Minnesota State Fair

Yesterday was the first day of the Minnesota State Fair, so Jon and I took the afternoon off and went out there.  It was really a nice day to be out there.  My first stop is always the cheese curd stand, those are my absolute favorite fair food! Here are a few pictures of our fair adventures.

Princess Kay Butter Sculpture.  Thats one big block of butter.

Paula Dean would have a hay day with all that butter!

Then we went to the Miracle of Life building where they have animals that are ready to give birth or already have.  That morning at 5am Miss Piggy gave birth to these piglets, quite the litter.

What came first the chicken or the egg?

Ducklings

This little cow came right up to me and started licking my hand.  A little to friendly for my liking!

When we were at the horse barn, we ran it to this big guy.  The percheron's are beautiful draft horses.

At the Creative Building they had a finished Affairs of the Heart quilt.  It was nice to see a finished one.  I am hoping to finish my in the next decade!

This basket was a favorite with Jon and I.

MR BUBBLE and me!  As a kid I loved Mr. Bubble, always wanted to be the child in commercial with their tub overflowing with bubbles.  We had a terrific day at the fair, but today my aging body is paying for all the walking around.

Mini Vintage Pumpkin Label Crate

I was trying to come up with a packaging idea for my pumpkin tea light candles.  I was at Michaels and they had these cute mini crates for only $1.00. The only thing was I didn't care for the handle on it, but for a buck I would figure something out.  

Materials:

Wood Crate from Michaels

Elmers Craft Glue

Decoupage Glue and Sealer

Latex Wood Dough

Pumpkin Labels 

First I had to get rid of that handle.  It was glued in but I was able to wiggle it around to loosen it to come out. Then I filled the holes with some wood dough.  Ahh it looks so much better without that handle! Next I found the labels at  The Graphics Fairy, there is loads of great free vintage clip art on this site. It is my favorite site to find vintage clip art!  I resized mine to around 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches and I printed two - one for the front and one for the back of the crate.  I cut the labels out and I completely covered the back of the label with my craft glue.  Place glued label on crate, once dry I put a very light coat of decoupage over it just enough to have some what of a seal.

I am really excited to start making some more crates for my candles. These will make really cute gifts.  I am able to fit 4 tea lights (2 layers of 2 tea light candles) in each crate.  Now I need to find a good vintage lavender label so I can package the lavender tea lights like this too!

New in Shop - Trinket Caddy

 I have been using these glass bottles for a while to keep small craft trinkets, findings and beads.  I like having them visible for inspiration and ready for use but I needed something to keep them organize.  So I drew up a design for a double and single caddy and I had Jon make them for me.  They turned out so nice that I had him make a few of each so I could put them in my shop.  Each caddy is custom made from poplar wood to fit 22mm wide bottles. They would also make really cute seed keepers.  I am having so much fun with these that I am looking for stuff to fill them!  You can check them out at ginderellas.etsy.com

Linked up to:

TSWL     Under The Table and Dreaming

Rainbow of Yo Yo's

30 -(Handmade by me) Yo Yo's in 1930's reproduction fabric is going up for auction at 12pm Sun, Aug 12 with a starting bid of $5 on Tophatter.  If you would like an invite let me know I have a limited number of invitations and you will get $5 to spend within a day of joining the site. Just leave me a comment that you would like a invite and I will get one out to you.   

Yo Yo's are great embellishments to any project and are fun to make. You can add your favorite button or trinket to the middle. You can probably stick a Yo Yo on just about anything!
Uses: Scrapbooking, Cards, Hair Pins, Jewelry, Handbags, Quilts and many more.

Hibiscus Bloom

I have been waiting all summer for these to start blooming and finally this morning I had a wonderful surprise!  The flowers on this plant are the size of a plate and they are absolutely beautiful.  It is one of my favorites in my garden.  I excited to see lots of buds too!

Pug Fabric

Today I decided to slow down a bit and go through my stash of fabric.  I came across this Pug fabric.  I adore Pugs they are my all time favorite dog. So now I am going to regroup and probably make some cell phone sleeves with it.