Thanksgiving day delivery

Thanksgiving Day was a really low key affair this year. It was a simple meal and a small crowd, but still really special.

My dad brought a box of vintage finds from an auction he attended. Inside the box was a seed sack with GREAT color and a really cool imprint. He had a couple of rolling pins and some other kitchen items. Tucked in the box, there were several hard to find Mason jars, including the light purple jar in the photo.

Keep or sell? The struggle is real!

We also made a few yardstick stars from some pieces leftover from an earlier project.

The sweet little basket in the photo is an insert from a picnic basket that has seen better days.  The basket it toast! But, we salvaged the insert and the lid. The lid may make a good sign base? I think the basket, even with a hole in the side, can still be used for a display.

We are feeling thankful for the chance to bond over vintage finds and to create stuff together. We are lucky!

Book page wreaths

Finished projects make me happy!

We finally tried to make a wreath from book pages. Our first attempt was with pages from an old hymnal and we really liked how it turned out. As luck would have it, we had a cold temperatures with a wintery mix of rain and ice most of the day. It was perfect weather for watching movies and crafting.

So, I tried out some different wreaths.

The first version we tried was two layers. So, we tried a more full version. I also did some research on how to make paper flowers and it was the perfect solution for the center of the full wreath.

 We tried the hymnal pages with the accordion fold and a button in the center.

 My husband saw the inspiration piece and knew we had the perfect old black frame in the basement.  The beautiful, heavy black frame made this wreath from dictionary pages look so cool! What I love most about this wreath is that in the "a's" of this dictionary, they include a picture of an alpaca. It worked out to have the alpaca showing, so if you are looking for it, you see the alpaca!

 We also have two chalkboards on hand. Their painted frames make the perfect outline for the wreaths! (Another idea taken from the inspiration piece!)

My husband also had a reclaimed wood base constructed for a sign. He thought it would make the perfect backdrop.

This wreath is make from pages from a book of poetry written by high school students. It has a button in the center and a large accordion folded medallion in the center.

Hymnal page wreath project

A project finished!

We have so many unfinished projects around the house, but today, we marked one off the list!

I had my eye on these book page wreaths for a long time. We found some really wonderful old hymnals at an estate sale over a year ago. As with most things, we let put the project on our list, stored the supplies, and moved on.

Today was Thanksgiving and in my pre-Thanksgiving shopping, I added a trip to the hobby store to pick up some bases.

After we cooked and cleaned up, this afternoon was the perfect time to work on the project. It was raining. Football was on the tv. My husband was busy hand painting signs. It was a good time to experiment. It took me several tries to get the rolling of the pages down, but in the end, I was moving pretty quickly.

My inspiration piece was from The Frugal Homemaker. What I love about the inspiration piece is how it was staged with the blackboard on a mantle. Beautiful!

Scrapbook finds

 One evening this summer, my dad brought us a treasure trove of finds from an auction. We unloaded his pick up and did a quick sort - what did we want to keep, sell, donate or toss. It was a mammoth task and we spent hours going through things.

In all of the boxes and piles, we found two scrapbooks.

Charming is the only word I can use to describe them. At first glance, I expected to find photos on the pages, but when we opened the first, we found...

 pages and pages of old advertising - display ads for every type of household item.

The illustrations were amazing and I loved reading the ad copy.

 The second scrapbook - I expected more of the same. But, with this one...

 it was filled with what I think is calendar art.

 And, this book also had some color advertising - maybe from magazines?

 The pages with the auto subject matter were some of my favorite and with great color, too!

 And, you have to love the farm and tractor scenes.

 And, the prize bull...

These are prefect for the history lover. I could look at these for days!