Vintage Prom Gowns

Faded, vintage, prom gowns used as accessories for home decor is such a fun way to add some soft color to a room. Most times they are quite pricey, but I was lucky enough to find these for only $10 each.

I think this white one may have been a wedding gown.

They add a little romance to my dressing area.

 I found the pink ballet slippers for only $10 as well.

 Old millenary flowers are one of my favorite things to collect.

Delicate layers of sheer fabric.

So girly.

 Tiny dots.

Pretty colors

I love my romantic little corner.

Karen

Primitive Valentines

Hi.

I'm taking a short break from the jewelry making as I wait for some supplies to arrive.

I don't usually do much decorating for Valentine's Day, but as I rummaged through my craft supplies, I figured, what the heck, I have all of this STUFF,  I may as well do something with it. So, my next few posts will be devoted to handmade valentines.

This is my rusty heart tart tin hanging thingy.

It consists of three rusty heart tarts, a piece of driftwood, some jute twine, antique tattered lace, a couple of white stones, vintage dictionary text, and some Martha Stewart clear glue.

I drilled holes in the ends of the driftwood and the tops of the hearts.

Then I glued the lace and text to the hearts and hung them from the driftwood with the twine.

I like the way the rust was soaked up by the glue and is peeking through the lace and paper.

It gives it a real primitive look.

The stones add some interest to the overall look.

It's been a while since I've played with ink and stamps.

In the past I had used coffee or tea to give my tags an aged look, but this one was soaked in vanilla and smells wonderful.

You can't get more primitive than this.

Valentine's Day is less than two weeks away, so I will be posting more ideas on making valentines using recycled odds and ends.

I hope I've inspired you to make some decorations of your own.

See you soon.

Karen





Tattered Hearts

Tattered Is My Heart

You've Torn It All Apart

So I Picked Up All The Pieces

Smoothed Out All The Creases

Stitched It Back Together

But It's Tattered Now Forever

Hearts are one of my favorite things to make.

They're simple and sweet and there are so many different ways to make them.

With Valentine's Day approaching, I have a good excuse for making and displaying them.

Last night I ventured down to my sewing room, gathered the most tattered bits of lace and fabric that I could find, and set out to make a few hearts.

I wanted this to be a relaxing project, so there were no patterns involved.

I cut the hearts into different sizes and imperfect shapes.

The bits of lace and trim were very old antique adornments that were easily torn into random pieces.

The more tattered they were, the more I liked them.

I was caught up in the joy of creating and thinking of how we've lost so much beauty in this world for the sake of convenience.

These pretty silver hooks once adorned the cuff of a beautiful lace gown.

In todays world hooks have been replaced by velcro.

Where has the romance gone?

Handmade lace and delicate silk have been replaced by manmade synthetics.

As I sat there stitching I realized that my love of everything old comes down to romance.

Not the huggy kissy kind of romance, but the comfort that I find in the softness of a worn quilt or the faded fabric of an antique dress.

Even this old chippy door from an antique armoire has that feeling of romance to me.

I'm sure there must have been a pretty dress with lots of ruffles behind that door years ago.

The mirror where someone once admired their relection is no longer there.

I've replaced it with some rusty chicken wire and it seems the perfect place for my tattered hearts.

May you find some romance in your world today.

Love

Karen

In The Kitchen

The kitchen needed a little freshening up (a lot of cleaning up), so I watched the snow fall and listened to the wind while I stayed inside where it was nice and cozy.

With the weather being a bit depressing, I wanted to add a little cheerful color to the kitchen.

It's where I spend most of my time, so it needs to be a happy place.

There must be candles on a cold gray day like today.

And some honey for my tea.

Salad forks in a vintage bowl.

Flea market silver, plates and napkins.

A vintage flowered apron with ruffles.

Now that makes me happy.

A collection of odds and ends silver in an old pot.

I love this old scale. It belonged to my husbands parents.

I have a thing for scales.

There are three of them in my kitchen and several more throughout the house.

Love my coffee too!

A fresh new ribbon for the chicken.

A strip of torn recycled fabric.

A little organizing and a lot of scrubbing.

The freshest thing of all...a little bit of green.

After all of this freshening up, I was too tired to cook dinner.

We ate cereal tonight.

Hope you had a better dinner than mine.

Hugs

Karen

A Fresh Look

Like many of you, after the holidays, I like to give my home a little freshening up.

Once all of the Christmas decor is put away, things just look kind of blah, so I dig through the boxes of STUFF that I've accumulated, purge the things I don't want any more, and get started shifting things around to give everything a fresh new look.

Yesterday I worked on one of the bathrooms.

It all started with this pretty balloon shade that I thrifted a few months ago.

The label is Simply Shabby Chic and that's exactly the look I was going for.

It was the perfect window treatment to go with the shabby purple rug I got for Christmas.

It's made from recycled silk clothing in shades of purple.

I added a few more touches of purple here and there to tie everything together.

Some lavender and some purple feathers in a pretty jar.

Some purple potpourri with sparkle.

A wire basket for holding soaps and things.

A vintage ice bucket holds my favorite wooden combs.

I'll be working on some more freshening up today.

I'm hoping to get a few more rooms finished up and some more pics of the results.

It's blustery cold and snowing outside, so it's the perfect day for working inside.

I hope you are all warm and cozy where you are.

See you soon.

Karen



Gone Fishing

What do you do when your husband's gone fishing?

I buy myself roses.

That's right, I bought myself roses and decorated the loft just for me.

A dozen of pretty pink roses.

I made a space where I could sit and read a good book or take a nap or just sit and relax with a cup of tea.

I hope you all take time out for yourselves this Holiday Season.

Take time to pamper yourself and rest a little.

Step back and take a look at all the things you do to make everyone else's holiday special, and remember that you are special too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and hugs to all of you.

Karen