Being a Use~What~You~Have Sort of Soul...Ancient Armoires...Vintage Linens

Our collection of Vintage Linens

is threatening to take over the house.


So much so that when I go to use my favorite pieces...


they appear lost in the jumble.

Being a Use What You Have sort of soul...


I looked around for a place that would allow me to

sort and organize my most used pieces...

and oft forgotten linens I would like to use more!




It's often easy to overlook the obvious...


but when I spied one of our ancient armoires


hiding in plain sight


I knew it would make them a perfect home.

Zoey agreed.



After folding and storing some of our vintage quilts


I realized...


the project required a shelf of some sort.



When I looked about the house I came across this half~forgotten


little green shelf in a hallway...


holding empty baskets.

As I sifted through the plastic storage bins


filled with lovely linens


I chose and lovingly folded the pieces I knew I would use most often...


be it transforming them via sewing projects


or embellishing a table, window or sofa.

I threw in a few pillows that will soon be recovered as well!

We even left a little room for the linens to breathe.


Now...

I know you are

Use What You Have souls

as well and I bet you have storage solutions

above and beyond this little effort.

What are some of your Use~What~You~Have solutions??

TWENTY~SEVEN LESSONS IN UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Photo Source Unknown

~~~~~~~~~~~~


Today...


Mike and I celebrate


27 years of our


imperfectly lovely life together.

A Vintage Valentine Wish for You! X0X

Wishing you all an abundance of love and good thoughts!

Warmly,

Tracey and Family
xxx000xxx

More Magic...Fragments...Good Thoughts...Love

Wallflower

~~~~~~~

To see more click HERE.

The Magic of Three Forgotten Doilies and a Twist on Garlands

Creating Tokens of Affection Under Flickering Lights

Do do you use ...

the "movie watching technique"

to get things done??

~~~~~~

I do!! In fact...

I was rummaging through my vintage Valentine collection the other day

(you can see them HERE)

and was inspired to create my own Valentines this year...

using some paper doilies that had long lingered in our re~Use~it bin.

There were just three left in the package...

which put me to wondering.

Three... three... three.

Three Wishes...

Three times a charm...

Three Charming Valentines !

In my paper drawer I found a few sheets of card stock and proceeded to create..


on my computer...


a page of paper hearts...filled with good thoughts and love.

I used a pair of scalloped scissors from our craft box to cut them out


while watching Audrey Hepburn , yet again,

in "Sabrina"
("Yes, we have no bananas today.")


I then glued one heart atop the doily and slipped it inside an orphan envelope!

They were a simple little token at that point...quite charming.


Even still...


the movie had only half~way finished


...perhaps this little heart could use a little more attention???

I thought of the boxwood garland I had


tucked away in my Ribbon~Keeper Apothecary jar...



and pulled it out to play.

I cannot express how incredibly easy it was to

shape these little hearts from the wired garland.

Just bend... and twist!!

(Much easier than "the bend and snap" ;)

I thought they needed a little color...

so I plucked a few pepper berries

leftover from the garlands and wreaths I made at Christmas...

(you can read about them HERE and scroll to the 12/13 post)

and glued them atop the garland using tiny little dabs of glue from the glue stick.


I made a few extra

as I watched Sabrina and Linus board the plane to Paris ... together!!

I printed out a few tiny tags...

on an ordinary sheet of computer paper

(cutting them out with the same scalloped scissors).

I will use these for future Token~Gift~Giving!

Hint: They store beautifully in a little envelope.

In case you were wondering...

I attached them together using a two~inch piece of this sparkly heart garland!

By that time I was very much appreciating

the shiny, sparkly pop of the red garland...thus...

I decided to use it to add a tag to the paper~only Valentine as well!


As you probably know, I am always one to work ahead of need...

(and, of course, several projects with only one clean~up is like being given the gift of time)

so I decided to make several more tiny, "Be Loved" tags...

and store them in my smallest (and, I believe, my prettiest)

Valentine Tin...for future use!

As I was already working ahead of need...
I decided to slip a few extra boxwood and berry hearts

inside cellophane bags we had left over from our holiday baking.

...and close it with a shiny golden seal!

I then tucked it all inside the tower of vintage tins

and set them back atop their shelf in the craft pantry...

where they'll be waiting for me

when I pull them out again this week and next

to make a few more tokens of affection before

Valentine's Day on the fourteenth!

~~~
How do you use the "movie watching technique" to get things done??

I must confess, these Valentines only exist because of guilt! I needed to justify sitting down to watch a movie I've already seen a half~dozen times!!
I would love, LOVE, love to hear/see

what YOU'VE made while watching a favorite show or movie!!

Warmly,
Tracey
xOx