Oil Can Picture Holder

Like so many of us, I am inspired when I'm able to take an old, discarded object and recreate it to give it a new life with a totally different purpose.

Last week I showed you these oil cans I purchased at a junk/antique store.  

They were sitting outside with a lot of other rusty, crusty pieces and when I saw them I knew they would make perfect picture holders.  If you have been reading my blog for any length of time this probably comes as no surprise to you.

When I pictured these oil cans on last Sunday's post, I mentioned they had been cleaned but not painted.  I personally like the natural patina of these old, used cans but last night I decided to paint one to see how it would look.

I love it.

I spray painted the oil can Heirloom White and, after it was dry, lightly sanded to expose some of the original finish.

The can looked a little plain so I dove into my scrapbook supplies and found the border rub-on that I put on the bottom edge of the can and the "Family" rub-on positioned in the center.  I added a black and white ribbon around the top and the picture holder was almost complete.

All it needed was some pictures!

Here I took a small framed photo I had of my in-laws in the 1940's and attached it to the neck of the can.

 Another option is to take a small, wire picture hanger and insert it into the neck of the oil can.  Last fall I posted on how to make these.  You can find that post here.

  Add a picture to the wire hanger and you're good to go.

 In this last photo I combined both options to display the two pictures together.

I really like how this turned out and plan on making more for Christmas stocking stuffers.

Lots of great parties to link to today:

Debra @ Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Linda @ A La Carte for Junkin Finds

and Terrell @ Frou Frou Decor for Fabulous Friday Finds

Now I'm off to go do some party hopping.

Happy Halloween.

Jane

Printer's Drawer Tray and Thrifty Vignette

It's almost Tuesday and that means another week of Nifty Thrifty Tuesday hosted by Linda @ Coastal Charm.

Tuesday update:  I just found out that Jan @ Bobbypin's Boardwalk is hosting Boardwalk Bragfest again.  Another wonderful linky party.

I created a nifty, thrifty vignette on my dining room buffet that I wanted to share today.  It was created totally with thrift store finds.

Before I show the vignette pictures I want to show you the inspiration for my display. (Pottery Barn Photo)

I really liked this PB wood fruit market tray and how it was being used to showcase dishes and silverware.  But I didn't like the $114.99 price tag (and that's the sale price).

I ventured to my closet of "stuff" (the closet I can barely get into) and came out with this:

  A printer's drawer with the dividers removed (found as is). 

I thought this would make a great tray so I added some handles to both sides.

Now I was ready to fill it up with some of my thrift store finds.  Since this was going in my dining room, I used ironstone and silver to compliment my wall display in that room.

I used the platter I showed in yesterday's post and a silver pitcher.

A silver sugar bowl and creamer on top of a stack of books.

A white rooster planter (marked Japan) filled with some silver utensils.

And two ironstone bowls (one from my post yesterday) filled with acorns from my back yard tree with a silver tray behind them.

This is how it looks on my dining room buffet.

My buffet top lifts in the center and folds to both sides to extend the buffet area.  With the vignette displayed on the tray I can now easily move my entire display to access the full buffet top.  

This will be a great tray to decorate for all of the upcoming holidays.

Happy NTT!

Jane

Projects, Projects, Projects

I spent the better part of today taking advantage of the great weather we are experiencing and got outside to spray paint.  I know my days to spray paint are numbered so I lined up my projects and went to town with the spray can.  Now I have several "work in progress" projects and not one finished project to show.

Here are some pictures of things that I am currently working on.  All of the pictures were taken of the pieces as they looked when I found them.  I hope to have pictures of the completed projects soon.

This little stool was a $2.00 find.  It got a coat of paint and now needs a little upholstery job.

 Here's a second stool I'm working on.  

As you can see the top is pretty awful.  I'm going to take the seat apart and start over on this one.  This stool got a fresh coat of paint too.

 I believe this in an old lamp base. I cleaned it up, painted it, and now it needs to be rewired and turned back into a lamp.

 It's got great detail.

 I found this printers drawer "as is" with all of the dividers already taken out.  I have a quick project in mind that I'll post about on Tuesday (I didn't spray paint this but I did paint something I added to it).

 I always love when the old hardware is still attached.

Love these old oil cans.  I bet you can all guess what I'm going to do with these.  These did not get spray painted but got a good cleaning outside.

These next few pictures are of some more ironstone pieces I found this past week.

They have already been incorporated into a display that I'll show later this week.

  

  I love the face design on these small bowls.

Well I've got a lot to keep me busy this week.

Hopefully I'll be productive and get some things completed.

I'm linking up today with Pammy @ Up In The Attic for Project Monday.  This is a relatively new party so if you have a project you're working on be sure and add Pammy to your link list.

Have a great week.

Jane  

Vintage Linens

Last week I posted about Industrial Chic.....this week I'm showing my softer side with some Vintage Linens.

My favorite vintage linens are hand embroidered pieces.  I learned how to embroider when I was young and I know the time that goes into embroidered pieces.  I have found some wonderful vintage linens at thrift stores and if they are hand embroidered they probably came home with me.

Here's just a few of the embroidered linens I am using in my home or are earmarked for a project.

This beautiful piece was found as is at a thrift store.

Someone spent a lot of time on this and then left the project unfinished.  Even though the pink thread has bled a little on the fabric, I think it will look great as the front of a pillow.

These handmade knife and fork storage holders were also found while thrifting.

They have an identical embroidered design on the front (looks to be Japanese lanterns in a tree with a sailboat sailing in the distance).

 When you open them up there is a fabric liner inside for storing the knives or forks.

 This is another unfinished piece found at a thrift store.  

Both ends of this length of muslin had a cup of coffee embroidered on it.

They will soon be pockets for an apron.

 No plans yet on how to use these napkins I found (all four for $1.00).

 I really like the flowers made with french knots and all the detail in the edging. 

If anyone has a good project for cloth napkins let me know.

   This last picture is of my "model" for my pictures today.  With the days getting shorter I'm losing the natural light in my house for good pictures.  I headed outside this evening to take my pictures and this recent thrift store find came in very handy to stage my photos.  I have a feeling she is going to get a workout.

I'm linking today with Debra @ Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday,

with a new Friday party,

Air Your Laundry Friday with Jami @ Freckled Laundry,
and with Southern Lady's Vintage for Vintage Love Saturday.

They all look to be a lot of fun.

Jane

White Wednesday

  

 Just a sampling of my ever-growing collection of silver and ironstone.

I'm joining Kathleen @ Faded Charm for White Wednesday.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Jane

Industrial Chic

Margo @ Margo's Junkin' Journal is having a party....an Industrial Chic Linky Party.

So what exactly is Industrial Chic?  Margo describes it as anything vintage factory, transit, manufacturing, medical or school related.

Now I don't think I've ever been labeled chic but today I'm going to give it a try.

My home doesn't lend itself to a total Industrial Chic look but I think I have managed to add a few accessory items to my home that fit the category of Industrial Chic.  Let me know what you think (the pictures are all staged in the same room because it was the only room with good light).

This weight was used in the early part of the 20th century to hold down stencils on an addressing machine that printed addresses on newspapers, mailing labels, envelopes, etc.

 It's perfect use now is as a paper weight.  I have it sitting on some of my old college letters on an ironstone platter.

 The platter is sitting on top of a vintage wood file holder.  I can imagine this being used at some time holding paperwork at an office or factory.

 I found this big Edison light bulb at a flea market.  It's sitting next to a small vase.

 I combined the two for an illuminating display (I just couldn't resist).

 This is one of my favorite pieces.  It is a vintage time card holder.  I can't imagine how many people clocked in and out of work pulling their time card from this holder.

 I'm using it for displaying old pictures, postcards and other ephemera.

 My vintage dress form surely saw a lot of use at a clothing manufacturer.  She has a date of 1962 on her size 18 frame.  

 I found two of these rusty machine parts at an antique store recently for $1.00 apiece.

 

I'm using one as a picture frame.

 And the second one is going to be used as part of a clock.  Here's a sneak peek.  It's not ready for it's big reveal yet.

I have no idea of the original purpose of this piece.

I unscrewed the top part off the base and have it on my work space holding my scissors.

 The base is now on display as a holder for some rolls of crochet thread.

 This German beer crate is the work horse in my studio, holding paints, brushes, glue, etc.

 I love the iron handles and the metal strapping on the sides.

 I posted about this muffler clamp turned picture holder in July but I'm picturing again because I think it fits the category of Industrial Chic.

 

And finally, my display of vintage hose nozzles on a "shelf" made from the handle of an old push lawn mower.

So there you have it.......the small touches of Industrial Chic in my home.

Is there any Industrial Chic in yours?

If there is, make sure to link to Margo's party.....if not, drop by Margo's blog and go visit some of the participants for some chic inspiration.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Jane