CUBBY DRAWERS- THURSDAY'S THRIFT STORE FIND MAKEOVER

I am obsessed with cubby drawer storage cabinets. I have to have them!

 They are my one weakness when I am out and about thrift shopping!

Seriously, would you pass these up?

  Truth be told, I almost...OK, I NEVER find cubby cabinets looking

like these when I am thrift shopping.



 This is the state I normally find my cubby treasures.

Not so pretty...actually...pretty shabby.

But...that's all right with me!

 What a difference a little imagination and creativity can do to

transform these thrift store finds in to one-of-a-kind masterpieces!

My inspiration for this cabinet makeover was a plethora of small

drawer pulls that I had accumulated and a desire to try decoupaging with scrapbook paper rather than paint each drawer individually.

The inspiration for this cabinet is pretty obvious. If you are like me,

Judy Blume was the go-to author for girls coming of age in the late 70's.

 I had quite an emotional response to this project. 

I loved these books as a young girl. I had many of these very same books.  

I went through boxes that had been packed for many years 

and found my Judy Blume books.

You can see that these books were loved. 

 I considered the characters in Judy Blumes books my best friends.

This particular cubby drawer makeover is my favorite.

I added wheels to give the piece a more industrial feel and large

stainless steel cup hooks for the drawer pulls.

The cup hooks as drawer pulls give an almost unobstructed view

of the book covers while still allowing access to each drawer.

Both cubby drawer cabinets turned out better than I could have hoped.

The best part of making over thrift shop finds is that it doesn't

have to cost a lot of money. Both projects were literally done

with things I already had in my "stash" of craft room goodies.

Don't just decorate-

De-create your life and home!

 Thanks for stopping by to take a look at what I create

when I am left to my imagination!

Come back soon!

Pam

  

FREE HALLOWEEN CLIP ART-

 I love vintage and retro images.

Today I thought I would share some of my favorite

vintage Halloween clip art with you!

 

 

 

 

These two vintages beauties are postcards

dating back to the 1920's.

 

 

 

This little witchy lady below reminds me

of a Norman Rockwell-esque style painting.

She is a cutie!

 

 

 

Vintage Halloween clip art has such a playful

and innocent look to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to imagine that back in the day

when these images were created,

that there was no photo or art editing software.

 

It was simply an artist and his talent!

 

 

These are just a few of my favorite Halloween clip art images.

Please feel free to click and save them to your computer!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by- Pam

 

HALLOWEEN DECOR- HANDMADE FOR THE HOME

 

Halloween has fast become one of those holidays that isn't

just about the trick or treating, but has more to do with all the ways

you can decorate(or as I like to say, "dec-create") your home!

 

In my front hall hangs one of my most favorite handcrafted pieces,

a happy Halloween wool banner!

While easy to make-

 it also makes a great statement!

 





 

 

Here I designed and created a cute little pumpkin pillow.

This wool pillow is fun and while it was made

for the Halloween season, it would work in

your home décor right through Thanksgiving!

 

 

 Another great handcrafted addition to our Halloween décor is this table runner.

 

 

 

This year I branched out of my comfort zone

of working with wool and sewing to try something new!

 

I created this vintage-inspired Halloween clock!

The clock began its life as a simple and non-descript country style clock.

(Before and after photos can be seen at the end of this post)

I happen to think it turned out phenomenal!

This vignette is one of my favorites and also includes another

one of my signature wool banners!

 

 

One of the things I most enjoy about being creative and using

my imagination, is that there really isn't anything you can't create!

I have always loved the look and lure of the Ouija board.  I immediately

thought that I should make one from wool, of course!

It can be used as either a wall hanging or table scape!

What do you think?

 

 

 

Now I think you will agree,(that is if you are over the age of 40),

that no Halloween is complete until you have watched

Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin on tv.

Here is my homage to Charlie Brown and the gang!

The spider web is another great Halloween home décor item

that I created with wool!

 

 

 

Well that's a little sneak peak in to how we handcraft the home for Halloween!

I believe that when you take something you have made with your own two hands and a bit of imagination, you have an opportunity to "dec-create" and design something really spectacular for your home!

 

 

 

Don't forget to take a look below at the before and after photos

of the vintage inspired Halloween clock.

 

 

And...if you like what you see, most of what I have created 

will be for sale soon, along with a plethora of other

figments from my imagination, in my new Etsy store!

Yes, after a lot of hemming and hawing,

I am ready to take my work to the next level!

  

Come back soon!

 

-Pam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Burlap Tassel- There is beauty in simplicity







I love tassels. 

They look great anywhere, are easy to make and well...
...they are beautiful!

 

 

I made this tassel from several printed burlap ribbons.

My favorite one is the ruler stamped ribbon.

  

 

  Here's how simple it is to make a tassel! 

As I stated, I chose burlap ribbons, 4 different ones in varying widths. 

I used a jute twine for the wrapping around of the tassel and the hanging loops.

 I chose a 6" clipboard to wrap the ribbons around.
 It's sturdy and won't bend. 

 That's about all you need!
 

 See- so simple.
 

 

I took several strands of the jute and taped them to the clipboard.

I like a full and chubby tassel, so I wound the ribbon

approximately 6x's around the clipboard.
 



When I finished winding the ribbons, I took the ends of the twine

 that I had taped down to the clipboard and tied a very tight knot.

 To form the "head" of the tassel, I firmly wrapped the twine

 about 1" down from the top and then tied it off.

 





 

 

 Once the top of the tassel is knotted

and wrapped, there is only one last thing to do.

 

Take a pair of scissors and cut through

the bottom loops of your tassel.

 

 

 

 Oh and give it a good shake!

Have I mentioned that I love tassels!

        

    

 This is only one of many materials to use in making a tassel.

What would you use?

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

I truly appreciate it!

 

Come back soon-

 

Pam

ST. PATRICK'S DAY MARQUEE- "Kiss me I'm Irish"

 

 

I wanted to make something a little bit different

 this year for St. Patrick's day to display in our home.

 

 

 

I would say that this project qualifies.

 

  

 

I have wanted to make a marquee sign for what seems

like forever. And being who I am, and never having made

 a marquee sign before, thought I would jump right in and give it a try.

 

 

 

"Kiss me I'm Irish", popped in to my head.

 So, naturally, a pair of lips seemed like

a good idea to make. 

  

 

 

There are a lot of great tutorials on Pinterest that will guide you

 step-by-step.  Though I had a pretty good idea how to create

 my marquee sign, I did find the website mylove2create.com 

to be incredibly helpful!

  I chose to use an inexpensive sheet of foam core. 

 I drew a pair of lips and cut them out with a box cutter.

 

 

 

I wanted the marquee sign(or lips if you will) to be green

and glittery in honor of St. Patrick's day.

I was able to purchase a set of 24 led battery operated lights

from my local Michaels craft store.

 

 

.

The sides of the marquee sign was constructed from

glitter card stock that was cut in to 3" strips and hot glued around

the entire perimeter.

 

 

 

I have to admit it- I think it came out fabulous!

And it looks amazing on my mantle.

 

 

 

I truly believe that left to my imagination, I can make anything

and so can you!

 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

 

Come back soon-

 

Pam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



VINTAGE EPHEMERA- CHILDRENS CLOTH BOOK

I feel lucky to have unearthed this sweet little treasure 
while sifting through a box of old Popular Science
and Popular Mechanics magazines 
my husband brought home one day. 

 

I believe it's now my responsibility to share the book with all of you.

Feel free to save the pages to your computer.

 

Perhaps you'll find a creative way to re-invent and re-imagine

the precious pictures from this children's book and pass them on.

I certainly intend to-

 

 

This cloth book was published by the Whitman Publishing Co.

of Racine, Wisconsin and copyrighted in 1955.

 

 

 The Tiny Tots cloth children's book is made up of

8 adorable images that are printed back to back on what feels

like a flexible canvas material. They have the look

of water color paintings.

 

 

 

 The book is zigzag stitched along the

binding of the book, securing the pages together.

 You can see the stitching here on this particular page.

 

 

The colors of the images inside this book

are truly amazing when you consider the fact

that this children's book is approximately 60 years old!

 

 

You have to marvel at how a children's book that is so old

and made of cloth has survived for so many years.

 

 

 

The book shows natural wear and tear.

It has obviously been read and loved by a child.

 

 

I will be sure to share with you how I choose to reuse the

pictures from this darling book.

 

 Please send me your re-imaginations. I would love to see what 

you create!

 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

 

Come back soon- PAM