Vintage Valentine Bonanza

I purchased a box of vintage / antique valentine's at an auction this past summer.  Summer is a super busy time for me, so I squirreled away the box without really looking through it.  I was pleasantly surprised a couple of weeks ago when I finally had time to look through the box.

I was pleased at the age of the Valentine Cards.

Most of them date from 1913-1924.

I was pleasantly surprised at the condition.

Only a couple were in good or fair condition,

the rest were "very good."

I was surprised at the variety.

Die cut; mechanical; pop out; stand up; lithographed; German.

This one is mechanical and made in Germany.

I got several of these "multi-layer" valentine's

with paper doilies.

Here is my favorite one.

Pop up with honeycomb.

All are heading to ebay in the next couple of weeks.

Vintage Bathroom Makeover -- The "Thrifty Highlights"

Okay, so this is the outdated main floor bathroom.

You can see that we were up against a tight, long space.

It was going to be a huge project to get it looking attractive.

And cost a bundle in labor alone.

So anywhere we could save a few bucks, we did.

Here are the thrifty highlights.

The three backspash areas around the sink were put together from

a box of scrap tiles that were purchased at a garage sale for $5.

The first challenge was putting them together artfully.

They were applied to sticky contact paper the same dimensions as the wall space.

(The second challenge came when the contractor had to

try to replicate the design on the wall.)

 Salvaged 4" wood.  I literally got them out of a barn,

but we think they were from an old building that was torn down.

Lots of interesting nails and nail holes. I bought them on a Monday,

washed them at the above carwash on Tuesday (it took about $14 worth of quarters),

and the guys installed them on Wednesday.

 Flooring. I needed something easy to clean, waterproof and that would blend

into a vintage bathroom.  I found three boxes of this vinyl flooring at Home Depot.

Clearanced for $11 a box instead of  $45.  I also applied for a Home Depot credit card and

received a $25 credit.

Thus, the whole floor cost me $8.

You are actually looking at three "budget" areas of the bathroom here.

Top left are two "bullseye" trim pieces that I bought to go above one of the doors.

I paid $2 each for the trim pieces. The door originally had similar ones, which had been removed when the ceiling was dropped. We were also able to locate a matching top trim piece, to fit between the bullseyes over the door.

The vintage milk glass & porcelain light fixture was only $5 at a garage sale.

We knew it would look great above the white porcelain "vessel" sink and mosaic backsplash.

 We only used the cabinet doors and hinges off of the cabinet, which I paid $35 for.

Do not be sad for the cabinet, one of the guys cut some of the project barn wood to cover

the hole in the top.  I already sold it at my vintage booth.

See how the whole bathroom came together in the "after"

reveal, click here.

Vintage Bathroom Makeover -- The "Before"

Our main floor bathroom looked pretty much like this when we moved in to our Victorian house -- in 1988.  (Actually the sink area is IDENTICAL to when we moved in.) We considered it "good enough".  We had so many other priorities to tackle that it never even really made the list.  Besides, it was the "boys" bathroom.

This cabinet beneath the sink?  Same as when we moved in.  Doors never did completely close.

One of the things we did do was put up "bead board" on the shower side wall. 

Part of the beadboard was painted and the part above the shower was stained.  Why?

Oh, and that lovely dropped ceiling.  Yeah, there when we moved in.  Still there.

 This is the view above the dropped ceiling.  The reason we never tackled the drop ceiling.

Good luck Mr. Handyman tackling this cobbled over debacle.  Also notice the lovely

fluorescent light.

We have had a couple different layers of flooring.  All cheap.

The bathroom walls?  Last time I attempted to paint I tried

shades of brown and gold (do you understand this is not the best two colors for a bathroom?)

Also I added texture to the walls, which only extends to the drop ceiling.

This has been the bathroom shelf since we moved in 28 years ago.  We bought it when we were first married, at a flea market.  It has had some paint slapped on it from time to time.  Sigh.

View from "the throne".  It once was a hallway, our

Victorian house was built without indoor plumbing so the whole bathroom is a

giant "make do".  31" at the widest point x 14 feet long.

Soo many issues to tackle...

All of this is about to change.  Total bathroom makeover starts while we ARE ON A CRUISE.

Really, does it get any better than that?

Catch the "after" results by clicking here

Crazy Quilt Stockings and Ornaments For 2017

2017 is not a type-0 -- these really are prepped and ready for unearthing in November 2017.  Laying sleepless in bed recently, I started thinking about a needy third grade class that has nine sweet children.  Maybe I should make Christmas stockings for them.  Maybe I should do it NOW.  You'll be glad to know that I (mostly) waited until the next morning.

After I cut out nine Christmas stockings (front and back) I decided that third graders might not be that keen on vintage crazy quilt stockings.  Sigh.  You'll be glad to know that I went a different direction for them and they will be well taken care of.  So the stockings are packed away for a head start on Christmas 2017.

But there were a bunch of scraps that I really wanted to use somehow.  I had a friend over and we used vintage Christmas cookie cutters as a pattern and cut out about six different ornaments.  I did the cutting, stuffing and putting them together with hot glue while she did some rustic stitching around the edges.  Sorry, no picts -- I sent them home with her.  I wasn't keen on doing a bunch of handstitching this time of year.

There were still more scraps to deal with....so I whacked out a bunch of very primitive Christmas trees and really liked the look.  No sewing allowed.  I used double sided tape to attach some to a white trim piece.  I think they would also look cute on a table runner or Christmas tree skirt.

Just to see what it would look like, I tried just throwing the trees on a window (or cabinet door?) that I got for $5 in the "as is" area of Ikea.  I just rolled some paintable textured wallpaper behind it to see how I liked it.  Nice winter wonderland.  Maybe a good project for 2017, but for now I am all about taking it easy and enjoying the holidays.

Flannel & Feed Sack Christmas Pillows

It all goes back a couple of years ago when I bought a plethora of feedsacks at auction.  I went home with some awesome animal, western and heart graphic feedsacks (click here to view the feedsacks I put on ebay.)  I also took home some newer or smaller Christmas feedsacks for which I could not figure out a use.

So I gave those to my friend Katie who actually sews,

and she turned out a bunch of pillows to sell last year. 

I snagged a couple of the pillows last year.

Sadly, she is no longer selling at my vintage mall.

But she had a couple of pillow covers left over which

she was kind enough to give me.  Yeah for me.

They mix and match perfectly and look great on my new Ikea couch.

 

Three Friends Holiday Sale

I have a couple of friends that had an overflow of personal Christmas décor.  They approached me about doing a little sale over one afternoon in December -- sure!  I always have an abundance of Christmas stuff to sell.

 

Of course, the problem is trying not to buy all of

each others Christmas excess.

So much fun holiday bling.

Theirs was a mix of new and old.

And mine was predominately old.

This gorgeous white stole sold.

The plateau mirror sold.

The etched mirror on the left sold

I have a pair of these awesome antique wire

flower baskets.  This one didn't sell, but will be going to

the antique show with me in February.

This was my favorite (first time out) piece that I took,

a vintage (funky) ceramic tree.

  

Spool Christmas Ornament Craft

When I get together with my niece, we always do a "craft".  Prior to spending time with her, I did not associate good things with the word "craft".  Tacky plastic cross-stitching kind of things. 

I admit, with an art degree, I might be a bit of an art vs craft snob.  But then my niece decided she was into "crafts" and the word took on a whole different feeling.  Fun.  Messy.  Glittery.

She and I went to a "Holiday Craft Show" (I barely even grimaced as I typed this) last weekend.  We spied some cute little spool ornaments on a tree, and I whispered to her that that would be our next "craft". 

I had the spools, vintage beads, Christmas music and glitter that we needed.

Christmas Tree Farm Trunk With Old Hinge Decor

The whole project began with the unearthing of these great green hinges.

With a little help from spraypaint I thought they would look like

Christmas trees.

I taped off the areas that I wanted to stay green,

and used a nice brown spraypaint for the rest.

Then what to do with them?

 

I dug this trunk out of my "antiques shed".

It was already green and had the license plate attached.

I added the handle (which had such great chippy paint!)

My husband painted the Kringles name.

I stenciled "TREE FARM".

I added the chain to keep it open,

and attached the hinge "trees".

So, for the holidays it can be left open for trees,

birch logs, etc. ...

and after the holidays it could be closed and

used for decorative storage.

Had about $10 in it, sold for $40 in 2017.

2016 Family Photos with Vintage Sled & Ugly Sweaters

Some families take goofy Christmas photos.  We have never been of that persuasion, so it is funny that we ended up with a couple of silly Christmas photos this year.

While my son and his wife were visiting over Thanksgiving,

I finished "enhancing" some Christmas sweaters.

Having live models was way better than throwing them on the floor for photos.

(I won't call them ugly, because it depends on the eye of the beholder.)

I sell the sweaters at my vintage booth, and all proceeds on the Christmas

sweaters go toward "The Grace House", click here  for more info on the Grace House.

 

All three of my siblings came to my house the weekend before Thanksgiving.

We are very scattered, and in the 25 years we have lived here -- they have only

all landed altogether at my house one other time.  My 91 year old father even caught a ride.

His wife had sent a sled which she claimed belonged to our family -- and we

unanimously agreed it did not -- so the comedy part of this photo was that we

decided to have our photo taken with it anyway.

Stenciled Snow Shovels 2016 Edition

This year I accumulated eight metal snow shovels for resale.  I made a deal with myself not to pay more than $1 each.  Most of them I picked up at auctions. You can view last years collection here.
I love the variety of colors that I inadvertently picked up.

The one on the left I actually used a Dollar Tree Wall Sticker --

but most were not smooth enough to use that type of sticker.

So most I just stenciled.

(I should have taken photos of the old handles,

they are all so great.)

I will be selling them for $15 each.

Ready for the snow to fall!