My 3/50 Project: June

I went a little crazy with my 3/50 Project in May, so in June I toned it down a bit and just bought these items at our local antique mall.

I've been on a mission to collect old and interesting wood boxes, so I added these to my collection. I especially like the one with the leather strap handle.



And I finally started working on getting some glass floats. I don't think they're antiques (the "Made in Taiwan" sticker on one was a pretty good hint), but I still love the colors and sizes.



My final purchase was a cute 1/2 pint old milk bottle. In certain light it has a faint yellow tint to the glass. It's the perfect size for holding a small bunch of my wild sweet peas!



So, how's your 3/50 Project going?

And thanks to everyone for all your nice comments on my wedding photos last week!

My 3/50 Project: May

I realized the other day how far behind I am on chronicling my participation in the 3/50 Project.

So, here are my purchases for the month of May.

I got this adorable little bag from an even more adorable knitting and sewing shop in downtown Grand Junction, CO called Tangle, where they suggest you "get in touch with your inner knitter." As soon as I have some free time (ha!) I'm going to take a refresher knitting course from them.



While I was at Tangle, I saw a display of the most AMAZING lotions and soaps. They are from etsy seller Dress Green. Although Dress Green isn't technically local, they are an etsy shop, and that counts in my book. I gave these to my mom as part of her mother's day present, so I can't personally vouch for how they worked out. But I can tell you that these are the most fabulous smelling lotions and soaps I think I've ever come across. I'm waiting for a "woe is me" day so I can justify buying some of them for myself!



In late May, I took the husband to Ouray, CO to celebrate his birthday. While we were there, we bought these amazing pottery pieces from San Juan Pottery. These two pieces are for us; we bought some other pieces, but they're future gifts for people so they have to remain secret. I just love the colors in these. I could stare at them for hours.



We stopped in another cute shop in Ouray. I forget the name of it, but the woman mostly takes vintage denim clothing and sews cute little buttons and lace on them. She also had a few other interesting antique items. The husband spotted this silk embroidered tapestry hanging on a wall.



He immediately fell in love with it.



The woman was unsure of the age or origins, but thought it is probably from Japan some time before World War II.



So we snatched it up before she could change her mind about selling it.

Sharing the letterpress love: Get free stuff!

On Wednesday we drove to Denver to pick up my new press--a Chandler and Price 10x15, made in Ohio somewhere between 1916 and 1920, or thereabouts.

She's in pieces now, disassembled by the previous owner so they could get her out of a basement. Fully assembled, she weighs in at an estimated 1,650 pounds!



Here's what she'll look like when she's put back together (except I'll be giving her a good scrubbing and a nifty new paint job first).


Needless to say, I'm really excited to have her. I love my old press, but this new one opens up a whole new world of letterpress printing for me. And I want to share that world of letterpress with you!

In honor of my new press and my 100th blog post not long ago, I'm doing my first "get something cool for reading this blog!" contest.

So here's the deal: I've mentioned the 3/50 Project before--the idea is that you pick three independently-owned businesses in your local community and spend $50, in total, among the three each month. I'd like to hear your thoughts about it. Do you think it's a good idea? Are you trying to support these kinds of small businesses in your area? If you are, I'd love to hear about the shops in your area!

Rules: Write a comment for this post between now and next Friday, May 15, and let me know your thoughts on the 3/50 Project. You can post up to three comments--one for each independently-owned business you're considering supporting this month. I'll randomly pick a winner over that weekend and announce it on Monday the 18th. The prize? A set of 50 custom letterpress printed cards--your choice of wording and your choice of the ink colors and fonts I have on hand. And if you're not a big note writer yourself, here's a GREAT opportunity to get a cool gift for someone special in your life! Here are just a few examples of what you can get, but I'll work with the winner to come up with something that works for him/her.

Good luck, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

My 3/50 Project: April

The other day I mentioned the 3/50 Project. It's a great way to support small businesses in your local community.

Basically, each month you choose three local, independently owned businesses and spend $50 (in total) among them.

I'm totally on board with this idea, and I'll post here the details about what I buy each month.

I'll admit, though, that I didn't do such a good job in my first month. Rather than a 3/50 project, it ended up being more of a 2/150 project. But, um, you have to start somewhere, right?

I visited two local nurseries--Bookcliff Gardens and Mt. Garfield Greenhouse and Nursery--and bought plants. Lots of lovely, beautiful, colorful plants. I love plants. Some women buy shoes or clothes. Me? I buy plants. As often as possible.

I bought flowers for hanging baskets.

And I bought flowers for containers.

I love these guys. So simple, yet so cheery.

And I bought two of these perennial fellas to add to the small garden by the front porch of the house.

Oh, and I bought two flowering almond shrubs (the husband's favorite), but their blooms are fading and they look too rough for their photographic debut.

So, what are you buying as part of your own 3/50 Project?

3/50 Project

This is a great idea I found via Simple + Pretty.

It's the 3/50 project: Spend $50 per month (total) in three different independently owned stores in your local area. What a great way to help our small businesses in these crazy economic times.

Find out more at the 3/50 project website.


My first stop will probably be at Enstrom's, the makers of The World's Best Almond Toffee. (Hands down.) My second stop will probably be at one of the locally owned garden centers. Or, maybe I'll skip the toffee this month and visit three of our locally owned garden centers. Oh, how I love buying flowers...