Thrift Store Treasures

Hearing an interview on GMA this morning about hoarders, did not stop me from coming home with another box of treasures, after volunteering at the thrift shop this morning!!! When the hoards start creeping up the stairs, and escaping the basement, then I will start therapy!!!LOL

Just thought I would give you a peek at some of the goodies.

There is a cute teeny, tiny briefcase, which will make a wonderful business card holder, a vintage horse head bookend, an Italian terracotta flowerpot, vintage silverware for altering, a tiny accordion altered booklet, a vintage wooden box, some Chinese postcards, some raspberry starts, a stack of "new" reading material, yet another pottery bowl, dangling lamp crystals for my upcycled china creations, etc, etc..........it was a good day!!!

If truly fascinated, you can click on the photos for a closer look!!!

"New" Stuff

Put together some new inventory for Julieanna's- I should get busy and put some of it in my Etsy shop. At least, in Julieanna's, I know it is selling!!!LOL

I like playing around with orphaned, vintage pieces of china or cutlery- giving them new life, altering them into something else functional, quirky, or cute. 

I was making these business card holders out of vintage silverware, and Julie suggested I make a set- for place card holders. Great idea!!
Another great idea from "anon", Lennie- use them for an easel for a tiny piece of art! I think these would be great to display mini paintings, ATC's, zentangles , maybe even twinchies!

Here they are:

The place card holders kind of look like a piece of odd art just stacked together!

Swaps, and Happy Mail, and New Creations.......................

I was in a altered matchbox swap with Penny, and just received a lovely package in the mail- from WAY east of Va Beach, as my postmaster told me!!! LOL From way across the pond- these lovely creations came!!! I guess I should have filled my matchbox with something other than air- all of these came with a goodie or two inside!!

A paper swap from LaWendula's blog garnered me this wonderful batch of  colorful papers! My swap partner outdid herself- and sent along a card she made too!!!

The other happy mail came from Nathalie of Ruby Floy- she advertised a Castaway bottle in her online shop - and I just couldn't resist!!! It is wonder-FULL!!!! I think you should all order one, when she has them in stock!!! If my creative self was lost on a desert island- this would be the thing to have - after water, fruit,  and chocolate, of course!!!

Next is a lovely bracelet I ordered from Mary Ellen's Etsy shop-Art Kissed- it is beautiful - and she even sent an extra goodie along!!!!The sentiment on the bracelet fits me exactly!!!

The last set of photos- these are two of the recent recycled, upcycled items I've made. They can be found in Julieanna's shop in Broadway, Va.  Vintage teapots are now wind chimes with altered and stamped silverware, and crystal prism "water droplets". The smaller hammered teapot can be a planter- it has sphagnum moss in it right now - but I can just picture it with some pansies or overflowing with ivy or portulaca.(UPDATE- the hammered teapot just sold!!!!- the other is still available! More to come!) Also a little 2 tier pedestal made from vintage English ironstone. I hope to get some of these in my Etsy shop soon!

I know this is probably sensory overload - but I am behind on blogging and figured I might as well post it all at once!!! I know I am missing writing about something else I recently got in the mail - but when I figure out what it is, I'll just write another post!!!

Tea on Tuesday

If it is as dreary, rainy, and chilly in your neck of the woods, as it is here - today will be tea on Tuesday all day!!!! Can never get warm enough today!!!

As a local friend told me, this is sheep killin' month!!! That was, in the old days, when the sheep were shorn in May - (as they still are today, I'm sure), and the weather turned cold and rainy. The sheep would get cold, without their warm wooly coats, and sometimes some of them died.

I went out to check on the horses yesterday, and the "old man" was standing in the rain, wet and shivering.Why they don't come in the barn in bad weather, is beyond me!!! I made him some of his warm grain and beet pulp, and dug out his rain blanket. I was reminded that this is May - sheep killin' month! The old man was so happy to have warm food and get dried off, but his rain blanket has seen better days!!! I went out to check on the horses this morning - and he was wearing that rain blanket like a backward cape!!! So, called the daughter at work, and bought a new one for him. It's only money........

So, dreary as it is today, have another cuppa tea with me, and enjoy these cheery little bits of spring from my garden...........

Please join us anytime for Tea on Tuesday - see Kimmie's or Patty's blog for a list of participants!

One More Challenge Piece

Ok, here is the last altered cutlery piece for the challenge - I was on a roll...!
A vintage iced tea spoon, with an Art Chix girl,vintage M.O.P. buttons, more painting, and some recycled tulle to finish it off!


The other item is a thrift shop cast off-I volunteer at the local thrift store and sometimes certain donated things are deemed unworthy for sale. I am well known for my dumpster diving there- I always check the trash before I start work - ya' never know!!! I guess this little gem was a napkin holder, very primitively made and signed on the bottom in pencil: 'Made by Wm. Clyde Baker -Dola Baker's husband'
It definitely was not perfect, but had enough charm that it needed to be rescued from the trash!!! It kinda looked like the wood shop projects kids used to do in high school years ago!

So, with a little paint (I am into green - can ya' tell?), edged with some pink trim, a colorized Art Chix girl, sea shells to cover the nail heads, and some faux pearl and beaded trim, and Wm. Clyde's handiwork has a new lease on life as a letter holder next to my computer!

I am having trouble getting my photos to sit where I want them on these posts!! It is not as easy as putting pix up on wordpress. So, I apologize for them being all over the place!!!

ABAA's Latest Challenge

Completed another one - woohoo!!! Got out of my sick bed, and got a little creative.I actually did 3 pieces of vintage cutlery, and one vintage wood napkin holder( I will show that later).
Patty from Magpie's Nest, http://www.bitze.wordpress.com, is the guest artist, so , of course, I had to give this challenge a try!! Linda and Rosie at ABAA are coming up with some great challenges.
I don't have a DH to bend the cutlery for me - well, I have a DH, but he just had wrist surgery, so bending cutlery one handed doesn't quite work!! So, I did what I could.
One ice tea spoon is waiting in the wings for its paint to dry - when it does, I'll post that pic also.
I decided to see how painting them would work - I kind of like it. These pictures don't really do it justice tho.
The flower fairy has bent tines with tiny flowers on the end, a leftover scrap of paper for her hat,velvet leaf, and her face is an image from Art Chix. I spray painted the fork,and hand painted over the fork's floral design.

The ' butterflies' serving spoon had been flattened and holes drilled by DH prior to his surgery!! The face is another Art Chix image, sculpy butterfly charm,glass beads, vintage faux pearls from a broken necklace, and vintage rhinestone paste adorn the spoon.

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Don't forget - 3 more days to enter my Spring Giveaway drawing - don't forget!!!!
See previous post!!!