All things sparkly and bright

My recent antique jewelry finds took me on a journey among my sparkly collections. Wanna come?



Some vintage, some new, my mini dress form holds my collection of necklaces that I wear on a regular basis.



My collection of odds and ends for making jewelry. You know, when I have time to learn to do that. :) Right now it's just fun to find things to add to this collection which is housed in a vintage pink jewelry box.



My current favorite necklace. The chain is a vintage Anne Klein I picked up in a thrift for a few dollars many years back. The tassel charm belonged to my fabulous Aunt Sissy.



This collection is on a table in the craft room.



Fun pins, mostly, I think they are pretty and clip them on my coat once in awhile.



This is a recent thrift store find. I paid $5, which is a lot for me at the thrift, but I have this same bag in silver and it sees a lot of action at dressy affairs. Plus now, it's a collection. :)

Cheers!

The Great Pumpkin

So before my nephew was even born my sister requested a pumpkin hat for him for Halloween. As usual, I was WAY behind in my crafting so I decided to make his hat more fall like and traditional so he could wear it past All Hallow's Eve:



The pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts but I added a little i-cord top knot. Now I must warn you, the next photo is so sweet it may send you into sugar shock:



Now by that photo you may think he doesn't like his new pumpkin hat but Mandi assures me that he didn't try to pull it off once.



See you in a few weeks, sweet boy!

Antiquing

On a recent visit to Clinton, NY to see my friend Nina I got a chance to hit up a fabulous antique market. For the most part I thought the prices were reasonable and found quite a few treasures.



Most of my purchases were jewelry. All of these pieces were $3 or less. I love the compact, it's very elegant.



I also found this fun New York souvenir! Take a look inside:



A compact and mirror on one side and the other has a clip to hold money I think as it seems to slim to be for cigarettes but that is possible, too, I guess.

I also found a pink silk glove box (which I gave as a gift to Nina) and a paper box for handkerchiefs that I had to leave behind for fear of it getting crushed on my train ride home. Nina will bring it when she visits next month. We had a great time, including a fabulous trip to the spa, and I can't wait to go for another visit.

What's been going on . . .

A lot of glittering in preparation for the upcoming annual Christmas Craft Party:





And my first try and paper sculpture:




What have you been up to?

Apple Cranberry Walnut Breakfast Bars

Fall is in the air so it's time to bake!




Apple Cranberry Walnut Breakfast Bars

BAKE at 350 for 35 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups (packed) brown sugar
2 eggs
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 and 1/2 cups diced apples
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In an electric mixer, beat brown sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla until smooth. Slowly add flour mix until combined. Add apples, cranberries and walnuts and spread into cake pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Bewitching Beauties

I was happy to join Sarah's Halloween Ornament swap this year and blow the dust off of some of my crafting skills. Everytime I join a swap I start freaking out that I won't finish in time. Luckily my second idea turned out well (the first, not so much) and I was able to finish them up with time to spare.



My theme was Bewitching Beauties. I love using vintage images* in collage art and when I came upon some cute scrapbook borders of different poisons I knew I wanted to show a fancy lady with her preferred method of getting rid of her problems. ;)



I gave each beauty a witch hat, crepe paper collar and some bling and packaged her up in a sweet little toile bag. Toile made of skulls that is. Spooky.

I've received my return package and all I can say is WOW. These crafty ladies are good. I'll share links to Sarah's posts of all the creations soon!

Cheers ~

* - I find a lot of my images here.