Hello, summer! I don’t know about you, but warm weather always inspires me to be creative. I do love my thrift shops (as some of you may know already)! In particular, I love finding used and vintage glassware and dishes to turn into creative decor. On one such trip, I bought a bunch of vintage cocktail glasses and a matching candy dish. I couldn’t help myself! There I was, rambling through a small claustrophobic shop stuffed to the brim with all kinds of goodies with barely the width of a small person between the displays when I wandered to the back of the store to take a peek at some shelves that were chock full of glasses, dishes, and kitchen gadgets. I saw these stacks of glassware with a Greek motif, and they instantly took me back to my childhood, where I vaguely remember my mother having drinking glasses just like them. There was a blue and a green set, but I loved the green version at first sight, so I went with the green. I bought eight cocktail glasses and a candy dish with this same motif. Nearby was another set of cocktail glasses with an intriguing, raised geometric pattern. The pattern felt Art Deco in style—or at least Century Modern—and I don’t think I’d ever seen anything like it. So I bought them too! So you know up front, I am guilty of buying interesting little finds like this and then just hiding them away in a cabinet for an obscene amount of time before they ever see the light of day again. But once they do emerge from the darkness, magic happens! I can't remember the exact moment I came up with the design ideas, except that I remember seeing miniature ivy leaves from one of my favorite online sites and thought they’d look good with these little green glasses with a Greek motif. So I went with it! I also bought some small wooden disks and craft wood stains to create a base for my glassware. Once the wood disks were stained and sealed with varnish, the glassware was glued onto the bases using E6000 glue. Decorative ribbon and ivy leaves were attached to the exterior base of the glass, and then an oyster votive and miniature white pearls were glued to the inside of the glass. This decorative candleholder has become one of my absolute favorite designs—and I even managed to sell a few! The geometry glassware was much simpler, and just sits on the stained wooden base with a sheer ribbon, some faux gardenias and babies breath from a favorite online site. I wanted to keep the design simple so that the light could shine through those amazing three-dimensional cube shapes! I couldn’t be happier with these precious little candleholders! These little decorative pieces look amazing with an LED candle inside! They can be displayed as a set, in a tablescape design, or by themselves!
Do you have any thrift store finds you would like to share? Feel free to drop a comment below and share your creative ideas! This article contains external links for demonstration purposes only, and are not endorsements for specific products or brands. Related blog posts you may want to read: Tropical themed projects with repurposed dessert cups Strawberry themed projects with repurposed dessert cups DIY faux florals, birds, and repurposed thrift store finds
0 Comments
Faux florals, miniature birds, and repurposed thrift store finds…Three of my favorite things! The weather is warm, and the sun is shining brightly today—the perfect day to reflect on a couple of previous “make me happy” projects. I comb local thrift stores occasionally, looking for used and vintage glassware and plates that would work well in unique home decor projects. On one such trip, I found a set of green salad plates and fell in love with the pale shade of green, instinctively sensing they would come in handy in a future creative project. In the same shop, I found small round glasses that were so simple and sweet! You know when you get a sense about something—that there’s something creative hidden there, waiting to come out, but you don’t quite know what it is yet? I felt that and bought them immediately with all the enthusiasm of an artist and designer…And then they just sat in a cabinet…for like a YEAR! In my defense, though, once I did pull things out of the cabinet to assess my materials, the creative juices started flowing relatively quickly. As the ideas and inspiration started to flow, a final vision emerged. While scouring my favorite internet sites, I found a floral candle ring (from Factory Direct Craft) with vibrant yellow and white flowers that looked perfect with the pale green plates…and the rest was easy! The glass was attached to the plate with E6000 glue, the candle ring was placed around the glass and glued down, and a precious little blue bird was attached to the foliage. It was just that simple! A couple of thrift store items, a candle ring, a blue bird…and a bit of E6000 glue. The finished candleholder looks whimsical with an LED candle! I use it in a tablescape, surrounded with scatter and fairy lights, and often pair it with my next project, which I called Spring Flower Bed. For the second floral project, I used items I discovered at a local thrift shop (because I love my thrift shops!)—a blue metal plate (that was scratched up) and a well-worn metal vase. When purchased, these became a couple more pieces hidden away in a cabinet for an inexcusable amount of time! But I made up for it in the end… I chose similar white and yellow daisies and flowers (also from Factory Direct Craft) for this project because I wanted something bright, cheerful, and warm. I decided to paint the tray with craft paints to make it look “earthen”, like a real flower bed, but it didn't look finished, so I splattered it with black, white, and grey paint to give it a more textured look. The metal vase was sprayed with a stone textured spray paint (from Michaels) to make it look more like a stone planter in a garden. Once all the paint was dry, the vase was glued into the center of the tray. Oyster votives were glued around the perimeter, and the space in between was filled with small river rocks, all glued into place and allowed to set for a day or two. The oyster votives were eventually stuffed with Spanish moss and faux flowers, and additional floral sprays were set and glued into the vase. Something was missing, so I bought another bird at Michaels to sit on one of the “nests”. This project was quite a bit more work than the first one! Everything—every little stone and every flower—was glued down with E6000 so that nothing would move once set. This second project was a bit more challenging and complicated. This faux floral decor is now one of my go-to pieces for Spring/Summer decor for my home!
I hope you enjoyed a little look at a couple of creative Spring/Summer home decor projects. Are you now inspired to go rummaging through a thrift store near you? Please feel free to share in the comments below any thrift store finds that inspired you to tackle a creative project. This article contains external links for demonstration purposes only, and are not endorsements for specific products or brands. Related blog posts you may want to read: Tropical-themed projects with repurposed dessert cups Strawberry-themed projects with repurposed dessert cups Repurposed vintage candy dishes and cocktail glasses I’ve had an outdoor herb garden with mint, sage, and chives for several years. And boy, are they flourishing this year! Lavender and rosemary were also planted, but neither ever came up. Finding an empty spot in my garden, I decided to pop in some carrots. Time will tell whether they will grow! This year, I decided that I also wanted an indoor herb garden and more of a variety of herbs. The lockdown prevented me from getting all the seeds I wanted, but I did manage to purchase dill, chamomile, cilantro, parsley, and rosemary. The first four I planted in a long planter on my front windowsill, where they get tons of light. Part of my decision to have an indoor herb garden was influenced by the desire to have more indoor plants. I feel better when I am around plants! And I’m pushing myself to learn more about them so that I can better incorporate a variety of plants into my home. So this year, I will cultivate parsley, cilantro, chamomile, and dill indoors. My little plants are looking great so far, but my kitty seems to think the planter is a cat bed and is squishing my precious sprouts! But they seem to be taking the abuse well! The rosemary was planted in a large pot with more chamomile, but the first sprouts died. More were planted--and now some vicious critter keeps digging in my pot! I am just having no luck with rosemary! Maybe I’ll plant it in a pot that stays indoors. I love rosemary. I love cooking with it. I love the smell of it, but I can’t seem to grow it to save my life! Herbs are amazing--not only are they useful in cooking, but they are so fragrant and beautiful! Sage leaves are one of my favorite foliage for the aroma. And the delicate little flowers are beautiful when they are in full bloom! The one issue is that sage and mint take over a space. It looks beautiful, but my chives might get squeezed out! That would be a shame since I love fresh chives, and those purple flowers are simply gorgeous. At some point, I may try to grow some mint indoors, but I may try a different variety—one that is more minty. And I’m still trying to source some catnip seeds for my kitties! Speaking of kitties, a little bit of research turned up some interesting tidbits of information about cat-friendly herbs you can grow. I've also been investigating how to grow herbs indoors to get more tips about what to grow and how to use the herbs--other than for eye candy--so no doubt the number of plants will increase. Anyway, stay tuned for updates, as I will be tracking the growth and progress of my new herbs and taking plenty of photos with my DSLR camera (which I am having too much fun with, by the way).
Feel free to share your experiences with your herb gardens below, and have a great day! Related blog posts you may want to read: Six herbs I planted indoors Let's talk about houseplants Capturing the beautiful details in nature |
Author
Some of the posts on this site contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|
Copyright 2024 |
Major credit cards accepted through Square. Apple Pay option available. This site also accepts PayPal payments for better online security, and it's free to sign up! Gift cards are now available for purchase!
|