Woolzies… A Review…

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It's dry in Calgary so you need to use a product in the dryer to keep clothing from getting super staticky… staticky - is that even a word!?… I'm sure you know what I'm saying…

I am trying to cut down on the number of chemicals that we use from day to day and trying not to use products that are harmful to the environment - and I've found Woolzies!… I got a pack of these babies to try out and here is what I think!

  I've tried the nubbly plastic dryer balls in the past but I didn't find them super - I'm not sure if they're recyclable when they start to wear out so more than likely they end up in landfills… so we've been using Bounce sheets… BUT I'm not a fan of the chemicals or the waste created from those… soooooo I can say that I LOVE WOOLZIES!… 

These little babies are soft and fun… fun as in you can bounce them off your fiancé's head and not injure him… well not too bad anyway :)

We also have hard water in Calgary… so I have also been using liquid fabric softener (unscented) as I found the hard water having an affect on our clothing… well with these we're cutting out fabric softener and bounce sheets… BAM!… two chemicals gone!… these little beauties are all natural… AND they save you money because they cut down on drying time!… BAM and BAM!

I waited until I used these on all of the different laundry that we do to get a good idea of if they really work as well as claimed - and I can say yes they do!  

The big tell was with the towels… I always need to turn the towels on for a second go around…  when I used these dryer balls they were dry after the first go!  

If you have a smaller load of laundry in you do hear some thumps and bumps now and then but nothing alarming or enough to cause a disturbance.  

Now get this - these babies are guaranteed to last 1000 loads!  On average we have about 4 loads of laundry a week… 1000/4 =  250 weeks/52 weeks = 4.8 years… 4.8 YEARS of use!… now there will be weeks with more laundry so let's say they will last us at least four years!… four years of not buying fabric softener and bounce sheets!  Four years worth of chemicals not being used on our clothing and not being drained back into the water system!… 

Yeah… I sat in front of the dryer and watched them bounce around for awhile with the laundry… haha…

Another neat thing that I just learned about these is that they're handmade - they're providing a steady source of income for women in Nepal!  

Curious about more facts about these?… check out the Woolzies FAQ

Help yourself and your family and the environment and get yourself some Woolzies!… head on over and order some up!

xo

Lacey

I received the product mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Sweet Little Cupboard...

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

Since Vintage With Flair a few people have dropped off pieces that require some love -  refinishing… The first being this sweet little cupboard that had been used as a wash stand...

Many layers of paint have been gooped on over the years… leaving drips and runs as well as partly burying the detail along the bottom strip...

Here is a close up of the top…  lots of wear and tear… 

…all of the old and unoriginal hardware has been removed and stripping of the drawers has begun… 

Stay tuned!… This will be reloved in no time… 

xo

Lacey

Vintage with Flair!…

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

A giant THANK YOU! to everyone who came out on Saturday... it was a great positive day… a little ray of sunshine in an otherwise grey sad weekend… 

Here is a recap of the sale!… 

Booth setup began on Thursday afternoon just before announcements started coming out about evacuations around parts of Calgary… it rained off and on down in Priddis… 

Check out my 709 Derby Girls T-Shirt!… just representing the girls back home is all!… 

Luckily I had rented a uhaul to bring all of my items down to the location!… I didn't REALLY realize how many items I had until we filled the uhaul AND our truck!…

A few weeks back I rustled up some vintage acme dingo daisy cowboy boots to go with the cream lace dress I picked up to wear at the sale… yeah… I matched my booth… 

The sale Friday evening was postponed...

Saturday we opened at 10 and it was steady until 3:30… and finished up at 4!… the day just disappeared!… I didn't stop all day!… 

I had a lot of positive feedback about my setup, items and pricing!… it was very encouraging…

As the sale started a little later than originally planned on Saturday I had an opportunity to breath… and to take some detail shots of things around my booth… some shots for the webpage that I have in the works… 

It was hard to part with the things I sold!… I really loved everything… luckily I know where a few of my favourite items have ended up so I will get to see them once in awhile ;)

I even have a few follow up clients that have been in touch since Saturday!… :)  I've got some exciting projects in the pipes so stay tuned for those!…

…burlap and doily pillow detail… 

…book page wreath - made with nothing but trashy romance novels… get in close and read something steamy!… hehehe

The doily bowls were not as popular as I thought they would be…  they're such pretty things to look at though!… 

…cigar boxes from Montana...

…shapely legs… 

…more legs!… 

…my favourite planter!…

…tea trolly hand painted tray… 

…my petite sweet dresser…

When all was said and done at the end of the day I had one the Best Overall Booth prize!  *squee!* 

A night stay at the Chimney Rock Bed and Breakfast!… 

Takedown was quick and pack up was even quicker… partly because my Pickle packed up the truck and partly because the items that were left fit in just the truck!… We were back home from the venue in no time!… 

…the sun was out to celebrate!… 

POP!… here's to many more successes!…

xo

Lacey

Party Time!

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Success!...

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

Vintage with Flair was TODAY!…  following up shortly with a proper post!… stay tuned!…

Thank you to everyone that made it out today - it was a fantastic day - a great way to spend this sunny Saturday after the past couple of days that we've had here in Calgary… 

xo

Lacey

It's All Coming Together...

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

I've really been MIA!… a month and a half since I've posted!?.  sorry about that folks!… I've been working like a piggy wig every weekend... and evening for the past few weeks on items for the Vintage with Flair sale!…  It's approaching faster that I would like it to be!… really should have been working over the winter with more focus…

A devastating blow came my way when I discovered that you can't put Milk Paint overtop of a stain blocking paint like a kilz… the Milk Paint dries so quickly and is so dry that it just pulls the primer right up!… So the dresser sat aside for about a month and a bit… But in the past couple of weekends I managed to fully sand the dresser and I went back at it with Chalk Paint… I much prefer the ease of Chalk Paint over Milk Paint on repainted surfaces… I find Milk Paint works on raw wood great… Milk Paint is just to chippy on refinished furniture in the end for me...

The Feathering logo stamp has arrived!… I'm still so in love with my logo!… and with Juke Box Print!… 

I've completed a number of smaller projects… many being chalkboards… I have chalkboards up the whazoo!… chalk board trays… chalk boards in gold frames… chalk board windows… 

Now here some some contradiction… I said that Milk Paint was too chippy for me yet I fell in love with this totally chipped to bits metal garden chair!… BUT!… it's different!… this is legit chipped with age… it would be beautiful on a front stoop with a big pot of lavender sitting on in!… 

I've fallen in love with gold spray paint… the top edge of one of my doily bowls was made with pink string… It was cute and all but I had the thought to hit the edge with the gold spray bomb… um the results!?… the tits!… gold ombre look!… 

Here are a few more progress shots… more details and some tutorials to come after Vintage with Flair… just no time right now… no time… as I sit here blogging!… hehe but let me explain… I sat down on the couch here with the kitties shortly after 6am this morning… still tired but knowing I have a long list of items I want to work on… complete this weekend!… so I got a snuggle from Pickle and rolled my tired self out of bed… I thought to sit and blog because 1) it's been quite awhile since I've blogged and 2) it's a nice and easy way to wake up instead of jumping right into working on something… 

The house is literally overflowing with items for the sale… I have two dressers in the kitchen… a kitchen table in the front living room… it's starting to get a little overwhelming!…  The basement is still a workshop… and I've even taken over the deck and back parking pad for workspaces!… 

I'll have to do a tutorial on paperbacking picture frames in the coming weeks… it really is simple and it makes for a nice clean finished and professional looking product...

Here are a few of the beauties that I'll have available at the show in a couple weeks!… Squee!… I'm really getting excited now!… nervous but excited…

Also before the sale I have to take a lot of item photos for my records and for some images for the proper website that I need to develop… I've chalked my logo out LARGE on the kitchen wall just for the pictures I need to take!… sooo in love with this logo!… THANKS AGAIN! Cynthia!… 

Pickle and I are building up our tool inventory now… I added this beauty of a orbital sander… he picked up a great jigsaw… and I think a table saw is in our near future… 

The mouse sander is great for small things… and for small areas but it just doesn't sand big areas quick enough… I had this nasty old purple table with a crazy thick wax on it… the Milwaukee quickly took away the nasty and I've created this sweet little butcher block top farm table...

Just a little sneaky peak… I don't want to give away everything that I'll have at Vintage with Flair… You're just going to have to come to the show… or if you live nowhere near here you can check out my blog to see my booth all set up… and as I mentioned there are many tutorials in my future of the projects… so stay tuned!… 

I really have to get better with taking before pictures… I get so excited when I get some treasures home that I pull them apart and start sanding right away… no before pictures AT ALL!…  I did get a couple progress shots recently as I'd enlisted Pickle to help me make some nice clean cuts… he's so particular and careful… I'm a little more airy fairy and I'll measure once and make 20 cuts… hehehe… he really is the yin to my yang!

Here's the heart breaker all sanded down… man when that paint started peeling up after I put the Milk Paint on top of the stain blocker my heart almost stopped… but I've sucked it up and now she's a beauty… I'll save the after shots for after Vintage with Flair!… 

She turned out fabulous!...

So… life outside of 7-4 work and 5-10 every night at home and the past 8 weekends has been non existent… I did stop one night for Bunco with the ladies… 

Last weekend I was able to get this beauty made… I'll have only one available but I look forward to building more of these… I wouldn't have made it through this one without my Pickle!… it's really interesting HOW people think of things!… we would have taken two completely different approaches to building this… but in the end we used a combination of what we each thought… and it worked out nicely… 

Now I just have to figure out if I'm going to leave the bottom half of the table nice and crisp white or if I should distress it!… I'm sort of torn between the two options!… what do you think?…

Oh I did take a second break one evening!… not until I'd ironed what felt like 800 metres of fabric though… that was test on the ol patience that's for sure!… I found theses amazing Vintage Acme Dingo Daisy cowboy boots and had to go and pick them up… nice and broken in… perfect fit!… it only took six years of living in Alberta to get into the cowboy boot thing… but I'm here now and I've arrived in style!… these beauties go perfect with the dress I have for Vintage with Flair!…  and then they'll be accompanying me to the Calgary Stampede this summer!… 

Okay it's time for me to get up off this couch… and onto my to do list… and then into some projects!… what have you got planned for this weekend?!. I'll be here plugging away!… 

xo

Lacey