Vintage Garden Books Repurposed

Apparently I was born into the wrong century or something because the things that visually stimulate and inspire me are always vintage.  Vintage books are another thing that I find an absolute joy to behold, but it can be tricky to find ways to display them so that you can bask in all that vintage goodness.

Here are some ways you can make those old lovelies functional and bring some vintage art to your space.

Vintage Book Chalkboards...

Use these for notes, reminders, phone messages, and more.
Sometimes the book titles are great but the covers themselves are a bit lackluster. In that case, I add images or objects that fit the theme to make them more appealing.

Vintage Book Hooks...

Use for key holders, jewelry displays or scarves.

Again, if the covers are completely dull, sometimes they need a little more, but oftentimes they're wonderful just the way they are.

It almost always "hurts" me to glue an old book shut, to drill or screw into it and make it unreadable.  But most of these books have been found in places where they've been donated because no one wants to read them anymore.

Every so often I find a gem that needs to be read and kept as a book, but many times these wonderful old covers have not-so-wonderful contents.

Re-purposing might be a nice way to appreciate books 

whose original purpose has come and gone.

Get Your DIY On

Vintage Inspiration Party @ Beyond the Picket Fence

Vintage Plates Say "Spring" part two

Here are some more ideas for vintage plate decor that reflects the season, your sense of humor, or some much-needed inspiration.  My  local Goodwill stores are always full of pretty vintage plates, usually marked 49 cents or 99 cents.  Once you have some water-slide decal paper for your inkjet printer, the fun really begins. You can choose some of your favorite quotes or Bible verses, using fonts and ideas that "match" your plates.

You can find information about water-slide decals at a blog called The Polka Dot Closet.  One update I have to Carol's information is that using other brands of spray clear sealer will very likely cause your decals to yellow and become brittle over time (I found that out the hard way). You will probably want to invest in the much more expensive spray-on Decal Fixative that is sold on the same website where the decals are purchased:

http://www.texascraft.com/hps/Inkjet-Waterslide-Decal-Paper/

If you love words and inspirational sayings like I do, and if you find the "art" of vintage plates as appealing as I find it, this is a very inexpensive way to add some whimsy, color, and wisdom to your home!

Get Your DIY On

Vintage Inspiration Party @ Beyond the Picket Fence

Vintage Linens Wreath for Spring

I love old embroidered linens.  LOVE them.  It's wonderful to hold something in my hands that was lovingly made so long ago.  I have a stash of these that are mostly stained or damaged in some way.  I know I can make pillows from some of them, but I wanted to find another way to use them.  Sometimes inspiration strikes when we least expect it.  In this case, it was two straw wreath forms at a thrift store that gave me my 'aha' moment.

First, I wrapped the entire straw form in strips from a vintage white sheet.  Next,
simply cut out the pretty parts of your old stained linens and arrange them around your straw wreath form.  I also wrapped some vintage reproduction fabric pieces from my stash.

Just keep adding fabric, pieces of lace, parts of vintage hankies and bits of embroidery that you salvaged from your stained vintage linens.  

I hot-glued everything but you could also use fabric glue.

After the entire straw form was covered, I decided to add some 

flower petals and leaves and a Bible verse from Song of Solomon.

Those stained linens that were packed away in a box are now 

visible again...looking pretty...showing off their best parts.

Get Your DIY On

Vintage Inspiration Party @ Beyond the Picket Fence

Vintage Plates Say "Spring!"

I DO love snow.  Really.  I DO.

Look at the loveliness outside my living room windows.

Well.  The sky is gray, the plant material is brown.

But other than that, it's lovely, right?

However, when it hovers just above or below zero, it's not as though

you can go outside and play or anything.

It IS pretty.  I DO love it.  I said that already.

Ahem.  Time to start thinking spring and gardening
and COLOR outside my windows.

There's a great product called water-slide decals that I learned about at
a blog I follow, The Polka Dot Closet.

I visit Goodwill and buy pretty plates, then I design my own
water-slide decals to mount on the plates.

The plates are usually 50 cents to a dollar.
The water-slide decals add another dollar or less.
For just a tiny expense, I have some lovely, inspirational wall art to sell or keep.  It will tide me over until the Gray and Brown Season is ended.
Only about three months to go.
Sigh.

Linked with Project Inspire(d) at An Extraordinary Day   Tweak-It-Tuesday at Cozy Little House