A Vintage Birdcage Makes a Beautiful Easter or Spring Centerpiece

April 1, 2017 by Florence 46 Comments

I discovered a vintage birdcage makes a beautiful Easter or Spring centerpiece and I couldn’t wait to show it to you!! I’ve talked about the day I found the birdcage, and I know it’s not that old, but I still liked it and it was cheap at $4. My first birdcage, grody and full of rust! My heart sang all the way home from the estate sale. Even though it was desperately in need of a makeover. I’d never tackled a birdcage, but how hard could it be?

Turning a Vintage Birdcage into a Fun Spring Centerpiece

Cleaning it as best as I could, and sanding the rust didn’t make much of a dent. I needed to cover it with a blocker, so I used Rust Oleum Hammered Aluminum spray. It gave excellent coverage, and I was tempted to leave it, but sadly, it wasn’t the look I was going for. You can see how it looks below. All nice and industrial. B-O-R-I-N-G….

a vintage birdcage makes a beautiful easter or spring centerpiece — Birdcage tray treated with hammered aluminum spray paint

After spray painting the bulk of the cage white, WHAT to paint the bottom and the tray???? PINK! Love it!! Felt I was going out on a limb (it’s a pun) to paint the aluminum bottom and tray pink, (who does THAT??) but love me some shabby chic!

Yes mam, it’s painted pink all the way up to the little swing and perches! But what’s that on the bottom of the tray??

Why it’s an image transfer from The Graphics Fairy! A birds’ nest! What could be more appropriate? Karen has it all kinds of lovely vintage images..check out her site if you haven’t already.

What ELSE can I do to doll this up? Ideas are spinning….well, it’s pink, and Easter’s coming…an Easter arrangement would be perfect! You know… birdcage means birds…and birds mean nests…and eggs…and Spring….and nature…and woodlands. Off to the thrift store to find all that stuff.

NOT! I suppose you know about Murphy’s Law? When you’re looking for it, you can’t find a darn thing. BUT! I did find a little birdhouse that used to be a Christmas ornament until it lost its little string. EXPENSIVE at 99¢ but beggars can’t be choosers.

And this sweet little 99¢ rabbit is a simple napkin ring.

I already had a white bird, and the little nest of eggs came with a plant that died, so my woodland Easter arrangement was taking shape with the addition of these two.

Since my thrift store trip was a bit of a disappointment, I hauled myself down to Hobby Lobby where everything Easter-y was 40% off. I scored colorful egg ornaments and another sweet little rabbit.

Plants! The birdcage must have plants. My vision was a longish pot with already established blooming flowers, but sadly, my local nursery hadn’t caught that vision. They only had individual potted annuals in the ugly plastic pots. So on to Plan B. My birdcage could take 2 plants, but not that much room for my birdies, nest, rabbits and things.

Improvise! I have lots of styrofoam blocks. I placed them in front of the pots and covered with sphagnum moss, and now there’s a place for my rabbit! And I had the brilliant idea to hang colored egg ornaments from the top! When you want to use it as a Spring arrangement, just remove the hanging eggs.

Ta-da!

Now I just love looking at this! I’m enjoying it every day. Perhaps I’ve given you some inspiration if you ever run across an old birdcage. But you’ll have to beat me to it. I’m already looking for birdcage #2. Soon I’ll have to break down my lovely arrangement and put the plants in pots for the season.

How do you like my Easter/Spring birdcage centerpiece?

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5 Clever Ways to Display Vintage Hankies

March 26, 2017 by Florence 28 Comments

With help from 2 blogging friends, I’m showing you 5 clever ways to display vintage hankies. On Ebay a few years ago, I sold about 30+ lovely vintage hankies to a lady, who was a difficult buyer for reasons I can’t remember now. To my horror, she revealed how she intended using them. I shuddered. If you’re still reading, I will reveal the use further down. In any case, it was the last time I ever sold these pretties in a lot.

Vintage hankies are lovely works of art to be treasured, handed down, and enjoyed. But don’t just fold and put away in a drawer, or do what my buyer did. Display them! Use them, but please…not to blow your nose!!

Here are 5 Clever Ways to Display Vintage Hankies!

Lois Behr Christensen from Walking on Sunshine, shows us how a handkerchief tenderly made by her grandmother, was treasured as part of her daughter’s bridal bouquet!

Jennifer Zuri of Town and Country Living shows us a lovely hankie banner! Doesn’t this look sweet above her china cabinet? Check out her blog for other attractive displays!

Use hankies as wearable art! I got this pretty idea from Jenny Brown at Shareably. My favorite ideas were these lovely bows and rosettes, which can be worn or displayed on packages, wreaths, and frames. And I love the fact that no gluing is involved, so you don’t ruin the hankies! (Easy tutorial on the web site.)

Can you tell the bow in the middle was my first one?? It is a bit lopsided! I promise you it is an easy tutorial though…if I can do it, anybody can. I love to wear unusual boho things like this because it gives me a bit of a distinctive look!

Lastly…I am displaying a vintage hankie in an old metal frame. I found the frame on the floor of a dark dank wooden closet at the Tiny Estate Sale.

Wish I had taken a before photo of how truly icky it was, but it was only $1, so I bought it, brushed off as much rust as I could, painted the metal parts of the frame with Annie Sloan Old White, and began working on the glass. My vision was to leave some of the silvering for a streaky look like this….

I soaked the glass in a vinegar bath for several hours. Then it is easy to remove the silvering. From what I’ve read, oven cleaner will work, but I haven’t tested the method.

Turned out I hated the streaky look. It looked dirty to me, and it sure wasn’t going to do a beautiful vintage hankie any favors! So I decided to clean the rest of the old silvering off to reveal a clean glass slate.

Figuring out how to display the vintage hankie in the frame was the next hurdle. Wish I’d done a bit more investigating on Pinterest and youtube before I started because this took a bit of trial and error to get right. It’s still not perfect, but I’m happy with the end result.

Trial and Error Method of Displaying a Vintage Hankie in a Glass Frame:

I used the original cardboard backing as a guide to make a new backing, matching the dimensions of the frame.

I painted the cardboard white because tiny parts of it will show through.

I mod-podged a piece of crochet to the bottom half of the cardboard. Mistake…it was too thick and the finished piece wouldn’t go into the frame.

I mod-podged the hankie onto the cardboard and let it dry. Mistake! Shouldn’t have glued it & shouldn’t have let it dry. When all put together, the hankie hadn’t adhered well, and there were BIG wrinkles.

Tried to pull it off after it was dry. Mistake! The hankie tore in several places. Should have wet it first, but didn’t want to ruin the painted cardboard, but I had to redo this anyway.

THEN I looked at some youtube videos to figure out how to do this properly!

I cut another piece of cardboard and painted it.

I cut a piece of wide flat lace and glued it.

I put a few stitches with needle and thread into the 2 side points of the hankie and the top, sewing directly into the cardboard. A large needle makes this easier. Voila! Much better than mod-podging. I used the same hankie, hiding the holes underneath the cardboard.

Like I said, it isn’t perfect, but I’m pleased now with the result.

And as for what the lady did with all the hankies I sold her?? Used them for dust rags! Can you imagine?? Horrors! My beautiful vintage hankies!

What a Blue Jean Leg Became!

March 12, 2017 by Florence 22 Comments

Like most folks, St. Patrick’s Day is not a big holiday around here, but I decided to show some extra love to my hubby with this project. Here’s what a blue jean leg became, and the reason it’s a little wonky is because blue jean legs are tapered. No matter, I still love how it turned out! Once I decided what to do, it went quickly.

Yes, I flew by the seat of my pants (leg)!

A Project for Repurposing Blue Jeans~

Cutting out the lower leg to avoid the holes higher up and the grease stains lower down, I got a wonky piece of denim. Hemmed the edges, and made a plan.

I started with a scrap of lace and a pre-cut shamrock shape to trace onto the denim.

Adding a border of vintage buttons and a layered fabric yo yo in the center really brings out the shamrock!

I added a crochet border, a bit of a sentiment, and more fabric yo-yos & buttons….to create this…..No stencil to create the letters…free-handing did the trick. Outlined a shadow with a red Sharpie to give a bit of accent to the letters.

How to hang it? Well, I just happened to have these coordinating shower curtain rings which loop nicely over a wooden dowel painted green.

And here is the finished result! My beautiful and wonky shamrock flag! He likes it even if it is a little girly.

Now where to hang it? Our house, an open floor plan, doesn’t have many walls. Where to hang it? Ah, the front door! Where we can see and enjoy it frequently! I love it! What do you think about what a blue jean leg became?

Please note how impressed my little doggie is!!

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Shabby Chic Makeover of a Hollywood Regency Trash Can Cover

February 25, 2017 by Florence 48 Comments

I Wondered Why I Bought This Piece of Junk-

Shabby chic makeover of a Hollywood Regency trash can cover should have you wondering. I bought this piece of vintage Hollywood Regency junk at a thrift store. It was one of those dry days when I couldn’t find a darn thing, and it’s been sitting in the basement staring at me ever since. I don’t often see vintage Hollywood Regency trash can covers. Personally, I don’t see the point of it. My practical side says, “let’s just have a trash can and be done with it.” Apparently these were the thing in the 50’s, so here we are with this.

And it was GROSS-

And if it looks grody, it was. Rusty and ugly. It was covering someone’s trash can—a large brown Tupperware canister without a lid. It looked so supremely UGLY, I wondered later why I bought it.

How could I give this an attractive makeover?

How about making it into a floor lamp? The cover could hold a light bulb and it would throw interesting patterns through the filigree sides. Nah, I ruled that out. Trash can covers have no top or bottom. It is open at both ends, so I would have to build a support for the light mechanism. Didn’t feel like doing that. Besides, I don’t need another floor lamp. I have about 4 in storage and 3-4 in use. My personal rule is whatever I make over has to be something I can use or resell in my Etsy shop, vintagesouthernpicks.etsy.com, since I don’t have a booth. What next?

Repainting? Obvious. Something to cover rust. White spray paint to the rescue. Etsy didn’t have anything like this for sale already. They were all gold.

A while back a friend was having a garage sale, and I bought all her spray paint cans. Mistake!!!

Duh Tip of the Day: Never buy spray paint cans from a yard sale, especially when you don’t know how old they are.

So four full paint cans later, I finally found one that would spray. All the others quit after very little spraying. Gripes me to throw away practically full cans of paint, but after a youtube video on how to unclog them, and attempting to blow them out with an air compressor, I knew what I had to do.

A coat of fresh white paint made a world of difference.

A vision started coming together. Decorate this baby with flowers! I know. Not exactly the hot farmhouse look, but I’m a shabby chic girl. Since I can’t even draw a stick figure, it would have to be an image transfer. Here’s a word about image transfers….

Image Transfer Method:

(or what the experts say to do)

(I’ve read lots of tutorials on how to do image transfers.) The recommendations:

Use a laser image.
Use Mod Podge Image Transfer Medium
Put a thick 1/16″ layer of transfer medium over the image to the point that you don’t see any of the colored image showing through
Place the image over the item
Wait 24 hours
Wet the image and start rubbing the paper off gently

My Image Transfer Method:

Find an inkjet image
Wait 12 hours before you try to do anything with the image. (If you don’t wait, the colors will bleed.)
Use regular Mod Podge
Put a layer over the image. Don’t worry about a 1/16″ layer
Place the image over the item
Wait 24 hours
Wet the image and start rubbing the paper off gently

But remember the practical side? What do you DO with it??

It’s a vase! Ta-da! A vase cover actually. I just happened to have a tall glass vase that fit nicely inside of it, and it doesn’t show in the open bottom or top. The pretty paper covering the flowers looks nice lining the cover too.

Now I’m liking this! And my hubby loves it! A shabby chic makeover of a Hollywood Regency trash can cover sitting in a thrift store silverplate tray with a thrift store cherub and small thrift store birdcage in the background. So after we’ve enjoyed it for a while, into the Etsy shop it goes! What do y’all think?

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Doily Lampshade Makeover with a New Twist and Husband Approved

February 5, 2017 by Florence 44 Comments

While I love shabby chic and admire upcycled lampshades dripping with pearls, studded with tattered fabric roses, and covered in doilies and lace, I know it won’t fly with hubby. (Just check Pinterest for lacy lampshades of all types.) In doing the next needed restoration, I wanted to try out a doily lampshade makeover – husband-approved. I certainly had no inclination to buy a new shade.

I also love lampshades stripped of all fabric, decorated around the edges and ribs with bits and bobs, but let’s face it, they’re impractical for real home use.

I’m the kind of gal that has a little of the romantic frou-frou gene, a little of the minimalist gene, a little of the rustic primitive gene, and a lot of the traditionalist gene. And I’m married to a guy who thrives on tradition…not an ounce of frou-frou lives in his body.

Enter the tattered lampshade…..how to get “the look” without looking like you’re getting the look?

doily lampshade makeover — Another tattered shade

If you remember, the last lampshade got a makeover using men’s ties….

Because this is going in our bedroom, where hubby and I will see it every night, I thought, “why not place doilies on the inside of the shade?” Would this work?

The Doily Lampshade Makeover

As you can see in the photo, only half the inner lining is shredded. I decided to tear the rest of it off for a more uniform look.

Selecting only 2 doilies out of my stash, I centered the doily on the inside of the shade right over the ribs, which are now exposed.

One of the doilies even had a minor stain, but doesn’t show.

Next I glued them on, using regular Elmer’s glue.

Dab the glue onto the most solid areas of the doily, then press onto shade.

I did not put the glue directly on the shade, and so far, it is adhering well.

Here is the final effect. I love it! Looking like a regular lampshade on the outside (when the lamp is off), it will satisfy the most non-frou-frou of hubbies, but delight the most shabby chic-loving, romantic, girly girls. It’s neutral and I don’t have to worry about colors clashing.