Trash to Treasure Tuesday #2

I found this old baby carriage wheel on a Saturday antique excursion with my sister back in December. I'm not sure why I felt compelled to buy it, I had no idea what I would do with it, all I know is that I found it to be very interesting with all it's rust and I knew I just had to have it (although my sister probably thought I had finally lost my mind!). It's been sitting in my "studio" just waiting to be transformed and today was it's lucky day!

After pondering the odd little wheel day after day I finally came up with an idea of what I would do with it so I gathered some of my favorite vintage goodies and started playing around.
Here's the final product...hopefully you can get an idea of how cute it turned out despite my horrible photography!

I haven't found the perfect place to hang it but I'm working on that too. I've been looking for an old coat rack/hat rack that hangs on the wall...I've been lucky enough to find them every now and then but they're SO expensive that I've passed them by and the ones that are in my price range aren't truly antique (I can tell by the metal hooks!) I'm sure one of these days I'll get lucky...I just have to keep looking!

ATC Holder Progress...

At the beginning of the year I made a vow that I would finally use my 7 Gypsies ATC holder that I've had sitting in the box for what seems like years. January is finished...I've got one more holder to finish for Feb (I know, I know, I've only got a week left in the month) and I got the March "main" holder finished. Here's a little peek (and you'll be able to see by the pictures that we've got some major sunshine this morning in Minnesota...finally!)

Tiny Books Galore!

I participated in Julie Colling's Tiny Book Swap and my goodies arrived today in this absolutely adorable hand made envelope. I wouldn't expect anything less from the fabulous host but she went above and beyond what anyone would expect. All the participant names, book titles and blog names are listed in another tiny book she made for us...see it tucked under the lace bow? I've been thinking of nifty ways to showcase all the books but I think I may just leave them in the wonderful envelope...what do you think? Aren't they lovely? I'm looking forward to reading through each one tonight while snuggled up on the couch watching olympic ice dancing. What a perfect way to start my weekend!Thank you for being such a gracious swap host Julie and thank you to all who participated...your books are little works of art!

Trash to Treasure #1

If you're a regular reader of my blog you know that I love finding little treasures at Goodwill that can be altered in some way, shape or form. And, if you're a fellow collector (eh-hem...hoarder) then you probably are always on the lookout for nifty little storage containters such as I am for all your bits and baubles. I saw this little wooden drawer container at Goodwill for $4.99...on sale for 1/2 price...I wasn't too thrilled with the paint job but figured I could do something to it to make it a little cuter.

I knew I wanted to cover it with pretty paper so the first thing I did was paint it white so the dark blue background wouldn't show through the paper.

Then I picked out some of my favorite Melissa Frances papers, cut them to size, cut a hole for the knob (that was the really tricky part!) and mod podged them to the drawer fronts.

After the mod podge was completely dried I sanded...and sanded...and sanded to give it a "lived-in" look. I Printed out some "No.___" labels on vintage ledger paper and glued them under the knobs.




Then I stamped random shapes and numbers on the labels and...viola! A totally transformed treasure!

You never know what you might find at Goodwill! Happy Hunting!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

A Valentine Surprise

I ordered some goodies from Etsy and Ebay and I joined Julie Colling's Tiny Book Swap so I look forward to the mail delivery each day. Two packages came for me today...my Etsy purchase and something that was totally a surprise. My sweet friend Jessica sent me this wonderfully decorated box filled with all sorts of little treasures... Just look at all the goodies...
This little valentine pendant is my absolute favorite...(yep, still trying to work on my poor photography skills!)
There were all sorts of buttons and flowers and trims and ephemera...and see that cute vintage rhinestone earring in the background?

Jessica, you shouldn't have...but thank you so so much! I definitely owe you.

Tiny Tins

I haven't felt very creative lately...been too busy scouring antique shops looking for tiny tins like these that I found over the weekend. I'm not sure what did it to me, probably watching too much American Pickers on Monday nights. Have you seen it yet? If you enjoy treasure hunting you'll probably enjoy this show. Anyway, I haven't the slightest idea what I'll do with them but suddenly I see them EVERYWHERE! This fabulous lace was so cheap I couldn't believe it when I uncovered it hidden away in one of the booths...I just wish there had been more!
I bought this picture because every single one of the ladies is wearing a pretty snazzy hat...and I love the fact that not one person in the whole bunch is smiling.

And, no, I didn't realize when I was buying it that the cute little white one with the seal still afixed to it was for curing constipation. Maybe I'd better start paying more attention? Maybe one of these days creativity will strike and I'll get some items in my shop! Or maybe I'll just go hunting for more tiny tins!

Mr. Owl

Isn't Mr. Owl adorable...or maybe it's Mrs. owl? I found this vintage goodie at Goodwill (I think they know me by name there). It looks like it's probably from the 70's and both my daughter and niece are big into owls right now so I couldn't leave without it! The body looks as though it's make from woven embroidery yarn...I wonder if someone sat there weaving it? I suppose I'll have to take it out of the frame to investigate.

Here is my finished heart sampler (I gave you a little peek in my last post). I'm one of those people who can't just sit and watch TV, I always have to be working on something so this was my latest project. The only problem with finishing it is now I have to search for something else to work on.

Hope you have a good weekend...I'm heading out to do a little treasure hunting!

No Pictures, Please...

Ok...I have to admit that I absolutely, positively hate having my picture taken. Mainly because I never look good, most times I feel as though I look 30 pounds heavier than I am. Because of my aversion to photographs Tom and I don't have very many of just the two of us. So, on our anniversary, while Sebastian was sleeping off his strep throat and ear infection (poor baby) I set up the camera on auto to try to snap a few...as you probably guessed, I hated all of them, nothing was turning out to my liking not to mention it was just downright weird trying to pose in front of a camera sitting on a stack of Wii games. So, it turned into a big mess of goofing off, we were laughing so hard we couldn't breath and we were trying not to wake Sebastian which only made us laugh all the more, I don't think we laughed so hard in our lives. This is one of three that I actually liked and that I'll actually let anyone see...and yes, Tom is wearing his pajamas!And I have to show you the lovely pink and yellow tulips he brought home for me (tulips are my favorite!)
And just a little peek at something I started working on while watching American Pickers (love that show!).
So, that's how we celebrated our anniversary...take out for dinner, a photography session with Tom in his PJ's and American Pickers on the History Channel...what could be better? Maybe when I get that "new" summer anniversary date we'll celebrate more appropriately!

Anniversaries...

Today is Tom's and my wedding anniversary. I'm not certain why I chose February 1st for the "Big Day"...it's really an inconvenient date for us, there's always something preventing us from celebrating (usually Tom's out of town for the Super Bowl) and really, most years the day just comes and goes with very little fuss...I wish I could go back in time to see what I was thinking??? Not only is the date itself inconvenient but the weather is the worst it can be...that last week in January is historically the coldest week of the year in Minnesota with temps plunging below zero and windchills that get into the negative double digits...so again I wonder why would a girl choose to get married in the dead of winter? Hmmm... Anyway, this anniversary isn't going to be any different than the rest...I had to take the day off work to bring Sebastian to the doctor, we were pretty sure last night that he had an ear infection...turns out he not only has an ear infection, he has strep throat too. That'll put a little damper on the anniversary festivities (but the good news is he's feeling much better now that he has antiboitics!)...and, to get back to that whole Minnesota weather in February...it's snowing like crazy right now! Better have Tom order take out for dinner...we won't be going anywhere!
Speaking of Anniversaries, I fould this picture at a "flea market" yesterday and just fell in love with it! Looks like this happy couple (or not so happy couple?) is celebrating an anniversary. I love all the flowers...and...did you notice the weather? Yes, looks like this girl was smart enough to get married in the SUMMER! I wonder if we'll have the same sour expressions on our faces when we get that old? Although we may have to renew our vows soon...and we'll definitely do it IN THE SUMMER!I love you Tom!