Repurpose Recycle Reuse Restore Reclaim Upcycle With LilacsNDreams

Repurpose Recycle Reuse Restore Reclaim Upcycle With LilacsNDreams

Hello to all visiting today! I deeply apologize for my absence. It was not intended, and unfortunately unavoidable. I had been sick with a really bad head cold for a good 3 weeks. It’s that time of year with weather changing that I normally get this, but usually does not last as long as this one did. Sadly, I had just seen my doctor for regular appointment a few days prior to me becoming sick too. I’m feeling so much better, a lot less of a cough, can breathe again, and eating has come back with my appetite.

Due to the time frame of this happening I was not able to work on any projects that I wanted to do, and then post them with Facebook Marketplace. Instead I am working hard to get our other house in order for our daughter, and family to stay there while visiting us for Christmas. Air mattresses for them all to use, towels and things there to shower, and so on. Most of time will be spent with us, but they cannot bring their dogs to this house with our dog here. He is high strung, and other dogs around does not work well with him.

I have been getting some things to start preparing ahead for everyone being here. We will not be celebrating Christmas Day, but on the following weekend. Works great for hubby to get home, and have time off. Works pretty good for those visiting with other family members, and also for friends to stop in too. As always we have the open door policy…Stop on in for a meal, to visit, for the company, you have no where else to go, etc. So, I have a little time to prepare christmas snacks, get pies put together and made, and etc. Busy busy like many do at this time.

So, right now I have plans for after the first of the year to sit down, work on projects, and get things posted with Facebook Marketplace. I’m hoping to have a website set up which will be easier to visit, and shop. I have something in mind I have been looking into, and hope to have it working in a few months too. Crossing fingers!

So, with a little imagination some of the old items can be like new again, and once conventional things can  become unique. I’m hoping for us all to learn some things, share some things, and be inspired with Repurpose, Recycle, Reuse, Restore, Reclaim, and Upcycle with LilacsNDreams. 

Thanks so much for visiting with LilacsNDreams! Happy to have you visit, and hope to see you again soon. Take care, and be safe! Happy Holidays!

Cake Cupcake Plate Pedestal Stand Christmas Fall Upcycled Dishware

Cake Cupcake Plate Pedestal Stand Christmas Fall Holiday Handmade Upcycled Dishware

Welcome to LilacsNDreams! The pictures you see above are for a few more Cake Cupcake Plate Stands that I have made, and are listed with my Shoppe at Etsy. I really enjoy making these! I collect pieces over time, or sometimes I find them to unite right away. Once in a while I will find pieces new which I will note in my listings. Most of the time pieces are considered used, but a lot of them will look like new. Either they weren’t used at all, or have very minimal usage to make it hard to see any signs of use. I take pleasure, and joy in being able to offer items like this in the conditions that I can offer them to you.

I’ve had fun making those that can be used for Christmas time. You will also see I have a full sized cake plate stand being offered with some adorable fall colors! The plate, but also the glass stand really resemble fall, Halloween, thanksgiving time, etc. So shiny, so clean, and looks so much like new! 

I fight temptation of keeping these treasures for myself. Yes, I admit others are offering these cake cupcake plate stands too. I enjoy seeing what others have to offer, and with some I am very much inspired by them. I like to think that with some of mine you can see how just a little more thought, and feeling goes into making some of them. 

I do have another plate stand I will be sharing the next time I stop by here. That particular stand was made with 2 vintage Fenton pieces I united to make this piece unique for someone to have. 

Thanks so much for stopping by LilacsNDreams! Hope you enjoyed the visit, and please feel free to stop by anytime. Love the company, and the visits. Don’t be shy, and know you can drop a line to say Hi at anytime. Till the next time my friends...Toodles!

Buy and Sell Business, Flipper

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Working for yourself, and having your own business is something that we all wish we can do. Some of us dream about it, some of us try it, and some of us succeed with it. There are many ways to sell online which many of us choose to do for different reasons. 

Many of us do the buying, and selling. Another name to consider yourself is a Flipper. Products are popularly found with Flea Markets, Yard Sales, Auctions, Estate Sales, Thrift Stores, etc. When people first start out doing this they might still have a full time job, they might be part time, and there are some that are not working. We all start some where. Anyone can do this sort of thing. You just need access to the internet, a camera, or a smart phone. 

Many start selling online as part time with like 5 - 15 hours a week, or maybe 10- 20 hours a week. Sometimes it is done to make some extra money. Some consider it a side hustle, and it's your choice if you want to make this into more of a significant job, or income. 

Never a dull moment with this line of work, and it is not a boring job. You set your own hours, and you choose the niche that works for you. Time flexibility is what really works for many people. You shop as you choose, you get to meet different people with your searches, and sometimes make some friends along the way too. 

When you hear of American Pickers, Storage Wars, Flipping Houses, etc this is what they all do with the niche that they have chosen. Majority of the time you buy used, and you resell. Many places that you can sell at is with Ebay, Amazon, Classifieds, Etsy. You can also sell on Craigslist, Facebook, Shopify, Offer Up, Your own site, etc. Selling online you reach a larger audience. 

There are some vendors who wish to not sell online. They have lived the lifestyle of Flea Markets that they do not mess with online selling. They make money with what they do, and you in turn can make money too. It's all what you put into it. 

Some items may need TLC, or a little fix up which could just be cleaning, or maybe some light painting too. Maybe a little glue, a screw, a nail, etc. All depends on the item, and what you wish to do with it. Sell it as is, or repurpose it which has become popular with many things. Let the creative side go to work for you. 

You set a limit that you want to spend when you go shopping with Flea Markets, Thrift Stores, Yard Sales, Auctions, Estate Sales, junking, dumpster diving, etc. Smart phones are handy to have because you can research things as you do your shopping too. Over time you will have your favorites that work for you, or that you have become comfortable with.

                                    Viking Bluenique Handkerchief Vase Hexagon Stand

                                            Vintage Blue Glass Dish Basket Home Decor

                                           Avocado Green Relish Tray Dish Glass Stand

   
                                           Cloche Glass Dome Cover Black White Stand

These pictures are showing some of the things that I had sold over time. I adore vintage blue glass, and a few other colors of glass too. The last 2 pictures were items I put together that I repurposed, reused, restored, and etc. The Avocado Green Dish was 2 glass pieces I partnered to make this piece. The Cloche Glass Dome Stand was some wooden pieces I glued together, painted black, glued on some old music book paper, mod podge is good to use too. There are different uses for each piece, I enjoyed the hunt for them, and I really enjoyed creating some of the pieces too.

I hope you enjoyed your visit with LilacsNDreams. Stop back anytime. You are always welcome to leave a comment, or to contact me for anything too. Hope to see you again soon.

Toodles, 
Kim ~ Lilacs 

Happy Easter Everyone!! Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Vintage Collectibles, Repurposed, Handmade, DIY, Recycled, Reused, Restored, and etc. LOL! I have a lot of interests, and I hope that they are things that you will be interested with too. 

This has been a very long time for me, and again I apologize for this too. Without telling you a long story of everything there were circumstances with health, and some serious family issues that had kept me away from everyone. I have been very excited to get back to my site here, but also was nervous to do so as well. It has been a while, things have changed over time, my interests have grown a little from what they use to be, etc. Many times I have wanted to jump in here, and instead I would research a little bit more, read a little bit more, take some more notes, take a few more notes, read a little bit more, and you get the picture. I just want to make this right so that you have a good place to visit, maybe some day do some shopping on one of my pages, place to read about some of the same interests that you have, maybe learn a little something now and then, and of course I love to hear from everyone and have them share along with us all here too. 

Over time I was able to make sure to keep the domains I wanted to use for my pages here with my sight. If you ever get a chance with some of your extra time just google LilacsNDreams to see where I have been, and what I use to do. Better yet, just put in LilacsNDreams.com, and stop by here to visit, read a little, say Hi, and share some things with us too.

So, for right now you will see me a lot on my first page, my home page here. I will slowly be working with my other pages, changing, revising things a bit, etc etc. Nothing drastic, but more like updating and just making it a little bit better. I have been over thinking this really, and it's time for me to just jump in, and start doing what I know to do. I'll learn along the way, and of course have a little fun with it too. 

The other page that I will be offering with my site here is my LilacsNDreams Shoppe page. That one will be slow working as I would like to see things in order a little bit more before I jump into it. But, eventually that will be my page where I will offer items for purchasing with vintage collectibles, repurposed, handmade, DIY, Reused, Restored, etc etc.  Would be much easier shopping there then heading over to one of the market places that is used for selling, signing into them, etc etc. That is a little ways off right now, no need to dwell on it at this time. It will come together in time.

So, for now my main focus is to visit with you all here. Get on a weekly schedule of postings here for everyone to visit with, and hopefully have you share a few things too. I have some things I am working on with crafting....or actually waiting for some good weather so that I can do some painting....and will be happy to share with everyone too. 

I'm excited for the new fresh LilacsNDreams, and I hope that you will be too. I hope that everyone had a great Happy Easter, and could enjoy the day. Thanks so much for stopping by, and I will see ya'll again real soon! Take care till the next time!

Toodles, 
Kim ~ Lilacs  

Welcome Back to LilacsNDreams!!

Hello and Welcome back to LilacsNDreams!! Wow! It has been a very very long time since I have visited here. I deeply apologize for the absence of about 3 1/2 years from here. Wow!! Seeing that number, it really has been a very long time. I ask everyone to bear with me as I hopefully make some changes to my blog/website to update it...once I can figure out what I am doing again. LOL...I honestly feel as though I am learning things all over again because it has been soooo long. 

Trying to make my story short, and not sharing my whole life story, but things got really hectic/scary for a while. I had become ill, and was later hospitalized a few times with meningitis. I wasn't contagious, but it sure was scarey. The recovery time is something else too! I found out the hard way it wasn't something you just shrug off, and a few days later you are cured. It really truly is a long process of healing. For quite a while I couldn't be left home alone as I had to be supervised during my recovery....sorry, I am too stubborn for that! I couldn't drive, used a walker for a bit, had to rely on others...which I am independent.  Sometimes I pushed myself too hard, and later would pay for it. 

Now, during my illness, in and out of hospitals, husband drives truck and was home 1-2 times a week to check on our home and such....within the first month+ our home had been robbed 3 times. I know, how horrid, right? We pretty much lost everything...computer, cameras, tv, jewelry, food, etc. It was devastating, and a total shocker too. Being ill, trying to recover, and who could do such a thing, right? 

It took a while to recover from robberies as well. The ones who were guilty were caught eventually, but we were never able to get anything back. Without sharing details of all of this it took us a very very long time to come back from this situation. Besides getting new things....which it was really hard to shop for items lost, my husband wanted me to get a new wedding ring as well. Great, huh? Love him for it, but it was just really hard to deal with all of this. I couldn't get in the mood to do any shopping to replace things, plus I was still recovering from my illness too. 

Soooo, here I am today!! I am back, ready to work on things, clean house, get things back into order, and start doing a lil of what I was doing before all of this happened to change our lives. I finally brought a new computer home....let me tell ya. Waayyy different than using my iphone, and my ipad!! But, it's a good thing. Just I feel like I am learning things all over again....frustrating, but also fun too. Hey, at least I can laugh at myself when I make a mistake and realize what I have done😉😄 No one is watching, right? LOL!!

It's all a working progress....figuring out all my accounts, emails, passwords to things, activating some things again, etc etc. Taking a lot of notes, and it is slowly coming back to me. First things first...working with my website here, facebook, pinterest, and getting things in order. Once I am comfortable with all of that I hope to soon be back online selling things again too. A little bit of vintage, along with some DIY, repurposed, recycled, reused, and restored pieces too. 

Sooooo, that's everything that has happened from time past, and things I am projecting to work on from today and moving forward. Like I mentioned before....please, please bear with me. Stop by now, and then to visit with me/check on me. Hopefully soon you will be seeing a few changes with my blog/website as I train myself again on how to fix some of the issues, revise, and update things as time goes along. It's a working progress that I am looking forward to, am excited about, and ready to take on!!

Thanks sooooo much for visiting with me today everyone!! Was great seeing you stop by, and hope to see more of you as time goes along. You can always leave a comment, or drop me a line too. Love hearing from everyone!!

Till the next time, take care everyone! I'll be back!! LOL!😊

Organize It Create It Lets Get Organized Everyone

Organize It, Create It, and Lets Get Organized Everyone!

Hi there, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Organizing, Getting Organized, Organizing small areas, creating things, and etc is something all of us are always working on. There is soooo many things out there to do, ideas being shared, and it's amazing all the creativity being used with what we have at home, or how cheaply it can be done too. 

Whether it is at home, from a Thrift Store, something you found on clearance with a retail store, or just any sale with any store you can use some of the smallest, and simplest things you wouldn't imagine until seeing it done by someone else. Often as what happens with me not just what someone else has done, but maybe it helps you think of something too. We all have some kind of creativity within us, and once we see it we also realize how cost efficient that it can be too. Below are some pictures I have found when roaming the internet. Sometimes with Pinterest, maybe a blog, a website, or just someone sharing what they have done. Also, keep in mind that some people also do this, and share it with different market places available for us to purchase too. 

The bathroom, the tub, the shower is always a place it would be nice to have some extra organization with. Sometimes the shower caddy is not enough to hold what we want, or we need something bigger to hold things too. Why not add another shower rod on the opposite of your shower curtains, or doors? Pretty nifty idea, huh? This was found at Pinterest.com with no link back to where it came from.

Repurpose a Cup Mug Holder by transforming it into maybe a scissor holder for your craft area, those who do scrapbooking, and etc. This was found at http://allsorts.typepad.com

This is a nifty idea to organize with, and also to keep a little bit of that vintage with us too. Using Vintage Matchbox Holders is a really neat idea. 

I could think of different ways of organizing with a Paper Towel Holder like this shoes. Use this with your counter tops, your desk, on the table, and etc. Use some plastic sleeves, and some rings to add them to the holder. Store some embellishments, stickers, recipes, and etc. Organize it to your needs as clubcreatingkeepsakes.com has offered here. 

Here is a really nifty idea! A simple quick filing of everyday things, and have the pen and pencil holder right there for you too! Using a dish rack for this organizational purpose is a really neat idea to consider too. This is something that was also found at Pinterest.com with no other link to share of it's origin. 

What a unique way to organize an area that is often used. A corner where we throw everything could be better used by organizing it so it is easier to find things, and actually gives us more room to store some things too. Great organizing of the desk, or corner kitchen counter areas too. Another terrific find at Pinterest.com which came from bhg.com

Here is a wooden box that was made to organize jewelry with. Not saying it would have to be for jewelry only. Possibilities for all them small pieces that we have a hard time finding, or not knowing where to store them to be found later. I found this at Pinterest.com

Oh yes! Finally an idea to help with the organizing of purses. Doing something like this would make them have an easier access within our reach, better organization of course, easily accessible when changing from one to another, and etc. This picture shows us to use some simple shower rings with the hook, and a rod. Another great find from bhg.com   

Under the sinks can always be a night mare. We tend to store many things there to help us with our cleaning of all sorts. Yet, it is so hard to get to some things at times, or what a mess it can easily become too. As I like to use with different things a tension rod is a great thing to use as shown here. The bottle handles easily hang from it, and it is not big or gaudy either. simplystated.realsimple.com gives us this great idea to consider. 


As mentioned earlier there are so many possibilities out there being shared, and so many working ideas that we can consider for our own homes, and our own purposes of organizing. So, what do you think? Is it time for you to organize, and restructure just a bit? I know it is for Me, and I am making my list of things needed to be looking for too. Let's get organized everyone!:)

Hope there are some ideas helpful to you being shared here today. If you have something you would like to share, or add to this please know you are welcome to do so. Love hearing from all of you, and enjoy all the wonderful ideas. Thanks for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon everyone. Take care.

Handmade Homemade Hand Altered Reused Repurposed Online and Locally

Handmade Homemade Hand Altered Online and Locally.

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone! I researched some of our words we use for when it comes to the Homemade, Handmade, and Hand Altered too. Found it a bit interesting, and thought I would share since it does get questioned sometimes. I questioned it, read, and sharing with you all is so much easier to read, right?:)

Handmade is considered made, or prepared by hand rather than by a machine. Made by hand, or a hand process, and made by people using their hands. Individual pieces, or materials that compromise a finished item. Paint, wire, pieces combined to create a final item. Projects with a lot of hand work.

Hand Altered appeared to have a bit more suggested for it. Glue, Nail, Screw, Sew, Whittle, Affix, Staple, Embroider, Mix, Inscribe, Paint, Draw, Photograph, and so on. Any alteration, or embellishment to an item by hand, or by machine controlled by hand, or the traditional or craft method. Hand Altered can also be referred to as hand embellished, or hand assembled. 

Homemade can be referred to pieces that are repurposed. I also seen it noted made, or prepared in the home, made by oneself, and crudely or simply made. Creative touches, quality supplies, ingredients.

So, why would we want to buy pieces like this? What makes these pieces desirable compared to new?

1) You find something unique. You are not wearing what everyone else is wearing. If you are one who likes to keep up with the trends of things you could fix it up with a one of a kind accent piece.

2) Super Craftsmanship for handmade items with individual care, some special attention, there is a focus with details, a quality control, and so on. Another thing is that there is no assembly line with some unskilled workers either. 

3) Putting some money into good hands. When you pay the craftsman, or artist for their work they are actually the ones who get the profit from this. When you pay for this it is not for a CEO of some company, any of their overhead, and things like that. You also can improve the economy, and make a difference by shopping Handmade, Homemade, and Hand Altered. 

4) Better Customer Service. That is something that we all are always wanting. Buying this way you also get individual attention from the seller too. Sometimes when you receive your products there might be a bit more personalization with it like having a handwritten thank you note, once in a while a seller might add some sort of gift with your purchase, etc. If for some reason you had an issue with the shipping, damages, some kind of mix up, maybe the item was faulty, it is almost always taken care of effectively. When you buy this way you could have a better chance of a refund, a replacement, or sometimes a return too. You will notice that these sort of issues happen less frequently due to the care, and the concern that the Seller strives for in having Happy Customers. 

5) Go Green. These smaller scale operations will produce less waste, recycled materials are used, industrial salvage pieces, found objects, etc. Items could have gone to the landfills, but with these techniques they are spared, and used. 

6) Get Custom Items and Alterations. It's kind of nice having things that were made for you. Pleasurable to receive one of a king items, and to help you complete some vision that you might have of something not out there yet too. Not to worry if you do not have the skill to make these things because there is someone out there that can do it. 

8) Make Someone's Dream Come True. Many people dream about quitting their day job, becoming their own boss, and doing what they love to do, and doing it all day everyday too. 

                           "Do What You Love, and the World Will Follow. . . . ."

Many categories fall beneath these topics mentioned. Vintage collectibles, home decor, clothing, jewelry, soaps, lotions, bath products, reused, housewares, glasswares, etc. They all have something that is in common. Start from scratch, or connect things and pieces making something for You. 

There are some wonderful sellers out there who do some wonderful work. You can find them Online, Locally, sometimes Flea Markets, Craft Shows, and etc. When you can visit with them, see what they have to offer, do some early christmas shopping, find pieces for those special occasions, birthday gifts, adding to your home decor, and so on. Give them a try, and have fun with it too. There is much to see out there, and much to enjoy. 

Thanks for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams. Come back to visit again soon. If you have anything you would like to share, or add to this I am happy to hear from you. Your comments are welcomed. Have a wonderful day!