Paper.... who'd a thunk!

Found a piece of furniture with great bones but in desperate need of some TLC?   Why not add a pop of pizzazz with paper.  Comic books, maps, wrapping paper, napkins, all are great for decoupage and will add a unique and personal touch to any piece of furniture in your home.  

A Refreshing Change

From hgtv.com

From Apartment Therapy

From Crazy Wonderful

From etcetorize.blogspot.com

Next time grab that package of napkins, don't pass on that adorable wrapping paper.... come on in to The Chirping Frog and find you a piece of furniture that needs some love, possibilities abound.

14 Of My Favorite Button Projects

Walk into any thrift shop or antique mall and you're bound to find more buttons than you can possibly count.  Take a peek at some of my favorite button projects from Pinterest.

Whose grandma doesn't have a tin or box full of buttons just waiting for a cool repurpose idea?

wonderfuldiy.com
Not sure how this button bowl would hold up to actual usage but isn't it cute.  Makes me wonder, how about a light fixture shade?  That would cast some great shadows.

prettydesigns.com
Wow, I really love this.

letter perfect designs on Etsy
So many great ways to monogram with buttons.

elaineschmidt.com
Adorable!

fashion ornaments
These are just too cute.  Think of the many possibilities to design a custom piece.  Cute, cute cute!

amanda davie wholesale on Etsy
Another great, easy usage.  Love the resin charms on the bottom.

dailymail.co.uk
Outstanding!  This site has quite a few really amazing mosaics with buttons.  Wow!

the princess and her cowboys
So cute!

sisters suitcase
Love these.  Making journals at the moment and these would be great additions.  I've also seen them add buttons to bobby pins as well.

just imagine
Now that's just cute, saw combinations with wine corks and bottle caps as well.  So creative.

bonkers about buttons
Just adorable.  Mom and I used to attend the quilt show in Padukah, KY and one time there was a chair, all decked out with buttons in one of the shop areas.  It was great!  What about a backsplash, tabletop, etc.  So many ideas, I need lots and lots of buttons.

sweet pennies from heaven
Cute.

rock candy
Doubt I'll ever do this but it is kind of cute.  You could also do a more traditional planter.

custom-color-bridal-button-bouquet on Etsy
Fabulous, there's examples of boutonniere's as well.  So creative.



Do you see why I love buttons yet?  Take a gander through Pinterest with a search of button crafts (or art or diy or usage or simply buttons) and you'll see many more great ways to use them.  Go ahead, get your thrift on, you'll find so many adorable jars full of buttons to start your own stash and begin the creative process.  Can't wait to see what you come up with!

15 Fabulous Shutter Re-Purpose Ideas For Your Home

I've got a couple pairs of shutters that I've been hanging onto for a while now, waiting for the perfect application.  I still don't know what I'm going to do with them but my mind-wheels are turning and inspiration is everywhere.

Take a look as some of the great re-purpose ideas I found on Pinterest:

10 Unique and Frugal Ways to Decorate Your Home for Less

I don't know about you but I am completely in love with thrift shops and antique malls.  So many bargains and such amazing variety, its unbelievable.  I thought today I'd share with you some of my favorite finds and some ideas for what you should be looking for and how you can incorporate these items into your home.

14 Unique Repurposed Kitchen Item Ideas

I'm always on the lookout for interesting ways to repurpose vintage items.  Kitchenware is an excellent resource with so many fun things that can be recycled and reinvented in a variety of cute ways.... for minimal costs I might add. 

Here's just a few of my favorite examples.

Every antique mall I've ever been in has a variety of beautifully decorated serving utensils.  This is such a great repurpose idea.  Drawer pulls would work great wouldn't they?

fleachic.blogspot.com

Find yourself some wonderful teacups and make a towel rack for the kitchen.  So many possibilities....

Teacup and Saucer Cuteness

Wowser, these are fabulous!

38 kitchen item repurpose ideas

Rolling pins can be found at every shop you'll ever encounter.  I love this idea for a coat rack.  Adorable.

45+ Creative Kitchen Repurpose Ideas

I love this idea.  It'd look great as a type of "frame" to hang children's artwork too.  So cute!

sadieseasongoods.com

I'm completely in love with this silverware light fixture.  So inspiring!

dishfunctionaldesigns

What a great repurpose!

Industrial Lighting

More great silverware repurpose ideas.  So many beautiful patterns to choose from.  Don't think they're only good to eat with, so many great ways to use them in unique ways.

from mysalvagedtreasures.com

You'll find graters all over the place too.  Lots of great repurpose ideas but this has got to be the cutest one I've found.

On Hometalk

Wonderful strainer ideas....

theownerbuildernetwork

Love this idea too.... I've bought some spring pans for the purpose of decorating them up in some way for wall art (I ended up using them for concrete planters).  When walking through your local antique mall keep in mind creative, interesting ways you could use the pieces you're seeing.  So many creative uses for everyday items.

Adorable Repurpose

Not in English but a "picture is worth 1,000 words".  You'll get the idea, be inspired.

Great idea.  Rolling pins make a great middle support and circular pie pans work great too. 

45 Ways to Repurposeys to Repurpose Kitchen Stuff

Another great idea for a grater.

Repurposed Kitchen Tools @Knickoftime.net

Great idea for silverware.... What other words would be fitting for a kitchen?

Painted Fox Home

Have you done anything interesting and creative with kitchen items?  Would love to see your handiwork.

How I Decoupaged A Door With Book Pages

Right now my husband and I are hard at work building The Chirping Frog, our new Antiques & More shopping mall in Illinois down by St. Louis, MO with plans to open this Fall.  Things are really moving along and interior finishes aren't that far off.  Right now there's not much I can do inside but I did manage to start on a small project today.  I am wallpapering the bathroom doors with old Antique Price Guides that my grandfather gave me years ago.  Such a fun and easy project.   

Think of the possibilities!  It won't be perfect, after all, what happens to a book when it gets wet?  If you can handle the imperfections and work with them you can create a variety of wonderful projects completely unique to you.  

Here's a quick look at how to get it done.

First, prime the doors.

 I spent some time going through the books pulling out pages with photographs of "manly" items for the men's bathroom and "girly" items for the ladies.  Once I'd gotten my pages sorted out it's time to start applying them to the doors.

You could rip them into pieces, haphazardly apply them at all angles or keep them a little more organized and just line them up like I did.  Mod Podge would probably work but I always use wallpaper glue.  Work in small sections rolling on your glue and adding papers.  I do not use any special tools just my hands to apply the pages.  They will wrinkle a little, its inevitable.  The more you mess with the paper the worse it'll be so just quickly apply it and move on.  You might need to overlap the pages a little in places.

 

I can't help but grin when I see the doors.  I've got the front and back of both bathroom doors covered and am hoping to spray them with a tea stain tomorrow, give them a quick sanding and a couple coats of polyurethane.    What a quick, easy way to add some character and what better paper to use at an Antique Mall than an old Price Guide.

Hoping to use the same method to paper the storage room door and the entry vestibule.  Can't get maps off my mind for the vestibule and I think I've found the perfect wrapping paper for the storage room.  Wait till you see it, couldn't be more fitting.

Easy Thimble Pendant Necklace with Wire-Wrapped Bead Dangles

My mom spent a week with me the end of June that coincided beautifully with a broken toe, giving me plenty of play time for my many crafty endeavors.  I got a lot of things started and very little finished, par for the course, right!  

One of the projects I started was this thimble pendant necklace using wire-wrapped beads left over from previous projects.  Gotta use up them leftovers!

 I started by drilling a hole thru the center of the thimble.  Using a length of 18 gauge wire (roughly 4") I made a loop at one end, adding varying lengths of chain with wire-wrapped bead dangles.  The wire then got threaded thru the inside of the thimble and out the top.   

I finished it off by forming a large loop at the top and wire wrapping excessively down to the thimble.  I really love that look.

I finished it off by adding a long length of chain.  Easy peasy!

I am considering adding an assortment of chain dangles since most of my beads have loops at the base (might as well use them, eh).

I'm always on the lookout for thimbles and other trinkets to use in my jewelry projects.  I've got a great assortment of bottle caps, corks, games pieces, etc.  Now I just need to find some time to be creative and get something done.  

Have you made anything using thimbles?  Do share, I'd love to see your creativity at work.

18 Clever Ways to Re-purpose Old Belts

I can't even tell you how many old belts I've thrown out around here,  I'm kicking myself.  Look at all the fabulous things I could have done with them.  

 
How about a wreath?  I love the different colors and textures with a gleam of metal splattered throughout.  

jillruth.com

This is such a great idea.  You could use any extra you might have for bracelets and the buckles make great jewelry pendants with a little added bling (or closures for art journals, might have to try that one out).

shelterness.com

Cute idea to add a little something to a plain bucket.

Mine Own Little World on Hometalk

So many possibilities here, pick your design and fill it in with a variety of belts.  So cute, what design would you choose?

usefuldiyprojects.com

Cute way to hang a decorative shelf.

OffPonce on Etsy

Another great idea.  Turn that belt into drawer pulls or knobs (by folding it into a loop) for furniture.

girlinthegarage.net

Jazz up a plain wood frame with a decorative belt.  You could even add a little stain/paint to give it a little something extra.

coolmompicks.com

They make gorgeous bracelets and you could get quite a few from one belt.  Change out the bling and the possibilities are endless.

RocaJewleryDesigns on Etsy

This one isn't so practical for me (I need a lot bigger bag than that) but such a cute idea.

seed time

Not even thinking about Christmas yet, if you are, this is cute too!

refreshliving.us

I have a purse that I washed and ruined the handle.  Cute little purse so I hate to throw it away but the handle looks hideous.  Wouldn't have thought of this but what a great idea, now to find the perfect belt for the project.

from Pinterest

Cute way to dress up a candle.

jenniferrizzo.com

Looks like an old picture frame with belt handles and decorate belts for the bottom of the tray.  Very cute!

acultivatednest.com

You know I had to sneak something about art journaling in.  This I just love.  What a great binding made from an old leather belt.  My mind-wheels are churning away figuring out how they did that, I must try it sometime.

 from Pinterest

Great alternative to a ribbon board.

beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com

That's a door!  Very cool.

 from Pinterest

If you love southwestern style decor you really need to visit this site, great stuff.  This table caught my eye.  The concept could work on the wood wire wheels you see at every vintage market you'll ever go to.  Scour the internet, you can find them for free or minimal cost.  Would make an adorable table.

lizzy and me western decor

Lastly, they are being used for flooring.  Not sure I can jump on board with that one, can't imagine the cleaning would be all that easy (I've seen entire rooms done in belts and stair treads, gorgeous) but how about a rug.  Beautiful!

dishfunctionaldesigns.blogspot.com

I don't know about you but I am so inspired and on the lookout for belts now.  Have you made anything creative with belts?   I haven't, yet but I plan too.