Santa Tags

So you have finished dying your bottle brush trees and there is still dye left in the bowl. 




I am not one to waste anything so I always have cloth or shipping tags at hand to soak up the rest of the dye.

I buy the tags by the thousand.

Pre-strung.

I leave the strings on when dying, but may replace them with ribbon later. 

I put a handful into the dye making sure they do not stick together.

Stir.

Using a metal spoon or paint stick crease the tags for a more distressed look.

I place them outside on screens to dry.

Watch out for the drips if you choose to dry inside.

The dye is permanent on most surfaces.

It takes several hours for them to dry.

This is Apple Green Rit Dye.

 Aqua Blue.

Petal Pink.

I used Old World Santa images to make the tags.

Mod Podge the images to the tags.

Added a layer of Mod Podge over the entire tag.

Painted a gold edge.

Left the back plain for Christmas messages of cheer.





See y'all!

Come visit the Riverfront Antique Mall dealer page on Facebook:  Dealing On The River and like us!

ETSY SHOP IS CLOSED

 I will accept reserved listings if you see something in the blog posts you want.

First Bleach, Then Dye, Dye, Dye

First bleach three hundred and forty tiny bottle brush trees and then dye, dye, dye.

 



The most time-consuming part of this project is waiting for them dry, dry, dry.

The lighter trees on the screens is how they look after bleaching.

For deep jewel tones, use Distress Ink Spray.

Super messy - worth the trouble.

The rest of the trees were dyed with Rit Dye in a hot water bath with salt added.

 Rose Pink.

Apple Green with a bit of Gold for a vintage look.

 Aqua Blue.

Petal Pink.


About half of the trees have sold, but there are more in Booth W-10, Riverfront Antique Mall, North Augusta, South Carolina.



For more information on bleaching bottle brush trees see these posts:

Bleaching Bottle Brush Trees 
Bottle Brush Trees On Corks 
Bottle Brush Tree Joy 
Bottle Brush Trees On Molds 
Bottle Brush Trees On Blocks 



And PLEASE do not bleach vintage trees!



See y'all!

Come visit the Riverfront Antique Mall dealer page on Facebook:  Dealing On The River and like us!

ETSY SHOP IS CLOSED

 I will accept reserved listings if you see something in the blog posts you want.

Friday Finds

Friday Finds me missing in action.

I am suffering from a tooth abscess and have to wait to see my dentist - I have had a root canal so there is little pain.

 

This yawning baby was a birthday present from my sister-in-law.

What a cutie.

He's a chalkware night light.

For my birthday month of December, Linda of A La Carte came down to see me, shop and eat cake.

Here we are starting off the journey from Riverfront Antique Mall.

The Community Thrift Store in North Augusta was having a 50% off sale.

They were bursting at the seams with goodies.

There's Linda combing through the china and glassware.

Next we went to Marketplace Antiques on Broad Street in Augusta.

Whatever you collect can be found here.

This is the upstairs.

For lunch we had Curious George sandwiches for nutrition at Boll Weevil Cafe.


We saved half our sandwiches for supper.





So we could overindulge in coffee toffee cake with raspberry drizzle.

Yes, it is that HUGE!

The two of us could not finish.

I took a chunk home for later. 

We finished the afternoon back at Riverfront after a disappointing trip to a Goodwill where we found nothing!

Linda promises to shop the entire antique mall in one day.

Linda, many have promised but few have accomplished this task!

Yes, she bought bottle brush trees!

So what did I buy?

At Community Thrift I found this vanity mirror frame.

The yo yo doll will be dismembered for the yo yo's.

The bottle brush tree can be straightened and bleached and dyed.

The book and the sheep are quite happy they will not be tortured at all.

I found the stable.

Linda found the figurines - half of them chalkware and half plastic - all old.

Thanks, Linda, for letting me have them.


 

We did not  even find ONE orphan Baby Jesus.

At Marketplace Antiques I found this French catalog from early 1900's selling antique reproductions.

Small pieces, fabrics and draperies are listed with the dimensions and price.

I plan to save the catalog and scan the pages into the computer for projects.

And finally porcelain door knobs.

These will be in my Etsy shop in the new year.





 
Linda and I had a wonderful time and have made plans for more junkin' adventures.

If you live within traveling distance of Augusta, Georgia, come on and visit me for the day. 


See y'all!

Come visit the Riverfront Antique Mall dealer page on Facebook:  Dealing On The River and like us!

ETSY SHOP IS CLOSED

 I will accept reserved listings if you see something in the blog posts you want.

Quickies

Are you ready?

Ready for red?

And green? 

And white?

And naturals?




All the colors of Christmas?

This little fellow is ready to show you how quick a quickie can be.

Take two decrepit kindergarten chairs.

Add Rust-Oleum in red.

Take one green lift top bench.

Add leftover Rust-Oleum red paint.

A perfect trio. 

To put under your tree-o! 

More Christmas popping up soon.




See y'all!

ETSY SHOP IS CLOSED

 I will accept reserved listings if you see something in the blog posts you want.

Great Crate Christmas Tree

For the past three years I have constructed a crate Christmas tree display in the front of my booth.

Each year it is different.

This year I expanded the size to allow for more areas for Christmas smalls and for my dyed bottle brush trees.

Took all of one day to clear out the front and find all the crates which are used the rest of the year throughout both booths for displays.








 

I added an extra one on the bottom row allowing for the extra crates in the rows. 

All crates are tied together and tied to the chicken wire behind to stabilize.




Yes, children have tried to climb the crates.

This year's color is a red.

Ten yards of tulle split in half.

Used as garland on the crates and to make Miss Chrissy a top.





 

It is quite fun to fill in the display spaces. 

I can change out items as they sell.

All spaces feature the bottle brush trees.

Along with vintage and vintage-looking Christmas items. 

Gold feathers hang from most of the crates.

(PLASTIC!)


 





 

Just noticed the vintage photo cards are sideways.

Miss Chrissy is standing at the very tippy-top dressed in garland and tulle with a feather pendant.

Off to organize stuff around the house to start decorating. 



Finished the outside lights and wreaths Sunday.

Need to haul more items over to the booths.

Shop Small Saturday was a great day for the antique mall.

The dealers at Riverfront Antique Mall have created a Face Book page for dealers to post items and sales. 

Come join us if you wish.

Dealing On The River @ Riverfront Antique Mall 


See y'all!

ETSY SHOP IS CLOSED

 I will accept reserved listings if you see something in the blog posts you want.