Vintage Junk, Re-purposed Furniture and Jewelry.
Ohhhh friends....soldering was A LOT harder than I thought. I had these grand ideas in my head, I was going to make tons of memory pendants for my friends, give them away during coffee Monday morning and be done. But nooooo, It didn't work that way...hahaha...first of all I am not even sure if I should be using exacto knives (which I got some really cool ones for Christmas) because whenever I tried to cut the paper into tiny pieces, the paper wouldn't cut! I had to run the knife several times for the paper to cut, thank goodness for the large trivet, its all scratched up now but it sure did come in handy. I guess I need one of those plastic mats for crafting??? THEN...it was mastering the copper tape...hahahah....beading is a lot easier than this. That copper tape tends to bend all different ways, but I was finally able to conquer the d**n thing. Now mind you...during this whole time, I am running back and forth to the instructional You tube videos! Sigh....I was finally ready to solder, my hubby showed me how to light the cute little torch. And during that time all of my 3 men encircled my craft area (kitchen counter) to see how I was going to do..NO PRESSURE THERE! Friends....it wasn't a pretty site, my hands were twisting all weird directions (no 3rd hand yet), I was getting the solder wire stuck to the memory glass, getting instructions from hubby, running back to the "how to solder" You tube videos, the solder getting hard too fast, my boys wanting to try it too. LOL...it was an ordeal...it was UGLY. Thank goodness I started with MY pendant, I dont feel bad messing that up. Yes I am embarrased to show you my work, I even considered not putting my watermark on the pictures but hey....I am not going to sugar coat here, you are getting the facts and nothing but the facts. I will be practicing how to solder before I tackle the cute pendants I made so I am off to the big orange box store for more soldering wire. Happy New Year... P.S....all graphics in my pendants came from the Graphics Fairy, a very cool site with lots of beautiful pictures. 
If you haven't signed up for Shabbyfufu's giveaway then head on over to her beautiful blog. Janet has lots of beautiful yummies...it brings out the girly in me which I need with 1 man and 2 boys in the house!!! lol Happy 2010!!!I have decided to ride the magic carpet and participate in the International One World One Heart event starting on Jan. 25, 2010. This sounds like an event for me since I am fairly new to the blog world and I would love to meet others all over the world who have the same thing in common as I do. Please visit A Whimsical Bohemian for more information. I haven't decided what the Giveaway will be so please stay tuned...
I hope everyone had a great holiday and an AFTER Christmas sale shopping day
. Santa was good to me, one of my presents was a soldering kit. I am so excited to start making the memory glass pendants that everyone is into. I headed over to Michaels Craft store yesterday and bought some glass and copper tape to begin my process..now I am on the lookout for one of those 3rd hands to hold the craft item. On the way back I did stop at a couple of thrift stores that were open and a flea market. I didnt find much, just a couple of necklaces that I plan to take apart and do my own thing...One of the presents we recieved was a new Canon Camera...I have been taking pictures of some vintage dresses that I have collected thru out the years. The wedding dress was a recent find, its so pretty and dainty, I just love it. The slip and ballerina tutu was found at an estate sale last year I think. They are so pretty and girlie dont you think?. Lastly...this silly gift for my hubby is an unusual and vintage nutcracker that I found at my favorite thrift store. I laughed when I saw it and couldn't pass up the opportunity. I hope I dont offend anyone by posting this but it's just too funny. Well..back to playing with my camera...I want to change my banner for the new year but I just dont know what....Happy New Year everyone....
Ladies and Gentlemen...Laura from 52 Flea is doing her 300th post Giveback. She is giving away 3...yes 3 gifts so please head over to her eye candy site and sign up. AND....I have to mention that she will be featured in the 2010 winter issue of Somerset Life, you can order here...what a nice Christmas present!!! Congratulations Laura, I look forward in seeing more of your pretties in 2010. Merry Christmas...
Kudos to Joan from Anything Goes Here for hosting Vintage Christmas Monday. I had a lot of fun posting my goodies and also getting to see what others had on display. Thank you Joan and I hope we get to do this again! My final two vintage items are Santa's. I've had the furry one for years and it makes me smile when I see his smile. The first Santa is a musical Santa...you rotate his head and he plays Jingle Bells. He was a thrift find from many years ago. I did do some baking today as you can see by the plate filled goodies. But wait...I also made some of Heather Bullard's Cinnamon Honey Butter, I will post pictures of them tomorrow since I forgot to take pictures....you can find her recipe here. If you plan to make some of the butter you MUST have some bread handy because you will have to try it..it's delicioso!!! Merry Christmas
It was a spontaneous day, my friend Amy called this morning wanting to go shopping and having brunch. Who can say no to that? We were on the hunt for stocking stuffers and small gifts for friends. We stopped at Michaels Craft Store....boy...I could spend all day there...lots of craft ideas. I did buy the magazine "Where Women Create"...I love to read how women got their art inspiration, how they organize and keep it all together. I drooled over some of their wooden storage cabinets, the bling and dolls. I love it all! I also bought that cute little Santa box ornament, hoping I can re-create one myself...I seem to be in a holiday crafting mood lately...just need more hours in the day to make it all! This weekend I plan to spend my day baking, baking and more baking. I wasn't really sure as to what to bake, sure I got requests from my boys (1 hubby and 2 sons) but I wanted to bake something different this year. Then a couple of days ago I came across this box full of old recipes that someone lovingly handwrote and caterogized. Oh what Joy!!! I couldn't wait to get home and see what mouth watering treats I could uncover, what dish I could make or what new flavor I could try. I did find a fudge recipe that sounds yummy, although I am not a brownie/fudge loving person but I am still willing to bake them for my boys. Another great find from the thrift store are these hand blown red glass balls...I love, love, love these. I hung them on my curtain next to my crystals..which will stay there all year long. Can you believe I still haven't finished Christmas decorating? I have my buffet table left then on to decorating the tree tomorrow. But I did manage to put together a few little vignettes for Christmas....and I do want to mention that all of the decorations are thrift store or dumpster finds...well except for the picture candle of my dad. Have a wonderful weekend doing the things you love. Feliz Navidad.
With all the rain we've been getting I ventured outside between showers to see what was blooming. I walked to the back yard and nothing...same old flowers I had posted last week (or the week before?), I walked to the butterfly garden and all that was blooming was my pentas. Okay by then I am a bit discouraged that I am not going to have anything for "Flaunt Your Flowers Fertilizer Friday" so I walk to the side garden and what do you know!!!! My red plumbago is blooming...this does not happen often for me but I guess with the cooler weather, the rains and lots of oak leaves as compost it must feel the need to show its beauty!!! I am doing the happy dance here...the second picture is my red plumbago. The other blooming lovelies are a red hibiscus, ti plant and criniums. Wander over to Tootsies and check out all the flowers for show. Merry Christmas....
