Trash to Treasure Tuesday #4

Today's trash to treasure involves this nifty mahogany hinged box I found at....where else?.....Goodwill! The lid has glass one one side with a botanical print tucked underneath. The underside of the lid has a great old mirror and there are two little compartments for treasures inside. The bottom of the box is a piece of glass with a plain old piece of cardboard underneath so it's not very pretty to look at.
I started by cleaning the top glass, the mirror and the bottom glass (it was really dirty!)
Unfortunately there was no way to disassemble the lid without totalling ruining it so all I could do was cover it with floral paper (it slid under the wooden frame rather easily).

Next I tucked some floral trim into the groved frame and added an old photo of my Great-Grandmother Alice...isn't she beautiful? Love this picture...she even made the wonderful feathered hat she's wearing (I hear she was quite the seamstress)

I added a vintage velvet flower and some blue ribbon as a final touch.

Lastly, I took the cardboard off the bottom (it was held on with a few old nails so I removed a few from one side and slid the cardboard out from under the remaining nails.) I tucked a piece of blue patterned paper under the nails then replaced the cardboard bottom and replaced the nails.

And that's it!

Another trash to treasure goodie.

Inspiration Journal

There are a few blogs that I read on a pretty regular basis, most of which are artist's blogs and let me tell you, I am in awe of the talent of these women. A few of these blogs had posts detailing swaps between these crafty ladies and, WOW, some of the goodies they swapped made my heart race. So, I came up with the brilliant idea of searching for swaps I could join...not the best idea I've ever had...
I found a site that is all about swaps, every kind of swap you could imagine and some you couldn't. So I found a few that were right up my alley and joined in...I took great care to make sure the items I made for my partner were top notch and went above and beyond what was required to make sure my partner was thoroughly pleased with her treasure. Each day I waited eagerly for the mail delivery and my first swap package finally arrived. I ripped into it with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning but when I saw my treasure (and I use that term losely) I think I nearly cried....but I told myself not to lose hope, the next package would contain something magnificent. The next package came and the next but they all had the same outcome as the first...utter disappointment. The last swap was for an altered journal, I figured how could this go wrong? I waited and waited and finally got an email from my swap partner letting me know she would be late sending my treasure. Ugh! When it finally arrived...Yep, you guessed it...MORE DISAPPOINTMENT. The actual journal was nice but the "alterations" were hideous at best (wish I would have snapped a picture or two). So I immediately ripped everything off the front and back and decided to alter the journal for myself...at least I knew I wouldn't be disappointed.

A little vintage lace, a page from a vintage bird book and a few other vintage goodies and the ugly journal is transformed.

I've decided to use this as a little inspiration journal...and needless to say, I won't be joining in anymore swaps from that site!