White Wednesday Halloween

I'm still working on some projects for the craft show this weekend.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute!  Here's one of my latest projects.

Sitting in my studio was this stack of old books without their covers.

  I also had some old cabinet cards that I've been wanting to alter.

So I decided to combine the two and came up with these.

The books gave me more room to add embellishments and since they stand upright they make a fun addition to a tabletop display (OK.....this isn't the best tabletop display but my kitchen table had the best light)

I also repurposed these two wood canisters that I bought at a garage sale for 75 cents.

Before:

After:

Only a few more nights to finish projects.  I've been up to my ears in paper and glue!

I'm linking with Kathleen @ Faded Charm for White Wednesday (or in my case today: white, orange and black Wednesday).  To see what other whites are being featured just link back to Kathleen's blog.

Happy White Wednesday.

Jane

Super Simple Magnets

Super simple project I worked on today to take to the craft show.

I went through my stash of old keys

And picked out a few old, rusty ones.

I took a round, heavy duty magnet (I like using these rather than the magnet strips because they have a much better hold) and glued it to the back of the key.

To cover the hole on the front of the key (the magnet shows through the hole) I simply glued on a button.

Done!  These are the kind of projects I love.  Simple and inexpensive....and I think they look pretty cute too.

Since I was on a roll I got out some of my vintage clip earrings, took off the clip part and glued on a magnet.  Love these too.

Hope they sell.

Have a great week.

Jane

Vintage Sewing Notions Shadowbox Cabinet

Sonia @ Creating Vintage Charm is hosting a blog party today to celebrate the launch of her new magazine Creating Vintage Charm.  The first issue of the magazine was just released and is available to order online.  It looks to be a wonderful magazine full of beautiful, vintage creations from a number of talented artists.

Sonia's blog party gives all of us an opportunity to show off something that has added a little vintage charm to our lives.  To participate, or to just see what fellow bloggers have created, link back to Sonia's blog.  It's sure to be a great party!

For the party today I want to share something I recently repurposed that added a little vintage charm to my studio and helped showcase something I love, vintage sewing notions.

My mother taught me how to sew when I was a young girl on this Singer Featherweight sewing machine.

My great grandmother (Mamie) taught my mom how to sew when she was a young girl on a treadle sewing machine.

And old census records document that my great, great grandfather (Mamie's father) worked as a tailor throughout his adult life.

  So it is no wonder that vintage sewing notions are one of my favorite collections.

When I found this little cabinet at a thrift store a couple of weeks ago I envisioned it as a display for a few of my vintage sewing notions.

The cabinet just needed a little facelift to give it the vintage charm I was looking for.

So I disassembled the piece, taking off the hardware, removing the back of the shadowbox from the cabinet door and disposing the "spices" that were displayed in the shadowbox frame.

I spray painted the piece Heirloom White and, after it was dry, lightly sanded it to reveal just a little bit of the original finish.

I covered the back of the shadowbox with a vintage looking piece of scrapbook paper and then sat down with my collection of notions to decide what to display in each little window.  The depth of the shadowbox was only a little over 1/4" so I was somewhat limited on what would fit in each window.

I chose some of my favorite pearl buttons,

 A piece of an old cloth tape measure,

A very old needle packet and needle,

A wood spool (I sawed the top off of an old spool),

 A small crocheted doily,

 And an old, tattered hooks and eyes card.

I glued my notions in place and screwed the back of the shadowbox back on the cabinet door.  The finishing touch was the addition of a small glass knob on the front of the door.

I love how the cabinet looks now.

 The white, distressed paint gives the cabinet a vintage charm that not only showcases the vintage sewing notions but helps pay tribute to my sewing heritage.

Have a great weekend.

Jane

White Wednesday - Time

I'm running out of time!!

The craft show I'm participating in is less than two weeks away.

And I still have so much to do.

So I apologize in advance for not visiting as often as I would like.

Once the show is over I will have a lot more time for blogging and seeing what you all have been up to.

I'm linking with Kathleen @ Faded Charm for her wonderful White Wednesday party.

If you have time, head over to her blog and check out some of the White Wednesday links.  Always a lot of beautiful shades of white to see.

Happy White Wednesday.

Jane

Jewelry Holder

The last time my mother-in-law visited I realized my guest room didn't have a good area for her to organize her jewelry.

I decided to make a jewelry holder for that room using things I had in my studio.

I took three large blocks I purchased at the thrift store (they measure 3.5" x 3.5")

and covered them with scrapbook paper that coordinated with the guest room colors.  The edges were antiqued to give them a little age.

Next I took a silver plated candlestick and brushed it with a little antiquing medium to tone down the shininess of the metal.

I stacked and glued the three blocks on top of the candlestick and then added some cup hooks to hang the jewelry.

A quick and inexpensive project that will hopefully help my guests keep their jewelry organized when they come visit.

I'm linking today with Cottage Instincts for Make It 4 Monday.
I've already checked out some of the great projects that have been linked to the party. Head on over and check it out!

Have a great week.

Jane

Inspiration Friday - Coffee Filter Pumpkin

Inspired by this picture of my son at a pumpkin patch in 2002.

I created a pumpkin out of one of my used coffee filters to display with the picture.

I've been saving my used filters for a few weeks now.  They obviously have a perfect coffee stained look and I feel like I'm being a little green at the same time.

After I made the pumpkin last night I googled "coffee filter pumpkin" to see if anyone else had already posted about making these.  Just this week Sharing Creativity and Company posted a tutorial on how to make a coffee filter pumpkin.  Hers puts mine to shame so head over to her blog to see how it can really be done.

I'm linking with Debra @ Common Ground for Inspiration Friday .  This is a wonderful new Friday meme to share what inspires us.  Thanks Debra for hosting the party.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Jane

Having Fun With Halloween - White Wednesday

Last week Kim @ Starshine Chic posted pictures of some great Halloween decor that was being displayed at a store in her area.

This picture caught my eye.

I loved these little decorations and was inspired to make something similar.

Here's two of the pieces I've created so far.

These were super simple to make and I had everything on hand.

The base of the decoration is composed of three things:  wood block, wood candle cup and a dowel rod.

I always buy blocks when I see them at thrift stores.  They are a great base for a lot of projects.

Another thrift store purchase a few weeks back was a huge bag of wood candle cups.  I originally thought I would use these to make some tassels but I found they worked great for this project.

The first step is to paint all the pieces black. 

The paint job doesn't have to be perfect because after the black paint dries a coat of white paint is applied over the black.  Let the white paint dry and then lightly sand the pieces.  This allows a little bit of the black paint to show.  Then glue the candle cup upside down on the block.

Because the candle cup already has a hole in the bottom it is easy to insert and glue the dowel rod to the piece (I didn't paint the dowel rods because I knew I was going to be covering them).

The next step is to add some phrases to the block.  Because the blocks couldn't accommodate a lot of letters (I used rub-on letters), I kept my phrases short and sweet.  I thought the phrases looked lost on their own so I dug through my rubber stamps and found a square "frame" stamp that helped anchor the phrases.  For the final step, tie a bow at the base of the dowel.

Now it was time to decide what to put on the dowel.  I liked the idea of a vintage postcard and I found one that I liked on the internet.  After printing and cutting to size, I backed it with a piece of black paper attaching with brads.  The dowel rod slides between the two pieces of paper and a touch of glue is added to keep it in place.

Now the second one I made has a skull top.  I'll be honest, I'm not real sure about this one.

I bought a bag of skulls at Michael's yesterday with the intent of putting them in a glass jar.  Since they were sitting on my work top when I was making these I thought I would give one a try.  I poked a hole in the bottom of the skull and slid it over the dowel rod.  I added some glue to firmly secure it.

Many thanks to Kim for posting her Halloween decor pictures.  They definitely inspired me to create another decoration for my own Halloween display.

I'm linking this with Kathleen @ Faded Charm for White Wednesday .

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday.

Jane