Creative Passage

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Bottle Lamp

I have this bottle that I got for $4 at JoAnn’s over a year ago.

I am such a sucker for anything this shade of blue! But…probably because I only paid $4 for it, the color faded and then started to flake off. I finally got it in the sink and washed it and the remaining color flecks came right off. So now it looks like this…

Not bad, but I stuck it in a closet for a while, just to teach it a lesson and just because I wasn’t in love with it any more!

And then I saw this tutorial on making glass bottle lamps. I knew what had to be done…and I got busy doing it!

Finding the supplies I needed was the hardest part! I finally found the parts at an Ace Hardware, Westlakes here in Columbia. They had tons of different sized corks!

Of course I got one that was gigantic so I had to whittle it down to size so it would fit.

Not perfect, but not bad!

I love it!

The ~~teensy tiny~~ shade is temporary…I will start looking for one that is the appropriate size but I couldn’t wait to ~~brag~~ show off my new lamp!

I saw as I was taking pictures that there is a chunk of cork in the bottom of the lamp…I need to fish that out, but I think I will save that for another day!

Here it is with the new shade…and I made a seashell finial!

I am linking up to these great parties!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Sea Shells

I was at the same auction that I got the buttons and bought this dirty wicker picnic basket with seashells inside. Actually I didn’t even see them until the auctioneer (my brother) announced there were seashells inside! I just bought them sight unseen!

I cleaned them by soaking them for a few hours in bleach water and scrubbed the dirt off of them with a brush.. They lightened up a lot, I think they were so dark before that they looked a dark grey!

I like how this one look like it is turned into sand on the very end. It is grainy too, and a bit crumbly. Wonder how old it is…

I can sit by the fire and pretend like I am at the ocean with my seashells.

Two boxes full of buttons

I went to an auction yesterday…I found two boxes full of buttons. I just couldn’t help myself! I bought them both, we won’t talk about how much I paid for them, but anyway I bought them! I love to go through old buttons, one by one. I love the clamshells ones, I love the fancy plastic ones, I love the jet black glass ones. And this group of buttons had plenty of every kind!

Love the turquoise ones…and these oval buttons, they are plastic, but so cute. I am thinking they would make a great pendant. They are big and flat.

Love the yellow orange flower buttons and another giant flat button…I can see another pendant there!

This one is pretty interesting too, several layers of material, not sure what it is made of, but it doesn’t look like plastic.

And there are lots of buttons on cards. I like to see the prices! Wish they were that cheap now!

More turquoise and these carved red buttons are great!

And now a whole bag full of buttons I have set aside to use on a vintage button bracelet. Lots of really neat buttons, mostly clamshell, some glass. These will make a great bracelet!

I think these daisy type clamshell buttons are the best! They are big and very detailed.

I wonder how these clamshell buttons are made…

Looks like they need to be scrubbed a bit…

Linking up to these great parties!

Cute little knit baby hat

I saw a baby hat on a baby even on Pinterest, but didn’t pin it so I didn’t have the instructions. I used several online patterns, just sort of adapting into my own pattern until it worked out right.

Too bad I don’t have a cute baby to try this on!

Pretty cute, huh?

Linking to these great parties!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Jenga Keychains {{by Sarah}}

It’s Sarah again. Thanks to my sis Ellen for allowing me to guest post again! I still love to create new things from old things, so when I saw this cute keychain tutorial here, I knew that I had to make some. While browsing a local thrift shop, I ran across these blocks for $1. They were screaming “pick me, pick me!” Funny how that happens when you have a project in mind, and the supplies you need just seem to talk to you. :c) Gotta love those thrift shops for inspiring creativity!