Dollar Store Salt Shakers + Vintage Buttons = Button Flower Bouquets

It’s me again! I am on a crafting BINGE! I don’t know what’s gotten into me! Maybe because it’s been sunny and “Spring” feeling these last few days? I don’t know, but I’m going with it!

I have a fun “dollar store craft” for you! I made these cute little vintage button bouquets using Dollar Tree salt shakers (you can also find some at the thrift store for super cheap, like the ones here on the left) and some buttons and wire that I had on hand. So easy and a perfect Spring craft!

I also used twine for a bow accent, and shredded paper (also found at Dollar Tree) to stuff inside the shakers and help hold wire stems in place. I suggest using a pair of pliers that have a cutting edge on them, so you don’t jack up your scissors while cutting the wire.

To make the stems, you are going to twist the two sides of the wire together. Fold the wire piece over and cut it roughly the length you want the stem to be – keeping in mind it will be a tad shorter after twisting it together.

Layer your buttons to make fun, colorful little “flowers.” Slide the ends of the wire through your button flower and start twisting them together tightly, to create a sturdy stem. Cut off the excess wire.

Stuff a small amount of shredded paper down in the salt shaker to help hold the stems in place. You could use more buttons, beads, floral foam, or nothing at all…whatever you want!

Make as many flowers as you’d like! They are fun to make!

My first bouquet is a red and brown theme

And my second bouquet was a blue and black theme

I photographed them for Etsy but decided at the last-minute to bring them to the co-op. They are currently in my booth at The Carriage Place. I can’t wait to make more!

Last night I photographed a ton of new stuff I am putting in my Etsy store, and I wanted to let all my fellow crafters, that have booths or small shops, know that I am going to be selling these word blocks in groups of 6 at a wholesale price. I ordered way too many of them, so they’ll be in my shop this week at some point. They would be a great little item to resell, if you’re into country/prim decor like me!

  

I also wanted to share a few great thrift store finds from today! A great enamelware tin pan, an apothecary style jar (these sell like hot cakes in my booth!) some wooden plaques for future craft projects, vintage tin molds, and a small wooden platter with a glass cloche. I am going to paint the wooden base – probably black with a yellow prim star in the middle.

I was also sooooooooo excited to find some unique Scrabble tiles from a “Deluxe” edition of the game; 100 tiles for only $4! Best of all, they are maroon colored! I love that they are different from the regular Scrabble tiles, yet are a great color for country crafting!

And lastly, I had to share this find…..these brown kraft boxes were only $1 for a bag of 6!!! If you have an A.C. Moore’s, go grab some before they are discontinued!!! I was “that person” who depleted their inventory. Hehe. I am going to stamp them eventually. Love the variety of shapes!

That’s all for today! Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting!!!

Some Thrift Store Finds and Makin’ Tags!

Hello crafty people! I thought this awesome ecard was perfect for this post, as I finally got my pickin’ “fix” this weekend after hitting up a few thrift stores! In the winter, garage sales and estate sales are scarce around here, so I tend to more thrifting in the winter months. I found some pretty cool stuff that I plan on putting in my booth over at the Carriage Place later this week when I do a complete overhaul.

I got this light green enamel pot, which is awesome because I found the exact same one a few months ago that is a darker shade of green! They’ll look great next to each other, especially with St. Patty’s Day coming up! I also found a few “apothecary” jars, and a green glass candy dish. I don’t usually do fancy glassware (aside from mason jars, vintage bottles, etc.) but this one was kinda neat looking and had some nice floral designs.

I scored 2 awesome Pyrex casserole dishes with fun patterns that also shout “SPRING!”

I got a bunch of vintage Anchor Hocking jars with lids, which I thought would be great on someone’s counter filled with flour, sugar, or other stuff!

Lastly I got this cute little “cottage chic” bird house and an enamel pitcher. The pitcher was a STEAL at $3 because I believe it’s real, and not a repro. It’s pretty heavy and appears to be old! Sweet!

In other crafty news, I decided to use up some of my tons of scrapbooking paper and make tags, using my trusty tag-shaped hole punch. I don’t even scrapbook – I just have an uncontrollable compulsion to buy cool scrapbooking paper when it’s on sale, “just in case.” Lol. This was the perfect use for it!

I punched some with designs on one side and plain white on the back, for use as gift tags. I went through each one and punched a small hole in the top for stringing them. I am going to sell them in my Etsy store in sets, with baker’s twine of a coordinating color, for hanging them.

Depending on the paper, some have designs on both front and back. I thought they’d still make nice gift tags, or for paper crafts and scrapbooking. The possibilities are really endless! I think these are a great idea for craft shows too, especially around the holidays! High profit margin, and something everyone can use!

That’s it for today. I have craft ADHD and haven’t finished painting the gnomes (from the last post) yet. I will soon. Hope everyone stays warm and has a fantastic week! BBS!

This Week in “Junk” & A Vanity Table Re-Do

I say “junk” with quote because all my picks from the last week have been anything but! I found some really AWESOME stuff and am so excited to bring over it over to the Carriage Place this week! I also have added a lot of new little items to my Etsy store – there’s new stuff everywhere!!!

I’ll start with this incredible yard sale find: an antique chair from the original Silver Stadium on Norton Street, in Rochester. Thanks to my work partner and historical baseball expert Joe, he tells me these seats were originally installed in 1929 and then ripped out when the stadium was renovated in the 80′s. The stadium is now located in Downtown Rochester; now Frontier Field, home of the Rochester Red Wings. These seats are rare, as most of them were torn out and burned. I hope that a Rochester historical junkie or baseball fan will be able to add this piece to their collection – it’s headed over to the co-op on Wednesday!

Talk about another great find – this 3 gallon crock off of Craigslist. I have been researching the wreath marking and have found nothing. I really need to learn more about crock markings. I also got this old oil can with old chippy red paint and a great wooden handle. Love old, primitive tins!

I have been slowly collecting these apothecary jars – all finds from the thrift store ranging from $.99 to $2. They are all different shapes and designs, and I plan on displaying them as a group. They are a major trend right now in decorating magazines and online, such as creating a “candy bar” at a wedding, holding toiletries like Q-tips and cotton balls along a bathroom shelf, creating terrariums, or filling with ornaments or candies for holiday decor! So many uses…I am exploding with ideas for these. I am debating between bringing them to my co-op or selling them on Etsy…I think they’ll do great in either venue!

Of course I have picked up a lot of “smalls”…some vintage salt & pepper shakers, this wooden horse figure, this fun 50′s style hunter figurine, and some other junk not pictured.

And MOLDS! Tons of vintage tin molds! I love these…again, so many potential uses! You could fill them up with fixins, use em for baking, candles, tarts, soaps, bath bombs, favors…

And last but not least is this great little solid wood table with retractable arms in the front. Got this gem off of Craigslist for $10. It’s in phenomenal condition and with unfinished wood, I knew it was a candidate for a primitive/country make-over.

**UPDATE! Thanks to some readers, I finally figured out what this is! It’s a make-up vanity, with arms to fold a skirt in and out, where your legs would be. See the comments on this post to learn more. Thanks guys! **

It was full of tack holes around all the edges, which I decided to fill with wood filler, to clean it up a bit.

I used my finger to smear it into these tiny holes. Let it dry for about 10 minutes and then sanded it to smooth down the filler.

Now it’s ready for paint!

I used a satin black spray paint – Rustoleum American Accents in Canyon Black. Did a light sanding mostly on the edges to “prim” it up.

Sealed with a coat of spray polyurethane. Make sure to let it dry completely, for several hours. Otherwise you’ll get finger prints and streaks across the finish. Now, can anyone tell me what these little retractable arms are for?

I added the little teal knob from Hobby Lobby. Teal and black are one of my favorite color combos!

And here she is, ready to bring over to the co-op. I love how it came out!

Have a fantastic week and enjoy the last few days of summer. It’s winding down and soon my FAVORITE season will be here…looooooove FALL!!! Be back soon with some new pics from The Carriage Place and other crafty chaos! Later!

One Step Thrift Store Makeovers

Thank you so much for all of the great ideas and suggestions on how to “fix” my ruler table. I agree with those who believe it soaked up too much stain because of the light, balsa-wood material of the rulers. I ended up sanding the crap out of it and just spraying on a layer of poly. It is noticeably lighter now. I didn’t want to try to remove all the rulers because I know I used a LOT of glue and it wouldn’t be worth the time and effort. I figure I can use it as a “display” table for now and slap a price tag on it, and maybe someone will like that super-grungy look.

Next time I will either experiment with a LIGHT stain BEFORE gluing them down, or not use stain at all…just a clear coat! I actually kinda like it now, even though it still doesn’t look like the original “Pinterest” project. Lesson learned!

Some other projects that have been in the works are a few easy makeovers of some items found at thrift stores. The first one was this awesome, primitive set of pine drawers, missing one knob. I’ve been looking high and low for a matching knob but of course couldn’t find one.

Since I didn’t have 4 matching knobs, I decided to change them out for 4 white, mis-matched knobs! Took off all the knobs and drilled larger holes for the NEW knobs!

Here are the knobs I chose! It’s now a functional storage piece with a little sass! Even though the knobs are different, I feel like it “works”…what do you think?

I got this large “S” from the thrift store for super cheap. I scooped it up immediately because I know large letters, either spelling out a word or by themselves, are a very popular decorating trend right now. It had some scratches and was really dirty. After dusting it off a bit and a fresh coat of black satin spray paint…

It will wait for that special “S” name person to pick it up and hang it on their wall!

And lastly, my favorite makeover, this mason jar lamp turned chic button lamp! I got the mason jar lamp base at the salvo (I know, I couldn’t believe it either) and picked up the shade at Walmart for $8. I have been looking for a shade forever and this one was so awesome I had to splurge a bit!

I filled the mason jar with charcoal gray buttons that matched the shade perfectly. I put a toilet paper roll stuffed with brown craft paper down the middle so I only had to use half the buttons to fill it up. I use this trick to preserve “fillers” and therefore save $!!!

How adorable is this lamp?? “French-cottage-chic”, or something like that…

Hmmm…to keep or to sell…that is the question….

Hope you enjoyed my mini makeovers, that really required very little effort! I love EASY!!! Have a great weekend my crafty blog friends!

Some Recent Thrift Store Finds and Updated Pics from The Carriage Place

It’s been complete chaos in my house between trying to keep my booth at The Carriage Place stocked up and getting my new Etsy store up and running! And I’m excited to announce it’s officially up! I’ve only got a handful of items listed right now but plan on adding more in the very near future!

You can check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/UpstatePrimitives?ref=si_shop.

In the mean time I thought I’d share some recent “finds” that I’ve accumulated from various thrift stores over the last couple weeks. I got two extra large glass mason jars, a cool apothecary jar, a reproduction stoneware jug, a flower frog and little Anchor Hocking piggy bank.

I also found this awesome yellow lamp a few days ago and I HAD to have it!!! It’s sorta ugly but COOL! Lighting sells well at the co-op. I can see it in a cottage or lake house, or in someone’s funky retro living room…

And some “Americana” items…a little late for Independence Day, but still always a popular theme!

I LOVE this repro game board that was handcrafted by a local artist in 2008. Great wall art.

And something I pick up any time I see them…vintage BUTTONS! These will be going up in the Etsy shop soon. Love em for crafting or just filling up random jars and displaying them.

I was able to get over to the co-op yesterday and do some re-arranging and re-stocking. Here are some updated pics!

These wooden pieces were hand crafted by my step-dad Mike. He has made these mini hutches, some candle boxes, horseshoe boxes and milking stools. They are made of very old wood and constructed the old-fashioned way – hand sanded, knobs hand turned, and old square head nails. He does incredible work!

I have another cool project in the works and will be posting about it soon. In the mean time hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying their summer! Later gators!

A Few Good Picks

Upon driving home from the North Country on Sunday, I purposely took the back roads knowing that there would be lots of barn sales, flea markets and garage sales, as it was a GORGEOUS day. I wanted to take the opportunity to do a little “pickin” and sure enough, I found some treasures.

I got this awesome little tool box with a wooden tray inside – LOVE the robin’s egg blue paint!

A very cool metal catalog

And a giant red galvanized tub and an old crate

My favorite pick of the day is this 1920′s-30′s brass Hendryx bird cage. I don’t know why but I have a thing about old bird cages. They are so charming. I took off all the plastic feeders and toys and cleaned her up a bit. Inside it were the original glass feeders, which I have seen go on Etsy/Ebay for big bucks. I figured why not keep it all original and include them with cage.

There is a small brass plaque on the door that says Made in USA, Hendryx, New Haven, Conn. The bottom detaches with 3 metal clips. It has the most lovely patina. I am debating on keeping this piece.

Close up of the original glass feeders

Some other finds from a recent trip to Goodwill include this Samsonite vintage suitcase with a beautiful, burnt orange, satin interior. Also got this black trunk. Thanks to Country Living and magazines alike, pieces like these sell easily, as one of the latest trends is stacking these pieces for side tables or using trunks as coffee tables.

And talk about random…I had to share this little tiny pottery jug marked “Gnomes”. I think it’s so funny and cool.

I’ve got a bunch of small crafty pieces stocked up and ready for our big weekend – the Cruise-In and Flea Market which will hopefully make for a busy weekend at the co-op!

Keeping my fingers crossed for a nice day on Saturday for the Cruise-In and Flea Market. I’ll be back soon with pics. Have a great week and happy pickin!

An Enamel Top Table Fixer-Upper and a GREAT Day of Pickin’!!!

First off, I wanted to say thank you to all of the awesome, encouraging comments people have been leaving here on my blog lately. I really never expected so many people to actually read and follow it! I really appreciate it and thank each and every one of you who have stopped by to say hello!

So of course I forgot to take a before picture of this enamel top table I got at a garage sale, but trust me, it was pretty rough. The top and leaves were in good shape, but the wooden base was all stained and the metal legs were very rusty. I started by removing the legs and painting the wooden table base black.

I thought I could shine up the chrome legs with some steel wool but after scrubbing them ruthlessly, the rust would not budge. It had actually eaten through and was pitted in some areas. I also scrapped the project and was going to leave the legs as is, but I stumbled across this shiny “metal” spray paint and thought I may as well try it out. First, I steel-wooled the crap out of the legs to smooth them out as much as possible.

Wow, it actually worked! Looks great!!!

The spray paint worked better than I anticipated and gave them back that “chrome” look! Even up close, it’s very convincing!

I even painted the old plastic drawer pull with the metal spray paint, to match the legs. I love how it turned out and hope someone snatches it up to enjoy on a porch or a  sun room!

In recent “pickin’” news…I had the best day EVER last Saturday and scored a bunch of great primitives!

Got a couple new crates which have been selling like hot cakes!

Some great firkin buckets…

A country tool/flat-ware carrier…

A super primitive wooden bowl

A wonderful red painted planting box / crate

A green vintage suitcase and an enamelware “slop bucket”

And a red silk-lined case of some sort. Wonder what it was used to carry?

Lastly are these fun, quirky vintage pins! I bought a crate at a garage sale and it was filled with these colorful old pins, some of which I found kind of humorous. Like “Preppies are people too…” There were probably about 40-50 of them. I love little chotchkies like these…they are just FUN!

That’s all for today! Have a great weekend!!!

Repurposing an Antique Level

I’m all about simple, EASY make-overs and repurposing old JUNK! I got a good one for ya – an old level turned key holder!

I got this piece out of a huge box lot from an auction a while back that cost me $1.00. It was really grungy, so I wiped it down with some Murphy’s Oil Soap. I love how cleaning it up really brought the red out!

Hammered in a wall hanger on the back…

…and a few cool hooks on the front, found at Hobby Lobby!

I thought about doing it horizontally, but I liked the vertical look better! And to make hanging easy, the actual little glass level tube still works, inside that little hole!

Total cost: $5 for the hardware. I always wait until the knobs/hooks at HL are 50% off, which is fairly often. The level was practically free when you count all the crap that came in that box lot!

ANNNND, I have some other exciting news! I am expanding to another small booth at The Carriage Place! This is the crappy booth that I will be taking over…say GOODBYE coffee mugs, crappy vases, and ugly 80′s fake flower wreaths!!! Muahahahaha! (please note: my opinions are not necessarily those of The Carriage Place Co-op!!)

I painted it an olive green because I thought this big cupboard that I am going to use to display a lot of “smalls” would really pop. It’s still pretty empty but I will be fillin’ er up over these next few weeks!

I spent the weekend doing lots of little projects and cleaning up some neat “picks” so I will be sure to share those soon! Have a junk-tastic week ya’ll!

Cleaning Old Glass Bottles

I picked up a lot of really cool old glass bottles at auction a few months ago and they have been sitting in my basement waiting to be cleaned. I have been avoiding it because I have never really had good luck cleaning these kinds of bottles. My good friend “Junkin’ June” told me to try using warm salt water and boy did it work great! There are tons of wacky chemical recipes online to clean old bottles, but I must say this is quick, easy, and I am happy with the results. They are not all CRYSTAL clear, but much clearer than when I started.

Here are the bottles I started with. Lots of grime and dirt…

My fave is this embossed giraffe bottle that was full of mud and muck…

I started by soaking them in a hot water & salt mixture for about a half hour. Mind you, this is all experimental. I am guessing that letting them soak longer would have made it even more easy to swish out the grime. Put in probably about a half cup of salt into this bowl.

I also have this little brush that came with a set of pastry frosting tubes (for cleaning them). Works great on old bottles with really skinny necks!

I found a similar one available at Walmart. Kind of expensive ($12 for this piece of wire…nice…) but if you are into old bottles, it might just be worth it.

After they soaked, I swished around the water inside the bottle and shook it really good. I added more salt to make a “salt sludge” supposedly the grittiness of the salt helps clean the inside. I also used the little wire brush to get even more gunk off. The giraffe bottle came out nice and shiny!

Some of the bottles had lots of cool bubbles, indicating their age. “A bubble is an air bubble that became trapped in the glass during the manufacturing process. Bubbles are not considered damage. In fact, bubbles usually add to the appeal of old glass. Glass made after about 1920 does not usually have bubbles.” – http://www.antiquebottles.com

This Dr. Ellis bottle came clean for the most part, but has some rusty discoloration that wouldn’t budge. It’s okay though. Love the design of the bottle. It’s not too valuable – maybe $5-10. It dates from the 30′s-40′s and is one of a series of Dr. Ellis hair product bottles.

A much cleaner Atwood’s Jaundice Bitters Bottle, valued at $10-$15

I did not soak this bottle because I did not to lose what is left of this beautiful old label. I did use the salt water to scrub the outside of the bottle around the label, and also swished it around inside to clean it out.

In other news, I picked up this frickin awesome, HEAVY reproduction cast iron bank at the Goodwill recently. Though it is a reproduction, I know I can make a few bucks off it. For bank collectors or golf enthusiasts, it would be a fun piece to have.

As far as my other picking lately, I got this really cool antique church pew on Craigslist. It is in great condition and has some nice detail. I love this look for a hallway or entryway.

And I also got a cute little garage sale telephone bench:

I have been doing a lot of picking and thrifting and not a lot of crafting lately. I just signed up for the annual craft show up in the North Country and my wheels are spinning trying to think of some new crafty ideas. It’s in early November this year instead of mid-December, so I will try to throw in a few FALLish crafts as well. Hmmmm….

Til next time! Have a great weekend!

Post Full O’ Pictures! Arizona & My Booth!

So this is where I spent all of last week…

HEAVEN!! We were in Arizona visiting family and got the pleasure of enjoying this lovely pool and perfect weather the whole week!!! Nothing but blue skies and sunshine! Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from the week!

Wheels and I on the sky ride over the zoo! Awwwww….

“Hey, you lookin’ at me?” LOL…

Giraffe kisses! Yuck!

Me, Greg and Uncle Eugene

Aiden and I on the log ride!

And my very own stud muffin getting his tan on…hehehe….sorry Greg, I had to!!!

Anyway, I’m back home and getting back into the groove of things and trying to gather up some new stuff for my booth since I sold a ton while I was gone! Wooohooo! A good problem to have!

One piece I wanted to share is this thrift store mason jar lamp that I paired with a shade from Dollar General! Mason jar lamps are so popular because you can “customize” them to hold whatever you want. Who knew Dollar General would have shades; let alone such CUTE ones!

I left the jar empty this time…people can use their imaginations!

And here are some updated booth pictures! And by updated, I mean just before I left…it already looks so different!

I’m loving this trend of stacking vintage suitcases as little side tables or decorative stands! Picked these up over the last few weeks at estate sales!

I found this awesome green desk/hutch on Craigslist and it wasn’t in the shop a week…SOLD! I am trying to get a few small furniture pieces here and there, and they seem to be selling quite well.

Decorated my shutter with a bunch of hanging spoons…

And an old card table and small green end table…both from Craigslist!!!

One of my new favorite pieces is this old chair missing its seat, which has been replaced with a large basin and pitcher. Such a cute way to display. It would even look great with a big enamel bowl. These items are courtesy of my friend June’s barn that she let me go PICKIN’ in!!!

Got a bag full of vintage pins at an estate sale; a mix of political buttons and many Paul McCartney ones! I like having fun little chotchkies like these!

And I learned something interesting about this stoneware jug from some regulars that come into the shop that are stoneware experts! See that little green spot?

At first I thought it was a blemish and would affect the value of the piece. And in fact it does affect the value, but in a positive way! It is called a “turkey eye” and is actually a drip from the top of the kiln from when the jug was made. Apparently it is rare and desirable among collectors!

Well guess that’s all for now. I have so many to-do’s on my list. Can’t wait for the Spring weather to officially get here so I can break out the paint brush and make-over some pieces, including a HUGE, beautiful $20 roll top desk I picked up off the side of the road! It’s in great structural condition but needs a coat of paint to freshen it up.

Have a great week my picker pals!

Making-Over A Craigslist Sewing Table

This was a really fun and EASY make-over project on a sewing table that I got on Craigslist. Someone had already converted it into a table and took off the original top that contained the sewing machine – so I got lucky there. However, the brackets holding the drawers were rigged up with cheap pieces of molding and were almost falling off.  The top front drawer had trouble sliding in and out as one of the little wooden slots was broken. Also, the knob that came on that little drawer was yellowed and gross.

I have seen sewing drawers being sold online in Etsy, Ebay, etc. as decorative storage and so I decided I would sell the drawers separately. I simply unscrewed the crappy brackets holding in the drawers…

And then took off this part as well:

See that gross little knob? It had to go. Replacing knobs is such an easy and cost-effective way to create a new look!

The contenders were this one on the left from Michael’s (in the $1 bin!!!) or this cute olive green one from Hobby Lobby that I just picked up on sale (50% off = $1.50 knob that looks exactly like a $8.00 Anthropologie knob!)

I chose the one with the key hole graphic first, but quickly decided I didn’t like how it looked with the wood.

I decided to go with the green knob. The knob screw was really long so I chopped it with my bolt cutter. They cut screws like butter! Love those things!!!

I also repaired the bracket where this drawer slides in and out. The wood was split and didn’t hold the drawer in correctly. A little wood glue and an over night clamping, and she was good to go!

Ta-da! Love the finished look. I almost want to keep it! I love the cast iron against the wood – it’s such a great re-use of this old sewing table!

I am selling the drawers separately. Already sold one!

This one (below) is a random sewing drawer I picked up at an estate sale for super CHEAP…and I LOVE the carving on the front!

Here are some examples of ways to decorate with sewing drawers! I did a simple Google search of “decorating with sewing drawers” and came up with some neat ideas:

Paint and add a wood applique…love this!

I love REPURPOSING the beautiful old pieces!  They are all different, some more elaborate than others, so there is one for every kind of decor. Well I guess that’s all for now. Off to do a little “junkin” today – I’m off til Monday…wooohooooo! Hope everyone is having a great week!

Fixer-Uppers & Recent Finds

Wow, I have been so bad about blogging lately. Usually this time of year I am a complete slug and in hibernation mode, but being the first winter with a booth at the co-op, I have been keeping super busy and on the go! Auctions, estate sales, thrift stores…trying to keep that booth full of quality stuff, and not just a bunch of chotchkies. Not that I don’t love chotchkies, but I am loving getting more into the real “antiques” part of it!

Of course I still love to “repurpose” and do thirft store make-overs, like this framed print below…

I actually like the vintage hummingbird print but I felt like it didn’t really match the frame. I have had this old Mother Goose book for ages that I picked up at a garage sale because of the brightly colored, whimsical prints inside. I decided one of these prints would look great in the gold frame, so I ripped out the binding and replaced the hummingbirds with “Old Father McNether”…

Old Father McNether
He sorts out the weather
And takes what he pleases, I’m told,
With a big turkey-feather
He mixes the weather,
And makes it blow hot and blow cold.

Leroy F. Jackson

Another fun little re-do is this counter-top cookie/candy jar I got at the Amvet that had this plain green lid. I decided to add a fun knob…$1 from Michaels!

Drilled a hole in the lid just big enough to screw in the new knob…

How frickin cute is that? I was lazy and totally should have painted the lid black to match the knob. Oh well, I like the distressed green as it is.

As for my attempt to do some kind of Valentine’s Day inspired project, I decided to make a few more of my little antique bottles decorated with these cute keys from Michaels. They say “love”, “dreams”, “secret”, etc…which I think is cute around the neck of the bottles. As if they are little “potion” bottles, full of love, dreams, etc…

Those keys are in the scrapbooking section of Michaels, and are kind of expensive. $1o for the above package . I always get a coupon from their website or wait til they are on sale, which is quite often!

To tie them on I used little bits of left over homespun and jute. I always keep ALL my scraps of fabric, no matter how small. I have a pile going, that I will draw from when I need a little swatch or a little “tie” for something!

I put these out in my booth. Hope others thing they are as darling as I do!

And for some great recent “FINDS”….this antique rule/level from the 1890′s…

I love the brass plates and details on pieces like these. Hard to believe those little glass vials are still in tact after 100 years.

A Craigslist STEAL…a huge lot of all different colored/sized Kraft cheese boxes!

And a second-hand shop TREASURE…this old red bird cage. It had a stick and broken swing inside, along with a huge, ugly white chain attached to the top. A quick snip here and there with my bolt cutter and it is ready to be a fun, funky decoration in someone’s home. I LOVE the color and size…it’s perfect in every way!

Guess that’s it for now. Have a fabulous weekend! I will try to get back here soon!

Antique Makeup Tins, Tobacco Tins, and Vintage Buttons Galore!

So…right after my last post, we got a call back from the casting people from American Pickers!!! They wanted more pictures so we got down and dirty in June’s barn and came up with these…

LOL…we had so much fun! It’s been a couple of weeks now and we haven’t heard anything more…hopefully we are still in the running to be the next amateur American Pickers! Of course I’ll keep ya posted if we hear anything!!!

In the mean time, the PICKIN continues! I went to the auction last Monday and wasn’t really feeling it…all the stuff I wanted was at the end of the 400+ item catalog so I decided to go home and leave some absentee bids. I honestly didn’t think I would win because I low-balled it with the prices, but lo and behold I WON 2 of the 3 lots! I got this awesome lot of old bottles (no pics yet) and also a lot of AWESOME antique advertising tins. The tins were quite dusty and dirty….

But after cleaning them up a bit, I think I have some real treasures here!!! I am in LOVE with the graphics and old-fashioned fonts they used….and boy do the colors POP now that the dust and dirt is gone!

Most of these face powder tins still had the face powder in them…ummm…GROSS! I emptied the ones with loose caps but some were screwed on so tight and rusted together that I left the powder in there!

This one is a bit more beat up than the rest, but it’s also a LOCAL product! You can see “Rochester, NY” on the bottom! How cool…I love local pieces!

This next one is a cigarette tin and the rest were tobacco tins. Again, I loooove the colors and graphics!

Woooohoooo! I can’t wait to get them over to The Carriage Place! I also did a quick estate sale on Saturday and picked up a  little tidbits, most of which I didn’t get around to taking pictures of…do’h! I did score this giant tin of vintage buttons though, which was sooooo cheap….and if you know anything about vintage buttons, or buttons in general, they usually cost a fortune!

I have a strange fascination with buttons. There were so many unique and unusual buttons in this tin. I laid out the ones I found most interesting. What to do with so many cool buttons!

I immediately wanted to display them. Remember this cute little jar from the Amvet?

I put some in there and tied on a little homespun tie. Not the most original idea, but it’s my favorite way to show off buttons.

Threw it up on the shelf. Do you see it?

I’ll probably do the same for the rest of the buttons and bring ‘em to the shop.

Well that’s all for now. I’m heading over to The Carriage Place Wednesday to bring some of those tins and other items over. I love getting in there and just fussing around. It’s like therapy for me!

What types of craft projects do you have going on? Do you find you get into a rut this time of year? I know I do!!! Anyway, if you have anything cool in the works, send me pics…I need some crafty motivation!!! Have a great week my fellow crafters and junkers!

“Amateur Pickers”, Thrift Store Scores and Updated Booth Photos!

Well, it’s been a busy couple weeks getting everything from the auction organized, priced and into the booth. I LOVED the auction and am going to another on next Monday and can hardly wait to see what kind of treasures I will find there!!!

In the meantime, my friend June and I entered the “amateur pickers” contest that is being held by THE American Pickers on the History Channel! They are doing a show consisting of multiple two-person teams who will be sent on picking ventures, and will be eliminated throughout the show, and the last pickers standing will win $10,000! It’s a long shot, but wish us luck!!! Here’s one of our pics we sent in… !

So I recently made a trip to the thrift stores and scored a few neat items that I thought I’d share. I haven’t been “thrifting” in a while, so it was fun to get out treasure hunting again. I found this vintage steamer pot which immediately caught my eye because of the cool americana blue color with the white eagle design. I also got a little glass candy jar with a big wooden top. I plan on painting the top and maybe jazzing it up by adding a star applique or maybe stamping it. I will be sure to post an “after” pic!

The steamer pot even had some New England inspired recipes on the back!

Love this heavy, cast iron duck bell, and boy does it ring LOUD! Also got this ornate little frame…so cute!

I found some cute country themed items that I just had to scoop up, including a cute lady bug themed basket, a faux enamelware soap dish, and an adorable ceramic pitcher.

The highlight of the night was finding this vintage hurricane lamp with a very cool honeycomb glass pattern! It’s in mint condition, and I know that once I clean it up, I will likely make quadruple what I paid for it. That’s what you call a junker’s high!!!

And because it’s been so long since I have taken some new pix of my booth, I thought I’d share some updated photos! Note all the cool new auction pieces….!

Well, hope ya’ll have a great night and I will be back soon! I hope to have lots of cool new stuff from the auction to show you next week!!! Can’t wait to get my YUUUUUUUP on!!!

A Few Last-Minute Projects!

Wow! Only 3 days until my craft show up in the North Country! I have been working my @$$ off getting things ready and finishing up some last-minute projects, including using up some of the excess supplies I have had lying around. Remember those “vintage” style keys I found at Michael’s? I decided to make more decorative tags with them, since they have been selling well at the co-op. Whatever doesn’t sell at the craft show goes right back to the booth!

I also found some smaller keys with words on them in the scrapbooking section and thought they’d be super cute on the tags.

Another fun little project are these “Santa’s Key” signs. I had all these square red pieces of wood, that were left overs from “The Stockings Were Hung” signs. I didn’t want to throw them out, so I glued on some left over knobs (using E6000) and wrote Santa’s Key with a silver paint pen! I’ve seen this idea using hang tags with a key attached, but I thought a little wooden sign might be fun hanging next to the door!

You may have seen my little snowman clothespins, but I decided to change it up a little and try some gingerbread men. These have been sitting in a pile on my craft table for months because I didn’t like the way they were coming out. I finally figured out a simple face and I think they ended up being sort cute. I still like the snowmen better.

A last-minute trip to the thrift store turned up some cool folk-artish Santa’s! The one on the left had green and blue crayon marks all over it which were easily cleaned off with a scrubby. The one on the right had a little chip out of the center (the little white spot in the middle of the red robe) which was quite noticeable in person. I mixed up some paint to match the red robe and touched it up. Good as new!

I also found a few little vintage kitties, a cute little choir boy, another fun Santa, and this little wooden box. Just a few fun knick-knacks.

My favorite find was this wooden type set tray. Not sure if it’s a real old one or not but it’s still cool! I’ve always wanted one of these!

Guess that’s it for now…and I probably won’t be back til after the show. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Wish me luck!