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One of the biggest things that attracts me to vintage items is color. I love colors that are just a little bit off ...a dusty pink combined with olive...a yellow sky.
I made this set of notecards from a vintage Cinderella book with great colors. The cards are each a collage of illustrations and text from the book combined with simple embellishments...brads, plates, and a little bit of glitter on the glass slipper and jewelry.
All of the Christmas mess around my house inspired me to do a major straightening of my craft room. It's a tiny little room that was originally intended as a sewing room. My little room never, ever really looks like this...there are usually paper scraps all over the floor, drawers open, etc.
The secretary desk is an estate sale find, the chrome table was left in our kitchen when be moved in, and the wrought iron paper tray is a score from my little thrift store.
One last post before I take a few days away for the holidays...Merry Christmas!
My sister Jennifer has her own architectural design business and for the last few years, I have made thank you cards for her clients. She gives me free reign to design what I want...this time I used one of my favorite holiday papers from Anna Griffin. I love the red and white...with a little unexpected pink and olive green.
Also for the last few years, I have made our Christmas cards. I make the cards really, really simple. I brought home a tiny black kitten this summer and he has been the best present my kids have ever had so I thought it would be fun to include a little "Rooney" on our Christmas card.
I have a pretty good collection of milk glass...even the prettiest pieces are widely available and not at all expensive. Adding a tea light in a vase or any other piece of milk glass is the coolest source of light...the glass just glows. I have two of these "Egg Nog" punch bowls and a bunch of cups to match. We actually use the cups for eggnog and the bowls for all kinds of food...like holding clementines.
I love vintage linens...and I actually use them all of the time. This Santa tablecloth is one of my best finds. I guess because it was only used at Christmas, it is in perfect condition...the Santa on top is a thrift score from this summer.
I've been collecting vintage ornaments from estate sales and thrift stores for a while now. I love the "shabby" look of the glass on the ornaments and some of the colors are so pretty with the fading that age has given them. My prized ornaments are a couple of little house/church dioramas. I picked up an entire bag of shiny ornaments at our neighborhood garage sale last year for $1. My friend wanted to know what in the world I was planning to do with them...put them on my tree of course!
I also have a trio of little angels that are sweet little bells...they make me happy every time I see them.
...I just set over 200 eyelets! I completed the biggest single custom stationery order I've ever done. Custom work is kind of a "friends and family" only thing...I love to design the cards but am not so thrilled with the actual production. I am, however, always pleased when I'm done and get to see all of the cards together. Now, about those eyelets....
I have a new Crop-A-Dial from We R Memory Keepers. I'm sure this is some kind of industrial tool that they have reformulated (i.e. put a pink handle on it) for the crafty crowd. It does do a really good job of setting eyelets but you seriously have to have man hands to use it. It's quite heavy and the handle "spread" is pretty large. I expect similar tools will soon be available that function the same but are a little easier to handle.
I got this idea from the current Martha Stewart Living Magazine. The tree in the article on tree trimming was placed in a planter...skipping the tree skirt. With three cats, a dog, and three kids, my tree skirt was always a little bit of a mess so I thought the idea of a planter was a great idea. I didn't have any luck finding a planter or basket large enough so I went to Home Depot and found a nice big galvanized bucket. I think it looks cute...fits the mood of my vintage tree pretty well.
...and here's my little helper
I'm not a teacher but, from what I've seen and read, teachers really enjoy notes from kids and either gift cards or cash. I know there are lots of really cute gift card holders out there these days, but I still do a pretty brisk business making gift card holders for the holidays. This card has cute vintage school paper from DaisyD's. I've added a small "coin" envelope...it perfectly holds a gift card or folded cash. On top of that, I've added a tag. The tag is blank so the kids can write a note to their teacher. It's tied with my new favorite ribbon...when it comes to ribbons, I have to have it "fuss free" and this stitched grosgrain is just that...it ties great, lays down and behaves, and cuts easily without fraying. This particular ribbon is from Stampin' Up and I just love the subtle color of it.
My two favorite magazines are a constant source of inspiration for new ideas. Martha Stewart Kids was one of my favorites and the new Holiday Handmade Gifts special issue has lots of goodies from that. I am always a room mother for one of my kid's classes and have made the globe ornaments (pg. 96) for both of my boys classes when they were in 3rd grade...when I pull theirs out of our ornament boxes, I'll post a pic. The other magazine is Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion...if you are in any way crafty or artistic and would like your home to reflect that, this magazine is a must have...I could have a whole weblog category dedicated to ideas from Home Companion...hmmm...maybe I will!
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