Vintage Upcycled tin hearts, How to make colored Scrabble tiles and views of my bench

 Hi guys! These are my latest design (designs!) vintage tin upcycled hearts. They can hang on a wall or off a furniture knob or wherever you want! I love heart shaped things so this was fun.

I used vintage or antique tin roof tiles we got at an antique auction in Indiana. I am a sewer and was taught to always lay out my patterns to maximize the fabric. It is no different with tin! I cut 2 large matching paper heart shapes leaving a smidge of room between and then cut 2 smaller hearts that fit in the "spare space".I use a kid's washable marker so I can wipe off the marks when I am done cutting. I used the smaller hearts for this project and will use the large ones for another project. I cut 8 tiles or 32 hearts..or until I raised a sizeable blister on my finger! "Why does my finger hurt?" Duh..lol. If you don't have vintage tin or ceiling tin you can use what you do have..beat it up, paint it, sand it, and beat it up some more!This tin had been painted silver. I lightly painted this with white acrylic paint , then sanded it back and found aqua paint under the silver!

 I have a spool of rusty wire from some estate sale and used that for the handle/hanger. I added large rusty wire jump rings so I can fold the handle for easier shipping. This nest one has a small silver bird charm. I clipped the ring off and colored it with markers in green and blue. Alcohol inks would also work, but a Sharpie is a heck of a lot cheaper! If it is too bright, wipe it off, or if it dries, use some rubbing. alcohol to tone it down a bit. Too much off? Add more!

I covered some of the small tin hearts with German glass glitter..because I love it! The "dangles" I made with vintage or antique chandelier button prisms and a vintage pearl bead.

I figured out a sweet secret to coloring the vintage wood  Scrabble tiles..keep reading!

 Sweet Heart! This prism isn't as old. I had a couple floating around waiting for their "special purpose" and this was it! (Not as cool as Steve Martin's "special purpose" in "The Jerk" but oh well!)

This one was one of my favs..I love aqua.

 This was my other fav. These are vintage Anagram tiles. The little heart is what the reverse of these looks like..shabby black and silver tin... the side that laid on the roof's tar paper!

 Here is my super secret Scrabble tile coloring weapon. Yep..high lighters! They give a sheer color stain. If the Scrabble tile has a lot of varnish on it, you may have to sand it a bit to open the pores to accept the color. If the color beads up, stop and sand it! Don't go too crazy or it will suck in a lot of color and not be sheer but brighter. I always like to use what I have. It irks me to have to buy a lot of special things!

 This is a view of my disastrous, filthy bench top..this is definitely not one of those "pretty " blogs! To be fair, it is usually cleaner, these old tins were just really dirty to cut. Those are my handy tin snips..I need to find a "kinder" pair or wrap the handles or something! Can you tell what I used as a jig to bend my big jump rings? Markers are great! I use a screwdriver for smaller ones or a pencil. I wrap it tightly with the wire to make a spring with all the wires laying right next to each other (check how tos on YouTube or Pinterest) Then I snip them off one at a time with my wire snip pliers. These I used my tin snips..this is some thick wire!

This is one of my fav tools that I have actually broke down and bought. (I am cheap!) It is a screw hole punch. I got it at Hobby Lobby  in with the "Vintaj"and "Ice" jewelry supplies..look in the metal jewelry stamping area. It only works close to the edge so it doesn't work for everything, but it is much quieter than my Dremel drill or the old hammer and nail. (especially when I am in my studio and everyone else is sleeping!) It leaves a smooth hole too. Easy peasy! So that is what I have been up to (and a million other things). Please follow me if you haven't and stop back and see what else I have been doing! 'Til next time! Julia

Heading in the right direction New Year New ideas..and more Santos and mannequin heads

 Hi guys! January is half done and I am just getting into the swing of things. I had that awful flu at the end of December. I thought I'd be down for 2 days but spent 10 days on the couch! The first 2 were the worst and I kept thinking, "Tomorrow I will be better" but I wasn't. So weak and "coughy". I told my husband I have been more violently ill for shorter times but that was the sickest I ever remember being! Mom's don't have time to be sick. I usually give my self a day or 2. Looking back I should have probably went to the Dr., but I just kept thinking.."Oh I will be better tomorrow!" I hope you all avoided it!

 Lots of couch time = lots of think time.This year I plan to strike out in new directions..to update my blog and hopefully get more followers (not that I do not appreciate each and very one of you!) More on that later. I have been working on projects and starting new things. These mannequin heads are a bit of both. These first ones have been an idea in my mind for awhile. I love old religious santos and cage dolls..I find the faces so serene and beautiful. That was what prompted these. I was also influenced by the old milliner mannequins. These are paper and paperclay over styrofoam forms.

 I like the stylized faces..this one is blue eyed. They have more of a primitive look and finish.

Some find mannequins creepy (there is a name for that phobia) but I find these more doll-like than life like so that cuts down on the creep factor!

 These guys are older projects I finished.they have been hanging out in my studio for over a year! I named this one Colin after Colin Farrell because of his eyebrows..

and this one Tom because he reminds me of Tom Hanks. These 2 are plaster over styrofoam.. more of a process and I am not sure if I will be making more of  these or not!I have lots of things in the works and this year I plan to offer a lot more DIY's and tutorials here. So stop back and visit me! (And follow if you haven't) Until next time..hope things are heading in the right direction for you too! Julia