Craft Inspiration and Bead Shopping

Yesterday, I was headed down to the Del Mar Racetrack for some bead shopping at the Gem Faire that was being held in one of the exhibit halls there.  It's always a treat to go there and stock up on beads for my jewelry because there are what seem like miles of vendors with beads of every style, size, shape and color to choose from at ridiculous prices (on the inexpensive side of ridiculous).  When you see the word Gem, you think of the expensive genuine gem, but they have glass, crystal and all sorts of cheap beads there, too.

In my excitement, I had my whole day planned out.  Zip to the Gem Faire and then zip back to pick up kids, etc.  When I got there, I was so bummed because I forgot to look closely at the fine print on my mailer from them saying that it didn't open until 12:00.  I had an hour and a half to kill.  :(

So, rather than sit there sulking, I went over to Pier 1 Imports which was very close by, and thought I'd have a look-see.  It's so fun to see things in stores that inspire me to create.  Pier 1 had inspiration at every corner.  Take this for example.

Can I just tell you how much of this kind of fabric I have laying around my craft room just waiting to become one of these pillows?  And then there was this pillow...

I love the fish scale design and the bright colors.  Again, fabric laying around screaming "Make me into that pillow!"  More and more inspiration just jumped out at me ...

A super cute owl painting that I think looks pretty simple to do in a similar design.  And my house could use some cute artwork in a few places.

How cute are these spiders?  And easy peasy to make, right?

A stenciled lampshade.  What a cute idea for a thrift store lamp.

Beaded napkin rings.  Could I make this?  Yes.  Will I?  Absolutely not.  Why?  Because the detailing on this would take me hours to make a set, and these bad boys were $4 a piece.  Clearly NOT made in America.  Never in a million years ... I'm just sayin'.

This little guy is what I came home with:

How could this NOT start your morning out right?  Instant happy mood.  And the $8 price tag made me even happier.