Show Us What You Make: Embroidered Pillowcases

Today I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner to feature my sister's wonderful talent of hand embroidering pillow cases. 

Each costs just $20-$30 (depending on the name) and the turn around time is about 2-3 weeks. Each takes hours and hours to hand embroider.

Click here for her Etsy store. 

 

What a wonderful gift for Mother's Day, birthdays, bridal showers, secret sister gifts and so much more! 

You pick the color and font style.

She has embroidered dozens & dozens of pillow cases. Here are a few more she has done over the years:

Look at all the hand stitching! Amazing!

HERE is the link for the store.

Recent Ebay Sales - 3/20/14

I had a pretty good week on ebay. Yesterday I ended all of my listings since we leave for NJ in just three days. In October I had 600 listings. Before I ended all my listings yesterday I had under 250. Hopefully that will change soon! 

Here are some recent sales:

1. Camille La Vie pink prom dress, sold for $100.

2. Vintage Dr. Martens boots, sold for $35. 

3. Ann Taylor polka dot skirt & jacket suit, sold for $50. 

4. Free People oversized white top, sold for $32.

5.  Cynthia Ashby purple top, sold for $25. This is a great artsy name to look for. Mine had a hole but some go for $100+. 

6. Another pair of men's Levi's, sold for $25. I purchased a TON of these at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago. Each cost me 70 cents to $3. 

7. My favorite sale of the week! Jennifer Tyler Scottish cashmere sweater with a hole, sold for $100.

8. Eddie Bauer long denim skirt with flaws, sold for $20.50. 

9. Two Star Dog brand long linen dress, sold for $25. I would have kept this if it was my size. 

10. David Meister red dress, sold for $65 within two days of listing. 

11. Vintage Laura Ashley corduroy floral dress, sold for $34. 

12. Men's Express blue sweater, sold for $19.50. Purchased at TJ Maxx for $1. My sister actually found this so a big thank you to her if she is reading right now. 

13. Athleta knit bamboo/cashmere dress, sold for $27. I love finding this brand. It doesn't bring a lot but it always sells. 

14. Black lace mini dress, sold for $20. I purchased this for just $1. It isn't the best made dress and had no labels. But it was cute and I thought I would take a chance. It sold the first time I listed it which is always great. 

15. Hot Cotton by Marc Ware linen top, sold for $20. 

16. Ann Taylor animal print skirt, sold for $20. I purchased this for $5 on ebay to resell.

17. Jones Wear burgundy suit, sold for $25.  

18. My last item was just sitting around my house. It came free with my new hand mixer. I knew I would never, ever make my own bread. They sold for $10. Not a ton but better than something taking up space in my house.

And...

This one came from my Ipsy bag this month. Ipsy is a monthly subscription box that costs $10. 

For the $10, you get 4-5 sample sized or full sized beauty products in a make-up bag. 

I keep a few items from each bag and sell the rest. I break even or make money every month. That means free beauty products for me! 

This month (March) had a NYX eyeshadow palette, Bare Minerals lipstick, Pixi (sold at Target) foundation primer and a Chetta blue eyeliner. It came in an adorable make-up bag. 

I listed the Chetta eyeliner for $6.49 and it sold within an hour! The NYX eyeshadow is listed for $5.49 and the make-up bag is listed for $3.99. That means I got to keep the lipstick & primer (the two products I would actually use) for free. Awesome. 

Want to join Ipsy?
Feel free to use my referral code which will give me some referral points.
Click HERE for the Ipsy Link

Knee Update: We are going to NJ!

An ebay update will be posted tomorrow. I promise ;)

I have RSD in my left knee. I was diagnosed in December and have had several doctors confirm the diagnosis. 

I got a spinal injection last week which didn't work. Most days I am in bed. I am taking a very strong pain medicine several times a day. 

My awesome husband has been doing just about everything for me including the RSD research.

I will be honest, RSD is not a good thing to have. It worsens over time. I don't like reading about it since it is pretty depressing.

Last night he was on his knees praying and got the idea to search for "encouraging RSD treatments".

He came across a treatment called Calmare Pain Therapy Treatment. There are only 10 doctors that do this treatment in the US and it was recently cleared by the FDA. 

We called today and spoke with the office manager/nurse. She was very helpful and actually put the doctor on the phone since he passed in between patients. I was able to ask him some questions. 

They have an opening Monday. Yup, this Monday! They are located five hours away in New Jersey. The treatment is 10 sessions in 10 days and has a 70-80% success rate. 

We will be in New Jersey for almost two weeks. I am not the best when it comes to spontaneous plans (is that even a thing?). I like to know well ahead of time that we are going on a two week trip. I like to make lists and have everything taken care of. 

We have no where to stay at this point. I have no lists made. I have no idea of how I am going to endure a five hour car ride when a trip across town gives me major pain. But I am trusting God with this.  

On the plus side, I have watched a TON of make-up videos on YouTube and have learned how to apply my foundation a bit better :)

Photos from around the house

Today is Sunday. I love Sundays since I love our church. However, my hubby is in Ohio today and we decided it was best for me not to drive with the pain medicine I'm taking. It makes me a bit fuzzy but does help with the pain. And so I am home enjoying the sunshine from bed. 

Here are some photos I have taken over the last week. 

I love to thrift and found this divided basket at Goodwill last week for $3.99. I'm not sure if I will sell it or keep it. We haven't been entertaining too much but this would be great for different pretzels & chips. It is on a lazy Susan which is pretty great.

A couple in our church had a baby girl. I sent the present in the mail since I knew they wouldn't be at church for a few weeks. Her name is Harper. I stock up on Kraft paper from the Dollar Tree since you can use it for almost any gift. Love it!

Isn't the human body amazing? I am starting to bruise from my IV and I love to see the different colors. 

Spring cleaning time! Both the hubby and I love to organize. I realize we are weird but we both look forward to it. On Saturday we did our annual "clean out the file cabinet" where we go through every. single. file and see if we can throw anything out. We wound up with a big trash bag full of paper. 

I love having a window across from my bed. It allows me to see the wonderful sunshine! We went from a -20 wind chill to 50 degrees in one day last week.

My hair is getting SO long. I have trimmed it myself but really need a trip to the hair dresser. One of the symptoms of RSD is hair growth.

Hair dye from eSalon.com. I will be doing a post about this next week. So much cheaper than the salon! 

I also found a pair of shorts at Goodwill last week. I cannot wear pants too often since the material presses against my knee.  This is a common outfit for me - a bleach stained GAP hoodie, my husband's oversized t-shirt and shorts. It is a good thing we don't entertain too much!

A few years ago we painted "my" room (i.e. the guest bedroom) and we installed new shelving in the closet. We removed the doors and put up the curtains. For about $120 I had a new closet. I wish I would have remembered to take a "before" photo.

Do you see the box sitting on the shelf? That is my father-in-law's medicine.
I put it together every week. I wish we had another spot for this in the house but for right now it is in here.

Tucked behind the curtain are my belts, umbrella & purses. I'm down to two!

Please continue to pray for my knee. The injection hasn't helped at all. The doctor told me not to be discouraged since there are other things to try. I will go back to the doctor who did the injection in about 10 days to see what is next. Until then I am thankful for my cane and my new (thrifted!) wheelchair. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Recent Ebay Sales - 3/13/14

Thank you for all the prayers! I wanted to do a quick knee update. I got a spinal injection on Tuesday for knee pain. So far my pain level hasn't changed for the better. But, it has been just two days. The doctor said it could take effect immediately or take a few days IF it works at all. 

My ebay sale post is a few days early.

1. Lane Bryant black dress, sold for $20. This dress was listed for months. I get a few emails a week asking for ebay advice. One of the questions I frequently get is "How quickly do things sell?" There is no standard answer for this. Some things sell the same week or day I list them. Some items take months. Remember, millions of people shop on ebay every week. You are waiting for one of them. It takes just one.

The dress was too large on my mannequin so I also
photographed it on a hanger, as shown below.

2. Ralph Lauren scarf, sold for $25 plus shipping. I purchased this at TJ Maxx two weeks ago for $5. It is on the way to the Netherlands. There are bunches of scarves on ebay listed for under $10 with free US shipping. Mine went higher since I ship internationally.

3. Eileen Fisher linen skirt, sold for $50. My sister & I stopped at a thrift before TJ Maxx when she was here two weeks ago. I purchased it for $2.99 and it sold the first time I listed it. 

4. Lauren Ralph Lauren dark gray wool dress, sold for $29. I may have gotten more for it if I waited until next autumn/winter but I would rather have the $29 now. 

5. Jessica Howard black lace net overlay dress, sold for $25 with free shipping.

6. Michael Michael Kors black & pink printed jersey dress, sold for $25. 

7. Laura Ashley red floral dress with two holes, sold for $25. 

8. Laura Ashley purple floral dress with a flaw, sold for $30. I purchased 40 Laura Ashley dresses from an ebayer who was moving from CT to FL. She shipped them to me and they arrived in two large boxes. This was my 12th dress sold out of the 40 and I have paid for my investment with those 12 dresses. The remaining 28 will be pure profit. 

9. Speechless cherry print dress, sold for $20. I don't normally pick up this brand but it was new with tags and the print was cute. Plus it was half off at the thrift which made it $2.50.

 

10. Tommy Copper teal knee brace. This was a gift from my wonderful mom. She gave me permission to sell it (thanks Mom!) since the elastic cut right across my knee. I literally cannot have air from the hair dryer touch the back of my knee without instant pain. I'm not sure how much she paid but it sold for $20.50.