Magpie Ethel

Thank goodness for women like my sister-in-law!

My sister-in-law is one of those methodical people who unwraps a gift SLOWLY.  She undoes the seams and carefully unfolds the wrapping paper to reuse.  It can drive a person bananas.  Lucky for me there are people like this because this is how I find a lot of my VINTAGE WRAPPING PAPER!   I have an embarrassing amount of wrapping paper stashed away that I use for craft projects.  The graphics are amazing!   At an estate sale this weekend I bought a box of paper.  Methodically undone....some with the original To/From tags attached.  (note the sticker that says Christmas 1954 - this had sat around for quite awhile!)     So a little thank you to Christena and past woman like you....you made my day!                                                    

Handmade flower love

I love flowers.  I love them in my yard, on my walls, on fabrics...everywhere...they just make me happy.  I especially love flowers that someone made oh so long ago .  These beauties I picked up at an estate sale a few years ago.  They were crammed in a golden urn.  I think I paid $7 or $8 for the lot.  When I started pulling them from the urn I realized how many there were, TONS!  Somebody had spent alot of time making these flowers from the colored swistraw ribbon made for that purpose.  (I of course have a big jar of the colored swistraw ribbon, and a direction book, but have never made even one.)  According to my book of directions (from 1965) there are over 40 colors of the swistraw ribbon available and there are an amazing variety of flowers you can make.  Daisies, chrysanthemums, day lilies, magnolia, violets, apple blossoms....the list goes on and on.  I display my collection of these  handmade wonders in an old copper boiler in my front window.  This time of year, when there isn't alot of color in my yard, this little collection just brings me happy joy.

It's a good thing.

I love vintage sparkly jewelry.  I love to wear it and I love to display it.  This is how i display mine.  I took a piece of foam core and cut some fabric to fit leaving a bit of fabric wrap around the back.  I used spray mount to adhere the fabric to the foam core and then hot glued the edges behind to tidy the whole thing up.  I then took two metal office clips and hot glued some old scrap jewels to them.  The office clips hold the foam core to the mirror at top and bottom.  I can put my pins directly into the foam core (and still remove them to wear)  Old clip on earrings clip on the sides.  I also used straight pins to pin some of the pieces on.

I have a long mirror...over three feet, above my dresser and have one of these jewelry strips at each end.  They definitely add some sparkle to the room and make my bling easier tofind.  The second picture is a photo of the full strip...you can see the little office clips at top.  It's a good thing.

A valentine to you...

The first photo is from my kitchen windowsill.   The second is a little gift I brought to a friend who hosted a lunch for a group of gals. 

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Glitter

Pink, turquoise, silver, chartreuse.  A glitter rainbow.  It makes me happy.  Shiny, happy, sparkling glitter.  I CANNOT pass up an old container of glitter.  Love the packaging on the old bottles and containers.  Plus old glitter has a different patina than new glitter.  This is my drawer of glitter...ready for all those projects.  I also have three other shelves full of glitter since the containers are too large to fit in this drawer.  A glittery addiction.  A happy addiction.

Bluebell

This is one of my favorite possessions.  Her name is Bluebell.  I found her at a house in the Hollywood Hills covered in ivy.  Luckily my sister was able to strike a deal with the owner of the house and she ended up surprising me with Bluebell as a Christmas present.

Bluebell has her original paint.  She is wearing a little sunsuit and has the skirt of it gathered up to catch water.  If you turn her around she has a big bow on her sunsuit.  She weighs a ton. 

I am so ready for the rainy, gray winter days to be over with and the sun to shine on my Bluebell.

A friendly welcome ....

I got this awesome vintage frame from my friend Dot at One Gal's Trash.  It has sat in my studio since before the holidays just begging to have some cuteness added to it.  VOILA!   I used vintage newspaper for the background.  The cute little gal began as a single head I got off Ebay...loved her scarf!  A vintage tin child's plate and a little vintage dog game piece round out the scene.  Loved the green of the oversize pencil.  An old typewriter key from Poppy & Ivy is the finishing touch on the gate. 

I think my gal needs a name... any ideas?

Estate Sale Day

Estate sales have been few and far between lately in these winter months.  I hit two today and in spite of a VERY rainy day I didn't do too badly.  The first one I hit was in my neighborhood and I signed up on the list the day before (I was number 7!).  When they lined us up at the door, the first 6 names were no-shows so I ended up as the first person in the door!  OH HAPPY DAY!

I got the most awesome Santa for my collection. (see Dec 10th post)  This cutie is about 5 foot tall and is lit from the back.  He isn't that hard plastic, but is the more brittle thin plastic (he's gonna stay indoors and peek out my dining room window).  I absolutely love him.  The other goodies were in a box of Christmas stuff that I dug through.  I love the orange ornaments...you don't see that color too often.

After hurrying through this sale I rushed to another one that was advertised as having a craft room full of vintage goodies.   I did well there as well.  The majority of the craft items were priced at a quarter...so I just kept tossing things in my basket. Old pipe cleaners, vintage heads, old Christmas picks, shiny bakery paper, vintage gift bags, velvet leaves, pastel colored tiny flowers, a envelope of vintage Christmas stickers.  Tons of goodies.  Was a good estate sale morning.

empty shelves

  Today I had my husband put up two shelves in my studio.  I can never have enough storage.  They were empty for about 5 minutes before I was filling them up.  I hate to have everything tucked away, but would rather have it out in view. (Although I do have cupboard chock full of stuff!)

Didn't take me long to fill them up huh?

Lots

of

goodies!

I love the cigar box on the top shelf where I embellished the lid with an old puzzle that I had modge podged together.  Isn't the woman gorgeous?  A great way to display an old puzzle after finally completing it!