Magpie Ethel

In Case You Were Wondering.

When I did my estate sale friday post a couple of weeks ago I had found a bunch of those old electric candles.  I mentioned that I transformed them and had quite a few questions about what I actually did to them.  Today I am showing you some that I have finished.

A box of plain jane candles from the sale.  Let me do a little Magpie Ethel magic on them.

Here are a few that have been gussied up.  I like to change out the bulb with a colored vintage one and then add some bling to the base.  I like to use old Christmas corsages and add some extra vintage garland.  I usually try and keep them all in one color scheme.

 

I like the ones with the multiple candles.  They are a bit harder to find, but there is more room to embellish at the base.  They look terrific on a holiday mantle or with some holiday houses.

I don't care that the bulbs are not exactly the same shade of pink, as I am not a matchy-matchy gal.

Cute stuff huh? Some of them will be headed to Etsy when I start listing Christmas.

Oh, and it helps with a project like this if you have a stash of old light bulbs.

I knew there was a reason I have been collecting these old bulbs up when I find them....

Have a great Tuesday.

The Heads Were Rollling

The heads were rolling my way at the antique market in Coburg today.  I got out of bed at 4 a.m. to be in Coburg by 6:30 to start shopping for goodies.  Vintage heads seemed to be calling my name during those wee hours of the morning.

 

Valentines day girls, black cats, pumpkins, snowman and angels called out to me...."Make me into something special and cute...give us that Magpie Ethel touch".  I'll be busy for sure. I had to add some pink vintage Christmas garland to the purchases today.  What is a day without a bit of Christmas?

I also mentioned on Friday's post that I had a few more Halloween pals headed over to Etsy.

 

So here they are and off they go...you can find them here.  And I am off to rest my weary head...4 a.m. is really too early to get out of bed.

Estate Sale Friday

The lack of estate sales today was VERY SCARY!  I did hit a couple - one with a very, very large assortment of unpainted ceramic pieces...featuring lots of clowns. YIKES!

My one lone purchase today was a whopping quarter. 

 

It is marked 1969 on the back and lights up (about 14 inches tall).  Rather fitting for the approaching holiday....and speaking of Halloween.  Every once in awhile I make a little gal that I just can't part with.  This little witch has somehow cast a spell upon me.

I am not sure why she speaks to me so.  Maybe it is her sassy expression with her hands on her hips.  Maybe her tiny size (her head is smaller in scale, about the size of a small gumball). Maybe it is her vintage black and white striped pipe cleaner legs.  I just know that she will be part of my Halloween decorations.

Just a heads up that I will also be listing a few more Halloween gals on Etsy on Sunday evening.  Off to a big antique show on Sunday in Coburg, Oregon...hope my finds are a little less SCARY!  Have a great weekend.

Sharp as a Tack with Vintage Puzzles

I have read that to keep your mind sharp it is beneficial to do puzzles.  Of course the puzzles that I like to do are those that I pick up at estate sales.

I usually have one going at a table in my family room. I may sit down for a minute to put a couple of pieces in....just a little mental break. 

 

I like how the person that owned this puzzle took the time to write in pencil on the box that there was a piece missing.

 

Once I finish the puzzles and am dazzled by their graphics, I hate to return them to the box.  So I often re-purpose them into a new project.

I take old cigar boxes and re-invent the lids with old puzzles.  Functional and cute at the same time.

These are a few that I have made.

After the puzzle is complete I seal it with a couple of coats of modge podge.  Let dry. I then measure the top of a cigar box and cut the puzzle a teeny bit larger than the lid (use a utility knife and a metal straight edge). I make sure that I capture the part of the image I want to use.  

I then use some silver tape that has adhesive on one side.  (I don't have the original packaging to know EXACTLY what it is called, but I got it at Michael's.)  Peel of the backing a bit at a time and frame the puzzle with this silver tape.  Burnish the tape on the top, sides and around to the back to get it to really stick well.

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Sometimes before gluing the puzzle top down I will drill a tiny hole thru the front of the cigar box lid and tie an old vintage bead to become a handle.  I then glue the puzzle down to the top using plain old Elmer's glue.  I add a sheet of wax paper with a book on top of that to act as a weight while the glue dries.

 

I often cut a piece of felt to fit and dress up the interior of the box. I just glue that down as well.

A fun project to dress up an old cigar box.

And a fun way to keep your mind as sharp as a tack!

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

Hallelujah...school has started!

Sewing Lesson - Crepe Paper Ruffles

My daughter has been after me all summer to give her some sewing lessons.  I am not a master seamstress, but have the basics down.  We hauled out my sewing machine and Kate ended up tweaking some t-shirts and figuring out some basic skills.  She did a great job.

Since my sewing machine was out...I had to get crafty.  I had a bunch of old vintage crepe paper cut into long lengths that I had gotten at an estate sale.  Each strip was between 2 and 5 inches wide and was BEGGING to be made into ruffles.

BEFORE - crepe paper strips:

 

I just took each long strip of crepe paper and sewed it down the center with a basic stitch.  I pushed the paper thru with my fingers on each side to give the ruffle effect.  It is SUPER SIMPLE.

 

Voila!

 

This is a really addictive craft...just watch your fingers.

 

These are ready to be put to crafting use.  Plus it is a great way to recycle crepe paper.

 

I love the colors in these ruffles!!!! Hope you had a productive labor day weekend - I sure did.

Shhh...It's a Secret.

My sister in law Christena is having her birthday party tomorrow.  She has three sweet little girls who I love to pieces.  Often when I have holiday craft shows Christena will show up with the youngest in tow (who isn't in school yet) and bring me a sack lunch.  Christena has always loved my crafts and her little girls think my studio is one of the coolest places on earth. 

For her birthday I decided to make her a very special gift.

I asked the girls what their favorite colors were and did their outfits in those colors.  The vintage letter game pieces represent the first letter of each of their names.  I love how it turned out and think it will be a special gift.

The black stand and glass cloche were purchased from Home-Goods awhile ago. I bought them with this project in mind.  I thought the stand needed a little more height so I glued old wooden spool legs on the bottom of the metal piece.

I hope she likes it....I know I had fun making it!

Estate Sale Friday

Holiday weekends usually don't yield many estate sales and that was true today.  I only hit one....and got a couple of things.

Poker chips and playing cards.  If you have been hanging around my blog for awhile, you know I always seem to pick these up.  You may have thought I was some amazing card shark poker player!  Sorry to disappoint, but I use the poker chips in crafts - here is my stash.

And those playing cards join my collection that never seems to stop I'm picky tho, as graphics are important on the decks.

The weather people are predicting a very rainy weekend for us here.  I am ready for a change in the weather. And now with my FAVORITE FIND today, I am MORE than ready.

I'll just snuggle up here.

Yes, my own fake vintage holiday fireplace.  It is taller than I am and is about three feet wide and made of a heavy cardboard. We don't have a fireplace in the family room, so it may become a focal point during December in that room.

Original box touts "3 dimensional realistic yule log and andiron set, bulb, action flame spreader, cord, socket and plug.  I'll plug it in tonight and see just how realistic it is.

The directions had not weathered time well and I had to fudge assembly somewhat.  It took me awhile to put together.  Luckily, my dad is an engineer and I inherited a little of that mindset from him.

Hope you all have a nice, cozy holiday weekend!

Give Me an "O"

"O" for Organization!!!  When I show my estate sale finds I can often hear you whispering..."Where in the world does she put it all?"  Luckily I am pretty organized...on a scale of 1-10, I would give myself and 8.

I am going to show you some of the tips I have to keep things in order in the studio.

First, there is the obvious - glass jars.

Then there are the ugly plastic storage bins.  They just fit too neatly up on the top of my cupboard not to use them.  I have them labeled with tags that I just printed out on paper I cut from manila file folders. 

 

The tags look like old flashcards.

I tie little circular tags to knobs and tie with cute ribbons.

Sometimes I will label the drawer with a vintage label from something inside the drawer.  The drawer below with the old crepe paper label is full of that very thing!

 

Cigar boxes are labeled.

 

Sometimes in addition to a tag that is stuck onto a tin with a magnet, I will hot glue one of the item on a magnet as well.  I did this with this can that holds old buckles.

This old wooden box obviously holds cards of buttons.

The round tins that I am forever collecting become a tall tower. I hot glue old bingo pieces to magnets and then label each can with a little paper tag secured with the cute magnet.

Even suitcases used for storage have tags hanging from their handles.

No guessing what is in this tin.

 

Here is another example of putting an item on the outside of a tin for quick identification.

Just a little insight into my organization madness...

there really is a spot for everything!