A Peek at What I've Been Up To and Etsy

A few short days ago before temperatures dropped to freezing and snow covered the ground and when it was looking like Spring outside, I pulled this out of my garden.

 It's the side of an old baby bed.  I had been using it alongside one of the paths in my largest flower garden.  It made a great little half fence.  Past tense - made.  Now, I needed something for the shop that could be used to display linens.   It first needed a good cleaning as well as a good wipe-down with a wire brush.  I made knobs by "marrying" old wooden spools with wooden wheels, gave it a wash of pink paint and:  voila!  Mission accomplished!  (This shot was taken in my kitchen.  It's now hanging in the shop, proudly holding table cloths, napkins and doilies.)

Do you remember me telling you that I had hoards of picture frames?  If I didn't, I meant to.  Some are old, some are new, some are in good condition and some are just plain junky looking.

You know me, I hate to throw out anything that can somehow still be used.  I showed you the little bird-in-the-cup frame project a few days ago.  Here's what I did with a frame that needed some love.    I decoupaged it, which not only covered its imperfections, but strengthened its joints.  I froo-frooed it by adding half an old doily (at this point, I have no idea what happened to the other half), some florals and pipberries (they're so fun to work with) and some old buttons.  The picture that is in the frame is of our summer bedroom.  Oh, how I wish.  It's actually a page I tore out of a magazine and popped into the frame for display. 

   While I was working in my studio, I dug this old wine glass out of a box that I had marked to be sent out for auction.  Long story short, I remembered having a little collection of glass tops and wondered if any of them might possibly fit over the wine glass.  What luck!  One fit!  I gathered up some pieces of colored glass that I had tucked away in an old cigar box and now it's a studio display.  Well, until I decide to use that colored glass for something. 

  Wait a minute - I just remembered that I forgot to tell you that I have a new goal of getting my supplies out of boxes and containers that can't be seen through and into clear, pretty containers or pretty containers that will hold things like pens, paintbrushes, etc. that will allow the contents to still be identified.  Thus, my sudden obsession with turning tin cans into useful pieces of art.  I've been storing stemmed florals and the like in repurposed cans like the one above.

Deb, you'll be proud of me.  It's taking a long time (okay, over a year.  Maybe over a couple years.) but I really am making some headway at getting my studio organized.

And, finally, I've jumped on the Etsy bandwagon!  I joined a few years ago but stubbornly held onto my relationship with Ebay.  My feedback probably looks strange because I've belonged to Etsy for so long but have a big goose egg for transactions.  But my feedback with Ebay is 100% positive.  Does that count???

Anyway, I've added the link in the upper right margin of this blog and tonight I added another altered bottle:   

  It's an old Purex bottle.  Remember when bleach used to be packaged in glass bottles?  Me, neither.  I just remember people talking about such a thing.  Okay, so you caught me in a fib!  I admit, I remember.  But, when you get a chance, visit my shop.  I hope you also add it to the shops you "heart".  Right now, I have only five people who heart me.  Sob.