She Likes It! (and by extension, me)

My partner in the Bargain Hunter Swap received her package of goods from me, and posted them all in the gallery. Yay, she liked everything! I have to say, myself, that I did do some pretty swift bargain hunting. Here's my list (Mind you, the total had to be under $10, with as little stash as possible):

1. Broken China Pendant

• Piece of China plate—$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale


• Copper plate, solder, jump ring—stash


• Carton--$.25, Clearance at Joann’s


• Polyester padding--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale

2. Knit-It Mice Kit--$1, garage sale (haggled down from $2)
3. Crocheted and Knitted Afghans pattern book--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale (I reeeeaaaaallllly like the tiger-striped afghan!)
4. My First Storybook Dictionary--$0, dumpster-dived from behind the Salvation Army (I thought my recipient could use if for book-altering or scrapbooking; I think dictionaries are kind of fun for that)
5. Blouses to Knit and Crochet pattern book--$.25, Goodwill in Arkansas (vacation to visit my grandparents!)
6. Sweater Sets to Knit and Crochet pattern book--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale
7. Aluminum Size 15 Knitting Needles--$.50, garage sale
8. Building Better English--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale (I thought it might be fun for book-altering, and there is insane 1950s graffiti all over it!)
9. Aluminum Size 2 Double-Pointed Knitting Needles--$.50, garage sale (There’re only three left in the set. Can you knit with only three?)
10. Hot Blue Sugar’n Cream Yarn--$.97, Joann’s (on Clearance)
11. Aluminum Size 5 Knitting Needles--$.25, garage sale
12. Five Scrapook Sheets--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale (these were originally 50 cents!)
13. Aluminum Size 8 Knitting Needles--$.50, garage sale
14. Instructions for Making the Red Heel Sock Monkey Toy--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale (this was inside a half-full bag of polyester fiberfill that I also scored—awesome!)
15. Aluminum Size 4 Knitting Needles--$.50, garage sale
16. Hot Pink Sugar’n Cream Yarn--$.97, Joann’s (on Clearance; I thought it might go well with the blue)
17. Aluminum Size 6 Knitting Needles--$.25, garage sale
18. Espanol Lap Quilt

• Espanol T-shirt--$2, thrift store in  Arkansas


• Brocade fabric--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale


• Thread—stash

19. No Hablo Ingles purse

• No Hablo Ingles T-shirt--$.99, Goodwill (50%-off Storewide Sale!!!!!!)


• Zipper--$.25, garage sale


• Red ribbon with gold hearts—stash


• Thread—stash

20. Glen Miller Story record box

• Record album cover--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale

21. Scrapbooking Gel Pens--$.50, Half-Off in the Dollar Bin at Target
22. The King and I record box

• Record album cover--$0, Free Day at the Monroe County History Center garage sale
  GRAND TOTAL: $9.68

My favorite thing is the broken china pendant. I basically smashed an old china plate I picked up for free and soldered around it just like I do with my microscope glass pendants. This was the first time I'd made something like this, but it turned out just like I'd hoped, so I'll definitely make many more.

Here's the tote I made: 

It's made from a double-thickness of the T-shirt for sturdiness (which is why it's long enough but not so tall), with a zipper at top and a wide ribbon for the straps. I knotted the ribbon instead of sewing the straps together at the top so that you can adjust it for a variety of strap lengths.  The ribbon is wired, too, so that you can tie a bow or whatever and it will stay and the ribbon ends won't just flap in your face when you walk. I might make one of these for myself.

This lap quilt is made from a T-shirt I found while thrifting visiting my family in Arkansas--my swap partner speaks Spanish, so I thought it was a very fateful find. The brocade fabric I found at the free day, and I think it complements the T-shirt perfectly:

  

There's a pretty cool quote in Spanish on the T-shirt, about how to speak Spanish is to speak the language of fiestas, mariachis, happy children, sun-drenched lovers, etc. Matt thinks the quilt is a stupid size, but I say that it's a lap quilt, and consequently it covers the lap, so there. It's 20"x20"--is that stupid?

So, that's all for Bargain Hunting. What am I doing next, you ask? That's easy--Christmas in July Stash-Buster swap!!!!!! My partner is awesome, and likes cool things, so this will be much fun.