Babsarella's Pocketful of Sunshine

Show and Tell Sunday - Vintage Bling!!!

This week's topic on Show and Tell Sunday is VINTAGE BLING!!! You know...all those cool rhinestones and pieces that are just perfect for adding a little extra touch to a vintage inspired project. I have started collecting bits and pieces when I go to antique stores or shows, and occasionally I will find something on Ebay too. The thing is, I am cheap thrifty, so I am generally looking for the $1 sale bin. It is often amazing what treasures you can find for $1. You just have to be patient and take your time sorting through all the stuff you don't want to find that perfect piece. So let me show you a bit of the ole bling....The first photo is just a grouping of my stash.

Here is a little closer view. In case you can not tell, I am really partial to rhinestones. I especially like the ones that are a bit discolored and/or imperfect. I think that adds to their charm.

This is how I store them...I found these pretty glass containers at the church carnival white elephant booth and thought they would look really pretty filled with all the pretty bits and pieces. I have segregated them so that the smaller one is for rhinestones and the larger one holds everything else. There is just one problem...they are filled up and there is almost no more room for new bling...what to do...what to to??? Oh, and I normally keep them on my desk, but the lighting is much better for photos in the guest bedroom, so that is what you are seeing the background (and my desk has way to much other stuff on it to make a pretty photo).

So let's get a few closer views, shall we? Some of my favorite things are the square and round rhinestone pieces. They are actually shoe attachments, but I thought they would make wonderful frames for vintage photos or tintypes to use on a collage or in jewelry. I also love rhinestone strands, even if they are broken. They can be cut into smaller pieces and added to art dolls as necklaces or belts. The pretty earring you see in the foreground of this photo I thought would look nice on one of the altered eggs I created back around Easter. I plan to make more, so I will be needing things like this for that special touch.

Here you can get a little better view of some of the pieces. Don't you just love the little bee pin? So very cute!! I also love old religious medals, like the cross in this photo.

A few more pieces. I love the old sweater guard and thought it would look really nice as a hanger for a collage or attached as a decoration to a tinnie. The earrings on the left look a lot like crowns to me...perfect for an art doll.

  Love the pretty cameo earrings..great for a Marie Antoinette type of project. It is kind of hard to see, but in the back is a pretty mother-of-pearl fan. I found this at Goodwill (along with a couple of smaller fans that I already used in a jewelry project). I think the fan will be perfect for an art doll accent. I am also partial to the rhinestone disco balls. They make such pretty accents on the jewelry I have made, and hope to make more of at some point.

So, there you have it...Oh, and did you notice I used the vintage hankies as props...another fun use for them!!! Hope you are having a super weekend and the weather is as lovely in your area as it is here!!!

Show and Tell Sunday - Vintage Hankies

This week's theme on Show and Tell Sunday is VINTAGE HANKIES! Those lovely little things that are pretty-much not used today (at least not for their given purpose), but are oh-so-lovely. I wouldn't say I have a lot, but have collected a few here and there that I will share. Unfortunately, I have no idea where most of them came from. Probably antique shows and antique stores. The most wonderful thing is that you can often purchase them quite reasonably...sometimes even for just a dollar. So let's see what we have...

This is actually one of a few that I have of this design. I liked the embroidery and the crochet lace around the edges.

I love the pale blue color of this and the very dainty lace around the edges.

I am kinda partial to solid white with lace edges, so you will see several similar to this one.

I liked the embroidery on this one.

Another plain white one...

  And another...

I liked the sheer material on this which has a cream colored flower pattern.

And  still another white on white. Maybe a bit repetitious, but they are each a little unique in their own way. So, you might be thinking "What does she do with them?". Which I would say is a fair question to ask. Well...I got them for one of the numerous projects I want to make....check it out...

Tinnies! Remember when they were in Somerset Studio??? You alter old cans...veggie cans...soup cans...any kind of can. Well, I think they look even prettier with a vintage hankie inside! I made a few of these a while back, but plan to make more and to use these vintage hankies as a little decorative accent!

Hope you enjoyed the hankie tour. As you can see, I have not completed the blog banner  just finished the blog banner. Truth be told, I only got started this afternoon, and things like this take me a bit of time..the navigating the digital world, as well as finding a block of time where I can sit an focus on this. Anyhow, I hope to play with it a bit more this evening and have something soon. I'll share the weekend highlights tomorrow, so I hope you will drop by again to see what we have been up to....have a great rest of the weekend!!!

Show and Tell Sundays...Millinery...

One of the sites I like to visit on my blog-hopping is Little Pink Studio which is updated by the lovely Cerri. She also has an Etsy shop (in case you are interested). Anyhow, I was excited to see a post recently that she and another blogger, Analise of Sugar, Sugar (who also has an Etsy shop), were starting a new thing called Show and Tell Sundays. The object is to photograph and share your collections according to the theme of the week. This is the first week, and this week we were asked to share our Millinery collections...vintage hats, flowers, and leaves.

I love vintage millinery and think it adds such wonderful charm to vintage inspired pieces. At first, I started persuing Ebay to see what I could find, and occasionally I have been able to find some lovely things. But, in addition to this, I have been checking out the local antique mall and I am always on the lookout when we go to the antique extravaganza in Mt. Dora.  So, come along and check out what I have and I'll tell you about my favorites... The first photo is a grouping of all my hats. I wish I had a nice storing of them in my office, but unfortunately they are in a pile on top of the cable box, which is on top of the tv. So, to make them look pretty, and cuz the lighting is much better, I moved them to the guest bedroom, where I attempted a creative grouping.

Photo number two is a view of some of the loose flowers and leaves that I have. I have to say, that my favorites are the velvety ones. If you look in the bottom right corner, you will see some totally gorgeous purple flowers...love them.

Here is another view of the same group, but this time I put one of my other favorites on top...the beautiful turquoise one right in the middle. Another yummy velvet beauty. This may go on one of the eggs I still have waiting to be decorated.

   

This hat was purchased at the local antique mall fairly recently. The price was really good, and I liked that it had so many different colors in it, since ultimately, I will probably take the flowers off to use in projects.

Here is another nice hat with flowers still quite nice. I can't remember where this one came from since I've had it a while. I finally purchased the right shade of light orange to make an egg, so some of these flowers will probably be added for decoration.

This hat, very similar to the one above, I have also had for quite a while. Love the pretty blue color of these flowers.

I purchased this hat from a local small antique show last fall. It actually came from a booth that was run by the antique mall close to my house. There are quite a few flowers that will be a pretty addition to a project (or a few projects). I thought the netting could be useful too (maybe like a spiderweb for a Halloween collage).

  This hat may be my favorite at the moment. I had seen it at the antique mall near the house, but did not purchase it. However, I kept thinking about it and how pretty it was and what great shape it was in. Finally, I just broke down. Of course the lady asked me about what I was going to do with it, and I sheepishly told her. I think she was a little sad. I don't know, maybe I will leave it intact for a while. But I love the cool hot pink velvety flowers on top and the great chiffon flowers on the sides. They would look so pretty in a valentine project.

This one, I can't really remember where I got it. Maybe Mt. Dora. I know I already had the other blue hat, but the flowers were so pretty that I just could not resist. Plus, I really do love blue flowers.

  This one was purchased at the same antique mall near the house just after I had finished some Halloween collages. This black velvet floral piece is just incredible. It is in perfect shape, and will just be divine in a Halloween collage.

  Here you can get a little closer view of the flowers. Yummy!!

This floral piece came from a hat I purchased in Mt. Dora. The hat was not in the best of shape, so I just took the flowers off to save space.

  Here you can get a closer view of the flowers.

Last, but not least, a recent purchase from Ebay. I think this must have been a bridesmaid headpiece or maybe worn by a bride at a second wedding. It is a really pretty shade of lilac.

So, there you have it. I could actually photograph a few more things to show, but you are probably snoozin already from this long post. Hope you enjoyed the photos!!

Have a great rest of the weekend. I'll try to update again tomorrow to let you know about what we've been up to.