Vintage Ink Wells

I have quite a few vintage ink wells that I collected to use at my son's wedding last summer and I've been trying to decide what to do with them.  I decorated some to use on my spindle shelf.  I was having so much fun with these that I decided to make up some more and put them in my Etsy Shop.  Here are just a couple of them:

 I dug into my stash of vintage jewelry and pieced together "necklaces" for each of them after applying some vintage-style labels.  This is one of my favorites.  The 'pendant' is actually the clasp from an old necklace and it has the most beautiful, raised, beveled glass piece on it.  I added the other parts from a different piece of jewelry.

 Each ink well has a rolled up page from an old French book I have but you could also fill these with vintage buttons, beads or even use them as a small flower vase.

Stop over and take a look . . . I've added several new items to the shop this week!

Spindle Shelf

A few weeks ago I scored some old spindles from a junkyard outdoor vintage boutique.  One of them became a shelf using a wooden picture from the thrift store that I painted over and distressed.

This is how it started out.  I didn't do a thing to the spindle except add this piece of hardware I had.  I sprayed the hardware with flat, white paint and nailed it to the spindle.

I decided to keep the picture hanger on the wood and added an old skeleton key.  It's a small shelf so I didn't want to put anything big on it.  After looking through my stash of junk vintage treasures, I pulled out some old inkwells I'd collected to use at my son's wedding last summer.

I printed out a vintage, French label, distressed it and applied it to one inkwell and draped a piece of an old necklace around the neck.  

The other inkwell got a vintage earring applied with E6000 glue and then I put an old, broken pearl necklace inside and left the clasp hanging out.

I think these are the perfect size for this tiny shelf which I hung on the wall in  my living room.

This Tuesday I had decided to take a day off from my two jobs and do nothing but CREATE.  I completed my repurposed house numbers , this shelf and bottles, and a few other projects which I'll be posting about soon.  In the meantime, here's a "peek" at one of the projects.

Any guesses??  I hope YOU are finding time to be creative this week -- for those of us who love to craft, days like this are welcome and restorative.

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I won a give away myself and was able to purchase these luscious lotion bars and this set of teas.  My cost . . . ZERO!  Yep, you can earn free shipping like I did too!

 

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Repurposed House Numbers

I gave myself the gift of a day off from my two jobs to do nothing but CREATE! This is one of several projects I completed so far.  On the left you see my old house numbers which I never liked and replaced with my "Bucket Numbers".

 I began by turning the tiles over and painting them with gray chalk paint.  Mod Podge was used to add some distressed book pages from a vintage French book.  I have a bunch of vintage ink wells that I collected for my son's wedding so three of those were wired onto the tiles.

 The iron frame got a coat of flat, black spray paint.

 The bottles are filled with water and a few cuttings from my silver dollar plants.  I'll probably end up putting dried flowers in but couldn't resist these gorgeous, purple blooms!

 From THIS . . .

 To THIS!

So what things have YOU rescued from the trash lately?

 

Vintage Condiment Server . . . FINALLY!

Patience paid off.  I've been looking for a vintage condiment server with THREE sections for over a year now.  I'd seen some on Etsy and Ebay but they were more than I wanted to spend.  I found this lovely piece at an antique store last weekend in Fulton, Ilinois.  When I saw the price tag, I did a TRIPLE take . . . $3.95!  You can read HERE about more of my finds on that trip!

 The glass bowl sits in this lovely silver holder.  And it's perfect for just the right amount of jam, lemon curd and Devonshire cream.  I have a friend who makes the most wonderful rhubarb/berry jam! I make my own lemon curd and "mock" Devonshire cream -- so yummy with scones!  Today we're going to enjoy Triple Orange Scones, Lavender Tea Bread, Fruit and homemade chocolates.

 I just LOVE the detail on the handle.

The table is set for tea with a few of my friends this afternoon and my condiment server makes me smile.

One Thing Off My "Bucket List"

Changing my house number display has been on my "To Do" list forever and I wanted something that would be easy to spot from the street.  On our recent weekend getaway we stopped by my favorite junkyard outdoor vintage shop where as part of a $10.00 haul I got these three galvanized buckets.

 First I traced a circle onto them and painted it using Annie Sloan Paris Gray chalk paint.

 

The numbers were printed out on the computer, cut out and traced around then filled in with black acrylic paint.

  There are lots of ways to do these dots but it just so happened that I had the perfect size circle rubber stamp. I used black StazOn ink to stamp them on the bucket.

Afterward, I coated the entire bucket with two coats of polyurethane.  No need to add drainage holes . . . they came with their own, compliments of the rust!

 I potted three Sweet Woodruff plants in them (Sweet Woodruff is a perennial that needs total shade and this is provided by our giant maple tree!) and bought a solar-powered spotlight from Home Depot.  Here they are lit up last night!

Now I'm off to begin working on the other junk treasures I scored on that trip!

Good Junk vs. Bad Junk

All bloggers know there is such a thing as "good" junk and "bad" junk.  We just got back from spending a few days at a friend's house on the Mississippi River.  Nearby is one of my all-time favorite places to "shop".  You never know if the elderly man who owns this place will be there so if not, you pile up your stuff, leave a note and say you'll stop back later.
This is GOOD junk.  We also stopped at a large flea market . . . BAD junk.  Over-priced, dirty and you can tell they put out the same stuff, week after week. (No pictures from that place)

There are no prices here and most of it sits outside in the elements year after year.  You don't wear open-toed shoes and you make sure your tetanus shots are up-to-date.

For the most part there is no 'rhyme or reason' to it all -- you just dig and pick through piles.

But some things are 'organized' like this pile of yummy ladders.  I didn't get any this trip but most likely will another time.

Lots and lots of lovely galvanized buckets and fishing buckets (what's the 'real' name?) Thanks friends . . . minnow buckets!

Also piles and piles and piles of chairs, chair pieces and legs.

Because the car was already full (more about my OTHER scores in another post!!) I only bought a few things.

A few of the spindles (Just look at all that glorious, chipping, paint!)  The large one is flat on one side -- wonderfulness!

Three of the galvanized buckets came home with me and one of the fishing cans minnow buckets.

I have plans for all of these things and will show you later when they're finished.  My cost for the spindles, three buckets and the fishing can minnow pail?   $10.00.  Score.  Good Junk.