New Upcycling Projects Shabby Romantic

Hi guys! I have been laying low the past week or so..I have been busy! Besides the usual stuff, my husband was needling me to get things listed on Ebay..which I did. Also I have been working on a few projects. Here are a couple of my newest ones. These are small doorknob or wall signs that I made from all vintage materials (except the paint!) The base was some small metal tip or snack trays I got at an estate sale last week. They were pretty ugly..beige with wheat heads in the center. Sooooo... I broke out my drill and some spray paint. I forgot to take "Before" pictures of them...pooh...trust me..they were ugly!
I added swags I made from vintage chandelier crystal prisms from my stash..
I did the centers in chalkboard paint so you could write a name or short message or phrase.
I also added vintage brass chain to the top to hang them from.
I made them 2 different directions and in pink and aqua. These are in my Etsy shop, hopeandjoystudios!
These were project #2. These are vintage wicker floral baskets. This is the after..(hopefully you could tell that!)
I added some of my handmade paper flowers and one has a handmade singed organza flower with a vintage rhinestone center. I think they would be fab with a vase of flowers inside or piled with shabby pink, silver or aqua Christmas bulbs. (I have a weakness for shabby Shiny Brites!)
I also tied a vintage lace swag around them.
This one also has a vintage button center.
I really like this one..I like color!
This one had a vintage pink velvet ribbon wrapped around it also.These went to my antique/vintage booth (Main Street Antiques in Sweetwater, TN) The handles were so big I figured they would be hard to ship.
This was the before. I had these in my booth for months and no takers so I hope the face lift helps them find a new home! I have pics of my booth I hope to get posted in the next couple days. Thanks for stopping by! Julia

My repurposed Moss Terraium

Hi guys! I love houseplants but alas..I have a short attention span for watering things. I have always loved the look of moss and we have some that grows outside our house in the shady places. I wanted to see if I could bring some inside. I had some I transplanted to terracotta pots (that ended sadly) I stuck in mini vintage plastic deer, some mini vintage plastic mushrooms ( I use the word "vintage" a LOT) and on one I even added a packing tape laminated cut out of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards faces..get it?? Rolling Stones gather no moss?? LOL I am weird and do things that make nobody but me crack up..my family worries about me! I do think if Mick and Keith were made into garden gnome statues they would sell like hotcakes..but again I digress.. This pic shows the globe sitting on top of a favorite McCoy planter of mine (I love turquoise/aqua!)
This is a vintage rose dome. It was meant to display a plastic or silk rose (my Gramma had one and I think her's had water in it too) I think this one was marked "Bowl of Beauty" on the bottom. There is a lid that screws off. I added moss that had a pad of dirt still attached to the bottom, watered it, squooshed it back in the jar (technical term) and screwed it back together. There is a black plastic ring that the jar sits in to make it schmantzier looking.
3 weeks later and still alive! I think I need to add a smidge of water at this point but hey..not bad! Keep your eyes peeled for these jars at thrift stores, estate sales etc. I think this one was $5, but I have found them cheaper. Have a great day and happy junking! Til next time! Julia

My Vintage buy of the week

Hi guys! I went to an estate sale this weekend. It was a nice old brick 2 story w/ lots of goodies. I was sorta late getting there the first day because..well..I didn't read the estimated drive time on my yahoo directions. I was there before they opened but was # 66 in line. They only let 30 in at first but they had a basement and garage and those were open to anyone so off I went. I immediatelt snabbed an antique painted mantle for $35..but as I had driven the minivan, and since I had not anticipated buying anything large, I had not removed the seats. I doubt I could've gotten it in there anyways! I did 20 minutes of measuring and finagle-ing and sweating before I gave it up as a lost cause and decided I would have to come back the next day. I am already foggy about what else I bought..some rolls of vintage wallpaper, blue mason jars, old tin film canisters,Pyrex chem beakers, old apothecary bottles, red and white toile fabric, old white fancy frames..hmmm...seemed like a bigger pile than that! Anyways I had to admit my over zealousness to my husband and the next morning, we went back with the pickup to get the mantle. It is now in my antiques booth..I shall have to take some pix! (I just realized I never priced it..oops!) It was 25% off day and I went through the house again and found this coat which I had not seen the day before. It was a 1970's wool maxi coat with shearling collar and cuffs..and no price tag. I asked one of the estate sale ladies how much and she said, $5 minus 25%..$3.75! I almost squealed! I made my daughter model it for me to take pix..it was 96 degrees outside..I am so mean! We got a bit giggly....

"I don't know what to do with my hands!"

"It is SOOOOO hot!!!!" I think she had her eyes shut in every pic..she asked, "Are you going to crop my head off?" Yeah..suuuuure.

And back view..I love this and cannot wait til cold weather to wear it! I shall feel like a princess!

Mocked by a Mockingbird

I am being mocked by a mockingbird. Mocking bird's are thestate bird of TN and until this week I wasn't sure what one looked or sounded like. Apparently I had been seeing and hearing them all along, but never made the connection. This week though, every night when I went to bed there was an extremely loud bird outside my window chirping up a storm. I thought this was sort of odd as I am a nightowl and at midnight to 1am when I go to bed, most birds are fast asleep. Not this guy! It went on night after night, right outside my bedroom window. I layed there and counted the different tunes he was singing ..all in short repetitive bursts strung together in a looong tune. I counted up to 20 different bits and then would lose count. It started to bug me..what WAS this bird? I started telling my family about the bird outside my window and they all just gave me "the look"..you know the one.. Ya Mom..(whatever). I started leaping out of bed and peering out my bedroom window trying to catch a glimpse..pitch dark..no luck. I started trying to replicate the tunes to any of my family I could corner. My 8 year old told me knowingly, "That's the "Jeter Bird" Mom!" I asked him what he meant..he said , "It goes..jeter-jeter-jeter". I listened and he was right. I also figured out it was what in my head I had been refering to as the "Swedish Bird". I'd hear it when I was out in my garden and I always thought it sounded like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, "sproingy-boingy-yoingy doingy". It finally filtered into my mind that the state bird of Tennessee is the Mckingbird (thanks Cub Scouts and my kid's 2nd grade state history homework!) I started dropping everything and jumping out the back door whenever I heard his song during the day and finally caught a glimpse of the culprit. A quick google search confirmed my suspicions. Now I can sleep in peace with the knowledge of who my serenader IS..although I am sure there is probably a lady Mockingbird out there who is the actual recipient of his musical attentions! Sleep tight! Until next time! Julia

Photo credits Photos.com and Wiki (eggs pic)