Birdland

Happy Met Monday!

Thank you to Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting this fun party!  Hop on over there and check out all the really cool ideas!
Kathleen at Faded Charm Cottage is the hostess for White Wednesday and I have also joined the party there.  To see all the beautiful whites click here

I am finally able to get back to posting and I need to make up for lost time!!  In the coming months there will be lots of great ideas and pretty pictures.  Be sure to check back!!

Mom, Laur and I really stocked up on cool stuff and terrific bargains over the summer and we can't wait to show them all off!

For today let's concentrate on some Metamorphi!!

For the Birds

This looks like a plain old wire birdcage.  Maybe to me and you but, Laurie see's something more...Laur and her family attended a wedding this summer and the receptacle for the cards from the guests was a birdcage with a little padlock on it!  You just dropped your card safely inside and the bride and
groom could open the lock to retrieve their gifts later, after the party was over.

 

This caused a stir in the creative mind 

of my sister!  She painted her birdcage white and lined
the bottom with toile fabric...which by the way matches her home office curtains.

Just for fun she attached an old glass drawer pull.  The little dishes original to the cage were turquoise which Laurie thought added a colorful touch.  You can see an antique fountain pen
 tucked into the drinking bowl for a unique accessory.
Using the newly painted perches as supports, she inserted her mail.  Envelopes rests on the perches for easy access.  Note the addition of the escutcheon!

 Two perches make it easy to separate incoming and outgoing mail!

 With the addition of a sweet polka dotted bow, Laur has a nifty and sylish mail sorter that co-ordinates beautifully with her office!

Where have I been?

I am literally slapping this post up here!!  August has been a pretty crazy month!  Remember the days when we thought June was a rough one?!!

Anyway, I have been letting Mom and Laur down by not putting up some of the cool stuff they have been sending me....soooooo....I have loaded pix onto this laptop which Captain Butler has offered to take to Disney with us and  I am hoping to do some posting from there.  I think I can even play with the computer on the plane.

After the return from Disney there will be 2 whole days before Mr Junior Petticoat starts school and I drive Miss DePaul Freshman Petticoat to Chicago and leave her there!!  I can't even believe that is happening!!

Mom has retired from teaching the Decorative Painting classes at the local theatre, where she has helped 'bring the arts back' for many years.  She is still decorating the local bank for Christmas and preparing for the annual Christmas Craft show.  This year I get to be with her and try to create some Christmas themed scrapbooks and anything else we can think of!!! The bank decorating is always themed and includes lots of original paintings done by Mom....it is always a huge hit!!

Laur is still working on selling her beautiful home in Farmville, Virginia and finding a place to live in south east Pennsylvania.  Her daughter Samantha is looking for work in the new area and planning to attend graduate school for Chiropractics. Christopher, her eldest is currently staying with Mom and Dad in Laceyville, Pa where is working for a tree service company.  He is climbing and chopping to his heart's content!!

That is the status quo for just about all of us!!

We will be posting more soon, so, stay in touch!!

Gone to find my mouse ears,

Scarlett

Met Monday!

Downspout Strainer to Rustic Cloche!!

Disclaimer:  Mom saw this idea on another blog 

and was very excited to try it. 

 If you know who posted it let me know and we will give her credit!

First you take a metal downspout strainer, like the one pictured.

Next you have to give it a bell shape, while keeping the top pieces close to each other.  Something like this...

You can even use a cloche you may have as a mold to shape the wire around and get the look you want. Of course Mom did it all by hand...but, we aren't all that 'handy'!!!

Next you need to attach the edges.
Just like sewing with wire.
Have you noticed the wooden knob and wheel beside the wire shape?  The wheel (a wooden one from the craft store) goes inside the cloche and a screw joins it to the knob on top.  
This helps keep the metal edges contained.

Spray the whole creation with a little ORB (or a creamy white) and place it on a pedestal.

After that you have to experiment to find what you think will look best inside of it.  Here are some of Mom's idea's

Mom added a little chain with a key and a necklace charm hanging from the little wooden knob. Then she used some vintage 

doilies, a pin made by local (to her!) artist, Holly. 

Holly uses vintage pieces to create her one of a kind jewelry. With the addition of a crystal knob and lamp finial voila! 

For the next 'cloche experience'!  Mom placed a leather 

button top baby shoe

worn by her Grandmother next to a tiny porcelain vase.  

There is a little doily tucked into the shoe!

The pin is a bakelite F for Frances, her Mother's name.

The wooden pieces cost a total of 2.89.  The white 

dish was a yardsale find for .50!  The strainer was

just under 3.00.

At last Mom finds a look that makes her happy 

(for now!).  

A sunny yellow teacup!

Until the season's change!!  

 A last look...

Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch 

to see the other delightful Met Monday contributions!

Thank you for visiting!

Birds of a Feather.

We are happy to be joining the White Wednesday party at Faded Charm Cottage.

Click the button and take a look!

White Wednesday

Yoo Hoo!  Anyone home?  Hmmmm, no answer?

Well, can you beat that?  I know that darn Sylvia is home today...

I saw her fly in that side door just 10 minutes ago!

Will you look at that filigree bracket, solid brass.  Whatever happened to good old wrought iron? 

If she thinks she can just ignore me simply because I need a wing with the Church Fashion Show.

Then she has another think coming!

I must have the use of her house for the Thank You Luncheon.

All the work these starlings darlings are doing...of course, mostly me and under my guidance...but...still..

it's only decent manners to thank them.  Hummph!

You know...she has been all hoity-toity since she moved into

this beautiful place...if you like that kind of ostentation.

I mean...a purple glass knob for a perch, really!

My goodness it's everywhere you look!

Custom made with original barnwood.  Lordy!

You'd think the rest of us live in outhouses the way she carries on.

Is that some kind of debris coming out of that window?

How rude!...shhhh! I hear they're new money...

You know what they say...you can put lipstick on a pigeon...but, it's still a pigeon.

Sad, but true.

Is that her in that attic window?  I just feel her beady little eyes on me!

She'll be shooting off that beak of hers complaining to everyone with ears

about my coming here just begging for her help.

What I go through in the name of Charity!

I'll just have to swallow my pride and hop to it!

This is just one of the many gorgeous birdhouses

my sister Laurie has created.

This one resides in Mom's garden.

Laur uses authentic barnwood, vintage hardware and found objects

 to create truly one of a kind works of art.