My Salvaged Treasures: June 2014

Monday, June 30, 2014

Boxes and Bags of Vintage Lace

Look what Mr. MST brought home for me. Well, before you give him too much credit, I have to say that he was just the delivery man. He wouldn't dare drop two huge garbage bags in the middle of the kitchen floor unless he was certain I'd be happy about it, and I was! He spent the day with his sister and she sent him home with two huge garbage bags full of vintage lace, trim, buttons, and fabric that had belonged to their aunt. I posted about the other vintage lace she gave me and the Christmas tree I made with some of it here. I ended up giving her the tree for Christmas, now she wants me to make another one for her daughter in return for all of this lace. Heck, I'll make one for both daughters. I think I got the good end of this deal!!

The lid to this box was marked Pink Silks.

Even the envelope buried in the fabric is pink.

I couldn't believe what I was pulling out of those bags. Yards and yards of gorgeous trim and dozens of large and small applique pieces.

I love the details on this ornate piece.

One of the boxes was stuffed full of lace that had been wrapped around cards.

Looks like just about any kind of card would do. Toot Toot, greeting cards, invitations, and cut up cereal boxes.

This is about half of the loose and tangled lace I attempted to sort through. I had no idea how time consuming this was going to be, so the rest will just have to wait.

These pieces were also neatly wrapped in a separate box.

Bits and pieces of colored trim and doilies too.

It looks like most of these larger pieces were salvaged from old clothes and lingerie. A few pieces of homemade doll clothes were found in a brown paper bag. I didn't photograph all the fabric, packages of zippers, seam binding, thread, rick rack, and ribbon.

A broken pearl necklace, little heart charms, and a strange devilish ceramic figurine with horns were wrapped up in this homemade paper towel pattern.

Last but not least was a baggie full of vintage rhinestone button candy.

Oh, one more thing. This has nothing to do with a bag full of lace, but.....I just wanted to share a page from the latest Summer edition of Jewelry Affaire Magazine. I'm honored to have my mother of pearl button earrings featured in the Among Nature section. The light blue background they were photographed on (looks better in the magazine) gives them a beachy summer feel. I submitted them attached to the shells and was so happy to see they used them in the photo.

Hope you all have a great week, it's going to be a hot one here.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Vintage in the Vines Nursery Style

It was a beautiful day here on Saturday for the second annual Vintage in the Vines show. Due to a last minute glitch with the planned location next to the vineyard, the show was moved back to the nursery where they've held several vintage markets since last year. Plan B turned out to be the perfect alternative. You can see pictures from last year's show here.

I had a long and narrow covered spot in the breezeway with plenty of room for four tables. Two of my tables are in the far left side of this picture.

I even had room to spread out around the corner.

A quirky paint brush gal is right at home in a chippy basket with transferware and silver.

Watch part necklaces embellished with Swarovski crystals or painted with Sparkle Mod Podge. You can't really see it in this picture, but they sure do sparkle in the sunlight.

Some of my vintage jewels displayed on black and white photos.

A few of the other vendors who were set up early...

Do you know how difficult it was to look at this all day? Torture I tell you!!

Several of her bird cages found new homes along with most of the treasures on the table.

Most of these were gone by the end of the day.

Love the rusty metal table and chairs. I was out spending money before the show even started; three of their architectural pieces came home with me.

Great way to display the frame and mannequin.

I couldn't agree more!
A big THANK YOU to Gail and Rachel at The Owl Box and their entire team for putting on another great show.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Fun with Frogs

Why hide flower frogs in the bottom of a container when they have so much charm of their own? I've been playing with my stash of frogs again, but this time instead of stacking and displaying them like building blocks, I wanted to dress them up with bits and pieces of interesting trinkets.

Group hug.

Vintage brass stencils, number tags, rusty hardware in the shape of a heart, and a black and white photo.

Chalkboard-ified zinc tag and three stamped metal pieces from vintage stencil sets. Stamping tutorial here.

Optician's lens, chalkboard-ified zinc tag, and a license plate tag from 1955. 1955 is a keeper because....well, it was kind of a significant year for me.

Picture holders made from salvaged parts of two vintage cameras. The pictures were cut to size and simply taped to the back.

Large and small clock faces with little jewels in the center, and an old funnel that's perfect as a vase. I inserted a small glass tube into the funnel and added water to keep the flower fresh. Warning: do not force tube into bottom of funnel. It's a good thing I had a spare.

They're all packed up and ready to follow me to Vintage in the Vines on Saturday. More information on my sidebar or on their Facebook page here.
You're all invited!!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Grain Sack Remnants to the Rescue

My stash of grain sack remnants is slowly getting smaller and smaller and I'm determined to use up every square inch of what I've accumulated. I used to be able to buy remnant pieces from a dealer out at the Alameda Antique Faire for $1 each, but lately the bin has been empty by the time I get to it. I went digging through my pile of scraps searching for a piece with a blue stripe that would be large enough to cover this footstool.

Bingo! I was so happy to discover I had one piece left over that was just large enough to cover the top of the stool.

It also got a fresh coat of CeCe Caldwell's Myrtle Beach Sand and some clear wax.

A couple of weeks ago I rescued the stool and both frames at a yard sale; you can see the ugly "before" picture in this post. The needlepoint cover on the stool wasn't in bad shape, so I might make another pin cushion out of it just like I did with the cover of this old footstool last year.

This is why I save the small scraps.

I cut a remnant just a little larger than the original cardboard backing, then glued it down with some Tacky Glue and popped it back in the frame. Both frames were painted the same color as the stool even though this looks orangy on one side.

A little E6000 glue was used to attach the starfish.

Much better! So beachy and summery.

Sharing with:
Coastal Charm for Show and Share Party
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Father's Day Memories

I can't believe it's been ten years since we lost my dad, it still seems like yesterday. Today I wanted to re-share this special Father's Day post from two years ago.

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I had no idea how caught up I would get while searching through pictures for this Father's Day post. Memories of my dad surround me every day, but it's been quite a while since I looked through his old scrapbook and all of my albums. So many pictures, so many happy times, and so many wonderful memories. Happy Father's Day Dad. We miss you every day!

Dad was the youngest of three children born in Medford, Massachusetts. When my grandfather died in 1935, they all relocated here to California for a fresh new start. Look at
that sweet Dutch Boy haircut and the Mary Janes.

My grandmother saved every newspaper article related to his high school sports and
college football days at Cal Poly.

Korean War veteran.

There's a note on back of this June 1952 picture assuring his mother that he didn't
fire this old canon.

Proud first time father to little ol' me.

His dark wavy hair started to turn gray the year after I was born. I must have been a
real handful; thank you Dad for not blaming me.

Proud first time grandfather to my son Neil.

Always a comedian.
Here he is in the mid 1990s trying to sell himself at one of our yard sales.

$3.50 was quite a bargain because he was also a fabulous cook!

Father's Day is a tough one for me. I know it's hard for so many of us when the mothers and fathers we've loved all our lives are no longer physically with us. The best decision I ever made was to call my dad early in the morning on June 20, 2004 to wish him a happy Father's Day. I hesitated because I knew my mom would be trying to rush him out the door for church, but I called anyway and we had a nice conversation about the barbecue they went to at my brother's house the day before. Much later that afternoon while we were all getting ready to take Mr. MST out to dinner, my mom called and had to tell us that my dad was no longer with us. It didn't sink in. I can't even begin to get into all the details and emotions because I still feel it just like it was yesterday. I keep thinking about that old quote "Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today." It's so true. I'm so thankful for that last phone call.

I wish everyone a wonderful Father's Day. If you're celebrating with your own father, grandfather, husband, brother, or son, give them all a big hug!