New Old Treasures

I got to spend a little time last weekend browsing through a few junk/antique shops. I came home with a few treasures.

An old doll trunk, pile of vintage postcards, books, tins, and a couple of charms for my vintage state charm bracelet.

A very rusty egg scale (perfect for my chippy kitchen decor) and just a sampling of the bag of buttons I found.

Vintage pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game. I was rewarded when I got home and found the old birthday cards inside.

I'm looking forward to spring flea markets and more treasures!
 

Recent Treasures

I went to a couple of estate sales recently and came home with some loot.

Vintage linens, including an old baby gown.

Dress patterns, cards, and Christmas seals (one of my favorite collectibles).

An old Scrabble game (I'll use the letters for projects), jewelry box, and buttons.

I also found a few old books, including a very old Webster's Dictonary.

I've been busy working on a few projects. Hopefully I'll have some photos to post soon.

 

Thrifty Treasures

My parents have a great little thrift store in their town. When I visited recently, I made sure I had time to stop in and see what new treasures I could find. I brought home a load of my favorites! Vintage hankies, lace trim, old buttons, and fabric!

My understanding husband kept our 3-year-old niece occupied while I scoured the store. She was so well-behaved that I just had to buy her some flexible stuffed flowers she wanted (why these were ever produced is beyond me). Here she is modeling her new treasure:

Thank Heaven for Hoarders

Who else would have kept all the junk I love to buy? Like this 1951 French fashion newspaper. Or old kitchen curtain fabric.

 

My next task is to scan these images and post for you to use.

How about more trim, buttons, and an old jewelry box.

This pretty little vase is marked Bavaria. It's just so sweet! I love using little vases and jars like this as a toothbrush holder in our guest bathroom. The Bingo sheets are heading to etsy. I should put some of the little tins up there, too, but I haven't been able to part with them yet.

Weekend Treasures

We had beautiful weather here this weekend, so we took a day trip out to the country. We had lunch and shopped in downtown Weatherford. My favorite place to eat is the Whistle Stop Cafe. Their nutbread sandwiches are to die for! Then we hit the antique shops and picked up some treasures. Here are some of my finds.

I could hardly contain myself when the lady at the store told me the price on this vintage candy box: $5. If she had 10, I would have bought them all. I collect vintage Valentine candy boxes, and I don't have any in blue. This one is my favorite! I got the vintage Christmas corsage for $5 and the old (very old) buttons for 25 cents each.

No, I don't need more trim, but when I see these lovelies priced at $2 a bundle or bag full, I can't resist. There are yards and yards here. Some will end up in my etsy shop.

More trims and three almost full rolls of seam binding. The little red mushrooms are another favorite find. Again, if they had more, I would have bought them all.

I LOVE finding bags full of odds and ends that a dealer obviously sees no value in. I bought everything here in a ziplock bag for $3. The sewing pattern and vintage Dennison address labels were worth the $3 to me, so everything else is just a bonus!



Be sure to check out the finds at Apron Thrift Girl this week!

Valentine Nesting Boxes

Back on this post I shared a vintage inspired Valentine that I made. I used that Valentine to top a large paper mache heart-shaped box.

I painted the inside and outside, and then started layering on the embellishments - vintage lace, eyelet trim, tissue tape, and ribbon.

 

I painted and adhered paper to the inside as well. I think I'll stash some candy in this box.

I made a second box in a different style. I painted this box and then applied vintage dress pattern tissue to the sides. I made a quiilted heart for the top using vintage fabric scraps and ruffled ribbon.

I embellished this heart with flowers, antique buttons, and an old photo of my grandparents. Don't they look sweet sitting in the parlor? This had to be before the kids were born - I don't see any gray hairs! :)

I decorated the inside with paint, paper, and poetry. And a few sparkly embellishments.

This one is on display with my vintage Valentine candy boxes.

 

Starting an Art Journal

I have not been able to get into crafting yet this year. I finally got all of the Christmas decorations put away, so maybe that will help, even if I'm STILL not finished with my December Daily album. I am up to Dec 28th, so I'm making progress.

I've been wanting to create an art journal, but never got around to it. Then a wonderful friend asked if I'd do one with her. I jumped at the chance and got started right away. We decided to use old books for the journals and swap once a month or so.

Here is my book "before":

I had this thirft store book laying around the house. I used some of my new paints that Husband bought me for Christmas. I started with Unbleached Titanium to cover up that ugly green cover.

I wish I had taken photos of each step. I'm getting better - I took a Before photo. Next time... Anway, I layered on paint - turquoise polka dots toned down with pale pink paint to fade and distress. Then I adhered a piece of lace fabric and started on the centerpiece.

I wanted to use some of my favorite vintage supplies for the cover, and also keep it flat so the book is easy to work in. I used vintage sheet music, dress pattern tissue, buttons, and lace trim. I opened an old hymnal to this page - A Beautiful Life. It was perfect for this project.

I completed one page inside. The book's title is "Sand and Stars," and this cover page brought the image of a mermaid to my mind. I used acrylic paints to cover the text and then added watercolors to fill in the white space. I found the perfect mermaid image on the Graphics Fairy blog.

I further embellished the page with some lace scraps, a tiny seashell, and bits of bling. I want to complete the facing page before I send on to Julie to work her magic in my book.