New projects, upcycles and vintage tablecloths

Hi guys! This is some more of what I was working on this weekend. This first piece used to be a silver painted metal fishing tackle box. It still had some hooks in it!

I gave the outside a shabby white paint job and a collaged on paper number 6 that I color copied from some old church choir numbers I have. They are too thick to glue on in the original form and I want to save the originals to make more anyways!

The inside is robin's egg blue..of course! I had to restrain myself from adding something inside the lid too..maybe a cigar box label copy or some handpainted rosebuds!The next few images are of my vintage wallpaper mini gift bags.This is my new favorite color combo..gold and electric peacock blue! So unexpectedly yummy! If I knew how to make an Etsy treasury, I would make one of this color combo... This wallpaper I got from my friend's shop. She had lots of pages from old sample books she was selling. I pretty much made a paper pig of myself! These are from the 1960's-70's and are more what I would recommend for this type of project. My older wallpaper is too brittle and cracks when folded. I have reinforced some for smaller projects by applying mailing tape to the reverse amd Mod-Podge to the fronts. It makes it less brittle.

The centers are paper punches from a vintage French fairy tale book and butterflies from Dover Press.

The handles are vintage taffetta ribbon.

If I sell these online it would be in batches of 6 to make shipping more feasible. I may just sell them in my booth.

These last couple pics are of 2 vintage tablecloths I got last week. I love these vintage cloths. These were in pretty good shape.

So cheerful!

This one has aqua dahlias..so fresh! ( And now the text is blue!)
I also have one with cherries that is cute but spotted. I am going to try to remove the spots, but it may end up as fabric for projects.

This is my constant helper my grandson Hunter. We always have to take his pic too when I am taking pics of other things. Yes that is a pj top. If he is at home he is in pj's...he has quite the assortment! Well I am off to take my son Jack to baseball practice. Until next time! Julia

Vintage doorknob photo display

Hi guys! I saw this idea on the cover of Somerset Homes magazine (or maybe it was Somerset Life) the other day and had to give it a whirl. I had all the bits needed. I bent the wire into a scrolly heart shape.

I glued it into a vintage china doorknob.I added glitter to cover the glue and a vintage shabby jewelry clasp.

The center is another vintage art Deco sparkly bit and an antique chandelier button prism.

Number 2 is bent a bit differently. This one could hold 2 photos.. one top and one bottom.

The center heart is an old metal heart that had scratched in initials J + B.. one of those things you gave your "girlfriend" in 4th or 5th grade. WE had ID bracelets at my school. Of course the only guys that wanted to give me one I didn't like so no bracelet for me! Playground loves..they would send some friends to ask you if you wanted to "go" with him. If yes he spent $5 and got you an ID bracelet. You "went together" for a couple weeks or a month and broke up..always on the playground in front of everyone! Either he sent his same fleet of friends over demanding his bracelet back or you sent your fleet of friends over giving the bracelet back to him."She doesn't like you anymore!" How crushing! LOL.

I layered a large mother of pearl button and another shabby jewelry clasp bit on this one to jazz it up a bit.

There are chandelier button prisms on the lower loops and a mother of pearl button on the old brass knob..with glitter of course! This is one of my fav old photos..I don't know who they are but they look happy! I refer to him as Jude Law...killer eyes!

The last one has a vintage earring and "pearls" encircling the base.

And a bit from a necklace or bracelet in the middle. Not sure yet where these are going to end up... online, or booth. I still have more vintage wallpaper giftbags to share but I think I am going to make another post of it. My posts tend to be ginormously long! Til next time! Julia

My latest projects

Hi guys! I finally had a day to "play". I finished up some started projects. This silhouette was formerly one of those vintage brassy Italian frames with domed glass and a rose print. You see them at thrift stores and tag sales quite a bit. No I didn't think to take a before pic! I sprayed the framed with gloss black. The glass actually had the picture glued to it so that took a bit of soaking and peeling and scrubbing (and one good cut to my finger to remind me that the edge of the glass was sharp) to get it cleaned up. The silhoutte image is from the Graphics Fairy. ( I need to try to link this up on their brag Monday!) I just trimmed scrapbook paper to the size of a sheet of typing paper and ran it through my printer. I do not have Photo Shop, I just have $20 Print Shop, but I have learned to make it do a lot of what I want it to. I made another with a different silhoutte, but I cannot figure out WHAT I did with the glass for that frame. I seem to remember it HAD glass ??? Maybe one of my people broke it and never 'fessed up. I swear my family tries to make me think am losing it sometimes! ( I hope)

These are collaged journals. I love working with vintage and reproduced vintage papers. The wallpaper cover is old. These are lined in the front and back inside covers with antique sheet music. Most of the images on this one are vintage ones from my stash except the little bird stamp which is from the Graphics Fairy.

The butterflies are from Dover Press. The zinnia postcard is a copy of an old one I have as is the photo which I hand tinted. I found a cigar box of old cut out catalog paperdolls at an estate sale this winter and I was soooo happy! I added some text tiles to her dress.

The ad is a copy of an antique one from my stash. I think this one is my favorite. It was my least favorite wallpaper, but it turned into my favorite journal.

This was made with red and white toile wallpaper. I like old wallpaper but it can be quite crumbly for some projects, particularily if you have to fold it. You can color copy it though!

I copy of a pic from my stash and a text tile. I was looking for one that said "sisters" and I could have made one on my computer, but family seemed to fit too. It was from an old ad copy.

The certificate image and peacock are from the Graphics Fairy. Print Shop won't let you layer like photo shop (it leaves white background on the front image) so I printed the ad as a label and then ran it through again and printed the peacock..done! More copies of vintage catalog ladies.

This one is a bit more Victorian. The 2 top images and the bug are Graphics Fairy, the rest are from my stash. The feather is actually a scanned image of a peacock feather (not a tail feather) from the peacocks that roam my yard. I felt it added an old fashioned feather pen feel that fitted a journal!

On this one the perfume ad and furniture pic are G.F. ther rest are mine. I love this wallpaper! The little Japanese girl is a fav image of mine from a set of antique sterograph (viewfinder) cards.

Another pastel one. The urn, ad and mannequin are G.F. the rest are mine. A larger feather image on this one. All the ribbon is vintage taffetta.

These are some small gift bags I started a long time ago and finished yesterday. I think I got the template for the bag from Martha Stewart..I can't remember if it was a book, magazine or online.

The camera angle makes the bottom 2 look foreshortened but they are all the same size..great for a bar of soap or jewelry or other small gift.

I made these from vintage map paper, a punched bit from a vintage French book of fairy tales and a G.F. Image. I thought the birds "went" with the maps..even though they never use them, they do travel a lot! These handles are all vintage taffetta ribbon too. I haven't decided where these are going yet, booth or online. I signed up for a garden/antique fair here in Sweetwater next Saturday so they may be making an appearance there. I made more with vintage wallpaper and some other things that I will share in my next post. 'Til next time! Julia

Brazillian Butt Lift workout

OH..My..God..Becky...Look. At. Her. Butt!

Hi guys! Well..last night my daughter came with me to the gym and pushed/bullied/guilted me into giving the Brazil Butt Lift workout a whirl. I was perfectly happy to ride the bike and watch Criminal Minds but alas..it was not to be. The aeorobics room at the gym is a mirror lined fun house of horrors. I usually avoid looking at myself in a full length mirror as I am at least 25 lbs over my goal weight. When I look down I can't see past my boobs so I think I am looking pretty good! *SIGH* What a reality check. Not only am I chubby..apparently I have lost all my balance and any hope of getting down on the floor and back up in a graceful dignified manner. The words "lumbering, wounded water buffalo" sprang to mind! At least we were all alone back there.

The Brazillian Butt Lift workout DVD dude is ..wait for it..Brazillian. His accent was sort of a combination of Sophia Vergara and somehow Arnold Schwartzenegger. I really couldn't understand all he was saying except "POOOOOOSh the air" and "this is good for your boom-boom." Luckily he had a herd of skinny beotches (judge judge) to display the correct form. Some of those gals didn't even HAVE butts! I guess they wore them off. If I had a bod like that, I would be shopping or strolling the streets in a bikini not working out..but that should clue you into my afore mentioned chubby state. (Not that I stroll the streets in a bikini)

We started off with sort of a dance..foot to the side, front, back and in...add swinging your arms. Holy crap..when did I get so uncoordinated?! I was always about a step behind and kept mixing up my back and my front. Sheesh. OK down on the floor for the exercises. This is where the fun came in..and the moaning and involitary screams. I think I may have scared a couple guys out in the weight room. We did have fun though..laughing at me..wondering if there was a hidden camera in there and worrying about a video showing up on Youtube. I decided it would get as many hits as that one chubby gal who was singing and dancing on her coffee table and got bucked off. Then my daughter was wondering if any of those skinny gals ever cut the cheese..ahh..good times ..good times. It actually wasn't TOTAL Hell..that would have been if there were others in the room besides us.

The Brazillian dude said if we do the DVD for 60 days we will have tight lifted boom booms. I agree..if I live that long! I did make it out of bed this morning to take my son to school so maybe it wasn't so bad after all! I really need to do some sort of mathmatical equation to figure out if the pain is worth the fanny..I need to factor in less pain and a good pair of Spanx and the chances of an almost 50 year old ever wearing a bikini anywhere ever again. Maybe I'll just stick to the bike and Shemar Moore!
(PS ..Never Google "Brazillian Butt Lift images"! LOL)

New vintage goodies

Hi guys! I have been MIA for a bit from my blog. My sister Laura came to visit me from SD and we were busy having a Grand Old Time. Actually she came to visit a dentist, but seeing me was a plus! We did squeeze in a trip to Ashville, NC's Biltmore house (see above ^^^) It is the largest privately owned home in America. They don't allow cameras inside but it is gorgeous. So are the gardens and I particularly love their rose garden. Unfortunately we were there about a week or 2 before their bulb garden would be blooming..still pretty though a bit cold. It was actually snowing there that day! We had lunch at the winery bistro and did the wine tasting and had a good girly time!
I did get to a couple good sales in the last couple weeks and I have piles of things to list. I don't even have all the pictures taken yet! I wanted to share a few of the pretties. These ladies are a pair of vintage shabby Princess and bride dolls. They have shabby finery but are still charming!
I am a sucker for a silhouette. This one is reverse painted. My Gramma had some of these in her home and I think that is why I like them. That and the stark cream and black graphic images!
These are carnival glass. I THINK they are vases without their holders but they may have been epergne pieces. (A centerpiece with a central vase with several smaller surrounding vases in a holder)
I got a slew of fab old buttons.
.. two dozen spools of this old lace making thread on fab wooden spools..
This hat is my fav..so ladylike!
..a cute lily of the valley bandeau hat...
This one reminds me a bit of a matador. It is encrusted with tiny glass beads and pearls and has an elegant veil. I always feel a bit shorted that these type of hats are not common headgear anymore. Although I apparently have a huge noggin and would have trouble wearing the usual smaller hats!
This is an old cast iron sconce. I would paint it white or cream and add prisms (of course) and a candle cover with vintage text..and possibly a glass shade, but then you would miss out on the cool candle cover! It is electric, but you could also just add a taper to the socket..instead of upcycling, would that be "down cycling"?
I always snab these cool old flower frogs when I see them..so cool for displaying old photos.
I love this sewing hamper. I have one just like it in minty aqua. Cool for their original purpose or also they make great vintage storage!
The coolest phone in University of Tennessee orange..go Vols! I love old rotary phones but they won't work at our house with MagicJack (which does save you tons of money btw! I think it was $20 a year for our home phone service! You still have to pay for internet service to run it though) My kids were always amazed by rotary phones when I had them in my former store. They would just stand there and dial away!
A super cool Mid Century anodized aluminum West Bend coffeepot. It works great! I had never seen these before but I guess they also came in red and blue.
Cute hard plastic vintage Easter ornaments..2 little pink lambies. I like sheep and if we ever have enough land again sometime I would like to have them again!
Adorable Knickerbocker Poppa bunny. He is missing his pipe but I'd add a cocktail umbrella or make him a pipe out of polymer clay!
An old paper mache shabby pink bunny. I think this guy was probably a candy container at one time.
Darling old leather baby shoes. I am a sucker for these too! Spring is "sproinging" around here lately and I hope to have some pictures of budding trees and blooming bulbs on here soon, I hope you have a great week and stop back! Til next time! Julia