Sunday, August 25, 2013

Precious Jewish Rabbi and Madonna Head Vase

A couple of days ago I had a few minutes to burn before seeing one of my clients and decided to go into the local Salvation Army thrift store. I rarely get a chance to go into this store, as I only get to this area when I provide therapy for this particular client and I don't normally have extra time. I was hoping to find some religious figures to use in a vignette.

 

Fortunately for me, I found this unique Jewish Rabbi. He stands about 15 inches. He is somewhat muted in his appearance, it is not the quality of the picture. He is marked Austin Products on the back. I absolutely love him.


I was very blessed to find another item to add to the vignette, this beautiful Madonna head vase. Her colors are stunning and her face is very dear.



The brief trip into the Sally Ann thrift store netted two very nice finds. I was refreshed and joyful as I went to see my client. God is good.

Here they are in the vignette. Sorry for the picture quality, the lighting in this area is not the best. By the way, the Smith-Corona manual typewriter was $2 at my local Goodwill Bargain Barn. Can't score better than that.




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Sunday, July 7, 2013

Settled in Florida and Back to Creating


 Wow! Its been a long time since I posted, but I have a somewhat plausible excuse. I was offered a job in Florida the Monday before Thanksgiving and was asked to come ASAP. Well that meant getting on a plane, leaving all of our belongings and finding a place to live within one week from Monday. The least expensive flight was on Thanksgiving Day. My husband and I left earlier than normal for the airport, as that was only shuttle available at such a last minute.Fortunately for us we had plenty of time to waste, as the shuttle that we were on got a flat tire about a third of the way to the airport. We had to wait about an hour for a new shuttle to come and retrieve the passengers and all of the luggage. Many of the passengers missed their flight.Tempers were pretty high, as many of the passengers had loved ones waiting for them so that the family could partake in the traditional Thanksgiving meal. As for my husband and I, we had our Thanksgiving meal sans our two sons and their girlfriends, at the TGIF in the Atlanta airport. We arrived at our hotel in Cape Coral at 2:30 am, having landed in Tampa about 3 hours earlier.

Our youngest son (turned 19 the Saturday after Thanksgiving) took care of our house and two Great Danes. My husband and I started looking for a place to rent in the Port Charlotte/Englewood area, as this was going to be my homebase for my new job. God is amazing, we found a home to rent and couldn't have asked for a better landlord and the company that I work for, is amazing as well. We ahd our car shipped right before Christmas. After the first of the year we had our youngest Great Dane shipped from the Seattle area to our home in Port Charlotte, Florida. The van driver took amazing care of our baby and he arrived safely after 6 days of travel, just ahead of the nasty, blizzard weather that seemed to blanket the midwest for most of the winter. This company specializes in transporting animals, which for us was a blessing, as it is NOT recommended shipping by airplane a large dog due to bloat. My husband went back to the Seattle area in February to get our house ready to sell.


 Our household items are still in Seattle and will not be shipped until our house sells. But for now I am content with my dog, car and the things that I am able to find here and there for a song and a prayer.

Here is one project that I have been dreaming of for awhile. I found the birdcage at Goodwill for $4. I took the bottom off and tossed it. Then I spray painted the birdcage. The hardest part was finding a chandelier to fit inside the birdcage. This is not the exact chandelier, the one that I used had 3 lights and this one has 5, but other than that it is identical. I took the chandelier apart and then spray painted the light part the same color as the birdcage.

 
My husband hung the light on the front porch, saving the old nasty fixture so that we could put it back up when we are done renting the house.

Viola! Just what I imagined and more.....


Let there be light!



Enjoy till next time and I promise that I will not take so long between posts!







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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Thinking About Our Friends in the Path of Destruction




 
As I sit and ponder the devastation that has occurred in the last 24 hours to our Atlantic Coast friends, I am grateful that one day in the near future the power will be restored and lives can begin getting back to some sort of normalcy.


It seems surreal (especially to me as I sit on the Pacific Coast and only have to worry about a little chilly gray rainy day) that so much damage can occur from one moment in time.




May each of you that have been directly affected yourself or have family affected know that your neighbors across the country care and are praying for safety, health and comfort.


(I share these photos from the beach, as they remind me of starting fresh after a disaster.)
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Friday, October 19, 2012

Beach Cottage Decor Bottle Upcycle

I am a lucky gal, as my husband saved a Blue Sapphire Gin bottle for me thinking that I might be able to put it to good use and he was right. My heart was a patter, as I knew that this color would be just right for a beach cottage look.

I soaked the bottle, scraped with a scraper and finally used Goo Gone to remove the sticky label, removed the cap and used wire cutters to remove the ring that kept the cap sealed prior to opening the bottle. Unfortunately, the side of the bottles has raised print formed into the glass, but it is small and not obtrusive.



When we went to the beach (Ocean Shores, WA) a couple of weeks back - yes you can drive on some beaches in our Washington, as it is an extension of the state highway.





 I stopped at a gift shop that carries beach souvenirs and purchased a few bleached starfish in different sizes to add to my craft supplies. One of the starfish would be just right for this project. 

 
Sand was added to the bottle for a beachy look. I fit the bottle with a cork, gouged out a cavity to fit an arm of the starfish, hot-glued the arm in place and wrapped the neck of the bottle and top of the cork in small bridal trim pearls, hot-gluing done as I wrapped.


An easy peazy project. I also made one with bling; don't have a picture on that one but just imagine vintage clear rhinestone chain in place of the pearl trim. It was beautiful and sold immediately after placing in my shop. 


You can see the raised print in the glass in the picture above. Luckily, only on two sides, so it does not distract from the essence of the bottle.


Enjoy and try this, you won't be disappointed!


This week Shabby Gr8 Dane will be partying with:









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Monday, October 15, 2012

Dreamy No Sew Angel Wings

I, like others, was attracted to the No Sew Angel Wings Tutorial posted by Dawn at The Feathered Nest. 

 
I purchased the tutorial and set out to make a pair using materials that I had in my stockpile. I wanted the wings slightly larger, so I used my copier to enlarge the wings, but since I only had 8.5 X 11 inch paper, I had to be creative. I got a one side of the wing larger on the paper (the other wing was somewhat missing, as were the tips of both wings). So I cut good wing out and flipped it over on a clean sheet of copy paper and traced it. Cut the traced wing out and taped the two together to make a pair of wings. Voila!
 
 
I am a sports fanatic and made this pair of wings during a football game that I was watching on television. Oh, yeah, the Seattle Seahawks won at the last minute. A great come from behind win. And on top of it I had a romantic pair of angel wings!


 I used curly/crinkled seam binding that I created myself. When I am out thrifting, I look for unopened packages of 100% rayon seam binding (also called seam tape). Make sure that it is 100% percent rayon and not the new packages of 100% polyester. These packages come in 3 yard lengths and I can usually pick them up for under 25 cents. I take take ribbon out of the package, spritz it with water to get it wet, scrunch it up and them place it in the corner of a plastic bag. Take the bag, wad it tight by twisting the bag right above the ribbon and tie it off with a piece of twine or twisty. Let it sit overnight and then take out of the bag. Loosen the wad slightly and let it sit on the counter to dry out. Turning and loosely wadding back up every couple of hours. Easy curly/crinkled seam ribbon for a very reasonable price.


Because the rayon seam binding is vintage, sometimes the seam binding has an odor. Many times you don't notice the odor until you are spritzing the ribbon. If this occurs I take the ribbon and soak it in Oxyclean for a few hours, rinse well and wad it up and put it in the plastic bag.

 
The bling is an vintage earring, cut off the clip and hot glued to the middle of the crinkled ribbon bow.

If you want an easy, quick craft that would be an awesome Christmas gift, check out The Feathered Nest tutorial.

This week Shabby Gr8 Dane will be partying with:







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Saturday, September 15, 2012

An Afternoon of Vintage Blessings

There are times when I visit blogs where the author has posted their weekend finds and my heart is a little envious (shh! don't tell anyone, as a jealous heart is not good, so you see why I used a envious, as it just doesn't seem to relay the same connotation that jealous does, at least in my mind). I know that the commandment says not to covet thy neighbor. (Good thing I am not in Mr Swem's math class or he just might whack that ruler over my knuckles for not behaving like a proper lady!) Aren't we glad that our children don't go to school in the early 70's.

 
I decided that I would go to a couple of garage sales after I was done providing therapy. On the way to the garage sales, I drove by our local St. Vincent DePaul and the reader board said 1/2 off housewares, hardware and furniture. Oh boy, must stop. Found a few things - ironstone coffee pot, brass colored metal finial, ormolu cherub lipstick holder, carte posta wall hanging, metal floral picture frame and wire pedestal basket with braided jute trim.

 
Then on to the two garage sales. First one, nothing. The second one, well what can I say...... my heart was aflutter. A Royal glass keyed working typewriter with its own tweed case, 



a family scale with a large amount of patina,


  a small glass cloche and gray, brown and tan decor balls with a Frenchie type design, just perfect for the jute topped wire pedestal bowl that I found an hour earlier at St. Vincent DePaul.



 Oh boy! did I score today or what? I can no longer be envious, because today I was blessed. In addition, I actually think that this display makes a nice vignette, double score. All purchased for less than fifty dollars.

 

Thank you for visiting. May your day be filled with joy and beauty!

This week Shabby Gr8 Dane will be partying with:






 
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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

From Country Cabinet to French Cabinet



I picked up this slim cabinet at a neighborhood's annual garage sale. The adult son was staying with his mom recovering from surgery and accidentally bumped into the cabinet with his wheelchair. The faux stained glass broke, the better for me, as I am always on the hunt for a piece to doll it up with chicken wire.


As you can see by this picture, someone cut out a piece on the backboard, so off came that piece. Not an easy task and to boot I got a couple of slivers, OUCH!

A coat of Annie Sloan Ambusson Blue topped with clear wax and hardware got a spraying of Rustoleum Hammered Silver.





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