Gobble 'til You Wobble!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

French Lavender Sachets

Bon jour Mes Amis!

The other day I shared with you my glittery creations using the sweet French Christmas angel image that I found on Pinterest.  I fell in love with that adorable little angel, and couldn't wait to come up with more ways to use her!

 I've always loved the scent of lavender. What could be more French than that?  So I just had to create some French Christmas angel sachets!

I pulled out my trusty Kenmore sewing machine, circa 1970.

It belonged to my aunt, and still works like a charm!

I stitched up a bunch of little bags from beautiful oatmeal colored linen, added the angel to the front, then stuffed with the most amazing smelling French lavender!

 I sewed this pretty cotton vintage looking, but new, lace to the tops.

I never put anything put pure dried lavender into my sachets.  The scent is intoxicating, and lasts for years! 

I joked to hubby that I am moving to Provence and buying a lavender farm:)!

 I've put some in my Etsy shop, if you want to take a peek.

 I am so happy with the way they turned out!

Now I will have to think of more ways to create with this darling little angel!

 Wish you could smell them............

 Have a great day!

Making the Most of What You've Got

Years ago, I enjoyed watching a Canadian cooking show called "The Urban Peasant".  The chef was an older man transplanted from England, with a fun sense of humor and cute British accent.  One of his favorite little saying was
"make the most of what you've got" 

(imagine said in an English accent!!) 

Meaning, instead of running out and buying a bunch of fancy ingredients for your dinner, look around in your pantry and fridge to see what you've got.  Find some inventive and resourceful uses for what you already have on hand to create a delicious meal!

So, weather it be in life, decorating, crafting or cooking, I try my best

to make that my life's mantra and

"make the most of what I've got".

(which I often repeat to myself in the chef's accent!)

With that, I can't wait to share with you my latest glittery Christmas creations,

made with what I already have on hand!

 (I got a little carried away with my photo shoot, so lots of pics coming up!!)

I found this adorable vintage French Christmas angel on Pinterest.  Isn't she a doll?

I knew right away she would be perfect for what I had in mind!

 For the petite faux Christmas tree that I've been putting up in our sunroom the past few years, I've decided to go with a glittery French theme.  

So I fashioned these pretty little ornaments that I had so much fun putting together!

Silvery tinsel trim, shimmery silver cording, silver glitter glue, and sparkly snowflakes, and 

oooh, la, la!

 I'll show you in a sec what materials I used.

 Continuing on with my "use what you already have" motto,

I took a glass jar that held a candle that we just finished burning. I removed the label and gave the inside a good washing.

 I then used a light coat of Mod Podge to adhere vintage sheet music and the angel graphic.  After it dried, I applied a top coat and generously coated it with clear coarse glitter.

(Martha Stewart brand is my glitter of choice.)

 I tucked a tea lite inside, and when lit, the effect is just magical!

The jar came with a gold metal lid, but I wanted it to be silver.

No worries!  I just brushed on some more Mod Podge, then a liberal coat of fine silvery glitter.

Because you know what my motto is..................

"You can never have too much glitter!"

I didn't want the glitter to shed whenever I lifted the lid, so I brushed it with a coat of glossy clear sealer.

 Ok, back to my ornaments.  I also made gift tags as well

 Since I wanted the gift tags to have a bit more substantial weight 

( I thought the recipients might like to hang them from their trees),

I began with chipboard for their bases.

I covered the backsides in pretty scrap booking paper that looks like vintage postcards.

 For the bases of my ornaments, I used the hardcovers from vintage Reader's Digests.

Yep, that's right!  While I would never tear apart valuable vintage books, I picked up a stash of old Reader's Digest's that a thrift store was giving away. They had been gathering dust in a corner, and I thought the covers would make a perfect canvas!  I just used a sharp box cutter to cut the covers down to the size I wanted.  

I just used a glue stick to adhere the vintage sheet music to both front and back of the ornaments.

As for the chipboard, I never buy it!  It often comes inside of picture frames, is used in packing materials, etc.  So I save it for future projects!

Here is my work table, with the supplies I used.

 As you may guess, I go thru lots of glitter here at the chateau.

I added some glitter "snow" to the ornaments, as well as "Stickles" brand glitter glue.  In the vintage salt shaker is my fine silver Martha Stewart brand glitter that I so love.

(Martha, if you are reading this, I would love to be your official

"Glitter Ambassador", tee , hee!)

 After Christmas last year, I purchased on clearance a package of these pretty glittery foam snowflake stickers.  I had no idea what I would do with them, but just knew they would be perfect for some kind of project!

 I also really love the silver tinsel trim by Tim Holtz.

 So there you have it, my glittery French "Joyeux Noel" creations!

 

 I hope this has inspired you to

"make the most of what you've got!"

 Have a fun and creative day!

 Au revior!

Glittery Fun!

Bonjour Mes Amis!

Ok, I am not one who likes rushing the Christmas season. It seems that it comes earlier and earlier each year, doesn't it?

So what have I been doing, but creating glittery Christmas ornaments!

I know, I know, but I just couldn't help myself!

 A few weeks ago I picked up a few paper mache star ornaments from Hobby Lobby, not sure exactly how I would use them. I decided to give them a glitter French twist!

So I pulled out bits of this and that, all things that I happened to have on hand.

I started by decoupaging copies of vintage French Christmas sheet music

(found at the Graphics Fairy) to the stars.  Then the fun really began!

I used both clear glass glitter as well as regular iridescent glitter to cover the stars.

 I "aged" this gorgeous silver tinsel trim with dark brown ink to give it a more vintage feel.

 Then I created a bunch of little "Joyeux Noel"

(French for "Merry Christmas") and mounted on heavy chipboard.  Also glittered, of course!

Love!

 I had a bunch of pretty silver glitter snowflakes left over from last year, which were perfect for this project.

 I combined them all together, along with some wonderfully crinkly cream seam binding, and this is what I came up with!

 The glitter isn't showing up well in the photos, but they are nice and sparkly!

I think they will look so pretty hung from the tree, and really will glisten in the lights!

 They were so fun to make, I want to create some more!

 Happy creating!

What a Difference Paint Makes

Hi everyone, how is your week going so far?

Today I thought I'd share with you some of my latest projects that I've created for my Etsy shop.

I love birdcages, and was super excited when hubby brought me home this beauty!

 This is one tall bird cage, standing at over 2 1/2'!  It didn't begin looking like this, though!  I'll show you the before in a second.  I really love the arched top and cute little wood finials, too!

It even has a tray that slides out at the bottom, so it could be used for an actual birdcage.

 Ok, here is the before!

It's amazing what a difference a little paint and tlc makes, don't you think?!

 I love the cute little door at the front:)

 I think it looks so much better in my signature creamy dreamy white!

 Another favorite recent makeover is this pretty vintage wood corner shelf.

You should have seen what this puppy looked like when I first spotted her!

 I just love the ornate cut work design.

This is another large piece, at over 3 1/2' tall.

 Ok, are you ready for this?

Here is what the poor thing looked like when I discovered her hiding in a corner!

Yikes!  Not only was she pretty dusty and dirty, but had probably the ugliest paint job I have ever seen!

What on earth were they thinking?  Someone had spray painted her bright red, just randomly, so you could still see the white beneath.  I am sure they thought they were being creative, but

what a hot mess!

 After giving her a good bath, I couldn't wait for the transformation to begin!

I could almost hear her shouting

"thank you!!!!!" as I was painting her a nice creamy white!!

Oh so much better, I think!

 Ok, I don't have a before shot to share with you for my next project, but I just had to share this pretty French cloche that I created!

After painting the wooden base, I then stenciled in dark midnight blue a gorgeous fleur de lis image.

Because what could be more French than that?

 I then added a cute tag that I created from chipboard, as well as a copy of a vintage French book page and a fleur de lis image.  Glittered, of course!

 It was alot of fun to create!

 Thanks for visiting today, now go out and find something to transform with a bit of paint and tlc!!