Saturday, June 30

Shopping Show & Tell #3

As you may have heard, I'm opening an Etsy shop in July where I'll be listing various vintage inspiration kits, vintage supplies, and other vintage items.  In order to start this endevour, I've had to buy some things to include in the assortment packs.  While purchasing these items, I've met some really nice people with great online shops.

In this post, I just want to share some a few of these resources with you!!  I think everyone wants affordable craft supplies from reliable sellers, don't you agree?


Come July, I'll be offering vintage sewing inspiration kits packed full of fabric, trim, embellishments and more.  In order for me to put these packs together, I needed vintage fabric!!


I found Nikole's shop, Happy Notions, and decided she could probably put together a nice assortment for me.  I convo'ed her and she really went the extra mile to help!!  She ended up providing me with over 50 different patterns of reclaimed sheet fabric!!  Just check out the assortment she sent...



Here are a couple of the other items in her shop that I really like...






Next, I wanted some colorful items to add to my ephemera assortment packs.  I figured vintage wallpaper would be amazing, but new it was usually kind of pricey.  However, I really lucked out when I found Donna's shop, Under The Red Roof.

Donna was so generous and sent me a huge assortment of 8x10 wallpaper sheets and some scraps I'd asked for.  Although this picture doesn't do it justice, here's a photo of my order...


Here's a couple items you can find at Under The Red Roof...





I still wanted more colorful things to include so when I found  Chrystelle's listing for some bright vintage carnival tickets, I knew they'd be perfect!!

I placed a custom order for a large assortment of tickets and ended up getting over 400 carnival tickets!!  Here's a picture...


Here are a couple of my top picks from Chrystelle's shop...




These 3 shops are owned by wonderful ladies who are willing to go the extra mile to help you find what you need.  I've had great experiences with all of them and know you will too!!

I am not getting any form of compensation for mentioning these shops!!  I simply purchased items from each of them and was so pleased with their products and services that I wanted to share them with my readers.

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Friday, June 29

Tutoral: Altered Trinket Box with Faux Wood Grain

This Altered Trinket Box is a great (inexpensive) project for those that what to learn how to "alter" things.  I've made sure to add in many small details that will help you obtain this great vintage look!!

Let's get to the tutorial!!



SUPPLIES
Paper Mache Trinket Box
Hymnal Pages or Sheet Music
Acrylic Craft Paints (browns, black, & gold)
Gloss Decoupauge Medium
Lace (optional)
Miscellaneous decorations (optional)

Step 1: DECOUPAGE & AGE OUTSIDE TOP

Cover the box top's outside using thin pages of music, such as old hymnal pages.
Note: If you don't have old hymnals or sheet music available, another great option would be old sewing pattern paper.


Using a fine mist bottle, spray the decoupauged top with an aging/distressing ink.
Gently wipe away the excess and cover any missed areas and let dry.


Step 2: DECORATE INSIDE THE TOP
Cut a piece of music to fit inside the top.  If you're anything like me, this will come out sorta "wonky".
To cover any cutting mishaps and to hide the paper mache, paint the inside rim with dark brown acrylic craft paint.


Using a strong tacky glue, glue lace to the inside edge of the box top.  Set aside to dry completely.

Step 3: PAINT A FAUX WOOD GRAIN
I didn't care for the paper mache's appearance so I decided to create a faux wood grain on the bottom part of the box.

Paint a coat of light/medium brown over your entire surface.
Add a tiny bit of gold onto a foam brush, dab off the excess until the bruss is almost dry, then gently dry brush the gold paint onto the surface very sparingly and always in the same direction..


Repeat the dry brush technique using a medium/dark brown, then black, then light/medium brown again.

To finish the look and to seal the outside of the box, just add a couple coats of glossy decoupage medium.  In my opinion this gives the faux wood grain a varnished type of look!!
Note: I chose to add little wooden feet to my trinket box, but this is totally optional.

Step 4: PAINT THE INSIDE OF THE BOX

Paint a couple coats of gold (or other color) acrylic craft paint over the inside of the box. Seal with decoupage medium.

I think the trinket box looks great at this stage, so you may choose to leave it as is.
However, I chose to decorate the top so I've included those instructions as well - just keep reading!


Step 5: FOWER WITH MUSIC LEAVES
(optional)
Find a paper flower with a realitively long stem.
Cut the flower's stem to the desired length, but do not throw away the extra stem!
Cut 2 leaf shapes out of sheet music and glue them back to back over one end of the excess stem.
Using a strong tacky glue, attach the flower stem to the leaf stem.
Decoupauge over the attachment point to seal.


Step 6: DECORATE TOP

Gather up miscellaneous items to use on your top.  I used cheesecloth, my paper flower, buttons, a decorated puzzle piece, old stamps, an old key, and a filigree finding.

If you choose to add cheesecloth, just decoupauge it to the top before you add your other embellishments.

Layout your items before gluing them down to make sure you're happy with their placement.
Once you find a layout you like, simply glue them down using a strong non-yellowing tacky glue.


FINISHED!!


Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Sunday, June 24

Shopping Show & Tell #2

I'm so excited and I need to share it with all of you!!  I recently ordered a mixed lot of vintage rhinestones and findings from 1000Dragonflies' Etsy shop and when I got my package, I was simply blown away at what I received!!

First of all, here's what I found inside the box...

Those are all handmade origami boxes made out of scrapbook paper so they're really sturdy!!  Isn't that some great packaging!!

Before digging through all of the goodies, I opened all of the boxes and this is what it looked like...

I could already tell there was a ton of rhinestones in those boxes and boy, was I right!!

These are the photos from the original listing which does a wonderful job at showing what was included...

Notice how BIG the rhinestones are!!  These aren't the itsy-bitsy ones; these are perfect for using in jewelry and so many other projects!!  Not only that the quality is impressive, to say the least!!

I'm not going to tell you how much I paid, because this was a custom order, but I got WAY more than I paid for!!

I've NEVER seen vintage rhinestones at prices as low as she offers them, so be sure to visit her shop ASAP!!

Leslie, the shop owner, is super helpful and always willing to put together special orders!!  

Plus, she's offering some AWESOME coupons right now!!  Here are the codes...
30% off ALL orders!!  Use code WELCOME
50% off orders over $150!!  Use code TAKE50

Here are a few of the items in her shop right now...


15x7mm De-Foilded Navette Rhinestone Assortment, 55 pcs. ($24.95)

Just so you know, I wasn't paid or given freebies for writing this post!!  This is just me sharing a great resource with you!!  I sincerely hope you'll at least visit Leslie's Etsy shop!!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Tuesday, June 12

Tutorial: Memory Keychains

This project is so much fun to make and very rewarding when you're done!!  I know you're all going to love this tutorial!!


SUPPLIES
Wood shapes ("Woodsies")
Crop-a-dile (or other strong hole punch)
Acrylic craft paint
Decorations (photos, scrapbook paper, ephemera, lace, etc.)
Keyring
Chain
Charms or beads (optional)
Metal jump ring
Pliers


Step 1: MAKE WOOD BASE
The wood shapes I purchased were inexpensive and relatively thin so I chose to use 2 for each base.  If your wood shapes are made of a heavier wood, you could get away with just using one.

Pair up 2 wood pieces that are the same shape and size.

Punch a hole at the top center of one.  Line up your two pieces and mark where to punch the hole on the 2nd piece and then punch that hole.

Add a layer of glue (preferably wood glue) to the back of the two pieces and press them together.
Clamp the 2 pieces together using clothes pins or other method and let dry.

Once the glue has dried sand off the excess glue and any rough edges.

Step 2: DECORATE
There are so many possibilities for decorating these keychains!!   I'll list some of my ideas after the tutorial.

Paint the edges of your wood base using acrylic craft glue; you may need 2 or more coats.

Using a decoupage medium glue and seal your decorations onto the wood base, making sure to seal the painted edges too.

Step 3: ADD KEYRING & A CHARM
This is where we turn the little decorated wood shape into a keychain!!

Using pliers, add about 1" of chain to the keyring.

If you want to use a bead, rather than a charm, you'll need to add a headpin and a pair of round-nose jewelry pliers.

Once you have your bead/charm and keyring ready, add them to the wood base with a metal jump ring as shown above.

FINISHED!!





As I mentioned in the tutorial, there are so many possibilities when decorating your wood base!!  Here are just a few of the ideas I was able to come up with:
Vintage ephemera (shown in tutorial)
Photo(s) of a loved one
Mini scrapbook page
Map or image of a favorite place
Mini collage of something you enjoy
Your name
This list could go on and on!!  I'd love to hear your ideas so feel free to add them by commenting!!

Thanks for reading!!  Until next time...

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