Antique Swap Meet

I've been mulling over the idea of selling at a few antique swap meets. Often times when I see others selling--- I think to myself that I should be doing that! I think to help get me motivated, I need to start making things to use as display pieces and props. Nothing pulls me into a booth faster than an adorable looking booth. So, adorable is what I'm shooting for.

I picked up this wire rack at a thrift store for $4.00 and figured I could use it to hold some of the necklaces I make. It was originally black, which I quickly spray painted white. I wanted a less industrial look, so I started stitching some muslin to the rack, here you can see it as a work in progress.... Very, very basic and simple, nothing fancy.

 I used a simple running stitch to sew the muslin to the wire. Once the muslin was completely covering the wire rack, I stitched some doilies to it to jazz it up a bit. I also wrapped long pieces of torn muslin around all the exposed wire pieces. Much better...

There are twelve sections to this rack, and each one holds three packages of the spoon necklaces that I make. I think it will look nice set on a table with other vintage looking displays.
 I have visions of a long table with ruffles from the ground to the table top.....

 The first antique swap meet I would like to participate in is next month.... Ruffles take for.ever to make and then you have to sew all of them onto a table cloth. hmmmm... Maybe I'll do wide rows of ruffles? Or better yet, wide rows of ruffles at the bottom graduating to smaller ruffles closer to the table top? Yes, that sounds perfect! I talked myself into it! Now I just need to come across a lot of fabulous inexpensive fabric to use. Painters drop cloths? shabby chic sheets? white sheets?.......

Flattened Spoon Necklaces

Well it was inevitable wasn't it? So many spoons, so many possibilities.... I just had to try my hand at flattening and stamping some vintage spoons and making them into necklaces. I started out by flattening all of the thirty spoons I had recently bought. No turning back, I was committed...

 Let me tell you, flattening the spoons was the easy part. Stamping each letter was a comedy of errors....

Everything would be going perfectly, then on the very last letter..... tragedy--- a double print of a letter! *gasp-runied!* (not showing any of those *wink*)

 After a few mistakes, it was getting easier for me.

 Some of my metal letter stamps have seen better days, and don't stamp so well anymore. The "X" and "O" are practically new and stamp really well.

 I find if I stamp a letter and it comes out half way, I turn the spoon around and the letter stamp as well, and hit it with the 3 lb. mallet upside down. I pull the letter stamp across the area previously stamped until I feel it slide into the groove already made by the stamp.

 I find that I hit the letter stamp towards me instead of straight up and down, so by turning everything upside down, I get a really deep impression of the entire letter. Maybe I should try working on a lower work table??

 I am not to concerned with keeping everything in a straight line. I think the randomness of the letters adds to the vintage charm of each piece.

I have gone over each engraved letter with a black sharpie to really make the words pop--- I see that I need to add some more to some and use some steel wool to take some off of others. To make these is a long process, flatten the spoons, stamp the spoons, cut off the handles, drill the holes finally ink the letters and stand the bur's off and rub everything with steel wool to clean them up. Lastly add a jump ring and something to dangle or glue on a shiny piece of vintage bling. Yes, lots of work goes into each one... and I can see myself making a lot more of these :-)
The top one is spoken for, all the rest are for sale.... $10.00 each. 

Treasures...

I tell ya, it is slim pickings looking for treasures when its cold outside. I did manage to pick up this super cute vanity tray. It is missing the glass, but I just loved the shape of it so it came home with me.

 I never pass up on silver plated spoons when they are reasonably priced.... 

 I did score big on some jewelry. I am fortunate to have a made friends with a gal who sells jewelry and considers all of this stuff "junk" and she sells it to me really-really cheaply. Albeit some of it is "junk" in my opinion too... I can find some treasures in amongst it all!

Time to start poking around in all of that "junk."

big hugs,

Cash Register

I picked up this plastic Barbie cash register at a swap meet for .50¢... what a deal! and yes, I did talk him down from a buck *wink* When you push on the keys it opens up the drawer and says, "Thank you" along with some other phrases. My grand daughter Chloe loves to play "store"... so when I saw this I was super jazzed to get working on it to make it a little more appealing..... here is the before.
Here is the after......I used silver metal tape, blue foil and some funky stickers to jazz it up.

Barbie took to it right away, its more her style now....

I made some tiny charge cards and shopping bags....

I also printed off some tiny money from a miniature printable site and made some silver coins as well....

Along with the cash register, I made a drawer unit to hold things like merchandise and extra shopping bags....

It is actually a small nine drawer storage container that is normally used for nails and screws. That was a dollar find at the swap meet. I covered it in silver metal tape and added stickers to match the cash register. I was going to wait and give it to my grand daughter for part of her Valentines day gift or part of her birthday. But...I think I'll give it to her tomorrow and tell her its just an "I love you gift."
big hugs~

Crackled Frame

I recently was given this frame with a holy Cross in it because it was broken.... 

 I thought it looked a bit shabby chic..... so I broke it up even more just to be sure. *wink*

I used white glue to create the crackle finish on the frame. If you've never used glue to create cracks in paint....its easy-peasy. You just brush the white glue over the frame and then apply the paint immediately over that to create a crackled finish.

 It gives you immediate results which is much faster than the actual crackle finish you buy for big bucks at the hobby stores. After the paint is completely crackled on the frame---- I do take a brush full of watered down paint to fill in some of the larger crackled areas, but this is just a personal preference.

 I also crackled the Cross and glued that to an old book page from 1852.

To highlight the detail in the frame, I added some watered down brown paint and a few bits of torn book pages to the missing parts of the frame.

Now, there is no doubt. It is shabby chic.

Pirate Tattoo Parlor

Today was an absolutely beautiful day to work out in the backyard. After five days of super cold- frost on the plants kinda nights.... 66 degrees felt like summer! I took apart a square gazebo and made it into a triangle gazebo. It is now the new roof of the "Lick & Stick Pirate Tattoo Parlor."

I used outdoor shade cloth for the roof. I attached it with zip ties every six inches apart.... why so sturdy?

Because all the cats in the neighborhood like to hang out at my house... I guess I have the "Kool-Aid house" for cats? Speaking of... here is Chumley sitting atop the pirate ship. He looks like a pirate, doesn't he? 

I am going to give this area a little make over... good weather permitting!

Dream....

I picked up this wooden "Dream" sign sometime last year and it has been a great place to glue on pieces of odds & ends of jewelry that I had....
 I really like how it turned out~

I used hot glue to attach each piece of jewelry...

If ever I need to remove a piece, I can always pry it off with a screwdriver...

I tried to use bigger pieces that I hadn't been able to find a use for....
but now that I'm looking at it a bit closer....

I can see some that I'd like to pry off right now! Lets just say, nothing in this house is sacred..........*sigh* nothing....
This isn't even my cat, I've just been bringing him inside to sleep in my bathroom during the freezing nights..... okokok, I've been feeding him *wink* Oh... and I've named him too... Meet Chumley- but he is not my cat....