Showing posts with label jewelry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jewelry. Show all posts

Thursday, May 16, 2013

My Newest Hang Up; National Photo Month, Day 16


Recently, my makeshift jewelry hanger collapsed and all my necklaces ended up in a heap on the floor. What a mess!

I laid the mish-mash of chains on the daybed in what we fondly call our "Patriotic Room" and planned to create a new hanger.


At an artisan boutique the following weekend, I came across this eco-friendly hanger made from a birch branch and equipped with rustic nail heads. Perfection!

Now I needed a unique to display the hanger, so I set out to find something at the local craft store. I found a nice burlap square with a black metal hook. Right piece. Wrong finish. Nothing I couldn't fix, though.

I also bought a couple of inexpensive rusty keys that coordinate well with the rusty nail heads on the wood and the wire hanger. And, I decided to use the artwork I recently created for my peat pot project so the hanger would coordinate with the peat pot.


As much as I like the natural look of burlap, I decided to paint it antique white. I like the way it blends with the birch of the jewelry hanger.


The black hook definitely didn't work. I mixed a couple of different brown paints with gel medium and dabbed on a fairly heavy coat. When it dried, it looked pretty close to the rusty, crusty finish on the keys I had purchased.


Finally, using Mod Podge, I added the scrolled crowned bird image I created using three wonderful images from The Graphics Fairy. You can find the individual images I used here, here and here. I printed my creation on medium-weight card stock, tore it into a shape I liked and lightly applied stamping ink to the surface and edges to create an aged look.


The natural jewelry hanger works well with the rustic burlap hook. And, it's great to get my heap of necklaces off the daybed.



Make it a great day!
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Brooch the Bouquet


When my boss recently asked me what gives me satisfaction at work, I didn't hesitate before responding.

"A big, fat challenge," I told her.

"Not a surprise to me," she responded.

I am director of a marketing communications department. My work day consists of managing quirky creatives and demanding clients. I'm never short of challenges.

But, at the moment I responded to my boss, it occurred to me that interesting, and often difficult, challenges offer me satisfaction, period. Not just at work. In my personal life, too.

So when my son's fiancé recently asked if I'd be interested in making a brooch bouquet for one of her wedding clients, I accepted the challenge.

First thing I did?  You guessed it. Googled brooch bouquets. Much to my surprise, and relief, the images and examples were endless. And, the number of tutorials was amazing.

The bride wanted a brooch bouquet with a twist:  she wanted it to look like a baseball. No problem! Wonder if she knew our son played baseball for 15 years?


Couldn't find a baseball brooch bouquet, but found a carnation baseball bouquet.


This stunning work of art, made by Judy at Fancy Pants Weddings, was my inspiration. Her tutorial is so good, I won't go into how to make one of these beauties. Judy's instructions are all you'll need if you want to try making your own bouquet for your special day. But, many other good how-to's are available  online.

For the baseball bouquet, the bride agreed that a combination of silver, white, pearl and crystal would be a nice combination, creating the right combination of sparkle and a whitish background to represent the ball.


The bride collected some jewelry from her family. I had some nice pieces in the stash of vintage jewelry I use in my crafting. I scoured the thrift stores and also found some additional pieces online and at estate sales. The larger  brooches can be supplemented by earrings, pendants and larger rings, if necessary. This bouquet used 64 pieces.



I wired each piece with floral wire and wrapped each with floral tape. This is the time-consuming phase. To stay on track, I started wiring as soon as I collected the first brooches and wired a few every night.


As I wired, I collected the stems in a vase to get a sense for when I had enough to form the bouquet.

About halfway through the creation of the bride's bouquet, she contacted me about creating one for her bridesmaid. We decided to make that one in red and silver.

Assembling the bouquet takes patience. Finding just the right combination to create a symmetrical shape isn't as easy as it may look. I learned early on that it wouldn't be perfectly round. After assembling the full bouquet, I let it sit for a couple of days. Stepping away from it allowed me see where it could use improvement. After a few days, I disassembled the entire bouquet and reassembled it with much better results.

I finished both bouquets in the red and navy colors of the wedding. The bride's bouquet has a double collar of red tulle and navy satin. The stem is embellished with a repurposed pearl and shell vintage bracelet. The bridesmaid's bouquet is finished with a single navy collar and silver lace trim on the stem.

I'm excited about the final product!









Oh, this was a fun challenge! For any bride-to-be who is creatively inclined and isn't pressed for time, this is definitely worth the effort. Don't be afraid to give it a try.

Make it a great day!
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Sunday, November 4, 2012

Pearls and Scraps


Halloween's over. No point in lingering. I'm ready to move on to Christmas.

What happened to Thanksgiving, you ask? For the past 26 years, we've traveled to Illinois to spend Thanksgiving with my husband's family. Over the years, weather has prevented us from going only a couple of times. Because we don't spend the holiday in our home, I automatically move directly from Halloween mode to Christmas mode in my decorating. And, now that our children are grown and gone, that's even easier.

Even though the Fall decorations are still up throughout the house, this weekend I was itching to make something Christmas-y.


After the holidays last year, my local grocery store, which has a fantastic floral shop, had what seemed like a mountain of Christmas items left for clearance. I bought out every one of these little feather trees, among other holiday items. The trees are small and sweet and whimsical.


Being vintage myself, I have a distinctly vintage decorating style. So, I didn't care for the bright white of these pretty little trees and planned from the outset to "age" them and give them some simple embellishments. I also planned to plant them in these small, vintage metal molds.


After giving the trees a tea bath,  I prettied them up with little scraps of a net crinoline and satin from a beautiful, but tattered 1940s wedding dress that I am using on a custom project for a friend. Then I added faux pearls from my collection of broken-down and cast-off vintage jewelry.


As I was preparing the vintage mold bases, I remembered I had three small vintage milk glass jars and decided to see how they looked. Can you believe it? The base of the trees fit perfectly in the jars. They seemed to be made for each other. I'll likely make more of these and put some in the metal molds.


I'm toying with the idea of a light dusting of glitter. What would you do? To glitter or not to glitter--that is the question.


Make it a great day!



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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Wanna See My Drawers?

For several years, now, the library table in our living room basically has looked like this at Christmas.


Boring, eh? (Please pardon the crappy photo.) But, by the time I had finished decorating everything else in the house, I never had the energy or desire to do anything with this table. The family photos are featured there all year round and I'd basically just add a few Snowbabies and bottle brush trees and move on.

So, this year I started my decorating with the library table. I wanted to use all the family photos in the vignette I created. The centerpiece of the display was this fabulous two-drawer oak file cabinet I purchased at an estate sale this summer--for $2. I'd been using it to display a few of my folding cameras.



~*~*~*~
Quick side story:  This piece was buried in the garage of the estate sale under a greasy, filthy old gasoline can. It was coated in a thick layer of dust and grime and had spider eggs and cobwebs hanging from it like tinsel. Because I'm terrified of spiders, I nearly hyperventilated just thinking about picking it up. I could see a price tag of $50 on it. But, I mustered the courage to look past the spider eggs and saw the $50 crossed out and $2 written next to it. You betcha I can overcome a phobia for a bargain like that!
~*~*~*~
With the drawers of the file cabinet open, I filled it with goodies: doilies that my grandmother and I crocheted, vintage lace trim, glass knobs, vintage frames, photographs, vintage jewelry, bottle brush trees and vintage Christmas ornaments. Some of the larger photographs now sit on top of the cabinet. I added a few Snowbabies around the tabletop. Underneath it all, I laid a large tablecloth my grandmother crocheted for me.







Now that I see it all put together, I wish I'd have done this years ago. Ah, well. Better late than never.

Make it a great day!

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Obsessed with Amber


A girl can never have too much amber. This girl can't anyway.

So, for a flourish of fall around the house, I pulled out nearly every piece of amber glassware I own. And the amber-colored vintage jewelry, amber-beaded tassels and garland and amber-toned ornaments. Then, I threw together a dining room decor full of warm fall color and sparkle. 

To add polish and cohesiveness, I called into service my vintage beveled mirrors and, finally, sprinkled the room generously with satin fabric pumpkins and turkey feathers. A simple recipe for an autumn feel.


Front and center on the buffet, I stacked vintage cake stands and topped them with an upside-down small amber bowl that forms a pedestal for a larger right-side-up carnival glass bowl. I embellished the centerpiece with vintage brooches, beaded tassels, garland and satin pumpkins. Can't you almost smell apples and cinnamon, pumpkin spice, caramel and perhaps a hint of dried leaves?


What a nice warm glow . . . a vintage Fostoria juice glass forms the pedestal for a pretty pumpkin.


The vintage mirrors add special sparkle and interest under the room's arrangements. Love the etched detail on this mirror.




Flanking either side of the buffet's cake stand tower are arrangements of amber-colored goblets, more satin pumpkins and beautiful iridescent feathers courtesy of our flock of backyard wild turkeys.




On the dining room window seat, which catches the southern sun, I positioned a beautiful amber-colored, mirrored-glass mosaic bowl on top of another amber cake stand and filled the bowl with small pumpkins and gourds. The mosaic mirror glass dances in the sunlight, throwing bits of light around the room, changing character and intensity as the day goes on. The cake stand is embellished with amber-beaded garland and positioned on another vintage mirror with beautiful etching.



A large satin pumpkin atop an art glass cake stand adorns the dining room table. Amber-colored fabric-and-bead ornaments on an oval vintage mirror round out the centerpiece.

And, finally, I wrapped the chandelier in evergreen and strung it with an amber prism garland to round out this sensuous fall decor.

But wait! There's more! When you look now, you'll get amber vignettes in the foyer and amber tableware in the kitchen awaiting Sunday guests.

Don't worry--I won't bore you with the rest of it. Not today, anyway.


Make it a great day!

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