Button, button, who's got the button?

Button, button, who's got the button? 

Do children even play that game anymore?

Probably not.  I don't remember any classmates choking on

a button, but I guess you can't be too careful these days.

When I was growing up, my mother had coffee cans filled with old buttons

that my sister and I spent hours sorting into piles

according to their color, size, amount of jewels, etc.

A number of years ago, I loaned out the last of them to a friend, and that was that.   

   



Occasionally you can find jars of buttons for almost nothing at estate sales,

which is where I found the white buttons pictured above.

If you're in need of buttons, be sure to check Anything Goes Here.

She's selling her entire vintage button collection!

  They've been sitting on top of a dresser collecting dust,

 so I blew the dust off the cover and used them to transform

another find that's been stashed in the basement

since I bought it last winter.

My 5 dollar trumeau mirror.

The heavy mirror alone was well worth the cash spent,

but as for the art framed in the top section, it had to go!

This photo obviously appealed to the now deceased homeowner

in whose home the estate sale was held.

Can you guess the year this image was published in the decorating magazine?

I've got the missing corner which bears the date

July, 194_

The last digit is missing, but 1940 something is close enough for me.

The clipping was in the frame for over 70 years.

It was time for a change!

To fill the opening where the magazine clipping and glass were removed,

I found a piece of linen and stitched on buttons in the shape of a heart.

I could have glued the buttons to the fabric, but I wanted to be able to reuse

the buttons when I tire of this objet d'art.

If you're going to tackle this project, I would recommend

basting a heart outline on your fabric first.  It will save you

time in the long run, a lesson I learned after stitching on

 the buttons pictured above.

I painted the mirror frame off-white with home made chalk paint

 and then added the button art above, but it just looked blah to me.

 Plan B.

Much better.

I stitched more buttons onto a piece of red corduroy

left over from Little Red Riding Hood's cape

and taped the fabric to a square of foam core with

double-faced carpet tape.

I inserted the whole thing into the opening and held

it all in place with 4 pieces of super-sticky

duct tape.  It may be tacky, but it allows me

to easily change out the art whenever I please.

Here's my transformed mirror, just in time for

Valentine's Day!

As always, thanks for visiting.

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:

Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday

Common Ground Be Inspired Fridays

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special

Cabin Fever

We're in the middle of a cold spell.

The kind of cold that goes right through your winter coat and boots

and chills you to the bone.

The kind of cold that keeps you inside your nice warm house.

The kind of cold that drives mothers crazy when their

children develop a case of cabin fever!

Pictured above is a handcrafted board game made for Mildred,

Norman, David, and Bruce by their father and dated February 14, 1939. 

 (The names and date are carved into the back of the game.)

I imagine the father of these children created this

bored game

to cure a bad case of cabin fever.

I picked up these celluloid deer when we made a pit stop

on our way home from Minneapolis yesterday.

I suppose they're considered to be Christmas decorations,

so they were clearance priced especially for me!

And since we're talking cabin fever, I thought I'd share some photos of

our rustic, one-room cabin-in-the-woods.

Okay, toy cabin in our back yard. 

I picked it up for a song last summer at Staples Mill Antiques in

Stillwater, MN.  As you can see, it needs a new window, but

look at the charming detail on the gable end!

Maybe both windows need replacing. 

 By the looks of the frost on this

window, it's not very energy efficient!

The porch has a hand hewn post.........

....and the front door drops down to access the interior.  I'm planning to cut

the door in half and hinge the doors on both sides to create a more

welcoming facade.  I may even cut out window openings and add some

trim detail along with door handles. 

  Lets take a peek inside, shall we?

It's furnished with a table and chairs for two, a buffet, and a chandelier

 that needs to be hung from the rafters.  It's got a nice wood floor and exposed wood walls

 typical of a rustic northern cabin.

 

This is a familiar sight if you've left your car on the wrong side of the street

 during calendar parking months.  If your car isn't towed away, it'll be plowed in by

the city snowplow operator, leaving you stuck in the snowbank.

This was the temp outside today during the warmest time of day.

*FYI, my SLR camera functions just fine in below zero temps.

My feet were toasty warm in my Mukluks,

but my hands quickly froze, even in my warmest gloves.

We've learned to dress in layers in our cold climate, and I've got

four new sweaters to choose from that arrived in the mail just last week!

Aren't they adorable?!

They were crocheted by my friend Tracy of Crow's Feet Chic and were just part of a package

filled with a variety of hats she made for our grandchildren for Christmas.

Thank you Tracy!

  If you remember, we just celebrated our family Christmas

 this past Saturday.  Our oldest daughter gave birth to their second

child on December 26, and our youngest daughter works every other weekend,

 so this was the date that seemed to work best for everybody.

We weren't stricken with cabin fever, but half of our family were

sick with one virus or another.  Our son-in-law Jeremy woke up with

the upper respiratory virus that was passed to him by our daughter Julie.

Their 19 month-old son, Mack, came down with a case of stomach flu, and

our 2 year-old granddaughter Finley was still recuperating from

her stay in the hospital earlier in the week.

  Little Maggie slept in her mama's arms,

 oblivious to the chaos unfolding around her.  

Lots of hugs and kisses shared between the rest of us

 and you've got the perfect recipe for catching the virus you haven't

been infected with........yet.

We all managed to have a good time in spite of the

germs trying to spoil our celebration.  :@

It's a good thing I picked up this teapot for $11 at the same place I

found the vintage deer.  I think I've got a touch of the stomach

flu and a cup of tea is just what the doctor ordered!

  

How do you cure a case of

cabin fever....

or an upper respiratory infection.....

or the stomach flu......

or a sinus infection.....

?

Here's to better days ahead!

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:

Knick of Time Tuesdays 

Common Ground Be Inspired Friday

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special

Jeepers Creepers

It's been a busy week around 911 trying get ready for our family
Christmas celebration this Saturday.  Yes, you read that right.
We're finally getting together to celebrate Christmas!

I haven't been doing much as far as finishing up projects around the
house, but I did manage to squeeze out enough time
 to put together a birthday gift for a friend.

 These glasses wouldn't be my style, but I know somebody
who would look smashing in them.

Meet Pinky.

She's a modern working gal who happens to love pink!

She's a cross between Mrs.a'Wiggins and Bridget Jones.
She's wearing a vintage look button-up sweater with a pink satin (slightly juvenile) skirt.
  What can I say?!  It was the only thing available in pink.
( My friend has 2 granddaughters who I'm sure will love the skirt.)

This rock 'n roll gal's got her iPhone ringtone set to a Bruno Mars tune...

...and wears a raspberry beret.  Well chocolate covered raspberry.

I didn't have a pink vintage doll hat in my stash, but my crochetmeister friend

Tracy (Crow's Feet Chic) inspired me to knit a hat for Pinky.  If you want to see
 the glam skating apparel Tracy crocheted for her monkey, check it out here.

Just like the birthday girl,

Pinky owns a pair of stylish eyeglasses for every occasion.

Her sensible tortoiseshell work glasses,

and her Hollywood inspired rose-colored glasses, dahling.

Pinky and my friend have so much in common.  They both love music,

can't be without their iPhones, and love to wear pink.

My friend even has a newly decorated pink home office!

Pinky (unlike me) is tech savvy like my friend, who is the

go-to computer expert at work.  (She's rescued me more than once!)

Just look at Pinky, texting her peeps! (no easy task when you have paws)

gng 2 lv wth nu pup

As you can see, I have no idea how to text.

The garbled message above is how I would text, "Going to live with a new puppy!!!"

Pinky's new home is also home to a brand new chihauhua puppy named Bridget.  Woof.

As for bling, Pinky's wearing a pair of vintage pearl and

rhinestone earrings.......I think they're rhinestones.

*If my friend takes an impromptu tropical vacation, I'll know I was wrong. :@

I'd bake a birthday cake to bring to work, but my friend is very health conscious.

She only eats healthy foods, works out daily, and runs in marathons.

Imagine that!

Hmmm, what to dooooo.........

There's no reason the rest of us can't enjoy

a piece of birthday cake during our coffee breaks!

Google Images

Make mine an extra-large slice, please!

Thanks for stopping by,

Vickie

Girls just wanna have fun!

Happy Birthday Tessi!

*Since no sock monkey is complete without pom poms,
we're joining the Pom Pom Party at Jennifer Rizzo's blog!