We're DIY'ers 'Round Here

Wow, these last few weeks have just flown by! I have been focusing on gearing up the shops for the post Thanksgiving rush. I worked on my keywords and tagging on Etsy and used the Etsy on Sale site to do my mass changes. If you have an Etsy shop and haven't used the Etsy on Sale site, give it a try. It is super easy to make mass tagging changes and to start/stop store sales. They charge a nominal fee and you can try your first few changes for free! Check it out here....Etsy on Sale website. Full disclosure, if you click through the link and sign up for a free test drive, I do get credits in my account, but Etsy on Sale has no idea who I am. Um, wow, I just said Etsy 6 times in that paragraph. Too bad they aren't paying me for the mentions!

I have been playing with my new camera and am still pretty confused on the majority of the settings. It is a Sony a55. A friend of mine made her own photo studio in her home and I was looking to do this on a smaller scale using a photo booth or light box type of set up. I could buy one on ebay with lighting for about the 40 dollar range. But being the thrifty person I am, I decided to try the DIY photo box first. You can find tutorials for this via a Google or Etsy blog search. Or you can link to one of my follower's blogs, Six Balloons, where she shares her DIY light box.

This is what I've come up with...so far:

I spent just over a buck for 2 pieces of white poster board (1 size cut for a horizontal fit and 1 size cut for a vertical fit), the rest, a plastic storage bin and sewing interfacing, I had. The *possible* Sonneman lamp is coming in handy, as well as some other vintage lighting fixtures from around the house. I have tested it out and I can see an improvement but I need brighter lights. Next time I am at the Goodwill I will pick up some of those clamp lamp things and put in some 90 watt lights. That should do the trick! Oh, and if you are liking the vintage Early American Pyrex in the light box, you can see more photos here in my shop.

Mr. TP worked on his own DIY project this past weekend...

A garden in our laundry room! I picked up this old school grow light at the same yard sale I found the lovely Herman Miller chair duo, and now it's being put to work. We are trying lettuce and Roma tomatoes. I'll keep ya'll updated on the progress.

No thrifting this past weekend, total bummer. But, I did step into a mall for the first time in at least 4 months! I took advantage of the Old Navy pay $10 get a $20 voucher Groupon X 2 and ended up with 2 new sweaters and 2 new shirts for just under $24 bucks!

Hopefully I will be able to rustle up an Estate or Yard Sale this weekend so I have some fun new stuff to show off next time :)

Thanks for taking a moment to visit my blog!

Bye Bye Hunk O Junk!

If you have been reading my blog lately, you have probably heard me lament about how much I dislike my current point and shoot, hunk o junk camera. With the blog, my etsy business, and my ebay business, it was time to graduate to a big girl business camera! Plus, I can take much better pictures of my dog...Here is his blog debut picture....isn't my little boo boo sweet. Love him!

For the camera, I ended up with a sweet Sony DSLR. It has so many cool functions that the sales dude showed me at the camera shop, that I can't even remember how to do them. Thankfully, they will have a 2 hour class I can take to teach me all about my new DSLR. Problem is, the class is not till January. Guess I will have to read the manual, ACK!

Ok, enough dog and camera gushing, let's get on with it...

I went to zero, yes, 0, sales this week. I can't even believe I just typed that! Part of the reason was that we were out of town on Saturday.

This is what I was doing on Saturday night...ladies, pay attention! I attended a friend's bodybuilding competition in Davenport, Iowa. Our friend Shawn, a USMC veteran, dietetics major, and all around good guy, was competing in his first ever competition. Here he is!

It was such a quick trip, otherwise I would have totally strolled through some of the thrift shops. Make a note pickers, downtown Davenport, Iowa is a thrifting haven! I saw soooo many cute little second hand shops. I vow to make more time for thrift shopping on our next trip.

Back in the hometown, Craigslist was pretty much a bust as far as sales went. But, I did go to Goodwill for myself and ended up with a pair of Charlotte Russe and Ann Taylor Loft jeans and a black cable knit chunky Liz Claiborne sweater all for less than 10 bucks, woot!

Here is an item I acquired a few weeks back that I hadn't posted on but definitely deserves a spot on the blog, a beautiful Papal Edition Bible from the 1950's.

The page edges are all gold tone and the illustrations are absolutely incredible. I acquired this at an estate sale and I cannot believe the family would sell such an amazing example of the Word. I have it on ebay and hope a collector of religious pieces will find this beauty.

In my last post, yeah, I know, it's been a few weeks...I promised a cool Mad Men-esque item:

Here it is. A chromed-out shiny ball ashtray stand! Totally mid-century and atomic. What a fantastic addition to any man cave or basement bar...hello gift idea! Yep, it'll be in my etsy store in time for the weekend shopping rush.
 
Will any of you be going out for Black Friday or purchasing online for Cyber Monday? Feel free to comment with any hot deals you have heard of.

I will probably stay at home. I'll be manning the e-shops over a cup of hot coffee with the doggie keeping my feet warm.

 Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

Linking up with Homemaker on a Dime's Creative Blog Hop, stop by and check it out!