains. I had bought a scale and some other items from her Etsy shop and she enclosed those in the package. They are so sweet!

This is one of my husband's favorite photos of his late mother.

I'm looking forward to adding more photos and other memorable family items.

Linking to Faded Charm: White Wednesday.

And please, if you are that blogger I'm talking about - send me a note so I can give credit where credit is due!

Jeanine

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Paging the lost and found! While we were packing away our Christmas lights yesterday, I found this little tool caddy that I bought a while ago and totally forgot about. It was in pretty bad shape and needed a white spray paint makeover stat. Thanks to yesterday's warm weather, I was able to give it a few coats of paint in just a few hours.

Once it was dry, I broke out this graphite transfer paper that I bought last year. It sat and sat on one of our craft shelves so I was happy to actually use it. Basically you lay a sheet of it on your project and then add the image you want to transfer ontop. I used this great image from The Graphics Fairy. Tape both to your project. You can use either a pencil or pen to transfer. At first I used pencil but it came out very lightly. So I switched to a pen which gave me this:

I made a couple of oopsies - particularly on the 'S' in Paris but overall I found the paper easy to use. I was afraid it might smudge so I gave it a couple of coats of poly to seal it in once I was done stenciling it on. Once that was dry, I painted the wood fleur de lis and glued that to the front of the handle.

Here's a close up.

Once everything was dry and ready to roll, I added some faux Dollar Store moss to both bottoms. I was in a pink mood so I added some vintage pink thread, a bottle of pastel buttons and the cute butterfly (from Michael's). Adding to the French theme is the French book paper page tucked in the corner.

I would definitely use the graphite paper again as I have a few sheets left. Maybe next time I'll try a more intricate image/design.

Linking to The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday.

Jeanine