Habitariums

I just thought to call them habitariums while uploading the pictures for editing. It's done!!! The long awaited "habijar" has turned out better than I had hoped and I finally found a use for a few of my small, nifty, vintage wooden thread spools. The base is secured to the inside of the metal vintage jelly jar lid and the little amanitas, moss, and snail are secured to the "grass" base. All the felt peices are hand-stitched and the amanita tops are secured to vintage wooden spool stalks, complete with little felt veils. I decided last minute to add the moss and am very happy with the look of it. I will be making more habitariums the next couple of weeks and posting them on my Etsy site so look out for these great holiday gifts (you can get them for yourself, I won't tell!). I started making an evergreen tree for habitarium number two but it is a little too large for the jar so I think I will have to think smaller (a very hard thing to do!). So instead it is mearly a snowy little tree. I'm going to make bigger ones to match these and they will definitely also be in my Etsy store.
Happy crafting, Cerise : )

Thrift Store Thread Sherbert

A girl I work with at the Fleet came into set up her summer camp a few weeks back and had some cool sewing gear. She told me she went by the thrift store to get some thread and found a big stash of old wooden spools of thread in some great colors. As soon as I was off work I wandered around the thrift store, found the craft section, and was sad to see only a few sad balls of unloved yarn. I wandered down the street to another thrift store (there a quite a few in North Park), thinking maybe I had gotten the name of the thrift store wrong, and didn't even find a craft section is the very musty and creepy two story store. I called my dad and wandered back down the street, telling him of my sad ending to a great adventure. I stared into the window of the first thrift store and lo and behold, there were the wooden spools of thread on the other side of the store I hadn't ventured into. I quickly went in and almost squealed with delight at all the wonderful colors of thread and sizes of spools. Then I almost fainted at the price of them. They were only 20¢ each! Search wooden thread spools on the web and you will see how pricey they can be. I snatched up 41 spools in all in many magnificent colors, paid the women at the counter, and pranced out to my car with my wonderful find. Now, I'm not really sure what to do with them. I almost want to keep them to savor the wonderful craftiness of yesterday or just stick them in some vintage jelly jars to admire the beautiful, bright colors of the thread. I might end up using the thread because, even though it is old, a wooden spool of white thread I snagged from mom's thread box is the best thread I have ever used so I have faith in my new found treasure.
Empty spools can be great for crafts. I first became interested in wooden spools when I saw a Halloween garland at the Harvest Fest in Eureka, California, last fall. Since then, I have been scoping out wooden thread spools. I found a neat site about decorative relief carvings in wooden spools and I think I might give it a try for some neat Christmas decorations. I will have to talk my dad into lending me his carving tools first and invest in some paints. I don't know that I have room or time to take on another project but it would be fun!
Happy crafting,
Cerise : )