Tuesday, January 31, 2012

How many dress forms can I have?????

While on a babysitting adventure the last couple days for my grandson and Mother (she suffers with Alzheimer's),... I was greeted with an old dress form that I'd given my granddaughter and she no longer wanted. 

Hum mm...what to do, what to do???

 This was a  perfect time to alter the little darling.....
 No before pics...sorry...didn't think I'd actually end up keeping it, thought for sure some one would snag it up in their hot little hands once it was redone.....to my surprise, I got to keep it.

I cut off the old fabric and do-dads, then began creating.



Love.... love... Tim Holtz scrapping paper...the rulers seems perfectly perfect for the new look.   Tore a 12 x 12 piece into small bits and decoupaged away. Spray painted the white stand and finial black....let them all dry overnight and loved how she looked this morning.


Went thru my stash of chains, primped and fussed with her and the end result is making me so happy.


I mean.... *How many dress forms can a person have?*


I didn't know I had acquired so many over the years...it seems I have  quite a COLLECTION, that I didn't even realized I had. 

What's even scarier..... I know I have a few more in the garage boxed up that I'm sure I'll tear into real soon and redo them. 

 Then I'll wonder, "What the heck was I thinking....and, WHY did I re-open this dress form can of worms." 

I passionately collect, then ask myself "WHY?"

Do you do that?

So, now they are nicely grouped (as they should be)in my *industrial* room, cuz I can't seem to move out of that room......  Let's hope I move on soon.

Have a creative adventure!

xoso

Sandy





Thursday, January 26, 2012

Moms old little desk and chair

This cute little desk belonged to my Mom. 



 I've always had an affection for it....so, now it's mine. 




 At first I was going to paint it...shabby it up, then decided I wanted left as she had it...reminding me of my childhood.



 The little chair always sat in our bathroom...
 over the years it got shuffled around, finally ending up outside, becoming obsolete.



 I found it buried under a pile of "stuff" that no one seemed to want or needed any more.  I rescued it!
 As I seem to do with so many old things that I drag home.... I gave it a good cleaning with the hose... OMG, it became more and more chippy the more I squirted...  woo hoo....making my heart sing.   Gave it a good sanding and coat of sealer...so it wouldn't chip more.

 It's no longer the cute little pale blue chair in my memory, it's now a chippy chair showing it's true age of colors from over the years.


   I paired up the two pieces in my "industrial"  guest room.....added some special treasures....another vignette is born.  


 



Have a wonderful day doing what makes your heart happy!!

xoso

Sandy

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Yellow brightens my day.....

It's cold and frosty here...so, I needed a little Spring-like feel to uplift my mood while readying up for the day. 

A little yellow rose vignette!







Have a wonderfully BRIGHT Tuesday!

Stop and smell the roses!

xoso

SANDY

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The House moved AGAIN!

I'M POOPED! 
I've been moving stuff all day, but the house now has it's home! 
WHEW!
It's back out in my Little House (where it belongs with the rest of my toys) and it took some reworking to get it all *perfectly perfect*.



I dug up an old table, spray painted it white cuz the green didn't work for me...but, ran out of paint. I'll have to buy some more and finish it, not today though.  Dragged it inside (I can't wait) and plopped the house on it.  So much better.
Look how beautifully the sun shines in the little windows... is that so precious?  So homey!
Gonna have to figure out a cute way to block the sunshine or it will fade all my coveted minis.  NOT!


You asked if I would show the inside...... one of these days I will, after it's all loaded up. 
Lot's of hours worth of work or PLAY! 

What did you do today?

xoso
Sandy

SECRET???

Is there a SECRET to blogging/finding followers/ perusing. without staying on the computer ALL day?

I'd sure like to know if there is!

It seems that I'm not getting anything else done!!!

HELP!!!

xoso

Sandy

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Should I PLAY or PLAY today????

I bit the bullet yesterday and moved my dollhouse from my Little House (studio) into my Big House. 



 It seems to shuffle back and forth with each new whim.

  When I moved it out to the little house last time I never took the time to *put and place* all the "stuff"... aka furniture and household items that I'd packed up..... just wasn't into it.  Whew, saved myself some work, huh?....that makes me happy.
   You wouldn't believe how many times I've moved it.    But...I'm sure you could hazzard a guess.  lol

It's such a sweet little dollhouse (that I built...1 in scale) with such wonderful toys..( I've gathered over the years) and dearly love. 

  Why can't I leave well enough alone and NOT keep moving things that are perfectly perfect right where they are?

CHANGE... I NEED CHANGE!

 Can't decide if I'll play with it or find something else to play with. 

I got this bright idea to make stripped awnings for the windows...wouldn't that be so adorable?

  I try to kid myself into thinking all work is PLAY...
Wonder what the day will bring?
Whatever it is, I hope it's fun and PRODUCTIVE!

Hope you have a wonderful day PLAYING too!

xoso

Sandy



Sunday, January 8, 2012

My NEW HEADER......things that I love.....

I decided today that I HAD to change my "header", making it more about me! 
 Since I've just returned to blogging after a bit of a disconnection, I felt I should add pictures that have a special meaning and importance in my life. 
 The first one from left to right is in our bedroom, a sweet window with cute little saying, a shelf with wire wrapped little bottles and vintage European postcards...

Next picture is my Santos holding my collection of rosary's, she holds a special place in my heart....
The next two photos are my special little room.  Mannequin that I tweaked with jewels...the shelf I left outside to age, THEN turned the hose on it...oh my, it's so perfectly perfect! I had to have a crown, so... I whipped one up, no stopping me.
 It's just a little corner of the room that I love to settle in.
Last, but not least.... the big wire rack that I drug in from out behind the house (spurred on by my daughter) and turned into a quaint little spot to hold vintage family pictures. 
I'll be sharing these rooms and all that they hold special to me, as the time shows itself.
I thought you might enjoy knowing why I chose those to "head" up my blog.
Challenge yourself....
Embrace yourself...

Until tomorrow...
xoso
Sandy


Fireplace mantles NEW look!

Good Morning Friends!

This is what I've come up with for the fireplace mantle.

  It seems that I can't get enough of the "industrial" look these days.

  Is this my new direction? 

 I'm really a girly girl at heart.... frills and such but, not of late.  (Hence the ruffle on the first lampshade I shared)......

I drug my 8 year old grandson to Michael's the other day to see what we could find to update...aka... * industrialize* the look.

 I had him standing there giving me his input as to which container would work best...it's also known as *torture* from his point of view. 
 All ending good, he got a trip to Toys R Us for helping. 

Here is what *we* came up with! 
Peak around the chandelier and you'll get a glimpse of our work.  



I think it's much prettier when you see the softness of  the other things around the fireplace.....the whole picture.  But...gotta zoom in!




The three containers are galvanized with a bit of rust at the top and bottom...and the sweetest little rusty handle. I thought they'd be quite "chic".  


                                   We dug through the greenery (50% off I might add... I love a good sale)  finding   these little bushes....and, they look almost real....even better...... perfect fit! 

                                                                    Aren't they cute?
                                                                      Happy Dance!

It needed something more...so, (stealing) removing the MUSING banner I'd made for my guest room... gave it the finishing touch.  More burlap....yeah think I have a burlap problem?  

When I put the mirror up, the criss cross pieces were plain glass.....well, since I can't leave anything alone, I added the black and white scrapbook paper to the back for more texture.
  Just thought you'd like to know.  

Work around here is calling.....

See ya later!

xoso

SANDY

Saturday, January 7, 2012

ANOTHER LAMPSHADE REVAMP...I'M ON A ROLL.....

IT SEEMS THAT I'VE TURNED THE CORNER WITH MY LAMPSHADES...I CAN'T SEEM TO STOP FUSSING WITH THEM.  SO.....

HERE'S ANOTHER THAT I'VE TWEAKED. 

TOOK MYSELF LAMPSHADE SHOPPING AT THE SALVATION ARMY DOWN THE ROAD ....

RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES, JUST SITTING THERE WAS THIS LONELY LITTLE SHADE...GRABBED IT UP, MARCHED TO THE CHECK OUT AND LOW AND BEHOLD IT WAS TWO BUCKS... WHAT A FIND. 

 NOW, WHAT TO DO !?!? 

 HAVE A FEW BURLAP COFFEE BAGS STASHED IN THE GARAGE, SO....YOU GUESSED IT, I FOUND MYSELF CUTTING ONE IN STRIPS AND GLUING THEM OVER THE EXISTING FABRIC.

 AROUND AND AROUND WE GO...WHERE WE STOP ONLY THE SHADE WILL KNOW. 






 MY 21 YEAR OLD GRANDDAUGHTER SAW IT AND COMMENTED "IT MAKES THE ROOM, GAMMY". 
 THAT SEALED THE DEAL!

 I'M HAVING SUCH A FUN TIME WITH BURLAP...CAN IT GET ANY BETTER? 

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND...ENJOY YOURSELVES... I'LL BE BACK WITH SOMETHING NEW. 

XOSO   SANDY



Friday, January 6, 2012

Lampshade REDO....

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIENDS!



The New year is bringing me happiness with the simple things...today it was redoing an old lampshade. 

 I got this fantastic burlap stripping a few months ago, having no idea what I would use it for.. the light bulb went on, "I'll add it to my tired lampshade", it needed a make over badly.  Whipped out the trusty glue gun and went to work..I'm so happy with the end result.  Whatcha' think? 

Ruffles Ruffles and more Ruffles.....
A favorite part of taking down Christmas is revamping each area with a new vignette..my old crusty table that hubby made, got special attention with the addition of our old antique scale... it's and "ooh and aah" piece, at least to us. "Let's see, "what can make it new?"

Oh.... my Santos with my rosary collection, bird nest sitting in a fern... and my bibles swinging from the scale. 


 I realized, I love love love religious artifacts.  Who knew?  It wasn't something that I was really aware of until I started pulling from my collections and putting them together.  A light bulb moment.  Silly as that sounds.  

I haven't been around sharing for awhile...I've got some more new vignettes that I'll be sharing in the next few days... I hope you'll stop by and visit!

The past few months have been bittersweet... much going on...with that said, a New Year and New ME.

Onward and Upward... 
Life is GREAT!

Come share with me!


xoso

SANDY