Red Paper Heart Wreath

About this time last year, I shared with you a project where I made a heart shaped wreath out of recycled cardboard and brown paper packing material. 

It is still one of my most viewed posts!

{You can visit the original post here}

Then I figured out how to recreate the crinkled paper {sort of}, and shared another paper heart wreath I made with vintage sheet music. 

{You can visit that post here}

Recently, I've made some more paper heart wreaths for the shop using vintage sheet music and vintage dictionary pages. 

{Those are available here}

Awhile back, someone gave me some red paper gift bag filler, which is very similar to what I had used to make the other wreaths. 

I decided I was going to break out of my usual neutral theme and make a festive red heart wreath.

A little wild, huh? 

I added a vintage canvas hanging tie to it, and finished the back with vintage sheet music. 






This "wild and woolly" red heart Valentine wreath is available at the shop right now, and it really stands out : )

I hope you're having a good weekend, friends!

Jeanette



Sharing this week over at:
The Scoop at Worthing Court

O Christmas Tree

Yep, I did it. I didn't mean to do it.  Not this early anyway....


It's not even Thanksgiving, and I'm sharing my first Christmas post. I have a good reason, though. Really!

We've had the crafty 'bug' over here for the last few weeks. My kids and I have been making things for the house, making things for gifts and making things for the shop. 

Making things. Just for the fun of it!

 



The other night, the "making" turned into a little impromptu Christmas crafting. A little forest of vintage inspired Christmas trees!




Sheets of vintage music form whimsical trees. I simply rolled them into a cone shape, secured them with a touch of hot glue, and snipped a bit of a decorative edge around the bottom. 
Some are topped with sparkly stars punched from an old glittered gift bag.

This one has a tiny flag topper of brown paper, wrapped around a toothpick and topped with a pearl bead.

They were set atop some unique bases which just happened to be in my giant, disastrous pile well-organized supplies ;)

I used an iron piece from an old light fixture, a weathered flower pot (I didn't even clean it -oops!). 

This one is an old cabinet handle with a really long screw. I knew I was saving these for something! : )

Turned over onto a bamboo skewer and tucked into a vintage iron piece, an old tin cone takes on the look of a snowy pine tree.

One little bottle brush tree was glued to a base of old, chippy white wood.

The other was glued to a vintage mold.

The star topper is actually an antique screw-back earring. My grandmother picked up a ton of vintage costume jewelry for craft projects, and this pair came from her collection. 

I placed the little forest of vintage inspired Christmas trees on my rustic board mantel.

I made a little "O Christmas Tree" brown paper banner, printed from my computer, and hung it on the wooden backdrop behind the trees.

And took some pictures for you, my friends : )

For the first time ever, we are not spending Christmas at home in Colorado, so I'm not going to feel bad about doing some Christmas things a little early around here. 

I want to enjoy a little Christmas creating and decorating before we leave home, but the plan is to keep it low-key and simple. 

Remember how crazy I was getting ready to drive 3 kids to California this summer? Yep. We're doing that again. {smile}

How about you? Are you embracing Christmas already, or holding off until after Thanksgiving? I'd love to hear what you're up to!

Jeanette 

Linking up at these fun parties-

Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Inspiration Monday at twelveOeight 

The Scoop 

Knick of Time Tuesday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm 

Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House 

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life 

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson 

Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours 

Be Inspired at Common Ground

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo

Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors 

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants   

Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters 

Another Paper Heart Wreath?

So, I don't want to run the paper heart wreath into the ground, but I had some questions about how to make the paper shreds on my original Recycled Paper Heart Wreath. 

The point of the project was that I made a wreath out of some discarded paper and cardboard items that were just lying around here.

When I was asked about how the paper was made, I was really thinking, "who in their right mind would make all those little crinkly pieces of paper??" 

Can you now see me raising my hand, sheepishly? 

It turns out it's pretty darn easy to make some crinkly pieces of paper, provided you have a good sharp pair of scissors.

Let me show you how I did it with some vintage sheet music. 

 
 I started with 5 sheets of paper and folded them all together just because it's quicker than folding each individual piece. You will separate the sheets before cutting.

  

I began folding the paper accordion style, like when making tissue paper flowers.

The smaller your folds, the more crinkly the final pieces.

When you're done folding it will look something like this. Sort of fan-like. Now you will separate the sheets.

Take an individual sheet of paper and refold it along the accordion fold. Holding it together, use your sharp scissors and begin snipping the end off in thin strips.

This is what you end up with from five sheets of paper. The wheels are already turning....This could be cute gift bag filler...or?..hmm. 

Okay, stick to the project at hand!

The folds are not exactly like the original one with the packing paper, but still kinda fun, right? Any old paper could work. I was even thinking of trying one made out of newsprint. I think I used about 10-12 sheets altogether to make this wreath.

That's my grandparents, WAY back when. They were so cute :)

One little tip: If you decide to make one of these paper wreaths, and think you might want to hang it in front of a mirror, cover the back of the wreath with paper also! That way you won't see the not-so-pretty cardboard backing in the mirror.

I was having fun taking a few shots of the wreath hung from one of my old windows : )

The snow is looking pretty thin on the mountain back there today!

Alrighty then, now you know. If you're feeling ambitious, and you've just gotta have some of that crinkly paper, it's really not hard at all. 
Hope you're having a good week, and see ya soon!

Jeanette 

Sharing over at:
Diana Rambles- Pin Me! link party 
Funky Junk Interiors- SNS
Creative Cain Cabin-Budget Decorating 
Knick of Time Tuesday  
Coastal Charm-Nifty Thrifty Tuesday 

Love Letter Note Box {and Free Printable!}

 I put together this little love note box for the shop today using a vintage letter box and more of that vintage sheet music I love so much.

 I added a little shabby fabric scrap ribbon.

It would be sweet for Valentine's Day, but I'm also thinking it could be darling for people to write notes to a bride and groom at a vintage inspired wedding! Maybe I'll make a bigger one just for weddings? 

Today I thought it would be fun to share one of the pieces of vintage music I used, as a free printable for you.
I know time is getting tight for Valentine's Day projects, and I wish I'd thought of giving this to you sooner!

If you love vintage sheet music like I do, I know you'll come up with some other fun things to use if for besides Valentine's Day. Just right-click on the image to save to your computer, and have fun with it! 

Happy Monday, my friends!

Jeanette 

Sharing over at:

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson-Share Your Cup Thursday 
Diana Rambles- Pin Me! link party 

Simple & Pretty Handmade Gift Ideas {And a Free Vintage Image Download!}

Ribbons. Scraps of fabric, paper and lace. Pretty vintage buttons. Few things make me as happy as sitting down to a work space full of the possibilities these things bring to a creative project!

 

One of my very favorite books for creative inspiration is Vintage Paper Crafts by Anna Corba.


 

There are so many beautiful ideas here!

If you are looking to create a gift or just something pretty for yourself, this book is a goldmine of inspiration.

Today I worked on a couple of small Valentine projects, but I'm actually going to show you two simple and pretty handmade gifts I created for a friend's birthday this week.

 I was inspired by the lovely embellished vintage hangers in Anna Corba's book.

 I knew I had some hangers I could work with, so I decided I would start with this gift.

I painted the hangers white.

I used alphabet rubber stamps to add the words.  

I'm really hoping that someone will see the ironic humor in the fact that I stamped the words "make it pretty" TOTALLY CROOKED. Argh. I could sand it off and fix it, but in the interest of getting this post done, I'm not going to do it right now. Let's just go with crooked and pretty, okay? : )

 I wanted it to have a little bit of an aged appearance, so I lightly sanded the edges and over the stamped letters.

 I added a soft, wide ribbon.

  
One charming, feminine gift complete! You could use anything to embellish a vintage hanger. Paint, stickers, decoupage, fabric flowers, buttons-the possibilities are endless. It would be so easy to create one of these with more of a Valentine theme, also. Maybe I'll do one of those next week : )
 

The second simple and pretty gift I made today is a birthday card/decorative hanging, inspired by an antique book cover.

 I love the beautiful cover on this antique book!  I photo copied it onto card stock, but it didn't seem to have enough "weight" to it, so I glued another layer of card stock to it. When that was dry I just cut out around the image of the book cover (on the right). 

I selected two vintage buttons from my collection. I wanted buttons with the metal loop on the back to hold the hanger for this piece. 
I punched two small holes so I could pop the buttons through to the back. 
 

 (back)

 I used a piece of wire from a castoff Christmas ornament, but could easily have used a piece of ribbon or twine, as well. I wrapped the wire around the button loops on the back of the card.

 Wire hanger attached

I added a little snippet of green velvet ribbon and a couple of shabby paper roses, and another handmade gift is complete!

  
I will write my birthday wishes to my friend on the back, but think how easy it would be to add some heart embellishments and a sweet Valentine's Day sentiment. I hope you feel inspired to create something simple and pretty for someone special in your life!

Feel free to use this image for your own creative projects or cards. The publishing date on this book is 1914.

 Hope you're all having a good week!

Jeanette

Sharing over at:
Vintage On a Dime-Welcome Home Wednesday 
twelveOeight-Pretty Things Link Party 
Debbiedoo's Newbie Party
The Dedicated House-Make It Pretty Monday 
Knick of Time Tuesday 
Coastal Charm-Nifty Thrifty Tuesday 
House on the Way-Twirl and Take a Bow 
Cozy Little House-Tweak It Tuesday 
Alderberry Hill-Make the Scene Monday
Savvy Southern Style-Wow Us Wednesdays 
French Country Cottage-Feathered Nest Friday 
The Charm of Home-Home Sweet Home 
StoneGable-Tutorials Tips and Tidbits 
The Craftberry Bush-The Inspiration Gallery
Embracing Change-Creative Inspirations  
Diana Rambles-Pin Me! 
Common Ground-Be Inspired