Dottie Angel

I just discovered a wonderful blog that I wanted to share with you: Dottie Angel

I love the wit and humor of this blog as well as the adorably whimsical handmade items she features. But what really intrigued me is the "dottie angel challenge of the utmost kind". It's a challenge to purchase only handmade and second hand goods for an entire year.

As you know, the Second Hand Chicks can really get behind a challenge like this and we want to encourage you to join in. It's something to keep in mind now that we are in the midst of the holiday shopping season. Now, more than ever, it's so important to consider how our shopping habits affect this little planet we share.

So before you get in your car and head over to the MegaStore to pick up some gifts, consider stopping by the local thrift store or a craft bazaar at the church in your neighborhood. Or if you live in Salt Lake City, Second Hand Chic, of course! And be sure to check out Dottie Angel for more inspiration.

Love, Kelly

Chaos in the Craft Room

When my children moved out last year I decided to convert the basement into a craft room. It would be the ultimate craft room; a Crafting Mecca, if you will. I imagined myself spending hours creating adorable and clever items to sell in my shop. Lately, however, my craft room has been neglected and has fallen into the grip of chaos. See for yourself....

I love to buy vintage fabrics and linens and planned to transform them into pillows and handbags. I really should fold these.

Vintage greeting cards are also a weakness of mine....as well as vintage notions.

Remember that scrapbook I planned to put together of our trip to Texas to visit my family? Well, that was over two years ago and the photos still sit in this tray, uncropped and all but forgotten.

Oh and these cute little lids for tea pots. What was I planning to do with these?

Various and sundry ephemera displayed for inspiration.

Painting supplies sit unused.


These old magazines were going to be used for mixed media collages.

And remember that one time when I was going to learn how to make soldered jewelry? I even purchased this instructional book to get me started. I think I burned myself a few times with the soldering gun and gave up. Sigh.

More vintage fabric!

An assortment of broken jewelry waiting to be reinvented.

My once beloved button maker gathers dust.

What a disorderly disaster!

The sewing corner. That's Buddy Lee standing guard.

Aren't these little bits and bobs fun?

I planned to make pins out of these USA puzzle pieces. Cute idea, yes?

Even the kitty is disgusted by the sad state of affairs around here. With the new year approaching, I vow to clean up my act, organize the craft room once and for all and spend more time creating.

Love, Kelly

Baby Stitches

Check out these sweet little handmade baby booties. One of our customers, Valerie Molle makes them and sells them on her website: Baby Stitches

Valerie can even custom make a pair for you. She also will be donating "gently used" items purchased from Baby Stitches to a local Women's Shelter. The booties are very reasonably priced and would make the perfect Christmas gift for a new mom.

Thanks for sharing, Valerie!

Love, Kelly

New Arrivals

It's been such a busy week, I barely had time to do any hunting and gathering. I did manage to find a few new items for the shop so take a look and let me know what you think!

Love, Kelly

This Month's Winner

Congratulations to this month's winner. Gayle of The Middle Sister is the lucky recipient of this month's blog giveaway! As you recall, this month we asked our readers to send in photos of their projects. Gayle shared with us these beautiful hooked rug stair runners she made.

Since Gayle is into fabric arts, we thought she might like this cute vintage spool holder for her thread. So Gayle, if you're reading this, come on in to claim your prize and Congratulations!

Be sure to check out Gayle's blog here.

Love, Kelly

Remuddling

There's never a dull moment at our house. It seems I can't just leave well enough alone. I'm always painting or rearranging or something. It's my nature and Poopsie tolerates it. My latest idea was to open up the wall between the livingroom and a very small bedroom on the other side of this wall. The little bedroom never really gets used and the living room felt cramped to me.

I've been begging Poopsie to do this project for years but he just didn't share my vision. This weekend, he asked me to host Christmas dinner for the family. He knows that I'm usually too exhausted to entertain. I agreed to do it if he'd tear down the wall. Married life...it's all one big negotiation.

Here's Poopsie in action. Isn't he manly?

This is a load bearing wall but don't worry, Poopsie's a professional. We will need to have an electrician come in to move some wires around.

Poopsie drags the sheet rock out to the front porch as Bumbee looks on. Oh Poopsie...you're my hero!

Stay tuned, folks. Phase II of our "remuddling" next weekend. After all, Poospie has a day job.

Love, Kelly