Let's Go Shopping: Housing Works Bookstore

It's a brand new week & June is coming to an end.

Sigh, time really flies so quickly.

Anyway, this week on blah to TADA!,

we're going shopping!

I'm taking you to one of my favorite bookstores,

Housing Works, in New York City's SOHO district.

Here's what's so TADA! about it -- all the books

are donated, the staff consists of volunteers &

all the proceeds go to folks affected by AIDS.

Isn't that great?

There's also a cafe' inside with quiet corners

to enjoy your book & coffee.

The space can also be rented for special events.

I've seen the place used in TV commercials &

shows like Gossip Girl!

These gently-used books are neatly arranged by

category (ex. fiction, travel, children's, etc.)

Here's the section that I'm always drawn to:

sewing & crafts.

And here's what I bought:

It's a fun little book by Patricia Caskey.

I paid only $4.00 for it!

When I got home, I quickly flipped through the pages

and picked crafts that were faithful to my

blah to TADA! philosophy.

Like the one on page 79, teaching readers

how to make COLLAGE GLUE.

It's a good alternative to Mod Podge.

To make it, you will need:

3 parts white school glue

1 part warm water

Combine the glue with water in

a jar with a screw-on lid.

Shake until well mixed.

Brush a thin layer on paper

and smooth out.

Here's my application:

I need to mail a gift & decided to recycle this box.

I used old magazine pages to turn a blah box...

...into a TADA! box!

I treated the printed page like gift wrap and the

cut out flowers as accents, using the collage glue

to stick & seal everything to the box.

Here's what the back looks like.

All I need now is to add a mailing label at the

top of the box and mail.

I'll tell you what's inside in a future post!