Posts tagged ‘vintage’

This beautiful vintage button belonged to my grandmother.  There’s only one, and I’ve been painfully particular about how to use it.  When guest blogger, Erica, wrote about making a vintage brooch into a necklace, I immediately thought about my button.  But since I’m on a hair-accessories kick, I thought I’d try it within a flower instead.

I used recycled shirt fabric & a vintage button for this flower.  It’s just like this orange flower one I made a while back.  The original pattern & idea came from a fabric flowers tutorial at Wise Craft.

Being in the “business” of repurposing things means that I get a lot of bags of things destined for the landfill or Goodwill. My friends, family and acquaintances will drop stuff off here before they donate or pitch it. I love this. I rummage through the goods and take what I want and then drive the rest off to a Goodwill donation center.

In my most recent bag-of-stuff acquisition I found, among other things, these cool vintage flour sack tea towels with calendars printed on them. There’s no wondering what year they were made, as it is stamped right on there. I kept them even though they don’t match my decor at all. They just seemed so unique and quaint. Now I am wondering what to do with them. I don’t want to put them into my regular rags, since they get used for things like wiping up grape juice, but I can’t think of a good place to display them.

Should I just let them make their way to the thrift store, or should I keep them around for some project later on?

I’m not talking about my “I found this in the car & won’t get sunburnt hat” in the left picture.  And I didn’t buy a hat either.  I did buy a headband though.  Isn’t it pretty?  I met Paula Singleton of What A Great Hat! at the Akron Arts Expo this weekend (she’s wearing pink in the left picture).  Her vintage style hats are each originals with the most delicate & perfectly classy embellishments.  Plus she’s getting ready to begin teaching classes.  I suggested a hat embellishments class where you bring a thrift store hat and learn how to add flowers, beads, feathers, etc.  But she also does the blocking herself for the straw hats, so I’m guessing she’ll teach that as well.  I wish I got a close-up of the brown hat above my right hand.  The base is hand blocked straw of the most wonderful pattern.  I’d take a class to make one of those!

*Update*

Paula send a photo of that hat for us!

hat by Paula Singleton

My collection of pretty antique tea cups is stored in a small corner cabinet in our bedroom. They are lovely to look at and bring a peaceful feeling to the room but I often think I should try harder to actually use them. On a recent visit to FARM Restaurant in Calgary I saw this delightful and innovative use of china cups as holders for tea lights.

Just drop a candle into the base of the tea cup and set it out. A grouping of tea cup candles on the table or one set at each individual place setting is a perfect way to add a sweet touch to a spring or summer meal. I also love them on the windowsill to enjoy during the day.

Read more about guest blogger Erica of Nest and Sparkle.

Vintage is in and has been for a long time now and my guess is that it is here to stay. Whether it’s clothing, jewelry, dishes or furniture, there is something truly lovely about beautiful vintage goods. The whiff of memory and nostalgia, the authenticity and uniqueness, the refreshing quality of something old made new again through use in a different age. Sustainability is also a factor – there are so many talented artists and designers recycling vintage into gorgeous new things and rescuing heaps of fabric, metal, woods and plastics from overflowing landfills in the process.

My personal style is quite simple and minimalist but within that I have a collection of elegant vintage jewelry, china and silverware, much of it gifts from my dear grandmothers. Jewelry is a popular topic here on Clever Nesting so I thought I would share a couple of ideas about how to wear vintage brooches.

The easiest way, of course, is to just pin them on. I love the look of a sparkly brooch on a coat or jacket and they are lovely on sweaters, especially as a substitute for buttons or clasps. Lately I’ve also been wearing several of my brooches as necklaces. This is such an easy thing to do: string a chain or ribbon through the closed clasp of the brooch, swing it over your neck and voila, a unique and creative accessory that will leave you smiling all day long.

If you already have a few prized hand-me-down brooches try looping them around your neck the next time you’re thinking of it. And if there’s nothing sitting in your jewelry box yet, ask around at the next family gathering to see what the generations before you may have stuffed away in their dresser drawers or start scouting antique shops, garage sales, consignment stores and other treasure troves. I highly recommend the latter as a fun, indulgent and inexpensive way to spend a day and spark your creativity and the former is a great way to share in stories from the past.

Read more about guest blogger Erica of Nest and Sparkle.

My friend, Mary, let me look through these books she bought at a library sale. I am just OOOh-ing and Aaaaah-ing over some of the projects inside. My favorite book out of the three is 167 Things to Make for Children. There are so many cute knits inside, as well as some woodworking projects I want to try out this summer. The one detail that just keeps me laughing as I flip through the pages is just how short the children’s dresses are! My kids wear shirts as long as those dresses! They do ook cute with the knee socks though.

I have been in the “make-for-me” phase of crafting since the holidays are over and I wanted to work through some of my stash fabric. This wrap skirt from Stitch by Stitch is just awesome, and the pattern pieces are included in the book and uncut! With the right fabric this could look really current, and the length makes it a great choice for winter. I hope I have enough yardage in my stash closet!

Tonight is the Journal Binding Class and I have to bring a TON of supplies. That is what makes taking a class so much fun, I buy the supplies and you get to try it out, without filling up your house with things until you are sure that they will be useful for you.

But for me, I now get to have 6 awls, and 6 exacto blades, and 3 special glue sticks, etc., that I have to carry along to the class all at once! That’s why I made “Clever Nesting To Go.” This $.75 vintage suitcase was thrifted and overhauled by me and waiting to be filled with crafty goodness. If you’re coming tonight you get to meet her in all her glory.

Hopefully I will be able to take some time out of instructing and get some decent pictures of the class. I’m anticipating lighting issues, so forgive me if they are dark. But look tomorrow for an update on our first Clever Nesting Education event!

I am lucky that I have daughters because there is always something cute to make for little girls. But Colleen only has a son, and my great friend Ellie has two sons, and I always want to make them cute things, too. I ended up making these cards for Ellie to use for her boys. It’s a set of six blank cards embellished with wall paper samples in a burlap looking print and cut outs from a 1960s copy of the Bear Cub Scouts Handbook.

I figured she can save these to give to her boys as birthday cards, or to send to relatives as “thank you”s from the boys. They would also make cute invitations to an outdoor birthday party or cook out. Hopefully I can get these in the mail to her in the next few days.

I followed some of the instructions from the websites I listed earlier this week for cleaning vintage books. Particular problems this book had were some mildew spots on the cover, some red stains, and a musty smell. To clean it I used a cotton pad and some rubbing alcohol to clean up the mildew spots. I spot tested the book first to make sure it wouldn’t fade the ink on the cover. Then I proceeded to rub lightly in a circular motion with the cotton pad until almost all of the mildew spots were gone. The alcohol did not remove the red stains though.

Then I opened the pages and set the book on the front porch in indirect sunlight to air out the smell. After a few hours outside the book smelled much fresher. I am really happy with the results. It is much more readable, but not quite clean enough that I would sell it. Now we can curl up on the couch and read together without sneezing and smelling like we’re in an attic.

Since I bought those books at the Estate Sale last weekend I have been searching for ways to clean them up. I found the Better Homes and Gardens Story Book from the 60s, the kids love it. I mean who wouldn’t love a book with 5 poems by Edward Lear? But there are some spots of damage, and mildew spots are all over the cover.

Here are a few web sites I found that have instructions on how to clean a vintage book. I think it will be a good start, but if anyone out there has some more information for me, I’d love to read a few more methods of how clean a book with out damaging it. Feel free to leave any suggestions in the comments.