Vintage

I love Vintage! Vintage inspires me! I love to add vintage touches to my home. I feel vintage gives a sense of history, where we came from.

Here are some of my vintage/vintage inspired things that I just love.

Found this scale while antiquing! Love the color! It was perfect just the way it is!

This piece of tin was from an old building in Denver. I got it while at a Salvage Yard there. It appears to have been in a fire. The back was all covered in soot! I mounted it on a piece of plywood cut to size and painted the sides brown to blend in. A great touch to my home.

BOOKS! I love old books and decorating with them. Whenever I am at a thrift store or pass by a used book store I have to stop and see if I can find a great book. My criteria for finding a book has nothing to do with value. I don't buy things as an investment. I get things that I love. So when I buy books I also try to find books that I may even want to read someday and that look good. I have found many classics and many good informative books as well.

Many items in my house are actually family heirlooms. I got this old bell from my grandma. And this pic is reminiscent of the spring our young family spent in DC. What a wonderful weekend the Cherry Blossom Festival was. This picture I found recently at a Antique store is a reminder of our spring as well as a great vintage touch to my home.

These other items are things I got from my other grandma. This polish doll is a reminder of my heritage and really cute too!

These were items that were my grandpa's the book is from his Sunday school teacher as a child and the tea set and smashed penny are from the Chicago Worlds Fair.

Other items that are great decor and have a special meaning to me.

I love to decorate with clocks! Especially old ones.

This is one of the most priceless items that I have. It has a very personal story and every time I look at it reminds me of that experience.

This old picture was an advertisement calendar from the 40's and My mother's Chritening Dress made by my great-grandmother. These items decorated my babies room.

A little new with the old! I love to mix and match!

This was a great find that I found at an antique store for a steal. I would love many more in my home. The old leaded window look is a true classic. These windows inspire me to learn how to make my own.

This is another family item. In my grandmother's old home in Denver this was her upstairs hall phone. I remember talking on this phone as a little girl.

What all this boils down to is that I look at many "things" in my home on a daily basis I don't just see something that I spent money on or something that just looks perfect in my home. I see a memory, I re-feel a testimony building experience, I look back onto my heritage and on my family's beginnings. There's something to be said about knowing where you came from and revering that. When you are trying to make your house your home keep that in mind. Surround yourself first with the people you love and then top it off with things that remind you of who you are!

The Joy of the Salvage!

Once when visiting my Sister In Law she told me she was tearing down an old house to eventually build on. At that point my heart rate shot up, my palms got all sweaty and I felt as though I just walked into a store advertising an 80% off sale! (You know what I'm talking about!) I then asked her if she would mind if I did a little salvaging before the big event, which was happening the next day. Her response would be like most and she said, "Sure, but there's nothing but junk in there." And my response was definitely unlike most and I said, "Well Yeah, that's what I want!"

So the next morning my other Sister in Law (who appreciates a good Junkin' excursion) and myself took a drill, hammer, some screwdrivers, some grubby clothes and my Honda Oddessy (2nd best thing to a truck-if you have one you know what I mean!) and we went ready to salvage. (I would recommend a good pry bar too!)

Yes, on the surface there wasn't much to get. Most of the doors were hollow core and many of the windows were single pane and really big. We did find some sweet french doors!

I loved the little windows in the kitchen. My mind was reeling of all the fun things to do with them. It was even better that they weren't broken!

You can even multi-task while salvaging!!

When we looked even closer we found may unique items that would be fun to re-use. Look at these great hinges and great clasp on this cabinet. There is a fun project in the works for this gem!

In the back we found a couple of solid wood doors. So many fun things to do with these. We only took one and to this day I regret not getting the other. So when doing these type of adventures if you think you MAY want it, just take it. If you don't use it give it to someone who will use it. Otherwise it's just in a landfill. :(

I even found a great 24" X 24" mirror that hangs in my front room. I didn't even need to paint it!

Our spoils! So the house didn't look much different when we got done with it, but we were very happy with our goods!

Now we even looked around outside and found two old gates! Those are real fun to use in your garden or as a message center in a garden decor room! Never pass up an old gate :) So we fit it all in the Oddessy and notice Mary scored that sweet scallop from the kitchen (were you eyeing it too?) Love it!

So later that day we drove by and the house was going, going, . . . .

Never ever pass up a good salvaging opportunity! I told my SIL if she ever does this again I will make the 3 hour drive, bring my pry bar and do some more junkin'! I don't really consider myself a big environmentalist, but I do believe that we shouldn't let good things go to waste. The talent is in finding the good things!

Happy Salvaging!

Great Spring Things!!

I love spring! And here in the desert spring comes a little sooner than for the rest of the country. I take full advantage of that and can't wait to get my spring decor out!

Awhile back I found this cute wall hanging at Scrapbook Destination's Blog. My friend Diannah duplicated the idea and made this cute and similar hanging. She just cut out her own cone with some 1/2" MDF and used her Cricut for the lettering.

You can go to Scrapbook Destination's Blog by clicking here to see their hanging and get directions! Unfortunately their store has closed but their blog has so many great ideas. Be sure to check it out! Thanks for sharing!

Last year we decided to make some cute spring flower stakes. We made three designs; A daisy, A Tulip, and A Sunflower. They turned out so cute and we would love to share the pattern with you. Click below to print and view the desired pattern.

Click here to view instructions and pattern for the daisy.

Click here to view instructions and pattern for the tulip.

Click here to view instructions and pattern for the sunflower.

Another fun spring craft are these baluster birdhouses. I saw the idea in a magazine and ran with it. I went to my local salvage yard, Al's, and found some great old balusters for very cheap. I also ordered these metal flowers and a 24" X 24" decorative tin from Outwater. For the center of the flower I just used decorative upholstery tacks and painted them as well.

I painted the flowers with enamel paint that you can get at a craft store and used some bailing wire and JB weld to make the vine. You will need some tin snips to cut the tin down and over time the tin rusts and looks nice and old!

They will look great in any planter.

And I have some random old hardware to personalize them even more with my shabby touch that I love so much!

Awesome Autumn Additions!

We had ourselves another fun little craft night for Fall Crafts. So I wanted to share all the great ideas with you all!

Diannah made this great witches boot. I love it. She paid so much attention to detail that really made this craft so fabulous! It is made out of pine. It is 4 separate wood pieces that she also routed to smooth off the edges giving the craft and overall chunky feel.

This spider on the star is super cute! And notice the ribbon is held on with a bead and knotted at the end. GREAT touch!

April gave us these cute tags! These dollar store sketetons are such a great addition to this vintage inspired tag. The great little details include the felt embellishment on the bottom of the tag and a key on the skeleton's arm! LOVE IT!

April also made this great BOO banner. Very simple, and VERY cute! It is just some scrap muslin fabric with a zig zag stitch with "BOO" stamped on them! A great finishing touch for any halloween decor!

Randi and Jeni made this great Trick or Treat banner! Jeni is our resident scrapbooker and her talents really came shining through on this craft. She always has a great attention to detail!

The banner is made from cardstock, scrapbook paper, ribbon, corrugated letters, and ribbon.

The little spiders added to random letters is such a fun detail!

Notice the ribbon that embellishes each of the pennants covering the scrapbook paper seam. The corregated letters are painted and then distressed. LOVE IT! And to protect the paper they laminated each of the pennents before they glued on the ribbon, letter and spiders. When all is said and done, punch 2 holes in the top and string with ribbon.

Traci made the lovely pumpkin flower arrangement. Pick your favorite fall flowers/folliage and arrange in a foam pumpkin. To do this glue in a floral foam block and arrange your flowers. Great way to soften up your home with fall colors!

Okay, April did go crazy this time around and also made us these fabric pumpkins. It is hard for a creative soul to sit still. And we are glad she shared that creativity with us! If you check back to earlier fall posts (click the fall post on the side bar) you will see her very detailed pumpkins as well. But these are great for a bench because your kids cannot hurt them. Puppies that's another story :) But I love them and they look perfect on my bench. They can really go anywhere.

Jill made this hanging leaf plaque. The leaves are very glittery and really add some bling to your house. Jill decoupaged the scrapbook paper on a routed, painted plaque and then glued on the leaves. The finished off hanging ribbon makes this a perfect decoration.

Teresa mad this great wall hanging. She also made this with pine and some misc. thinner wood for the embellishments. The berries and spanish moss area great addition to give the craft anadded touch. What a great fall craft!

Rachel made this Halloween Countdown that my kids love! It is so fun for them to keep track of the days until the great candy feast!!! :) This is made with the 4 X 4 blocks and 8" of 2 X 4. She then decoupaged on the different scrapbook papers and vinyl numbers/lettering. She got the craft idea from Poppy Seed Projects and ordered the kit. Awesome craft!! They have a great wesite that you can order crafts. Check it out!

All in all we had some great fall crafts this time around. Thanks ladies!!

Ode to Hobby Lobby!

(yes I am aware that I appear to be a little too excited in this picture, but I REALLY love Hobby Lobby!

And I got a great deal on these drawer knobs!)

I love Hobby Lobby! It is a little bit sentimental because they gave me my first job when I was 15 and thus released a beast of creativity! I have found what I needed there 98% of the time and I love the sales and prices. Just recently a friend of mine told me about their inspirational ideas on their website and wanted to share them with you too.! So I hope you find some inspiration as well.
Here is a fun little inspiration that they have on their website for fall! LOVE IT! Click Here to see their great fall ideas.

You can also check out their website to see other inspirational ideas by Clicking Here.

GREAT NEWS!! For all of you not fortunate enough to have a Hobby Lobby by you, you can now SHOP ONLINE!!! This is great! Check it out by Clicking Here.

A Touch of Sentiment

My friend Robin at The Swanky Flea made me this cute little Fairy in a Jar.  She is making these cute little Fairies in a Jar for a show in Downtown Mesa on the 16th of May.  I had her make me one for me for my Mother's Day gift to my mom.  

My grandma, who died a couple of years ago, gave me a bunch of baby pics so I asked Robin to make my fairy with a copy of my grandma's baby pic.  This Mother's Day lands on my grandma's birthday so I thought this would be a great gift to give my mother.  Here is how it turned out:

You can contact Robin by clicking here to have her make your own custom fairy in a Jar.  Or if you want a pre-made Fairy in a Jar go check out all the fun stuff she will have at her show on the 16th.