Time for the party... excuse the paper plates!

So I finally got some pics taken for the Altered Art Party... not in the beautiful vignettes I'm so used to drooling over on all of your blogs but today is a crazy busy day and I still wanted to join the party! So grab your favorite party drink and snacks and link arms with me and lets go!
I made this guy last year for Halloween but brought him out to join in the fun. I like quirky Halloween and once I started putting these silly hats on the dollar tree skeletons well I just couldn't seem to stop myself!
Along with some dripping beeswax to look a little ghouly!
I did this one from an ezine by Teresa McFayden and I just love the vintage cuteness of it. I almost never follow a tutorial to the tee but if I remember correctly I did that with this one. I still like how it turned out (I mean she is a pretty talented teacher!) I just like putting my own spin on stuff.
Gotta have glittered wings of course!
So those are my halloween appetizers...
I'm also bringing some tag desserts....
Yup, when it comes to parties I always like the apps and the desserts the best, little food you can carry around with you so that you can visit all of the guests. I mean does it get better than that?
Wow, I really wish I would have styled these pics better, kinda like putting paper plates and napkins out with the plastic silverware for the party. I mean I really wish I would have had time to reach into the silver drawer and picked some flowers! So please forgive the rush of my party attire and know that next time there will be a full out gala here at 612!

Thanks so much for stopping by... Theresa xoxo

Are you coming to the party?

The French Cupboard is hosting an Altered Art Party! All things altered... I can't wait to see the amazing creations and inspiration that will be shared, I'm going are you?

I hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by...Theresa xoxo

More rosettes... is she kidding?

So this is what I did while I watched ballgames, and in between ballgames, and after ballgames this past weekend! I was on a role and enjoyed the process of making these rosettes so much that there was really no stopping me! I packed a bag with some wool, some prints and more lace along with cottons and my needle and thread and started on some fall rosettes...
I started dreaming of the upcoming weather change, it was 90+ degrees during the tourney... I can dream, right?... It will cool down eventually! I was having fun mixing up the fabrics that I threw in my bag before we left and came up with some different rosettes. This black and creme one started with the toile fabric paired up with felted black wool with a vintage doily, finished off with a nonworking watch face in the center. I love how this one turned out and the fact that it has a couple of different kinds of rosettes to add dimension.
Oh now this one has the drop cloth material that I used for the ones I showed you last week (yep I said it... I used scraps of drop cloth to make my rosettes!) I love that stuff, what can I say!! Then more vintage crocheted lace trim and a very old pretty sheer scarf all rolled and twisted into a rosette with a brown bead in the center.
I think I have a bag of old scarfs around here somewhere and this rosette has me wanting to tear the place apart to make more of these! I really loved the process of making this one.
So this one is another of those BIG ones! The print fabric has the prettiest colors and vintage feel to it and I wanted to bring out the pink so I made a petal background for it.
The petals were really easy to do (kinda felt like I was cheating a little) I cut a long strip of the pink fabric about maybe 2 ft long and 3" wide (all of this would depend on how big you want the petals to be.) and then I folded it length wise twice and cut a petal shape over and over to the end of the folded strip and when I unfolded it I had many petals on one strip... like making gingerbread men. Have I lost you yet? I then baste stitched the flat bottom edge and pulled the thread to ruffle it. waa laa! If anyone wants me to do a step by step photo tutorial let me know and I will but I know all of you amazing creators out there probably get what I mean.
Another vintage hanky in the center with really vibrant colors mixed with nubby cotton and a vintage jewel in the center.

Wow, it's almost 12am and I am pooped! Tomorrow will be a fun day, Hannah, Max and I picked up 3 of their cousins and they are spending the night. I am looking forward to a fun day of cousin time and listening to the silliness that takes place whenever they are together.

These should be in the shop within the next couple of days, but if you see one you have to have today just send me an e-mail and let me know! ;) I'd list them now but it took all of my creative writing energy to get this out! I mean seriously folks can't you just read all of the creativity oozing from my words? I am not use to staying up this late... now I'm just getting slaphappy!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Theresa xoxo

Rosette Love...

This morning I woke up and got busy right away on some rosettes, just me , my coffee and some fabric... heaven! This first one is HUGE! I love it on the sweater, actually everything I pinned it on was a fashion success!!! lol!!!
It has layers and layers of goodness!
with of course a little bling in the center of course!
The next couple of them were a little smaller and not all of the layering, I do need to make more of the first ones though because personally I love them!! These do still have the jewels and the natural cotton rumpled/ruffled rosette just has a great look to it.
This one looks like a nest to me with the 3 beads in the center...
Here it is on my bag.
O.k. this one is crazy huge! Probably more for a decoration than a brooch, but if you wanted to wear it on your sweater I wouldn't judge!
It has streamers and everything, all burlap and cheesecloth with some bling! I love to add rhinestones to everything but especially the simple natural materials that I love to use.
Last but not least a silky pink fluff flower. add a little bead and waalaa!

Well, I gotta go, Hannah needs to get to the theatre. Most of these have been listed in my etsy with more to come very soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Theresa xoxo

I made a clutch!... and some other stuff for good measure!

Happy White Wednesday Everyone!!! This will be short but sweet, I just got back from taking Cam to orientation, got stuck in a traffic jam for almost an hour (I know there are some of you out there who are used to this but I live in a teeny little podunk town and so it was wearing on me... I don't know how you get through it, really) anyway, I digress... the orientation went very well and Cam is now a registered college student. I did good too, no crying on the way home! So we got home just in time for him to help coach Maxs baseball team for a tourney that will be an all weekend event this weekend. Hannah is in 2 plays for summer theatre on wed., thurs. and fri. what a boring life right?!!! On to WW, I made this little clutch for a friend of mine, I still can't believe I made it!
Look I even gave it 2 pockets! some vintage crotched lace from an old dresser scarf and a rosette that I have been going gang busters on. These will be good to make while watching a ball game or two! (wish I would have had some done to join in on the rosette party) oh well...
And to round this WW post off, a couple of shots from outdoors...
I love this girly placque and where better for her to hang than on my little white barn... Kate, if you are reading this, can you believe it's STILL not painted? ugh.
love the old white doorknob on my red door.

This white chair just would not stayed glued and came apart so much it was driving me crazy so outside it came to become a planter. I know this is not a new idea by any means but there you have it. :) So right now I am going to figure out what I need to make for dinner and then hit the couch. oh yeah, right after I link up to my favorite parties... Boardwalk Bragfest and
White Wednesday!

Thanks for stopping by! Theresa

Rusty, Crusty, White with a little Paper thrown in!

This white rusty little bird bath, could only feed the smallest of birds but it looks so cute placed among the garden goodness.
There is just something special about white chippy paint and rust that captures this junking heart... old cans, sprinkler nozzles, metal, even old book pages, the beauty of old, white anything is just lovely. Is it any wonder why the White Wednesday party gets bigger and bigger every week? We all swoon when we encounter rusty, chippy white goodness!
This lard can is quite large and holds our dog, Jazz's, food in the back entrance to our house.
This Malted Milk one is a new find from "treasure hunting" and will be listed in my etsy store theoldwhitehouse very soon...
I think Duane thinks this new found love of mine is sheer craziness but I just love the utilitarian crusty stuff most of all! I have been able to acquire a few of these nozzles and am always on the look out for more... I mean have you ever seen Jane's collection, she has them displayed so beautifully it'll make you want to start collecting them, I promise!
This is the base of a double swag light fixture that I recently found too, again check out theoldwhitehouse cuz that's where it will be!
Look at the detail on the lights, ohhhhhh the vintage beauty of these, be still my heart! Someone needs to have these shine in their home, we just don't have anywhere for them... believe me I've tried everywhere!
I even wanted to hang them from a tree like I did the chandis but we don't have power anywhere outside and you couldn't really put candles in these. My loss is your gain!!!
Last but not least for this WW is this wreath I made for theinoriginals, this one is sold but of course the pattern is still in my noggin... all covered with wonderful smelling beeswax and german glass glitter.
So I'm going to go link up to White Wednesday over at Faded Charm and can't wait to see what everyone brings to the party! Another good one for Wednesday is bobbypinsboardwalk bragfest, so I'm going to go over to see Jan and link up there too! Thanks to Kathleen and Jan for hosting these fun parties! I told you in the last post, I've decided at my age to become somewhat of a party girl!!! (it's never too late, right) can I get a WHOOT, WHOOT!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Theresa xoxo

I am becoming quite the party girl!!

There is a great link up party at Remodelaholic... it is for cottage industry businesses to get our names out there in blogland. I think it's a great opportunity for us small biz peeps to maybe get a little more traffic to our etsy stores or maybe you have a webstore that's not etsy but would still like a little more exposure, well then this is your chance! I have been playing around with the idea that it is time to advertise on line somewhere and this party is just the right price... FREE! O.k. all kidding aside, we all know how this works, we need people to see what were selling and that means advertising, right? I'm still doing my research cuz I really think people need to see this...
and this...
and of course these...
All at theoldwhitehouse. Then there's these...
and this...
and these... all at theinoriginals
So if your like me and are looking for a little more exposure (without taking off your shirt! ;O ) Well then head over to Remodelaholic and link up!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Theresa xoxo

Where I've been lately...

Oh my gosh, I just love that my kids will humor me by climbing in Yogi's picnic basket for a group snapshot! We were able to get away together for a few days of camping and since that is a rare occasion these days I really treasure these times. We went back to a campground that we used to take the older kids to when they were little. Last year we realized that Hannah and Max had never been to Yogis campground so Duane and I and just the two of them went there and they loved it! There are so many activities going on that they never wanted to venture from the campground (which actually kinda bummed us out a little because we love the area it is in) but they were having so much fun we stuck around. This time with everyone together we ventured out everyday and they were o.k. missing out on Yogi stuff!

we did a lot of this... playing at our favorite beach at Lake Michigan. Of course no day at the beach is complete without someone getting buried in the sand. Cam and Max are always up for this, whether Max is burying Cam or vice-versa. Hannah adds her creative touch and turned Max into a mermaid!
The process...
We went to the areas amusement/water park and had a blast. I am not a roller coaster kind of girl but I loved all of the water slides and felt like a kid again! Here is the whole gang riding the bumper cars Duane even got in on this action, so all 6 of these peeps belong to me!
Some of them like to live on the edge more than the rest of us. (me and D.)
Fireworks over Lake Michigan, LOVE IT!!! I don't know if this is possible everywhere but in Grand Haven you put your blanket, towel, caution tape, whatever you have available and stake out your space early in the day and then when you come back to it at dusk your space is waiting for you! Really even I think it's crazy but it's true! We staked out our spot about 11:ooam and came back to it in time for the fireworks with ice cream cones in hand and there was our spot right up front waiting for us!
We had a wonderful time, it was so good to get away from the day to day stuff but I'm back at it again! You know I have a mountain of laundry to do and a house to reorganize, putting away all of the stuff we brought and bought. The kids and I even managed to do a little thrifting on Monday and all of us came home with a few treasures :)
I hope your holiday was wonderful, I will be playing catch-up reading posts that I missed while I was gone!

Thanks for stopping by! Theresa xoxo