Welcome Sweet Spring Time

Sunshine.  Green Grass.  Flowers.  Walks in the neighborhood.  Spring weather can't get here (and stay here!) fast enough.  About 3 days a week, we have amazing weather and those walks can happen.  But the other 4 days are still chilly, cloudy, and often wet.  

But Spring did come to stay in my home today.  Yippee!  I redid the door decor, mantelscape, and my 2 drawer-scapes for Spring.  So come on in, and enjoy the warmth and cheer.

I made a little spring bunting one day recently from vintage book pages and some Dollar Tree seed packets.  Love it against my green front door.

The mantle is dressed in pinks and greens, along with another handmade bunting, fashioned from journaling cards, vintage book pages, and various ephemera.  

I can't seem to grow succulents, even though they say they are easy.  So I bought one from the Hobby Lobby floral department and am excited to have it to enjoy.  The china pieces are all from different people and places...Homer Laughlin Dogwood teacup from a favorite flea market, a sweet Bavarian creamer from my mom in law, and the beautiful teapot from England was a gift from my neighbor.  The pink depression glass plates belonged to my best friend's mother, and the pink church plate came from the flea market.  I love churches.  

Not sure what I love more in this drawer...the Fire King teacup, my handmade candle in a vintage jello mold, the lamb candle from my grandson's first birthday cake, or the photo of my darling granddaughter 2 years ago this weekend.

This drawer is not dressed as a showpiece, but I enjoy it by the door to the backyard.  Each piece is either vintage or one of my favorite things.  Even that tiny paper birdie is made from a vintage book page.

So from birdie and I...Welcome sweet spring time!

Blessings,

Donna

A 30 Minute Spring Bunting

I do believe that Spring has come to stay here in Southern Indiana.  We'll still have some chilly days, but I think the highs will now be in the 50s, 60s, and above.  Yay!  I just enjoyed a lovely week of Spring Break...I homeschool our 16 year old son, and so it was nice to have a full week off of school to do some deep cleaning, organizing, reading, and of course, crafting.  :)  The mantel needed a new Spring bunting, but having already done lots of crafting this week, I wanted it to be quick and 'semi-homemade' so here's what I did.

I used some cute cardstock cards that are designed for Artist Trading Cards or scrapbooking, and just embellished them a bit.

In between each embelllished card is a little book-page square that I punched from a vintage book, layered with a punched flower and a stick on center.

Mini clothespins made it a quick project too, and within 30 minutes, my bunting was hung.  I like it!  And I could reuse any of these elements for a different project sometime, if I wish, since they are not glued or sewed to the string.

Thanks for popping by!

Happy Spring!
Donna

Vintage Book Page Buntings and Table Runners

In finishing the series on how to use Vintage Book Pages for decor, I'll focus on the little buntings I made and the table runners.  So inexpensive and so fun...I think these two elements were among my favorites at our son's wedding rehearsal dinner.

I made three different kinds.  The one made of squares was easy.  I folded the papers to the width I wanted, and cut squares on the fold from book pages, black card stock, and hymn pages.  Put a bit of glue on the insides of the folded rectange, and then glue them with the black crochet thread sandwiched in the middle.  I spaced them out about every 3 inches.  Then when dry, use a small heart punch on the center of the folded paper.  (PS...it worked out GREAT to store them hanging over the top of our guest room door while I worked to get all six done.)

The pennant style bunting was made in the same way, altho the shapes cut were diamonds.  If you prefold your paper, then cut a long triangle shape on the fold, they will be nicely matched and easy to open, add a bit of glue, then glue them with the thread sandwiched in the middle.

Lastly I punched 1.5 inch circles out of book pages, cardstock, and hymn pages.  These I sewed together down the middle with my sewing machine.  So quick and easy.  I spaced them about 1/2 inch apart.

Please note that these buntings can tangle easily if you are transporting them someplace.  Wrap them around a piece of cardbord or a file folder, and they will stay tangle-free and flat until you are ready to use them.  Great way to store them after the party too.

Here is a view of how I layered them down the center of the table, on top of the paper table runner and plastic table runner.  (This photo was taken as I 'practiced' at home to see how it might all look for the dinner.)

Some of these adorable little buntings are now being used in my home!  :)

The book page table runners were made from old Ideals books.  The pages were the perfect width.  I used a craft knife to remove them from the books, used a paper edger to scallop the long sides of the page, and then zigzag sewed the short edge of every 2 pages together.  Because of the minute space between the sewed papers, they fold nicely into the size of one page, for storage and for transporting.

For the dinner I laid them end to end down the center of the table.  Only having every 2 pages sewn together allowed me the flexibility to put as many as needed down the table, since the tables were different lengths.  And the sewing gave the table runner, as a whole, more stability as a runner, than if all the pages had just been laid end to end without the sewing.

I've so enjoyed sharing these ideas with you.  Let me know if you make one of them!

Happy Crafting!

Donna
Linked To:
Sweet Little Gals
Made By You Monday

Vintage Bunting Expanding!

Oh boy, oh boy!  I had such fun making the next Artist Trading Card for my Vintage Bunting.  If you would like to see the first post where I started my Vintage Bunting, please click HERE.  The one on the right is today's creation.  I will keep on creating cards now and again until I fill the bunting ribbon.

Today's card was inspired by a beautiful idea I saw on Pinterest.  Making a cupcake design out of buttons!

I used some vintage inspired printed cardstock for the base of it.  Then cut out the 'C' page from the glossary of a vintage children's book and used it for the mat.  Fun!  I cut out a cupcake liner from the other side of the watermelon paper (base) and sewed some lines into it.  (Note to self...next time, pull the threads through to the underside before knotting and cutting them off so they won't easily unravel.)

I adhered all of these paper parts together then played with the buttons until I got a combination of size and color that I liked.  So fun to 'top' it off with a little flower button, like a cherry on top!  Just used tacky glue to put these on the paper.  Lastly I decided that my 'title' for this page would be the letter 'C' which is just a sticker on a pink circle, adhered with a foam dot.

Thank you for stopping by and for your sweet comments!  Each one is like getting a letter in mail...exciting!

Blessings!

Donna
Linky Parties:
Little Lovelies
My Romantic Home  
Funky Junk Interiors

A Little Vintage Bunting

All Summer I have had the goal of making a little vintage bunting for some room of my house.  With just three weeks left before we start homeschooling, I am happy to have begun!

I am making individual Artist Trading Cards for the bunting, and will continue adding to it until it is full.  I have two completed so far!  An Artist Trading Card is like a miniature scrapbook page that can be traded with others, for a unique art collection.

A classic ATC is normally about 2.5 by 3.5 inches.  I am making mine a bit larger at 3"x 4" so that I can use the vintage illustrations I have for it.  This illustration came from a vintage children's book I purchased for $1 at a thrift store.

Yes, it hurts to cut up a book, but I will so enjoy seeing these illustrations on a daily basis on my wall!

This is the page I chose to use first.  This little girl reminds me of myself in the 60s when I had a little metal dollhouse and plastic people and furniture for it.  I absolutely loved setting up the house and dreaming of having my own home some day!

This shows the size of the piece I cut from the book.

Next I looked for cardstock in the right colors, so that I could make my ATC base and mat the pic.

I went through my craft stash and found some embellishments that would go nicely on the card.

And this is the finished product! 

Today I made another one, using some beautiful vintage paper that my dear friend brought me from the scrapbook store where she works.  And since the line of paper is called October Afternoon, a name I find charming and enchanting, I even added it to my card.  Baking a pie on an October afternoon would be bliss.  :) The little circle of the girl is attached with a foam square so it pops out from the page, and I made the October Afternoon 3D as well.

And so this is the beginning of my little vintage bunting!  It is temporarily hung on my kitchen wall, until I decide the perfect place for it to live.  :)

I am loving it. 

To be continued!  

Blessings,

Donna 
Late Breaking News:  I've made another card...an adorable button cupcake card.  Click here to see it!  
Linky Parties:
Under the Table and Dreaming 
Tip Junkie 
Nothing But Country 
Skip to My Lou 
Organize and Decorate Everything 
Gluesticks