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Thursday, January 3, 2013

My latest Upcycles, Roses, Ballet and Keys

 Hi guys! One of my New Years attempts (the heck with resolutions!) is to spend more time creating. This means less time dinking around online, but all the better! These are 3 things I made in the last 2 days. Let me first say I have a HUGE "problem" seeing the possibilities in vintage bits and parts..lots of "Oh this could be so cute/cool if you just  did XYZ. Not really a problem ..until all those "projects" start backing up on you! So I cleared out 3 of them. This first was a vintage bandeau hat. It was plain and just screaming for help. I added a rose I made from sheer fabric and a couple vintage moss velvet leaves.
 Bazinga!I really like how this rose turned out. It has singed edges and a rolled center.I just cut it out like a rolled paper rosette that you see all over the net and singed the edge you would see. Then made a regular stacked singed flower and added the rosette to the middle.
 This is a rack I made out of an old oak drawer front from a filing cabinet. This drawer front had been laying around for months waiting for me to "do something" with it. I removed all the hardware, added a crackle coat (watered down wood glue) and when that dried, painted it shabby white. I sanded it a bit and reattached the hardware. I put the handle on upside down to make a little "cup" to hold a small something.
 I added small hooks I made from bent vintage keys that I had rusted or verdigris-ed (soak in a vinegar salt solution) I did find out that the small thinner keys and the brass keys bend better than the steel keys like a door or auto key..those kept snapping off. The label holders are all ready for a label. I'm not sure what the holes were for, but they make great hanging holes to attach it to the wall!
 I had these formerly black little girl's leather ballet slippers in my booth for a month or more with no takers so they came home with me for an upcycling. I gessoed them and painted them several coats of pale pink. I even painted the sort of grungey interiors. I added vintage sheet music insoles and vintage taffeta ribbon ties.
I repurposed some of my hand dyed paper flower pins into shoe embellishments. I thought these pins were pretty, but they weren't moving so onto a new life! They are actually made of dyed coffee filters and vintage lace and vintage mother of pearl buttons. The rosette centers are not an exact match (since all my pins were one of a kind) but they look like a match. Sweet decor shoes for a little girl's room..or a big girl's room! I love creating and always have several projects in the works and tons of projects rattling around my brain! Stop back and see what I have been up to! 'Til next time! Julia

1 comment:

The Polka Dot Closet said...

I laughed at your comment "my furniture is so old it is almost back in style" Oh I love altering old hats, and I do the same things, bring things home from my booth and give them a new life! Now, they will sell so cute!

Carol