DIY VINTAGE HEARTS

Hello, Hello, Hello!!!

Wow: It has been a long time since I've written a blog post.  The holidays are over and it's a new year so I thought it was time to revisit this abandoned bit of internet space and reconnect with my friends.  I hate that I lost touch with you all.  

Last year was a crazy year - I'm sure you all will agree and I'm hoping to return to some normalcy this year if possible thus - a return to writing and sharing all things vintage, crafty and fun.  

So, today I thought I would start with a really easy, fun, and cute little vintage heart that you can use for your tiered trays, holiday trees, baskets, or just sit on your shelves for some cuteness. 

These are easy to do and you can have a whole basket of them done in no time - and... the best part is you can use things you probably have lying around the house.

DIY Kitchen Shelf Unit

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 When we moved into this house the previous owners left us with a beat up old unfinished shelf unit in the garage that had seen better days.  However, it was still quite sturdy and I felt very functional even though Mr. VPM and T felt like it had seen its best days and needed to be sent to the dump.  So, I set out to prove them wrong and turn it into a pretty little Kitchen Shelf Unit.  I love when I can recycle something that is headed for the dump and make it into something useful and beautiful.

Vintage Dining Room Makeover Done on a Budget

This post contains affiliate links.

Last year I took a long hiatus due to some health issues that I needed to tend to.  While I was recuperating I was able to work on a few projects around our house that I hadn't had the energy to tackle before.  I was able to take my time and some of the projects actually took several months to complete.  Today I want to share our dining room makeover with you - taking it from beachy to vintage on a budget. This actually took me about 5 months to complete. But I think it was so worth it.  I am totally in love with the new room. Let's see what you think.

DIY Vintage Kitchen Sign

Summer is here and with that comes the beautiful sunny days, blue skies and warm ocean breezes you find at the beach but it also brings the hot temps which I am not so fond of.  When the heat indices start climbing toward 110 I hibernate inside with the air conditioning, a nice glass of ice tea and a fun project.  Today is one of those days so grab your glass of sweet tea and come join me as I share how I made this cute DIY vintage kitchen sign with you. 

Rustic Potting Bench Makes a Vintage Industrial Table

Good morning friends.

I love a bargain as I am sure most of you all do also. Last week "T" found a little rustic table and thought I would like it so he brought it home to see if I could find a place for it. Can I say I didn't just like it - I Loved It. And I think you will too ...

Vintage Industrial Light

**This post contains a partnership with Parrot Uncle, I was provided with a light and am giving my honest review of it. All opinions and text are my own.**

Hi everyone.  I have been a bit MIA lately as you may have noticed.  Our family had a medical emergency that required my undo attention but all is well and things are perking along just fine.  

If you all have been following me for a while you know that about a year ago we moved into a new home and have been slowly making some changes to it ( we have yet to complete a single room!)  Our latest project has been to paint the entire downstairs area - this turned out to be a huge project for hubby and I and is still yet to be completed.  The area I am sharing with you today is the kitchen eat in area.

This is what it looked like when we moved in and we have done nothing to it except let things accumulate here - do you have an area like that?  (I think every house has one.) We did get the painting almost done in here. However we have 10" ceilings and that little bit requires standing on a ladder (something I don't do and hubby hasn't been able to do). Hopefully we will soon be able to finish that little bit and move on to the rest of the room.  (You can actually see that small area in the picture below.)

This is the light hanging in that little area and although there is nothing wrong with it I wanted something a bit different as I am working towards a vintage industrial look in here.  So when a company called Parrot Uncle contacted me and asked if I would be interested in working with them I jumped at the chance.  A new ceiling light was just the thing I had been looking for to get this makeover started off. 

I found exactly what I was looking for with this Rustic Industrial Style Pendant Light with Black Shade and Cage.  I love the wire cage it has - it reminds me so much of a vintage fan and the black metal has that awesome industrial feel I am going for.  This light has an 18" diameter and the chain and wire has a 39" length for hanging. And most importantly it is so vintage industrial!

Parrot Uncle has so many options that I honestly had a very difficult time choosing just which one I wanted in this area.  They have refined industrial home lighting  and inexpensive vintage pendent lights - something to fit every budget.  There is also a huge sale happening on their web site right now - just in time for the holidays. And Parrot Uncle offers free shipping and free returns.  

"T" changed the light out for me one evening.  It was a simple switch out - connecting the existing wires to those on the light. The only problem we had was the bracket that held the light's bolts were not in alignment with our ceiling bracket so he had to drill a couple of holes that did line up.  Easy fix and only took a couple extra minutes. 

Here it is all installed and hanging beautifully.  I just have to pick up one of the Edison light bulbs for it to make it look more authentic.  I love the black against the new grey of the walls that we now have.  

So if you're in the market for a new light jump on over to Parrot Uncle and check out what they have - so many beautiful styles to choose from - I think you will surely find one you love that will fit in your decor. I know I have my eye on a couple more.

We finally found the exact pieces we want for this area at a new to us thrift store we we visited a couple weeks ago.  However, they are requiring a lot of work to transform them into that vintage industrial look I want. 

Until next time enjoy creating something you love.

I will be linking to the parties listed on the Where I Party page. Please be sure to go by and visit them - I'm sure you'll love all the creativity and inspiration you'll find there.  

Vintage Christmas Wreath

 I think you'll find today's project a little something unexpected.  At least it was for me.  When I found a bag of vintage jello molds (12 for $1) at the thrift store I really had no idea what I was going to do with them let alone make a Vintage Christmas Wreath out of them.  But, I needed a project for a group and these jello molds were sitting on my work desk begging me to do something with them.  I couldn't leave them sitting there so I created a great project for them.  

Isn't this adorable - so whimsical and unexpected.  You would never believe it's made with vintage jello molds.  But with a little paint and glitter, I was able to transform them into this great little Vintage Christmas Wreath.

Vintage Vignette for Fall

Hi everyone.  Can you believe Halloween is this Saturday - my how these days are flying by.  It will soon be time to start getting things ready for Christmas.  I'm not sure I am ready for this as it seems January was just last week.  However it is still Fall and today I am going to share a Vintage Vignette for Fall that I did in our hallway.

Blue Pumpkin Centerpiece

I was out thrift shopping a couple of weeks ago when I ran across these very cool ceramic pumpkins.  Now, granted, they didn't look like much in the thrift store - being all brown and shiny but, I knew I could make them something totally different that would fit into the decor of our home.  Most of my Fall decor is done with the amazing colors Mother Nature sets before us at this time of year - yellows, oranges, rusts, and browns. But, sometimes I like to switch things up a bit.  This year I am doing a lot of neutrals in my living/dining room with some touches of blue.  So, I decided to paint these not so pretty brown pumpkins blue.

Fall Mantel for 2015

Good morning everyone.  Cooler temperatures have found their way here and although it isn't cold it's definitely better than the high 80's we were having.  Fall was far from my mind this year as most of you know. However,  I love Fall so much I had to incorporate it into our home. So simplicity was my main goal.  Today I am going to share our 2015 Fall Mantel with you.

Simple Fall Vignette with a Vintage Pitcher

Hi everyone, I have a simple fall vignette I did with a vintage pitcher that I would like to share with you today.

  

Patriotic Mantel

Good morning everyone. 

I have finally been able to start putting some summer touches in our decor but with all the activities going on here it's been hard to get much done.  Today I want to share our summer mantel. I decided to do a Patriotic mantel to celebrate all our summer holidays - Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July and even Labor Day.  That way I won't have to worry about changing it again for awhile. And with the goings on around here that's great news.

Summer in the Entryway

Good morning everyone. 

So this week - after all the end of school activities, graduation exercises and parties, and a visit from a special out of town guest -  I decided to do a  bit of tweaking and bring summer into our entryway.  I felt it was time to finally take down all the Spring decor - you know all those cute little rabbits and eggs - time for them to go away till next year.  I didn't do much to change it from Spring to Summer but it does look different. 

This is how it looked for Spring.

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Vintage Flower Box - Guest Post

Good morning everyone.

 Hope you are all doing great and enjoying this tremendously beautiful weather we are having.  I am over at The V Spot doing a guest post for Vivienne.  I am sharing the cutest little vintage flower box I made from a thrifted wood box I found. So jump on over and check it out.  I think you're going to love it. I do.

If you want to be sure you don't miss anything please sign up for my emails in the box at the top of this post.

Until next time have fun creating something you love.

Spring Table Centerpiece

Good morning everyone.  Hope Spring has finding you as it has us.  Last week was Spring break and we spent it in the mountains and enjoyed every minute of it.  Now I am in full blown Spring fever mode.  So today I thought I would show you our Spring table centerpiece.
  

Hydrangeas

We were having such beautiful Spring weather this past week then suddenly a cold front decided to move through and with it brought some freezing temps.  At least it wasn't the snow some of you are still experiencing.  But I have a brand new hydrangea bush and it had such beautiful blossoms on it I didn't want them to freeze.  So I decided to bring them in and enjoy them indoors.

DIY Book Jackets

I love using old books in my decor.  I think they just give it a little more of that vintage look I love.    I also like to use different techniques to make them fit into the style I am using at the time.  Today I thought I would show you how to do a DIY book jacket that I use to change those books up in all sorts of ways. This jacket gives you the ability to customize those old books to fit your decor no matter the color or style.

Plain Tins Turned Trendy

Good morning everyone.  I was at the Dollar Tree the other day when I happened on these little tins.  They were cute but the colors were all wrong and they were pretty plain - I almost passed them by.  Then an idea struck and  I knew I could alter them to make them really trendy and fit into our present decor.

So I bought these plain little tins to work a little magic on.

Spring in the Entryway

Good morning everyone.  Today I thought I would bring you a little more Spring by showing you our Spring entryway.  I wanted to keep it vintage and neutral this year and I think I achieved that with the items I chose.

French Graphic Window

Before I get into today's post I need to address an issue we just discovered.  Remember signing up for Vintage, Paint and more's emails so you wouldn't miss any of the projects and tutorials?  Well, we just discovered that they were being blocked due to a technical issue.  But with the help of an expert in this field we were able to get that issue resolved and now you will be receiving those emails just as you signed up for them.  Thank you so much for your patience in this manner and if you have any questions just ask in the comments below.  I will get back to you.


Well, we have turned the clocks forward, the sun has decided to start shining here and the temps are supposed to be in the high 60's to low 70's all week.  So I must say I think Spring has finally arrived at my house.  I am so thrilled - it has been a long dreary winter for sure.  So to celebrate Spring today I am going to share a pretty little window I did for my Spring mantel which I will be sharing soon.