Junk Picking - My Latest Finds & Chalkboard Mail Holder

Remember how I find the board for my Springs n' Things Sign, well I also found some other interesting objects.  My grandmother used to run an antique shop out of that section of the barn and I think these were some of the leftover items that have since gotten a little rusty and dirt!

Rusty Coffee Pot, Wall Holder, 3 Insulators (1 clear, 1 blue, 1 turquoise), Atlas Mason Jar, and a Rusty Grater, 2 old locks

I already love any kind of mason jar, they can be used for so many great things.  Check back for projects using the others!

 I decided to work with the wall holder first b/c I currently hate the box holding our mail and needed something smaller so I would be forced to clean it out sooner and it wouldn't get out of control.  To add a little pizazz I decided to create a chalkboard label using chalkboard paint of course.  I cleaned up the wall holder a bit and lightly sanded it to get a little of the rust off.  I then, using blue painter's tape, taped off the rectangle I wanted for the label.  I put a heavy quote of white paint on for my base layer and then 2 layers of chalkboard paint. 

I let that sit for an hour or so and then I removed the tape.  

It had to for at least 24 hours to cure before you can write on it, but here is the finished product: 

Not only can this be used in your house for mail but by having a changeable label it can be used at parties and weddings!

Flea Market Finds: Primitive, Rustic Strainer

On another visit to North Country Neighbors I found some more great finds and things for upcycling, but one of my happiest finds was an antique strainer for $5.  I'm using it as a bowl on my coffee table, I put a bunch of springs that I have for future projects around it and put a jar candle in the center.  It has a great rustic vibe, and I just love the springs :). At least they don't have to be stored in a drawer until I find a use for them!

Is it spring yet? A cute bud vase!

I have been searching for something that would work as a bud vase in one of my springs.  I took a chance and ordered 2 vintage pyrex glass 50 ml centrifuge tube from Etsy seller trampoline (ethanollie) who specialize in vintage industrial pieces.  Well my risk was worth it because the tubes worked out better than I could ever dreamed!

bedspring, with centrifuge tube and rosettes.  Bow
is made from scrap lace tablecloth!

Watch for these, they will probably be joining my etsy shop!

♥ “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” - Confucius ♥

It turns out this may be a little bit of heart week.  For some reason I have been inspired to create heart or love items and will continue on with this by showing what I did with my heart origami.  The uses for these are endless; little love notes, decoration in a bowl, you could attach them to wire and make a bouquet, and the list goes on and on.

I put mine in my vintage soda crates.  I created 2 bigger ones for the larger openings in my soda crates.  (To do this just keep the paper ratio the same)

What will you use your origami hearts for? 

P.S.  A shout of to the BF for buying me a new Nikon Coolpix camera for Christmas :) muah!

My Vintage Mercury Glass Christmas

I love Mercury Glass.  It has a rustic but elegant quality.  This is the second year I have decorated our tree with vintage ornaments and beads. Some actually from both of my grandmothers as well as some I have purchased myself on Etsy.

Our Tree

My Favorite Bulb - not really sure why?

 Christmas themed soda boxes with chalkboard message blocks as well as mercury glass bulbs:

 My non-vintage mercury glass candle holder centerpiece:

Upcycled Letterpress Drawer Jewelry Organizer

I found several of these in my travels on Etsy and already had a letterpress drawer at home that was not being used for anything so I decided to try it myself.  It is a really great way to store jewelry so you can see all of it.   I wanted to dress mine up a bit more than the ones on Etsy so I added rectangles of 2 different patterned letterpress paper in some of the spaces.

I used 2-sided tape to put the paper on b/c I didn't want to ruin the drawer by using glue.  To hang the jewelry I took really small nails and hammered them into the open spaces, some of the bigger spaces have 2 nails.  All in all i think it is a great piece for the bedroom if you have room on a wall and also allows you to see all the jewelry without having to dig through a jewelry box!  Happy Monday!

My $10 Cherry Dresser all Fixed Up

So over my 4 day Thanksgiving weekend in between fighting off a cold and my sewing machine breaking (yes I'm devastated), I managed to finish both the projects of my dresser and the door headboard.  I am still deciding if I like the door headboard, it is on the wall. I don't like the pictures I took of it so I won't be sharing it today.  But I will be sharing the finished dresser.  After stripping it and sanding it down I stained it using a cherry finish.  I still have yet to find fixtures that I like for it, so I took some heavy navy seersucker scrap fabric and knotted it to make drawer pulls, which I actually really like, so I may work on creating a more permanent version of those to use.  It also is missing all the keyholes which I may make out of punched tin.

Now in regards to my sewing machine.  A wire is broken in the foot pedal, my wonderful BF spent a long time last night trying to fix it.  He had it working and then it quit :(.  I checked with Sears to see if you can order a new one and you can't, and they offer no other suggestions.  It just seems a shame to throw out the whole machine b/c of the foot pedal.  So I will be searching the internet to find a replacement and hopefully won't have to wait too long, I have so many Christmas projects waiting to be sewn!  So if anyone has an older Kenmore machine working or not and would like to get rid of the foot pedal, I would be happy to buy it from you!

♥ Art Deco Jewelry ♥

From the above title you can tell that I love Art Deco jewelry.  I think the pieces are classic and timeless, but also love that there is history that comes with them.  An antique Art Deco ring could have been someone's cherished wedding ring, how many hands wore this ring in the past?  I think I would rather have a beautiful piece of vintage jewelry versus a new one.  Who needs Kays!

Check out my Etsy Art Deco Love Treasury List for more great pieces. 

Now for my own Art Deco jewelry, I purchased this ring setting: 

It was a risk and fortunately I didn't spend a lot b/c it is going to cost $160 to have it rebuilt by a local jewelry to hold a stone and fix the band.  Then I will have to find an old stone or purchase a new one for it.  Probably another expense for after Christmas, but I am excited to finally be able to wear it!  

To Buy or Not to Buy that is the Question!

I am currently in quite a dilemma.  Being that it is a month before Christmas, I just found the teapot I have been looking for that matches the rest of my china pattern.  

Rare Johnson Brothers Rose Chintz Teapot

It is only $80 on Etsy and would round out my collection nicely.  But I'm not sure if I can spend $80 on myself right now, so I will just have to debate some more.  I had purchased from this seller before and the pieces were beautiful and in exceptional condition.  This seller also has many other great pieces I am missing, that I will have to keep watching: 

Rare Johnson Brothers Coffee Pot

Rare Johnson Brothers Oval Serving Dish

So I guess I will just let out a **Big Sigh** and hope they are still there after christmas!

Flea Market Find: Upcycled Door Headboard

Remember the old wood door I got for $5 at the antique shop?  Well I finally have it almost finished.  After having to use Formsby's Paint and Poly Remover on it twice and having the BF pressure wash it, most of the 3 layers of paint finally came off.  And then it just had to be sanded to get the green hue out of the wood.  The pictures below are with one coat of cherry stain.  There is still some work to be done in corners and what not, but I am very happy with how it turned out. 

As you can see it still needs some sanding on the ends as well as in the panels, but I think the panels will have to wait until I get my Dremel Rotary tool for Christmas, until then I will hang it up as is, which I am still figuring that part out!  Now all I need to find is an old door knob and some skeleton keys to complete the look!

Happy Weekend and Things that Make Me Smile :)

So this blog post may be a little off the wall but I felt like smiling today and I hope it inspires others to think about what makes them smile!

As a continuation to yesterdays post about pumpkin pancakes making me smile, I've decided to continue on this topic with other things that make smile.

Everyday I look at this and I smile:

I smile b/c the hutch that my lovely original Johnson Brothers Rose Chintz is in, was in my grandmothers house for as long as I can remember.  Also my time and enjoyment spent collecting these pieces.  My first pieces where purchased at an antique shop on a trip to North Carolina, some purchased from various shops on Etsy and some as gifts.  I am now only missing a few pieces to finish my collection :).  There is a lot of history sitting in the corner of our dining room!

Recycling also makes me smile.  Every time I can take something others would throw out and re-use it I smile.

Upcycled Bed Spring Pumpkin

Upcycled Bed Sheet Scarf

T-Shirt Yarn iPod cozy

T-Shirt Yarn Rug

Upcycled Bed Spring Heart

Recycled Bertolli Firefly Jar (Glows in the Dark)

Of course there are plenty of other things that make me smile, my BF and my dogs (Annie and Bubba) make me smile daily.  If you need something to make you smile, check out my "Be Merry" banner:

Burlap triangles with painted green glittered letters on red gingham ribbon

For sale in my Etsy shop: springsnthings.etsy.com

Hope you have a great weekend!  Be prepared to see some great projects next week!

Vintage Soda Box Love - Message 2

I left yesterday for a conference in Charlottesville, VA.  So I probably won't be creating too much in the next few days, but will definitely be checking out some cool antique shops in Historic Downtown Charlottesville.  Check back for pictures!

I just wanted to share what I left on my chalkboard blocks in my vintage soda box for the BF while I'm gone.

Sorry this picture is a little blurry.  I took it on my Blackberry quickly before leaving. 

My Weekend Recap

So I hope everyone had a good Halloween, I know I did.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures once I had my costume on and makeup, but I took a picture of the finished jacket, hat and teapot purse.  This was by far probably the most fun I have ever had in a costume, except for maybe when I went as Rainbow Bright.

So on Saturday, I started to refinish the door and the little dresser.  I used Formby's Paint and Poly Remover,  It actually worked very well considering the door had 3 coats of paint on it.  

After removing the first layer of varnish from the dresser drawers, they were actually very nice (see top drawer in picture below), but it was impossible to get all three to look the same, so I kept going.

After some sanding on Sunday.....

The drawers are only going to need a little more sanding and they will be ready for stain.  The door is going to need another coat of Formby's as well as the rest of the dresser.  So its back to Lowe's for me today!  

Now everyone needs a break from crafting every now and again so I made Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Whoopie Pies , they are delicious and I suggest you try them!

Happy Halloween, the "Happy Apple" and the Mad Hatter

Have a happy and safe Halloween!  I will be spending my weekend refinishing my latest antique shop finds.  The items in the picture below I purchased at an antique shop for a amazing total of $17.  It was like American Pickers north country edition.  Of course I had to make a trip to Lowes and I managed not to scare anyone.  I think they are getting use to me! All three pieces need work but are totally salvageable.    The dresser is cherry, the headboard is oak and I'm not sure what the cupboard door is but it was heavy.  I am hoping to turn the cupboard door into a headboard for our bed!  Look for finished photos hopefully next week!

Also in the above picture is the Mad Hatter hat I made to go with my costume.  I will share more pictures of the finished costume next week.   At first we weren't going to go out and then I found out yesterday we would be going, so it was a "mad" dash to put it all together with items I already had in the house, but I think it turned out amazing.

I just wanted to share the "Happy Apple" I added to my t-shirt yarn iPod cozy!

♥ Vintage Soda Box Love ♥

I love vintage soda boxes, coke, pepsi whatever brand.   The hardest part in purchasing one is what to do with it.  I know they are great for organization, but I don't really need anything like that.  So I decided to try them out as wall decorations. 


So once I got them up on the wall, yes I actually hung them up myself and didn't get hurt :) (I'm a little accident prone)  It was time to figure out what to fill them with.  The sections are rather small, so small trinkets would be needed and since I am not a big knick knack person I didn't really have anything.  Vintage letterpress blocks would have been awesome but they are so expensive.   So I had a chunk of balsa wood hanging around and had just recently bought a thing of chalkboard paint.  I cut the balsa wood into small blocks, then sanded them down and painted them.  Chalkboard paint is one of those crazy awesome things, that once you get you aren't sure how you crafted without it before, the uses are endless.  So now I have small chalkboard blocks to put messages in my vintage soda box wall decoration.