Photo Tags

This past summer I bought a large box of assorted goodies, amongst the treasures was a huge lot of old 3"x3" black and white photos. After looking through them several times, and no clear plan on what to use them for, I stashed them away. Finally, I had an idea. Photo tags! How cute are these?The photos are of a young newlywed couple. I've got photos of their friends & their wedding day, their honeymoon at Niagara Falls... their new car, their first child....all very sweet. Tucked along with those photos were some that are a little older... I made those into cute tags too.Now... what to do with all the photo tags I've made???.... well, I stamped a crown and the words "Thank you" on the backside of each one.... then I tuck these in with the purchases from my etsy store :-)

Gold Gilt Frame

Look at this fabulous gold gilt frame I picked up awhile back for only $3. It is very heavy and extremely ornate with a light pink velvet mat (which is wet due to the fact I was trying to clean a dirty spot, I hope it comes clean) I love the gold on this frame--- but I just knew I'd love it even more if I painted it white. I slathered the frame willy-nilly with some crackle medium. Waited 25 minutes and painted it white. Once the paint dried, I aged it using some stain. I added 100 year old sheet music to some foam core to use in the opening of the frame....Here it is all finished. I added the glittered "Merry Christmas" sign which I bought at our local Dollar store. Cute. And yes..... that spot will get loaded up with stuff ;-P I've linked up to this holiday party.

Treasure hunting...

I managed to find some treasures this weekend... I am on the constant look out for them....argggh. I just wish the best yard sales had big X's on them so I knew the ones to go to rather than waste my time at the duds! Anywho.... here is my loot~ I got a large lot of souvenir spoons... A tiny assortment of jewelry and a fabric hosiery/jewelry box. I bought two small wooden sorting cabinets. These are perfect for holding small trays of jewelry that I'm currently working on. At a outdoor swap meet--- I picked up this gem. A drill press. Love it. After this photo, I soaked it in a hot soapy sink to get it spic & span. Look at this fabulous table that I bought for only $5! This adorable table almost didn't make it home with me. I seriously have no room for it in my home. Isn't it dreamy.... *sigh*... it does need a little bit of gluing and a whole lot of white paint, but you surely see the potential don't you!! *woot-woot* The gal selling it told me... "You could toss a table cloth over it and you wouldn't even notice how it looks." Oh my goodness, that was the funniest thing I had heard in months. She actually went inside her house and brought out a table cloth she had used on it and covered it--- *that still makes me chuckle*

Pirate loot bags

Over the summer I was lucky enough to come across a bunch of black velvet bags. They were being sold for .10¢ each, I couldn't pass them up.... thats practically free!I used some maps to cover the labels on the bags cords. I'm going to write names on these at a later date. To cover up the embroidered area on each bag, I glued maps to a thin piece of cardboard and cut those out--- inked, embellished with a black spider and of course added some crepe paper trim....I simply hot glued that in place. Taaaaaa daaaaaaaa instant pirate loot bag!Keeping it real....there is always a cat close by lolEight more months to go until the next pirate party~

Playin' shop

My etsy shoppe has been very successful so I've had to create more spoon pendants to list. I'm listing the following at $10 each. I've also lowered the prices on some of the items previously listed, it makes me nervous to have them there and not moving...lol... Here are the latest ones I've created:This pink one is my absolute favorite...A few seasonal ones....Some flowers...Some made using vintage Blessed Mother medals...I am also going to be pulling from my hoarded stash a lot of things that I just don't need anymore. You know, things you buy and haul home only to find you already have 20 of them..... ok, that might just be me. I've got vintage jello molds, antique photos, lace & embroidered pieces, dominoes, scrabble tile.... and I'm finally done holding onto the large lot of gold dresden foil trims... okokok, I'm keeping some of it! I'm crazy--- but not insane!
A big thank you to Tami for featuring me on her blog under the heading...."Awesome Artist Alert" How utterly flattering Tami, Thank you very much!!

New Wood floor

I added some wood floors to the Barbie house I've been working on.I drew guidelines along the floor and used elmers glue to adhere thin wood strips to the floor of the barbie house. Once it was all glued in place, I sanded it and applied a stain to the wood. Once the stain was dry, I sanded the wood floor again giving the floor an old worn look. I then added a clear semi-gloss finish to the newly stained wood floor. I added two levels of wood floors, the bottom level is brick.Now, I'm working on making a fireplace.Barbie is hoping to move into her new home sometime in June...

Halloween Recipe Books

I didn't do much in the way of anything "halloweenie" this year--- although I did get a custom order for three Halloween Recipe Spell books. I had a hard time finding large old books to convert into spell books this year. I come across very old small books all the time, but these ones needed to be able to hold large sheets of paper with recipes printed on them. Cute idea huh? I pulled out some vintage wrapping paper to line the inside of the books.... sometimes you've just got to use the good stuff.Here they are all ready to be shipped out....I hope the gals who received these love them :-)