So last month, I bought three of these old mason jars at a antique boutique for only $2.50 with the intention of putting my buttons in them… I quickly discovered that I did not have nearly enough to contain all the buttons! It was serendipitous that a friend at work had six more jars that needed a good home and I was the lucky recipient! (Thanks!) A few days later, I found the three sweet little pint-size jars a the thrift store on half-off day, and they were only 60 cents each! No lids, unfortunately, but I still love them. The blue glass is so appealing to me.

The huge amount of white buttons was purchased from a thrift store in three old crusty tupperware containers, and they were the start of this collection. “Look at all the white buttons!!” I shrieked to my husband as I snatched up the containers. He rolled his eyes. Visions immediately popped into my head of a collage of buttons in every shade of white stitched onto linen. I can imagine them bound together for charming necklaces and bracelets. They would be cute sewn onto handmade purses and accessories. So many buttons, so little time! haha

After the white buttons, I later encountered a gallon-sized Ziploc bag full of mixed vintage buttons at an antique fair for $5.00! I sorted those out by color. There were many black and white buttons in there, lots of colored ones, and some neat leather and wooden buttons too. And THEN, after that find, I found ANOTHER huge bag of mixed buttons at the thrift store for $2.50! I better start making things with buttons…

I spent the weekend at my Grandma’s house and we did a little antique/boutique shop crawl! I didn’t go too crazy, but found a few great deals. The Golden books were $1 each. I seem to be collecting books with old cat illustrations now. I got the entire spool of heavy red pet leash-type material for $5.25. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it, but it seemed like such a good deal… The old blue canning jars were $2.50 each - I think I’ll be using them for craft supply storage! As for that bag of beads, when I first spied it, I immediately thought they were plastic due to the bright colors. I poked the bag, and was surprised to find that it was rather heavy. A big bag of Czech glass beads for $2!! The yellow depression glass sherbet glasses were $5 each. They are in a desirable parrot pattern, and I was informed by my father-in-law that they are worth $30 a piece. The pretty clear cut glasses were only $2 each.

If you enjoy making soldered pendants from glass slides, or want to add another dimension to stained glass art, try adding shapes cut from copper sheet and copper mesh!

I made this pendant using recycled watch crystals, prints of antique photo postcards, tinned copper wire, copper sheet, and copper mesh. I used regular copper tape around the watch crystals (the images sandwiched inside), and fluxed and soldered normally. I added a jump ring for hanging too. Then I first added the copper mesh layer. Cut this stuff with metal cutters, don’t wreck your scissors. Flux only needs to be added to the mesh pieces right where they will join the ornament. Wherever flux is added, that’s where solder will flow. Too much flux makes a mess of it!

After I added the mesh pieces, then I did the same steps to add the cut copper pieces. Then I added squiggles of tinned copper wire that I shaped with jewelry pliers. Added on a string to hang it, and it was ready to go! If you take care not to add too much flux, the back will end up looking nice too!

The wire mesh comes in a flat package like this. I usually find it near the clay/sculpting supplies, but it might be near scrapbooking goods too. The copper sheet comes rolled in a tube, and it won’t be far away. It is usually used for metal embossing. The tinned copper wire was purchased from a stained-glass supply shop. You can find it online too.

It would be fun to use photos of your favorite kids and pets for this project. I love to use antique photo postcard images for these sort of projects too. I’ve been acquiring them inexpensively at antique shops and flea markets. If you don’t have any images handy, you can use this one for your project!

If you haven’t attempted soldering yet, you may want to check out this tutorial at StarLitStudio. Cindy goes through the steps and tools you need to complete a basic soldered pendant. You’ll also want to look at the Art-E-Zine Collage Pendants page. Lots of inspiration and instruction there too!

On Memorial Day, some of our favorite thrift stores have a 50% off sale! It has become a tradition for us to go thrifting and find some great bargains. Here’s the rundown on what I got this year!

I bought these tins to chop up and make stuff from. I made a cute handbound book from a Chinese-y tea tin once. I wish I’d taken a photo of it before I gave it away…

I got the pasta machine for about $3.50! It’s really heavy and nice. I bought it for polymer clay use, but I’m almost thinking maybe I’ll keep it for pasta and get another cheap one to use for clay. The box on the right is a film developing tank. That cost about $2.50. The box is beat up, but it’s actually brand new! I have intentions of learning how to develop film someday, so I thought I better pick it up. The round knitting looms were also about $2.50 for the set! I used to think these things were for kids or people who couldn’t get the hang of regular knitting, but after I saw this book about knitting cables on circular looms, I knew that was not the case! Some really nice things can be made with these. I can’t wait to try them out.

This little Papier-mâché dress form was 30 cents. I don’t really need it or know what I’m going to do with it, but at that price… hehe The little spools are labeled as punch needle yarn. I’m not sure if I’ll use it for that purpose. I have some experiments I want to try with it. The yarns came 3 in a package for about $1.50.

I got some great additions to my fabric stash! The blue stuff is on a big roll; it’s a faux dupionni kind of thing. It’s pretty though, and only $3.50 for the whole roll. All the other bits ranged from $1-$2 and are 1-3 yds. I love the red furry stuff! It’s neat!

I’ve sort of ended up with a collection of these DIY stuffie fabrics. Previously, I’ve purchased some Care Bear and other funny animal fabrics.There’s something kind of charming about them. I don’t think kids really like the finished products that much… the joy of these is much more in the simple and quick construction. These came in a few mixed bags with some other fabric bits for about 90 cents. I really love the Popple one, but it’s missing the back side! So sad! I guess it’s okay, as I’m pondering using them for other purposes anyway…

I got Good Things For Organizing for 90 cents. It has some really cute ideas and inspiring photos. I like it. Got the old McCall’s Needlework for about 80 cents. It’s from ‘77 and has some funny ads in it, as well as some cute projects. The retro Indian and Chinese poster art greeting cards were about 35 cents each. I love the little space travelers! You can see more of them here!

I’ve been busy working on my craft room, hence the lack of posts lately, but it is nearing completion! I hope to finish organizing and putting things away soon, and I’ll share the final results!

I got started on this stuff when I was in an altered book club, buying it with the intention of using it in collagey projects. I have actually used some of these sorts of things in projects, but as with most crafts I like, I tend to stockpile! There are good intentions for most of this stuff, at least.

Old metal is so pleasing to me! The designs, patinas, wear patterns, dirt and old paint. I love that it’s REAL metal! It’s usually brass or bronze, none of that crummy fake plated stuff. I love how heavy it feels in the hand.

My first acquisition for this collection was a batch of these strike plates. I intended to screw them into altered books with the tabs sticking out, and place tiny images in the “windows.”

I quickly moved on to purchase other bits of antique metal. Here are some keyholes, a piece of old jewelry, and another unidentified piece of hardware. I think the keyholes would be cute for jewelry or artwork.

I love antique door plates! Neat designs, and usually lots of crusty paint, varnish and patina. I have more of these somewhere… probably out in a box in the garage. I didn’t notice before, but the one on the left and the one on the right in this photo actually have the same pattern! I bought them at different times, and never closely examined them until now.

I got this old letter slot at an antique shop for $4. It has a spring on it so the flap so it is self-closing. I envisioned making some sort of decorative box/assemblage with this mounted on an opening…

Got these drawer pulls at an antique shop too. I don’t recall the exact price, I think it was $3.50 each maybe. I imagined attaching one to the front of an art book, using it as a holder for another smaller book or some art cards.

These are one of my favorite acquisitions: antique pocket door pulls. I had never seen any before when I bought them at an antique shop for $5 each. I envision them installed into a book or assemblage as tiny shrines or holders of small objects. Love!