Sunday, May 19, 2013

Everything Old becomes New Again - Vintage View Sunday

Whether it is furniture, glassware, jewelry, fabrics, typography, or paper crafts, I love it vintage. 
Often keeping everything true to the period can look stale.  But when the old is mixed with the new,
 the new refreshes the old, and the old is enlivened. These cards I just made are 
definitely vintage, but I used bright new contemporary colors and trending items like washi tape and hexagon patterns to bring them into the 21st century:


 Stamps from Oxford Impressions and Stampin' Up, washi measuring tape


Stamps from Oxford Impressions

Stamps from Stampin' Up with washi measuring tape and hexagon embossing folder

Some of the Vintage View Sunday party goers this week also used vintage in fresh ways.
(If you are featured, please grab my button and post on your blog.)

Michelle at The Day Before this Day made this adorable e-reader case using a corner of a vintage embroidered cloth with contemporary polka dot fabric--blending the old with the new.  
Check our her blog to see so many more of her lovely creations.  
I want to buy an e-reader just so I can buy this sleeve!


Susan at Eclectic Shorebird  mixed old pattern girls with the marvel of modern graphics programs 
to create adorable flash cards that can be used on tables or made into cards.
A gifted writer, she also crafted a brilliant first person narrative full of childhood excitement and 
wonder. I promise you will be transported to your sweetest childhood memories.  And the icing on the cake is the downloadable version of some of the flash cards for all of us to use!  Thank you Susan!

Lisa at Helene's Legacy took a vintage recipe from her great aunt and made it "friendly" for her family with food allergies by substituting coconut oil for butter.  Once more, something old becomes new again:

Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful posts and blogs that really do illustrate
 how everything old becomes new again. 

Happy  Sunday!
Laura

It's that time again for the Vintage View Sunday Link Party!
Link up any post old or new that's about a vintage anything, and be sure to put a link on your blog back to mine!  :-)


Saturday, May 11, 2013

Vintage View Sunday: Hotel Silver

Did you ever hear your Mom say, "I'm not running a hotel/restaurant here...?"
I think I've said it a few times myself.
Being a mom can sometimes seem like custom hotel and restaurant service with
all the laundry and cooking that is required to run a home and
make it comfortable for everyone.  If you're a mom, I hope your lovely ones
have celebrated you with a day off from all the chores--
at least from the cooking.  And perhaps they've taken you for a fine meal at a hotel.

To kick off this Vintage View Sunday, I am sharing a vignette in my kitchen that 
I just put together this week with a few pieces from my hotel silver collection.


Hotel silver is heavily plated silver that was made for use in fine hotels.  
Made to withstand repeated washing and rough use, its heavy chunkiness and 
clean lines really appeal to my husband. You can learn more about hotel silver on
this video from Martha Stewart.

The creamer was made by International Silver Company for a Hilton Hotel:






















                  The open sugar bowl was made by the Canadian subsidiary of Wm Rogers Silver Company
and was from the King Edward Hotel in Toronto.


The salt and pepper cruet set was made by International Silver Co. for
the Margaret Baylor Inn.  (I'd love to know where that was...)


My vintage view gives me a lot of pleasure on this Mother's Day Sunday:


This post is written in honor of my mother, Anita, who taught me to appreciate antiques from the time I was six. She is home with the Lord.  And it is also written to honor my other mother, Katie, who also is my husband's mother. She is 90, and has the best outlook on life of anyone I've ever known.
My life has been enriched by the love and care of these two dedicated mothers.

I'm linking up with You're Gonna Love It!
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Wow Us Wednesday
Feathered Nest Fridays

And now, on  to the Vintage View Sunday Party with this week's features! Please feel free to grab my button and display it on your blog if you've been featured.

Going along with the kitchen theme, I love Debbie's vintage kitchen tools and accessories
in bright happy red.  Go visit her at Debblie Dabble and see how she has a knack for
pulling together so many interesting pieces!


You certainly see a grandmother's love in this precious baby quilt shared by Jann at
A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen. Visit her blog for a virtual hug from a very sweet lady!

And Christina at PennyWise shared a wonderful vintage photo of children dancing around a Maypole in 1909 Ireland along with a very interesting history of May Day and
 a wonderful tea to celebrate May Day or Mother's Day or any day!

Kitchens and food and blankets and pretty things...
All part of a mother's care for her brood.

Wishing you a day that's very lovely from start to finish.

Vintage View Link Party #3
Feel free to link any vintage post, old or new.  Please become a follower of my blog and
put a link back to my blog on your blog.  I look forward to seeing your vintage view!


Thursday, May 9, 2013

Vintage Necklace from a Buckle & Button & Beads

I LOVE jewelry.
Nothing expresses one's personality the way that jewelry does.  
Don't you agree?  
Have you ever looked at a pair of earrings and thought, 
"Those are me"
or
"Those look just like (fill in the blank)?"

From time to time I get a bee in my bonnet, and I just have to make a new piece of jewelry.
I had these pieces just waiting in my treasure box:

I took a little inspiration from this book, Rejuvenated Jewels,
 New Designs from Vintage Treasures, by Amy Hanna:
 

I had a few false starts, including this charm style necklace with crowns and 
a vintage rhinestone watch piece. I wore it once, and it just didn't feel quite right.

So I remade it, and yes, it felt very, very right:

I wire wrapped sterling beads with sterling wire and linked them with some sterling and 
marcasite pieces that I salvaged from an old necklace. I glued a garnet piece to a mother-of-pearl-button, and glued that onto the rhinestone buckle.  I wire wrapped a pearl and attached it to a vintage rhinestone piece that got attached to the buckle. I also added a sterling toggle to the buckle to 
attach it to the beaded section.

Here's a view on a lace background:

Another view:

 I HAD to have earrings to go with it, so I came up with these:
Garnet pieces on MOP buttons, sterling ear wires, and freshwater pearls, sterling bead caps, and garnet beads wire-wrapped and dangling from the buttons.


I even let my new friend wear it!  (Looks SO Victorian here.)

And a bit more modern here:

Yes, she has a name.  I had a hard time choosing between so many wonderful suggestions, Sephora, Rosalie, Lacey...  Everyone seemed to agree that a French name suited her best.
And guess who had the winning name?
My dear husband!
When he suggested, "Cosette," (from Les Miserables), how could I refuse?
Any man who indulges such girlish silliness in his wife of almost thirty years
deserves to be heard.   :-)
Yep, he's a keeper.

 So there you have it.

And I have another little group of goodies just waiting for a new idea!

See the transformation of Cosette from store-bought dress form to vintage dress form diva!



Linking up with




Sunday, May 5, 2013

Instant Vintage Dress Form



I've loved dress forms since I was a girl.  
They're so in style right now, I decided to buy one.
I didn't have a lot of time to distress it, 
but I wanted it to look old.  
So I dug through my scrap vintage linens and lace:


and came up with something I really love!
Here's the step-by-step:








I also added a ribbon around the waist:






Oops!  Misspelled "millinery."  You caught that, right?  :-)  

Finished bodice.


 There she is--all done!  
Now, I just have to figure out what to name her.  

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Spring Thank You Cards

Such a busy and crazy time of the year.
Does it seem so in your corner of the world?

I managed to make a few springtime thank you cards 
with some of my favorite color combos and embossing folders:



Turquoise and coral are my favorite colors this year.  I can't
wait to play around more with this combo:


Sunday, April 21, 2013

The People Who Love You and Vintage View Link Party

Often unfair.
Filled with unpleasant surprises of things you never thought would happen.
I'm not speaking of tragedy, but difficulty.
I think most of us don't experience tragedy--like those that have occurred recently,
but I know we all have difficulties--sometimes every day.

Some are self-imposed  from injudicious decisions, and
 some brought on in the process of living with and loving people. 
People who make mistakes, get sick, grow old, have hurts... 
Or people who are just downright hateful, vengeful, or manipulative.

I had a particularly stressful week this week, and someone who is becoming dear to me said 

"go and be with the people who love you."

And it made me think long and hard about who those people really are...
And who those people have been and are becoming.

There's my sweet mother, who taught me to sew with excellence.  
I found these vintage 50's napkins which so reminded me of the ones she
taught me to make. (We never used paper.):

(These will go to 
my heart sister, Christel
who just started wanting cloth napkins and has dining room walls this color.)

There was my mother's mother, my Mamaw, 
who was a poor, Appalachian farm wife, mother of 11,
with a crooked stoop in her back but always a soft voice and a smile for me.
Who wore aprons full of wood clothespins like this one:

And this one:

The fabrics repurposed from feed sacks:


And my Grandmother Gwen, my "city" grandma
who wore elegant beaded jewelry like this:

And my dear, sweet, brilliant son, 
who loves caps like this one in black and white wool herringbone:


Can't you just see how this hat fits him?  :-)

And a special 12-year old 
who loves all things vintage and is my thrifting buddy.
She found these bottles of glitter for me. For fifty cents each, I had to have them:



I kept finding these items in my thrifting yesterday, and I wondered--
Am I buying memories?
I think it was just God's way of reminding me through everyday things
that I have been and am loved.

As I reflect, there are so many others--my mother-in-law, my cousins,
my sisters-in-law, so many friends--
too many to name..
what a blessing!

We are investing ourselves in each other's lives, 
with all the joy, all the pain, and all the difficulty.

 I love them, and they love me.
 That lightens the load.

So if you are having a difficult day or week, write an e-mail, make a phone call,
 drop in and pay a visit, or just reflect on memories:

Go and be with the ones who love you.



Linking up with
Show and  Tell Friday
Dwelllings' Amaze Me Monday
Weekend Showoff Party
Time Travel Thursday

Knick of Time Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Show Me What You Got Tuesdays
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays
Share Your Cup Thursdays
Grace at Home
Show and Tell Friday
Sweet and Simple Fridays




Vintage View Sunday Link Party