Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop - April

Welcome to the Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop for the month of April. This month's theme is "Handmade Flowers" with an added challenge to create with things around the house. A perfect combination that is dear to my heart. I started looking through my stash and came across something I had been saving for a "someday" project, the pretty fabric bag that held my shabby chic duvet cover.

The finished project is a canvas tote decorated with the Tattered Floral Sizzix die. The lining of my bag is the intact duvet cover bag {see the floral bag below}. For the outside of the bag, I used leftover painter's drop cloth from previous projects here and here. I first cut and sewed the drop cloth to match the size and shape of the duvet cover bag.

Next I die cut some Tattered Florals out of more drop cloth material and applied a little Worn Lipstick Distress ink on the petal edges. This created the outer part of my flowers.

I wanted to use a different material for the center of the flowers to add texture and interest. I found a vinyl bag of decorative sea shells sitting around. I cut a different flower shape out of the vinyl and used Cranberry and Butterscotch Alcohol Ink to color the narrower petals.

I used embroidery thread and thrifted pearl beads to attach the flowers to the bag. At this point the flowers started to look like climbing Clematis. Using Broken China Distress ink, I added a hint of blue behind the flowers to tie in with the colors in the lining.

I sewed handles and then stitched the bag together. This entire project was created using only items that I had around my house. I love doing projects like this.

I hope you enjoyed my Handmade Flowers. Please use the Forward/Back button on the right column to continue through the DCC Blog Hop for more amazing floral inspiration.

This is linked to:
DIY Home Sweet Home, Homemaker on a Dime, Making the World Cuter, Sew Can Do and Skip to My Lou

Spring's First Thrift

It was a glorious first thrift of Spring! My intent was to slow my roll and just check out a couple of sales without spending too much money. And looking back at everything that I found, I spent less than I usually would for this quantity of items.

My absolute favorite find was this wire canning basket with large blue Mason Jars. Because the jars did not have lids they were only $.25 each. The one jar with a lid was from a previous thrifting adventure. And somewhere I have a box of new old stock zinc lids to complete these jars. I saw the wire basket that was used to raise and lower six jars into boiling water in the canning process and I just scooped up the entire lot. Can't you see this as a table centerpiece filled with flowers in each jar!

We also found a lot of pottery pieces today.

The planter in back is by Hull Pottery. The floral frog in front is an old Japanese ceramic piece.
We also found this cool Midcentury Modern Hoenig California pottery piece below. This is a great retro piece in the classic colors of the 60s {think avocado, tomato and mustard}.

Found more Pyrex with lids.

Love finding nice cake stands.

Anyone remember Davy Crockett? Found some milk glass mugs and a bowl.

Found a little plastic Halloween figure to add to my stash and a Thermos in Autumn colors.

Buried under a thick layer of sawdust were these old wooden card catalog drawers. It needs some cleaning but can be a great storage piece.

We found a bunch of other treasures but I wanted to post just the highlights. I have fallen behind in getting items into my Stuff to Treasure store so please bear with me. But in my defense I have been doing a lot of freelance design work lately and even trying to get some crafting projects completed.
_________________

My sister's birthday is next week. I found something awesome for her. If you're reading this and you're my sister then STOP right now because this is a Spoiler Alert!

My sister is a letter writer. Think "snail mail". She collects beautiful old pens and crafts unique envelopes. Last month was National Letter Writing Month and she sent me several unique letters displaying her beautiful calligraphy. So imagine my delight when I found this 100 year old, glass pen and ink holder. There is a date of 1911 on the bottom of the glass. The ink bottle is separate and I don't think I can ship the liquid ink to her anyway. But I thought this pen and ink holder was so perfect for her. The seller was sooooo thrilled that I knew what it was and that it was going to someone who would truly appreciate it.

What an awesome day! I love Spring! Hope everyone had a great day of thrifting.

This is linked to:
From My Front Porch to Yours, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, It's a Very Cherry World, Savvy Southern Style, Stylish Once Again, The Colorado Lady and The Thrifty Groove

Simple Life of Thrifting

I have been trying to simplify my life lately. I've begun by trying to quiet my thoughts. I tried to thrift only things that complimented what I already had or that peaked my curiousity.

My favorite find was a small apothecary bottle with glass stopper, a Ball jar with glass insert and pink Mercury glass spikes. I have never seen a glass insert for a Ball jar lid before.

We found two cigar boxes filled with tintype photos, old photo cabinet cards and some old foreign money.

I picked up a few pretty hankies and an old red bandanna.

More Pyrex with lids plus an extra lid.

Another really cute Nancy Ann {Hollywood Doll?} dressed in a Dutch outfit.

We also found an old 1943 hand-written diary, some old maps and some vintage children's books with fun illustrations.

So far, this has been a low-stress weekend of thrifting. Maybe quieting my thoughts has opened up opportunities for more good things to come into my life. Now I just need to add more items into my Stuff to Treasure store.

Hope everyone had a great day of thrifting.

Thrifting Keeps Me Sane

My life is still in a chaotic free fall and the only thing keeping me sane seems to be my family and thrifting.

We didn't have time for any sales this weekend but we were able to wander around a couple of thrift stores. I love when I can find some old treasures that can be repurposed.

This is an old Jacob and Co. Cream Cracker tin. It is in such great condition but the graphics looked old so I bought it hoping that it wasn't a reproduction. It is actually from the 1930s so the condition is excellent for its age. I love the aqua color.

We also found an old Winsor & Newton Paint Brush display rack. Lots of handy uses for this piece.

The last item I found was this old crow. It is missing some feathers but there are a lot of real crows in my neighborhood and I often find their feathers. A little re-feathering before Halloween and he will be great for a spooky display. Dear Handyman couldn't see my vision but I convinced him that it will be a great addition to my Halloween display.

These items will eventually go into my Stuff to Treasure store, except for the crow, which I need to keep to prove to Dear Handyman how perfectly spooky it can look. I hope everyone had a great day of thrifting. Stay sane my dear fellow thrifters!

A Day of Positive Thrifting

I took Thursday off from work because I had to deal with a very unpleasant situation with a very unreasonable person. But the unreasonable person was acting unreasonably so I ended up with an entire day off from work and was able to attend a really good estate sale instead. {Note: the unreasonable person is in no way related to me.}

I was on the road before sunrise and met up with my friend as we waited for the sale to start. The house was packed and there was just so much stuff to look at. It was amazing. The prices were a little high so I had to be very selective with what I bought.

My favorite finds were several apothecary / pharmacy bottles. I love the large aqua bottle with stopper. The smaller bottle is an old Marly Soap display from a pharmacy.

There was a large selection of Fiesta ware. I think the seller had been an antiques dealer which would explain why there was so many collectibles in the house. I thought this Fiesta Display was unique. It was only available to Fiesta dealers and collectors.

I also found a vintage child's hat stand. It is made of wood and metal and painted in a soft vintage pink color.  I'm not sure if this was designed to slide on to a shelf or if it just looks like it can.

I love finding Pyrex with lids especially in turquoise / aqua. This is the Snowflake pattern casserole dish. Pyrex love!

I found three Milk glass vanity jars with metal lids.

I also found two souvenir hankies from France. Ahhh, visions of Paris!

These great finds put me in a better state of mind. I'm just trying to stay positive in an unreasonable world.

Many of these items will be going in to my Stuff to Treasure store. Also, please check out my new Pinterest Boards for inspiration on ways to display or create with vintage items.

I hope everyone has a great weekend of thrifting!