Vintage Christmas

Before the season is over, just wanted to share a few ways that I used vintage items in my Christmas decorating.  After the epic flooding in my basement this summer, I lost a lot of my Christmas decorations. It forces me to take a fresh look at some the the things that I still had and see what I could do with them!

A friend gave me this old coffee pot when cleaning out her parents' home. A perfect spot to "plant" a little Christmas tree. Next year I will try a real mini one and see if the cats will leave it alone.

A bare spot on the wall where I hung my childhood plaid lunch box.

So obsessed with bottle brush trees. I picked up a package of them at Joann's last year post Christmas and scattered them everywhere. I like the look of this one perched on an upside down tea cup.

More trees and a snowman caught in a mason jar. (Made the snowman years ago, one of the few of my snowman collection that survived the flood.)

I had to toss all the Christmas wreaths that were stored in the basement. Here is a new one I put together using some thrift store sweaters I had stashed away and and some vintage buttons.

I sadly lost most of my vintage ornaments from my grandmother - the water melted the paint right of the them. Wish I hadn't tossed them and kept them as a plain silver color, but was so overwhelmed at the time with trying to save things.  A few were left, and I went out this December to antique stories to try to replace a some of them with some similar ornaments. Put them in a bowl under a tinsel tree.

I added a few red dishes from the dollar store to my stack of blue dishes. The mason jar has a solar light top that I discovered at Michaels - I'm definitely getting more of them!

I also bought a bunch of these cute little frames at Michaels at their dollar spot.  My brother recently scanned all of our family slides, so I added a few photos from when we kids. Will do more of these for next year. 

A few years ago I made some faux mercury class candle holders out of thrift store dished.  Mixed them with a pretty door knob. Put a few bottle brush trees in bleach to turn them white. One of my cats loves playing with these trees and I keep finding them on the floor, thus the wonky shape.

More vintage postcards. Twisted wire as holders in a salt shaker and in a door knob.

And speaking of cats, they did much better this year at staying out of the Christmas tree (at least while I was watching) but they still both had to check it out when I first put it up.

I hope your Christmas was wonderful! God's blessings to all!

Vintage Tablecloth Bed Canopy

So I had a little fun last week creating a canopy for my bed out of two vintage tablecloths.  I thought it turned out rather cute!

I was inspired by this display at Ikea.  I have the same bed and loved how they draped the fabric to make a simply canopy.

I sewed two tablecloths together.  I took the fringe off of an old chenille bedspread that I had cut up for other projects and basted that onto one edge.  I used inexpensive curtain rods from Ikea and pipe clamps.

The ceiling is slanted where the wall paper starts.  Simply tucked the clamp in behind the paneling here without a screw.  Next summer hope to take down the wallpaper and paint the pinewood paneling white.

I added old white shutters on each side.  I recently bought matching night stands from Meijers which flank each side of the bed.

And a few of my key necklaces hanging on the shutters.

Another look - the pillows are also vintage hankies and fabrics.

Things I bought at IKEA that I really Didn't Need

I know you've done it too, so don't judge me!

Blue and white dishes - to add to my collection, can't resist any blue and white dish!

During the summer, I plan one trip to Ikea just for fun.  Usually I have a list of things I am looking for, but typically end up with things that are completely different, just because they are cute and such good prices.  I try to go right at 10 am when they open - great parking, no crowds, and this time no line to check out!

White enamel colander - only $9.99, will use for fruit.

Cobalt blue serving bowls - $1.99, will go great with blue and white dishes!

Small Ribba frames with mats, price recently reduced to $1.99.  Have a clever project in mind for this!

Scented candles in glass holders - only $1.99!

Actually bought some of these lacy metal candle holders last spring, but picked up a couple more for outside because they make such a great light pattern in the dark!

Cute pillow, but really doesn't match the couch, might return.

These stencil stickers because....

I want to do this to an old dresser!

I've been trying to find a new bolster pillow for months.  This is a new addition at Ikea - think I bling it up a bit with some vintage fabric!

I didn't find the kind of shelves that I was looking for, but just had fun looking around.

Chalkboard Door

I've recently done some painting in my dining room.  One of the changes that I made was to change an ugly brown door to the upstairs into a chalkboard door.  Below is a "before" picture of the door.


 I used Valspar chalkboard paint that I purchased at Lowes.  I first put multiple coats of Rustoleum Magnetic Paint as a base.  I never could get the magnetic paint to really work - after about 4 coats it would hold a very light magnet, but not a piece of paper under the magnet.  It also left a very rough surface for the chalkboard paint.  This week I added several more coats of the magnetic paint and sanded it smooth, but most magnets still aren't sticking.  Then I covered it with another coat of chalkboard paint.  The chalkboard paint works great, so my advice is to skip the magnetic paint!

Anyone who knows me knows I love all things Apple, so this was my first drawing!

Today I made this inspirational message.   It's not perfect, but I love it!

I love having the challenge of coming up with ideas that will inspire and encourage me.

Here's a little closeup - I did get a few vintage button magnets to stick, so I used them as "dots" to embellish the drawing.
I've been somewhat obsessed recently with all the clever ways people are creating chalkboards.  If you want to see some more ideas, check out my Pinterest Chalkboard board!




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Black and White Photo Gallery

My new photo gallery in my living room using photos from my summer travels printed in black and white.

I used a combination of cheap frames from Target and the dollar store.

The larger photos are Celtic crosses taken in Ireland.

The smaller are shots of the Eiffel Tower.  (Lots of editing done using the Snapseed app to add drama!)

This was one of my favorite photos from Ireland.  I love this cross, the angle, and the dramatic sky!

The small photos are statue close ups, mostly from the Vatican Museum printed in a slightly grungy sepia.  There's a larger silhouette of a tower and gargoyles of Notre Dame in Paris against puffy clouds.

This photo of me taking a photo was taken by my good ADE friend, Jim, and is my favorite! (Thanks, Jim, for catching this moment!)

I think it is brilliant - the light outlines my body with a warm glow.

My arm echoes the point of the Gothic arch.

It reflects my passion for my Christian faith, my love of being creative, and how my heart is filled by travel.  I look at it every day and it reminds me how blessed I was to have such an amazing summer!

Decorating with Winter Bling!

I have officially "deChristmased" the house, but have left up a bit of glittery winter bling to brighten the grey days ahead!

A bit of greenery, white berries, and a broken pearl necklace.

A snowflake with a vintage clipon earring.

My bathroom shelf with cute Pottery Barn jar (thanks Jenni) and tiny olive oil shampoos from Florence, Italy.

A gargoyle with winter berries and greenery.

Do you do anything to brighten your house after the Christmas decor is gone?

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Inside the Postcard Train Case

So are you curious about what is inside?


So I've seen several blogs that show how they use vintage train cases to store all their craft goodies - here and here. So I organized my tangled mess of jewelry findings (should have taken a "before" picture, it was bad!) - wire and clasps and charms and tools - into this beautiful collection.


The top tray lifts out, and there is more underneath. I can easily find everything instead of digging through piles of little plastic bag. Plus, it just looks cute! It certainly makes my jewelry making easier when my supplies aren't in a mess! You can check out all of the suitcase photos here at Flickr.

Postcard Train Case

Ever since seeing these train cases covered with a collage of vintage papers, I have been searching for old train cases at the goodwill store. I finally found a couple last fall. Here is one of them - bland and beige. It sat for several months while I waited for the right inspiration - I finally decided to scan my vintage postcards to use to cover it. I thought it would go along with the map collage suitcase I made a while back. I printed them in sheets in a 2 x 3 inch size using a laser printer (so the colors wouldn't bleed). All of the postcards represent places that I have traveled to.


I cut them into sections and applied matte Mod Podge with a brush to adhere them to the suitcase. After that dried, I covered the entire surface with several coatings of Mod Podge.


Tada! The end result:




Tomorrow I will show you what is inside!