Valentines Mantel and Decoated Heart Boxes

It was definitely a mantel building weekend for me.  This is the mantel in my dining room and it got the Sweet Heart treatment to go with the pennant banner I have hanging against my lace window curtains in that room.

I love these Victorian candelabras, with their dangling crystals they look like they are right out of the movie Pollyanna.

The sweet kissing cherubs in the oval frame was brought home from Treasures Antiques to provide the centerpiece.  I especially love these two because they break the rules.  Normally a human like figure with bird wings is an angel and those with insect wings are fairies.  In this case, I think they are both cherubs (angels) but one of them has bird wings and the other has insect wings.  I guess the classical artist (1800's) didn't know about the wing rule.

I drafted my sweet 40's plaster head vases to stand in as Valentine royalty.  I love their deco lines, so different than the later, 50's head vases which are ceramic.

Next I actually got around to decorating these velvet chocolate boxes with some of the best pieces from my antique lace collection, then added rhinestone broaches, cameos, ribbon, sheet music and buckles. The boxes have been in my stash for a couple of years, so it felt good to actually do some reinvention with them.

In the end I added a couple of turn of the century 'gift books', which were made to be both romantic and elegant.

Of course when it came time to find a sweet young thing for my tiny silver heart frame, Graphics Fairy saved the day once more.

I hope you have enjoyed my mantel as much as I enjoyed putting it together.  Happy Valentines!

Steampunk Mantel Dismantled and Remantled

You may recall that after I had gathered my 'steampunk' goodness and put together my family room mantel, I did NOT love it.

But being Pollyanna, I knew not to be discouraged.  Looking at things the 'glad game' way, a failure is just an opportunity to try again.

You can see my cluttered and random mantel to the left.  I took out a lot of the smaller items, and you will see what I did with those items in future post.

This time I brought in my 'steampunked' wreath (clock face graphic compliments of Karen at Graphics Fairy.)  I also brought in some old books, larger clocks and the fabulous and unusual film reel that I found at flea.o.logy last week.

In looking for balance rather than clutter, I focused on gathering my favorite vintage green items, defined a theme 'eggs' and tried for an overall shape; high on sides to low in the center.  I also added a small banner to make sense of the theme.  I wanted a common phrase that involved 'time' and 'eggs' .... after deciding against 'good morning' as too common, I went with '3 minute eggs'.

Egg items include the green bird case filled with book page decoupaged eggs, an egg rack for boiling eggs with an 'hour glass' egg timer on it, also filled with said eggs.

This egg scale, brought home from the antique mall, (luckily old green) completes the trio of 'egg items'.

In the end I was very happy with my whimsical reinvented mantel.

Sweet Smile Flag Banner!

 If you are like me, you have a word that you write when you are doodling ... for me the word is 'smile'.  That is why I decided to do a smile banner instead of a strictly Valentines Banner.  This way I can keep it up for a while.

I found the glittered letters on clearance after Christmas.  The fun tissue garland that it hangs from was purchased at Just a Bed of Roses in Farmington. 

Next I used a sweet cherub I got off of Graphics Fairy for the two end flags.  The border print I used is also one of Karen's.  Then Using my homemade glass glitter and antique sheet music to make the fan folded medallions I was done in a jiffy, which really did put a smile on my face!

Decoupaging with 1930's Valentines

I know I have mentioned my love of the art work of the 1930's before.  The period is exemplified by idyllic home scenes.  The Valentines from this period stand our as perfect examples of this.

I have a large collection of Valentines from this period, but the ones I used for this decoupage project are from Graphics Fairy.

I used some of the new clear Tacky glue as a decoupage medium and I love how it worked.  The sheen is great!  The cute can and tray set was $1 from the thrift store, so this project was mostly about the time spent, which was about 10 minutes. 

My Steampunk Mantel + One!

I promised you a look at my Steampunk mantel, and here it is, the mantel in my family room.  I will say, however, that I am not loving it.  Too much stuff and it feels like clutter to me.

I do have a fun idea to gather it together in a way, that I hope, will not feel so cluttered.  If that doesn't work, its off to the antique mall with the most of these goods.

The mantel its self is one I got from a friend who knows about my mantel addiction. I wanted it to reach to the plate shelf we were installing, so I added the decorative board from the base of a piano to span the width between the mantel and the shelf.  It perfectly frames the little faux fire place that keeps the room snug.

There are some elements that I do like, so here are a couple of closer shots.  The decoupaged eggs are a lot of fun, both in the little cage and in the egg boiling rack.  I also like the sweet Prim that I got at Dear Lizzie, a charming shoppe that just takes one's breath away.

And here is mantel number two, it is the only one that is original to the house and it is in my parlor.  It is my winter theme mantel and showcases my snowman collection with snowy trees and houses too.

I have had the glisten banner for years, but it still makes me smile! I bought it from a dear friend when she had a cute store named 'The Pink Door'  Isn't that a clever name?

This sweet metal plaque was actually purchased at the antique mall where I work, but by my good friend Stacy.  I rang up the sale and I know she could tell I was jealous. (One of the hard things about working at an antique store.)  She later offered and negotiated a trade so I could have it, sweet girl that she is.  (Possibly also promted by the fact that she does not actually have a fireplace, and because she is adorable ... and well it was blue not pink. )

It reads:

 

If my fireplace pleaseth thee,

as indeed it pleaseth me.

Bide a while and share its glow,

peace to thee when thou dost go.

I actually have four mantels (installed) in my house and a fifth one in the garage waiting for me to figure out a place for it.  Can you tell I like mantels?  I will have to do some dusting and rearranging so I can show you the other two soon.   I appreciate you stopping by and of course ...

"Peace to thee when though dost go!"

Flea.o.logy at Olson's Garden Shoppe! Flea Market!

The other two flea.o.logists and myself had our premiere flea market indoors, at Olson's Garden Shoppe in Payson yesterday!!  It was wonderfully crammed and crowded, not only with antique, vintage and crafted goodies, but with our amazing and loyal customers, including lots of new customers who have just discovered us!!

It was such a beautiful venue, a bit of Eden in the dead middle of January, complete with snow falling outside.  What could be better?  Well throw in some antiques and amazingly crafted items and voila, it must be Heaven!!

It was our first time to display our new flea.o.logy sign.  Jenn provided the perfect old patina'ed ladder for display.  What a funky welcome for our shoppers old and new!

Here's a peek at the goodies.  We had most of our regular dealers and added two new dealers to this sale!  Oh such nice and talented dealers!!

And here's the Queen of flea.o.logy.  Kelli won the crown a few sales ago, and here she shows how she climbed to power.  This adorable smock started out as a table cloth that she purchased at one of our summer sales!! You can Visit Kelli at her etsy shop if you like.

More charming displays!

And more treasures, in this case my daughters, Nell makes wonderful jewelry and sells at the show, Becca made adorable tutus and head bands to sell, and Emily did her best to support flea.o.logy and Olson's Garden Shoppe  ... "I didn't plan to spend anything, I just came to visit, but there was such great stuff and such amazing prices!"

I made hundreds of dollars at this sale, and spent hundreds of dollars too!!  Perhaps my favorite purchase is this necklace which is one of Nell's creations ... it was such a happy accident that it perfectly matches my favorite skirt!!  As if it had been made to go with it.  Just another amazing memory of flea.o.logy to go down in the books.



Valentine Kits for Fun and Possible Profit.

 So, this is my most recent project, and a fun one it is.  I have been gathering goodies, searching out Graphics Fairy and sorting through my own treasure trove of vintage delights in order to make Valentines Kits to sell at the antique mall and at our flea.o.logy  flea market this weekend .  The picture to the left is the array of goodies in one kit.

 Above is one of the completed kits, and to the right is the back view of the same kit.  I have had a lot of fun dabbling in this project.  My daughter Emily came up with her baby this morning when I was working on them and asked, "So is this one of those 'I think I am going to

get rich from this' idea, or is it an 'I love making these and it would be nice if they will sell' idea?"  I had to admit that they definitely fit in the later category.  And with that I will leave you with wishes for a wonderful, fun, and possibly romantic Valentines' Day!
I have always loved making Valentines and have even made them for my friends as an adult.  I have collected vintage and antique Valentines, and with the wonders of color copying, I am now able to share their wonderful colors and homey designs.  I even got brave and put a couple of my Valentine Kits in my Etsy Shop. ( I am a newbie there and have yet to have a sale.)

Trash to Treasure Lamp!

Look at this amazing lamp.  My friend Jenn saw one similar to it in an Anthropology catalogue for $500 and fell madly in love.  Fortunately she had a collection of shoe forms AND a handy (and handsome) husband. And Voila'!!

Here are just a few other shots of her house on the day I visited last week.  Jenn's house is amazing, though I would not have thought it possible, she actually changes her decor as fast of even faster than my amazing friend Marci, who here-to-fore held the record for speedy makeovers.  Jenn's blog is listed on the side bar if you want to see some more shots of the lamp.
Both Jenn and Marci are amazingly talented artists when it comes to home decor and I am grateful to call them friends.