An adventure in shopping

I've meant to share some pics from American Science & Surplus with you guys for some time! I know that pretty much anyone who is reading my blog would enjoy this store. I believe the stores are only in the Milwaukee area and Illinois, but they do have a web site you could shop on:

https://www.sciplus.com

I never did see those Bigfoot socks. So how can I describe this store? There are so many random things in there. I think a science teacher could have a good time picking out class supplies. There are a lot of random pieces of technology, old machine parts, and wacky gift ideas.

This photo will give you an idea of how the store is laid out, at least in part.

And there's that skeleton a little closer. You can see him waaaaay at the end of the aisle in the last pic.

This looks like the giant version of one of those tiny wood dinosaurs you piece together.

You might want to enlarge this photo to read all of what's on the wall.

"You ain't gonna learn what you don't want ta know" True.

There's a lot going on here!

I'm just noticing a few things about this photo. "Illegal to worry a squirrel" ?

Looking up, you can see a few unusual things. I'm thinking that is the handle off a vacuum cleaner. If it's not, I don't even know.

An oooooold scale:

Don't you wonder where they found this?

The best part of going to this store, at least for me, is reading what's written under all the random parts and products. Every single thing in here has something written under it.

Which goes with this product:

Have you guys ever seen something like this? I mean, besides pretending your hairbrush was a microphone. You see the little mic/speaker holes in the top?

"It's only morbid if you want it to be"

This product is one of my favorites. It's worth reading the packaging, which looks just like an old pulp novel to me. "Hopped-up punks" :)

"Oh, by gosh, by Dalí" Try and read that without singing the tune in your head. :)

This is actually pretty cool, although I wonder how well I could tell time on it.

I'm sure many of you will appreciate this sign!

That glass warning is a nice transition to what we actually found there. No, we didn't end up with any of the products you've seen thus far. :) This was the massive haul:

Those empty nail polish bottles were only 39¢ each. They are already holding some essential oil mixtures from the Dollar Tree, because I wanted to brush those oils on my cuticles. I'd been meaning to share these Dollar Tree essential oils because they're a great deal and have a good scent! I mean if you're into these scents. They're the real deal.

That long one in front is in a pump form, the others are roll-on. The Tea Tree and Lavender made it into the nail polish bottles.

In other shopping news, I got a cool little Halloween item from an estate sale yesterday! It's this flickering flame fake candle:

It was 75¢, which I think was a pretty good deal. I might do a repaint on that base so it looks more like metal than plastic. The flame does indeed flicker and to my surprise, it's a bright orange.

This picture looks a little more red than reality, maybe because of where I had it in the closet? Anyway, the pic turned out cool so I'm including it. You can see how much of a glow is coming off the "flame" anyway.

This candle came from a very unusual estate sale. I've been to many, but this was the first sale where I'd say 99% of everything was new with tags. And there was a lot! I was told that there were 7,000 pieces of ladies clothing and hundreds of new shoes. The clothes were for the most part not my size and the shoes were not at all my size. But for those women who fit those clothes and shoes, it was a very lucky day! And the prices... wow. I'm going to say everything was in the 90 to 95% off range. And these were designer brands! This was also the first sale I'd been to where there was a sign in sheet, because it was so popular that they were only letting a certain number of people in at a time.

I could write an entire blog post about the feelings I had and the comments I heard during this sale. Everyone had the need to say something, because it was just so overwhelming being in this house. Some comments I heard were "She must have been a millionaire!" "She must have been a hoarder." "Where did all this stuff come from?" "I hope you guys will be giving what is left to charity, because these are nice things and people need clothes." "I feel uncomfortable in here with this much stuff." "I haven't had near this much clothing ever, and I've never been around so much in my life." and from a woman who became a shopping buddy to me since we were in there together so long: "Look at all this! And it's all in my daughter's size!" :) You get the idea.

As for myself, I had trouble getting started. I think I stared at a closet several layers deep in scarves for five minutes before a person came in and woke me out of it. And after what turned out to be an hour and a half after I entered the house I said to someone that I thought I'd experienced lost time. And this was not a large house. What made this experience even more thought provoking for me was that I'd finished doing The KonMari Method after reading the books last summer. (That experience could make for an entire blog post as well, although it has nothing to do with the theme of this blog.) Having done that exercise in letting go, I didn't feel all that tempted to go for a lot of what I saw. And that's not because there wasn't a lot of awesome stuff there at rock bottom prices. I just have an idea of what I have and what I need now.

I say all this because it was a reminder to me, and I'm writing to remind all of you: if you have some nice things, use them! Don't leave them with their tags attached in a drawer for a decade or two. These clothes, shoes, etc. had clearly never been used or probably ever tried on. Don't just save things for a day that never comes. The lady who bought all this stuff couldn't take it with her, as the cliché goes. I like to think that she would be happy to see others enjoy buying what she'd bought on discount (judging by the stickers) at an even further discount. From one bargain shark to another! :) I already have plans for that candle that had never been taken out of its box and plan on transferring the contents of my current purse into the one I got at the estate sale. So these items will soon have their time to shine!

A surprising autumn find for this time of year!

Hey everyone! I hope you're staying warm. Anyone in the Midwestern U.S. knows what I'm talking about. Feeling more or less snowed in or frozen in, there hasn't been a whole lot of blog material to work with. However, something popped out on a shelf at Target that definitely fits with this blog's theme. It was this "Pumpkin Nutmeg" candle:

This candle smells so good! After searching through a shelf of fall and Christmas candles for a pumpkin nutmeg scent, I'd only found one and it was a blend with two other scents. Well, that and one that was in a funky looking container. Then, on a side shelf with some towels, stationary, random stuff, etc. was this! Just look at this beautiful glass vessel it's in.

And it glows in such a pretty way in the dark.

Another cool feature is the wick. This "Nature's Wick" brand is one I'd never heard of before.

The wick is wood and it makes a crackling sound as it burns. I'm finding it really relaxing to listen to this candle. If I close my eyes, I can imagine that I'm sitting in front of a fireplace or campfire. And that makes me actually feel warmer!

I'm not sure if this container will become a holder for other candles or a vase in the future.

I have one other find to share with you guys:

This lighter came from Menards, but I've also seen them at Dollar Tree. Either way, it's $1.00. They come in all kinds of colors, but I loved the pink one! I'd actually watched some YouTube reviews of this lighter and people loved it, especially those who smoke pipes. I guess it's just the right length for pipe lighting. You get a super powerful flame out of this. It's a little different because you press a button to get a light, instead of the old flicking of the metal. You know what I mean. The brand is crocs:

A guy on YouTube thought maybe the croc shoe people branched out into lighters, but I think this is a different crocs. :) Whatever the case, I recommend it! It worked well in lighting the candle I just shared.

So, have any of you used a lighter like this one or burned a candle with a wood wick? Those were two fun new experiences for me. 😁

My little cabin in the woods

After seeing quite a few cute Halloween terrariums online, I decided to make one for myself. I headed off to Dollar Tree to get a little round fishbowl type container and some natural/spray painted moss. The container I bought was small, with only a 3.5" opening. I quickly realized that I wouldn't have room for much more than the moss in this container!

Still, it was cool and only cost $1.00. I next went to a JoAnn's Fabrics/Crafts store in hopes of finding a much wider container. I found a wide bowl that only cost a few bucks after a lucky sale and a coupon. This container has a 6.5" opening. That sure beats 3.5"!

I had been thinking of building a little graveyard scene, but that idea seemed sad as I started assembling it. I decided it would be more fun to build a little house in this swampy scene and have some creepy thing stalking around it. Plus, I could have a light element. I gave some thought to what could be the source of light and decided the easiest thing to use would be a battery operated tea light candle. I measured the candle and built a house frame out of cardboard. The little cabin ended up being essentially free since I used an empty Kleenex box.

 

After measuring and bending it to my specifications, I stapled it together. Then I got to adding the little "logs" to the exterior. The logs are .25" high and 2" long, for anyone who is wondering. I put some Elmer's glue on the walls and started adding my logs. I did the same for the roof. After these pieces dried, I textured a little acrylic paint over the whole thing. I was going for a wood-like effect, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!

 

The little candle adds a nice glow from inside.

After making my little cabin, I decided the scene needed some trees. I looked online for tutorials on how to make miniature trees and found this simple, instructive video:



How about that? You can make your own little birch trees from twigs you've found! Here are mine:

I kept them sturdy by sticking them in some floral foam.

There are plenty of other tree making tutorials online, but some require tools and more supplies. Most of these tutorials seem to be for model makers.

All in all, this project ended up costing around $3.00 (not including the cost of a Kleenex box and the floral foam and paint I already had). Some additions will probably be made to the scene as Halloween approaches. I think it would be fun to add a little werewolf behind the trees. I like that I can decorate the cabin for different holidays.

As for the little round glass bowl, I considered Modge-Podging some orange tissue paper in it. I ended up liking the tissue I placed in there with no glue. I like that this is temporary, so I can add different colors for different occasions. I think a number of these glowing orbs could look cool lining a walkway or a table for a party.

I wish you could see the candle flickering inside, because that really adds something. The glass takes on the look of a round flame. You could also put some fake flowers in the top and have a glowing vase.

I had a lot of fun decorating these glass containers. I had to stretch my skills to work small. Even with the larger container, my terrarium is busting at the seams! I'm happy to have learned how to make little birch trees and I know I will go on to make more cardboard houses in the future.