Last Week Friday...

...we spent antique shopping in Wisconson. My favorite spot is the School House Antique Mall in the town of Sturdevant. You should go there. Really.

The first thing I found was an old postcard rack. If you don't know what that is, picture one of those racks that holds the small bags of potato chips in a cafeteria, and you will have a good idea what it looks like. I love it! Today I clipped all of the baby cards I've made on it. But, I might switch it to the felt pins. I've also seen them with old hankies clipped to it...oh!...the possibilities are endless!

THGGM found a Watts Apple bowl. He was thrilled about that.

The coolest thing we came back with are four leaded glass windows. My uncle gave them to us. They came off of an old cabinet. They are beautiful! As soon as we unloaded the car, THGGM set one of them in the window of our entry way. It looks perfect there. I'm thinking of embellishing the other three and hanging them as wall art.

Yesterday I spent all afternoon tucked away in my loft. It became clear to me that I have way too much junk up there. Something is going to have to go. I've got decorating magazines that go back to 1979. THGGM tries to get rid of stuff, like old suits and blue jeans, but I salvage them. Why? I can't remember. I'm sure I read somewhere something that I could do with them. The last time we did a major throwing out, we tossed a box of square white ceiling tiles. That very night I got a magazine with - I AM NOT KIDDING - an art project made from square white ceiling tiles.

So, here is a short list of the collections I have for future art projects:

wooden clothes pins
old ribbon
lace
buttons
baby food jars
bottle caps
canning jars
game pieces
old playing cards
rook
pit
old maid
crazy eights
touring
Scrabble games
odd wooden pieces
picture frames
wooden boxes
art books
children's books
wooden drawers
cigar boxes
beads
old jewelry
wooden bowls
baskets
wool stuff to felt
fabric
yarn
doll parts
old record books
old music

Yesterday I got it somewhat organized. That is, if you call sitting in the middle of the room and throwing stuff into the correct boxes organization.

I have decided to begin by getting rid of half of the magazines. I did this once before, and didn't go into a deep depression over it, so I will start there.

Yes. I'll start there.

In the mean time, I am attempting to not buy anymore embellishments for my decoupaging projects or my shadow boxes. I will use up what I already have.

Unless, of course, I find something I just can't resist...

Like today, at the thrift store. I found a copy of Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses" with irresistable black and white pictures.

I've also decided to stop buying things that I used to want. This will put an end to all manner of educational products that I wanted when we homeschooled. I keep forgetting that I've no need for this stuff anymore. But, I wanted it so badly then, so when I see it for pennies, I just have to get it.

None of my finds cost me more than 'pennies' as I am a very savy thrift shopper. But, I've run out of places to put it, and my family is sick of bumping into piles and piles of my 'treasures'.

There. I'm done. That was theraputic.

And I didn't even mention my two large suitcases, three drawers and one picnic basket FULL of children's board books. Some in German and Spanish.

I can't wait to read "Die kleine Raupe Nimmersatt" (the very hungry caterpillar) to my grandson.