bluejean

I not only sell at the antique fair in July, but I have an online store too. You can check it out at repurposedantiques.etsy.com.

I reiterate everything everyone else has written. You make wonderful stuff!

Simply beautiful!
Jean

I love this idea. Very cute. It is just another example of thinking outside the box or jar in this case.

I love your signs, very creative and unique. I also love the fact that I'm only 2 1/2 hours away from Boise! I'll have to drop in and check it out next time I'm in the big city.
Thanks for sharing,
Jean

Gretchen,
I sure appreciate your ability to create as you go and have it turn out so beautifully. I love this piece.
I have to plan it all out first and as my oldest daughter says, I'm too "matchy, matchy". I'm learning to color out of the lines more and not be confined to perfect semetry.
You are a great inspiration!
Jean

I've seen the grain sacks made into pillows, message boards and stools covers but not aprons and bags. Love, love, love! Great job!

They are fairly simple to make. I use the large size glass gems (like the ones you put in flower arrangments), decoupauge medium, paint and of course a magnet. I made copies of the dictionary images because the paper is so thin on the original page. I then take the glass gem trace around the image I want and paint the back of the paper black. This seals it and blends in with the magnet, giving it a finished look. Next I cut out the image and glue it onto the glass gem using decoupauge medium. I then seal the back and glue the magnet on. I think you can find all the supplies at most craft stores or online.

Very clever! Love the pun too.

Who knew to look on the BACK of the licence plate! They make for an interesting design and texture also. Great job!

I absolutely LOVE the baby shoes in the frame. Great idea! Makes me wonder what else could be hung inside a frame?

It looks like you are off to a great start on my projects.
I found two Scrabble games this summer at two of my local thrift stores. I have also seen them for sale on ebay or etsy. Or you can purchase them directly from the game maker Hasbro at hasbro.com (100 letter tiles / 4 racks / tile pouch for $6.50)

I have two of these, but they don't have the numbers. I have one in my laundry room and use it to drip dry my clothes. I never knew what it was used for and appreciate the history lesson. Thanks!

If you have more pictures of your other displays please post them. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love to see them.

I can see why you've won some awards. I'm sure you have people taking a second look and then going in for a closer look. I've never seen anything like this before. Very creative, unique and classy. (And to think I was going to use an old rake to hang my button jewelry on for my next show....)

I often hear the phrase these days "before 9/11.....or after 9/11". That day things changed and we will never be the same again. Your split apple reflects that in your art. But on a more positive note I see all the little, individual compartments, which make the foundation, holding it all together.

Very creative way to use licence plates. I love the color combination also. Great job!

I would paint the metal drawers and boxes (I like black) and put some legs on them. You can have a welder make a stand (I had one made for a wooden file cabinet) and use it for a side table.
I think they would also work great in a sewing/craft room, bathroom or office just set on a counter to hold supplies.

The typewriter stand could be used to hold a printer on top in an office, and you could put a wire gym basket underneath to hold extra paper.

Maybe at your next fair you could use some of the "props" suggested which would help give your buyers ideas on how they could be used. Sometimes staging and presentation is what will sell an item.

You could do a test sample by painting the bottom of one of the drawers to see how you like it before to take the pink plunge. Just a thought.

My husband has one of these without the table. Now I get the complete picture. Thanks for posting.

I have been wanting to try this, paint cork board, and am encouraged and inspired to go for it. Great job, great design! Looks "store bought".

I agree with everyone. Great door, great price! Another idea is to put mirror in the the recessed panels. Good luck.

Very cute and inviting. I like how you used the stool on TOP of the table for display height. I'm glad you did well.

I love keeping the screen on and had not thought of that. I have mounted coffee sacks onto used cork boards (this covers all the pin marks, scratches etc) so that it can be used as a message center as well as adding a graphic element.
Some of the bags have a graphic side and a plain side. I have stenciled designs onto the plain ones (see my other posts), so they can also be used.
I got my bags from two local coffee shops. One shop gave them to me, the other charged $3.00 each, which isn't bad either, because you get TWO sides with each bag. I have also seen them for sale on ebay for $10.00 each.

I live in a small mountain resort town in Idaho several hours from the nearest big town. We have a lot of tourist that come in just for the holiday so traffic is good.

I have to give a HUGE thank you to my family. My husband and three sons help with the physical loading, set-up, and take down. My three daughters and daughter-in-love help with taking inventory, displays, selling, and tying up all the loose ends, of which there are many. I could not do it without them. They are truly a blessing.

Great job in putting bits and pieces together for a wonderful display.

I love the graphic element of the spice cans. And perfect in a kitchen.
This sparks the imagination of what else one can put in a frame around a chalkboard or corkboard for that matter. You've got my creative juices flowing...

I like the pick up and go mentality of the drawer with a handle. I think I'll have to make one of these as a display/sign for my fair booth. Things could go on top of and well as inside the drawer with a discriptive note or price sign. I could see several mismatched drawers grouped together for an even greater display.

I say ditto to RustyDiva nad alicemom. I too was thinking western theme kid's room and love the shelf. I would have done wood, but love the unexpected metal instead. Great project!

I too live in a rural area, in the mountains of Idaho, and far from my favorite junk spots. At times I lament the fact that my two favorite junk stores are 3 hours away....but when I do get to go, I spend hours there and appreciate every minute of it. I have found though that local garage sales and thrift stores can be a great resource. The key is to go often and think outside of the box. I agree that this site has been a great help and inspiration and am very thankful for it.

I love anything that has to do with sewing notions and your use of patterns to make paper roses is so creative. I especially love the subtle yet graphic element and how each one is unique.
Thank you too for the tip on candle holders vs wine glasses for the base on your pedestals.

I decided to see if my camera had a computer friendly setting as RustyDiva suggested. I had to dig out my book (it was still wrapped in plastic)and sure enough, I have one! I just took pictures with it and did a post without having to resize or anything. Note to self, if all else fails.....read the directions!

I would call this simple elegance. It is very clean and pure. I LOVE the blocks painted white and used as a cake topper, simple, yet beautiful. Great job!

Thanks Junk Sophisticate for your camera advice. I'm use to taking the "bigger picture" and cropping it for my etsy store...so figuring out how to do it for JM is another learning curve for me. Any help I can get is much appreciated.

I love this idea. It adds an elegant, rather than industrial, look to your shelf and goes so well with your beautiful white dresses.
Questions: How do you attach the silverware to the shelf?
How do you bend the silverware?

I'm so glad you posted this!
I too was having problems posting my photos and tried your recomendation, Junk Sophisticate. At first it didn't work and then I realized I was using pictures I had already resized for my etsy shop. So I took new pictures and then went to paint and resized them to 30% and it worked!
Thank you so much.

I use old windows to make message boards. I put in either reclycled cork board, metal, or paint chalkboard paint on a piece of wood cut to fit the opening. Secure with glazing points. If you want a finished look you can nail chipboard over the back to hide your construction. Attach sawtooth hangers and you are ready to go. (You can check out my message boards at repurposedantiques.etsy.com if you want to see what they look like finished.)

I've been wanting to make some lamps and these are great inspiration. Great job!

I used my computer and a clip art program I have and enlarge or shrunk the designs I wanted. I then took butcher paper (bought at Costco on a giant roll) and traced (using a light box - I've used sunshine coming through a window too)my design using the dementions of the wood with graphite paper (comes in black or white and is found in craft stores - is like carbon paper). I then used a fine, tiny paint brush, a steady hand, and a lot of patience to paint on the design. In some cases I had to do two coats to hide the brush strokes.

I was GIVEN five of these windows from a remodel job my son-in-love was doing. Three will be Eiffle Tower pictures, one will be a message board (cork, metal & chalk) and the fifth I sanded off some of the pink paint and will leave it "shabby chic" and put mirror in it. I have a small business and hope to sell all of them at a fair in Dec.
I got the poster at a local shop called Bungalow for $4.00. Someone told me they found one like mine in the internet. I don't know the web site but I bet you could google it. I am also going to do a vintage map of the US and use a window with four panes for my next project.

My daughter-in-love makes these with scrapbook paper, but I love the vintage music paper. I would say that you can sell them for $15 to $20 at least in my neck of the woods (Sun Valley, Idaho). They are custom and unique.

This opens up a lot of possibilities. You are only limited to your imagination. My mind is running a hundred miles an hour with new ideas. Thanks!

I hate filing but this project gives me inspiration. If I can look at beautiful files it will help me not drag my heals when it comes to putting things away. Thanks for such a great idea.

What a great use of junk. I love the overall design. I would also like to make lamps at some point and this is great inspriation.
bluejean

I have an awesome connection with the owner of a glass shop. When he installs new windows in a home, he GIVES me the old ones. (He used to throw them away.) Recently I got over 50 windows in one haul and one of them was round like this one, also with the casing intacted, only it opens. Half of the window slides around. It also has a screen on the other side. I thought of making a table out of it and this picture helps alot.

I have wanted to do something like that with a six pane window I found. I have six kids and thought about putting a picture of each one in each pane. But, I really like the words too. Great look!

The words were hand painted on. The way I did this was to print out the word on the computer with the font and size I wanted. I then used graphite paper (it is like carbon paper, is found in craft stores and comes in white or black) to transpher the word on. I used scotch tape to keep everything in place. Once the word was transphered I used a tiny brush and acrilic paint to paint it on, or if the words were bigger I used a paint pen.

I am very fortunate to have three welders in the family. My husband and my two sons-in-love. My husband did this table. I was going to sell it at the local antique fair but when my daughter fell in love with it I gave it to her for Christmas. I'm glad I didn't sell it after all as it is one my favorite creations thus far.