Yes, dear readers, I did disappear off the face of the earth. I could take your whole day explaining why, but I'd rather just tell you what's going on now.
After months shopping, refurbishing and photographing, my Etsy shop is brimming with amazing vintage finds. I've got everything from creepy to sublime (yes, creepy, you'll just have to see for yourself!) I'm still doing a lot of creative work, but I've really gotten into buying and reselling vintage treasures.
I don't want to ruin any surprises, so I'll let you see for yourself. But stay tuned, I got a new flip camera and have all sorts of adventures planned. You'll be joining me on a few of my treasure hunts, learning some of the tricks of the refurb process and maybe even see my cat Gracie in action.
I'm glad to be back and I hope you're glad to be back too!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Blue Chair Update: Freeze!
I finished the blue chair...I planted it with white daisy mums, yellow mums, red mini-peppers, red geranium and blue pansies. It looked great. I thought I would put a few more small plants in (I like my container gardens FULL) and take pictures of the finished product for you the next day. But my plans were foiled by the strange weather we've been experiencing. Apparently we had two days of fall this year instead of our usual allotment of three. My plants froze. It was 70+ degrees the day I bought the plants and two days later we saw temperatures in the high 20s. Ouch! For people and plants. So, to make a short post even shorter, I will replant it and show you the final project as soon as I can replace the plants.
Look at the table to the left: I DID make that (or my own version)
I love stuff. But I'm cheap. That's the inspiration behind most of my creations. I see things I love in stores I can't afford to even be shopping in: Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, Anthrpologie, Z Gallerie, Anthropologie - you get the picture.
When I see something I really want, I'm inspired to try to make it - perhaps "fake it" would be a better term. I carry a picture on my phone and refer to it as I look for similar shapes or details in items at yard sales or thrift stores (pathetic, I know!) Such was the case with the Blue Butterfly Table. If you look left at the "I Want to Make That" feature you will see the inspiration piece from Urban Outfitters (younger, hipper sibling of Anthropologie.) It's a simple pedestal table in a medium blue with just a hint of aqua (check out Pottery Barn Kids - they have tons of furniture the same color. So I was looking for the same shape wooden table, figuring I would have to strip it and try to recreate the color. But fortune was smiling on me - I found THE TABLE, in THE COLOR at a yard sale price. I love it when a good plan comes together.
I got the table home and thought it needed a little something more. Since it has a lip around the edge, I decided to get a glass top to fit into it and then decoupage something on the table surface. But then I had an idea, what if I did something under the glass that WASN'T permanent, something that could be changed at the whim of the owner and that's what I did.
So currently, the table has lovely Victorian butterfly decals, the kind you put on walls and can remove easily. The results are beautiful, if I do say so myself. Just waiting for the glass top to be finished and the project will be fait accomplis! Sadly I will need to find this little beauty a new home. I'd rather keep it, but I've got lots of future projects that are crowding my very patient husband out of the house. So it's gotta go. If you are interested let me know...local (Metro Bakersfield) buyers get free delivery. I'll research shipping for anyone not in the general vicinity.
So, if you are interested, please comment me, email me, Facebook me, tweet me, text me, check out my Etsy shop or just leaflet my house for goodness sake!
When I see something I really want, I'm inspired to try to make it - perhaps "fake it" would be a better term. I carry a picture on my phone and refer to it as I look for similar shapes or details in items at yard sales or thrift stores (pathetic, I know!) Such was the case with the Blue Butterfly Table. If you look left at the "I Want to Make That" feature you will see the inspiration piece from Urban Outfitters (younger, hipper sibling of Anthropologie.) It's a simple pedestal table in a medium blue with just a hint of aqua (check out Pottery Barn Kids - they have tons of furniture the same color. So I was looking for the same shape wooden table, figuring I would have to strip it and try to recreate the color. But fortune was smiling on me - I found THE TABLE, in THE COLOR at a yard sale price. I love it when a good plan comes together.
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| Found the table just like this! |
I got the table home and thought it needed a little something more. Since it has a lip around the edge, I decided to get a glass top to fit into it and then decoupage something on the table surface. But then I had an idea, what if I did something under the glass that WASN'T permanent, something that could be changed at the whim of the owner and that's what I did.
 |
| Butterflies! |
So currently, the table has lovely Victorian butterfly decals, the kind you put on walls and can remove easily. The results are beautiful, if I do say so myself. Just waiting for the glass top to be finished and the project will be fait accomplis! Sadly I will need to find this little beauty a new home. I'd rather keep it, but I've got lots of future projects that are crowding my very patient husband out of the house. So it's gotta go. If you are interested let me know...local (Metro Bakersfield) buyers get free delivery. I'll research shipping for anyone not in the general vicinity.
So, if you are interested, please comment me, email me, Facebook me, tweet me, text me, check out my Etsy shop or just leaflet my house for goodness sake!
Monday, November 29, 2010
You've GOT to see this - Virtual Vintage Vaccuum Cleaner Museum open for business
If you love all things retro...especially those bordering on kitsch, you've got to check out Dennis Foster's Vintage Vacuum Gallery and Museum. Now, I collect some unusual items, but I am thrilled to see the lowly vacuum, an icon of household efficiency, finally elevated to the status it deserves as a design element.
I understand the museum will continue to grow and that some things may be available for those who are interested. If you are interested in donating your vintage vacuum, I'm sure he would love to hear from you! Click here to go to the Vintage Vacuum Museum!
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| And my kids complain about using a dust-buster! |
I understand the museum will continue to grow and that some things may be available for those who are interested. If you are interested in donating your vintage vacuum, I'm sure he would love to hear from you! Click here to go to the Vintage Vacuum Museum!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Recycling Tomorrow Etsy Shop is up and running!
Hi all - So excited to share with you that as of tonight, my Recycling Tomorrow Etsy Shop is officially open! I only have three things on it, but I'm working hard to get more inventory listed for you. So, what's on? Right now, I have listed a set of the Dysfunctional Family Christmas Lights from earlier this week, the vintage embroidered dress pillow and the plaid scrubs pillow.
Still to come: vintage button rings, more pillows, fun and funky headbands, vintage hats with interchangeable flowers, mirrors and other framed art, furniture, antique china tiered serving plates and, as always, special orders!
So check it out, give me your thoughts, your feedback, your carefully construed constructive criticism or anything else you want to tell me. Just be gentle, I'm new at all this!
And as this holiday weekend comes to a close I just want to tell you all how thankful I am that you have chosen to spend some of your precious time with me. I'm also thankful to my family for tolerating the hoarding required to create my projects. Most of all, I am thankful to God, for providing me with the blessing of being able to stay home with my children and create (art, not more children!)
Wishing you the start to a joyful holiday season.
Cristy
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| Dysfunctional Family Christmas Lights |
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| Vintage embroidered child's dress pillow |
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| Scrubs and vintage button pillow |
Still to come: vintage button rings, more pillows, fun and funky headbands, vintage hats with interchangeable flowers, mirrors and other framed art, furniture, antique china tiered serving plates and, as always, special orders!
So check it out, give me your thoughts, your feedback, your carefully construed constructive criticism or anything else you want to tell me. Just be gentle, I'm new at all this!
And as this holiday weekend comes to a close I just want to tell you all how thankful I am that you have chosen to spend some of your precious time with me. I'm also thankful to my family for tolerating the hoarding required to create my projects. Most of all, I am thankful to God, for providing me with the blessing of being able to stay home with my children and create (art, not more children!)
Wishing you the start to a joyful holiday season.
Cristy
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Family drama? Turn old prescription bottles into my "Dysfunctional Family Holiday Lights."
First, let me say that I come to you, hanging my head in shame, for not blogging for so long. No excuses, just apologies. To honor your faith and understanding, I'm not going to blather on today, I'm just going to take you step by step through a fun and easy project. These "Dysfunctional Family Christmas Lights" will make a great gift for a fellow victim of holiday family drama or your favorite pharmaceutical person!
What you need:
Step 1: Gather your prescription bottles. Unlike me, you may have trouble amassing a vast array of shapes and sizes. So ask people. Your parents are a good place to start. Then try your crazy neighbor (we all have one, except for me, because I AM the crazy neighbor. Chances are, people are happy to share them once they know the labels will be discarded (some may even offer to remove the labels themselves, which saves you a step.)
Step 2: Remove the labels from your bottles.You've basically got a 50/50 chance here. The labels will either peel off easily or they will stick like they have been glued, taped and covered in some sort of anti-removal coating NASA invented for the space program. For the stubborn ones, try a little dish soap soak and a scrubby sponge. I STRONGLY urge you to wash the bottles and caps in the dishwasher. While you are not going to be drinking shots out of them (okay most of you aren't and the rest of you know who you are) these bottles have contained drugs. Better safe than hopped up on your grandma's blood pressure medication.
Step 3: Dry and recap your clean bottles. This and the next step will be much easier to accomplish with the lids on the bottles! Using your drill with 5/16 bit, drill through the center of the lid of the first bottle. Then, when your husband tells you that you did it wrong, let him finish it while you kick it on the sofa.
Step 4: Firmly push the light bulb and socket through the hole. It should be tight but you should be able to push it through. If not, tell your husband HE did it wrong and insist the he drill the holes just a wee bit bigger. If the holes are too large, break out the trusty glue gun and cement the lights in by applying glue on the INSIDE of the cap. Chances are though, they will fit perfectly.
Step 5: Make up something funny to put on your spoof labels. Mine say "Take up to 10 tablets daily by mouth before attending any family holiday. For best results, do drink alcoholic beverages while taking this medication." You can personalize them for a friend, a business, even for those family members that are partially, if not completely, responsible for the dysfunction in family. Print out your labels, apply them and (if you want) coat with spray sealant.
Step 6: Plug in and enjoy!
- Amber prescription bottles of different sizes
- Strand of standard white mini-lights
- Drill with 5/16 bit
- Printable labels (I like Avery because of their easy to use templates)
Step 1: Gather your prescription bottles. Unlike me, you may have trouble amassing a vast array of shapes and sizes. So ask people. Your parents are a good place to start. Then try your crazy neighbor (we all have one, except for me, because I AM the crazy neighbor. Chances are, people are happy to share them once they know the labels will be discarded (some may even offer to remove the labels themselves, which saves you a step.)
Step 4: Firmly push the light bulb and socket through the hole. It should be tight but you should be able to push it through. If not, tell your husband HE did it wrong and insist the he drill the holes just a wee bit bigger. If the holes are too large, break out the trusty glue gun and cement the lights in by applying glue on the INSIDE of the cap. Chances are though, they will fit perfectly.
Step 5: Make up something funny to put on your spoof labels. Mine say "Take up to 10 tablets daily by mouth before attending any family holiday. For best results, do drink alcoholic beverages while taking this medication." You can personalize them for a friend, a business, even for those family members that are partially, if not completely, responsible for the dysfunction in family. Print out your labels, apply them and (if you want) coat with spray sealant.
Step 6: Plug in and enjoy!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Divorce: supporting your friends and praying for God's guidance
I have a dear friend who is just beginning to deal with a cheating husband and a divorce. It's his third time cheating and this time she is done taking it. She is an amazing friend, a committed Christian and a loving mother to her three children and her husband's niece, since the girl's mother tends to disappear. She has spent the last 14 years loving him unquestionably, raising the children, keeping the house, caring for her elderly mother and, when she could squeeze some personal time in, attending the nursing program at BC to create a better life for her family.
And her husband, who has a really good job, took it upon himself to take a night job....a somewhat sketchy night job. She didn't like it, but she tolerated it. They needed the extra money. But 4 to 8 quickly turned to 4 to 9, eventually 4 to 10 and sometimes, he didn't come home until the wee hours of the morning. This could have gone on indefinitely if she allowed it. But that is not who she is anymore. She stood up and said "NO!" You can't be a part-time father, a no-time husband and someone who is a part of this family on his own terms. I'm not pro-divorce, but I am anti-walk-all-over-me-because-I love-you.
This isn't about me, but it makes my divorce (more than 13 years ago) very fresh for me. I feel her pain. I feel the roller coaster of emotions she feels as he comes and goes, seemingly unable to choose between his family and the new woman in his life. But mostly, I'm mad on her behalf and for myself.
So David (my beloved husband) and I want to do anything we can to help. This is where our "Mars and Venus" mix-up quite obvious. David (Venus) is the loving, nurturing, "let me hold you and listen to you person." I, on the other hand, am the Mars. My response is "alright, lets get down to business and divorce this sucker right now."
I think she needs both approaches right now. And both of us, having been blindsided by cheating spouses in our earlier marriages, need to help her. We were lucky. We had financial stability, close families to take care of us and, eventually, each other. She has no money, five people to take care of (not counting herself) and a growing fear that her husband is going to refuse to pay support and leave her homeless.
Through all of this, her faith is unwavering. She doesn't pray for God to heal her marriage. She prays for God to give her strength to follow whatever plan He has for her. I ask you, my readers, to pray for her too. It is hard to believe that in today's day and age, that a beautiful, smart, funny, loving woman can be left in the streets through no fault of her own. I believe we are all part of God's plan for her...a plan to help her survive and perhaps a plan for the rest of us to appreciate the gifts he has given us and the wisdom to use those gifts to help others as He did for us.
Bless you all and please, offer up your prayers for this family.
Cristy
And her husband, who has a really good job, took it upon himself to take a night job....a somewhat sketchy night job. She didn't like it, but she tolerated it. They needed the extra money. But 4 to 8 quickly turned to 4 to 9, eventually 4 to 10 and sometimes, he didn't come home until the wee hours of the morning. This could have gone on indefinitely if she allowed it. But that is not who she is anymore. She stood up and said "NO!" You can't be a part-time father, a no-time husband and someone who is a part of this family on his own terms. I'm not pro-divorce, but I am anti-walk-all-over-me-because-I love-you.
This isn't about me, but it makes my divorce (more than 13 years ago) very fresh for me. I feel her pain. I feel the roller coaster of emotions she feels as he comes and goes, seemingly unable to choose between his family and the new woman in his life. But mostly, I'm mad on her behalf and for myself.
So David (my beloved husband) and I want to do anything we can to help. This is where our "Mars and Venus" mix-up quite obvious. David (Venus) is the loving, nurturing, "let me hold you and listen to you person." I, on the other hand, am the Mars. My response is "alright, lets get down to business and divorce this sucker right now."
I think she needs both approaches right now. And both of us, having been blindsided by cheating spouses in our earlier marriages, need to help her. We were lucky. We had financial stability, close families to take care of us and, eventually, each other. She has no money, five people to take care of (not counting herself) and a growing fear that her husband is going to refuse to pay support and leave her homeless.
Through all of this, her faith is unwavering. She doesn't pray for God to heal her marriage. She prays for God to give her strength to follow whatever plan He has for her. I ask you, my readers, to pray for her too. It is hard to believe that in today's day and age, that a beautiful, smart, funny, loving woman can be left in the streets through no fault of her own. I believe we are all part of God's plan for her...a plan to help her survive and perhaps a plan for the rest of us to appreciate the gifts he has given us and the wisdom to use those gifts to help others as He did for us.
Bless you all and please, offer up your prayers for this family.
Cristy
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