Pink Roses

DIY Friday: vintage journal...

After my flea market adventure last Friday, I was inspired to use some of my vintage finds to make a journal. 

I used the covers from some old books as the pages, and embellished them with a little bit of everything!

The books I used were not the same height or width, but were close in size.  I cut the covers off the books with an exacto knife, and used the front and back cover of the tallest book (the tan one) as the front and back cover of the journal.  Because my pages were very 3 dimensional, I only used one cover of each of the other books, 7 covers total...5 pages plus the front and back cover.

I punched holes in the covers with a crop-o-dile, and held it all together with 2" binder rings from the office supply store.  The outside edges of the journal are the smooth edges, and the "spine" is the cut edges of the book covers. Here is the cover : lace, millinery, satin ribbon, and a rhinestone pin...

 

The back side of each cover was covered in assorted papers, and a piece of watercolor paper was added as a blank spot for journaling on some. Here is the inside cover and page 2: a vintage dress pattern,  lace trim, velvet ribbon, a millinery rose, and a vintage calling card...

I hadn't added the journaling spots when I took these photos...sheet music, bridal lace, a vintage embroidered hankie, and a milagro tied on with ribbon...

The next page has a piece of vintage barkcloth with a bit of padding behind, so it can be used to "pin" on items, including a vintage enamel flower pin from my collection.

The next page has more vintage barkcloth and lace, and I laced seam binding to make a place to hold journaling tags, business cards, etc.

The back of this cover has vintage wallpaper and more lacing (like a corset), to hold more journaling.  I may not actually use these tags for my journaling...I just put them here to show you a possibility.

The last page has a round doily cut in half, then sewn to form a corner pocket to hold notes, cards, etc...

The back side also has a pocket...

This journal is sturdy and thick and just filled with all the vintage things I love and collect...and it was SO much fun to make!

  It would make a great guest book at a wedding!

DIY Friday: {easy} linzer cookies...

 

There are a million great cookie dough recipes out there, but sometimes I take the easy way out, and use good old Pillsbury...

 

I like to make bite sized cookies because they are so darn cute.  Little things are always cuter it seems!  I use little canapé and hors d'oeuvre cutters (yard sale find: $1.00), but any small heart shaped cutter will do.

 

To make linzer cookies: roll out the cookie dough and cut into heart shapes, bake according to recipe/package directions.  When cool, take 2 cookies and make a little "cookie sandwich" with raspberry jam in the middle.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar. YUM!

 

Then the fun part...packaging them!  I used regular waxed paper from the grocery store, and sewed little bags that would hold 3 or 4 cookies each.

Leave one side longer, so that you can fold it over as a flap.

You can cut the edges with decorative scissors, and decorate the flap with ribbon, paper hearts, a little tag...there is no limit!

They make pretty little gifts for everyone on your Valentine's list!

{Today I'm happy to be linking up with Beverly and PINK SATURDAY !}

DIY Friday: vintage valentine boxes...

Oh yes, I know it's Sunday, but I'm finally posting my Friday project!  My Friday craft day turned into a mother-daughter day instead, and I just couldn't turn down a chance to have lunch and shop with that girl of mine!  My project this week has been to redo some new Heart shaped candy boxes...

I actually bought these last year after Valentines Day for 75 cents and have been saving them for this project.  I still have a few I'm working on, but I thought I would post what I've done so far.

This first is a box for my daughter, and I used crepe paper and a vintage millinery flower, and some pale green ribbon that was wrapped around my flowers in her wedding.  Yes, I save everything :)

I folded the crepe paper streamer not quite in half, I wanted there to be a double ruffle, then basted it on my sewing machine and gathered the ruffles.  I used a hot glue gun to glue on 2 rows of ruffles.  As you can see, I covered the top of the heart with an old book page first, just to cover the red box.  I had the crepe paper extend over the edge of the box, so this box looks larger than the bright pink box, but they are the same box.

I covered the sides of the box with paper as well, and then added rick rack.  All the underside edges were covered in German glass glitter.

This box is for my sons girlfriend Katie, and she likes brighter colors...

For this heart I covered the top with a book page, then covered it in lace.  I added some velvet ribbon in bright pink ( from an old Victoria's Secret box), and a great vintage millinery rose.

the sides have paper and lace seam binding, and glitter as well.  I"m still working on a few more, and will update this post later this week.  Here are a few vintage boxes I found on Pinterest to further inspire you!

This belongs to my friend Heather Kowalski...

The next two photos are from Jessica Enig of Such Pretty Things...

DIY Friday: fabric hearts...

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, it seems a good time for heart shaped projects.  I've had hearts on my mind since I saw the class that Pam Garrison and Charlotte Lyons are teaching at French General this weekend.  Oh, how I would love to go!

So, when my friend Danielle Muller asked me to be in her Valentine Heart swap, my response was YES, YES, YES!

I used a vintage linen napkin to make my hearts.  I sewed it and stuffed it, then hand sewed on some vintage lace from a wedding dress.  I added a velvet flower from an old hat, and some pearl buttons to attach the ribbon.

It's a great way to use up scraps...now I'm off to make a few more!

DIY Friday: lace cards...

 

Does your collection of lace and trims look something like this?  Are you one step away from an episode of Hoarders?  Me too!  I've been trying to sort through and organize my studio space and realized I have bags and boxes filled with bits and pieces of lace and ribbon and trim.  I had to do something!  Originally I thought I would do this from the French blog Tempus Fugit...

These cards are so lovely, and would be a great way to present lace as a gift.  My friend Lisa Johnson always wraps things up beautifully, and once sent me lace wrapped on vintage thread spools. {LOVE}

My stash was out of hand, so I needed something quick and cheap and handy, so I went with regular old shipping tags from the office supply store.

I'm just wrapping and pinning the lace to the cards.  Sometimes I have been adding a scrap piece of ribbon or trim.

These tags have actually been stained with coffee-I had them left over from the wedding tag gate.

This project is so simple and gives you FAST results!  In less than an hour I had a basket full of cards wrapped in lace, that were organized and cute!  Seeing results inspires me to keep organizing...I hope this inspires you too!

DIY Friday: journals...

Well there's nothing like a new year to give us a fresh start, a clean slate to make our own.  Like a kid on the first day of school, I like to start the new year with a journal.  My journals usually end up being lists and thoughts and scraps of life, but that's how I like it.  Here are a few journals I've made in the past, with a few "how-to's".  I signed up for the Mary Ann Moss online journal class REMAINS OF THE DAY, and just so you know, it's on sale for $45.00 through the end of the month.  Can't wait to get started on that!  Instructions for the journals above can be found on the post I wrote HERE.  This simple journal below was made with a vintage photo folder. I took the photo from the inside, and glued it on the outside and added a few embellishments. Then I cut and folded 2 pieces of paper to fit the inside, and sewed them in on a sewing machine.  Super fast and easy.

This tag journal was a project with Emily Falconbridge called 52Q...one tag each week for a year.  It is a chunky, eclectic time capsule of the year, and I would like to make another one.  This was a FUN project and Emily has all the details on her blog HERE.

This quick and easy journal was made the night before I was leaving to spend the weekend with my friend Karla Nathan.  I wanted something to record the weekends adventures.  Turns out, with Karla, you need a MUCH BIGGER book! :)  I showed how to make it HERE.

I made this little accordion book (2 chipboard squares for covers, one long piece of heavy art paper folded between)

 

to house photos and lists and scraps of things I collect.  I took a few actual items to Kinko's and put them on the color copier (the silverware, plate, and enamel flower pins).  I got some unusual stares.

 

This was from a class taught by Rebecca Sower...I love everything she does.

A complete hodge podge of materials, all held together with large metal rings.  No two were alike, because we all used vintage materials.  Of course, pink roses always manage to find their way into my work!

Or you can use pre-made plain chipboard shapes, and cover them with your own papers, like I did in this class with Pam Garrison. 

Her journals are breathtakingly beautiful, and her journaling style is fantastic. When it comes to journals, she's kind of my hero!

I know there are loads of great journaling instructions out there, these are just a few of the different ones I have made.  If you have a great site for journal inspiration, perhaps even your own blog, please leave a link in the comments...I would love to see!

something new...

I'm going to try something new for me here on the blog...I want to start posting a project a week.  It might be big, it might be small, something old, something new.  I encourage you to chime in, and leave links, if it's something you are interested in.  Hopefully we can inspire/motivate/teach each other as the weeks go by.  I have lots of things on my going to do list, and maybe this will get them done!  I'm calling it DIY Friday, and the first post will be today.  I like to start out the new year with a new journal, so that's what the first post is about...journals.  see you soon!