Ahhh...the Day After,..what are you doing today?

When I was small.. it wasn't Christmas that was my favorite day..It was always the "Day-After"..There were always lots of left-overs, so there was No cooking, no cleaning, no chores of any kind, so I was left-alone to play with my new presents. Well that still holds true today. These are my presents from my family, who knows me so well. (not the kitty, Otis just came-by to check things out) lol..
My favorite things have always been vintage kitchen and sewing things. I'm so excited, I cant' wait to try-out my new antique chocolate mold with paper mache!
Also today, I'm looking thru vintage embroidery transfers for a New Year Challenge on the Flickr Group "New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns". a vintage embroidery design must be used to make something to convey a New Year's Resolution. I think I've thought of just the thing..I need a Attitude Adjustment!!..this past year (Or 2) have been full of Time-management, and financial challenges.
My resolution is to start seeing the Glass as Half-Full..Rather than Half-Empty..or make Lemons from Lemonade...anyways, you get the idea..lol. Here's one idea, from Hoop-Love-Transfer-Finds I've found so far for my theme..
I'm still looking for other lemony images for my over-all project, which will incorporate some thrify recycling too! So stay tuned!!This one won't take long! :)

Merry Christmas!!

from my house, to yours.

I Do love a Handmade Christmas!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more."-the Grinch

I do love a handmade Christmas! sometimes its really hard to come up with a handmade gift idea for someone you love,..someone you WANT to take the extra time and care for.., so I would like give my thanks to everyone who posts a tutorial or shares an idea, whether it be digital, online or in-print. even though the ideas are shared to the masses, every creator puts a piece of themselves in their own creation. that said, I'm sharing my latest hand-mand Christmas Gift for giving..Its a art-form called Scherenschnitte or Paper-cutting. Plus it's something you can do that's nearly FREE and make lovely gifts for gift-giving. This was my first attempt at Scherenschnitte. This one is for my parents, and made me think of the song "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". I cut my chosen design from paper I printed with sheet music of the song, and mounted it onto Christmas paper and board. The design is freely offered by the very talented and generous Cindy Ferguson
She has several beginner designs to choose from on her blog. Go check her out! her work is amazing. I am in awe of anyone who has mastered this art-form. Mine pales in comparison to hers..I'm wondering...How on Earth do they get such smooth cutting-lines in the tiniest of spaces??? You can bet I'll be giving this another try.
till next time!!

Spooning

Remember the silver spoons I scored while thrift shopping during Thanksgiving?? Well here they are (a couple of them). Kicking myself for not taking a pic of the ones I've already given-away.

Crafting on Sunday..(is there a vintage Day of the week towel for that?)

A couple weeks ago, I found this planter in a local thrift shop. I thought he was adorable with his mid-century spaghetti trim. No matter to me that his paint was flaking, I fixed him up, and sprayed him with a fixative to prevent further paint loss. I then Gessoed one of my plain green bottle brush trees from that store I wont mention..lol and added lots and lots of mica and glitter. Perhaps I need a few more balls, still I Love my new/old addition to my holiday collectibles.

knotty- knotty..what's in my hoop

I thought it would be a good idea to share my progress here. It gives me motivation and accountability. I'm seriously AADD(for real) and I have a habit of not finishing my projects..(ummm-hmmm)..I know I'm not alone!..lol..
Anyways, this vintage embroidery design is way too great to fall by the way-side. Ive already been working on it 3 weeks.(+ or -) HOLD ON!..before you scoff at my lack of progress, take a closer look...

the snow is made-up of HUNDREDS of tiny french knots, piggy-backed to give a textured surface effect. Am I insane for choosing to fill-in this design, rather than the MUCH quicker outlining methods I could have chosen??...YES! LOL..Especially given the fact that I'm easily bored or distracted. Not to mention I have very little free time in the evenings.
Still, I'm really quite proud with how this is coming along. :) So if anyone reads this, please help keep me focused. I really want to see this one finished. If you would like to stitch this design along with me..My Friend Barb of Vintage Spice and Everything nice, puts out a wonderful little FREE ezine.(yes, I said FREE..lol ) You will find this design in her Christmas edition found at the top left of her blog. Please go check it out and be sure to thank her for finding and sharing her vintage treasures. that's all for now! till next time..

Thrift Shops for Black Friday Deals

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm not your typical Black Friday shopper.
Did you know many thrift and antique shops also had Black Friday deals?
No Traffic, no mayhem, except that which I was part of..hee.hee..check out my daughter and me hangin' with the Blue's Brothers in Dunnellon Florida where we were visiting family for Thanksgiving.

I swear I would love these in my front yard..haa.ha! I was in Heaven! I had a blast and spent very little. I found several winking santa mugs, oops, somehow they got left out of the photo-op..(I had always wanted some of those)
Here are a few more items I scored..Keep checking back here to see the projects that I have in mind for my "new-old" treasures.




And I especially love anything Anthro,these salt and pepper shakers were too cute to pass,(please excuse the lack of lighting) and I loved these vintage tea towels too.
I would love to hear about YOUR found treasures and future projects too! :)

Christmas Ornament Update

For Ornament Inspiration...A Look to the "Good Book"

Over the weekend, this Bible was plunked down in front of me..Hubby says "Hey! thought you might could do something with this".. His sister had sent it, not knowing what to do with it..I peered inside, and oh my..What a treasure!!..deep inside were hand-written pages of my husband's family history dating from the 1800's. There were also pressed flowers, newspaper clippings and political cartoons of the day..I'm sure my SIL didn't know all of that was in there! I'm certainly not deserving to be the keeper of their history.. Literary-wise..it's a mess..but I saw inspiration beyond the tattered pages. It's heavily laden with amazing lithographs, so I've been thinking what to do?? ah..CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS of course!!..here is one I've started..it's the very beginning stages for sure! I'm thinking on what direction to go next..I'm sure I'll be experimenting alot with this old book..My hope is to make little treasures for each of my sisters-in-law so that everyone can have pieces of Great GrandMother's Bible.

I'm thinking some kind of resin or Diamond Glaze??..Oh I wish I had the supplies to make soldered glass ornaments.I've seen some really gorgeous ones, and these lithos would be perfect for that sort of thing. Any other Suggestions anyone??..Oh! perhaps even the Tutorial from Pat of Cre8tor's Touch he so generously shared. I'll be sure to post pictures of the end results when I'm done.


and below is another ornament I made from a Sardine Can!!..Ive been having lots of fun staying out of the stores, and giving everything I see a second look.