Sunday, August 25, 2013

An Old Window & a Gumball Machine

What does a window and a gumball machine have in common?  Nothing really, they are just two of my latest projects!  This weekend I was in the crafting mood so I completed a few projects.  The first one is this window.  I have a lot of these windows and Cody was like "why don't you make something with one of those!"  Okay, I will!

 I took some pages of vintage sheet music, hand-lettered LOVE in them and then burnt the torn edges a bit to make them look even better.  They are stuck on the window with double-sided tape.
 It is the perfect backdrop for my desk in the corner of my living room.  Lot's of natural light makes it the perfect spot to do many things.
 I created some burlap flowers and roses and hung them on some vintage lace.  The flowers have pearls in the center.
 I think I might have to make several of these with other pretty words.  It could really be changed up with the seasons.

This gumball machine isn't the same one that you see in the pictures above.  This one is a small one, it is a Jelly Belly machine.  I scraped off the picture that was on the glass part and then spray painted it white.  I sanded it a bit and added some pearls to the bowl.  That was a few weeks ago.  This weekend I embellished it and made it look even prettier!
 Going through my vintage jewelry collection, I found lots of fun things to use to make it perfect.  Pearls on the top and diamonds on the bottom.  I just love how it turned out!
 I could seriously spend hours going through all that jewelry.  By the time I am done, my finger tips are so dirty but it is worth it to see all of the fun pieces.
So now you see what old windows and gumball machines have in common...they were a big part of my weekend!

Linking up with:
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday
Sunday View: Inspired Sunday
Boogieboard Cottage: Masterpiece Monday
Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday
Le Chateau de Fleurs: Monday Linky Party
The Dedicated House: Make it Pretty Monday
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Cozy Little House: Tweak it Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
  Knick of Time Tuesday
JoJo & Eloise: Project Inspired
VMG206: Brag About It
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesday
Ivy & Elephants: What's It Wednesday
The Style Sisters: Centerpiece Wednesday
Lavender Garden Cottage: Cottage Style Party
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson: Share Your Cup Thursday
Timewashed: Blissful Whites Wednesday
ColoradoLady: Vintage Thingies Thursday 
The Vintage Farmhouse: Creative Things Thursday
Rooted in Thyme: Simple & Sweet Friday
Common Ground: Be Inspired
The Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Jennifer Rizzo: Fabulously Creative Friday
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Sunday, August 11, 2013

My Paris Bathroom

 I thought it was time to show you my Paris bathroom.  So here is a little tour for you.  There are a lot of pictures!  It is so much fun finding new things to put in here.  This bathroom is huge...it would be even better if it had a large garden tub with jets.  Maybe someday.  Enjoy the tour!

 The vanity holds my jewelry and has a large mirror with lots of light. 

 My favorite white shelf is above the toilet and holds a few Eiffel Towers up top and down below.
 The main colors are red, black and white. 
 I put my new table in here and it fits perfectly.  Still haven't decided if I am painting it or leaving it stained.
 The sink has a cabinet mirror above it.  I hung my Eiffel Tower shower curtain down below to hide the storage area under the counter.

 My grandma gave me these wall sconces and they were bright gold-yuck!  A coat of black spray paint completely turns them into something great!  My Eiffel Tower candles fit perfectly in them.
 I got this Eiffel Tower wine rack from a friend.  She had this in college and I always loved it.  When she had it in her yard sale last year, I snatched it up really fast!
 This vanity chair is covered by my Eiffel Tower pillowcase.  I love my Eiffel Tower sheets but they are full size and my bed is queen size so I save them and used them in other ways.  The Fleur de Lis bucket holds hair brushes.
 I got this Paris rug from Shopko.  It's perfect for my bathroom!
 This clock came from Ross.  The frame was gold so I painted it black and it looks so much better!
 This cream colored hook holds a Paris Christmas ornament that I got from Kohl's!
 I made this Paris banner a few years ago and I still love it!
 Some more of my Eiffel Tower collection.  The one in the middle is another Christmas ornament from Kohls. 
 Two glass Eiffel Tower bottles, one from my mom and one from World Market.  The Paris sign is from Ross.
 Excuse the dusty mirror and pay attention to the Eiffel Towers.  The bottle holds white hot chocolate mix and the one in the cloche is yet another Christmas ornament from Kohls.
 I decorated the top of the table with a piece of sheet music, a black hurricane base and some more little Eiffel Towers.
 This little peg board came from Ross.  The roses are bouquets from a friend's wedding.
 I found this scarf at a thrift store.  Although it has yellows in it, I thought it would be perfect in my bathroom somehow.  I needed a window treatment and this worked out great for that purpose.
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Sunday, August 4, 2013

Dream-catchers

 Dream-catchers have always been a favorite of mine.  I love the idea of something catching the nightmares and only allowing sweet dreams to enter my head.  I had one hanging in my window in my childhood bedroom.  When I saw all the beautiful shabby chic ones in blogland, I knew I had to make one for myself.  A grown-up version for my bedroom if you will!
 They really are easy to make.  Once you get the hang of the weaving part, it really is a lot of fun.  I like the randomness in mine, but I am sure that if you were a perfectionist, you could certainly make sure yours were more perfect.  I made this one in whites and pinks for my bedroom.  And instead of weaving beads into the web, I put some of my vintage brooches and earrings on mine.  They can easily be removed or changed whenever I feel the need to change them!

 I used fabric, lace and ribbon for the sides.  I am now on the look out for more fabrics in every color to make more of these!
 This pretty lavender one has a double weave.  Again, I used fabric, lace ribbon and some lilac tulle.  These dream-catchers make great jewelry holders as well!
 I have plans to make one with burlap and twine, among other combinations.  As soon as I get some more hoops and get it done, I will be sure to share it with you!
 I still haven't recovered my little ottoman, so I have covered it with a pretty pink baby blanket and tied a ribbon around it.  It looks so much better and makes the nook look complete!
 My dream-catcher is hanging on a vintage window that I have hanging in my room.  Tonight I hope to have only sweet dreams!
 Remember how I was looking for pool balls and couldn't find any?  I finally found some!  My mother-in-law and I randomly stopped at a yard sale today and I asked the guy if by any chance he had any.  He did!  I told him that he just made me wife of the year!  For $10  I got a set and we played a few rounds this afternoon.  Cody was so excited!
 Cody's parents are selling their house so they are starting to get rid of their stuff.  Today they brought me this sweet little end table.  I love the lines, curves and details on it.  I can't decide if I will paint it white or maybe paint it a different color, like aqua.  Or I could just leave it stained like this.  What do you think?
 They also gave us this old Hoover vacuum.  I am not sure how old it is, but it still works.  I plan on doing a little research to see what I can find out about it.  I may even have to start vacuuming in pearls and high heels when I use this!
Thanks to everyone who visits and leaves me a comment.  I appreciate it more than you know!


Linking up with:
Sunday View: Inspired Sunday
Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday
Boogieboard Cottage: Masterpiece Monday
The Dedicated House: Make It Pretty Monday
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time Tuesday
Cozy Little House: Tweak it Tuesday
Timewashed: Blissful White Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesday
Ivy & Elephants: What's It Wednesday
The Style Sisters: Centerpiece Wednesday
Lavender Garden Cottage: Cottage Style Party
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson: Share Your Cup Thursday
The Vintage Farmhouse: Creative Things Thursday
ColoradoLady: Vintage Thingies Thursday
Rooted in Thyme: Simple & Sweet Friday
 Common Ground: Be Inspired
The Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Jennifer Rizzo: Fabulously Creative Friday
How Sweet the Sound: Pink Saturday
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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Strawberries



 You know how when you aren't looking for something, you find tons of it but when you finally need it, you can't find it anywhere?  That is what happened to us this weekend.  Cody recently refinished a pool table and we needed some pool balls to complete it.  Of course now that we need pool balls we can't find any.  We spent all day Saturday going to yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets.  There were none to be found!  But I found some stuff.
 I found this perfect red and white gingham tablecloth for $1.  It was round and I knew it would fit perfectly on my dining room table.  Of course after I had it on the table, I had to put something in my cloche to pull it all together.  I had a blue paper strawberry container that I put a red ribbon through.  I recently won a giveaway from Sandi at Wayside Treasures.  It was that sweet vintage frozen strawberry container and it was perfect for my cloche!
 I needed some strawberries so I quickly made some out of felt.  This sweet little vignette looks perfectly summery!
 I always wonder what Cody thinks when I put together little things like this and then take pictures.  Clearly he knows how much fun I have doing it because he came home from the store with this chocolate strawberry cake.  He said it would look good on my strawberry table for pictures.  I love him so much!
 He was right, it was just what my strawberry table needed.  And even though I shouldn't have, I had a small piece of cake after dinner.  It was delicious!
 I also found some other fun treasures.  This cute little white server that folds up into a clam shell.  I had seen one at a shower recently and wanted one for myself.  I finally found one and it was already painted white.  Now I have one of my own and I love it!
 This sweet little apothecary jar was gold on the bottom so a coat of paint made it perfect.  I think I will fill it with pearls.  These were both things I had been wanting to find and I finally did!
 I also found some sweet shabby fabric scraps that I plan to use to make a dream catcher.  I see so many beautiful ones all over blogland and I would love to try to make one myself.  Now I just need to find a metal hoop and I know exactly where I can find one.  I can't wait to show you that soon!
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Saturday, July 20, 2013

Vintage Jewlery Overload & other randomness

 I can't believe my luck!  A friend emailed me and asked if I would be interested in a box of shells and some gold jewelry that her grandma had been collecting from yard sales over the years.  She knows I am a crafter and thought I might be able to use all of it.  I had no idea what she was really offering me until I got there.  I could hardly contain myself when I saw the BOXES of vintage jewelry bits and bobs.  I couldn't wait to get home to look through all of it.
 The stuff on the table is not even a quarter of all of it.  I just picked out some of it and have so much more to go through!
 There were 7 different cameos among earrings, brooches, pins, shoe clips, buttons, strings of pearls, etc.  I took the cameos and a few other pieces to display in this shabby shadow box in my craft room.  I can't wait to start creating with all of these beautiful things!  I am so thankful for friends who know that I will treasure these things and put them to good use!
 Speaking of people who know me, my mom recently snagged some more vintage windows for me.  She was visiting a friend up in the hills over 4th of July weekend and saw that they were going to throw these out.  She told them that if they were just going to take them to the dump, that she would take them for me because I love all things old and I love to use them in my crafts.  There are 3 of the 4 paned windows and 2 of the 3 paned windows.  Thanks for thinking of me mom!
 I have been playing around with all of my mason jars and have them scattered randomly around my patio.  Sandi at Wayside Treasures as well as Julie from Idyll Hours gave me the inspiration for the aqua Ball jar.  And I have to tell you that I dropped it on my tile floor and it didn't break!  AMAZING!  I love finding new ways to use jars in decorating!
 There is a little boy in our area that has been fighting brain cancer for 3 years now.  It is looking like there is nothing else they can do and that this birthday may be his last.  His family wanted to make it the best birthday ever and asked if anyone could help make it that way.  I volunteered to make centerpieces and a banner.  I don't have a picture of the banner, but here are the centerpieces.  All I was told was that he liked hunting, fishing and Black Ops.  I can't wait to hear how the birthday party turned out today.
 And last but not least, I helped my mom deliver a wedding cake today.  The bride was a huge Disney fan so there are tiny little Mickey heads randomly placed all over the cake.  The topper is Sleeping Beauty and she wanted the cake to be Alice in Wonderland inspired.  I think my mom did a pretty good job with that!
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