I Heart Etsy Fridays- Magpie Ethel

24 May, 2013 12:19 pm / 2 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Happy Friday guys! I am very excited to share one of my favorite Etsy shops with you today, Magpie Ethel! Laurie, the amazing artist behind the shop creates the most fantastic people and creatures from a vast array of vintage items. I love that each piece is made with an authentic vintage style! They are so charming! Laurie’s spun cotton girls are my favorite, but I love everything she creates! Her designs are whimsical, quirky, adorable, just everything I love! Here are a few of my favorites from Magpie Ethel:

Aren’t they all just so fantastic! I love that she has figures for all seasons and holidays! I think the valentine gals are my absolute favorites! To see more of Laurie’s lovely work, visit her shop Magpie Ethel on Etsy Here. You can also see her vintage shop , E is for Ethel Here. You can also visit her on her fantastic blog Here.

Happy Shopping!

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Posted in: Etsy Artist Fridays / Tagged: adorable, birthday, christmas, colorful, easter, etsy. etsy artists, gifts, girl, handmade, her, holiday, lovely, luck, magpie ethel, mid century, mom, one of a kind, retro, seasonal, spun cotton, st patricks, valentine, vintage, vintage bunny, vintage doll, vintage ducky, vintage sweet, whimsical

DIY Vintage Wallpaper Letters

23 May, 2013 1:31 pm / 2 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you have all had an amazing week! Today I am going to share with you a fun DIY you can do with vintage wallpaper. These little letters are so sweet and they are so fast and easy to make! You can whip up a few in less than an hour!

Here’s What You Need:

*Paper Mache Letters (small or medium)

*Matte Mod Podge

*Vintage wallpaper (large scraps will work)

*Pen

*Scissors

*Craft Paint

Instructions:

The first thing you need to do is paint your letters. Once your letters are dry, you are ready to add the wallpaper. Trace the letter with your pen on the wrong side of the vintage wallpaper. Now cut out the letter a little on the inside of the marked lines so that the paper will fit but you will still see some of the edge of the painted letter. Lay your paper letter on top of the mache letter to test fit. Now, paint a layer of the matte mod podge onto the backside of the paper letter. Flip the letter over and apply the mod podge side down onto the top of the painted letter. Smooth out any bubbles or wrinkles and make sure the whole paper has good contact with the letter. Now seal the letter by painting a layer of mod podge on top. Let the letter dry, and you are finished! Pretty easy right?

These little letters are so sweet, I just love them! I used my initial and Daryl’s initial. I even made one for Beaureguard. Vintage wallpaper is easy to find on Etsy and the prints are just amazing! You can totally customize these little letters to fit your decor. They would be sweet in a babies room, or spell out a word you like and display it in your favorite space. The possibilities are endless! I’ll be back again next week with more fun projects! Until then….

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: 1940's, 1950's, baby, bright, cottage, craft letters, crafting, custom, decor, decorating, diy, floral, fun, gifts, girls, handmade, home, initials, letters, love, lovely, monogram, paper mache, pink, retro, shabby chic, space, sweet, tutorials, vintage, wallpaper, words

DIY Vintage Inspired Little Deer Lamp

21 May, 2013 9:04 am / 3 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hello there! I am really excited to share this diy with you guys today! I have been wanting to make this little lamp for some time now. Now that it is finished, I am happy to say that it was really fun and surprisingly easy. You can find everything you need except the deer at your local craft store. The deer is vintage, and you can usually find sweet ceramic tchotskies at your local flea market, or browsing through etsy and ebay. The best part about this lamp is it is soooo much fun to make!

Here’s What You Need:

*Lighted Branch (Small)

*Paper Mache Clay like fast mache ( found with the clay at your local craft store)

*Wooden Plaque

*Dried Moss

*Hot Glue and hot glue gun

*Paper Flowers, spun mushrooms, etc…

*Vintage woodland ceramic animal like a deer or bunny…

*Paint

Instructions:

First, paint your wooden plaque. Once the plaque is dry you are ready to make the hill. So mix up your fast mache clay according to the directions. I ended up using the whole box for mine. adding a little at a time, mold the clay into a hill shape on top of your wooden plaque. Smooth it over the best you can and flatten the area a little where you are going to glue your ceramic animal. Take your finger and poke a hole where you want to glue the tree branch. I made sure that I could set a couple of inches of the branch into the hole when it would be dry. Let your fast mache dry completely. Once your hill is dry, heat up your glue gun. I glued down some moss around the hole where the tree was going to go first. Put a generous amount of hot glue into the hole you made in the hill for the branch. Insert your lighted branch into the glue and hold straight until the glue sets up. This takes maybe a minute. Now tear off pieces of moss and glue down to your hill. Cover the hill completely will moss pieces. Glue down your ceramic animal where you like best. Glue down a few flowers at the base of the tree and by your animal. Once you are done embellishing with the flowers, fan out the wire branches of the tree, and then you are finished. Plug the lamp in and enjoy.

I LOVE my little deer lamp! It was really easy to make and it is going to be sooo darned cute in my bedroom! You could make this totally unique by adding your favorite paper flowers, and a sweet vintage ceramic of your choice. Even a plastic deer would be sweet! The best thing about this lamp is the twinkling of the lights when the lamp is lit. It is dreamy! I hope I have inspired some of you to give this one a try! You’ll have a blast!

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: 1950's, boho, ceramic deer, cottage, crafting, crafts, decorating, der lamp, diy, earthy, fun, gifts, handmade, home decor, indy, lamp, lighted branch, lovely, moss, retro, shabby chic, sweet, tree branch lamp, tutorials, vintage, woodland

Favorite Vintage Finds of the Week- May 20th

20 May, 2013 11:08 pm / 5 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! It has been rainy here. Even though the weather is kind of icky, one thing I have been very excited about is that my flowers are all getting ready to bloom. My roses are in full bloom and my hydrangea are almost ready. I will be most likely be instagramming pics soon. This week I have been inspired by my garden and have found a bunch of vintage floral items to share with you! Here are some of my favorites:

Check out this amazing Vintage 1950′s Pink Floral Jantzen Swimsuit from When Decades Collide Here

Check out this fantastic Vintage 1950′s Cherry Blossom Tablecloth from Independence Vintage Here

Check out this Sweet Vintage Ransburg Enamelware Cannister from NanNa’s Things Here

Check out this Fabulous Vintage 1950′s Floral Butterfly Print Dress from D&J Vintage Here

Check out this adorable Vintage Lilies Print Kitchen Towel from La Petite Vintage Shop Here

Check out this fantastic Vintage Ransburg Red Retro Wax Paper Dispenser From Fabulous Textiles Here

Check out this lovely Vintage 1950′s Floral Glass Silver City Vase from Ripening Here

Check out this Beautiful 1950′s mid-century Floral Tablecloth from Mungo and Midge Here

Check out these Amazing Vintage Petite Bisque Vintage Floral Vases from Dotti Rose Studio Here

Check out this Lovely Vintage 1950′s Floral Applique Slip from Milieu Vintage Here

Check out these fabulous Vintage 1950′s Satin Stiletto Floral Heels from Crush Vintage Here

Check out this adorable Vintage 1960′s Blue Floral Blouse with Ruffles from My Vintage Valentine Here

Aren’t they all just so pretty! I love florals, especially vintage florals! I hope you all enjoy browsing through these wonderful etsy vintage shops as much as I did! I’ll be back next week with more fun vintage finds. Until then…

Happy Shopping!

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Posted in: Uncategorized, Vintage Finds of the Week / Tagged: decor, floral, flowers, home decor, lovely, may flowers, mid century, retro, spring, summer, sweet, vintage, vintage clothing, vintage dress, vintage finds, vintage tablecloth

Iggy Afternoon

17 May, 2013 5:31 pm / 2 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

If you follow my blog, or even if you have just glanced in the sidebar, you’ll know I adore my dog! And I adore my sister’s dog Sadie too. I am a total animal lover, and I have to say until recently, I have always been a crazy cat lady. But now thanks to our little iggies I am a crazy dog lady too! For those of you who don’t believe in love at first sight, you just haven’t met the right dog yet. This dog is my heart, and no matter what type of day I am having, just having him here with me makes me happy! The other day I was taking pictures of my jewelry magnets in my bedroom at my parent’s house. The dogs love this room because the bed is right up against the window and it is warm and sunny all day. It is their favorite spot! As I was snapping my product pics, totally caught up in the rush of everything that needed to be done that day, I happened to glance over and see Beaureguard and Sadie happily snoozing in the sun. It completely melted me! I thought for sure they would move the second they spotted me taking pics, but they were totally chill and did not even notice the intrusion. Lucky me! It’s these little moments that I love so much! They captivate you and remind you to slow down a bit, relish the sunshine, know you are blessed by those you love, and remember that life truly is above all else, absolutely beautiful!

Posted in: Beau & Roux, Uncategorized / Tagged: animals, beau, beaureguard, cute dogs, dogs, greyhound, ig, iggies, iggy, italian greyhound, life is beautiful, mini greyhound, pets, photography, portraits, sadie, sleepy puppy, sweet, whippet

I Heart Etsy Fridays- Sushi Pot Vintage

17 May, 2013 1:57 pm / 3 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have had an amazing week! Today I would like to share one of my favorite Etsy Vintage shops with you all, Sushipot Vintage. This shop is so wickedly quirky with items ranging from old rubber bouncy balls and wooden robots to antique glass slides and anatomy book ephemera. Suzanna Scott, the curator and owner behind the shop, is not only a great collector, but also an artist herself. She creates the coolest mixed media vintagesque art, which she sells in her other etsy shop Sushipot Studio Here. I hope to share more of her shop with you all sometime soon. Until then, here are some of my favorite items from Suzanna’s vintage shop:

Aren’t they all just so cool! Of course I love them all! Everything is so well photographed, the whole store is like eye candy. To see more of Sushipot Vintage check out the Etsy store Here. Also be sure to check out Suzanna’s original art at Sushipot Studio Here. You can also find her on her blog Here, as well as Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Shopping!

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Posted in: Etsy Artist Fridays / Tagged: anatomy, art, book prints, colorful, cool, cottage, eclectic, ephemera, etsy, etsy artist, fun, gifts, kids, mid century, quirky, retro, robot, summer, supplies, tin plates, tin toys, toys, vintage, vintage finds, whimsical, wooden blocks

DIY Framed Vintage Wallpaper Magnetic Board

16 May, 2013 9:59 am / 2 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hi guys! I do hope you all are having a lovely week! Today I am going to share with you one of my favorite of my recent projects, a diy vintage wallpaper magnetic board. Vintage wallpaper is one of my absolute favorite things in the entire world! I just adore the prints and textures! It’s so wonderful! I love finding new ways to use it too. I recently came across this pattern from one of my favorite vintage wallpaper shops, Hannah’s Treasures, and immediately thought it would make a great magnetic board for the bedroom at my mom’s house where I stay on visits. Making this little board was really easy, and it whipped up pretty quick too!

Here’s What You Need:

*16×20 Frame (the local flea market or thrift store is a great place to look)

*Paint (optional)

*1 Yard of Vintage Wallpaper

*1 Sheet of HVAC Thin Guage Sheet Metal (I bought mine at home depot, look in the hvac department)

*Acid Free Double Stick Tape

*Framing hardware if needed…

*Heavy Duty Tin Snips

*Foam core ( optional for backing if your frame does not come with backing)

Instructions:

The first thing you need to do is paint your frame if you are planning on painting it. While it dries you can cut and assemble your board. To start measure the opening of your frame. Mine was 16×20. So I marked on the metal 16″ wide and 20″ long. Then cut the metal down to size with the tin snips. You can cut down the foam core to fit your frame as well if you plan on using it. Now, trace your sheet metal dimensions onto the wrong side of your wallpaper, leave an inch on the top and an inch on the bottom for folding over. So if I have a 16×20 piece of metal, then I cut my paper to be 16×22″. Mark 1″ up on both the top and bottom of the wrapping paper. Lay out your metal on top of the paper in between the 1″ marks. Run a strip of double stick tape along the edge at the bottom and top edges of your wall paper on the wrong side. Now, fold over the edges of the paper in towards the middle of the metal and tape down snugly so that the paper is nice and taught across the metal. Next, lay your board into the opening in your frame face down and close up the back. Add a hanger to the middle of the back of the frame and you are ready to hang.

I love this fun magnetic board! It looks great in the room! It is a pretty way to organize and keep little notes and things while I am at my parent’s home. It is a great size too. I just adore the wallpaper and I have quite a bit left that I can use for future crafting, yay! I love how easy this project is to customize just by changing the style of the frame and the wallpaper. The sheet metal in the hvac department at the hardware store is really inexpensive too, so you can always change out the boards if the style of your room changes too. This really is such a fast and easy diy! It would make a great gift for college bound gals who need a memo board for their dorms. I hope some of you will give this one a try! It is so fun and easy, you’ll have a blast!

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: 1940's, 1950's, cottage, crafts, diy, dorm, easy, fun, gift, girly, grad, handmade, home decor, lovely, magnet, magnetic board, memo board, messege, mid century, office organization, pink, recycle, repurpose, retro, shabby chic, sweet, tutorials, upcycle, vintage, vintage wallpaper, wallpaper

The Wonderful World of Pinterest- May 2013

15 May, 2013 9:58 pm / Leave a Comment / My So Called Crafty Life

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I am going to share with you some of my favorite pins from my Pinterest boards over the last month. I haven’t had a lot of time to spend on Pinterest lately. However, I did manage to add a bunch of outdoor party pinspiration as well as a healthy dose of cute animals, and some fun diy and home decor to my boards. Here are some of my absolute favorites:

From my board Party Ideas:

I just love this picnic idea! It’s so dreamy!

Love these colors!!!

I love the packaging here, it’s so fun!

Just beautiful!

From my board For the Home:

Love the shelving!

I love this kitchen! I based the open shelving on the top of my cabinets off of this picture.

I love the cabinet and the fridge! So cute!

From my board Tattoos:

This is so sweet! It means “smile” in Swedish.

So cute!

From my board Pets and Animals:

I just LOVE this picture!

So sweet!

This cracks me up! So true…

and from my board DIY Ideas I Love:

This is great for summer!

So stinkin’ cute!

I absolutely love this!

Aren’t they all just fantastic! I love Pinterest, don’t you! To see more inspiring pins you can check out all my Pinterest boards Here. I’ll be back next month with more pinspiration! Until then…

Happy Pinning!

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Posted in: The Wonderful World of Pinterest / Tagged: 1950's, animals, cats, cottage, crafts, cute, diy, dogs, for the home, funny animals, furry, garden, home decor, inspiration, kitchens, lovely, mid century, outdoor entertaining, outdoor party, party ideas, pets, picnic, pins, pinspiration, pinterest, planters, quilt, quotes, records, recycle, retro, shabby, sweet, tattoos, upcycle

DIY Upcycled Vintage Jewelry Magnets

15 May, 2013 12:57 pm / 5 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been mia the last couple of days. I have been under the weather. But I am back and excited to share this project with you all today! I am going to show you how to make these fun little magnets out of vintage earrings and brooches. These could not be easier to make, and they whip up so fast!

Here’s What You Need:

*Jewelry pieces like earrings, pendants, and brooches

*Heavy duty wire cutters

*E6000

*Round craft magnets (you can find these at any craft store)

Instructions:

These are so easy! The first thing you do is cut off the finding part of your piece. For example if you have an earring, you will need to cut off the ear wire or clip for clip ons. Get as close to the base where it is glued or soldered on and carefully cut away with your pliers. For brooches that have been soldered it can take a few cuts but they will come off. Once you get the finding off you can grind down any sharp spots with a dremmel if you have any that bother you. You can also pick at them with your pliers and that can get most of the metal off that is in the way. So to finish these off, you need to glue the magnet on. So, lay your jewelry piece face down on a flat surface. Now take your magnet and place a large dab of glue onto the back side of the magnet. Carefully squish the glue and magnet onto the back of your jewelry piece. Let dry. Once the glue is cured you are ready to use your magnets.

I absolutely love these magnets! They just couldn’t be any easier to make! You can whip up a batch in under fifteen minutes. The best thing is that they look so nice and special, like something you would find at a boutique. You can find vintage jewelry parts by the bag full at your local flea market or at antique stores and thrift stores. Of course brooches can be really pricey, but you can often pick up broken pieces or mismatched pieces for next to nothing. This would be a fabulous project to use for gifts for birthdays or Christmas as well. So go ahead and dress up your space with some of these fun little magnets! You’ll love them!

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, bee, birthday, brooch, christmas, crafts, decorating, diy, earrings, easy, enamel, flower, fridge, fun, gifts, handmade, holidays, home decor, jewelry, jewelry magnets, lovely, magnet, magnets, mid century, recycled, repurposed, retro, rhinestone, sparkly, style, sweet, turtle, tutorials, upcycled, vintage, vintage brooch

Shrinky Charm Bracelets Today at Free Pretty Things For You!

11 May, 2013 10:00 am / 8 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely day! I am so excited to announce that I have a little guest post over at Free Pretty Things for You today! For any of you who are unfamiliar with this fantastic blog, FPTFY is a free image and printables site chocked full of fun clip art, digital scrapbooking elements, craft projects, and tons of vintage charm! Keren, the fantastic gal behind the blog, has collaborated with me to create this fun printable sheet to use to make these fun charm bracelets! You can find my tutorial on the FPTFY website today Here.

You can find the printables Here and a lightened version made specifically for the shrinky paper Here

So definitely go check out the full tutorial and make some of these fun charm bracelets for your favorite gals! These are so fun to make! You’ll love them! And definitely go check out Keren’s blog, Free Pretty Things for You, Here! It is the absolute cutest!

Happy Crafting!