Meet July’s First Friday Freebie Winner!

I suppose 2020 has been crawling for some people, but not for me.  How in the world did we arrive at August?  It’s almost time for another First Friday Freebie, but before that, let me introduce you to July’s winner –  

Shirley from Boonville, Missouri

Shirley enters often and this time she’s won the beautiful fabric covered remembrance book/journal.

Congratulations, Shirley!  Whether you journal your thoughts or just let it rest somewhere as décor, I hope you enjoy your First Friday Freebie.

If you’d like to see the original First Friday Freebie offer of this great Tuesday Morning find, click here.

Past winners of my First Friday Freebies are on my Freebies! page hereFirst Friday Freebiesare for email subscribers only, so be sure to subscribe today if you’d like to enter to win.

Shirley’s name was drawn from among those who commented as instructed after reading the post that appeared on the first Friday of the month.  Becoming a subscriber is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.

Comment as directed on the post and you’ll be entered to win. 

I love it when you share my blog posts with your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.  That helps me reach more people and gives them the opportunity to subscribe and win also.  Subscribing is free.  Freebies are free.  That makes life good.

August’s drawing will take place tomorrow on Friday, August 7th.

A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing. 

REMEMBER:  Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe.  That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.

Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.

These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, August 7th, 2020.

Spread the word and, most importantly, look for tomorrow’s post and enter to win!   

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Freebies!

It’s July!  The heat and humidity has arrived here in the Midwest, but so has the First Friday Freebie, so that’s refreshing, isn’t it?

I haven’t figured out how summer can be lazy and crazy at the same time.  I suppose the songwriter was grasping for rhymes or perhaps was just bored to tears between parties or something.

I’ve forgotten what lazy feels like, but I refuse to refer to my days as crazy.  “Wildly blessed” – How’s that?

Having made it through the first half of 2020, I think we all have to admit that it’s been a corker.  Most of us are fed up with events and the lack thereof to the point of wanting to throw a real hissy-fit and scream, “Can’t we all just be together, and normal and nice to each other at the same time?”

Anyhow, it’s been a half-year for the record books and that brings us to this First Friday Freebie.

This beautiful fabric covered remembrance book/journal (a great find from Tuesday Morning) looks handmade and is ready for you to record precious memories, daily happenings, observations on life or perhaps tuck in photos.  The way things are going, a few prayers wouldn’t hurt. As an item of décor, it’s lovely!  French themed and measuring 7″X 4 3/4″, it has the appearance of having been passed down through the generations.  Aged prints decorate the inside covers. The blank pages, appearing browned with age, are simply secured to the binding with satin and lace ribbons that run through the metal rivets of the cover.  This allows the individual pages to be easily taken out in case you’d like to remove them in the future for sharing or copying.

Some people love to journal.  Some don’t.  If there’s ever been a time in your life to jot down your thoughts – it’s now.  You’ll want to leave behind your version of the historical times we live in.  I have a friend who loves to have ladies over for tea as much as I do and I envision her using this journal as her guest book.  You might find that keeping a “treasure book” such as this a great thing to have handy so that you can quickly record the milestones or just the cute things your children or grandchildren do or say.

To enter to win this beautiful journal, you’ll need to “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “The pretty journal, pretty please!” Be sure to do that before midnight TONIGHT, July 3rd, 2020!

First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so subscribe now over to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so already.

Your friends will enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.

Subscribers win every single month!  On the “Freebies” page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.

Once again, a winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight by leaving a comment which says, “The pretty journal, pretty please!”

Click here for complete First Friday Freebie rules.

Four simple steps!

Don’t let the day slip away!  Subscribe now if you haven’t already, and confirm in your email before you forget! 

May your summer be spent with the people, places and events you love and cherish enough to record in this beautiful book!

Comments or questions?  I’d love to hear from you! 

June Has Arrived and So Has Its Freebie!

June is when those of us in the Midwest can truly feel that summer has arrived.  Even though the official first day is a few weeks away, the First Friday Freebie is here today, right on schedule!

I hope you’ve been spreading the word about my monthly freebies by sharing with all your friends and family through social media, that dinosaur of a thing called email and that nearly out of style thing known as actually speaking to people. 

Some of you have good intentions, but forget to enter to win before midnight on the first Friday of the month and you know what that means – you increase the odds that the freebie may go to my sister, Donna, the subscriber who never forgets!

Let’s take a look at June’s free gift (and remember, I’ll send it anywhere in the continental United States)

June 2019 Freebie www.midweststoryteller.com

Don’t you just love to fancy things up for no reason at all?  Recently, as I gathered with several friends, I mentioned having used washi tape.  Several eyebrows went up and I discovered that I sat in the midst of a bunch of people who, for the most part, had never heard of the stuff.  Well, what can I say?  Washi tape just makes your day a little happier!  What really sends it over the top is a set of copper-colored paper clips with (yes!) tassles and what really lifts the soul is that the whole thing is color-coordinated in bright summer shades!

Can I help it if I’ve always been tickled pink over the small things?

These fun paper clips are from Paige Evans’ line called Pink Paislee.  They are just the type of thing I love to use as a bookmark for favorite spots in a recipe book, planner or anything else I want to make a quick grab for.

Now about washi tape – like sour cream, you can’t really fall in love with it until you try it, because why would you try a thing with a name like that?  This pack of washi tape by Pebbles at pebblesinc.com has six rolls of coordinating narrow tape!  Washi tape is unusual in that it sticks well, but comes off when you want it to.  Totally unlike the adhesive on the typical sticky note, it seems more permanent to the touch.  Yet, with gentle persuasion, it will even lift right off most surfaces, even paper, allowing you to rearrange things easily.  It’s a great way to highlight a special day or week in your planner.  I recently used the ½” size to tape a long list to a cabinet door, framing the list with the cute pattern around all four sides.  Then, when I got ready to take the list down, I simply lifted off the whole thing without leaving any icky residue and walked straight over and taped it neatly onto another surface as it still had plenty of adhesive left.  That makes it great for those things on the refrigerator that tend to wave in the breeze and look messy.

Washi tape comes in all patterns and sizes and is great for taping tags onto gift bags or just jazzing up something for the kids.  It gets heavy use on school lockers as a great way to express oneself without leaving gooey stuff behind.

Washi tape is just plain fun.  Washi tape with coordinating tassled paper clips is more fun!

Both these items are a Tuesday Morning find, a store that draws me through its doors like a moth to a flame with it’s varied selections of home goods, personal care items, décor, outdoor living, pets supplies, arts, crafts and more.

You can’t spend all your days outdoors in the summer sun, so why not have a little fun during your indoor time?

To enter to win the whimsical paper lips and washi tape set, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Color my summer fun!”  You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, June 7th, 2019!

First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.  You can subscribe by going to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so already.  Confirming your subscription through the confirmation email you’ll receive is absolutely necessary, so don’t forget that!

Share this post with your friends through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.  They won’t know if you don’t tell them!

Subscribers win every single month!  See past gifts and their winners on my “Freebies” page. This will include, of course, at least three photos of my sister, Donna. (This contest is not rigged.)

Remember, a winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight by leaving a comment which says, “Color my summer fun!”

For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE

Glitches happen.  If you subscribe and do not receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email me and let me know at barb@midweststoryteller.com

Freebies last one day only!  Enter now so you don’t forget! If that happens, you’re giving Donna even greater odds of becoming like Jeopardy James!

Re-Purposed Gift Bags on the Cheap!

I’ve figured out why they call it “The Merry, Merry Month of May”.  If ever a month came pre-loaded with celebrations, May wins the prize!

There’s the given – graduations.  They rarely come in singles.  There always seems to be a wedding or two, not to mention showers in anticipation of the weddings in June.  Mother’s Day comes along and since a portion of those mothers became one in May, there are birthdays and the parties that go with them.

Do you ever feel like you’re spending more on gift wrap than gifts?  I’m definitely a rescuer and a saver, but I don’t want to go down in history as the lady who left this earth having owned the most cottage cheese containers.  I want a purpose or a re-purpose for my stash.  I want to do something with my frugal hoard and part of that hoard is merchandizing bags from stores that I just know I can turn into beautiful gift bags.

Today, I want to share a money saving idea you can pull off without losing your mind.  All you need is store bags (hopefully ones that do not have wrap-around logos printed on them), scissors, ruler, glue and your “stash” – whatever that means to you – and possibly some kids or grandkids if you really want to have some fun and you are one of those people who is at peace with the concept that it’s the process that counts – not the product.

Re-purposing Bags for Gifting  www.midweststoryteller.com

Here’s part of my stash, including the gift bag project in mid-progress.  I have a Cricut die-cutting machine.  Believe it or not, I even got that at the Goodwill Store!  Don’t tuck your tail between your legs if you don’t have a fancy machine.  I’ll give you some ideas for working without one.

I find that Dollar Tree and Tuesday Morning are great sources for finding doo-dads on the cheap.  A full sheet of sparkly jeweled stickers for around a dollar will last you through many a creative binge.  I do some scrapbooking, so I always have leftover snippets and papers to cut up for projects.  You can often pick up a book of coordinating papers at Hobby Lobby at half price, but if you don’t want to do that, scrounge around for some cardstock, old wallpaper or wrapping paper that isn’t too thin.  Kids love working with thin, colorful sheets of fun foam, available at Hobby Lobbyand they can cut out flowers, leaves, trucks, letters and numbers and anything else they have a notion to draw or trace onto the foam.  Dollar stores also have full sheets of themed embellishments for scrap-bookers.  All you have to do with those is cover the bag’s logo with a shape you’ve cut from foam or paper and stick the embellishments all over it and your once-a-throw-away bag is redeemed.  How about the fronts of those fancy greeting cards you’ve been given?  There’s some fabulous artwork you can use to decorate your bags!

If the bag rescue idea appeals to you, but you want to avoid the expense of a Cricut or other machine, there are some fun tools to watch for when you’re out bargain hunting.  Decorative scissors are inexpensive and will trim the edges of your papers into scallops, ocean waves or a number of other designs.  They are usually around five dollars.  Punches are fabulous things.  You can align paper along a printed guide, punch the design and slide the paper again to punch long strips or all the way around a shape.  They come in geometrics, florals, eyelet and lace designs and more. I’ve found them at Tuesday Morning at prices between three and ten dollars, depending on the size.  Martha Stewart makes quality punches in varied styles. Visit the link to see what is available and then watch for sales in stores that carry office and craft items. Metallic pens come in a wide array of colors and can be used to add sparkle to the edges of cut paper.  If you have no fancy scissors or tools, why not tear the edges of your paper by hand?  Once you’ve given it a jagged edge, use the metallic pens to highlight the torn edges and make them pop against the background.  Backgrounds are important.  A layered effect always makes an embellishment project look much more professional.

Since I do have a Cricut machine (and they are marvels, to be sure), I used leftover scrapbooking paper to cut designs that I felt would be useful for any upcoming gifting needs.  As you can see, I just glued the design onto its contrasting background and then glued the whole thing right over the original business logo.

Next, I used a few cheap stickers from my sparkly jewel collection to add some pizzazz to the design.  You certainly don’t have to do this, but even just a few tiny embellishments will take your design to the next level and give it a designer flair rather than just a look’s-like-she-couldn’t-find-a-gift-bag-but-she-could-find-a-gluestick-project.

Here are the bags, before and after being be-jeweled.  Little things mean a lot, don’t they? Zoom in for the thrill of the sparkle.

Gift Bags Bejeweled www.midweststoryteller.com

Speaking of glue, I highly recommend Martha Stewart craft glue as seen here.  It dries clear, doesn’t string, gives you thirty seconds or so for wiggling items into place and then the items stay put!  If I run out of it, I will put off a project until I can get some because of the frustration it saves me.

Once you’re finished, the bags are ready for colorful tissue and maybe even a cute tag or a ribbon tied onto the handle if you want to get that fancy.

Shopping Bags Transformed www.midweststoryteller.com

Here are my finished bags.  Now for the rest of the stack I have saved up in the closet. Call me cheap, but my mama would be proud!

I do love a rescue project and handmade gifts and this combines the two.  Need more ideas?  Take a look at the wooden utensil project I did with my friend Kathy here, the falling-off-a-log-easy gifts here, rescued vintage tablecloths here, Sweet Annie wreaths here, and what to do with those pretty leaves you can’t resist picking up here.  After all that, you’ll need to treat yourself.  Relax with some homemade sugar scrub here.

Any questions?  I’d love to hear your comments.  Is there anything you’ve repurposed that the rest of us are throwing away? 

Let It Go! Let It Go! Let Frozen Winter Go!

I hardly know how to act! For the last several days it’s been warming. I love you, Sixty-five Degree Days! (Until Seventy-five Degrees starts flirting with me.) Spring-like rains have pattered the dry earth and my tulips and hyacinths have jumped up to shout about it. I’m tempted to warn them that it won’t be over till it’s over and they should retreat and wait a while.

I’m always thrilled to arrive at March’s doorstep, but to be honest, once March invites me in, it makes me mad. It loves its cruel jokes and is afflicted with violent mood swings that I’m convinced are contagious. Year after year, it claims to have thirty-one days, but if you ask me, the experts should investigate this. Here in my part of the Mid-West, March lasts forever!

Though it may blast me yet again with snow and ice and force me back into my winter coat, I shall dig my heels in and decorate as though life is just one big romp out in the green grass and sunshine. I know, I know – it’s not really spring for another three weeks, but should I be forced to look at winter again outside, at least I can pretend it’s spring inside.

I invite you to join with me in blowing winter an official good-bye kiss. Let’s take a look some simple winter décor, which, of course, I meant to share with you in January.  We live in an older home, so getting too trendy can just look weird.  Here’s what I did –

Winter Mantle 2018 www.midweststoryteller.com

It’s always so difficult to decide how to decorate after Christmas. I look for ways to get rid of the reds and greens and keep some of the snowy things, yet keep it cozy. Without a lot of storage, I do a lot of re-purposing and design re-mixing. Sometimes, however, things just get “tired” and nothing looks right. Smuffy overheard me mumbling about it and suggested I go shopping. I ran out the door without even stopping to take his temperature! 

Here’s how I mixed the old with the new –Numbered Mantle Elements www.midweststorytellerHere, I’ve kept the antique dynamite box filled with pine cones (#1) I used at Christmas, removing the wreath from the front and the ornaments that were scattered throughout. The antlers? Smuffy hunts a lot. The sticks?   I saved those from a bush trimming session last May. You can see how I used them for fall decorating here.

On the floor, I used some glass jars I found at resale shops (#2)and re-purposed by gluing sisal rope around the bottom. After filling them with smooth stones, I inserted taper candles. Total cost (over time) probably came to around $11.

Above the mantle hangs one of my treasures from my Grandpa Judge’s barber shop. The mirror (#3) has made a move or two around the house since my mom passed it on to me, but it’s a forever-keeper. You’ll enjoy some stories involving Grandpa Judge and you can check those out, along with photos, here and here.

After Christmas sales on holiday items are a great way to find winter décor. Just because the store classified it as “Holiday”, it’s likely to have significant markdowns even if it isn’t red and green and wishing you a joyous Noel. I found this “ice” covered tree (#4) at one of my favorite places, Tuesday Morning. I snatched it up for under $15, knowing that I’d use it for years in various rooms, depending on my many whims.

Below it, I used a bit of word art. This wooden “peace” sign (#5)is something I found for practically nothing at a resale shop. I keep moving it around and re-purposing it. At Christmas, it looked great on a low shelf with fake poinsettias and tiny fairy lights all around the base. I was impressed. So was Phoebe June. After a week or two I admitted defeat and took it down. A kitten can only stand so much temptation.

In front of “peace” sits a little brown birdie (#6) from a resale shop that probably cost me a whole dollar. 

The mantle clock (#7)has been around for decades.

I stumbled over the long sign (#8) – an item that will work well against the brick of the fireplace no matter the season – at Hobby Lobby on the half-price sale. At $12.50, its a bargain and a great reminder that we live a blessed life.

The weird, green candle? (#9) It spoke to me a while back from a shelf in a re-sale shop. Don’t know why. At $2, I just found myself stroking it and thinking, “No one else is going to have one of these!”

On another Hobby Lobby excursion, (I think I may have mentioned that I love that place) I rounded a corner and saw “it”. The terrarium (#10)drew me in an instant and, reading the sign above it, I checked my delighted squeals as I discovered it really was half off! I knew it was something that would change with the seasons depending on what I filled it with. I don’t usually spend much on décor, but for $32.50, I lowered it gently into my cart, reminding myself that Smuffy had told me to go shopping. I filled it with a cute, fake plant, some remote controlled candles that I already had and another little brown birdie. The terrarium stays. I’m looking forward to filling it with spring things.

And now – can we all shout it out loud together? – “Goodbye, Winter! Hello, Spring!” I’ll share my photos with you when I get things switched over.  I hope I’ve given you some ideas for future decorating.

I’ll help you get switched over to spring, too! The First Friday Freebie is coming up March 2, so get ready to enter and win. Share this post with all your friends so they can subscribe and enter as well. A touch of spring will be arriving for one of you from Midwest Storyteller!

Looking for ideas to help you rescue and recycle the poor, the tired and pretty-much-trash stuff around the house? You’ll find them here and here

Leave a comment!  Let me know what you think!