No need for a Vase when you have a Thermos

 
Even though it's fall, I still have a few Lantana's blooming.

 
 No need for fancy vases, and old Thermos does the job.

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Can you live a minimalist lifestyle and be a junker?????

You might say I'm "conflicted".

 First and foremost I'm a junker. I love to hunt, find, and purchase unique and fun vintage stuff. I love to decorate and re-arrange. I love the unexpected fabulous mystery piece, that will be just perfect in this spot or that.  But I'm also a very organized, neat and tidy person, who at times, just wants to clear it all out.

Organized but dense 

 How do I possibly combine both of my personality traits?  Well, It's not always easy!

Way too busy!

The organized part of me says...  "Keep it simple" "if it's not useful or beautiful, don't have/keep it"  and  "when it starts to look cluttered, clear it out".

Definitely needs decluttering in here. Photo is old and I've removed a ton of stuff from this space since.

Then the junk lover inside says "but that piece is so special, I just have to have/keep it"

Not so bad, but still a bit crowded.

That's a little bit better

My solution is to have spaces that are "cluttered" and spaces that are "edited".  Basically for the sanity of my marriage, the "edited" spaces are the shared spaces.  The "cluttered" ones, are "my spaces".

This is one of those "my" spaces where I allow myself to clutter things up

And when things get a little "dense" as hubby says, I edit...

This is "after" decluttering, but I've since edited it even more. There are fewer items on the desk now, and on the shelves.

Sometimes I'll go into a room and say to myself "remove just one item".

I'll look around for the item that I'm "over" and move it to my Etsy store.

There are at least 4 items in this photo that have since been moved out

That is the other way I deal with the desire to hunt and gather. As a "dealer" I can find, purchase, and enjoy an item for awhile, and then move it along to the next person. It's a way to feed the sickness.

This space is fairly well edited. If I were to walk in here and try to pick an item to remove, it would be the cases under the coffee table.

And when I feel I'm failing, I just look around at all the Junk, hubby has, and I feel much better. :)

My things don't take up nearly as much space as Cars, Motorcycles and Mini bikes:)

One more Christmas Project

While flipping through an old issue of Flea Market Style magazine I ran across this picture of some old picture frame molds, and it looked like a Christmas tree to me. So I decided to make my own out of some old frames.

I'm happy with the look and it was a pretty quick project.

Hope you are ready for a very Merry Christmas

Lamp shade Christmas Tree, Christmas outside the Box

And now for This year's Tree
Made from old lamp shades, Inspired by Pinterest (of course)

 First an assortment of lamp shades from garage sales, and goodwill.

 

First I skinned them

Then I mounted them to a threaded rod with bolts I purchased both at the hardware store,

and mounted it to a base(this part took the longest)

Now for embellishments. Juno wanted in on the action.

A few shades get some gold trim from my stash

A large stash of vintage ornaments is helpful, and you'll need hooks.

This project could be as small or large as you want, based on size and quantity of lamp shades.

I'm still unsure about the paper bells, but it does give it some dimension

 An old Wool  blanket below.

There is even a version of this idea with covered lamp shades. See my pinterest page

There you have it, My completely vintage Christmas tree made from old lamp shades.
I think this will be a one year tree, because next year I'll have a 1 year old grandchild and this would tip over real easy.  I may make a table top version though.

Alternative Christmas Trees, a Tradition

A few years ago I decided I was going to retire the "traditional" Christmas tree for awhile . My boys are grown and moved out and

the tree is the hardest part for me, First there is the hauling it down, then putting it up and stringing lights. By that time my family has pooped out and abandoned me. Not to mention the putting it away 4 weeks later.

With that in mind, I put up a vintage aluminum tree for a couple of years. These go up real easy and there are no lights to string

Then I went way outside the "box".   with  this small tree from old spindles



As an accent I made this one from a single spindle and some wire. I still bring it out every year. It's a good accent decoration
 

Then I went to Pinterest and got loads of inspiration

 For the last 2 years, I have this one I made with an old screen and lots of vintage glass ornaments. At the end of the season, I wrap it up in an old sheet and just take it to the attic. I'll probably bring it down this season too. Inspired by this original project at Sointovintage.blogspot.com

 

 But when I saw this idea on Pinterest by lucydesignsonline.com I just had to try it.  Vintage frames make up this fun, but heavy accent tree. 

Wait till you see what I have cooked up for my main tree this year.

To see the complete list with links, go to my pinterest page.

Junky Advent Calendar Reason for the Season

Time to redeem the true meaning of the season, in a fun and yes, junky way.

Reason for the season Advent Calendar

I've done this for several years now and it is always so much fun.   I was
Inspired by  Jodi's Jesus Tree project.

Here's how it works, first take a piece of wood and insert 24 nails.

Each Day,  draw an ornament from the basket, talk about it, hang it on the nail or hook.  Below are some examples

Each ornament will have a special meaning that relates back to the Reason for the Season, or names of Jesus etc.

The ornaments illustrate the meaning of the name with vintage items (or even not so vintage)

Have your little ones follow along as well.

You can see examples of each of the 24 tags as well as different ways to make an advent display on my pinterest page here

If you want pre-printed tags  go  here .

  And they are much better than the ones I made.

2015 Christmas Tree Project with Old frames and trim

As you know if you follow my blog, I don't currently put up a traditional Christmas tree. Every year for the past 4 or 5 years, I've put up an alternative to a traditional tree.

 I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to pinning unusual tree ideas.

 

This year I was inspired by a pin from Lucy Designs.  She took trim molding and old frames and makes some fabulous all white trees that have been featured in magazines.

I was inspired by her designs and a pile of old frames to do a similar project for myself.

 

First I gathered and took apart various old frames I had from past projects.  I look for  old frames at garage sales and scoop them up when they are a good price.  I laid them out in my barn until I had the basic design I was looking for. I was going to use frames for the base, but later changed my mind. I used an old ornate hinge for the topper.

Next I pulled out some scrap wood and my screw driver and began drilling from the back to secure the wood in place. This took awhile to get it all just right.  In the end the back looked like this. No pretty but strong.

 And there you have it.  My version of this project involved some moderate woodworking skills. I did use my miter saw on a few pieces and the drill as well.  but if you had enough frames you probably would not need the miter saw.

I like the variation of colors, and in person you can see the dimension that the old and sometimes shabby frames give it. Watch in the next few days for some more  Christmas projects, past and present.

 

I probably won't use this as my substitute tree this year, but It's a fun decoration item. Right now it's on my porch, until I'm ready to start really decorating for Christmas. 

Vintage Displays in Retail

I love it when I walk into a store and see a display that creatively uses vintage items to enhance their products.  Those of us in the Vintage world have been using our own items to display other items for years, but it seems the world of retail has caught on to the visual impact a vintage item can bring to their new products.

Anthropologie Was one of the early adopters of this trend, and regularly uses common discarded items for their window displays.   from Books to Clothes pins, To a  plethera of Christmas Ornaments as seen below.

Ornaments. Credit

One of the favorite ones I ran across in my searches was one made with Chair parts.

Chair and table pieces. Credit

To me that is a work of art.

They also use vintage items for their indoor displays

Orla Kiely recently used vintage office furniture and accessories for her runway show.

 

http://londonfashionweek.com/designers_catwalk_overlay.aspx?designerid=477&seasonid=36

And in her window displays for Uniqlo as well
 

Fossil jumped on the band wagon, but uses reproduction old pieces. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
 http://www.thewindowshopper.co.uk/tag/inspiration-2/

Reproduction letterpress Letters, and trunks for their Key Per Bags.

 

I have a favorite Local shop in town and the owner often brings in vintage items for her jewelry displays.  

Fabulous Shop, Sterling Grace, Tyler Texas

Besides the bicycle, there are vintage coke crates for her various charms.

Bachman's of Minnesota, under the guidance of our very own Ki Nassauer not only uses vintage to display their items, but will also sell them to you.

It's always nice to see what we love going mainstream and I'm seeing it used more and more and in unique ways.  Vintage displays are sometimes less expensive, and more appealing and attention getting than standard store fixtures.  Kudos to all the retailers who are using these fabulous pieces in their displays.