Indulge Your Shelf

For a long time, I've been wanting to make my own necklace from vintage charms and bling that I collect from thrift stores, estate sales, antique stores, and the generosity of some of my swap partners.  The other night, I finally did it! Sorry for the blurry photo -- but, you get the idea! It always feels so good to do a project you've been thinking about for a long time, doesn't it? For the "base" of the necklace, I bought a gunmetal-colored chain from Michael's craft store.  That's the longer chain on the outside; for the shorter, inside "chain" I used a beautiful rhinestone necklace that was too short for me to really wear otherwise.  I fastened it to a very old piece of chandelier glass, which I then tied to a piece of beautiful vintage velvet ribbon, in moss green.   The little cuckoo clock charm was originally a souvenir pin from a German town.  The square charm in the lower right corner of the photo above is from an industrial line ...

Here is a close up of those fabulous 3 inchies I received in the 12 Days of Christmas Swap:   Jami Miller -  A Partridge in a Pear Tree I love the pear green envelope with a button! The texture of the pear is just amazing. Tamantha Kaplan - 2 Turtle Doves The packaging is divine, but the inchie is even better!  So much beautiful detail! Hope Ellington - 3 French Hens Beautiful French-country style! My 4 Calling Birds Mollie Morrison - 5 Golden Rings I love the vintage "gold" velvet and other old textures she used! Karen Hess - 6 Geese-a-Laying Pearl "eggs" nestled amid a nest of so many beautiful fibers! Nora Neeley - 7 Swans-a-Swimming A needle-felted swan, and just look at all all the stitched embellishments! Mary Kahler - 8 Maids-a-Milking I can hardly believe the creativity of this interpretation of a girl milking a cow!  It's awesome!  The cowbell is such a great detail, too! Lisa Hadja - 9 Ladies Dancing Do you know that until I photographed this, I ...

Here's what I did with the inchies I received in the 12 Days of Christmas swap: I made them into a banner!  I know it's hard to see, but I wanted to show you the whole thing; I made it in two sections of six "flags" each. I used alternating, heavy vintage fabrics.  One was a bark cloth design from the '40's, and the other was a green toile that was probably from the late '50's. I used some heavy embroidered eyelet trim to string them all together, then strung green and rose seam tape, respectively, through the middle row of 'hole' in the eyelet.  All the materials I used were from my collection vintage materials!  I love that. I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I'm also proud of myself for "committing" to sewing down all the pretty inchies; it's so tempting to just hoard and admire them! The banner's already hanging, as shown, in the archway between my living and dining rooms.  It was the first bit of Chri...

(Spoiler Alet: many have received their swap but some have not so if you're in the latter group, stop reading!) I've always loved The 12 Days of Christmas .  My jr. high school choir did a fun satire of the song, called The 12 Days After Christmas ; it begins, "The first day after Christmas, my true love and I had a fight.  And so I chopped the pear tree down, and burned it just for spite..."  It remains a fun holiday memory! This year, I enjoyed doing a 12 Days of Christmas 3-Inchie Swap with some of my Silver Bella friends!  All the inchies have finally gone out so I'm going to show you mine now!  I had 4 Calling Birds. See how the bird's mouth is open?  It's calling.  I made the bird from some pieces of felted sweater I'd gotten from Elizabeth Shea last year.  The bird's eye and topknot are beads, and the feathers on her head are made from a piece of eyelash yarn.  She's trimmed with vintage laces, and the musical note fabric as well a...

Here's a scan of the cutest vintage Thanksgiving card I bought recently, for your viewing pleasure or artistic pursuits: Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Judging from the things I've been attracted to in my thrift and antique shopping, I am way into the holiday spirit! But, it's the wrong holiday!  Meaning, I would like to skip Thanksgiving altogether this year.  I am so. Not. In. The. Mood.  I would love to just move on to Christmas already! Tell me the truth: how much do you love this little Putz house?  It's my first!  I have never splurged on one before!   That little blue star hanging down from the ceiling is so cute, I even don't mind the kitschy little mushrooms over there on the right! I had never seen one in this shape, so I really had to have it! I also got this vintage ornament, which is such an amazing red! And I love that it has a different motif on the reverse! Some people would think I'm nuts because these little seals, and their envelope, make me sigh deeply.  I only wish I had all 30 of them! Likewise I love these little plastic embellishments; I think they are from a liquor supp...