The Bird Book Print and an Old Picture Frame

After our recent community yard sale, we were stuck with quite a few things that didn't sell. Most were donated locally, but I did keep a few of the old picture frames thinking that I could diddle with them and use them down the road.

I still have a few places at The Nest that need a little decorating, so decided to put a few things together to bring up there, and here is one of them.

This was originally a bronze-brass metallic

wood frame.

I sprayed it with Rustoleum

in an oil-rubbed bronze color

(the same one that I used on the knobs

for the kitchen cabinets up there)...

...and left just a little of the original finish

showing through...

I recently discovered a source for vintage prints

that were cut from old books.

The shop sells at very reasonable prices,

and I don't have to tell you what some

sellers charge for these.

This one was the title page from a vintage

bird book.
The seller has a water colorist on staff,
and he, or she, gently colors some of the
illustrations, as was done with this one.

I made a copy of it,
(of course, saving the original)

and fastened it to a nice piece of burlap that

I then used to cover the cardboard that came

with the frame.

Vintage-looking prong fasteners

hold the print to the burlap...

Here is a close-up.

It was hard to get a good photo due

to the reflections on the glass...

It took about ten minutes to put the whole thing together 

while waiting for the paint to dry on the frame.

What could be better than this

for a vacation place called "The Wren's Nest"?!

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I had also ordered a few other prints from this seller,
and I will share them with you on a future post.
If you're interested in browsing this shop on eBay,
the name of the store is Interior Elements,
and you can find it here.

Have you created anything "on the fly" lately?

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Today I am linking with Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party
and you can find it here.
I hope that you enjoy your visit!

Christmas stockings from an old cutter quilt...

Happy Sunday, friends! 

This post is a little late in coming, but I'm finally getting around to showing you what I did with the old cutter quilt that you saw here.

My daughter, hubby and my grandchildren are coming up here from Florida for Christmas this year, bringing my dad with them. I really can't wait, and decided to do something special since they don't have a fireplace "down in the tropics". So here is what became of that old quilt.

Three Christmas stockings created for the left side of the 

fireplace...

...and four for the right side...

I embellished them all slightly different,

using vintage laces, doilies, and hankies,

and added some glitz with 

old rhinestone brooches and pins...

I wanted to be able to use them again

for whoever visits us in the future,

so I used glitter letters for the first letter

in each person's name.

They were 98 cents each in WalMart,

and even came with these sweet

 little swirly hooks,

which happen to match the hooks that I 

use for the ornaments on the 

Christmas tree.

It gave me such joy to be able to work on

that quilt while I was thinking about

the lady long ago who worked on it 

the first time.

I hope I did her proud!

And as for the large leftover piece of that quilt? 

I think that I may make a table runner or a 

tree skirt out of it,

but there will likely be no time to do that this

year.

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By the way,

I discovered an easy way of making these stockings

where you sew the stocking and lining in one

process, rather that having to make the lining

separately, and then sew it to the stocking.

I was in the process of creating a tutorial,

but will not likely have time to complete it

before Christmas.

Maybe I can strive for a "Christmas in July" 

next year.

What do you think?

I hope that your decorating is moving faster than mine!

A lovely cutter quilt: The Pontiac Star

Good morning friends!

I think that I mentioned a while back that I started collecting cutter quilt pieces. If you don't know what these are, they are old quilts that can no longer be used for their intended purpose, as they may have tears in them, be badly stained in some areas, have sections that are shattered due to the deterioration of the fabrics that were used, and so forth. Some of them are quite beautiful and crafters have been using them for a while for all sorts of things, from making stuffed toys to holiday decorations to pin cushions, and more. Folding them up and displaying them in baskets has also become another use for them.

If you read this blog you know that I love to decorate with neutrals along with a punch of black (who puts black ornaments on their Christmas tree, anyway?!), so imagine my excitement when I found a beautiful cutter quilt on eBay recently, one using only two colors, namely cream and black calico. The calico has a tiny print, and this was the only fabric used besides the solid cream. And there was only one other bidder (my heartfelt apologies to the other bidder). I'll let the pictures do the talking!

I gently washed it in my washing machine,

using plenty of Ultra Downy Infusions 

fabric softener,

the lavender serenity scent.

What beautiful piecing and hand-stitching

on this lovely old quilt...

I want to cry every time I 

envision it on a bed. 

But that is not meant to be. 

Even the borders are beautiful...

The defect on this one:

It seemed to have met a sad fate.

When folded in quarters

a torn out section is right through

all four sections.

Doesn't this look like a heart? 

This makes it all the more special,

as MY heart skipped a beat when

I first saw it...

Below you see it folded into quarters, 

with the hole completely through...

Here it is laid out on the bed in my studio,

folded in half...

There were no stains at all on this quilt.

Below you see the only other torn area, 

which is actually very small...

I bought this quilt for a very special purpose,

which I will reveal in the near future.

I want it to become a keepsake that

will honor the lady who put so much time

into this beautiful creation.

I cut off the pieces that I needed,

and below is the long and perfect piece 

that is left.

I also have a plan for this...

What would you do with this old beauty?

Can you guess what I will do with it?

You might find a small clue in one of the photos

above!

More to come in a future post.

What creations are you working on lately?

Creating for Avery Grace: A Pretty Baby Card

Good evening friends. I hope that you're doing well!

If you're anything like we are, the warmer weather is such a treat that we've been spending as much time outside as possible, mostly getting the yard in shape by cleaning up the winter debris, mulching, weeding, spraying, fertilizing, and moving and dividing some plants. Wow, it really feels good to work in the fresh air for a change.

So. of course, I have not had much time for crafting (the story of my life), but I did send a package down to Florida for my new granddaughter, Avery, and at least had the time to create a little card and something else to go with the actual gift. Here is what I made...

Is there any law that you have to use actual baby paper

to wrap a baby gift? I couldn't help using this vintage-like

rose paper that I bought a long time ago,

because...

It so perfectly matched the scrapbook paper

that I used on the card. It is from the Lost and Found

collection of My Mind's Eye.

If you follow this blog, you know how much

I love that paper!

You also probably know that I collect vintage

photos of Victorian-era babies in their 

buggies, and this one is my absolute favorite.

My son and daughter-in-law have two dogs,

so need I say more about why I used 

this one!...

Isn't this one of the most beautiful old baby

photos you have ever seen?...

Because I can never find cards that say exactly

what I think that they should say, I usually

search quotes for just the right thing,

and found this one.

I printed it out in colors that matched

the card. 

(I forgot to take a photo of the inside of

the card before we signed it,

so unfortunately, this is just the quote,

and not how the inside of the finished 

card actually looked.)

Then, I had this crazy idea about using one

of my vintage hankies as part of the gift. 

It just so happened that

its lace perfectly matched the old lace that I

used on the front of the card.

So I made a little gift tag from a another

piece of scrapbook paper...

...tied it with the hankie...

...and wrote the sentiment on the back of the tag...

"Something old" for her future wedding day!

I couldn't get over the fact that the laces

all had roses on them that matched the paper.

Do you get excited over stuff like that?

And I guess that Avery likes pink.

Here are the latest photos...

Florida girl...

...and Mommy's girl...

Many thanks for stopping by!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint: Hutch completed!

Good morning and happy Saturday!

I completed the little hutch that I was working on and showed you pictures of the other day. Here is what it looks like now.

I thought it came out kind of nice...



The drawer pulls were originally a brassy kind of color.

Here is a close-up of the drawer pulls now...

...after spraying them with this...

We are also going to use this "oil rubbed bronze"

metallic paint on all of the doorknobs at Birdsong.

Currently they are a mix and match saga of gold,

silver, and black. 

This color will also match the kitchen lighting,

which I will share pictures of in a future post.

I hope that you have a great day!



Annie Sloan Chalk Paint: My first attempt...

Good morning friends. I hope you've been having a good week.

When we were in the mountains last week, we went to a wonderful consignment store in the next town over from where we live. We ended up buying a small wall hutch that we will use over the desk that we plan on putting in the alcove of the guest room. (We do not yet have the desk, but I can see it in my dreams!)

A while back I purchased a can of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that was still sitting in the garage just waiting to be used, so yesterday was my first try at this product.

Here is the hutch...

...and what it looked like after I started brushing

on the paint...

Here is what one completed coat looked like.

Too streaky for me...

It dried pretty quickly.

I brushed on the second coat, and here is the result...

The hutch was already distressed in some spots,

so I just let the paint do its thing...

Here is a picture of the product.

I'm sure you've seen it all over

the internet and Pinterest...

I was really satisfied with the outcome and would definitely use this again. You do not need to prime anything, and they say that most of the time you only need one coat. It's pricey, but a little goes a long way, and it comes in several beautiful colors. I bought mine locally at my favorite haunt, Vintage Village. Annie Sloan's website is here.

I am also going to try a new product on the drawer pulls, and will show you the final outcome in another post.

Have a great day, and thanks for coming by!

I will be away again!

Greetings from The Perch! I was thinking about you and just wanted you to know that I will be away part of this week and next, so I will not be able to post. Please see my sidebar if you want to sign up for getting an email when I post the next time.

We are going to visit family in New England, so hopefully, when I get back, I will have some photos to share with you of any day trips that we take. There are always great shops up there!

I haven't had much time for crafting these days, but I did start an afgan before we left last week. I love to crochet in the car as the pattern that I use for these is simple and doesn't require much concentration. I can still look out the window and navigate for my husband when necessary. I will continue working on it in the car next week.

Below are some photos...

Hopefully there will be more time for fun next week than there was last week!

A fun old photo for your art...



Thanks for stopping by. Until next time!

Drying flowers, Part One

Good morning friends! Today I thought I'd offer you a break from all of the pictures of the mountains. While I was getting ready for our trip, I was looking at the bouquet of flowers that I had used as a centerpiece on our dining table when my husband's family was in town. It was one of those cheap little arrangements from the grocery store, and though it was starting to get a little limp, quite a few of the flowers still looked quite pretty. I also noticed that my hydrangea bushes were still in full bloom, but didn't think that they would look so good by the time we got home.

So the day before we left I told Mr. Perch that I was going to dry some flowers. To spare myself odd looks and strange comments (he made it clear that he thought it was weird that I would spend the time cutting hydrangeas when I had so much to do-HA!), I got up early on the morning of our departure, before he woke up, ran outside with scissors and vase in hand, and cut and trimmed several hydrangeas. I also took the tired bouquet up to my studio and prepared the flowers for drying.

Following are some photos of my ventures in flower-drying!

As the sun is coming up...

...I set out in search of which hydrangeas

I will want to cut.

These are Blushing Bride.

White with a touch of blue.

Certainly beautiful, but not enough there to want to cut them...

I decide to cut some from a variety of other bushes,

leaving long stems, trimming the leaves,

and putting them in a vase of water.

I have read that you should leave them

this way until all the water has evaporated.

If the blooms are not dried out by this time,

keep adding water until they are.

They are placed on the screened porch...

...along with some white hydrangea,

prepared the same way.

Then I trot into my studio to work on the bouquet.

Here are some that I have chosen to use,

along with some others in pink and white...

I find a large, heavy book with pages in it that I don't care

that much about...

I open it up to a page near the back,

and add two paper towels to the top of the page...

I begin with these pink blossoms.

The stems have been removed.

The one on top is face up.

The one on bottom is face down,

and shows where I have cut the stem

near to the blossom,

so that it lays flat,

but not so close that the petals come apart.

They have been placed on the two

paper towels...

I cover the blossoms with two more paper towels,

and cover that first layer with a few more pages

in the book...

I add two more paper towels and more trimmed blossoms,

again covering them with two more paper towels,

flipping more pages on top, and...

...do the same thing for the next blossom,

which is quite large...

I now have three layes of flowers.

I close the book, and end up with this.

The book will not close all of the way...

...so I stack several more heavy books

on top, forming a pile.

I also pile some books behind these

so that the stack will not topple over...

By the way, I placed the below book on top.

It is one of my favorite old books and will share some of it

with you in a future post...

Here is my ravaged bouquet...

I hope that this doesn't become an exercise in futility! I have successfully dried flowers in books before, but must confess that I have never dried hydrangeas this way. I'll keep you posted. If it doesn't work, I guess there's always Michael's!! Have a wonderful day.