Dime Store Chic

Happy About Cyber Monday!

Oh, yes, I decided to join the fray of the vast legions of internet selling sites on Cyber Monday and have a sale! It's a little sale, and I've added a few new things to the shop and everything will be 10% off (details are here). So, if you're on-line on Monday, December 1st from midnight to midnight EST, take a peek into my shop and you may find something that strikes your fancy and for a reduced price!

Have a Happy time with your on-line shopping---a relaxing way to shop!

XXOO, Beth

Tranquility...

I hope everyone had a delightful Thanksgiving! We went down to the river place in Virginia's Northern Neck for an intimate family gathering and to get things ready for winter. Today we bid a fond farewell to the river place as we will not return until spring. We walked around and tranquility was everywhere. No boats disturbed the crisp silence, the stars at night looked like jewels on velvet, and the bare trees revealed that which usually hides behind the leafy bounty of summer. Here are some images I want to share with you...

The Chesapeake Bay meets the sand...

Shells and pine tags washed on the shore...

Pretty tiny pebbles gather in a small pile...

Our dog leaves her mark on the beach...

And finds her big stick...

An old house faces the bay...

Sea grass and a tree house are quiet now...

A Purple Martin house overlooks a pond usually hidden by summer's foliage...

Our dog investigates a neighbor's bottle tree...

And Holly berries are in profusion in their holiday glory...Have a lovely rest of your weekend!~~~XXOO, Beth

An American Tradition...

Happy Thanksgiving! We all have things we are thankful for. One of things I am thankful for is I live in a country with "rich" traditions. I present to you, my dear blogland friends, a yearly tradition that happens every Thanksgiving Eve, The Presidential Turkey Pardon:

 

I lifted the text below from the official White House website:

"This year marks the 61st anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation. Though live Thanksgiving turkeys have been presented intermittently to presidents since the Lincoln administration, the current ceremony dates to 1947, when the first National Thanksgiving Turkey was presented to President Harry Truman.

The presentation at times has brushed against broader history. For example, the November 1963 event was one of President Kennedy's last in the Rose Garden. The first President Bush conducted the 1990 ceremony just before leaving for Thanksgiving with the troops in the Persian Gulf region. President Clinton in 1996 returned from an Asian summit and literally went directly to the ceremony.

The 2008 National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate are from Ellsworth, Iowa and were raised under the direction of National Turkey Federation Chairman Paul Hill. The 20-week old turkey, weighed about 45 pounds, when he was driven to Washington.

The National Thanksgiving Turkey was raised using normal feeding and other production techniques. The one exception is they were provided increased interaction with people so that they would be prepared for their role at the White House Ceremony.

After the presentation, the turkey will be flown first class to Disneyland Resort in Southern California, where he will be the grand marshal of "Disney's Thanksgiving Day Parade." After the parade, guests will be able to visit the turkey in Frontierland section."

So, if you're in the Walt Disney World area, go check out Pumpkin and Pecan. That's the name of the turkey and the turkey's alternate as selected by vote on the White House website. I voted for the names Dawn and Early Light. I really need to find something else to do in my free time :)

Have a Happy Happy Thanksgiving! I know I will! Gobble gobble gobble...XXOO, Beth

Show Your Corsages with Pride!

Thank you all for stopping by my blog and checking out my corsage tutorial on the previous post. I am thrilled to hear from many of you who are going to craft some corsage goodness for yourself and loved ones! Yay you! Please share your creations on December 7th, on your blog, on Show And Tell Corsage Day!

Here's how it works:

1. Please leave me a comment BY Sunday, November 30th, on THIS post telling me you would like to participate. I will collect your blog link and hold on to it until December 7th.
2. Make a corsage, or several! This is the FUN part!!!!
3. On Sunday, December 7th post pictures of your corsage on YOUR blog. I will do a Show and Tell Corsage post on that day linking folks to YOUR blog to check out your creation! It's that simple!

So, check out my tutorial, but please try variations of color, ornaments, and bits and bobs~~That's what makes it so fun!

Here are some recent examples of corsages I created and have listed in my etsy shop.

I have made a Christmas ornament corsage, enamel flower brooch corsage, a vintage crochet corsage, and a FUN birthday corsage using vintage candle holders. You can see that you can add SO many different things to your corsage to make it special for you!

Here is a photo from 1952 of my mother, in her senior year of high school, at Easter with my grandmother. They are wearing lush corsages, my inspiration for the corsages I create!

So, get crafting and I hope to see your work on December 7th!~~~XXOO, Beth

Make a Lush Holiday Corsage~~Your Grandma Would be Proud!

I love making these ribbon corsages! They remind me of back when one of my great aunts or grandmothers would wear this holiday "bling" on their coats!~~These corsages are delightfully over-the-top and really make a statement if worn on a jean jacket or tote. They are very easy to make and can be designed to suit any holiday or occasion. Here's how to make one...or dozens; it's up to you!

First gather some supplies:

You'll need four lengths of two different colors and/or textures of ribbon. I chose four seven inch length of 1-1/2 inch wide vintage gold and new pink grosgrain ribbons. Mix and match colors or you may chose to use one color. You'll also need four lengths of thinner ribbon (I chose gold and pink satin ribbons at 1/4 inch wide). What goes in the center of the corsage is up to you. If you can find them, aluminum light reflectors make great "trays" to hold the vintage and new bits and bobs for your corsage. Also gather flocked birds, millinery flowers,bits of tinsel, small ornaments, plastic flower beads, and anything else you can think of. It's your choice!

You'll also need needle and thread, glue (I like Scotch quick-dry adhesive because of the precision tip), scissors, a fabric scrap, iron-interfacing scrap, and a pin backing.

Here's the first step. This is easy. I promise...

Sew right sides of your ribbon together with about a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Turn right side out.

Then, step two (see? I told you this is easy)...

Criss-cross the ribbons, hand sewing them together. I like to stitch them in pairs and then stitch the pairs together. Running stitches in a circle in the center of the ribbon loops make the loops stay together very well. Make sure the seams are in the center and not on the outside of the loops.

Then, on to step three...

Repeat the criss-crossing with the narrower ribbon, over lapping contrasting colors over the wider ribbon, and sew down near the center. Then take your aluminum reflector and sew it down--this puts it tighter against the ribbons than glue, but you make choose to glue the reflector down if you feel it will be secure. Instead of a reflector, you may make a "Yo-yo" of ribbon by making a running stitch along one side of a ribbon loop and gathering the ribbon until you have a circular ribbon Yo-yo.)

Now, step four, the really fun part!...

Glue, glue, glue you vintage bits and bobs down, layering millinery flowers, bits of tinsel, ornaments, a plastic flower, beads, and the bird. You may layer your items first in a small dish without gluing, of course, to get an idea of how to place them on your corsage. You'll not want to stop adding your items once you get started, and that's the hardest part, stopping. Just remember you can make another and another and...

The final step!...

Iron on a scrap of interfacing onto your fabric scrap. Cut out with decorative pinking or scalloped scissors. Sew on pin back  and make a little tag, because you are proud of your creation, I just know you are! Glue the backing down, allow it to dry completely, and then wear your creation with pride!

I love making these and am happy to offer them on etsy just in case you'd rather me do the work, which I am thrilled to do for you! Thanks for looking at my tutorial, and happy happy crafting!~~~XXOO, Beth

Happy Holiday Memories As I Craft...

Good morning, my blogland friends!~~~

After breathing in more than my fair share of glitter, twisting countless wire strands, and shooing the cat from the table dozens of times, I have completed four wreaths. Two are made from vintage plastic flowers and lots of vintage ornaments for that delightful Dime Store Decor look that I LOVE! And two other wreaths are glittery and sparkling with lots of ornaments, tinsel, and those fabulous aluminum light reflectors I found earlier in the week.

I love how those wreaths turned out. They remind me so much of my childhood Christmas when sparkle was all over our balsam tree bought from a straw-covered strip of land at the corner of Forest Hill Avenue and Belt Boulevard in Richmond, Virginia. Mom and Dad would take me and my two little brothers there and we would race around the trees illuminated by strands of bare lightbulbs hanging from poles. My parents always selected a balsam with lots of space between the skinny branches for the ornaments and lead icicles--yes, lead. Dad would put light reflectors behind the bulbs which were multi-colored and huge! I would stand on the ladder when he wasn't using it and sing "Partridge in a Pear Tree" until my Mother would call from the kitchen and beg me to stop--I guess me singing that song once was OK, but I liked to sing it over and over again. Our tree was so bright and I loved it. I would lay under it and stare up in the branches all lit and dripping with those lead icicle and imagine that I was the size of Tom Thumb and could climb the tree. I still say one of the best views of a Christmas tree is from beneath the branches and looking up.

Here is what I looked like back in those days...

The top photo is of me and my brothers. I was about seven and as you can see I got an Easy Bake Oven that year and a Mattel Thing Maker--it was essentially a hot plate with molds and plastic goop. I burned myself a lot on that toy, but I loved the cool plastic flowers it made. The bottom picture is me at age five with the Miller & Rhoads department store Santa in downtown Richmond. I look like I'm either sleepy or in stunned shock. These days Mom and Dad are still decorating a tree, but it's smaller these days and I can't get under it. One of my brothers (the happy fellow in the middle of the photo) is sadly no longer with us, but he has three wonderful daughters who have his sparkle and wit and have turned out into wonderful young women.

As I create my holiday crafts, I honor my holiday memories by using the very things which would have been in our house back in the 60's when every single day to this little girl named Beth was filled with possibility of making crafts, laying under the tree, and of getting away with singing one more round of "Partridge in a Pear Tree."

Here is a sneak peek of the wreaths I'll be listing on etsy beginning at 3 p.m. EST today along with other holiday goodies...

Thank you, my friends, for letting me indulge in memories and a little shameless promotion. XXOO, Beth

Wreath Weekend!

I dragged every bit of my wreath-making supplies up from my studio and have taken over the dining room table.

I took the above photo at 6:30 this morning. I am excited to craft my vintage corsage wreaths to list next week in my etsy shop. I have saved up shiny and bright baubles and bits...

Millinery flowers that I take from hats...

Here is what the dining room table looked like at 8 this morning...

This is my tiny part of the table where I wire, snip, and glue. And here's my job supervisor making sure that I stay on task...

 

And here are some corsages on the kitchen counter waiting for the glue to dry and for me to insert them into the wreath base...

It's going to be a long crafty weekend...and I'll love every single minute of it! I did (and foolishly so) ask hubby if he would like to join me, and all I got was a crazed look as if I had lost my mind. Perhaps I did, but craft mania knows no bounds or perhaps I had snorted far too much glitter...anyway you'll get to see the finished products next week! Cheers and get crafting!~~~XXOO, Beth

Thrift Store Karma

Ever since I saw the article in Mary Engelbreit Home Companion about aluminum reflectors, I wanted some! My father used them on our Christmas tree in the 60's and 70's, but I don't know if they still have them since they switched to twinkle lights. But I wanted some! I wanted to craft with them. Ideas are just swirling in my little dime store brain. Well, today karma gave me a kick in the pants:

After a trip to the post office and the bank, I went to one of the local thrift shops. I don't frequent this one much as the owner thinks she is running an antique shop, except around Christmas time. The prices on Christmas stuff are very reasonable. I got these three boxes for 90 cents. That's right, 90 cents. I would have missed them as they were shoved way in back of a low shelf. I about tripped over my own two feet to get them. Aren't they wonderful?

I can't wait to begin crafting with them. I'm tossing thrift store pixie dust your way in hopes you will find that sought after item for a ridiculously low price!~~~XXOO, Beth

Delightful Saturday!

Hello Blogland Friends!~~~

Yesterday Suzy and I participated in our first craft show. We usually prefer to sell our creations on-line, but since this show was in my backyard at my son's high school, I just had to join in. What a fun day! We had a steady stream of customers, met old and new friends, and enjoyed ourselves to bits! Here are a few views of our booth set up in the cafeteria:

We went for COLOR! Can you tell?

 
We were so lucky to have a sweet space on the end of the row with shelves already there! We made good use of them after Suzy covered them with tissue paper. I made fabric pennants to add a cheerful note and brought in my pink feather tree to display Suzy fab vintage ornament shadowboxes.

Our neighbor had a wall of white between us. We weren't brave enough to ask him if we could hang one of our pennant banners on his wall, so things looked kind of stark on this end.

Sue of Vintage Rescue Squad stopped by and scooped up some of Suzy's shadowbox ornaments. She stayed with us for a while chatting. We really loved seeing her and her dear friend!

It was a delightful day! Now, I must concentrate on filling my etsy shop to the rafters with fun one-of-a-kind goodies. I will be adding new items each day this week and I will put some older creations on sale!~~~Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!~~~XXOO, Beth

Adamstown Loot, A Shout-Out, and An Announcement

As I mentioned in the previous post, we spent the weekend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. On Sunday we drove the brief distance up from Lancaster to Admastown "The Antique Capital of America." They aren't kidding! Antique malls lines Route 272. Some are wonderful, some are too pricey for my tastes, and some are just plain odd. I was too involved with hopping from the truck and dashing into mall after mall to take pics of them--and it wouldn't have mattered as the camera batteries died. But I did, after we got home, take pics of my loot!

I found a wonderful variety of stuff, most to use in my creations.

Lots of fun glittery, kitschy costume jewelry no more than a dollar each. Love the daisy pin and earrings on the left!

Over a dozen vintage Christmas corsage picks! What fun!

Some of the antique malls, like Renniger's, had folks selling outside in the brisk breeze. Many were packing up to leave so I managed to snag a few great deals, like this wonderful pink poodle apron for $2.

I usually don'y buy feedsack--have way yoo many--but I couldn't resist this cute deer and pink ribbon design.

This candy box was only a dollar and I just had to add her to my decor and possibly use her as a gift box in the future. The fun flowery wallpaper border--a whole roll!--was a steal at $2. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I know I'll do something!

I had a great time in Adamstown. Hubby and son were very patient walking around with me. Son even bought a few Star Wars things. He's quite the haggler!

Today I recieved a delightful package from my blogland pal, Kim. I just love Ann Taintor, don't you?

Kim has the most wonderful shop, Maxwell General, and her blog, Camp Whimsy, is a delight to visit! Thanks so much, Kim!

I have been crafting my fingers to the bone--and happily so-- as I have two big events coming up. The first one is Suzy and I are participating as one of over 60 happy vendors at the Falls Church High School Craft Show on November 8th from 9-3. I usally don't do craft shows, but this is my son's high school, and I thought it would be fun, especially since Suzy is joining me with her fabulous creations! If you live in the Washington, DC area, we would LOVE to see you! Admission is free and the school is right off the Beltway!

Following the craft show, I will be spending next week (Nov. 9-15) adding LOTS of new things to my etsy shop! I will be adding new totes, pin cushions, and ribbon brooches to my shop EVERY DAY! And after that I will be adding more corsage wreaths and other goodies to my etsy shop just in time for gift giving. So, please stop by, and you may just find that perfect something for yourself or a special someone!~~~Take good care, and have a wonderful rest of your week!~~~XXOO, Beth