Thift Store Find- Before and After

I found this awesome desk organizer for $2 at a near by thrift store. It was in pretty good shape, but it was pretty plain looking and it had pen marks all over the inside.

So I spray painted the entire thing white.

I pulled lace trim around the edge as tight as it would go (scalloped side up). And I spayed painted over the lace  with very light bursts from the spray paint can.

I was surprised at how neat the detail turned out. It reminds me of a photo darkroom technique I learned in high school where you plop an object on a piece of photo sensitive paper and expose the whole paper to light. Then when you develop the whole thing you get a nice silhouette of your object.




Here is the final not-so-boring version of my thrift store find:

 

And speaking of great finds. I came across this old musky junk store that was filled with ancient odds and ends. There was old license plates hanging from the ceiling, antiqued silver spoons, worn horse saddles, various dusty jars with wiggly glass and disintegrating tin boxes. There were button jars filled with god-awful ugly buttons from all eras. Old tools to work on machinery and rusted oil cans. There was a lot of vintage Coca Cola merchandise and even an unopened bottle from the 50s... eaw. There was a weather vein, super old trading cards, and steel ball bearings. I even saw a military ID there from the 1940s. The place was quite charming in an "old broken down barn" type of way. I had to get something, so I looked through the spoons. I picked up 3 spoons which had engravings on the back that said "1847 Roger Bros". Just think... who has eaten off of those spoons in their 150 years of existence? I did some research on the spoons and apparently in 1947 the Roger Brothers perfected the silver plating technique and mass produced these puppies. 

Another thing I came across was this old cigar box. For some reason I am in love with boxes, so I had to buy it. The top of the box read George W. Childs. I did some research and found out a lot about this guy. He lived 1829- 1894 and was  born into a poor family and worked his way up to become a successful business man at a very early age (he opened up his own law firm at 18!!!) He excelled in many fields and was known above everything else as being a philanthropist. George W. Childs's Cigars were produced in the late 1800s and early 1900s, making the box over 100 years old! 

      

If you would like to purchase this box I am selling it in my Etsy shop. You can find the it under my "shop" tab above. Happy Thursday.

 

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Crafty Dreams

Dreams are important. They are kind of like fuel for the soul, and without them life just doesn't seem worthwhile. A really big dream I have going on right now is a craft studio. I live in an apartment where there is just no room for that kind of a thing. But one day I will have my own little craft cave. I have a pretty good idea about what I want it to look like. It's going to sound a bit outrageous, but I think it makes for a petri dish of creativity. Ok here goes:

So I would like my craft studio to have a lot of windows and be flooded with sunlight. There will be big trelous covered in ivy INSIDE my studio. I want rows and rows of apothecary jars holding various buttons, beads, and findings. Balls of yarn will dandle off of the ceiling. I want vintage pictures to hang on the walls. The floor will have white and yellow checkered tiles. I want Robin's Egg Blue walls except one of the walls, which should be a pink padded pillow wall that looks something like this picture I made.

Pretty much the place is going to slap you in the face with color. I want a whole bunch of clear plastic labeled drawers, so I can know what's inside, and a bookshelf (filled with craft books) covered in old chipped paint that reaches all the way to the ceiling. Hanging by the window would be a pair of sheer white curtains and a wind chime. Instead of a computer chair there would be a rocking chair. And there would be and old floor lamp with a sun hat for a lampshade. Actually I already have the rocking chair and the hatted lamp, so I can check those off my list. There would be lots of colored glass bottles to catch the sun rays, and small buckets hanging from the walls to put markers and pens in. there would be a big birdcage with lots of chubby little birds. Ah yes... one day.

So I searched around for some crafty studios and I ran across some pretty neat stuff. The pictures below are the best ones I found in different styles.

A country styled sewing studio by Allsorts. 

A vintage styled Studio by Boxwood Cottage.

A Cutesy Styled craft space on Everything Etsy.

 

A glam sewing studio by Heather Bailey.

And my most favorite one: The absolutely amazing somewhat outside Greenery styled painting studio found on Pinterest by Sex for Breakfast.

Happy Friday, Enjoy!

Tulle Bow and Tissue Paper Flower Tutorial

First and foremost: Happy Mother's Day! So lets do a tutorial today. I'm going to show you how to make a flower/ bow out of tulle or tissue paper. This looks great on gifts.

 First cut out four or five circles in your tulle. They don't need to be perfect because you really won't be able to tell.

Then take a circle and fold it into quarters.

Then fold all of your circles like that. Put then all together and twist the bottom. Secure with a ribbon.

Now that the bow is made, adhere it to the present. I tried to tape the tulle bow, but that didn't work at all. So I hot glued it and that did the trick.

You can make a flower out of tissue paper doing the same thing shown above. Make four circles one color and one circle another color. Surround the single color with the remainder circles. You can crumple the edges if you like.

"What am I putting in these presents?" you ask. Well They are my Mother's Day gifts. In this big one is a collage I did of my daughter.
 

This is my favorite Photo I took of Rocky in the Frame. What a playful cutie!

I also made another present for my Mom's Garden. I put it in a box that I paper mached with glitter Modge  Podge (totally in love with that stuff!)





I fabricated a garden maker for her out of an old spoon and some copper.

 

I think it turned out pretty good. I might have to start selling these in my Etsy shop. 

Well have a Happy Mother's Day!

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Share the Love for Spring and Mother's Day!

Well Spring has most definitely sprung. It's the time to say good-bye to frumpy sweaters and say hello to swishy skirts and pedicures. Remember the feeling of your bear feet on grass? Remember sitting on the porch at night time? Remember the sounds of birds chirping in the morning? Well it's all back!

It's such a wonderful time. The lovers are loving, the poets are re-inspired, and life is good. Even if you have fallen on hard times, you can still go outside look at the beauty and smile. It's nature's way of telling you everything is going to be alright.


Now there is a big task at hand: Mother's Day. Of coarse you are already prepared for celebrating with your own mother, but what about all of the other mothers of the world? Well I have come up with a solution. We can't possibly afford to by flowers and chocolate for every mother you see. But you can give them a little something special to show you care.     

 

I made a sheet of these little guys in this pdf so you can print them out on card stock and  glue a cute bow if you want. Then when you are out and about this Sunday you can give them to the mother working behind the cash register at the local grocery store or the your lonely neighbor that just so happens to be a mom, or... well you get the point. So share the love this Mother's Day!  

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