I just returned from girl's camp and you know what that means? Besides getting into a nice, long hot shower and then taking a nap?

Pressing more of these!

I can't be out in nature and not look for some ferns. There were plenty. My college roommate's mother is named Fern. Just a bit of trivia.

I also made a lantern for our lighting ceremony of the 100th anniversary of girl's camp. I liked the way it came out so much that I decided to make more for our deck. Super fun, super easy, super cheap. And they look all magical when lit. Anyone want to make them with me?

You don't know how badly I wanted to rip off the old camp sign from this tree. I love old signs. This was my campsite where I helped to oversee 26 girls in two cabins - whew! I am already looking to next year with new ideas and improvements. Until then I will enjoy air conditioning and won't have to worry about rattlesnakes...that's not the kind of Friday Find I like.

Have a great weekend!

Framing ferns - quick DIY art

When Jon saw that I was packing a book to take with me to camp a few weeks back, he smiled and said, "Oh, gonna get a little light reading done?" He was excited for a moment at the thought of me taking time to read, something I love but never can squeeze in any time to do.

I said, "No, that's for my ferns!"

Every few years I like to press ferns for quick art work and since I don't use a fancy flower press, I just use the trusty (and slightly dusty from all the non-reading and I guess non- dusting) books.

This is one I framed in 2003 when we went hiking in Maryland with the kids. I found 3 species that day and put them in 5 old frames which I picked up at a thrift shop. It has kept its color but some of the others have faded which is why I redo them every few years.

I loved that the frames all had their original prices on them. .39 cents for the 5x7s and .59 cents for the 8x10's. You can't even get those prices at a garage sale.

This time I'll put them in white frames which I happen to have a bunch of, just in all the wrong sizes of course. Time to remedy that.

Anyone making nature inspired art? Displaying a beautiful, twisted piece of driftwood, perhaps? Or still keeping that pet rock on the shelf?

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Vintage cupcake picks - craft

For years I have been collecting ephemera. I love typography, old letters, music sheets, calling cards, perfume labels and the list goes on...they come in handy for projects.
*

For Blair's 3rd and 4th birthday, I made decorative picks to adorn her cupcakes. For this project I used old music books that I picked up for .10 cents. But because they were half off, I only paid a nickel. That was even cheaper than the retail price when the book was published in 1904. I could easily make copies from these but the paper is thin and easier to work with so it's my paper of choice.

I cut (four) 3x3 inch squares from the sheet music. I have also done 4x4 depending on what size rosette I needed. I folded each square accordion style. Easy, easy...

And then when all were folded, I folded them in half and secured them together with tape.
They looked liked tiny fans.

When all four were secured individually, I joined them all together with double sided tape to make one full rosette.

And then with the magic of a printer, I photocopied the perfume label from the *second picture above and cut it out of card stock. Then I made several wallet size photos from one of Blair's pictures and glued her picture onto the body in the perfume ad. I cut wings from scrapbook paper, added crepe paper and using double sided tape again, I secured it all to the front.

I taped a toothpick to the back to make it stand in the cupcake.

And that is how "Fairy Blairs," as said by Blair, were born.

Now I have requests from all of my kids to make fairies for their birthdays. The older ones want really funny ones for theirs so we are working on those images.

I have also strung rosettes together to make banners which look really great on gift packages
or anywhere you want to create a little interest - mantles, bookshelves, on a floral display - endless possibilities. I made one for Halloween last year and downloaded vintage script to make the word Halloween with each letter on a rosette.

It's such a simple adornment which takes very little time and money.

I wish I had a baby shower to throw for someone because I have a fun idea for that and am dying to make picks.

Have fun - you'll enjoy making them!

Restoration Hardware Art - my way

For those of you that hate to see books destroyed, turn away.

I have a hard time parting with books, let alone rip them apart.

As I was looking through Restoration Hardware's catalogue, I came across this "objets d'art."
They cost $29.00 for each bundle of books. I wondered who in the world would buy this when you can just do it yourself? It couldn't be that hard.

So I decided to try it and the books would have to take one for the team.

I wasn't crazy for the look but I felt challenged to recreate this with thrift store books at a fraction of the price.

This picture courtesy of Restoration Hardware

I gathered up a few books - $1.00 each. Trae enjoyed stacking them on his little wagon. Note to self: old books = cheap toys.

As the RH catalogue says, the books are "liberated from their covers" which must be akin to burning bras or something. I first made sure the books were not going for thousands of dollars on Ebay. The most expensive one was $13.00. No big whoop I thought. So off with the covers!

Next, I took jute twine and tied it around the books. I wanted the lighter shade but I didn't have that and wanted to use what I had so this color would do. It was around $2.00 for the roll.

Five minutes later I had my own "objets d'art." I held them all together with one of Jon's boot laces. See what happens when your husband is golfing and fishing with his high school buddies out in WA state? (our home state) You take his shoelaces...

And then I put it on the shelf and suddenly I kinda liked it. I think it would look better en masse so there will be more on the way. And I'm going to buy leather cords to hold them together.

As a side note, the capiz flower candle holder was only .49 cents at the thrift shop and the name card inside of it was from my 1st grade field trip to the Portland Zoo and OMSI. There was a slide into the petting zoo area and we enjoyed going down it and watching the animals dodge us.

A goat came up to me so I petted him and he started to eat my name tag, that name tag. He was slowly getting closer to my neck when my mom realized I was yelling. She was in a tug of war with the goat but managed to get it out of his mouth.

She saved it for me and now a priceless memory has a place on the shelf.

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