Making The Most of Your Treasury

Paris in Pink Treasury

MichellesCharmWorld Eiffel Tower Earrings

Today, I was lucky enough to be featured in 8 treasuries, yes I said that right 8. I love those curators that love my pieces enough to feature them and I enjoy the fans that heart my items and even the ones that buy them too! Treasuries can lead to sales, especially if you help them along! I once wrote a feature about making the most of your treasury feature and it was a hit. I proved that in following simple steps in promoting the work that others are also promoting, it can and most likely will lead to a sale. With 8 treasuries, this will prove to be a bit difficult today, but there are ways to make it work! Be sure to help others promote that treasury that you are in. Make that link spread like wild fire. Write a blog post, tweet it, facebook it, flickr the screen shot etc (do as many of those as you can). Then go back and comment on the treasury iteself. Thank the curator for featuring you, offer a special to those that buy from you that found you there AND leave a link to where you yourself featured the treasury. Make sure all links can trace back to you in some way. I am a bit late on this promotion, so hopefully I can prove a point and I will update what happens tomorrow.

Treasuries I am Featured In:

MichellesCharmWorld

My Blue Carousel Horse Necklace
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c45e1a23f476d91171e6528/merry-go-round

My Lemon Wedge Earrings:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c4280b857e06d91d4fd8271/citrus-bliss

My black and white Lego Bracelet:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c41bd7f57e06d91f7e36671/the-world-of-black-and-white

My Windmill Ring:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c44ee01c9fe8eef4b1ddb18/a-touch-of-dutch

Lemon Wedge Earrings again:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c46fef0afa68eef639f9831/bright-colors-to-brighten-up-your-day

Pink in Paris Earrings:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c47162fafa68eef06039d31/ooh-la-la-la-parisin-pink

Lemon Wedge Earrings Again! haha!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c4719b05aaf6d916bfa2877/salad-days#4c471dd8afa68eef710c9f31

Lemon Bracelet:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c4729c15aaf6d91a3792d77/rainbows-and-fruit

Please take a moment to click and comment!!

Garage Sales!

Today I stopped at a tag sale and found a box of dolls. I got a great deal on them, only to come home and find many of them dismembered! My daughter and I sorted through the tub and she took out the ones she wanted and I found one that I had even played with as a child! Sorting was nostalgic and fun! I even had some stories to share with her. As we got to the bottom of the tub (over an hour later as this tub was overflowing to the max!) we noticed we had a lot of parts that just didn't match up. So what does one crafty chica do when Life gives her a box of parts?????

Make earrings of course!!!! My daughter was a bit mortified at first, but then when she saw them on, she asked if I could just make her a hand pair since the arms were too long! hahaha!! Has she learned the art of:

If you can't understand your mom, join her???

WIN IT!

Win this Black Heart Lego Necklace! Just leave a comment on my Facebook Page thread for an entry!!

A Few of My Favorites.....

Just wanted to share some of my favorites with you!! I'm in love with color and vintage and fun stuff!!!

A Love of Vintage Buttons....

I LOVE vintage buttons! They seem to want to share a story of the times and things they have seen. I love how buttons did so much more than just cinched clothing. They were intricate, they were made of wonderful materials and different shapes. A plain sweater was made so much more elegant with a rhinestone button or a celluloid one. My collection has gotten so big, that I had to begin sharing these buttons in a way that did them justice. I started making jewelry that got so many compliments that I started selling them. I was excited to find the above sill glove box and vintage buttons at an estate sale this past weekend and I fell in love.


What do you enjoy collecting?

New Pieces!

Working on New Pieces
Originally uploaded by MichellesCharmWorld

Check out http://www.MichellesCharmWorld.Com for all your funky goodies! I just added these new things to the shop and 3 of them are already sold!

Estate Sale Haul 3.50 Spent!

Estate Sale Haul 3.50 Spent!
Originally uploaded by MichellesCharmWorld

Have a Fabulous Weekend!!!

Here is my Estate Sale Haul from yesterday! It was AWESOME! Just pop on over to Flickr to see my notes on everything!

On the way home from running errands today, we spotted a moving sale sign. It was about 15 minutes through a winding forest filled path until we got to the GREATEST 70s style house EVER! I was in love!! 87 year old mom was headed to a nursing home, so all her stuff (including this fantastic home) was for sale :( It made me sad as we stepped into this house that was so loved. The sale closed early as they were open really early, so the stuff was pretty much picked over. I still found some amazing goodies!

Before and After Vintage Train Case

Before and After Vintage Train Case
Originally uploaded by MichellesCharmWorld

First time taking stencils to vintage luggage!

Busy Bee....

I've been a busy bee lately and figured I would share what all I have been up to! I started out with planning our family menu for the week on Sunday. If you have any questions, just ask!

What I need:

Menu page (holds 3 weeks of menus and grocery lists
Ruler
Pencil
Pages of Recipes

Family Planner

I start with my Page printed out from PhotoScape.
I break this page up into 3 weeks worth of BLD (breakfast, LUNCH, Dinner)

I use the bottom of that menu page to write the groceries needed and break that up into 3 sections (1 column for each week).

I keep a file folder stuffed with magazine and newspaper and internet clippings of recipes we like, want to try etc. This is full of snacks, meals, drinks and anything else that looks yummy to us. This keeps me from having stacks of magazines everywhere. I just keep pages and that's that!

I plan our meals so that no one day is too calorie or carb heavy:
Sandwiches for lunch, means that we will have a light dinner.
Full breakfast usually means salad or soup or something equally fresh for lunch.

We try to eat meat for dinner only 3 or 4 times a week.

If we end up going out to dinner, I usually tuck that meal away for another week and follow through as normal, UNLESS I have already pre-prepped for it the night before.

I ALWAYS use a pencil in case I want to change things up and I always have our day planner at the ready, to compare days I need to have lunch on the go or breakfast has to be light or we won't be in at all.

I made up a new Twitter Backround for my page, since all of the items on my old page were long sold out!
I made an EART TEAM treasury about SUMMER! Check out the Treasury. Please remember to Click on Each item and leave us a comment about the treasury! Thanks so much!!!

Flea Market Finds!

As you all know by now, I'm a sucker for a junk shoppe, yard sale and thrift store! When we saw that there was a flea market being put up near by we headed over. All in all, I was not thrilled with what some people were trying to sell. So much garbage, torn and broken stuff, not to mention all the dollar store items. Let me say it first, I HATE no I DETEST when people think they can buy stuff from The Dollar Tree in bulk and set up at flea markets and the like. These are NOT items that belong here. I cannot stand that the venues holding these events are so in need of the 15.00 that they accept the booth fee and disregard their own rules for a: Vintage Flea Market. If the people lied on their application, then they should be made to leave no matter how long it took them to set up their boxes of crap. (can you tell this is a huge pet peeve of mine???)

We biked to a flea market today and these are my goodies I came away with! 4.00 spent!
L-R:
Heart Shaped Glasses in bold red that will be perfect for some of my plain outfits that need a little pick-me-up. They are HUGE!

Black and White 80s earrings (Acrylic) they are chunky and sooo funky! These will be in the shop soon....if I don't keep them for my personal collection!!!

These fabulous gnomes were cupcake toppers, but I took off the bottoms and they are on their way to being an awesome charm bracelet!

Parenting Tip!

I am in the process of putting together a compilation of tips and recipes for parents of preschoolers. It will have easy and fun ways with food and other things. Here is one I shared recently on Facebook, Twitter, The Eart Team Blog and several other sites.

The book will hopefully be available in my ETSY shop in time for Holiday giving!

Tip:

Save all the socks that are too dingy after the wash in a gallon sized ziplock bag in your laundry room. As the bag fills dump it and pair them up and move this bag to your car. Now you have socks when the kids go to those play places that require them. After they play, toss the nasty little buggers in the trash and you don't bring home all those germs or dirty good socks!

Have You Added Me Yet?

Twitter: @MichellesCharmW

Facebook: MichellesCharmWorld

Have a Happy and Safe Weekend!

Come visit a candy colored oasis of ordinary things made extraordinary!

Meet Eclectic Artists

These Intricate Works of Art are from JaybirdDesigns!

These Amazing pieces belong to EDCCollective!

Last but not least it's ME! MichellesCharmWorld!

New Containers!

New Containers!
Originally uploaded by MichellesCharmWorld

I love supplies, I love storage containers! These are my latest pick ups and I'm in LOVE! The metal tins were picked up at an estate sale and I LOVE their vintage feel! They are metal, but the caps are plastic with raised animals on their lids. Can you believe these nesting vintage tins were .25 for ALL THREE?!?!?! I almost died!!!

The Donut containers were on sale at Joannes for .97! I fell in love as soon as I saw them!

Share any of your latest deals please!!!

The Days of Writing Snail Mail...

Selection of Cards from PnkGeeni

In this day and age of writing emails and texting, have you noticed that the written word is just going away? I cringe when I see shortened words or even worse misspelled ones! It's so hard to try and even read what people are posting lately. While taking this into consideration I wandered out to my mail box to find it laden with ads, bills and some random packages of supplies. I realized then and there that I wish I had a good old letter to read. What I needed was a Pen Pal! I went right out and started a thread on Etsy! Before I knew it, the thread had taken off and we had over 10 people wanting to be matched up! Let us hope that the art of the pen to paper is not dead yet and I can keep this up! If you are interested, head over to the thread and sign up! We still have some unmatched members!

Encourage Grazing

As the months start to warm up, I notice that the kids seem to always be hungry and tend to want to eat more at meal time. I try to keep the hunger at bay, by constantly offering a buffet of healthy snacks in between meals. During the Summer months when the fruits are fabulous, I keep the fruits on hand. This will stay out and I change out the fruit for refrigerated replacements every hour. I change out the fruit selection daily and alternate the buffet with fruits and Veggies. Grazing throughout the day helps them eat smaller meals at the other times in the day and that's the perfect thing for healthy and active bodies.

Today this is our fruit spread:

Oranges, Strawberries, Mango, Grapes, Yellow and Red Watermelon.
Vanilla-Cinnamon with a touch of Honey Yogurt Dipping Bowl & Granola.

This week, I am also starting to work on the latest in health advice I have been given and that is to make Dinner your smallest meal of the day. We had a filling breakfast of cereal with fresh berries and toast and lunch was Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas. For dinner I plan on serving up a fresh greens salad from our garden and adding a small bowl of home made chicken soup with the left over chicken from lunch.

Enjoy the day everyone!

~Michelle!~

Veggies in the Garden!

We have been getting herbs and beans and onions galore in our garden, but this morning brought us a new surprise!! 2 cucumbers were ready to be plucked out and they were delish! Now if only all those green tomatoes would pick up the pace! haha!

Happy 30th Birthday!!!

Happy birthday to my husband! he turns 30 on Sunday and I couldn't be happier! He is always so quick to mention that his WIFE is 30 already and he is still in this 'twenties' hahaha! Now he is joining the ranks of us 'geezers!' hahaha! The kids and I made him a fantastic scrapbook with photos, surveys about Dad and drawings, and reasons why we love him and are thankful for him. This project is 2 months in the making and I am thrilled with the results. This man deserves everything good that comes his way. He's my rock, my best friend, my love. He is an angel among men that makes me happy every single day. To you Salvatore, I give my love and devotion. Happy Birthday to my best friend forever.

A Note From My Facebook Fanpage..

I've mentioned this in passing before on my FACEBOOK wall, I want to go into more detail. Accessories can do so much for your outfits. A simple white t-shirt and jeans can go bohemian with a hemp bag and wooden hoop earrings. It can go Chic with diamond studs and a simple thin chained necklace. Want to make it funky? Pair your outfit with an ice cream cone necklace and giant bangle. 1 outfit can be many if you take the time to pair it with just the right pieces.

Today, I headed out for a bike ride wearing black leggings and a pink fitted cotton shirt. The shirt has a bow at the top of the collar, so I knew right off the bat, NO NECKLACE. Without a necklace, I had to overcompensate on the earrings to make a statement. I went with my personal M pink earrings from MCW (http://tinyurl.com/2aj3dod) and then I added a pink Mahjong bracelet (also MCW), to balance out the pink, I added a vintage bangle in black and then one on pink to alternate pink/black/pink on the wrist.

Since I was riding around on a vintage cruiser style Electra, I wanted to add some kitsch to the outfit by bringing along my astro turf bag (complete with gnome!) and my vintage E.T. Messenger bag carried the packages I had to deliver.

Pulled together, it had an eclectic look that make me who I am :) At first glance a little crazy, but it's me!

What accessories are you wearing today? Share!

This is another of my favorite accessories, my black cats eye glasses, click HERE to see!

Fun With Food....

Lately with my father in the hospital, I have had to not only make my food creative, but portable. We have been chugging to the hospital daily and spending all day there. For 3 little ones the 2 hour car ride is enough, but add in having to sit still and be quiet? Well it's pure torture. Not to mention that grandpa is their best buddy ever and seeing him sick is just not good for anyone.

Bento Boxes were the PERFECT thing for toting snacks and goodies on the car ride and once we were in the hospital. The kids love the compartments and the cute accessories that come with the art of Bento. They never take long to assemble and are always a fun and healthy option for keeping kids interested. (did I mention that my husband works 2 jobs and I was going this alone????)

When my daughter landed in the same hospital as my dad only HOURS after leaving (Only she was in the ER and dad was in the ICU), I was a wreck. I got light headed with all the blood and ended up falling to the floor. She was fooling around at my parents house and knocked out her front tooth. We were lucky (HAH!) that at age 5, these were only her baby teeth. With the now missing tooth, fat and swollen lip and pain, I was no challenged with making these Bentos Cute, Fun, Creative, Healthy and now SOFT! I knew this was the perfect time to bring out the Egg Molds.

These Egg molds are super easy to use and the kids had a BLAST eating with them, they now ask for an egg EVERY DAY in their little box! Head on over to Ebay and you too can join in on the fun! (The food fun, not the hospital fun!!)

Egg Mold Usage:

First: boil your eggs.
Second: you peel the egg while it is still hot.
Third: you will pop it into the mold
Fourth: put them in the fridge for 1 hour at minimum. I like to do 3 and I've heard that people do them at night and then leave them overnight. (I will start doing this, but I HAD to do a review first)
Fifth, pop open the mold and VOILA!

Your best bet is a large or extra large egg and don't worry if it smashes when you close the lid, just clean up the excess and it will turn out great!

Since they take so long to do, you will most likely want at least 3-5 in your collection!

Kids carrying their activity packs and snack boxes are tucked neatly inside!