From Junk to Jewelry! and Pieces of happy

I haven't done a Pieces of Happy linkup in a while, so I thought I would today :)
But first, I have some things to show you! 

My parents have been going to a Goodwill outlet store near Seattle and some garage sales recently (more on that later) and they have been sending me a TON of stuff! This time I ended up with a bunch more neckties, some other stuff I'll get into later, and some jewelry supplies I was really excited about. I ended up making two necklaces within a couple of hours of getting it!

This first one I was so excited about, I could barely get through the rest of the package before getting to work! I mean, come on. It's RAINBOW DAISIES. The funny thing is that these gems were off of a pair of shoes! Can you believe that?

I ripped apart and linked back together a pair of earrings I wasn't wearing (and have had since high school) to make the chain, and the clasp was from another necklace I wasn't using. I might end up making it longer because I can't stand short necklaces, but until then it's not so bad as-is.

This second one I was also dying to make when my mom first sent me a picture. The cat is ceramic and it was hard to find a loop to fit it without going to the craft store, but I did it! The chain was that way when I got it in the package, and a perfect match for the cat!

Some crazy cat lady must have been donating all of her cat jewelry because let me tell you, I have a bunch of it now. And I don't know what to do with it yet.

I hate to admit it, but I do need to take a trip to the craft store in order to make any more pieces because I am running low on good clasps and jump rings that I can salvage from my other jewelry.

Anyway, here are my pieces of happy for this week:

1.) Alex took pictures with me on Sunday and dressed up even though he was being a stick in the mud, and didn't want to kiss me in front of strangers :P At least we got a few good pictures and I got to wear my new dress!

2.) I made my delicious Chili-Crusted Chicken recipe Monday and it was just as yummy as I remembered! I also made and ate lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting for the first time (box mix and pre-made frosting) and I found out that I love it! The only problem with that is now we have too many cupcakes, and only two people who shouldn't be eating so many calories in this house. I've made a huge mistake. (AD fans raise your hands!) Oh and we watched the season premiere of True Blood! Sexy vampires, can I get a hell yeah?

3.) Same day, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary! We didn't really do anything special, it was just a regular night except for the cupcakes.

4.) Yesterday: got a big care package from my parents which always makes me feel loved. I miss them so much.

5.) My two "new" necklaces!

6.) We watched the season premiere of Futurama! If you don't know, I'm a huge Futurama fan, and it is killing me that it's coming to an end. I quote it all the time, and even Alex doesn't understand all of my references. Oh and I am aware that I am watching premieres the day after they actually premiere, that's DVR magic in action kids!

7.) This weekend we'll most likely be going to the San Fransisco Zoo, which will hopefully be as awesome as I think it will be.


So that's my Pieces of Happy for the week. What are yours? Join me in the Link-up with Chasing Happy!