This Past Weekend

We had a couple of errands to do in the Kaimuki area so me, Geri and Sweetie met in the morning this past Saturday. These are mostly iPhone pictures again. I'll be back to lugging around my heavy camera again soon . . . my back's getting better.

We started off at a garage sale on 9th Avenue in Palolo.  I think the lady is a "regular" seller because her set up in her garage didn't look temporary.  Geri found some sandalwood soap. She's planning to leave it unwrapped in her bathroom for the fragrant smell.


I bought these for $6.


We then headed for Kaimuki town.  This newly painted wall on 12th Ave. caught our eye.  On closer look we saw the Otto Cake sign.


The owner decided to relocate to this area after a recent "gun" incident in Chinatown.  He said that he feels a lot more at ease here.


He had just completed a big order, and being unfamiliar with his new kitchen hadn't been able to fully stock his showcase.  Still, what he did have displayed looked really yummy!


We then headed to Kaimuki Camera, and on the way passed by this familiar vegetable stand.


We got our passport pictures taken at Kaimuki Camera.  My picture came out absolutely hideous. Every single wrinkle, blemish, liver spot, uneven skin tone shows up. The real me . . . yuck.  Here is Sweetie practicing her chin jut.  I had just told her my secret to eliminating my double chin in photos.


Nearby to Kaimuki Camera is Aloha Crepes.  I was surprised to see the Aloha Poke Bowls sign in the window. 






Geri wanted to check out Hawaiian Nougat Company which just opened up in Kaimuki across the street from Kaimuki Camera.


They're still not quite set up yet.


We got to sample this nougat. Before tasting it, I was afraid that it might be too brittle for my teeth, but it was perfect in texture . . . nice and chewy . . . and it was delicious.


Starting in August they will be having candy-making classes!


Our next stop was Bead It!  Talk about a reality check.  As one being accustomed to swap meet prices, I was flabbergasted at the price tags.  And as usual, I managed to embarrass myself once again.  There was a table full of "trunk sale" charms.  The sign said $4/gram.  I had no clue how much a gram was, so I grabbed a handful of charms and took them to the counter.  I said, "Can you give me an idea of how many of these make a gram."  She dug through my handful of charms and pulled out the smallest one she could find. She placed it on her scale and said, "This one is 2 grams." I tried not to make my eyes widen up big and said, "Oh, okay. Thank you." Holy moly!  I did buy 2 spools of wire though.  They were $5 each.


We had dim sum for lunch at Happy Days.  Sorry, no photos . . . crappy lighting.  Then we browsed in here on the way to the car.


So so so cute yah!  Glass mushrooms.


I forgot to check the price.


Another new place.


On Sunday we went to Aloha Swap Meet . . . specifically to see the lady with the glassware.  It seems we didn't buy enough from her last week.  Her pieces are so beautiful and her prices so reasonable that Geri's vow of "no more glass" flew out the glass window.


I had to add this picture 'cause it seems so in-theme even though they're made of resin and not glass.


Here are my swap meet finds (taken with my real camera). These pink beads were from a necklace that I took apart. It was $1.  And isn't the plate pretty?  I got it at a Collector's Expo at the Blaisdell.  I think it was around $5.


These beads were on a broken string.  It was also $1.  I bought the bowl yesterday from the glassware lady.  It was $3.


I hand picked these beads that were in a bowl.  The bigger pieces were 25 cents each.  I paid $3 for all. The bowl was $4.


These were $1 each.  The orange carnelian bracelet is actually made with juzu Buddhist prayer beads so I think I'm gonna keep it intact and wear it myself.


The other day, the morning light was coming through the window juuuuust right so I stuck this phone charm onto a plastic container that was on top of my dresser.  I love how the light reflects off the beads.


Look how pretty. See how lighting makes all the difference?  I'm pau with this piece.  I'll be giving away both pieces in my next giveaway.  I'm still not quite sure how I'll be doing the giveaway yet. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Beading - Part 2

Hope you guys had a good 4th yesterday.  I spent the morning majorly cleaning the house and by the afternoon I was ready for some relaxation.  I couldn't wait to fuss around with some beads.

Do you know what these are?  They're plugs that fit into the earphone puka on an iPhone.  A guy at the swap meet sells them for 3/$1.00.


Sweetie gave me this dragonfly charm awhile back and when I got my iPhone, I attached it to one of the plugs so that I could decorate my phone with it.  Cute yah!


The other day I took some of my beads to work and asked Noreen to pick out a few.  I made this for her with um.


When I attached it to my phone I realized that I preferred it hanging the opposite way, so I switched it around a bit.


I made this one too.  Came out so sweet.


I wanna make more now.  Unfortunately the guy that sells the plugs said that he is gonna be away in Asia for a month. I guess I can attach whatever I make to the plugs later on.


I'm working on this bracelet now. I might hang something on the bottom of the pewter charms . . . not sure. 


So relaxing and good fun making these.  I need more beads now.  Swap meeeeeeeet this weekend!!

Beading

You know how I love marbles?  I love glass beads also.  I've always wanted to get into making bracelets with beads, but never did because the beads are just so expensive.

But thanks to swap meeting shopping I've accumulated enough beads to try my hand at it. My sister Geri taught me a few tricks and I also went online to see what I could learn.


At $1 a bracelet at the swap meet bead collecting can actually be quite a bargain. You can take apart the bracelet and then make your own creations. Geri found this one.  Cute yah!


She found this one too.








The top one here was actually $8, but I loved the look, so I broke down and bought it.  The elastic on these were loose and worn, so I replaced them. 


I used this.  Bought it at Ben Franklin.


I've used this one too when repairing other bracelets. An important thing to know when you're tying your final knot: left side over, right side over. Then your knot won't slip.


I bought this container of beads for $5. The girl selling them wanted $10 but reluctantly agreed to sell it to me for $5 after I asked. I felt kinda bad after I got home and looked at them, 'cause I realized that they were actually probably worth way more than $10.


Isn't this bead pretty?  I think it's vintage Japanese.  I bought a bunch of um at the swap meet awhile back.  I decided to use them for my first attempt at a bracelet.


I used these pins.


And with pliers made a loop on top.


I did the same thing for each bead and embellishment which I then attached to a chain. I got the star-face charm from Ben Franklin, by the way.

When I tried the bracelet on for the first time, I realized that some of the wires were poking out and would scratch me.  So I had to go through each one and make sure to squoosh the wire tight. I already gave this bracelet to coworker Noreen. 

Do you think you might want one?  I'll probably be making a few more.  Maybe I'll have a giveaway. We'll see.

Aloha Swap Meet 6/30/2013

Aloha Swap Meet!  Hoo hoo!  Yesterday, me, my three sisters and Aunty got to spend the morning looking for bargains!  So good fun.



Geri found this cute head band for $1. She gave it to Aunty. Aunty loved it.


I got this to replace my bust-up coin purse. I like the loop thing on the side.  I hook it onto my bag.  That way I won't accidentally leave it somewhere.


Landon wanted to try soursop so I bought this for him.  It was $3/pound.  I paid $3.70 for this one.  A lady that was passing by said to eat it cold with a spoon. She said it'll taste like ice cream!


Geri bought this necklace for $3.  The blue pieces look like lapis.


Sweetie bought this bling bracelet and ring for $1 each.


I liked the look of these gravy bowls, and they were only $1 each so I bought two.


Sweetie got this scarf for $1 . . . getting ready for Japan!


I bought this for Aunty.  It was $1.


I also bought this bling Hello Kitty for $3.


Geri scored these Jeff Chang vases.  They were a buck each!


She also found this Mediterranean Cookbook for $1.


We like cookbooks with pictures in um.


Ono, juicy lychee were selling for $5/pound.


These magazines were 10 cents each.


I said,  "I don't need any more stamps . . . but how much are those?"  She said, "50 cents each."  I said, "Oh noooooo." And I bought um. They're unused . . . still got plastic wrap on um.  I just checked on eBay, and similar ones go from $7 to $10 each.  Anybody want um?  Let me know. Email me at JalnaA@aol.com or comment here. First one can have um.  I'll update here if/when they get taken.  Update:  Audrey emailed me already, so they're no longer available.  Ho Audrey, that was fast! LOL!


I found another one of these rolley things for only $2!  My plan is to take it to Japan with us so that we can buy choke stuff while shopping, and then if I'm too overloaded coming home, I can just leave it there.


There was a lady selling beautiful, beautiful glassware . . . and so my sisters were in a daze looking at um all.  Geri told herself that she could have only one item, so she got this.  It was only $2.


I picked up this bowl and said, "Isn't this awesome?"  She said, "Yes." I said, "Do you want it?"  She said, "Yes."  So I got it for her as part of her birthday present.  It was only $12!


Plant-loving Sweetie bought this plant for $2.


Didi can't resist these YY Japan-ware.  These bowls were 4/$5. Geri bought them for her as an early birthday present.  (Her birthday is in November - LOL!)


I scored these Japanese videos for $1 each.  The movies are from the 1950's. The guy selling um said that they originally belonged to his friend who recently passed away. After I got home I was shocked to see that they're available on Amazon.  The average price is about $20 each.  "Early Summer" was actually selling for $29.


This is always the best part of swap meet shopping . . . lunch at Sam and Syd's . . . and as you can see . . . we no fool around!