Showing posts with label Repurposed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Repurposed. Show all posts

Monday, September 15, 2014

Messin' Around with Bailey's Irish Cream Mugs

Life sure gets busy, doesn't it?
I haven't had a lot of "create" time or energy, but I still do mess around with my pretties. 
One of the pretties I've been in love with forever are the Bailey's Irish Cream face mugs.
I just LOVE these things!!!!!!
They're not the greatest to drink from, but I love to display them with a little 
something in the top. Remember these old red pincushions?

This one feels like me on most days... no lipstick and a pencil in my hair!

Everyone needs a partner, so I paired her with a blue pincushion that
 I made with a sweet calico cotton:

I love their flirty expressions. Romance in the air?

The whole display is in my kitchen, and it makes me smile to walk by and 
see them winking at me with their knowing smiles.

Do you have special pretties that bring a smile to your face?

 I'm linking this post with these wonderful blog parties:

What's It Wednesdays on Ivy and Elephants
Share Your Cup Thursday on Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen

 (I will have Halloween and Christmas projects posted in the future.)
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Sunday, October 6, 2013

Paperback Book Pumpkin and Inspired Sunday Blog Party!

Happy Sunday! The winds that felled a tree onto my car have died down, I have almost recovered from a mild bout of the flu, and dear son has moved out! Life is looking pretty good, as does my paperback book pumpkin! Have you seen these on Pinterest?  I fell in love with them about a week ago, and since the only thing I felt like doing yesterday was cutting things (paper with scissors), I found two old paperbacks that were headed to Goodwill and tried my hand at making a pumpkin. Here's the tutorial, and here's the finished product:


I think I'm kinda in love with it. Here's another view:

And another:

For the tutorial click here! Happy pumpkin making!

Inspired Sunday

I really enjoyed all the link ups this week and am so glad that you keep coming back even though this is a teeny weeny blog party.  I just don't have enough time to promote and build it at this point, but I am so happy that you keep joining me.  Perhaps one day I will really work on it, but for now, my hope is that we can really get to know each other better and possibly meet a few kindred spirits. 

Besides Pinterest, several of your clever ideas inspired me this week.

One was the very brilliant way that Debby Ray of My Favorite Things made her own dried hydrangeas for her Fall decor. This idea was genius! You just need cheap hydrangeas, spray paint, and a fire stick-- but just be careful playing with fire!  lol!  Don't these look fantastic?


Another brilliant idea was Penny's use of Scotch tape to keep her roses in place.  Like her, I love flowers in my kitchen but sometimes can't get them to look nice in a vase without taking tedious measures like running out to purchase Oasis foam or using pounds of glass pebbles that end up getting nasty from the rotting stems and leaves.  She used the Scotch tape to make a grid for the flowers to fit into--kinda like the way an old glass flower frog worked.  Thanks for this easy peasy and inexpensive tip, Penny! Visit her at Penny's Vintage Home to get the full scoop. I'll warn you, you might leave her blog  with kitchen envy!


Now let's see what you're up to this week!  If you join the party, I would like for you to follow me. (I will also follow you.) In addition, please be sure to link back to my blog from your blog.  Thank you!
Laura

Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Tweak it Tuesdays at Cozy Little House
Wow Us Wednesdays
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage
Creative Things Thursday @ The Vintage Farmhouse 
Blog Stalking Thursday @ The Crafty Blog Stalker

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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Inspired Sunday and Another Pink Starbucks Treat

Well, I warned you! 
this is me.
Maybe it was the color that got me--Stampin' Up calls it "Blushing Bride."

Or maybe it was the French signboard lettering in my favorite white type.

Or maybe it was the crispness of the slightly transparent bag, or 
the dull earthiness of the pink on the corregated cup holders. 

 Whatever it was, these pink Starbucks things have really gotten me inspired!

Everyone knows about my nutty little addiction, so now people are saving cupholders for me. The barrista now recognizes me as the "paper crafting lady," so he gave me a few pastry holders to play with. I went through my craft stash and found some cute assessories:

to make a holder for this 3-D window card that I made with 
an image from the Graphics Fairy.

I folded the doily, taped it on, fan-folded a medallion, added some ribbon:

And the holder was ready for the card :

It's kinda trendy right now to use this type of bag for gifts, 
and you can find them at craft supply places and Stampin' Up. 
How fun though to repurpose! 
(Guess you can't get a messy pastry, or just wrap it in a napkin and take the bag as a bonus!)

 You can see my Starbucks treat cup here and 
my staging for a French dress tag using the pink papers here.
-Laura

Inspired Sunday

This week I enjoyed a mini "vacation" in Germany compliments of Brittany at 
The Rococo Roamer. I loved the portraits on the wall  of the Munich Residenz in 
gilded rococo frames.  (My 3-D card has some similarities...)

And another mini "vacation," this time not from Brittany, but in Brittany, brought to us by Magali at The Little White House on the Seaside:

Once off vacation, and back in the craft room, :-), I found Debby Ray's plastic floor mat turned wrought iron wall hanging to bring an expensive and exotic look to 
any well-traveled lady's home.  Check out her post at My Favorite Things to 
see how to make this 7.00 wall hanging!

Now let's see what's inspiring you this week!  Please be sure to put a link on your blog back to mine. Also, I would love for you to become a follower if you haven't already.


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Sunday, August 4, 2013

A Little Pink Starbucks Obsession

I have a confession...
It's my little obsession, with these:
All through this tiring and difficult week, my daily walk to Starbucks with my sweet friend and thoughts of what I could make with these kept me going...

All my friends said "You're so funny!"  And I think my excitement made them smile.

I couldn't quit thinking about just how darn cute my idea was going to be.

So I got started today with making a few things and buying the perfect candy:

And found the perfect Starbucks green vintage button for the trim:

And came up with this for my walking friend at work, who makes my day happy!

Do you think she'll be surprised to find this on her desk tomorrow?

I'm linking up with these great parties:

Inspire Me Tuesdays at a Stroll Through Life

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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Inspired Sunday!


Hello everyone. I feel like I'm meeting up with dear friends.  Hope your week has been good. I have had a crazy week full of work, work, work (ending with a terrible migraine!)  To relax I hit Goodwill or The Salvation Army at lunch for about 4 days in a row.  Saturday I went to a yard sale and another thrift shop.  I had some great finds, which I will share another time. One thing I bought was this very pretty, but not-so-high-quality silver tray:
I knew it would be just perfect for a small chalkboard, like the kind that we see all over Pinterest right now.  I protected the trim with blue tape, which you have to tear into small pieces
                                                 to make it curve around the tray:
I added exra tape to cover all the silver so the overspray from the Chalkboard Paint wouldn't reach it.  This Krylon chalkboard paint is my favorite.  It makes such a smooth writing surface and goes on so evenly!
I sprayed one coat, lightly sanded with a fine sanding block, and then sprayed again.  Once it had dried for about 30 minutes, I carefully peeled away the tape, pulling the tape away from the painted area:
I let it dry over night, rubbed a piece of chalk on in it to season it, and then wrote with a chalk pen.  The pen I used was for smaller projects. I will have to go out and get the wider nibbed one! Love the pen though! The chalk ink doesn't smear, but comes off easily with a wet paper towel.  Check out the great pens and videos at chalkink.com.
Our Marker Tips
                                   Here is my finished "chalkboard" on the table in my entry:
I'm really pleased with the result, although I just quickly freehanded the lettering to get a photo.  I will definitely rewrite with care!
Inspired Sunday!
So much inspiration from our party goers this week!  Where to begin?????  We are just really getting into the hottest part of the summer here in California and will be enduring summer through the end of October.  So I chose posts that represent the best parts of summer for me.

 Debbie at Debbie Dabble shows us that after a sweltering day of blistering summer heat, there's no calmer or cooler place to be than in a garden at night time. Sometimes I open all the doors, turn off the lights, and burn candles to bring this atmosphere indoors.
Dawn, at We Call It Junkin,' reminded me that sometimes the movie theater is the only cool place to be when the thermometer passes 100 degrees.  If the movie has antiques in it like she shows on her blog, I'm there--even if I don't care what the film is about.  (Perhaps that's why I never remember the plot of a film?  head scratch...) 
Screenshot (1)
Christina at PennyWise wrote a lovely post about the refreshing qualities and uses of lavender. Some summers, I've used lavender bath products exclusively to relax and refresh, but she shows so many other wonderful ways to enjoy this divine plant in recipes, vignettes, and mini indoor gardens!
If you can't stand the heat in your kitchen, ha, you might just decide to take a long trip--OVERSEAS!  Brittany from the Roccoco Roamer is living the life I wish all young marrieds could--living in Germany with her husband of one year and traveling all over.  What wonderful memories she is creating!  (My husband and I traveled for a year all over the East Coast and up to Montreal when we were first married.) Her photos are wonderful and she shares many intimate venues that we wouldn't really see otherwise.  The respect for America's soldiers that she captures in some of her photos is truly inspiring.
Aimee at Refresh and Renew shared my favorite part of summer as a girl--picking wild blackberries and making dessert and jam with them!  This memory is really a fiber of my being!
If you do have A/C (not so common everywhere in Southern California), you might just want to stay indoors and come up with clever ways to document the wonderful times in your life through scrapbooking. Newcomer Laura, from live. love. scrap. came up with the absolute cleverest way to document the adventures of her two young sons!  Her mini-album is brilliant, and put a smile on my face!

Sorry for the long post, but now you see how truly inspired I was by your posts! I had a hard time stopping--chuckle, chuckle!  If you've been featured, please grab my button on the right side bar and put on your blog!  Thank you!
                                                                                               Laura
Metamorphosis Monday
Dwelllings' Amaze Me Monday
Weekend Showoff Party
Time Travel Thursday
Inspire Me Tuesdays at a Stroll Through Life
Knick of Time Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Show Me What You Got Tuesdays
What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays
Share Your Cup Thursdays
Grace at Home
Show and Tell Friday
Sweet and Simple Fridays
Feathered Nest Fridays
Now let's see what everyone has going on this week!

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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Making Vintage Jewelry

Such a random kinda week for me.  Got my hair colored for the first time to cover a few grays
sprouting up in the front. I love it!  A demi-glaze (I think that's what it's called)
that makes it look a lot richer and shinier.  And then instead of making cards for friends,
doing laundry, putting away my Easter decorations (or taking down my Christmas tree!!!!!!!
Yikes!!!!! Can't believe I admitted that) I started making jewelry--and a really big mess!



With a vintage pendant and various vintage chains that I picked up at thrift shops and
 a yard sale, I put together this necklace:


I wire wrapped freshwater pearls and linked them with gold chain pieces to 
layer with this and other necklaces.

(Do you like my model?  It's a French guy, so I decided he is Joan of Arc for this shoot!)  :-)

And then I had to have earrings to go with it:


The pair on the right was made with leftover parts of the necklace chain.
The pair on the left was actually two pairs of vintage earrings that I combined.
 I added the pearl and bead cap on the crystal piece, and it looks like I'll have to replace a pearl that somehow came out during my trek from the powder room to the photo area!  :-(

While I was at it, I decided to add some additional charms to my sterling and topaz pendant
to bring it more into fashion with the bigger necklaces we're all wearing.
(Lucky that I had blue topaz and sterling charms in my drawer!)


With a medallion from Michael's, I upcycled an off-the-rack necklace from a local store:


and made earrings to go with it:


I wire-wrapped these Austrian crystal beads and added a heavy sterling clasp to make this bracelet:


I've made and redone quite a few other pieces--
I've probably taken apart half of my jewelry so far, which I do about every 10 years or so
--and I'm just dying to take the wire cutters, Dremel, and jewelry pliers to the rest!
Hubby made me promise to clean up before doing anymore.

So off to vacuum and put things away!


I'm linking up with
Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Metamorphosis Monday
Tweak it Tuesdays at Cozy Little House
Knick of Time Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Show Me What You Got Tuesdays
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays
Share Your Cup Thursdays
Grace at Home
Show and Tell Friday
Sweet and Simple Fridays
Open House Party

Weekend Showoff Party
Time Travel Thursday

Laura

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Wine Cork Key Chain

Do you lose your keys?
Everyone in my household loses theirs--just about every day!

My husband's head is always on his next orchestra piece, big band chart, theme song...
My son's head is always in his next optical laser computer something-or-other and 
how to solve injustice in this world...
And my head, well... between art projects and work, is on the typical things we women have to be concerned with, like cooking and shopping and laundry and dust and Weight Watchers and vitamins and exercise--you know the sort of stuff...

So "somewhy," -- the term my son coined at 3-yrs-old--
we ALWAYS lose our keys!!!!

So one day this week, I just got sick and tired of it, and decided at least I would know where MY keys were if I made a really big key chain.  Here's what I came up with:


The pieces of this key chain actually have a lot of meaning to me
(besides, the cork feels great in my hand).



I had saved the cork from a special bottle of French wine
that was brought over recently by a famous person in Hollywood with whom my
husband was working--a very nice guy and a very good bottle of French wine--a heck of
a lot better than the "Two-buck Chuck" we drink from Trader Joe's.  :-)

The top button is a vintage one from my mother's collection that I played with as a little girl. 

The bottom button that attaches the charm is bone that I got on a trip to
Indiana with my friend, Jean and my cousin, Cathy.

The French glass charm was from an outing at the Topanga 
Vintage market-- a nice Sunday out with my husband.



And the metal tag that says "Inspire" 
just reminds me that I do and need to continue to inspire
 those around me to tap into and explore their own creativity. 

I am loving this new creation, and plan to make quite a few more. 

And now at last, I can find my keys!

                                                                                                                                         Laura


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