Thursday, July 28, 2011

New Love-Vintage Enamel Flower Brooch Pins


I have a new love, like I need another one. Vintage Enamel Flower Pins. I recently found this lovely treasury of these wonderful pins and thought I'd share it with you. I love the colors, styles, they scream 60's and 70's yet would be lovely on a blue jean jacket, pinned to a canvas bag, or a even a pillow.

I decided to gather mine together and came up with this fun necklace. Now I'm looking for more:)







Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Next Big thing... Old Vintage School Maps



We All remember them from our school days. Huge pull down maps that hung from rollers in History and Geography class. Not a big deal at the time, but now I'm in love with them.



Mostly the old ones with the wonderful deep colors.

I recently ran upon a roll of these old maps and although it was more than I usually pay, I knew their potential so I scooped them up.
As I got home and carefully unrolled them, I discovered not one but about 8 different maps. All anchored to the most beautiful map of Texas I've ever seen.
My plan was always to sell them... but I could not part with Texas, still attached to the wooden pull down and the roller mechanism on top, it goes perfectly in my work room.

The Deep red's yellow's and oranges are just fabulous. The the blues and greens compliment the blue-green color on the wall.
It makes me smile every time I see it.
And isn't that what home decor should do for us.


Maps and globes are all the rage right now, I've got several of each in my Etsy Store. Seen below is a photo from Last September's Bachman's Idea House in Minnesota. See the globes in the basket beside the couch too. These are great for kid's rooms, game rooms etc.


All of the other maps I got are still in tact and were easily removed from the Texas map. I am offering them individually in my Etsy Store, so hop over if you are interested.






Friday, July 22, 2011

101 things to do with old Coin Purses

Well maybe only 3 things... First I have business card holders. Easy to make, simply embellish with some of your favorite things. Make sure they are wide enough for the cards before purchase. I like them because they are thinner than the usual card holders, and slip in a pocket or small purse easily.

Or you can make a hanging art collage as I've done below. This one hangs in my craft room.
My final idea is as a necklace. And the good thing about this is that you can use any size, and if they are the business card size, they can still hold your business cards :) Double Duty...
Do you have any other ideas for old Coin Purses?


Speaking of coin purse necklaces. Here are a couple of fun ones I recently made up.
Currently Available in my Etsy Boutique





Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Recent Treasures-Etsy July Sale

For the remainder of July I'll be offering a 15% discount on all Etsy purchases. Just use the coupon code july2011 when you check out and 15% will be deducted from all of your purchases. Combine shipping for even more savings.
Even the new merchandise is discounted.




Always on the hunt for somethingnew and interesting to bring to my customers. This week was great for finding, thanks to picker friends.
I have 2 of the meters as seen above. Woo hoo!!!

I love the trouble light cages as you know.
vintage skates that attach to shoes
Lovely metal grate
Several old post office mail boxes.
Love these store display signs
And 5 of these wonderful old school chalk boards
And so much more. I got lots and lots of rusty smalls, faucets, door plates, knobs,
locks and lots of other fun stuff

All available on my etsy, or feel free to inquire if I don't have them listed yet.
Or have fun just browsing my etsy store to see what else I've found recently.




Monday, July 18, 2011

Bottle Drying Rack-finally right!!!!



After trying the "herb" idea that I copied from French Larkspur, for awhile, it was just not working for me. So then I saw an idea where someone had hung some bottles with candles and decided to do that with the herbs. Quickly I saw that the whole thing was not working with the herbs, So I removed most of them . Then remembered these beautiful dishes I had in my Booth at Our Little Corner. I love them because of the colors (my house colors) and so I snatched them up and brought them home. I love how they look on the rack and the plates fit perfectly inside. A few dried roses remain with the candle/bottles. I added some white rocks to the bottles and a couple of old metal number labels I had hanging around. I think I'm finally settled and I like it.
And I'm loving the painted cabinet, and I wanted to show you a little re-do I had to make. This cabinet was originally designed with a built in wine rack of sorts. I'm not a wine drinker so I removed the rack and put these old metal parts bins in it's place. They hold my linens and things. I think it works great and adds an industrial feel to the piece.

Hope you have a great week and fun with some makeovers yourself.


Pop over to my Etsy shop to see what new treasures I've found.




Dream Home

For 20 years Mr R and I lived in a ranch home in a suburb of Fort Worth. We brought home 2 baby boys during that time and basically just made a living and grew up. All the while longing for country life and our dream home. One day Mr.R sketched the picture you see above (sorry for the bad scan). It was the vision we both had in our heads of our Dream Home. I put the picture up in my closet and would occasionally look at it and dream.

In 2003 we planned a little weekend get away two hours east of DFW. We stayed at a B&B that we had stayed at before, and drove around the small town we had grown to love for it's lush greenness, and it's perfect size and old timey charm. It just so happened that Mr R had been watching the home listings for the area and we decide to view a house while we were here. No plans to move though.

This is the house we viewed. We fell in love from the outside, it was so much better than our dream. 5 wooded acres, in the country but still close to town. The inside was a wonderful as the outside and although we were not yet ready to move, we could not get this place out of our heads. Even though it was bigger than we needed, It really could have been a tiny cottage and we would have loved it. The property was wonderful, and it was just the style of home we were looking for. And the price...Let's just say, homes are cheaper in the country, than you'd expect.
Long story short, we bought it, worked on it during the weekends for 9 months, making it perfect for us, while waiting for Son #1 to graduate High school, and then moved in during the Summer of 2004. We continued major remodel for another 2 years while living here. It's now been 7 years and we are just as in love as were were in the beginning. Maybe more so as we've grown to meet people, and get established in the community.
When we happened upon the old drawing recently, we were both astonished at the similarity between the house he had drawn and the one we ended up with. Makes one think there might be a plan to it all????








Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I'm going to Paris

For several years I've wanted to take one of the Red Shed Girl's trips to Paris. I've made sure my passport is up to date, and watched as they blogged about the trips. I did go on one guided trip with the girls to my first Junk Bonanza and I must say, they think of everything. Val even contributed to the recent Flea Market Style magazine on page 11 in an article about shopping the Paris Fleas. So I knew there was no better group to go with.



But you see I'm a cheapskate and it takes a lot for me to part with a dime, so I've been putting it off.

Then one day Mr R said to me "when you are 80, and you can't go, will you regret not going?" Of course the answer was "yes", and so that was all the nudge I needed.


After a few conversations with Val and a small down payment, I'm headed to Paris (in April) ...It's gonna be a looonnnnggg wait, but well worth it I'm sure.

I'm so excited!!!!!!! And I can't wait to share my first experience out of the US with all of you.

In case you are not familiar with the Red Shed Girl's tours, go here for all the info.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

My Recent Obsession


I'm trying to keep this in check.
I've bought and sold Enid Collins Purses for several years.
Sometimes wishing I had kept some of them.

Recently at Winnie & Tulula's I had my eye on this one(on the left). Every time I went into the store I'd look at it, pick it up, touch it. It was perfect, No missing stones, no damage to the straps or clasp. After talking to the dealer who had it, I decided to just give into my desires and I purchased the bag.


Instead of listing it on my Etsy store, I think I've decided to keep this one, for awhile anyway.
Then Sunday I ran across another gem of a bag, It's Midas of Miami and although the picture does not do it justice. It's a wicker bag, with velvet in my favorite fall colors and gems and embroidery throughout, Also flawless with handles and clasp in tact. Inside it is fully lined with pockets etc.
It's the first one of these bags I've seen but I think I'm in love with them as much as the Collins bags.
Wish I had a better picture, this one does not do it justice.

Now I hope this obsession does not get out of hand ;) Maybe I can stop with just 2????

Monday, July 11, 2011

Jewelry Storage Dilemma-Solved


My wonderful Dear Mr. R, has many wonderful qualities... but one of his "faults" is his desire for a clutter free minimalistic home. As you know this can be diametrically opposed to a junkers style, so we usually find a compromise.
The problem at hand has been jewelry storage. If I keep my jewelry in a jewelry box, it's so tedious to go through it every day to find just the right piece. I forget what I have etc. And I have quite a bit because i make so much of it that I like and keep for myself.

So I decided to make this necklace rack out of one of the old wooden expandable vents that I found last week. I simply screwed hooks (salvaged of course) through the wooden frame, and in the vent section I took wire and formed an S hook and just slipped them in the slats. Then I screwed it into the back of the wardrobe. Now all my necklaces are visible and the choice is easy.
For the earrings, I took an old printers tray and just slipped them in the sections. Sorted a little but by style and color... for now any way.


All tucked away in this old wardrobe in my work room. Mr R. never has to see it but I can have easy access to it all when I need it.
Problem solved.

A Wonderful Blogger, Mamie Jane, did a fabulous project with some of these wooden framed vents, you can view it here. I still have on left, which is actually 2 sections the slide in and out of each other. Email me if interested. See side bar for email link.

Order your copy now:


Spring issue is Re-stocked and ready to ship.
Taking Pre-orders for the Fall 2011 issue now.


Please go here to order


Thursday, July 7, 2011

Some Fun new Jewelry...I love wearing my junk


I love old transit tokens, Tool tags etc. I had accumulated quite a collection, and was wanting to put them into a necklace. The problem was every time I made a charm necklace the tokens would not hang right. This was my solution, instead of hanging them from a chain, I made a chain out of the tokens and then added to it. Tokens are fun to work with because of their character and many already have holes in them.


For the necklace below, I gathered a bunch of old broaches I had from another project. I have one of these necklaces available at Winnie & Tulula's and one in my Etsy Boutique.

I just love wearing both of these pieces.


I've also been enjoying cutting up some old Lace, and threw a few earrings together.
I've added rhinestones to each design for a little sparkle
So much fun, soon to be in my Etsy Boutique



Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Fall issue of Flea Market Style-ready for Pre-ordering

Wow, time flies. As I get older the years, are getting shorter and shorter. According to the publisher they will be shipping out the first batch of magazines to vendors early August. That is just a month away.


If its anything like the last 2 issues, I'll have them weeks before they start showing up in stores and will be shipping them immediately. So if you want a first look you can order yours now.

Spring issue is Re-stocked and ready to ship. Taking Pre-orders for the Fall 2011 issue . I'm also offering a combo pack with one of each of the 2011 issues. I ship to all countries as well as anywhere in the US.


Please go here for more information.

Monday, July 4, 2011

A coat of paint, and a what was old is is new again



A three day weekend was all the incentive I needed to get going on a project.

You may remember last week I showed you a picture of my oak hutch. I've been wanting to paint it for awhile but was not sure of color or technique, and I asked for your opinions.
Thank you to everyone who had advise, I listened to all, and even called in some furniture painting experts for their advise. Val over at the Red Shed even did this nice photoshop composite of ideas for me.

I took all of the suggestions to heart and then on Sunday night, decided to get to work. I grabbed some paint that I already had and got started. My technique was to paint a light even coat over the whole thing, except the top of the bottom console. So light that in places you could still see the wood grain through the paint. The picture below is unsanded.
Then the next morning, I took some fine grit sandpaper to the edges and corners. Ever so lightly and not too much in other areas.
I added some tin panels on the top doors, and changed out the knobs.
And then put it all back together

Let's just say, I'm very pleased. Thank you everyone for your advise.

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