Melony's Whimsy Daisy!

Fancy Tickling...

Here are some items that have sold lately in my Etsy Shop that apparently tickled the new owner's fancy. I'm always intrigued because you never know when you list something if someone will actually want it enough to BUY it! Just because *I* was intrigued by something doesn't mean anybody else will give a hoot.

 
These two little dolls looked so forlorn I was worried if anybody would see their charm, but apparently someone remembered them from the past or had a soft spot for this little couple from Japan.

 
This little lady headvase was snatched up quickly with the new owner requesting me to please "wrap her up real good because she's so pretty!" I have a thing for lady headvases myself but decided I needed to part with this one before I became attached.

This sweet little vintage housedress below is winging its way to Australia and her new owner who has a love of yesteryear's clothing (one of my all time weaknesses.)

 Then, there is Peter Pig. He is an old Fisher Price toy from the late 50's early 60's. I  bought this pig even though I had no memories of it personally...I loved a Buzzy Bee and still have her!  I hoped someone remembered their Peter Pig and would enjoy sitting him on a nursery shelf and reminiscing. His graphics are adorable. I didn't realize how well-loved he had been until I did some research. He's missing his curly-q tail, his hat, his pull string, and he once "oinked"! I was right. Someone saw him and wanted to give him a home. He is on his way from Texas to New Hampshire.

 
That's what makes Etsy such a fun place to shop and to sell. Now, will my Saucy Walker find a new home?

 

Or what about this vintage sequined and velvet vest? Will it tickle someone's fancy? Spark a memory? I don't know, but it will be fun to wait and see.

 
Or maybe it will be Dumbo the Elephant who pulls at the heartstrings...

 

 I'm especially thrilled if someone thinks something I've created it is worthy of attention. I know many of you artsy craftsy folks get the same little thrill when something you make sells. It is that Sally Field moment, "Someone likes me. You really like me!"

 
Hope you're enjoying this busy time of year and all the crafty fun vintagey goodness in your life. May there be lots of little tickles to your fancy as you recollect sweet moments of the past, make the very most of the present moment, and relish living out your future as God has planned! Happy Pink Saturday! I'm linking up at Beverly's today. I haven't in a while. She is featuring some great recipes and other ladies who love pink, so check her out. I always enjoy participating.

 

This Mayhem Needs a Little Organization!

It is so nice to be participating in Pink Saturday again. Click on the badge above to visit lots and lots of other ladies who love a little pink in their life. I am also loving all the great crafty ideas at the Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello!

My Craft Cottage is a mess! Don't let these pictures fool you for a second. I'm snapping the neat side of the room. The other side is a disaster with a capital D. It is overwhelming, so I am trying to tackle the situation one sack (of Goodwill treasures), one box (of old fabric), and one tub (of vintage clothes) at a time.

Accomplished:

Two old basket purses spray painted and hung on the wall. Every little bit of space needs to be used.

 
The baskets are filled with "stuff"... Mary Engelbreit paper goods bought on the cheap, cheap, cheap and waiting for a craft project or a party...whichever comes first!

 

Little by little, things are finding their place.

 
Hope you have a beautiful weekend! I am still enjoying my newly decopauged freebie filing cabinet. Read about in my blog post below!

 

 

Old Church Filing Cabinet gets Glorified with Decopauge!

I was excited to have the opportunity to obtain an old filing cabinet from a local church. For many years it served faithfully holding the Sunday School rolls from each class. It had seen better days and suffered from some dents and bangs. Nobody seemed to want it, so I was the blessed girl to load it up in the Cherry Cherry Bang Bang (my little red car) and tote it home. There is something very therapeutic for me in giving something old and battered a new life.

 
I have a favorite tool. I never lose it. It is my fingernail. I used it to scratch off all the high-tech labels on each of the drawers. I decided NOT to paint the cabinet, as paint would have highlighted every "wrinkle" so to speak. It needed some major concealer with good coverage.

 
So, I decided to decopauge. I love to decopauge and it was the perfect "makeup" for my well-worn cabinet. I began to gather my supplies.

• four or five different fabrics
• Mod Podge (check out Modge Podge Rocks blog for other project ideas)
• paintbrush
• paper plate (I pour my glue on the plate and then dip brush)
• small jar of water (to dilute glue if necessary)
• a little miscellaneous trim for some rough edges
• scissors
•  iced tea and Peppermint Patties for sustenance and optimal concentration

I used one large piece of fabric for the top of the cabinet. I added several coats of Mod Podge to make sure it was sealed properly as I knew I would be setting lots of stuff on the top. This was very easy and went quickly.

 

Then came decopauging the drawers.

Oh the drawers!!! 

27 drawers.

Twenty seven drawers.

20 + 3 + 4 = 27 drawers.

I mixed, matched, and Mod Podged. For hours I snipped, slapped on and situated, scrap after scrap of fabric onto each and every one of the 27 individual drawers until they were covered in fabric fabulosity. Here is the filing cabinet making her debut in my Craft Cottage!  

I just love how it turned out. I think it looks something out of the Cath Kidston Store. Or, perhaps, Mary Engelbreit could be storing some of her cheery cherry artwork in a red polka-dot drawer? I am linking up to It's a Very Cherry World for REDnesday.  I think Sue will enjoy this Show and Tell.

Here is a side view where I have some wonky trim placement. No, no. Let me call it "handmade charm". I don't know what happened. Maybe I was one Peppermint Patty short in the concentration department after dealing with all those drawers, but I can live with the imperfection.

 

I wanted to be finished at this point, but throughout my childhood I heard, "if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right." So, I completed the back...even though NOBODY will ever see it, I will know it is looking good on the backside too. I admit I rushed through it willy nilly, so don't look too close.

 

At a recent Sunday School garage sale we were raising money for missions. My good friend, Nancy, was like a Queen Bee, buzzing around "staging" our merchandise to show it at its best and get it sold. So, I pulled a "Nancy" and decided to do some "staging" of my filing cabinet. The cherries, you saw earlier, in the glass bowl came from the aforementioned garage sale. I bought the cherries to replace one missing cherry on my red polka dot shoes. They were quite the bargain for 50 cents, as they repaired my shoes and are now serving double decorative duty on the cabinet.

Next, a 99 cent Goodwill old metal colander filled with some of my vintage hankies placed on the top of the jazzed up filing cabinet.

 
Pink roses are at home most anywhere...

 

Bob, my neat, orderly, Windex-lovin', all-the-world-should-be-chrome-and-glass-with-abstract-modern-art, wonderful, husband informed me he had been concerned about me when he saw me glueing fabric to an old filing cabinet. Here is our conversation when he saw the completed project.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bob (shocked): Wow! That looks really good honey!

Me: I know! *

Bob (surprised): You're supposed to say thank you when someone compliments you.

Me: I will thank you tomorrow. Right now I'm basking in the afterglow of a craft project that exceeded my expectations.

Bob (looking at the cabinet again): Honestly, it looks great!

Me: I know!

~~~~~~~~~

*note: I've had many many craft disasters, failures, malfunctions, so I promise I'm not being pompous. I'm just so happy with my filing cabinet! Please join me in my afterglow. Oh, and the pictures that are hanging above the filing cabinet are for sale in my Etsy Shop!

 

Hooking up to some great blogs parties. Visit them for some inspirational creative ideas for your home and the upcoming holidays.

 

Did the Craft Cottage Save Their Marriage? :)

 

What a surprise when organized, disciplined Bob with a Marine's spirit walked into this widow woman's unorganized, creative, spontaneous life. Bob was an empty nester with a quiet apartment neatly serving up abstract art in black lacquered frames on its pristine white walls. I still had two children at home (out of five) to raise and sported handpainted red, pink, and yellow cherries on my turquoise walls. (That was just the kitchen.) Bob worked out of neat folders and files in an office away from home, and I worked all over my house out of bins and tins, baskets and boxes that were in constant states of volcanic eruptions of paint, fabric, paper, and "vintage stuff." Bob just didn't understand the "vintage stuff".

 

 

So, after we married and had several exuberant discussions about my "vintage stuff", he so kindly offered me his old storage building. I graciously accepted and immediately thought of it as my Craft Cottage. This is how it made its debut appearance at our newlywed home.

Bob worked really hard getting the Craft Cottage's plain interior up to my cuteness criteria. Many hours of love went into putting in electrical, insulation...and other details that did not pertain to the cuteness factor. It was really what I call yucky on the inside at first.

But, the plan started coming together.  

 

Once Bob completed the inside job, he left me to turn my creative space into my dream Craft Cottage. What a guy!

What do I create and enjoy doing?

• collage with vintage greeting cards, magazines, and materials
• I sew- in a so-so sort of way- especially like using vintage fabrics and patterns
• paint - simple but kitschy is my style
• decopauge- anything that stands still long enough
• love to wear, buy, and sell vintage clothing
• collecting old wallpaper, wrapping paper, fabric for my projects
• buttons! crazy about vintage buttons, oh and trims too...rick rack and such
• love the art on old patterns
• aprons are divine
• reworking, redoing, saving old worn out furniture, frames, boxes,
• things that just catch my fancy!

 

The fun began when I started moving in! Here is a part of my sewing area.

I began sorting through fabric and moving in my new space...this is a teeny tiny portion of my stash. There is more. Lots more.

 

 

I obtained a freebie desk and gave it a makeover.

That became a work area in my Craft Cottage. Drawers are full of cards and all sorts of paper crafting supplies.

Here is one of my favorite spots in my Craft Cottage. I could just stand and look at all the goodness.

My little inspiration board:

My dress form with my handkerchiefs displayed:

My old phone that serves no purpose except to make me happy:

Yummy paints, pom-poms and whimsy...

 Fun storage:

No sew curtains added to the wall with gigantic clothes pins:

My Craft Cottage is still a work in progress (as is our blended family.) So many things  to look forward to accomplishing together. I'm so grateful for my creative space to do my thing. Knowing it was born out of my husband's love makes it very special. Yes, AND and his insatiable need for order and sanity in his life. Who knew sanity could be so cute?

Make sure you visit Where Bloggers Create by clicking on the button at the beginning of this post and then participating in Pink Saturday at Beverly's over at How Sweet the Sound!
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

  
  
 
  
  

 

 

Of course you don't want to see our septic tank!!!

Happy Pink Saturday to you! Today you will see plenty of pink in my silly but true post below. Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see other ladies who enjoy a little pink in their lives.   

My husband took vacation time to get our sewer system working. Isn't that a lovely vacation? I am VERY grateful that the nastiness will soon be done, buried, and just a stinky memory. So between bringing him glasses of tea and taking care of life's other little ups and downs, I am posting a few pictures of my Spring table and a funny story and you have permission to laugh with me. I KNOW you don't want to see our new septic tank!

Now, I'm going to tell something I may regret...but...oh well. My husband bought these flowers for me and had them delivered to church where I volunteer on Benevolence Tuesday. I was shocked. It was not my birthday. It was not an anniversary. I was totally puzzled until I read the card and then had to burst out laughing.

If there are any of you that sleep talk or sleep walk, surely you will understand?  My daughter had competed in a UIL contest for her 5th grade class the weekend before. Apparently I dreamed I wrote a poem for my "own" UIL event and actually woke my husband up during the night reciting it to the judges in my sleep. I then asked hubby if I had good eye contact. He said he told me I had great eye contact (although I was sound asleep) and that I had won the contest. I never woke up. He told me about it the next morning. I vaguely could remember my dream and we had a good chuckle. Thus, later in the day...these flowers arrived with congratulations. I had to laugh at the sweet gesture, and it will be a funny memory for years to come!

Talk amongst yourselves about how strange I am...but, don't we all have our quirks? I am glad I have a husband who will celebrate mine!

Click right here to visit a great blog full of Show and Tell Inspirations!
  

I want a cherry print computer...sigh

If Cath Kidston or Mary Engelbreit would come out with computers or printers in cute prints...I'd be all over it. In the meantime, I try to squeeze the white,  grays and blacks into my little junk-o-rama flowery, cherry, retro world. Happy REDnesday to you, and be sure to check out Sue's It's A Very Cherry World!   She has such a happy blog and other ladies have special posts today showcasing red.

 
 This is an old quilt rack (that really needs to be painted a nice yummy color) with some old vintage tea towels tossed over it for some fun. I love the graphic on these old towels. On the top are some mixy-matchy dishes...deep green, pink melmac, and an old platter with roses.

The Ugly Duckling Desk Makeover

Happy Pink Saturday, friends! Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to enjoy all the other pink participants. 

A while back I blogged  about a heavy metal desk I got for free. I love free.

 

It needed a makeover and I sort of overdid it with the make-up, and it was left looking a little clownish. So, above is the BEFORE picture, but I couldn't bring myself to show the AFTER picture. The desk has set in its garish glory being ignored.

Below: that's the makeup

Yes, I do believe I used every color except the red. I was like a fifth grader turned loose with blue eye shadow! I couldn't stop myself from shaking and spraying. Shaking and spraying. Shaking and spraying...... 

 

 I wasn't about to re-paint the OVERpainted desk-of-many-colors, so I've decided to tone it down. I began the twelve step program with an artist canvas.

 

Then, I selected some of my favorite fabric. This is by Michael Miller, who is just about my favorite fabric designer of all time. 

***By the way, you can click on any of these pictures to make them bigger and see the dust on my floor.***

Do you hear the ladies below chatting?

"Yes, Mary Fran, I simply adore the way my new hair pomade holds my bob in place."

 

It was hard to cut into the fabric. Always a problem for me. I began to ponder:

I could make a cute skirt out of this fabric...if I were forty pounds thinner, I could actually wear the cute skirt after I made it.

I could make a tablecloth out of this fabric...if nobody would spill on it. Forget that.

Then, I asked myself these two questions.

1. Melony, are you the boss of this fabric? 2. Or is the fabric the boss of you?

I got out my scissors.

 

I cut out a rectangle of the newly submissive fabric a bit bigger than the canvas and began to staple it to the frame. As luck would have it, I ran out of staples immediately after I took this picture.

 

I love my glue gun. It is faithful and true. Sometimes love hurts. But, it eventually dries and I just pull it off along with some skin, which, so far, has always grown back.

This is just Step One in the Ugly Duckling Free Desk Makeover-Gone-Bad-Tone-Down Process. It's going to take some time to turn this puppy around. I'd be grateful if you'd ignore I cut all the poor ladies' heads off the top. Let's pretend none of us see that. Yes, I know I should have centered the fabric...thought it out more carefully...perhaps, yes, even measured. sigh.

  

Do you know about those nifty thingies you use to attach artist canvas to metal desks?

Neither did I.

Did I mention how much I love my glue gun? Squirt and press, press, press. We'll see if the ladies' are still standing in the morning.

So, overall, not bad if we ignore the decapitation. If I can't live with the headless heroines, I'll cut again and redo it...but, knowing me...I can probably live with it. sigh...being the perfectionist I am.

Happy Pink Saturday! Stay tuned for Step Two.

Oh, and if you please...do be so kind to check out my post below. It's pink too, and I would love you to meet my youngest daughter and a cause close to my heart.  

On and Off-the-Wall at the Craft Cottage

Happy Pink Saturday to all of you patrons of pink. I have a touch of pink here and there I would like to show you on one of the walls in my Craft Cottage.

I was tickled to discover an old chipped yellow feed store seed packet holder at an antique store. I spray painted it a perfect pink and have added some of my old patterns. No! Sigh. I have not sewed one of these patterns...not even one... but I think of it as art on the wall. I just enjoy the look of these wonderful ladies posing.

 

This holder is made where it can sit on a cabinet, but that kind of space is not to be had at the moment, so it was better to hang it. I'm not so sure what these two girlies think of it. One looks pretty miffed, but the other chicky is just concerned about her hair. Oh well...

 

I have had the little dress below for a long time. I cannot remember where I found it, but it really represents everything wonderful about vintage in one teeny tiny little dress. It combines sweet, the perfect shades of pink and aqua rick-rack, a frilly petticoat underneath, and an adorable old-fashioned brand name...Lucy Jane. What's not to love?

***Okay, right now, I'm daydreaming if I had a baby it could be a girl, and I would name her Lucy Jane and she would wear this dress.***  (By the way, that was the off-the-wall portion of my post today.)

 Ironing is not such a chore when I have this cute ironing board cover...or so I have tricked myself into thinking. I am one of those strange people who actually enjoys ironing, but I must admit it is more fun with these enthusiastic ladies.

 

and my old Goodwill iron with aqua accents and cord...

 

Also on this same wall stands my dress form wearing the vintage apron that was the color inspiration for my entire Craft Cottage. Look at detail in this apron and I think the combination of these colors are so cheerful.

 

Somebody had such patience with all these beautiful stitches. I like the little touch of pink.

 

On and off-the-wall adds up to this in my Craft Cottage. It could all change tomorrow!

 Please take the time to click in my sidebar and visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and all the other Pink Saturday participants...like pinkbuttercreme's blog. 

From Drab to Fab Pink Dresser Makeover!

Please visit My Romantic Home For Show and Tell Friday. It is my first time to participate and I have chosen one of my favorite past projects to debut.

 I have been busy getting my Craft Cottage together and wanted to show you a few projects I've completed. The biggest re-do was a freebie hand-me-down unattractive brown dresser. I found some paint on the Oops shelf at Ace Hardware for $6.00 and kept adding leftover white paint until it was the shade of pink I wanted.

 

I don't know what happened to my before pictures. That is is so aggravating (sigh) but you can imagine a brown and not so pretty beat up dresser. I spray painted the handles white and this is the end pink result.

 

Then, I added my pretty bits and bobs as well as stuff that I will use in art projects to come...paint brushes, buttons, pom poms and such. It is so nice to see what I have actually OUT and not stuffed in a plastic bin. Thank you to my husband for making all this happen!

 

The paint shelf I purchased at Michael's with one of their 40% coupons. It still doesn't hold all my paints, but it's a good start and I like the ribbon storage and the other little shelves for knick-knacks.

 

 Here is a garage sale icky gold frame.

 

It was sporting my kind of price tag.

  Shake, shake, shake that can of white spray paint and s-p-r-a-y! I created my inspiration board by adding some wire to the back and attaching a little of this and that with tiny clothespins. I saw something similar on a blog somewhere, but for the life of me cannot remember which one or where. Feel free to post if you know who the creative mind was behind this. I will probably add some rick-rack or something to the frame as it is not froofy- fied up as much as I would like, but that can wait.

 

I think vintage cards are precious and will probably interchange some of my collection for inspiration on my little "bulletin" board.

 

You can read about my vintage handkerchief dress form in my previous blog post. I had a lot of fun putting it together. My great grandmother's old lace and tatting are displayed and my great grandfather's old glasses rest in their original case. 

Peeking behind it is a white spray painted old mailbox that started out like this:

 

I find it pert near impossible to pass these old treasure up at garage sales and actually like the worn look of this one. Nevertheless, I got out the spray paint and, yes, painted it white. It looks so fresh now. I added some vintage children's books with beautiful art work. I find the colors so inspirational on days that are kind of blah and I need a little sumpin' sumpin' to get the creativity going!

 

Here is a yummy pink and chocolate rose sundae made with Dollar Store craft roses. I'm sure I'll use them in a future project, but will enjoy them in "ice cream" form for now with the vintage pink and pearl pin for the cherry on top.

 

One ringy dingy! Two ringy dingies! Is this the party to whom I am speaking?

 

My kids didn't understand why I would say "dial" a phone number. This old black phone says it all, doesn't it? Would you like fries with those scissors? I liked the color of the aqua plastic basket which looked like it belonged in a fifties diner. I drink Diet Sweet Lipton Tea by the gallon, so I've saved the jars and used them for storage. A ribbon and an orphaned old clip-on earring spices it up a bit.

Hope you enjoyed a little peek into my ongoing Craft Cottage project. 

Vintage Hankies and old Lace Dressform

I MUST write a love song about spray paint. In the meantime, here is my latest project. The dress form started out black and gold from T. J. Maxx. I think it was $6.99.

 

I have a little collection of vintage handkerchiefs. A couple are sentimental to me, but most just sort of struck my fancy with their rosy-ness and femininity. I've been wanting a way to display them and enjoy them.

Here is a preview and then I'll show you the details:

 

I haphazardly (that's my middle name...Melony Haphazardly) pinned them to my dressform in a pleasing-to-my-eye- fashion. I found a crocheted bit and popped it over some pom-poms to cover my pins and to make my girlie have a nice waistline.

For the collar to m'lady I scrounged through some lace bits my Me-Me gave me from her mother (my great grandmother). It appears all handstitched and is so delicate. I added another little lace embellishment to the neck opening and adorned her with a favorite necklace of mine. It isn't old or expensive, and I really love it. I just have a hard time finding an outfit in my closet that screams "Wear a cameo with me!" I will enjoy the necklace more on the dressform.

I added a crocheted buckle and some beads around the bottom. I'm not sure if this buckle is old or new, but  I liked it.

 

Every dressform needs a cup of standby vintage lace.

Or a Goodwill (29 cents) English china bowl filled with tatted lace. (My kids hooted over this...English China. Think about it! LOL!)

 

I tossed an old jaunty straw hat on top of the creation, and perched some millinery flowers on the brim, and called it finished for now. I am pleased with the results and especially like that I was able to incorporate some sentimental sweetness. Check out other interesting vignettes at The Inspired Room.