25 Days Till Christmas!!!!!!

December 1st !!!!!

Christmas is roaring toward us like a freight train! I don't know about you, but I haven't even begun to decorate. I think I'm looking at a few all-nighters coming my way!


Then, of course, I made this silly pledge to myself to post EVERY day till Christmas. Easier said than done! I'm taking the easy way out tonight and re-running a post from the past.

I'm not just really proud of my aunt who made this jewelry tree (and many others like it), it also makes for a fantastic project and a really eye-catching, conversation starting decoration for the season. (I believe if I report this enough, for enough years, I'll get around to making one myself. I already have a bunch of pieces put away to get started with.)

A number of years ago, my aunt made what I thought was a really unique and spectacular holiday decoration for her home. She used to get it out and hang it in early November and leave it up through about mid-January (sometimes later). She now lives in a retirement apartment complex and it hangs on her living room wall year round.

She made this absolutely stunning Christmas tree from various pieces of bright, sparkly costume jewelry! This first of her trees (She's made quite a few since then.), was made using various pieces of jewelry with a family history.

Some people are "clothes horses", well, my grandmother (her M-I-L) was a "jewelry horse." She particularly loved huge, heavy earrings. (She had very large ear lobes. We all believe the weight of the earrings stretched them out!) When my grandmother passed and her belongings were distributed among the family, no one really wanted to wear those humongous earrings. Aunt M. put quite a few of them into this tree. There were other jewelry "remnants" floating about and they, too, found their way into this tree. The bigger and brighter the better!

The tree is fairly heavy and is mounted on a piece of plywood covered in velvet. I believe she used a jeweler's glue to secure the stones. Many friends and acquaintances have come to her and asked for help in making a tree to display some of their family jewels, too.

Along the way, she has made quite a few as gifts or to sell at various bazaars and such. The best places to find such jewels are yard sales, church bazaars with white elephant tables and flea markets.(Those old-fashioned brooches are true finds with this project in mind!)


Of course, you should start with the jewelry box you've been stashing those orphaned earrings in!

Do you have "Family Heirlooms"?

Most of the items in the vintage section of my shop have come from all the various nooks and crannies around the house. No buy and resell here. Nope! Just loot from all those corners of the basement. While the term "vintage" varies from site to site, Etsy (where my shop resides) defines "vintage" as items that are over 20 years old.

That means just about everything in our homes qualified as "vintage." A friend and I recently looked around my living and dining rooms and pointed out the items that had been with us for what seemed like "forever." She noted my Boston Rocker, stating she remembered that from my Mom's living room years ago. I declared "That's a 'Family Heirloom', not just vintage."

So, what separates Family Heirlooms from your run-of-the-mill vintage pieces?

I believe it's the emotions they evoke and the stories that bring about those emotions.

That Boston Rocker brings me comfort. It reminds me of that living room in Mom's house, too. It brings back fond memories of the family sitting around together watching TV. It was my Grandmother's seat of honor most evenings. She wasn't much for super soft upholstered seats and she really did like to rock when she sat. I can tell you exactly when that rocker came into our lives, too - Summer, 1965!

My sister was getting married that summer and was out shopping for furniture for their new apartment. Mom, Grandmother and I went along for the fun. (The groom really didn't want to be dragged from store to store so he left this up to her.) One of the big furniture stores near us had a wishing well just inside their main entrance and invited all who entered to fill in a little slip of paper with one particular piece they would love to win just for the "wishing." Every month, a slip of paper was selected and the winner was given their item of choice. Well, Grandmother didn't really want to participate but we forced her. She had commented on the beautiful design painted on the top of the rocker's back. (It was kind of a standard design back then!) She listed the rocker just to make all of us happy and dropped her slip in the wishing well. She wiped it out of her mind minutes later.

A few weeks later, Mom happened to answer the phone while visiting my grandmother. it was the furniture store. Seems they'd been trying to let Grandmother know she'd won the most recent drawing and find out when they could deliver her new chair. She'd brushed off several prior calls by telling them she simply wasn't interested in buying furniture. What can we say? She'd never won anything before and really thought it was just some sort of sales pitch.

They soon delivered it. I think it was "Love at first sit." When she moved in with us a few years later, it became a prime seat in the living room. Years later, long after Grandmother's passing, it came to live with me when my mom moved in with my brother. It now sits in my over-crowded living room where it still remains a favorite spot to sit (and rock). I must say, I always think of Grandmother as I take a seat there - and, they ARE very GOOD thoughts.

I've considered refinishing it from time to time. The arms are actually worn to the point of showing the natural wood tone as opposed to the black lacquered finish. Parts of the design at the top are faded almost completely away. Then, I think of those "flaws" as part of the rocker's story. Most of the younger members of the family were rocked in that chair, I've read many a good book there and my friends have spent many hours sitting in it chatting with me over the years. Who would want to refinish those memories? Not I.


These days we keep an old crocheted afghan tossed over the back of the chair as it sits in front of a large curio cabinet. The afghan is there more to protect the glass front of the cabinet from the chair but we've all come to think of them as a pair. The afghan is also a family heirloom, thought not quite as old. Nothing special when it was made, it is still not much to show off but it was made by someone no longer with us and it holds a special spot in our hearts.

The good news is, the next generation has already laid claim to the chair "when we're ready to give it up." D says she wants it for "all the same reasons" I love it. It's just one of the many family heirlooms around here. (She's also put "dibs" in on quite a few other items around my house. Is it a bad sign when they start making such statements?)

So, what wonderful family heirlooms do you have lurking around your homes and what stories do they tell?

Monday Musings!!!!

Ahhh, Monday -- back to the mundane activities of daily life. The Big Guy’s at work, the laundry room is buzzing with the sounds of full machines, I’m planning my meals and a writing a grocery list for the week and I’m cultivating two different “To Do” lists - one for “necessities” and one for “projects.” I’m not sure my mojo has recovered form the time change yet.

I planned on telling you about my weekend projects and showing pics but I’m having trouble getting going today. I finally ran the last of the consignment selling portion of my Marketing Series over the weekend. I hope some of you gained some insight into the process and wish those of you trying consignment selling for the first time much success. As my articles stated, done right, it can be a beautiful relationship and very beneficial for all involved.

There are several “craft” oriented sites that I frequent just in an effort to keep up with the industry and the craft environment as a whole. One of those I hit a few times a week is the Craft Forum on Craigslist.

The site can be a little unusual depending on who’s riding the wave at the moment when you are there. There are often excellent discussions of new trends, helpful discussions with regard to questions asked by someone new to a particular craft or looking for suggestions as to methods of working with particular materials and some very nice people generally sharing thoughts concerning crafting. At times, the place can be somewhat hostile with a surplus of snarky attitude and mean comments. The former folks are the ones who keep me coming back.

Sometimes I just lurk in the shadows there and read and sometimes I contribute. I’m of the school of thought that if you cannot contribute “nicely” then don’t comment at all.

Ready for some smiles?

Today, I found the nice people hanging out there and it seems they were in control for most of the weekend.

On Saturday, a contributor we’ll refer to as Kelly, related a humorous annecdote about cleaning out her surplus craft supplies. It seems she lives in an apartment complex and after weeding through her stock, gathered up a couple of bags of “stuff” and sat it out by her dumpster labeled, “Free Craft Stuff.” Well, her mom lives in the same complex and within a few hours, Kelly received a call from Mom telling her to come on over and take a look. She’d found a whole bag of yarn someone was giving away free. You guessed it -- Mom had been dumpster diving!

Among the comments was one saying they’ve had a similar experience and, then, received the same stuff back for Christmas!!!

I can relate. When my sister lived in the same town with me, she actually called one day to ask me to help her bring something home that she’d found near their dumpster at work (a mall). Seems my car was bigger than hers!

We come by it honestly, though. My mom used to walk to work everyday and was known to discover great finds out at the curb on trash day. It took a lot of effort, but she often had to carry that item to work and back. Good thing it wasn’t a long trip!

Oh, and who among us, has not given a gaudy piece of jewelry or a gag gift to the church or school rummage sale, only to have it come back like a homing pigeon, camouflaged in gift wrap, with one of the kids in the family who did their holiday shopping at the White Elephant Table?

Let’s put a crafty spin on the old adage about “if you love something, set it free…”. I think our new version should go something like: “If you dump it and it finds its way back to you, keep it and call it a family heirloom!”

Speaking of family heirlooms, Rose had an entry on Saturday with a fantastic twist on family history. She said her mom had “left several dozen scrapbooks done over a period of many, many years.” Unsure how long they might hold up and wanting to share them with members of the family, she undertook the task of scanning each page and then ordered hard cover books from http://www.mypublisher.com/. What a fantastic way to share the memories and family history there among the family!

One more funny from the weekend’s entries - To protect the innocent (or embarrassed), I’ll simply say “one contributor” provided this story. She sculpted a really cute little old lady out of Sculpey, but not thinking clearly, she built it over a styrofoam ball. Once baked to set the clay, the old lady curled up “like Shrinky Dinks!” Next time, having learned her lesson, she made some cute witch heads using aluminum foil (not styrofoam)! Luckily she uses a toaster oven outside so the smell doesn’t overtake the house. When she came back to check on them, smoke was pouring out of the oven. Those sneaky little witch heads had gotten too close to the coils and had “bubbled up some mighty ugly warts!” She has since decided to live with the smell and only use the regular oven where there’s more room to bake!


So, go on out there and get creative. If it doesn't turn out the way you intended, hopefully you'll at least get a good laugh out of the experience!!