First Decoration Up and Last to go Down

I know I've shared how creative my Grandpa was.

He truly made Christmas magical at their

house with all the handmade decorations

he put up year after year. 

Here's a picture of little me in front of a

 wooden manger scene Grandpa created.

This would be mounted on the house

year after year.

It would be lit up for all to see.

I wish I had a picture of the musical carousel he

carved out of wood.

 As kids we couldn't wait

to go flip the switch and watch it go

 around and around.

All his creations were always

"grandchildren friendly".

So naturally, when Christmas rolls around,

I get rather nostalgic of days gone by,

especially when I take this creation of Grandpa's

out of the original box he stored it in,

and make it a focal point in our little home.

Grandpa made this little village

maybe 50-60 years ago.

 He hand-carved the little santa, skier, and other pieces.

The little village buildings, of course handmade.

The church complete with little stain glass windows

 he drew on wax paper and inserted.

 

As careful as I am tucking this away

each year, I still lose fragile pieces.

Sometimes I can repair it,

but this year I lost another antler

that I could not repair....sigh.........

This little village was never a finished product.

 Over the years Grandpa would add pieces to it.

 The manger scene is a little gift

one of us grandchildren

probably gave him for Christmas.

It was one of those prizes 

you would win for selling Christmas Seals!

The little tree was probably from

sometime later in the years.

Look how sweet the village lady is!

She's feeding the chickens and dogs!

So...

as I start to put away the decorations

for another year,

this little village will be the last to be tucked in.

And the first of the decorations

to be displayed next year!

I still miss you my special Grandpa!

Happy New Year dear followers!

Many blessing to all of you for

a wonderful 2012!

xo

xo

clare

'Tis the Season...

I started making Christmas treasures

back in the early Fall. I'm not the biggest

of Halloween fans so usually I overlook

that holiday and start marching right into

Thanksgiving and Christmas, two

of my favorite holidays.

I have a dear friend, Marilynn, whom I have

never met in person. We became cyber buddies

commenting on the same political story on

Comcast news and kept in touch ever since.

She admired a star I had done similiar to

the one above on facebook and said she

was saving her pennies for it. Right after her

post the star sold. When she ordered some tags

from me last week, I put together a new

star and tucked it in her order. She was thrilled!

I could feel her surprise all across the states to me!

I love doing things like that!

I made these ornaments the other day, they were so

fun to create!

If you are crafty, you could easily reproduce.

If not, you can find them in my paper store

http://www.royalpaper.etsy.com/

Well, I'm off to head over to Pinterest after

a littleblog hopping to see what inspirations

peeps have posted!

xo

ox

clare



Pinterest, Besties for Crafting, and New Ornaments!

So you know how I use this little venue to

confess my addictions...

well, I have a new one called

Pinterest!

I can't seem to get enough of it!

Finally!, a virtual pinboard to store

all my creative energy and on

top of that, tap into everyone else's too!!!

If you don't know about it, go check

out mine, I have a button right on my

home page...warning....it's

addicting!

My bestie April, snuck away from her family

one afternoon and I spoiled her with

a yummy lunch and tea in my studio.

She chatted and downloaded while

I got some orders done!

My other besties, Kelli and Karen, kept bugging me

for a craft night in my studio! We finally set a night,

sent the hubbies to Kelli's to watch some "man flick",

 ate a super yummy dinner that the

girls brought and fixed,

chatted, laughed, and

crafted the night away!

By the time my husband

walked through the door my studio was a

disaster of stuff everywhere and creations drying!

I made several lots of new ornaments this

past week! These were made using

vintage lace. A tiny chandelier crystal

hangs from the base.

These were made from teeny tiny vintage bottles.

I filled them with little treasures

including a teeny tiny real starfish!

More ornaments made from vintage lace.

These always look so sweet on the tree.

The beauty of these ornaments is that they

actually can be left up all year around.

Thank you for stopping in!

I always love hearing from my little follower base.

Message or comment me anytime.

Oh! and follow me on Pinterest and I'll

follow you!

xo

xo

clare

Vintage Spoons and Chandelier Crystals - More Addictions!!!

I often do my little confessions of my addictions

in this blog, as you know. Here are two

more...teeny tiny teaspoons

and

chandelier crystals.

I wish I could say this

was all I had of the above collections

but, it's only a sampler! I do have a purpose

though for these collections, I make

little creations with them.

This is my newest set of spoon ornaments.

The trick to these is to get to know the

guy in the hardware department at

Home Depot so when you go back to

get 3 more sets of drill bits after breaking

5 or more per spoon set, he will have them

all ready for you at the counter!

It's so worth the outcome though.

I would ask my husband to maybe show

me how to narrow down the

amount of drill bits I go through,

but I'm afraid he would wrap too

many words around the explaination

and I would start thinking about

laundry or unloading the dishwasher or something!

These are a fave of mine to make since I

am also addicted to vintage monograms!

Oh, and I'm also addicted to anything of the

vintage royal court. This goes for all movies of

the different court eras as well!

The next set of ornaments was created from images

I copied from a vintage set of playing cards I

found at an estate sale. The images are

stunning!!!

as you can see!

These ornaments can actually be left

up all year around, I have

several hanging from the chandeliers

in my bedroom and kitchen!

You can make your own sets of the above creations,

if you need directions or more ideas, just

email me at

clarefinnerty@comcast.net

or if you can't make your own and have

a little $$$ to spend,

you can find these for sale at

http://www.royalpaper.etsy.com/

Made this Wreath and I'm in a Magazine!

I made this wreath yesterday. By the time

I was finished, my hands were

raw from the burlap!

I made the bow out of burlap and vintage fabric.

The wreath is so gnarly and full, I love it

but am selling it in my

http://www.therobinandsparrow.etsy.com/

gotta pay the bills you know...

My star ornaments are in this current issue of

Better Homes and Gardens

in the grocery stores!

I sold these in my paper store

http://www.royalpaper.etsy.com/

last year.

they posted the instructions....

...and decorated this tree with them,

I love this idea, wish I had

thought of it!!!

Have a great day full

of wonderful surprises!

xo

xo

clare

Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah...............................

Remember that old song? We used to sing

it on road trips as a family as

we crossed the nation in our

stationwagon hauling a trailer behind!

Lately I've been collecting old kitchy

things and either putting them in

my little cottage kitchen, or

selling them in my vintage store

http://www.intodumpsters.etsy.com/

Here are a few of the treasures I've found...

Oops, that's my husband, he's not for sale LOL!!

I love enamelware!

A must have for any cottage or farmhouse kitchen.

Miss Piggy Creamer

Vintage Canning Jars

A darling tiny tea kettle!

The cutest spice shakers ever!

A pretty to put your gravy in.

Thank you for stopping by! I'm going to go

over to Faded Charm and see if I can

find some more fun things to look at

for White Wednesday.

xo

xo

clare

In a Frenchy Frame of Mind....Sigh........

The other day at my coffee clatch one of

my girlfriends asked me if I wanted

to go with her to Paris this Fall

on a flea market find! 

Uh...let me think....YES!!!

oh wait...

(two kids in college and living in a fixer...)

thoughts spun around in my head like:

*can I hurry up and win the lottery?

*can I go in myself and close that deal

on my hubby's new account?

*can I sell off the contents of
my whole entire studio by then??

Because let's face it, when you get to Paris

and start hitting those vintage shops and flea markets....

You're going to want $$$$ to spend!

But.....I can dream and create in the meantime

so here are a few musings I created....

 I made this pillow slip from a linen shirt I found in a thrift store

and finished off the end with this ribbon tie.

This pillow is made from an old, old lace tablecloth.

The cloth panel is embellished with little vintage treasures.

The pillow slips into the end.

And of course what says more "French" than toile!

I made these lavender sachet pillows measuring 9x9 inches

Thank you for dreamin' of Paris

with me

for a few minutes...

Have a great day full of new surprises!

xo

xo

clare