Pardon My French (Ephemera)

Last weekend had to be a record here. Thirteen estate sales were advertised around the city. I can't remember another weekend with that many sales!

Sadly, since this was one of the first warm and nice weekends we've had here, I felt compelled to finish cleaning up the flower beds and pruning rose bushes and shrubs. That left little time for estate sales, but I did make it to one--the one closest to where I live.

I'm always on the prowl for ephemera I can incorporate into my handmade journals and wasn't disappointed at this sale.

My take included what I think is a French notebook--it's difficult to tell from the cover--and a French dictionary, as well as a cute bakery receipt book, a large stack of yellowed penmanship paper and several decks of playing cards with interesting themes. All the finds are vintage.

I don't know French, so I'm not sure what the cover of this journal says. Inside are several pages of handwriting. Guess I'll have to enlist my hubby to try to translate some of it for me. He knows a little French.

While not in the best condition, the journal is precious. The handwriting makes it so personal.

Whose was it?

What does it say?

Is it full of deep thoughts or is it merely a place to practice writing in French?

Regardless, I won't dismantle this gem for my journal and decoupage projects. I plan to digitize a few pages so I can leave the book intact and still use some of the handwriting.

At the same sale, I acquired a sweet little French/English dictionary. The cover is in pathetic condition, with the spine nearly completely detached. Someone had tried mending it, front and back, with masking tape. So sad.

Measuring about five inches square, it was printed in 1945. Considering the condition of the cover, the inside pages are in good vintage condition. They have that nice "yellow-with-age" hue.

Nice inscription inside the cover. Wish I knew what it says.

The receipt book is from Dale and Helene's Big Horn Bakery of Basin, Wyoming. The "fill-in-the-blank" date on the receipts indicates it's from the 1950s.  Could be as old as I am. Not many pages left in the pad, but what's there is in very good vintage condition.

Looks great on the antique Hoosier cabinet with some of my vintage kitchen items.

It's always a successful weekend when I come home with interesting ephemera.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

What's It Wednesday

Cottage Style Party
Time Travel Thursday

Thrifty Things Friday
Serenity Saturday

This Treasure Is So Doggone Cute

My fashion philosophy is, if you're not

 covered in dog hair, your life is empty.

--Elayne Boosler

If you're a dog lover, you know firsthand the intensity of the tug a dog can have on the heartstrings. Barney, our exuberant black lab, is confidante and clown, protector and playmate, beggar and best friend.

Dogs are so special to me, I find it difficult to pass up canine kitsch on my treasure hunts. Vintage dog items always make me smile. Admit it, don't these beguiling hand-carved cuties brighten your day?

This wooden piece, a recent estate sale find, was clearly handmade. It's seen better days, but still maintains tremendous charm. I put a deck of--what else--vintage dog playing cards in the box section, which most likely was intended to hold cigarettes. My vintage Scottie candy container makes a good companion to its carved cousins.

The paperback "Dogs" book was a recent flea market score.

The book doesn't have a copyright date, but  it's definitely decades old. It's in very good vintage condition. The contents feature descriptions of many breeds and the pictures are stickers that have been added to the pages. The book is a promotional giveaway for Gro-Pup Dog Food, a Kellogg's brand.

Not a new find, this handsome and stately pointer is a mid-Century console lamp and has graced the top of our piano for several years.

The large chalkware dog belonged to my grandmother. He is accompanied by a couple of friends I found at estate sales.

Dogs are not our whole life,

 but they make our lives whole.

― Roger A. Caras

The antique, iron St. Bernard bank belonged to my husband's grandmother. It still contains many of her old coins.

This darling litho is stained with age and has some significant other "beauty marks," none of which detract from the sweet image. Dogs and babies . . . awwww. Picked this up for a couple of bucks at a local estate sale.

When an eighty-five pound mammal

 licks your tears away, then tries to sit

 on your lap, it's hard to feel sad.

- Kristan Higgins, Catch of the Day

And, here's to the most special dog in our collection--our 93-pound baby. Barney, you're the best.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:
Knick of Time Tuesday
What's It Wednesday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Time Travel Thursday
Simple and Sweet Fridays
Share the Joy
Feathered Nest Friday

Make Your Own Envelopes for That Extra Special Touch

A few weeks ago, I came across a great blog post featuring handmade envelopes and confetti from Kristi at Digital Cake Crafting. She makes truly lovely sheet music envelopes using the Martha Steward Scoring Board. I have Martha's board, too, and have used it often. I also have started making my own envelope templates. The envelopes above are made from my templates.

Making envelopes is like therapy to me. They're easy and fun and, when I'm done, I know I have something completely unique. I've made envelopes in about every size imaginable. But, I have a soft spot for mini envelopes, which I incorporate into the ephemera journals I make.

When I come across an envelope shape or size I like, I make a template of it.

Follow these simple instructions and you'll soon be on your way to creating your own special versions.

Steam your found envelope open by covering it with a dish towel or other soft cloth. Set your iron to one of the lower heat settings--one that will allow you to use steam. Steam open by applying the hot iron to the cover cloth, checking the envelope every several seconds to gauge your progress and to ensure the paper doesn't overheat.

After it's steamed open, let the envelope cool and the melted glue set for a couple of minutes before moving on to the next step.

Now, trace your envelope onto a piece of thick cardboard.

Cut out your template and you're ready to create your own envelopes. TIP:  I file the original envelope with the cardboard template for folding reference in the future.

You can create your envelopes out of any type of paper that suits your fancy or your needs. Because I'm big on recycling or upcycling, I most often use pages from discarded books, maps that are otherwise past their prime, old sheet music, paper bags and vintage magazine or catalog pages. Don't worry if the paper isn't perfect. You can often work around any stains, small tears or creases. Of course, wrapping paper and scrapbooking paper are also nice materials for envelopes.

For the larger envelopes below, I used vintage magazine covers and pages. For the smaller envelopes, I used pages of National Geographic.

Trace your template on the paper of your choice. TIP: If you're using paper that has words or an image with a right side up and an upside down, be careful how you place your template. If you plan to use the envelope in a traditional way, so that the front of the envelope is where you normally would put a name or address, place the template so the words or image are right side up on that portion of the envelope. If, like I do, you plan to use the back of the envelope as the front, place accordingly so the image is right side up on that side. This may take a bit of practice until you get the hang of it.

Using your original envelope for reference, fold and score accordingly. I use a bone scorer, but the edge of an expired gift card works just as well.

Next, glue the pouch of the envelope using a glue stick.

I made my envelope to use in an ephemera journal. I like to include handmade envelopes in my journals and attach the traditional front to a piece of card stock so the flap remains free to open and insert special goodies.

That makes the traditional back of the envelope the front in my journals. You can see how the words are positioned when I use the envelopes in this way.

The vintage valentine envelope shows the traditional front and back when the envelope is to be used in the normal fashion.

Recycle some paper today. Mail a special envelope tomorrow. 

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Sunday
Sunday's Best
Motivate Me Monday
Make It Pretty Monday
The Creative HomeAcre Hop
Cowgirl Up!
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Creatively Tuesday
Frugalicious Friday
Your Great Idea

From Tossed Shelf to Top Shelf

In literal terms, this what-not shelf wasn't actually tossed. But it was sentenced to a garage sale table  featuring nothing but 50-cent items. I snapped it up for a rainy-day project.

When I got the shelf home, I remembered this pitifully beat-up--or should I say scribbled up--1952 early reader, Fun with John and Jean, that I had picked up some time back for a quarter. It's easy to see why it was nearly a freebie. But, many of the pages remained in good shape and I thought I could combine the shelf and some images from the book to create a nice display shelf for a kid's room.

I'd been looking forward to cracking open my first quart of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg Blue so chose it to give the shelf a facelift. I had intended to fully distress and dark wax the shelf. But, I so liked the look of the paint on its own, I decided to stop at that.

I've always loved the illustrations in these early readers and this book was no exception. After eliminating the scribbled pages, I was left with some very nice images to decoupage onto the inside back of the piece.

To add a playful touch, embellished the front panel with reclaimed Scrabble tiles.

Hang it on the wall, or stand it on top of a dresser or table. Either way, I think it looks pretty cute.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Sister Sunday at Sisters of the Wild West
Sunday Blog Love at Cherished Treasures
Sunday's Best at My 1929 Charmer
Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage
Cowgirl Up at The Farmhouse Porch
Knick of Time Tuesday
All Star Block Party at In the Old Road
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at {Primp}