I love my "new" Antique Ice Crate

Happy birthday to me!!

I found this fantastic wooden crate in a thrift store and hinted to my husband that it would be a nice birthday present.

It was labeled as a trunk but, the man working in the store told me it was a crate for transporting ice blocks. I would not have guessed that so I'm glad he knew. I can just imagine it riding on the back of a horse drawn delivery wagon, bringing ice to an American housewife 100 years ago!

When my daughter, Kyla saw it, she loved it, especially the yellow letters stenciled on its sides. I wonder who or what "C Borchers" was?  I told her that if Dad had brought this home 2 years ago, we would have thought, "Ugh, what an old, ugly, worn out old thing!" But, about a year ago, we discovered the TV show, American Pickers and now have gained appreciation for "Rusty Gold". Their term for old treasures that show their age.

Look at the cool latch!

My husband does not share our enthusiasm for vintage and antiques and asked me what I was going to do with it when he saw it in the thrift store. I told him I was going to put some legs on it and use it as a table in our living room. I wanted to replace one that my dog, Gus had chewed up when he was a puppy.  Of course, I love the extra storage space it provides!

Here are my re-purposing/up-cycling pictures:

I got four 4" legs and brackets at Lowe's, painted them green and just used a screw driver to mount them on the bottom of the crate. The wood is old and soft so I did not even need a drill!

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

I love the result!  

In this photo are some of my other birthday gifts:

• an antique lingerie wash board. A gift from my daughter, Jenna. She found it at an estate sale.
• a 100th anniversary edtition of Anne of Green Gables - one of my favorite novels.
• a vintage copy of Pride and Prejudice, my all-time favorite book. Both books were purchased with an Amazon gift card - a gift from my daughter, Holly
• a picture of Jane Austen printed on a vintage dictionary page. This is a gift I bought for myself at collageOrama  on Etsy. I used a frame I found at a thrift store and painted it red to match one of my vintage, Jane Austen books. I bought the mat at Wal Mart

I think it is kind of funny that I traded a chewed up table for this one which looks rather "chewed up" also --  Ha ha ha.

a picture of Gus, the culprit who chewed my table

Check out my many lovely vintage items in my Etsy shop: PinkRoseVintage

Seminole headbands

I have had fun this past week creating fantastic, garnet and gold hair accessories!

vintage button

I use satin ribbon, glittery tulle...

vintage black beads

Chief Osceola

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Doesn't Kyla look cute?

Vintage lace and a variety of other vintage elements.























I  think the lace and ribbon ones look like cupcakes!

They are backed with a double layer of white felt. I sew a channel in the back that allows you to adjust the position, switch sides or remove it and put it on another headband. Very convenient considering the fact that headbands are known to break!

If I had some Seminole followers, I'd do a give-away.

I'm linking to these parties:


Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Game Day in Florida (and Utah)

Well, it's September, and time for some football!

You might be surprised that a woman like me is a big fan of college football.  I
am; most especially of my alma mater, BYU! I never missed a home game when I was there and attended as many away games as possible.

"Rise and shout, the Cougars are out!"

The team that is 2nd in my heart is Florida State, my husband's alma mater.

Undeniably, the coolest college mascot in the nation!

We're excited and hopeful, expecting a great season for our teams. You can be sure that we will be planning our Saturdays around the games. And, if you are anywhere near the house during the games, you will hear plenty of noise. Hopefully, cheering and celebrating - not shouting or tears.

Recently, our church had a college themed youth dance. I get to chaperone at these dances and wished to represent my school well but, all I had was a somewhat dilapidated t-shirt. There is not much BYU merchandise for sale in Florida stores. So, I decided to make my own --

I made some yo yo flowers out of white fabric...

  I laid them out in a "Y" on a blue shirt...

stitched them together in sections...

then stitched the sections to the shirt.

                             The result was a little crooked but I love it. 
Actually, this shade of blue was the right shade when I attended the "Y" but, now days they use a darker blue.

My 14 year old daughter is planning on going to BYU however, she decided to represent her father's team at the dance. She knew that there would be many dressed in orange and blue representing FSU's rival, UF and she wanted to support her favorite Florida team.

I made some garnet and gold accessories for her --

A bib necklace, hair clip and pin.

Here she is modeling her outfit just before the dance.

She did not think she would wear them again, so I put the set up for sale in my Etsy shop where it quickly sold. This inspired me to create more game day accessories to sell in my shop which have been selling pretty well! Here are some of my favorites:

canvas bag with wooden handles

vintage black crepe handbag

up-cycled Bijoux Terner gold bead bag

retro black patent shoulder bag

Yes, I even made some for the Gator fans!

I replaced the handle with a pretty beaded one

I am busy making some hair accessories now. Not on Saturday though....
Go Cougars!!

  Go 'Noles!!

My own gumball "machine"

When I went "yard saling" earlier this year. I found a couple of old, gumball machines. They were something like this -

The seller was asking $20 and I was tempted. How cool to have a real live, working gumball machine at Nana and Grandpa's house!?!? I did not get one though and have regretted it ever since :(

That experience served as inspiration for my recent "up-cycling" project though.

First, I got a very nice wooden candlestick (a trade with my creative and crafty daughter, Jenna)

I mailed one to her and she sent me this one - it was already primed white as a bonus!

I found this sweet little apothecary jar for $2 at a thrift store-

When I put the two together, Voila! My own little gumball machine!

I took a few days deciding what color to paint it - red is an obvious choice but not to me apparently. I was thinking pink, green, -- I'm new to this creative, up-cycle, crafty business:)

I also needed a small round disk to put on top of the candlestick, I searched my home and decided on a plastic, Tupperware coaster - 23 years old. I wanted wood but nothing I had worked.

here it is primed white

It was so quick and easy (after I decided on red and found the coaster)! Just an afternoon to paint and glue.

I even used  paint that was leftover from past projects - I mixed some burnt umber in with the red to darken it a little

I used spray adhesive to glue a circle of red felt to the bottom of the jar (also a left-over). This would look prettier than gluing the jar directly to the coaster. Also, I was worried that the glass glued directly to the painted plastic might peel the paint and break off.

                                              I am so pleased with the result!! 

           And even better filled with gumballs!!

I will change out the gumballs for seasonal candy from time to time. Like candy corn, jelly beans, etc.

If I ever get another chance to get a "real" gumball machine, I'll take it!

Vintage finds for your suitcase

Recently, I was in Kentucky visiting my daughter, Jenna and her family. She took me to the Peddler's Mall in Lexington, knowing that I would love it. She was right, it was filled with vintage treasures.  It is a sort of indoor flea market with the booths set up permanently and you pay for everything at one check out. [One difference and disadvantage from a regular flea market is the sellers are not usually at their booth so you cannot get information on their wares and cannot bargain.]

I soon realized that I could not purchase some of the things I normally would, as I had limited space in my suitcase. So, I had to "think outside the box". One thing I found and purchased were some wonderful magazines from the 1940s. 

 I love the ads! Not sure what I will do with them yet but I will think of something.






I also purchased several pairs of vintage earrings - something else that would not take up much space in my suitcase.

I purchased this pair of screw backs and did not notice that they were damaged until I got them home. :(


The veneer was cracked.

I decided to "up-cycle" them. This word is a recent addition my vocabulary. I learned it from the many creative Etsy vendors who not only recycle vintage items but improve them.

I kept the original design but added more vintage beads from my stash: 2 plastic, 2 glass and a couple of really nice, barrel shaped, aurora borealis, crystal beads. I used the original bead caps and they turned out quite nicely - I think!

I am a conservative, often politically incorrect woman who has gone "green!" I love rescuing lovely old/used/vintage things and recycling/upcycling/repurposing them. Thus, giving them new life in this world. 

You can find several other of my up-cycled projects in my shop on Etsy:Gilligan's Island

A Treasure Hunt!

 A Call from a fellow Pirate
Recently, my friend, Barb phoned and asked me if I wanted to go treasure hunting with her and her mom the next day. Of course, I rearranged my schedule and agreed to join them because I love to go thrifting!

 

A Dangerous and frightening place
 Do thrift stores scare you? They used to scare me. I heard stories from friends where they found great stuff at great prices but I did not seem to have the same positive experience. I was used to retail shopping with everything organized and displayed to sell. A large selection of sizes and styles. Lets face it, thrift stores can be confusing; some are just plain scary.

Notice the name of this thrift store?

Kyla came on our treasure hunt too!

"One Man's Trash...."
Since I started collecting and selling vintage, I discovered that thrift stores are a wonderful resource of castaway vintage treasures. I used to dread shopping in a thrift store - I felt like a "fish-out-of-water" - clueless and confused. But now, each time I enter one, I am filled with a sense of excitement and adventure! I love the anticipation of discovering "buried treasure!"

Me in a thrift store!

 

 

 Our Voyage: 

 We hit a lot of thrift stores in just a few hours! Barb always has a great route planned.

Kyla in front of the Methodist's store

Barb, her mom, Millie and Kyla

There wasn't much "Good News" in here

The Baptist's store

The Catholic's store - we didn't want to show preference to one religion!

Not all are pictured here!! Don't you love some of the names? 

• Find a Treasure
• A Miraculous Thrift store
• Good News

My Plunder

Some vintage purses to up-cycle

a great 1980s vintage hat! With veil and feathers!

Most of my loot

 What we got:

• 6 vintage purses including 2 beautiful beaded clutches - one made in France  and one in Japan
• a feather hat with veil
• 3 pairs of vintage gloves
• 3 bead necklaces
• 8 vintage brooches
• 5 pairs of vintage earrings

Plus:

• a cute, tin, gingerbread house candle holder, Christmas decoration (in honor of our  annual gingerbread house competition) for $1.00
• a nice picture album - I am trying to reorganize 30 years of family pics this summer - $1.00
• an Irish crystal chess set - a gift for my husband for father's day - $20.00

The key to successful treasure hunting at thrift stores is a good "map":

 In my next post, I'll tell you more.