Monday, March 13, 2017

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Holy Moly, Friends, it's been too long since I've posted!  My only excuse is that my mind and body decided to take some unplanned time off for reading, relaxing, and meditating.  I may have had a touch of the end-of-winter-but-still-winter doldrums, or more likely I've just been lazy, haha.  If you are reading this, thank you, thank you for sticking with me and my little blog :) 

At this time of year, it seems many of us are craving the sights and colors of a new season.  In that spirit, I've created some Spring-inspired home décor to brighten and refresh my spaces (and those of my Etsy customers, too!)


Vintage floral brooches have been central on my radar lately.  I painted this keepsake box green and added several jewelry pieces to pretty it up!  I think the lattice design on the top of the box also adds to a garden feel.  Aren't these flowers , butterfly, and ladybug cheerful?



Another one of my favorite treasure-hunting finds has been these bugs, which I've attached to some cute bud vases.  What is more synonymous with flowers than bugs, right?  I confess that I've always had an affinity for insect art and sculpture.  But if you want to see me do a very frenzied piece of creative movement, accompanied by teen-girl screaming, just put a real bug near me (most especially, a spider...GAH!!!)


These jewelry bugs, though, are too pretty to frighten anyone.  Who could resist a little insect crawling up a sweet bud vase?


This bug is a small vintage brooch, which I've attached to a new bud vase that I picked up at Michael's.  The colors and pewter finish have a bit of a Southwest flair, don't they?



For this vase, I went with a "vintage" 1991 piece that I found at our local Goodwill store.  There is a label on the bottom that gives the date; and honestly, I'm not sure if you could consider '91 "vintage" but since it was made 26 years ago, it's definitely not new!  My 27-year-old daughter might not appreciate being called vintage, though, haha.  She has already requested that I make a bug pot for one of her succulents.  That girl is the queen of growing succulents, I tell you!  It's like a botanical garden at her house, and you know that she did NOT get that skill from her mother.


The beetle that I embellished this vase with does not appear to be old, even though I purchased it at an antique store.  There is a dealer there who always has bits and bobs of old and not-so-old items.  I've been eyeing this insect for a while, and then the inspiration struck to make these fun vases.  I am terribly tempted to keep this piece for myself because the color scheme is perfect, but my better sense tells me that it needs to be added to my Etsy shop ;)


And here are some charming little flower wall plaques that I painted and embellished with vintage earrings.  Wouldn't these be cute in a she-shed or girl's room?  I could also see them on a gallery wall - they have a bit of a Boho vibe.



The photo above shows what these pieces looked like before paint.  They were very antique-heavy and dated-looking.  A few coats of chalk paint in happy colors brought them into the present.  And of course you knew that I had to add a little bling to each one.  I mean, it's my "thing."



So, here are the newest Spring items that I'll be adding to my Etsy shop this week.  Let's hope the actual Spring season will soon follow!  Here in Nebraska, we are having another dose of winter with wind chills in the single digits for the next few days...ugh!  I hope it's warmer and sunnier wherever you are.

Julie



Sharing with:  Between Naps on the Porch

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