Featured Etsy Shop - MY VINTAGE ALCOVE

The Holiday decorating and shopping season is upon us!!!   The Fall Décor is up and if weather soon permits the pumpkins will adorn the porch.  Our Fall and Christmas décor is filled with our own DIY projects or from other artists, mostly from my favorite Etsy Sellers.

This weeks featured favorite shop or shops is My Vintage Alcove and Haute Interiors :

My very first Etsy shop was my hand-crafted shop, “Haute Interiors LLC”. I began incorporating a few vintage hardware pieces into it & they sold very quickly. I was then bitten by the “vintage bug”. I did not like the cluttered look of my shop, so I opened my vintage shop in 2010, “My Vintage Alcove”, and it has changed my life!

 I grew up in the 70s with the Avocado Greens and Harvest Golds of that era. For some reason, as a child I was drawn to kitchenware of that period. I remember my mother throwing away perfectly good pieces, and I would go behind her, pull them out and save them. I would pre-shop her garage sales and kept items I would later take to my apartment. I remember her commenting to me how common these items were to her. They might have been common to that time, but I loved them.
As an adult, I look back at these pieces and reflect on the quality, how they were made & how well they have survived the passage of time. When I am out shopping, I purchase these quality houseware & home décor items that I am drawn to. I love reading the notes from my customers of how they saw an item in my shop that triggered a happy memory from the past, or all of their family members had an item and they wanted one of their very own, or why an item was gifted to another. These are part of the reason why selling vintage is so fulfilling for me.

 My goal is to grow my shop to the point where it will help support my family. Last autumn, I learned what persistence, dedication & consistency achieved for my shop. Therefore, at the beginning of 2013, I set goals for myself to grow my business. Etsy is definitely a learning experience, but it has also been a fun journey along the way. I get excited every time I hear the cha-ching of a sale on my phone, or see what new destination at item will be shipped to. It still amazes me that I am engaging in commerce internationally.

 Etsy is a wonderful world-wide marketplace, and I am an avid supporter of the hand-made and vintage movement. Etsy is a blessing for me and it has allowed me to achieve things that I never would have thought possible for me.

 ~ Michele Nicholson.

Glitter Pink Christmas!

Shabby Chic and all glittery and pink Christmas Treasury featuring hand crafted and vintage treasures from Etsy!

Vintage Christmas Sparkles

I know that we haven't even hit October yet, but I know that many Christmas Crafters and Jewelry Designers are already preparing for the Holiday Season, at least I know that I am.

So, for the Jewelry Designer in all of us I've started adding some lovely Vintage Holiday Sparkle supplies in my shop, Alyssabeths Vintage!

 Bright cherry red vintage glass cabochons accented with crystal clear faceted glass rhinestones, perfect for your holiday jewelry and mixed media art creations.

Elegant, vintage lucite faceted oval emerald green stones mounted in 2 ring brass channel settings (connector settings). These lovely findings measure 19mm long including loops/rings x 8mm wide, and have a lovely aged patina to the brass.

Stunning, 11mm siam red vintage glass faceted Czech glass stones, jewels or rhinetones, just in time for your holiday jewelry creations. These 48ss stones have pointed, unfoiled backs and will be hand set in either 1 ring drop or 2 ring connector settings.

Vintage Winter White Gold Starburst Snowflake embossed vintage lucite round 10mm cabochons! Perfect for your holiday and winter jewelry, mixed media or scrapbook creations! Perfectly flat backs, 10mm cabs.

Christmas Jewelry SALE !

I can't believe it, but Christmas is only 5 days away and I still have gifts to wrap and cookies to bake!  I also can't believe that today is the last day for holiday shipping.

I still have a few Holiday jewelry pieces in my store and have marked these down, so think of stocking-up for next year! 

Pink Chic Christmas Wreath Cameo Necklace Vintage Style Rhinestone & Snowflake Charms. SALE - A very chic, vintage style Rose Pink & Cream Christmas Holly Wreath Cameo Pendant Necklace. This lovely and elegant necklace features a large Christmas wreath cameo in antique brass lace edge setting accented with a little vintage antique brass snowflake and tiny pink swarovski rhinestone drop.

Christmas Cheer Sparkle Locket by Alyssabeths. SALE - Elegant, bright and cheery Christmas Sparkle Locket featuring a lovely oval brass locket adorned with a repurposed vintage ruby red round glass cabochon framed by bright clear rhinestones. Locket is adorned with charms created with a vintage emerald green glass leaf, tiny ivory pearl & ruby red faceted Czech glass bead.

Yummy Gingerbread Men Vintage Jewel Assemblage Earrings by Alyssabeths. SALE - Fun and flirty Christmas earrings crafted with an assemblage of vintage glass jewels and charms. Each long dangle earrings features a vintage red octagon milk glass jewel set in antique brass, aqua enamel bows, tiny ruby red Czech glass faceted beads and then a precious antique brass gingerbread men charms.
 
 

Vintage Chic Christmas Holly Berry Earrings by Alyssabeths. SALE - Festive and elegant, vintage styled Holly Berry earrings crafted withrepurposed vintage emerald green glass leaf beads, dangles of cherry and burgundy red glass pearls and tiny faceted Czech glass beads, all suspended from claret red faceted Czech glass oval beads.

Felt Rose Christmas Tree Ornament

Ok, here is one last frugal (cheap) Christmas craft for this year!  This time I branched out and found my inspiration and supplies in the $1.00 section of Michaels. 

Supplies:

Christmas tree shapes $1.00 for ring of 5

         cardboard shapes and measure 6"

         tall.

Striped contact paper $1.00

Felt - already had on hand, but only cost

         29. for each sheet

Glitter

Glue

Ribbon

This ornament is so easy and quick, a perfect rainy day holiday craft project with your kiddos.  First step, remove Christmas trees from ring, then remove enough of the back off the contact paper to cover your tree shape, both back and front.

Now that super duper easy step is done it's time to decorate.  I decided to cut scalloped shaped strips of the bright green felt and glued down on the tree. 

Then I started creating my three little felt roses, by first cutting felt circles, which you then cut into spirals.  Next you simply start rolling the spirals into a rose shape.  Now cut little leaf shapes.  Attach your roses and leaves to your little trees and once they are nice and dry start applying glue for your glitter!

Happy Holidays and Happy Crafting!

Beth

Linking up with: Nifty Thrifty Sunday, I Heart Nap Time, Sunday's Best, Southern Institute, Homemaker on a Dime, Craft o'Maniac, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Not Just a Housewife, Sugar Bee crafts, Homework, Giggles Glitz & Glam. Ladybug Blessings, Saved by Love Creations, Mom in Time out, Free Pretty Things, 36th Ave., WhipperBerry, Somewhat Simple, Simply Designing, Fingerprints on the Fridge

Etsy Love H & J Star Creations

Do you hear the clock ticking faster, I sure do and time is running out to finish my Christmas shopping!  This year I've purchased a good deal of my gifts for my family here and away from Etsy, yes I am seriously addicted to this wonderful shopping site.  And why is that, well I prefer hand craftsmen ship, massed produced items are so impersonal and to me so boring.

As you know I'm a frugal crafter, design and sell jewelry on Etsy.  But I have a secret passion for fabric, love the stuff and guess what I can't sew, so I am always fascinated by those who can.  Take H & J Star Creations for example, she crafts purses, totes reusable lunch bags and so... much more!  It's amazing to me.

I adore her shop on Etsy, the unique designs and the BIG, BOLD colors and wonderful prices!  I asked Judy to tell us a little about herself:

"Thanks! I have always loved to sew, and about 5 years ago when my son was in a play they asked me to sew the costumes.. I was hooked again, just loved all the fabric choices out there. I had originally discovered etsy as a buyer, and my daughter made a lot of jewelry, so we first started with a shop for her.. h (holly) and j (judy). She soon tired of it, but I was hooked! Can't remember what I did before all this... "

Ok everyone, remember to clock is ticking, according to the USPS December 20th is the last day to ship for Christmas deliveries with first class shipping.  So get your clicking fingers ready and over to Etsy to check out H&J Star Creations!

Shabby Chic Altered Candle & Candle Holder Tutorial

Happy Saturday everyone, I hope that you all have enjoyed all the wonderful crafts featured on Alyssabeths this week and that you've had time to check out the other crafters at the Girl Creative and the other co-hosting blogs!

You never know where you will find inspiration, I had my mind set on one thing and then wandered into Ross where I found these wonderful cut glass coasters, 4 for $4.99!  I also happened to have 4 of those great candle sticks from the Dollar Tree, yes I hoard them because if you wait until you need them they won't be there.

Supplies:

Set of 4 coasters $4.99

4 clear candle sticks $1.00 each

4 Vanilla pillar candles $1.00 each

Silver Glitter Snowflake Ornaments

Sheet music paper

Vintage Lace

Ribbon

Modpodge

E-6000 glue
Glitter

If course I couldn't leave the candles plain, so I painted Modpodge on each candle and sprinkled with glitter and let them dry for 24 hours.

While those were drying I decided to go ahead and create the candle holder.  I first had to remove the stickers from each coaster and candle stick, so I went ahead and hand washed each piece.  One those were nice and dry I glued the candle sticks and coasters together using E-6000 glue, love this stuff it's extra sturdy and drys crystal clear.

 

Ok so now that the glittered pillar candles are dry it's time to decorate!  I cut strips of the sheet music scrapbook paper with a pretty edge (tip - I make copies of this particular paper because I use it so much, this is much cheaper than buying it over and over), wrap around the candle and glue down the ends with Elmers glue. 

Over that wrap vintage or vintage looking lace, and then with ribbon simply tie your ornament on!  Oh by the way, these are metal snowflake ornaments and measure about 2" across, I got a package of 10 for half off of $2.99 at Hobby Lobby.

And there you have it, a very elegant and frugal and very..... Shabby Chic pillar candle and fancy candle holder.  Great for a one of a kind and elegant hostess gift, Christmas gift or even for yourself!  Mine... are going to 4 of my friends at work!

As always, Happy Holidays and Happy Crafting!

Beth

Linking up with: Nifty Thrify Things, 1929 Charmer, Shabby Boutique, Sundae Scoop, Sumos Sweet Stuff, Everything Under the Moon, Dittle Dattle,  Making the World Cuter,Craft, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, Southern Institute, Sugar Bee Crafts, Cherished Bliss, Uncommon Designs, Not Just a Housewife, Homework, Mommy by Day Crafter by Night, Giggle Glitz & Glam, Project Queen, Handmade Tuesdays, Wow Us Wed., Someday crafts, Ginger Snap Crafts, Taking Time Out, Eisy Morgan, Handy Man Crafty Women, Saved by Love Creations, Artsy Girl Connection, WhipperBerry, Simply Designing, the Charm of Home, Ivy & Elephants, My Romantic Home, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Simple Home Life, Shabby Chic Boutique, Be Different Act Normal

As we wrap up Creating Christmas week I hope that you have all been inspired to stop pinning and start creating! I’m excited to see what everyone has been working on. This Christmas Linky Party is no ordinary party. This is a blog hop. And what that means is that there are 18 FABULOUS bloggers that are hosting this party at their very own blog. Whether you add your project link here or at any of the other 17 co-hosts blogs, it will show up on one huge party list! Awesome!

If you haven’t already, please take the time out to visit the other co-hosts and go through their Creating Christmas posts. There is some really neat projects!

The Girl Creative, Que Linda Crafts, The Cottage Market, Love Lindsey, Domestic Mischief, Chicken Scratch, Love Sweet Love, Randee’s Organized Chaos, Musings of a Glamour Puss, Anastacia Knits, Southern Scraps, Modern Yet Old Fashioned, Broken Treasures, Alyssabeth’s, Domestic Deadline, Life on Walnut Street, 52 Mantels,

The Glamorous Life

The Rules are SiMpLe:

• Add a link to a project that YOU have created!
• Visit the 2 links ahead of you and check out what they’ve got going on. Leave some comment love. Tis the season for giving after all. {wink wink}
• HAVE FUN AND BE INSPIRED!!

Creating Christmas with Lulu Lang

Hello! I am Tracy from Lulu Lang. I am so excited to be Alyssabeth's guest blogger today and share this holiday craft tutorial with you! The craft I am sharing is very special to me and has been part of my family for many years. When my grandfather was alive, he used to make tons of ornaments, decorations and beautiful wreaths out of pinecones which are always proudly displayed around my families' houses especially at Christmas time.

One of the things he loved to create were pinecone angels; his is the gold one. Recreating these angels has been on my list of things to do for a few years now, and now I have finally accomplished my version of Grandpa Lang's pinecone angel. You can collect these items on a nice fall day and save them for when you're ready to make your ornament. It's so easy and very inexpensive to make.

You will need:

• Pinecones at least 3" tall
• Acorns with the tops on
• Dried milkweed pods - If you don't have any of these in your area you can find them online
• Pipe cleaners
• Golf tee
• Ribbon
• Silver or gold spray paint
• Black permanent marker
• Hot glue gun
• Craft glue
• Glitter (optional)

Collect all of your outdoor supplies and make sure they are free from any dirt and bugs. If the milkweed pods are still closed, split them open and clean the seeds and fluff out of them. Leave them to dry for a few days or longer if needed.

Spread out your pinecones, acorns, dried milkweed pods and golf tee on some newspaper and spray with spray paint. You will need to do several coats to make sure you've covered all of the areas.

Once your items have dried (at least 24 hours) you are now ready to start gluing. Using a hot glue gun, glue the acorn to the top of the pinecone. You might need to remove the tip of the pinecone in order to position the head properly.

Cut a pipe cleaner about 6" long, bend it into a 'V' shape and glue it to the core of the pinecone about 3/4 of the way up.

Attach the milkweed pods to the back of the angel for the wings. You will need to be very generous with your glue, especially with the milkweed pods, to make sure everything is secure.

Wrap the ends of the pipe cleaner around your golf tee. I glued my tee to the tip of the pinecone closest to the top so it wouldn't move. Cut another piece of pipe cleaner about 2" long and make a circle for the halo, leaving a little excess length to glue it to the back of the head.

I added a bit of glue and then glittered the top of the acorn and the flat end of the golf tee. You could also add some to the tips of the pinecone or inside the milkweed pods. Draw the eyes onto the acorn using a black permanent marker.

Cut your ribbon to the desired length and using the hot glue gun attach it to the back of your ornament just below where the acorn sits.

What's great about this craft is that it barely costs any money to make. Most of the supplies you can find outdoors and the others you may have lying around your house already. It's easy enough for the kids to help make, and makes a great keepsake for years to come. I have had mine for over 20 years! I know this is one tradition I will be passing on to my children.

You can find my over at my Etsy shop, blog, on Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks so much for letting me join you today, and happy holiday crafting!

Creating Christmas Glitter Chic Vintage Cookie Cutter Ornaments

This is probably my cheapest, quickest and one of my favorite Christmas Crafts this year!  I used items that I already had around the house:

Vintage metal cookie cutters

Sheet Music Scrapbook Paper

Glitter

Ribbon

Decorative items vintage and/or new

   I used a vintage fur earrings, a tiny
   bottle brush Christmas tree and a
   vintage Santa graphic encased in resin
   and antique lace




So how easy is this, well trace your cookie cutter out on the paper, cut out and glue into the cookie cutter.  One this is dry paint glue around the inside and outside of cutter and glitter away!  Once this is dry decorate the inside with your little decorations.

To hang tie a pretty ribbon around the handle on the back of the cutter.  As you can see I've hung mine from a precious vintage tinsel tree that I found at an antique store this season.  This craft is simple and quick enough to create with your kiddos!

As always Happy Holidays and Happy Crafting My Friends!

Beth

Linking up with - Wow Us Wednesdays, Somewhat Simple, 36th Ave., Trendy Treehouse, Eisy Morgan, Thrifty 101, Thrifty Thursday, The Artsy Girl, House of Hepworth, Yesterday on Tuesday, Every Creative Endeavor, Free Pretty Things, Gingersnap Crafts, Whipperberry, Simply Desgining, Fingerprints on the fridge, Home is Where the Heart Is, The Charm of Home, French Cottage Home, Finding Fabulous

Creating Christmas with Diana from The Girl Creative

Hi friends! I’m Diana from The Girl Creative and I’m very excited to be here with you today to share a really easy Christmas project that will relatively cost you pennies. And it’s Pottery Barn inspired! Woo hoo!

Pinecones. Shimmery, sparkly, snow-covered pinecones. You can find them in your yard or even in your neighbor’s yard {or in my case Home Depot!} and with a little bit of paint, glue and glitter, you can transform those dreary brown pinecones into these frosted pretties.

Here’s what you need to complete this project:

•  Pinecones in various sizes
• Spray Paint
• Mod Podge
• Glitter

 The first thing I did was spray paint my pinecones with spray paint in an aqua blue color. I used Krylon brand and the finish was gloss. I gave them a good 2 –3 coats making sure I got in between all of the layers. It’s okay if they are not 100% covered and a little of the original brown color shows through.

  

After they dried (I left them in my garage to dry for a few days. This was very helpful in letting them air out so that they did not smell like spray paint) I took a foam paint brush and went over each pinecone with Mod Podge and then generously covered each one in white glitter. The brand of glitter that I used was Sulyn and I picked it up in Hobby Lobby. It’s super fine in texture (different than regular glitter) and it could easily pass for snow. It was perfect for this project. I shook off the excess glitter and let them dry.

  

 That’s it. Piece of cake, right? I really love how they came out. You can do so many things with them. I used mine to fill a sleigh that I’ve had for years. You can use them as centerpieces for your Christmas table. Add some ribbon and a loop and you have some cool Christmas ornaments. Such an easy {and affordable} project that even your kids can help you with.  What child would not want to jump right in and use glue and glitter? I’m sure they’d love to “help”.

{Just a little side note: everything in the above photo was super cheap and you can totally pull off this look on your mantle or any flat surface in your house. The votives are from the Dollar Tree and came in a pack of 2 for $1. The sparkly silver Christmas trees are from The Christmas Tree Shops – only a few dollars each. The tray under the votives is from Hobby Lobby and was only a few dollars (50% off Christmas decorations).}