My Bluebird of Happiness and Other Cute Things

If you walked into an Antique Shop and saw this guy...would you pick him up?

If you turned him over and saw that he was $5, would your grip tighten?

It was love at first sight for me. I'm not sure if he's a small planter or not

but I knew right away what I was going to use him for...

Now he sits on the lazy Susan on our kitchen table holding toothpicks that are needed at this time of year with all of the fresh corn coming in! I smile at him every day.

I also found...

glass salt and pepper shakers (I have plans for them) and a

vintage cabinet card of a child on a tricycle...just some fun things to

repurpose.

For you local Pittsburgh area shoppers, this is the shop...the owner is very friendly

and there are many interesting things to be found there. 

I used to go to lots of Estate and Yard sales in the summertime but our basement is so filled with treasures that I've limited my expeditions. There is one sale I never miss though, and that's held at the home of a local antiques dealer. Every Summer, she cleans out a lot of things from her space in a local Antique Mall and has an Estate Sale at her home. She slashes her prices 50-75% so some treasures can be found at her sale. 

This year I was happy to bring home this bowl..

It is a beautiful shade of blue...similar in shape to some Homer Laughlin plates I have but it is unmarked and there is a tiny chip but that's OK...strawberries look gorgeous in this bowl!

Do you know what this is?

It's a table-crumber..the bristles of the brush are very stiff 

and perfect for whisking away the crumbs from your table.

It works great and I feel like I've just stepped into Downton Abbey 

when I use it!

A brown transferware plate. The plate and the blue bowl were each $3.

I thought that was a good price.

My dear friend Marie calls photos like these, Instant Ancestors. I love these old photos because I don't have many from my own family so I'm happy to adopt other people's families.

Old keys and silverware...so much fun to repurpose in crafting.

I have one other bounty to share, from Lucketts in Virginia but I'll share that on another day.

Hope you're keeping cool!

xoxo

joyce

I (finally) Pinned It and Did It!

I'm sure by now, many of you are familiar, if not obsessed with Pinterest. It is a mechanism for capturing and saving inspirational ideas to bulletin boards that you create. On my sidebar, you can see a link that will take you right to my Pinterest boards. On of my dearest friends, Marie of Spun by Me has started writing posts called "I Pinned It & Did It", showing projects she has created using inspiration found on Pinterest. I thought this was a great idea and wanted to jump in too! It's taken me a while but here is my first attempt.

Mamie Jane's blog is so inspiring that I think I've pinned more from her site than any other. Jane can take the most unassuming item and repurpose it to be extraordinary. I have named her The Queen of Repurposing! Click the link and hop over there...you will be amazed! I always come away scratching my head and thinking, "Wow, I never would have thought of that!" There are so many projects that I would like to recreate but I started with an easy one.

Jane posted the tutorial and the photos (here)  for this adorable pumpkin made with a skein of crochet cotton

How cute is that?

My take on that pumpkin....

a piece of branch, gathered from the yard for a stem, wrapped in coarse twine so that the stem doesn't slip right through the hole. The stem is wrapped in wire and the wire curled around a pencil to make tendrils, and then ribbon and a plaid paper leaf are added.

It is a dark and gloomy day today so the lighting is not what I'd like but I think you can see the details.

Thanks for your inspiration Jane! Your projects with crochet cotton alone could fill a book chapter....a book, that's what you need to do....write a book!

Thanks for stopping by today. Now go find some inspiration to pin!

I'm linking to this party...

xoxo

Joyce

Thank you, thank you and a Wedding

THANK YOU #1: I want to thank all of you who took the time to leave words of encouragement over my joy at being chosen to be part of the Say It With Letters design team. Your words mean so much to me! I hope you've had a chance to visit Deb's blog and see the wonderful work of the other design team members. I am so honored to be counted in with this group of talented women. New things will be popping up in the SIWL Etsy store soon  and next week I will be able to share my first project with you. I'm having so much fun!!

THANK YOU #2:  Everyone was so helpful in voting for the "knob" choice for my repurposed glass jar. Some of you were very firm in your choice and I considered all of your suggestions. I was leaning toward the glass knob and then I read my friend Meri Wiley's comment, "It depends on what the purpose of the jar is going to be, I guess. Personally, I like them both and can't really pick between them." The purpose of the jar...Aha! I wanted to use this wonderful jar as the storage for all of my beautiful bits and bobs of lace. When I placed the lace into the jar the choice became very clear to me...

The flower is the perfect knob I think.

The Wedding:

David & I are just back from a trip to Wilmington, North Carolina where we attended the wedding of the daughter of very dear friends.

We had a wonderful, relaxing trip. The photo below is the view from our hotel room. We had perfect weather while we were there.

That solitary figure is David soaking up the sun. I can't spend a lot of time in the sun because I burn to a crisp while he could stay on the beach for hours.

All of the festivities took place at a beach house that the bride and groom rented for family and friends.

After everyone left town, we were able to spend a day with our friends (the parents of the bride) before we all left to go home.

David and Gary got some fishing in...

Style setters...no?

My sweet friend Sims.

 Of course we didn't manage to get any photos of the 4 of us together!

OK-I'm off to get caught up on my blog reading and working on 4 different crafty projects.
I'm trying to limit my on-line time so I can get some crafting done in preparation
for the upcoming craft fair.

XOXO
Joyce



Please help me decide...

Do you remember this bargain I found at the thrift store?

Well, I painted the lid a gloss black and added a flower drawer pull from Anthropologie which I already had

Then I saw this drawer pull at Joann's and loved it, too!

So which one do you think?

Ceramic flower or crystal knob?

Thanks for your help!

xoxo

Joyce

Don't forget PJ's giveaway here



Mantel update

In an earlier post, I showed pictures of my bird themed summer mantel. I liked all of the items displayed, but it lacked something and I had to figure out what it needed.....I know....height! Mirror? Framed print? I know...old window frame!

 



David: What are you going to do with that frame?

Me: Paint it

David: What?! Do you know it's over 100 years old?

Me: OK-but it's been hiding in a closet for a few years now.

David: But the kids' pictures are in it

Me: They haven't looked like that since high school...when they were taken (And the toddler pictures...longer than that) I'm not getting rid of the pictures, I'm just repurposing the frame....you'll see.

I lightly sprayed the frame (after removing the glass panes) Heirloom White (my favorite color) I didn't worry about covering evenly or completely...I wanted the frame to look old and faded. It is over 100 years old after all.

First I centered it on the mantel but that didn't look right. Then David suggested I place it off-center.

Much better!

 Even David likes the new look. I removed some of the items to have a cleaner look. I'm sure I'll be tweaking it all summer!

xoxo

Joyce