Antique Plate Hanger for the Homemaker's Uniform

   
Today I want to show off this cute apron hanger I made for my two pretty pink aprons.  Armed with my hot glue gun, it only took me a couple minutes to put this together.  I just grabbed a pretty antique saucer, glued an antique glass drawer pull to the middle, and glued a pretty vintage-looking button to the middle of the drawer pull.  I glued some ribbon to the back for a hanger and even fixed a pearly embellishment to the nail in the wall!

On it, I've hung this patchwork apron that I won in Connie's giveaway at Living Beautifully, along with a pink apron that I purchased from Mrs. White at The Legacy of Home---she hand-stitched the whole thing! 

I love wearing aprons around the house---not only are they practical for shielding against grease splatters, soap suds, and baby spit-ups, but they also serve as sort of a homemaker's uniform!  When I wear my apron, I know it's time for business and it motivates me to focus on the things that need to be done around my home for my family's sake.  You will not find me sitting here in my bed, snuggled up with my blanket and writing---with my apron on!  Ha!

Vintage Paris Book Bundle Tutorial & Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

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Yesterday I showed off my hutch makeover and some of the cute accessories I've been making this past week.  This book bundle is so easy to make so I want to share the simple steps with you!

First, I hit my local Dollar Tree to find some books that were all the same size.  I checked under the dust jackets to see what color the hardbound books were.  Lucky for me, these were a perfect shade of cream!

Next, I chose a picture from Google Images.  I knew I wanted to do something with either a bird theme and a Paris theme.  I found an image with both!  Then I picked out my paper.  My husband had got me this cute vintage-look paper for Mother's Day but it was too thick.  So, I photocopied five sheets of it and then printed my image over it.  I think these colors are so pretty:  a cream background with pretty PINK flower bundles!

I measured the width of my book spine and then multiplied that by 3.  Mine were about an inch wide so that made it easy.  I just drew 1 inch vertical lines on the back of each paper and then cut out a strip from each paper that was 3 inches wide, moving over 1 for each new paper.  Then I used my favorite crafting supply, Elmer's Craft Bond Extra Strength Glue Stick, to secure the pieces to the binding of each book.

Easy and Adorable!  Make sure and check out my entire hutch makeover!

Vintage Whimsy St. Patrick's Day Art

I've been planning out this fun St. Patrick's Day art piece all week long.  This morning, I got it all done!

I started off by printing a St. Patrick's Day song that I borrowed from Online Sheet Music.

I decided it would be fun to make the paper look sort of vintage.  While you may be thinking it's a super easy thing to whip up something like this real quick, I was actually met by many obstacles!!

Soy sauce made it look too dark..and smell really bad!

Here's my attempt at using peppermint tea...

Finally, I decided to just work on my frame while I was considering what to do with the paper.  First, I sanded the frame to remove the glossy stain.

Then I spray painted the frame with Krylon Satin Ivory.

By this time, I had given up on traditional methods of "antiquing" paper, so I decided to just wing it.  Using some products I have purchased from Close To My Heart over the past couple of years, I came up with this:

This is the beginning of my new trend, Vintage Whimsy.  Remember, you heard it here first!  Ha!  But this was only the beginning...

I had to crumple it up a bit and burn all the edges.  I must say, that's my best burn job yet!

My husband bought me this great scrapbooking paper last Mother's Day so I used it to cover the cardboard frame backing.  Since it wasn't quite long enough to cover the whole piece of cardboard, I added some of this neat vintage lace to the top and bottom.  A friend from Holland sent it to me at Christmastime.

Then, I glued the sheet of music to the cardboard piece and began adding embellishments.

This cute little Irish girl got the Stickles treatment in Gold and Diamond.  I found her and her brother at Salvation Army a few days ago! They're vintage Dennison...I just love them!

I cut this little clover from a shamrock template I found online and added some more Stickles and a cute embellishment that my husband put in my Christmas stocking!  I also added more of that lace from Holland in each corner.

All done!  I wonder if I should do another one featuring the little boy cut out that matches her?