Making a Button Mirror

I hit the flea market on Saturday looking for an old mirror to replace the one in our guest room but had no luck. Not being the patient sort, I "shopped the house" yesterday and decided to do over a mirror I was no longer using. A little white paint and some vintage buttons were all it took...

This is the mirror before (don't ask me what I was thinking the last time I painted it!)...

I taped off the mirror part and painted the whole thing antique white; finished it with two coats of clear spray matte finish. The result was a big improvement but I still felt it need a little something...

It's amazing what you can do with a glue gun and vintage buttons. I love all the textures and faded colors of the old buttons against the wood...

I especially like the buttons that still have thread in them...they seem to tell a story...

Here is the finished product in the room. It was easy and fun to do and I like the softness it adds...

“Both within the family and without, our sisters hold up our mirrors: our images of who we are and who we dare to be.”  
 ~E. Fishel

I hope you will visit the following blogs to which this post is linked:
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Show Off Your Cottage Monday at The House In The Roses
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Terrific Under Ten Tuesday at At Home With K 
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm
Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog
Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking
Time  Travel Thursday at Brambleberry Cottage
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Vintage Trayscapes

It's snowing like crazy outside but I'm ignoring it...my heart, and this old farmhouse, are ready for some Spring decorating. After working all morning on the "have to do's" like mending curtains, cleaning out a closet, and painting a mirror, I decided to have some fun this afternoon and make some trayscapes. I've been collecting vintage items for Spring decorating and couldn't wait to "play" with them. Here is what I came up with...

I bought this vintage tole tray for a couple of dollars at a yard sale last year and it has been standing in a dusty corner of the dining room waiting for a home.  I got inspired when I found this little embroidered runner the other day for $2.99...love the handmade fringe on the ends. The white McCoy piece is a January flea market find...picked up the candle stick after Christmas at Pottery Barn. And Mr. Bunny? He was adopted last year from Home Goods.

I love this little white duck pitcher. I can't find it in any of my reference books but I am guessing from the shape and glaze that it is unmarked McCoy. For $4.00 at a local antique shop that was having a 50% off sale, it was mine, McCoy or not.

I like using shades of red and green together and use a lot of those colors in my home. These little round boxes, one with a bird sitting on the top, also found their way into my cart at Home Goods. The napkins were given to me by my mother, who made them in the 1950's and kept them in perfect condition all these years.

I picked up this pink tole tray last year on Craigslist...loved the colors.

It and the little doily bouquet are a trayscape-in-progress. When I finish this one it will find a home on the mantle in the master bedroom.

This great old wooden spool was another find at a recent antique sale. I bought it to use as an "elevator" (my own decorating term, I think).  Let me explain...

I'm sure we've all worked on displays and wanted to vary the heights of objects in them. Often we use the old standbys like a pile of vintage books to add the needed height. Well...now I have an option...

i

introducing the "elevator"!  I placed the bowl of eggs on it to show you how I plan to use it when I find just the right object to display on it...

 The little white bowl is "the real McCoy" and was another bargain at an antique sale...$5.00!

So, there you have it...some trayscape fun for a snowy afternoon. And a thought for the weekend ahead...

I hope you will visit these amazing bloggers...this post is linked to their blog parties:

Show and Share Day at Just a Girl

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Junkin' Finds Friday at A La Carte

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Vintage Inspiration Friday

Home Sweet Home Friday at The Charm of Home

Time Travel Thursday at Brambleberry Cottage

Feature Friday at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Treasures and Trinkets Thurday at My Cottage Charm

Count Down to Spring Party at Domestically Speaking

A Vintage Road Trip

My sister, Nancy,  had a great sense of humor and when we went antiquing together she was always drawn to things that either reminded her of when we were kids or that were quirky and funny. This fit both criteria...so home with us it went. Nancy was so thrilled with her little red pedal car that she parked it right in the corner of her living room...and there it stayed...a permanent part of her light-hearted cottagey decor.

When we were doing our other blog together, It's Always Something, we found this photo at The Graphics Fairy and laughed as we imagined vintage versions of ourselves traveling along on a sisters' road trip in her little red car.

And then, in 2009, for her retirement, Nancy was surprised with a bigger version of her favorite little car...the interior and convertible roof are red anyway! Here she is imitating the vintage photo with a few of her teacher friends.

There is something about vintage toys that bring back the child in each of us, isn't there?

I am linking this blog post to Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World.

No Crafting Today...

The craft room had a "Closed" sign on it today...I was off playing hooky! No sewing, no glueing, no cleaning, no cooking, no shopping...I was off skiing! Our family met in Jackson, New Hampshire for a day of fun together in the snow. Here is a view of Mount Washington as we headed to the White Mountains this morning...beautiful no matter how many times I have seen it. The sign in the distance says "Brake for Moose"...

I had to show grandsons Brian, Taka, and Robert that "Nanny" can still get down Black Mountain in one piece!

 Love this photo I took on the lift...my husband, Hank, and our grandson, Takanori.

Apres ski with the family...

Nancy's husband, Aaron, her son, Kit, and his wife, Erin. Kit is on the ski patrol at Black Mountain...nice to know someone will be there to rescue me if I ski into a tree!

Now that the annual ski trip is over for another year, I am looking forward to this...

Winter is fun, but there is nothing to compare to summer in Maine...and there are no trees to crash into at the beach. Come on Spring...I'm ready!

Goodwill Hunting

My daughter, Kristen, and I had a good time Goodwill Hunting yesterday...hit two Goodwill stores after our lunch out. I know that those of you who follow this blog love to see the latest "junkin" finds", so here goes...

The first find called out to me like the "little black dress" does in the Goodwill commercial. It didn't quite have an aura around it like the little black dress, but almost.

Here it is! A perfect little dollhouse to add to my collection...for $7.99 less my 10% "frequent junker" discount.

The missing piece from the roof was inside so all I have to do is glue it back on.

I love the little hand painted sign over the front door that says, "Home Sweet Home"...and the doormat with tiny fringe. There are even little pink benches for my tiny imaginary "girlfriends" to sit on. (I've already named them Claudia, Alison and JoAnne after some special real-life "girls" who I picture sitting together there....)

Here is the little window box by the front door...almost ready for Spring.

The inside has two large rooms, each with a fireplace and tiny mantle. The whole house is already wallpapered with tiny pink rosebuds. I can't wait to start furnishing the rooms this afternoon...after  a little more roof repair with my trusty tube of carpenter's glue.

I am really getting into "Altered Art" and am always on the lookout for old game pieces to use in collages. Picked up this original Scrabble game in perfect condition for $2.99...full of great old wooden letter tiles.

Here are some magnets I made last month (when I was in my magnet-making phase) with some Scrabble tiles I had on hand. Of course I had to spell out Nancy's name on my craft room wall.

At the second Goodwill, I found this vintage teaching game, full of hundreds of word cards, still in alphabetical order. These will be fun to cut up and use for scrapbooking and collages. Each word card has a delightful illustration on the back. $1.99 well spent.

I picked up this old clipboard too, for $.99. It will someday be the base for some altered art.

And more children's blocks...a big bag of them for $1.99...again for use in some as yet unimagined collage project. My husband, Hank, was a good sport when I asked him to cut them into 1/4 inch slices for me. I would never do that with really old blocks but it will be OK with these...they're vintage but not antique.

I can't help it...I'm already spelling words. As a former high school English teacher, I just love words!

Here is another glimpse of  my craft room...where I look forward to "playing" with my finds (if I ever get off this computer). It is on the third floor of our old house..was once the attic...and, aside from having to drag everything up there, makes a perfect creative space for me. (Even the dragging-up is OK...I earn exercise points on Weight Watchers for stair climbing...extra points if I'm hauling a dollhouse and two or three Goodwill bags with me.)

I even found a spot for the "hand" sign from my January 23rd Flea Market post on the craft room wall.

I had to slip this last photo in...my daughter, Kristen, at lunch yesterday with one of her favorite waitresses at Friendly's, Dorene. Kristen attends Goodwill's Community Skills Program two days a week and loves it...she calls it her "school". An additional bonus to junkin' at Goodwill is that the money I spend goes right back into programs for people with disabilities.

So...total spent for the day...$14.96 plus lunch.  Total fun...priceless!

I have linked this post to the following blog parties...

Treasures & Trinkets Thursday at My Cottage Charm

Junkin Finds Friday at A La Carte

Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Blogaritaville

We Have a Winner!

It always takes awhile to attract Followers to a new blog but I'm excited to announce that this little blog just made it to 50!  Since November, when I started this blog in memory of my sister, I have met some wonderful new friends and been humbled by the warmth and talent of each of you. I have enjoyed so many of your blogs and appreciate each of you for taking the time to visit mine.

I promised to give away a "LOVE" magnet when we got to 50 Followers. After the numbers were drawn, the winner is #42...Linda from A LA CARTE! I had fun packaging the little gift this morning so Linda, if you're reading this, please e-mail me your address and I will send it right out.

While I was at it, I decided to package up a few more of my little collage magnets. These will go to a couple of special bloggers I have met along the way. Time to "Pay it Forward"...

Thanks again to each of you who have encouraged me on this little blog project...Nancy's family and friends, fellow bloggers who have offered friendship and advice, and the visitors and Followers who stop by here from time to time.  Now I'd better get back up to the craft room and start working on some new suprises to give away when we hit 100!