Shabby Apple Jewelry Giveaway

I have been seeing all the Shabby Apple giveaways around the blogosphere lately and I love their style!  I was so thrilled when I got an email from the company offering me a chance to host a giveaway of one of their jewelry items!  I had a great list to choose from…I just couldn’t decide which to go with! 

Was this the necklace or what about bracelet…There were so many items to choose from--Key to My Heart, Key To Wonderland, Light as a Feather, Lost in Wonderland, The Duchess, Mad Hatter's Timekeeper, The Queen's Rose, White Rabbit's Time Keeper, Through the Looking Glass, Unlock the Queen's Castle, Dark Secrets of Wonderland, Poker Face Alice and You're All Mad.  They all sound so intriguing!

I eventually chose a beautiful necklace called Through the Looking Glass.  Here is the picture…

I am so wishing that I could enter this drawing myself! This necklace is so wonderful! It's 24" long which is such a great length…I love the vintage look to the glass! 

And if you don't win the giveaway (or just need to finish up some Christmas shopping), Shabby Apple is offering a 10% off coupon code if you see something you can't live without! When you check out, just enter the code CreativePassages10off and and you will save 10%!

Wow, aren’t these earrings beautiful?

Here's how to enter to win Shabby Apple's Looking Glass necklace:

3 possible entries per person - each comment counts as an entry, so make sure to leave separate comments each time you do one of the following:

• Go to Shabby Apple's Facebook page and like them, then come back and leave a comment saying you did.
• Become a follower of Creative Passage and leave me a comment saying you follow!
• Like  Woolen Wonders by Ellen (the shop) and Creative Passage (the blog) on Facebook and leave me a comment saying you did!

Now for a few details:

• Winner must have a US shipping address.
• No exchanges for the winning piece of jewelry--the winner will receive the Looking Glass necklace and it cannot be exchanged for another item.
• Giveaway will run through December 22!  Winner will be chosen with the help of Random.org in the evening of December 22.
• Don't forget about the 10% off coupon code~~ creativepassages10off is good for 30 days...You can pamper yourself for all the work you did before Christmas!

 

Thrifted Grapevine Tree {{by Sarah}}

Hi! It’s Sarah, Ellen’s sister. Just stopping by again to share a repurposed thrift store find. I saw this tree and knew it had great potential. And it begged me to take it home. (Yes, I hear voices in thrift stores). :c)

I removed the raffia, bows, and lights. I debated about whether to spray paint it. But I liked the natural look so much. It looks perfect just as it is.

I decided to keep its simplicity and add a garland. I found these wooden beads at yet another thrift shop for $1.

I strung them on some jute twine and wrapped this around the tree.

I love the simplicity of having just the garland. I can change it easily to match the season or the décor. Another idea is Ellen’s super cute wool garland here…or wrap it with burlap ribbon. Stringing buttons on baker’s twine is another idea. Or wool felted balls on a garland of yarn like this. I can see endless possibilities!

Thanks, again, Ellen, for allowing me to share another creation! Love ya!

 

I am linking to these great parties!

Sarah’s first blog post!

Hi, I am Sarah and I am so excited to do my first ever blog post! Ellen, my sister, has graciously asked me to guest post here on her blog. Ellen inspires me with her creativeness and keeps me motivated just by seeing all the awesome things she has made!
I am a crafter and a sew-er. I have probably tried just about every craft or needlework at least once. I love to repurpose and redo. Fabric, wood, and wool are some of my favorite things to work with. I have a HUGE fetish for wooden and metal boxes and baskets.
Here is my crafty work area in the garage thanks to my handyman hubby…


You can see many of my unfinished projects. You may see a few of these things in a future guest post, that is, if Ellen invites me back. :c)
Today, I thought I would share a project that I have been working on. Thanks to a local new Goodwill store (Ellen, we must go the next time you visit!), I brought this box home, thinking it might be wood. And it’s a box. So it was begging me to take it home.

It’s very cute, but I was thinking it would be even cuter as a rustic-looking box. So I removed the wooden letters on both sides and started sanding.

And… I think it’s fake wood. Actually, I know it is. So distressing the wood is not an option. Oh well, still determined to make this work. I sanded the corners to look more worn and then primed the entire box.
Next, I painted the box. It’s a good time to use up those paint samples (I have a gazillion since I am somewhat indecisive when choosing a paint color) and leftover wall paint if you have any. I have even been known to mix a few paint colors on occasion, such as the color below. I used a stiff bristled brush so the brush strokes would show when dry because I wanted to stain it to give it more of the real wood look.

On went the stain…


I decided to use scrapbook paper to fill the recessed area. I actually did not glue the paper in the area. I decided to use heavier scrapbook paper, make it a bit larger so it fits snugly and will stay on its own. That way I can change the paper to match the season or holiday. Or another thought would be to paint the recessed area with chalkboard paint. Or use mosaic tile. Or decoupage a child’s artwork. A recessed area on a box is a blank canvas just waiting for something creative to fill its space. I also gave it some new handles.


Here is the box Christmas-fied!  Pretty with greenery and Christmas paper on the side!



 
Done!
Thanks, Ellen, for allowing me to share a bit of my craftiness! Love ya!

Linking up to these great parties!

Felted Balls Garland and other stuff

Our Christmas tree this year is a lot different than usual!  I made a decision to not put all our ornaments on the tree this year…we are just going with a few ornaments, some red striped wool balls I bought last year after Christmas…

and a few handmade garlands.  The squares garland I told you about here and the one I made today with felted wool balls strung on wool yarn.   And the clear lights too, but other wise nothing else.  It has been rather nice, not having to climb into the long skinny closet under the stairs

and pull out the boxes and unwrap the ornaments.  Some how it makes it easier to not have to stress about getting it all done!

And then, I won’t have to put things away after Christmas, wrapping each ornament and stuffing the box back under the stairs! 

Anyway, I am excited because my mom is coming to visit over Christmas and into the new year, so I will have company for a while!   I love having company!   I have been working on Christmas presents today, I have a whole basket done, still have some left to do…knitting, sewing, crochet, felting, jewelry making! 

I am linking to these parties!

Paper Feathers

Another Pinterest idea!  I loved the way these feathers looked when I saw them on Pinterest…so I made some out of an old songbook. 

You can go here to see how to make them!

I think I am leaving mine on the Christmas tree!

I am linking to these great parties!

Black Friday Shopping

Sarah and I went Black Friday shopping…we are not traditional Black Friday shoppers, we went to JoAnn’s and then we went thrift shopping!

I found the jar on the left at a junk store…it was $1.50.  I love the bubbles in the glass and love the color.  The jar on the left has a really short neck, I think it must be older.  I was telling Mom about finding this jar and she told me she had lots of them. I wanted some pints but we only found quarts.  So now I have four of these!

I found this little box for a few bucks…definitely has some age to it.  I found the clay looking peppermint canes for $2.25 each at a gift store and also found this scrumptious room spray…it has an orange/clove fragrance which is heavenly!

I also got a pile of fabric at JoAnn’s…spent $52 and everything I bought will be used to make a Christmas present this year!  The receipt said I saved $175!!

Darling burlap garland…

Lots of snow people…

These snowman faces were painted on fabric wrapped balls…

And wonderful felted wool stockings, big enough for any sized elf!

The wool felt mooses were very cute!

I loved the brown wool heart ornaments.

This cat was the guard cat at the junk store…she was very sweet but wouldn’t budge an inch when I checked out!

She’s clearly in charge!

I listed these in my etsy shop this evening and they were gone before the hour was out!

Speaking of shopping…shop here and enter ShopMonday15 as a coupon code for 15% off everything in my shop!

Sarah’s posting soon!

I have this sister named Sarah…

She is really crafty…but she always says I am the crafty one…

She is the middle girl of five, so she is that notorious middle child!  Well, except we also have three brothers.  Yep, that is a total of eight kids!

And yep, that’s a total of four all polyester leisure suits in that photo!  And you can’t tell but there are three (maybe four) maxi dresses! Trust me, they were in style then.  At least I hope they were because we were all wearing them then!

So Sarah and I exchange gifts every other months, must be handmade things…usually that we make for the other.  I have made lots of cool things, most of which you see here on my blog.  Sarah doesn’t really have a blog, but I have been encouraging her to start one.  She always says she doesn’t have time.   But she made this felted wool ball garland.

And these JOY blocks…

and these labels for my crafts…

And these wonderful mug mats for my desk at work….

And this really cute felted present for my tree…

And darling snowman magnet for the fridge…

And this soap holder for the shower…

And this package for Christmas last year…  Well, you get the idea, I guess…Sarah is very crafty and I am happy to announce she is going to be doing an occasional guest post here and there!  So, watch closely for the next post, which will be by Sarah!