The Re-InVintage Fair 07/15/11

Last month I was invited to be a part of the 1st ever Re-InVintage Fair in Missouri. It was soooo fun! I had been wanting an avenue in which to sell all my re-furbished finds and this fair just landed in my lap!

My neighbor handed me a flyer and said,"This is right up your alley!" I called the number and Janice was kind enough to invite me to participate! Janice owns "Julia Price's Tea Room", a beautiful victorian home here in town. She had a great vision for an outdoor affair and it was a BIG success!


There were about 12 vendors and Janice hopes to have more as time goes on. Thoughts are that there may be another Fair in the fall when we have our annual Turkey Festival.

Here is a refurbished wicker set that sold before I even got it all out of the truck! I reupholstered it in vintage fabric and trim then added vintage pillows in ticking and velvet.

A fabulous lunch was served inside the tea house! Janice prepares a wonderful fruited chicken salad on fresh croissants.Bon-bons and sweets round out the menu.

My daughter makes these sparkling necklaces out of vintage buttons!

A collection of Pie Birds.

Lots of shabby furniture for sale.

Some of my vintage linens for sale.




Picking out aprons...

We had a really nice weekend even though the temps were 90's!

Oh, Lolli Lolli! 07/07/11

Over the Independence weekend we took a short trip to St. Louis. While stolling the streets of Clayton we happened upon the *SWEETEST* little candy shop!

"Oh Lolli Lolli" is not only a feast for your tastebuds...It is also a feast for your eyes! One whole wall is covered in a rainbow of candy-filled jars!

The turquoise painted walls and pink details were enough to draw me in. I was like...well...a kid in a candy store! Colors and flavors GALORE!

You can buy candy by the pound or by the piece. Soft Gummy Bears in all flavors...the jar of Grape flavored ones was almost empty. Must be a best seller! They sell freshly made chocolates including CUPCAKE-sized Peanut Butter Cups!

A kid with a dollar could walk out with a white paper bag full of goodies. I had the FRESHEST malted milk balls I have ever tasted. They even have iridescent pearlized Sixlets in pastel colors. They get wedding orders for these and I can see why! They are lovely. If you happen to find yourself in Clayton you should really treat yourself to a stop at "Oh, Lolli Lolli", 802 De Mun Ave.

Christmas Explosion! 12/09/10

When my sister-in-law walked into the house she said, "It looks like Christmas EXPLODED on your dining table!" It had.



But out of the chaos came shimmering order!



I've been working on using up all my vintage planters, ornaments and Christmas figurines from Lefton, Relpo, Enesco, etc. Above is a cute little woodland brownie.




Here are "baby" and Santa.



Baby's First Christmas, all tangled in mercury bead garland!

This is the sweetest flowergirl! Kinda like a pink Eliza Doolittle.

I bought her at a rummage sale then proceeded to drop her on the floor as soon as I got her home! :( Fortunately I was able to glue her backside together and use her in this cute Christmas tree collage. Some of her flowers got chipped so I just gave her a whole new bunch of vintage millinery posies.

Here is a cute "Spaghetti" Santa!

Here are some tags I made from vintage Christmas wrap. I just cut out the designs, glued them to cardstock with gluestick, scalloped the edges with scissors and sprinkled with glitter. A hole-punch makes for easy tie-ons.

How to Make a Crown from a Wastebasket 07/30/10

Here is my $1 Queen of Hearts Crown (and the King of Hearts Crown, too.)

My kids were recently in a production of Alice in Wonderland and I volunteered to make the crowns. (I actually had to beg to do it because it was supposed to be student-run ONLY!) Anyway, I saw the black wire wastebasket at Dollar Tree and thought it might work.

The king's crown was made from two .50 candle holders that I took apart and glued together. I used red glitter fun-foam for the hearts, fat chenille, red boa, and red ribbon to embellish so they really cost more than $1, but that's the price they started at.




Here are the Queen of Hearts, the King of Hearts and the Nave of Hearts. My son was the king.




My daughter was the Cheshire Cat. All the kids did a wonderful, professional job! The director was just 16 years old! He has a great career ahead of him!

The Mermaid's Mercantile 07/08/10

Our holiday in San Diego was wonderful! We spent most of our time with family at the beach house in PB (Pacific Beach).



The kids got plenty of Boogie-boarding time even though the last few days of vacation were wrought with "June Gloom."

But I wanted to tell you about one of the highlights of my trip: "Sister's Day Out!"



I made my invitations and sent them out before I even got to San Diego. I didn't want anyone to miss out on the fun!




Our first stop was "Out of the Blue" in Solana Beach. Owner Debi Beard hosts a gorgeous outdoor shopping venue called "The Mermaid's Mercantile." There were so many talented women showing their beautiful wares,.

Here are just a few photos of the day:

This bed was SPECTACULAR! The headboard and footboard were encrusted with polished seashells.

Here is a closer view of the footboard.




Debi is the sweetest, talented girl!!! Visiting her shop is like stepping into a fairyland! 


She makes beautiful shell covered works of art done with a meticulous hand.



My sisters Rosemary and Raymie and I had a wonderful day, along with our good friend Judy. (My vintage beach hat is courtesy of my sister, from her vintage collection!)

How to make no-sew fortune cookies

Don't these look good enough to eat???

BUT FIRST...



...I have to show you these incredible flowers that my sweet friend Glennette gave me. She came into my shop and told me she had all these "puff balls" in her yard, did I know what kind of flower they were. Then she used the word "snow ball" and I knew what she had! Next day I went over to her house to GET SOME! Aren't they beautiful? I took them to work today and everyone had to touch them and ask "Are these REAL?"

On to the How-To:



I found some skirts at the thrift store that had some nice colors and patterns. I cut them into manageable pieces.




Paired them up into contrasting colors and sandwiched a piece of fusible webbing between them (right-sides out). Ironed it.




I cut 3 1/4" circles from freezer paper and ironed them to the fabric.




The circle pattern facilitates cutting out the fabric.

I peeled off the paper, cut a smidge of fusible webbing to tack the edges together at one side.




I ironed it closed.

Here are my various fabric circles. (Please note these cookies have patterned fabric on both sides. The photo at the top of this post shows cookies with only the inside of the cookie having patterned fabric.)



I folded them into the fortune cookie shape and painted it with glue. I used toothpicks wrapped with a rubberband to hold them together while they dried.



I let them dry over night.



Hubs and kids brainstormed for these original fortunes. I printed them out on the computer and cut them into strips. (click photo for bigger view...)

When the cookies were dry, I stuffed the folded fortunes inside. I can't wait to hand them out to my sisters!



One last thing...Here are the invites I made for my upcoming "Sister's Party" that I am planning during my vacation next week. I am heading out to the beach to visit my family in San Diego. But I will have plenty to blog about when I return in 2 weeks! See you later!
Rosie