Christmas Wonderland!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged. I couldn't go without showing you some of my Christmas decor. I have my white tree...this year I added big silver stars to the tree...I've always has little ornaments, so I wanted to do something a little different this year. I also am borrowing a tree from my friend Tesa. It's super gaudy pink tree that came from a beauty salon from the 1950's. I love it so much...I may have to buy it from her. Too fabulous! I bought a small aluminum tree this year off of ebay. Of course I'd love to buy a bigger one, but this one will have to do for now. Maybe someday I'll just have a room all decorated with vintage Christmas trees...LOL. I plan to blog some more this week...I have an awesome jewelry tree that I also bought on ebay. I can't wait to show that off!

Fun Halloween Decor

Halloween is right around the corner. I don't do tons of decorating for Halloween as my house is very shabby chic and not the easiest to combine with fall colors. I can decorate my kitchen/dining room because it is yellow and white. I decorate with all kinds of fun stuff above my cupboards including garlands, rusty items, chippy white arch. items, pumpkins, etc. I love using creepy doll heads, black cats, and creepy looking owls. It is so funny using owls...I never wanted to be the lady who collected owls and now I love finding ones that can go with my Halloween decor! I wanted to leave you with some pictures of the decorating I did do for the season. Thanks for coming by........

A Blinged Out Belt Buckle

Sorry that I've been missing again people! September has been a crazy month for me. I'm hoping October is a little less busy. For my birthday I went to MN for Junk Bonanza. It was so much fun. There was tons of eye candy...lots of fun jewelry and lots of re purposed junk. My friend Lisa and I made a weekend of it. We also went junking in the cities (Minneapolis, MN). We stopped in Mankato, MN and hit the thrift stores there too. Lisa and I both lived there at the same time (not far from each other), but never met. We met here in Sioux Falls at a Junk Fest. We had so many laughs and so much fun. Thanks Lisa for the awesome time!
I wanted to show you a blinged out belt I recently made. These are so pretty...makes me wish that I could wear a belt! Hope everyone is well. I will really try to be better at blogging this fall!

Home Sweet Home

School's in full swing and the kids are all back. Can you believe Ashton is a sophomore, Colewyn is an 8th grader, Hayden is a 4th grader and Westin is a 2nd grader? The time is going by so fast! It's me and McKale at home, so it has been very quiet! We did a little junkin today, but didn't find much. But it was nice to get out and be out of the house for a change!
I wanted to show a few pictures to you of my "Home Sweet Home". Most of it is still a disaster, but I have a few places yet I can photograph. The first picture is my corner of paintings, baskets and my antique dress form. She is wire and I have lights in her to make her like a lamp. I also found this crewel embroidery picture. I often see one's that are more autumn colors. It was nice to find this one in pinks! I love it!

A New Necklace

I guess my summer has consisted in making jewelry...LOL. This is the newest piece I have made! I started a new Etsy shop that is for my handmade stuff only. I wanted to name it after my niece Vaedah, so I am calling it Vintage Vae Elle Designs. If you have time please check it out!

Some Pretty little things

I've been so inspired lately to make things. I have let the house go (I'm mean come on...5 boys home for 3 months...you would too)...and I've been creating. I found a blog that just inspires me. It's called A Fanciful Twist and it is so wonderful! Vanessa has so many wonderful ideas on the blog, and she is so generous to share them. Today I tried some of the bracelets that she posted about. Who knew cereal boxes could be made into such pretty things? I am sharing a picture with you of one that I made today. I have made four of them...each is so different and unique. I can't wait to make these for Christmas gifts...tailor made for each person. So unique, green and inexpensive! Hop on over to her blog and check it out. I'm also leaving you with a picture of my candlelit night. We are having thunderstorms here, so it's a great reason to light the candles.

http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/a_fanciful_twist/

Pretty projects

Oh my, does summer keep me busy! I'm just trying to survive with kids home. That's means a constantly messy house and spending my life savings on groceries for these 5 growing boys. I just can't seem to keep up, and that is my excuse for not blogging.
I am squeezing a few projects in to keep my sanity. Today I am working on initial pendants. I charge $5 each and they are good sellers. so I thought I would try to get some made up. The other thing I made today is a necklace with a spool decoupaged with book pages and a vintage imagine. I also used beads with sentences decoupaged on them. I ripped fabric then dyed it in coffee. I put them all together and also added black buttons. I think it turned out pretty cute! I love it and it is something fun and different.
I hope you all are having a great summer and staying cool!

Pretty White Wednesday

It's days like this that I am really thankful for my white and pastel decor. We have had nothing but gloominess, wind and rain. It's been like this for the month of June. We need the sunshine!
Last week I shared with you my friend Barb's beautiful deck. This White Wednesday I want to share some of her inside decor. She has treasures everywhere! Every corner you turn is another pretty vignette with lovely things. Thanks Barb for letting me come take pictures of your home and outdoor area!

White Wednesday

I haven't posted a White Wednesday for a long time, so I decided to post pictures of my friend Barb's deck. I posted pictures of her pretty shabby chic deck before, but these are new ones. Every year she revamps the deck and adds more pretties! Thanks Barb for letting me in to see your beautiful oasis. I sure wish I could have something like that outdoors!

Pretty Corsages

I wanted to share a picture of some corsages I making for Enchanted Makeovers. They are putting on a dance with vintage flair for Alternatives for Girls in Southwest Detroit. It's going to be a wonderful event for some very lucky girls. I used coffee filters, watercolors, vintage petals, butterflies, paper doilies and ribbon to make these pretty corsages. I hope the girls will enjoy them. Please check out the Enchanted Makeovers website. They can always use people to donate time, items and monetary donations.
www.enchantedmakeovers.org

Easter Basket Swap

I participated in Little Pink Studio's Easter Basket Swap this month. I wanted to share pictures of what I sent my partner, and what she sent me. I made her basket out of a vintage pink daisy hat. I used wire to make the handle and covered it with vintage seam binding. I also put cardboard (cut tightly to fit) in the bottom of the hat. I put flowers on each side...one I put a vintage earring in the middle of the flower. I made her a necklace with vintage pink wall paper and a small paper garland that she could use for a small tree for Easter. I also gave her fun spring scrapbooking or altered art buttons, baby pins, and pink rhinestones. I also put vintage pink rick rack, seam binding and vintage pink glitter. She loves dark chocolate...so she got Godiva gems and a marshmellow peep covered in dark chocolate. The final touch was a vintage pink bunny salt shaker and a small chenille chick. I love doing swaps...I love the little treasures you get! Thanks to my partner Tammie Moore...I love all my goodies. She sent me such great stuff. I got 2 doll heads, a lovely bracelet that I assume she made, vintage wallpaper trim, cupcake candle and stamp, a handmade altered art person, a small beaded coin purse, an antique picture, 3 sticker packs, velvet pink ribbon and so on! So many treasures! May all of you have a Blessed Easter! Enjoy your family and friends this coming weekend!

White Thursday

I never seem to make the "White Wednesday" post. For me it will be White Thursday. The bookshelf I revamped about a month ago is now residing in my living room. I am just loving it and all the treasures it holds. I wanted to share a few photos with you that I took today. Enjoy and have a good weekend!

Upcoming show!

I am so sorry my friends that I have been an absent blogger. I had a little mini vacation last week where I got to see my best friend. We haven't seen each other for 18 years because she's been living in South Korea for the last 5 years. She and her husband are missionaries over there and before that they were in Georgia. After all this time it was fun to finally see her and a bunch of my other friends from highschool and my old youth group. I even got to see my old youth pastor and his wife. We also attended his church that he planted about 7 years ago. It was such a great trip. It was like I was a teenager again. We even had 2 slumber parties. I also scored some fun things for my upcoming show this Saturday! For those of you in the Sioux Falls, SD area...it is this Saturday April 2nd from 9 am to 4 pm. It is out in Brandon, SD at Robyn's Nest. We will have lots of fun spring goodies, one of a kind pieces and junk rethunk. Come join us for a fun day of shopping. Directions: The sale will be at 48077 265th Street, Brandon, SD. Take East 10th Street to Highway 11 North and then take a left and go 1 1/4 miles and take a left on 265th Street. I promise to be back soon with more fun finds and decorating fun!

Easter touches

I have been working on a few projects for Easter time. I made some eggs out of pieces of quilt I had left. They are definitely not perfect, but I tried! I think they are cute anyways! I also have some pictures of bunnies that I have put around my house. I don't have lots of Easter decorations, and I prefer vintage. They are so hard to find cheap...and I don't pay antique store prices for stuff! Have a great week everyone!

Chippy Cottage Charm at the Flea!

This past weekend I was at our local flea market set up and selling my "cottage goods". Unfortunately sales were not what they were last month. I don't get it...last year in March I sold so much. I guess people are pinching their pennies! I wanted to share some photos with you of my setup. It takes so much work and I am beat. Thank goodness I don't have another show until the beginning of April! Have a good week everyone!

French Shabby Shelf Project

I'm getting ready for a show this Saturday, so I've been working like a madwomen to get things done. Yesterday McKale and I took a break and headed out to a couple thrift stores. I found this awesome scrolly shelf. Now of course I forgot to take before pictures...that's how I roll. This thing was a really ugly orange color. I knew that I could transform this piece and make it one of a kind. So yesterday between kids and youth group...this is what I did! I love the look. I used old book pages on the back part of the shelf. I'm thinking it's very french shabby chic! Of course I want to keep this one, but with no room in my house-off to the sale it goes! What do you think? I love it so much. It is amazing what you can do with a little imagination and elbow grease!
PS...go out and buy the new Flea Market magazine...I got my copy at Walgreen's. It is awesome! I am so in love with my magazine...it is my favorite magazine ever made!

Pretty curtains I made and more!

I am busy getting ready for yet another show next Saturday. I'm working on projects galore and getting all my pretties ready. I've transformed a boring child's cupboard (Sue...I got that fabric on it from you...fits perfect!) I made a gnome shabby and so much more! I'm finding lots of beautiful linens lately, and many of those will also be taken to the sale. The sale will be at The Gathering Place here in Sioux Falls, SD (Saturday, February 26, 2011 from 10:00am to 4pm
209 S. Spring Ave.) The house this sale is in has been redone, and is so nice. It is available to rent out by the hour, day or weekend.
I also got busy making some curtains today for my kitchen. I just made them out of a vintage pink rose full flat sheet. It didn't take me long and they are very pretty.
If you live around Sioux Falls come see me and my wares at The Gathering Place this coming Saturday!

Pretty Doll Heads

This past weekend went really well at the Benson Flea Market. I sold quite a bit of stuff...ok they cleaned my booth out the first day. Wish I would of brought more inventory on Saturday to restock my booth. I did bring more on Sunday but sales that day were awful. Good thing I sold quite a bit on Saturday. I also found a few treasures that made my day. Some German frozen Charlotte dolls...$8 for all three...quite a steal! I also found some darling vintage baby shoes, 5 packs of vintage pink rick rack, a creepy doll (to add to my growing collection) and some vintage ephemera. I also scored some free stuff out of the garbage and 3 dealers were giving me things. You just can't beat that! Leaving you with a couple pictures...have a great week everyone!

Pretty Things I Have Made

I signed up for a Valentine swap through Sarah at http://mamanjackjack.blogspot.com/ (Makin Projiks). 14 people signed up and had to commit to making 14 Valentines. We sent them to Sarah who will send us back 14 different Valentines. I did this swap 2 years ago and it was so much fun! This year I made these heart necklaces. I started with craft store wood heart discs. I traced the hearts on vintage book pages and covered both sides. On the front I used vintage wallpaper cut into circles. I inserted words that had to do with lovey things. I had leftover Christmas cards that I got at Target in the $1 aisle. I cut out the red bird on branches and put that above the wallpaper. I applied resin on each side of the heart about 3 times each. I used resin on the side of the heart (all the way around) and applied red glitter. I put resin on it one more time to make sure the glitter does not rub off. They were put on ball chains to make a necklace. Kind of a long process, but they are so cute. The ones I sent to Sarah were put in a glasine bag with a cardboard shaped heart made out of more of my vintage wallpaper. I also sewed little lace/button flowers on the heart. They were tied on the bag with vintage red/white trim. Of course I forgot to take pictures of those. I'm hoping Sarah does and I can get a picture off of her later to show you! I have made these six heart necklaces and they are for sale. 5 have silver ball chain necklaces (24") and one has a red ball chain necklace (18"). The sayings are: love songs/From love/had a love/I loved you/to marry/loved him. Each necklace is displayed nicely on a vintage Quizmo card. If you are interested in a necklace they are $15 plus $2.50 shipping. I usually don't sell on here, but these are so cute and I thought maybe someone would like one for Valentines Day or to give as a gift. I also made this pretty journal with vintage fabrics and embroidered pieces. If anyone is interested in that it would be $16 plus $4 shipping. Email me at vintagemama4@live.com if interested. Thanks for looking at my fun projects. I will busy this month with more projects as I have 2 shows coming up in February that I will be participating in. Next weekend I will be at the Benson Flea Market at the Sioux Falls, SD fairgrounds. Come visit if you are local!
PS...Lots of people said they adored my sock monkey...I shabbied her up myself...you don't find them like that. Her name is Maude and I love her!