Easter Craft 2012

Yes. I know Easter is over. I'm aware. You don't have to be snobbish about it.

But, the thing is...I didn't finish my Easter craft until after Easter. I know. That is some bad planning on my part. It's very un-Sarah of me. I like to do things in a timely fashion. Not complete a task two weeks late like some shiftless roust about.

I mean, here it is nearly a week after Easter and I'm just finishing getting these little babies out. But, at least they are so awesome that they'll still look great next year. And, everyone likes a fresh, new bauble to put out, don't they? I blame this whole thing on Martha Stewart, anyway.

So, here they are. My Easter Craft, 2012.

Papier mache eggs. Decorated with crepe paper flowers, made by me. The slightly larger, green egg in the middle is mine. I made it for me. It doesn't have anything special inside. It is also the only one that doesn't have crepe paper flowers. Because I couldn't figure out how to make teeny tiny lily of the valley like this, here. So, I just cut out the leafy bits and stuck on some vintage floral sprigs. The bases are made from checker pieces wrapped in crepe paper.

Lilah loves tulips. I'm not going to show you how I made these. That's not what this blog is about.

Pompom bunnies! I purchased the papier mache egg boxes online after a long search.

HB loves orange and aqua. The eggs were less available and more expensive than I thought they'd be.

Pompom chicks! But, I had a fever and the only cure was a papier mache Easter egg craft.

Sarah Mae got the only rhinestone. Can you believe I restrained myself? I HAD rhinestones and I DIDN'T use them ALL. I have to admit, I think I love the daffodils the best.

Sarah Mae has creepy-ass taste.


This last egg travelled all the way to Philadelphia! This will look killer with LuLu's decor.


You have to look at it on an angle to really appreciate the beauty.


Big ol' pompom bunny man!

Well, that was fun.

Last Friday the husband and I had the day off. It was amazing. We went to lunch at Orange Glory Cafe. Dear anyone in the Rochester area, this place is only open during the week for lunch. Do yourself a huge favor and take a day off (come on, you deserve a day off) and GO THERE, GO THERE NOW. Seriously mind blowingly delicious. We also hit up a few Estate Sales. Now, Estate Sales are vastly different from yard, garage, tag or church sales. Estate Sales is where the antiques dealers go for their booty. Prices and stakes are higher. They razz each other and gloat quite a bit. They scoff, stick up their noses and act like crazed animals the entire time. It was a good reminder of why I stay as far away from Estate Sales as I can. I did end up getting some good stuff for the Etsy page, but I only got a few things for myself.

Can I get a witness?


25 cents each. Red felt deer head on a holly pick with bells and a ...snow...tuft. With glitter.

Also this vintage Goose-Grease mug which will be a prize at the Seersucker Social this year! Come on out, folks!

Also, as a word of warning: Sometimes a trip to the toy store for your niece's birthday turns into a trip to the toy store for yourself.

So, in summary:

Give Someone The Gift Of Glitter This Season
Oh, Please With Your-Antique-Dealer-Self
Plastic!
Seersucker Sounds Dirty But Isn't
These Are Aunt Sarah's Toys

Avon Perfume Pin Collection

I love a good collection. I have quite a few myself and I love, love, love it when other people share theirs with the world. It's one reason why I stalk all the various blogs I stalk. The whole "I'll show you mine if you show me yours". You know what's up.

So today I present: My Collection of Avon Perfume Pins. These things date to the 1970's. They are cartoon-like plastic pins with a hidden compartment for solid perfume. Let me just tell you right now. You don't want to be wearing this perfume. You don't even want to get any on you by accident. That stuff is nas-tay. I'm going to bet that even when it was new and not 40 years old, that stuff stank.

Here we have the Spring Collection. It's not really called that. I just made that up. Each pin has an actual name because Avon is fond of naming cute little characters. I actually think the pins might be called Perfume Pin Pals, but I'm not certain.

The bunny on the left was found at the last Dome Sale for $1 and I can't remember where/when I got the other two pins. It was a long time ago. Could have been a galaxy far, far away, too.

Here they are all open. Remember them now? Just imagine a very intense smell of old lady (from the perfume) and maybe it will help.

I found the scarecrow at the curiosities shop that shares a building with my hair stylist. Thanks, Utter Clutter! The snowman was my mom's. Goodness I love pink and black together!

Mr. scarecrow still has his pot of evil in the back, there. My mom's pin has an itty bitty picture of me as a baby! Wow, quite the film stock. All red, everything red. Way to go, chemists.

Here is the last of them! I found the wormy apple at Erie Line Antiques in Hornell, NY. Three floors of stuff, junk and treasures. You should stop there if you get the chance.

There are still many more of these pins out there. A few cats, another girl, a hippo, puppy and kangaroo, just to name a few. Who knows which will make it's way to me next?

Also, I thought you should see this:

The piece of old wallpaper came a few days ago. It's more glorious than I could have ever imagined! I'll never regret buying this baby.

So, in summary:

Too Many Collections
That Smells Like Old Ya Know
Avon Is The Best, Etc.
Old Wallpaper = Good Choice

Oh, There You Are!

Let me just get my apologies out right away. It's been over a month since I've spoken to you, dear friends, and I want to say here and now that I'm sorry. The time has just slipped away from me. My Etsy shop has been keeping me hopping and while that is a good thing financially, it's a bad thing for my spare (blogging) time.

I can't even believe it's already post Christmas. I have so many things I want to show you!

But, first I'd like to address this winter. Yesterday (December 28th) was the first "real" snowfall we've had all year. And it was about an inch. Usually that stuff starts around Halloween. By Thanksgiving we've usually dug ourselves out of 20 inches or so. I'm aghast and agog and I don't even know what to say about it except that we've clearly broken the planet and we're going to have to pay for it. Probably we'll end up losing California to the sea. That and Coke will have one of the saddest ad campaigns of all time because the polar bears are all dying. Not even a cold Coke can refresh them, poor dears. One of my Facebook friends posted a picture of a dandelion. Growing in her yard. In December. Not good, people. Not good. We had a green Christmas, alright. The kind where you have to put on your shorts and go mow the yard after you open presents. I keep thinking how the mosquitoes probably haven't even died yet. We'll have a bobilliondy of them this summer. I think I'm going to start keeping bats. So just, you know: Beware the wrath of Mother Earth.

Onward. The drunken ballerina was finally able to pull herself together and finish the decorations. I bet you want to see them, right? Or maybe since we haven't spoken in so long you are pretending not to care if I ever show you another blessed felt bauble or glittered angel again. In any case. I'm going to show them. So if you'd rather not see them, just leave now. I'm not going to give you every single thing, like last year. Because most of the stuff is exactly the same. I'm going to break it down into two bits: 1-The New Stuff and 2-A Collection Of Sorts.

The New Stuff

I got it from the Craft Antique Co-op. I'd put a link to their website in there, but it's a hideous and obnoxious site and you can Goog that crap yourself if you feel the need. This thing is gorgeous. Two tones of green. I love me some tone on tone. I'm going to keep it out all the time, not just at Christmas. I'm also going to put it in my dream master suite. You know, when I get one of those, the second of never.

The Bathroom

OK, not new stuff, but I arranged it in a new way and liked it enough to share with you. Be grateful. There aren't a lot of people who decorate their bathrooms for the holidays.

The Little People House

See what I've done, there? Decked it out for Christmas. Also of note is the thick layer of dust. I want you to know that the layer of dust is there on purpose. Not because this is the top of a cabinet that is eight feet in the air and not even my tallest friend can see the top of it so I never bother dusting it....no, no. It's because I think it's artistic. I think the layer of dust subtly imitates a layer of newly fallen snow and contributes to the overall reality of the piece. Obviously.

The White Wreath

This is new. Also gotten at the Craft Antique Co-op. The Martha Stewart stand in our kitchen got a bit full this year so I took some of the other vintage wreaths into the hallway. (another new frontier!!) See below.

The Green Cupboard

Nothing new exactly. But a new set up. Note that Kermit has invited the dead dolly from Halloween over. She gets a lot more lively at Christmas time. The dapper little chick is one of my all time favorite decorations. Top hat dusted with green mica. Yes, please!

Red Shelf

New natural colored tree from HB on the top left. Nothing else new, but a new set up. The angel has migrated from my bedroom and taken roost in the kitchen.

Piggy

I bought this ornament for myself on Etsy. It's vintage. I allow myself to purchase myself one vintage Muppet ornament per year. Myself thanks myself.

Paper Bike Ornaments

This is one of a set given to the husband by HB. It's made from cut paper. He's obviously in love with them.

Picket Fence Gate

This little gate is supposed to be an ornament. But I got rid of the string and stuck it in with my picket fence. Perfection. I'd like to have a real picket fence. I know, how June Cleaver of me. If I get one I promise to always put on pearls before I vacuum.

Bedroom Trees

A lot like Bedroom Eyes, but with more Christmas and less lust. Well, maybe not that much less lust. Because these babies are beautiful! Sorry that my camera is crap and doesn't take great pictures in my dark house, forcing me to use the flash which ends up making everything look washed out and blah. Use your imagination and warm it up a bit, folks.

Check it out! That little house I bought for five cents! Remember?

A Collection of Sorts: A Peppermint Stick For Old Saint Nick

A Rose By Any Other Name

I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's the Craft Antique Co-op and no amount of rebranding, fresh coats of paint, new color schemes or stupid new signs is going to change that. Harumph.

So last weekend some of us went on a shopping trip to the Craft Antique Co-op. I got quite a few things. Little things. Like, $80 worth of tiny $2 items. (Ok, ok, slight exaggeration, but wait till you see!) You know how I love my plastic. And my glitter.

It was Sarah Mae's first trip and she seemed to think we were overestimating when we said we'd be there four and a half hours. By the end of the first row (Where we stopped for a snack, no lie!) she was starting to get a handle on the situation. By the time we left she had a crazed look in her eye, was sweating and hauling two baskets to the check out counter. She got tons of great stuff (as did we all) aside from all the nightmarish rabbit/baby, lamb/fox and elf/babies. Girl has a terrifying sense of adorable.

Here is all the stuff that I'm adding to my already garish jumble of odds and ends:

With glitter.


I like the house to smell like fall.

A tiny clutch (ok, wallet if you must) and earrings. I couldn't decide if I liked these earrings because they remind me of corn or because they are sort of art deco or because they remind me of native American art. Why choose? Plus, when I wear them they make the most gorgeous tinkling noise. Like my own personal wind chimes.


And all the little bits. I love vintage Hallmark. Almost as much as I love vintage Avon. Let's not talk about it. I know that you are busy and don't have that much time on your hands.

I also got quite a few Christmas presents but I'm not going to show them. Some people should be forgetting that they exist.

Now. I've been telling you all about a certain room that I've got hidden away in my house. I wish I could say that it's concealed behind a secret bookcase/door that will only open if you move a certain book the title of which I'd never share or make public. (Though, seriously if I had one of these, I'd almost always go Catcher in the Rye. Is there anyone more fun to quote than Holden? "It gives me a real pain in the ass, if you really want to know the truth.") Alas, it's not hidden behind a secret door, gotten to through a secret passageway or revealed only with a magic word. It's just in my basement. There is one finished off room in our basement and the Muppets have been relegated to it. Some days I feel pretty bad about it. But, this being the 75th anniversary of Jim Henson's birth and all, (I think we might have talked before about how I can't get on the train where people say it's so-and-so's 75th birthday when so-and-so is no longer with us. It's the anniversary of his birth, but it is NOT his 75th birthday.) I think you deserve a peek.


Keep in mind you can't see three walls of this Cave of Wonders. I'm in the process of databasing the collection. I know, right?