Vintage Wallpaper Covered Message Center

If I forget to grab butter one more time at the grocery store, my kids might kill me. Grilled cheese is just not the same without it. If only I had a message center of some sort in my kitchen where I could keep a running grocery list at all times. Out of honey, put it on the list. About to have a milk-mergency, put it on the list. Then there is that whole stainless (AKA not magnetic) fridge thing. My kids are crafty and proud and want their handiwork on display. Something had to be done. I was flipping through the first issue of Kids Crafts 1-2-3 and remembered a great project from Jaime Favors of Raising Up Rubies. She made a message center out of a cookie sheet. Hmmm, my wheels were turning.

I didn’t have a spare cookie sheet on hand, but I did have a metal board I had picked up from Ikea. I intended to hang it in my son’s room, but I was never able to find a spot for it. Instead of having this magnet board gather dust I decided to give it a face-lift with some vintage wall paper.

SUPPLIES
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Vintage Wall Paper (you could also use wrapping paper, fabric, scrap booking paper)
Magnets
Scissors
Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Spray
Ruler
Clip Board
Basic Grey Embellishments
Clothespin

I didn’t have a piece of wall paper quite large enough to fit on my board. No worries I just got creative with a ruler and scissors and made it work. I also cut a piece to fit on my clipboard. Luckily, the pattern is busy enough where it is not really an issue.

Using Aleene’s Tacky Spray Glue (man, I love this stuff) I attached the wall paper to the board and clipboard. Allow to dry 30 minutes (ish).

Once everything is dry trim any rough edges. After that I used plain old Tacky Glue to attach the clipboard and clothespin to the magnet board.

It seemed only fitting to make some custom magnets for my new message center. I'm kinda obsessed with paper crafting lately so I just happen to have some fun embellishments from Basic Grey on hand. I used Tacky Glue to attach the embellishments to the magnets.

I'm lovin' the way my new message center turned out. So much so it is kinda breaking my heart to cover the groovy wrapping paper with soy sauce stained menus.

Easter Bunny House

Easter is right around the corner. Are you ready? Sure St. Patrick's Day comes first, but they are only separated by a few weeks so I'm going straight to bunny town.

One of my favorite designers that regularly contributes to Kids Crafts 1-2-3 is Karen Sierre of Midwest Maude. For Issue #2 she converted a little wooden bird house into a gingerbread house. I decided to take her idea and tweak it into an Easter Bunny house.

SUPPLIES
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Paint Brush
Paint
Sparkle Collage Pauge
Easter bunny figurine
Felt
Rik Rack
Sheet of card paper
Small button

Using Easter hues paint your bird house. I wanted the back of my birdhouse to the be the front. In other words the hole and wooden bird perch will be on the backside.

I made a small scalloped edge door out of card stock and painted it brown. Once all the paint is dry use Collage Pauge to adhere your door. I opted for sparkle and gave the entire thing a coat.

Once your Collage Pauge has dried you can start adding all the fun embellishments. I went with rick rack, pink felt, polka dotted flowers and a vintage button door knob. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue to attach everything.

I think Mr. Bunny looks pretty smitten with his new digs. I know I'd love a sparkly polka dotted house.

Fall Themed Polka Dots and Patterns Collage

A million and one years ago my friend Tina Sparkles made art out vintage patterns. A year or so ago I found a vintage Vogue pattern book at an antique mall and it has sat on a shelf in my studio until recently when I started thinking about Tina. I have one of her pieces of art hanging in my bathroom. The piece is a pattern from the 40's attached to a hand painted canvas and adorned with glitter. Looking at this piece and remembering my own book of patterns I had the sudden urge to create my own version in fall colors.


I gathered an assortment of collage supplies like wallpaper, Collage Pauge, fabric, picture frames, scissors and Tacky Glue. At this point I was not sure where my fall themed arty journey was going to take me.


After I chose a lovely lady to work with from the pattern book I cut her out. I then held her to a window and traced the outline of her dress onto a sheet of white paper. I cut out the paper dress and traced that onto a piece of vintage floral fabric. I cut the fabric dress out and attached it to my paper doll using Tacky Glue.


Also using Tacky Glue I attached a piece of white and orange polka dotted fabric to the backside of a picture frame. I then adhered my girl in her new dress and sealed up the frame.


I liked the idea of adding some dimension to the glass side of the picture frame as well. Using Tacky Glue and a bit of vintage plastic chain I gave this brunette beauty a smashing new necklace.


I'm thinking of making a whole series in fall themed dresses to adorn the house with this November. What do you think? I usually go straight from Halloween to Christmas, but for these collages I might make an exception.

Visit us on Facebook!
Craft on!

Vintage Craft Chat with Cathy Callahan of California

Cathy Callahan may be the one crafter I know who appreciates kitschy vintage crafts as much as I do. As if I didn’t love her enough with her amazing flower loom kits on Etsy and the plethora of vintage craft book goodness on her blog Cathy of California – she goes off and writes my new favorite craft book. If you too have a penchant for vintage crafts you are going to want to get your hot little hands on a copy of Vintage Craft Workshop: Fresh Takes on Twenty-Four Classic Projects from the '60s and '70s stat!

I have a vast collection of vintage craft books that I pride myself on, apparently so does Cathy Callahan. If we got together with our stash and a cup of Sanka or a can of tab we could chat & craft it up for hours. We couldn’t do it in person so instead we had a chat over email which I thought I would share.


When I think of designers taking vintage crafts and re-working them you are always the first person that comes to mind.  Your gorgeous loom flowers, perky mushroom pincushions & constant treasure trove of vintage craft book images on your blog.  When did your love of vintage crafts begin?

Why thank you Jennifer! You will be able to read the whole story in my book but basically a few years ago (while I was preparing for my first craft fair) one thing lead to another and I discovered that the crafts I was making were very much like the ones my mom made in the 60s-70s. A friend mentioned that the stuff I was making reminded her of the crafts her family made from a particular line of kits when she was little. An eBay search lead me to a few of the how to books from the same company that made those kits. I bought one of the books and I discovered that the crafts featured in those books were just like the ones my mom made when I was little. I then set out on collecting craft books of the 60s and 70s both for inspiration and as a way to honor my mom.


Choosing which vintage crafts to make for Vintage Craft Workshop must have been like Sophie’s Choice.  There are so many out there.  How did you decide which to use in your book?  Are there any projects that broke your heart not to include and we can expect to see in Vintage Craft Workshop Part 2?

The process of choosing which crafts to use in my book was both really fun and somewhat daunting all at the same time!  Fun because I love looking thru vintage craft books and daunting because there was just so much to choose from. I tried my best to match projects up with each contributors special talents and love for a particular type of craft. Take Diane Gilleland's plastic canvas place mat project for example. It's Diane's mission to make plastic canvas cool so she was the perfect person to do a project inspired by "Serendipity in Hi-Straw" (plastic canvas projects made using raffia). Oh yes I would love to do a part 2! Truthfully I probably have enough ideas for a whole series.


I love the segments in the book about various pioneering crafty ladies.  Two of my faves: Aleene Jackson and Enid Collins are profiled.  I’m a collector of Enid Collins bags, I have a gut feeling you too have a stash.  Am I right?  Also is it just me or does it seem like Aleene and her Tacky glue invented every vintage craft ever?  I once posted a picture on my blog of a Christmas tree covered in giant ice cream cones and Aleene’s daughter Tiffany Windsor emailed saying that was her.  How did you decide which people to profile?

Why yes I do happen to have a few Enid bags and some of her jewelry. Working on the profiles was so much fun. Many of the women who started craft companies in the 50s and 60s have some pretty amazing stories - especially Enid and Aleene. The profiles really just grew from my research and they all ended up being extensions of the projects. Take for example my Flower Waste Paper Basket project. It was inspired by something my mom used to make as well as a photo  found in a Hazel Pearson book. So naturally I had to profile Hazel. Also I am curious by nature and had always wondered if there was actually an Aleene. My mom used Tacky Glue in her crafts so I more or less grew up with it. A few years ago I discovered that Aleene was an actual person (as opposed to a Betty Crocker-like invented persona) and of course had to find out more about her.


The Vintage Craft Workshop has several contributing crafters reinterpreting classic crafts.  How did you decide who would do what? Did you know Susan Beal had a love of mushrooms or that Nicole Vasbinder made a mean bulletin board?  

I reached out to my friends and crafters whose work I admired. I had a pretty good idea what everyone enjoyed doing and what their areas of expertise were so it was easy to match people with projects. But some delightful and unexpected things also happened. I had the tissue paper tray project in mind for my friend Tom Early - who is a painter. When I went to meet with him about doing a project he showed me some new things he had been working on - tissue paper collages. It just worked out perfectly! Another cool thing  happened when I was researching Enid Collins. I contacted her granddaughter to get some information. It turned out she was a crafter (who is very influenced by her grandmother) so it was just all to perfect that she do a project for the book.


I adore all the images in The Vintage Craft Workshop.  The set ups and backdrops reflect the vintage feel of the book in a hip modern way.  Inquiring minds want to know: are any of the goodies in the pictures from your own home or did you help style the photo shoot? Chronicle always makes the most wonderful books, yours is no exception.

I was beyond thrilled when Chronicle hired Meiko Takeshi Arquillos to photograph my book. I had long admired her photographs in many of Lotta Jansdotter's books. We hit it off right away. Her style and sensibility were just perfect for my book. Yes many of the props are my stuff. I basically loaded up about half of my home in my car  and took it over to her studio. And yes some of the shots were done at my house.  I love everything that Chronicle does and it was so nice to work with them.


Along with photos of the original projects & the crafty ladies profiled there is quite a bit of craft history included in The Vintage Craft Workshop.  I love that not only are the readers learning a craft, they are learning about the history of craft.  Was doing your homework for the book hard?  Did you have a difficult time finding the information and crafts?

I was so happy that my publisher liked my idea of giving a little bit of history to go along with the projects. I felt it was important for readers who might not be familiar with what was going on in the 60s - 70s to have a little background. That way they could be inspired  even more.  The homework was not hard at all - I just turned to my collection of vintage books and magazines. I also reached out to some of ladies (and in some cases their families) who I profiled and got a lot of information from them. Tiffany Windsor (Aleene's daughter) was super helpful. One bittersweet note is that Jean Ray Laury just passed away. I did a couple of phone interviews with her last year and she was just the sweetest lady. She was still working on book proposals and her quilting. I was so looking forward to sending her a copy of the book.


For people interested in expanding their own vintage craft workshop where do you suggest they go to find more information?  Do you have any favorite websites, books, Etsy stores ect for vintage supplies, books or information?

Ebay is by far the best place to find vintage craft supplies, fabric, books and magazines.  It also serves as an amazing research tool. Figure out what you are looking for, sign yourself up for "saved searches" and your email in box will be filled with great finds everyday!


What is your most prized vintage craft treasure?  Do you have any supplies that you just can’t bring yourself to use because you have not found the perfect project?  I have tons of vintage jewelry supplies, kitschy wrapping paper and cupcake toppers that I can not seem to bring myself to part with.  No craft project ever seems worthy. Yes I am a border line craft supply hoarder.

My most prized craft supplies are my mom's fabric scraps. I made a mini quilt using some of them last year - just as a way of preserving and documenting them. I also used some of that fabric for the project I did for for Crafting a Meaningful Home by Meg Mateo Ilasco.

I got an email a couple of years ago from a guy who said his aunt had worked for Hazel Pearson (who I profile in my book) and that he was having a sale. There were tons of supplies from the 60s still in their original packaging. I bought a big box full of them which I am saving just because I like the packaging so much.


What does the future have in store for you?  Any new books on the horizon?  Has Martha Stewart called and asked you back for a repeat performance?  Teaching any classes?  For those of us that can not get enough Cathy Callahan tell us where to find you.

I will be doing a mini west coast book tour in May. I have just started a little blog devoted to the book where I will be posting all of the latest info. I do have a few book ideas in mind that I have started to develop. Fingers crossed I get to go on Martha again!


Like reading interviews with your favorite crafty peeps? I got lot's more for ya!


Visit us on Facebook!
Craft on! Click here for today's daily giveaway!

A Beautifully Messy Interview with Elsie Flannigan

You are a full package deal – there is your art, photography, A Beautiful Mess blog, Red Velvet store, dress line, e-courses, Project Restyle on Flickr.  Lord I’m tired for you just typing it all out and I’m probably forgetting something.  Can you give us a brief timeline of what came in what order and maybe even a how or why each came about?  Did you learn photography to take pictures of your art and clothing?  Did you start the blog as a marketing tool for your store and it took off from there?

Thanks so much! All of my projects have collected over time. Definitely not an overnight story, but here's how it all came about... I started my blog around six years ago, just for fun. Three years ago I quit my full time job for a scrapbooking company to pursue Red Velvet full time. We opened a website and a shop. We're now on our second local shop location! This year I'm focused on promoting the idea of wearing vintage in a modern way through 'Makeover Story' and weekly styling tips on my blog. Project ReStyle is a project that Rachel and I started to encourage the concept of reusing and green living! Currently I am developing a collection of my own clothing designs for the Red Velvet brand and, in my spare time, planning a wedding.
Deep breath... I think that's it! ;)


Speaking of the million and one things that you do, how did I miss the scrapbook line and books? Do you still dabble in scrapbooking?  I am teetering on the edge with Digital Scrapbooking.  People like Danielle Thompson and her Kitschy Digitals keep almost pushing me over the edge.  Do you still scrapbook?  I think scrap booking has gotten a bit of a bad rap, there are some cute things out there to play with.

Thanks so much! I authored two books and designed a scrapbooking line called Love, Elsie for KI Memories in my early twenties. I left that job to pursue my dreams with Red Velvet. I don't really miss it, but it was a very happy time in my life!


E-courses are something that has always intrigued me.  What made you decide to start offering them?  What has been your most popular class to date?  How do the classes work – are they live, a private blog, video?

I love teaching online! My e-courses are hosted on private blogs. My most popular class has been Blog Love a course filled with personal advise about blogging. It was so much fun to develop! I'm currently working on a business one that will come out in May. 


You have a super duper popular blog that covers topics ranging from DIY how-to’s, home décor, vintage shopping and even pictures of your daily outfits.  What types of posts seem to be the most popular with your readers?  What do you think makes those posts so popular?

Thanks so much! My most commented posts are tips and advise, such as my 5 Tips' series. My readers also love Makeover Story, which is a before and after editorial style feature where I give someone a vintage makeover. You can see a few examples here and here. I think readers can tell when I've spent a lot of time on a post and these posts take hours, and even days.


You own a store called Red Velvet with your sister and best friend.  There are physical stores in Springfield, MO as well as an online presence.   The store has so many cute things.  Can you give a new mom who has gotten behind on the trends a few tips about what is popular for spring and summer 2011?

For Spring of 2011 my personal favorite trends are 70s style fringe, Ombre textiles and jewelry and lots of gold.


You have recently launched a new dress line. Tell us a little bit about the line.  What inspired you?  Are the items one of a kind?  If you had to wear one piece from the new line day after day what would it be?

Yes! My favorite piece is the black and white chevron jumper. It's super versatile and fun to wear. The whole collection was a huge dream to design!


What types of things can you guys barely keep in stock at the store?  For me there always seems to be a big difference in what sells online versus at say a bricks and mortar store or show like the Renegade Craft Fair.  Do you guys notice that?

Yes. We sell more clothing locally, probably because people can try it on. Online we sell tons of accessories and e-courses too.


We are kindred spirits with our love of all things vintage.  If you had to pick one flea market in all the country as your favorite what would it be?  I scheduled my wedding around the Round Top Flea Market here in Texas.

Sometimes Jeremy and I take trips to buy vintage. My favorite place to 'shop' is old inventories and estate sales (by-appointment-only type stuff). They're harder to come by, but SO worth it since they aren't picked through. I also love buying directly from the original owners of clothing from the 50s and 60s because then the clothing comes with stories! 


I noticed you have a very handy dandy article on your blog called How to shop Vintage + Understanding vintage sizing.  Any other tips for shopping for vintage?  When shopping for vintage I always think of what my dad says about going car shopping, drive the worst looking car you own to the dealership and don't look all fancy pants.  Even though I love to wear cute vintage duds, show off my Bakelite jewelry and carry cute old bags I never do to a flea market so I don't get sized up by a dealer.  Any hot tips like this from a gal who makes part of their living buying and selling vintage?

Fun! My best tip (for thrifting) is to go often and be PICKY. It's easy to grab tons of B-list stuff, but these days I focus on only collecting amazing pieces in amazing condition. Focusing on quality when buying automatically ups the quality of your personal wardrobe or shop.


What is on the horizon for a busy girl like you?  More book deals, TV shows, more E-courses – seems like for you the sky is the limit.

You're so kind! In 2011 I am focusing all my attention on developing Red Velvet as an independent fashion label. We're building a tight knit team and creating our lines from scratch! It's a dream come true!

Visit us on Facebook!
Craft on! Click here for today's daily giveaway!