Bowl of Buckles & Rusty Keys

I bought this Bowl of Buckles over a year ago.
Had great visions of using it in my art.
Well, I've decided I have more supplies than I will ever use,
so, I'm parting with some of these treasures.
If you see anything you are interested in please let me know.

First up: 13 assorted silver buckles and ??
See the ones with the 'post' out the backs,
I'm not sure what they are. Buckles??

Here is a close up of the back of one.
See the anchor?
Go HERE if interested.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More Rusty Treasures!!

I rusted more goodies.
Keys, and, see those two latch thingies?
Those were solid gold, bright shiny new.
I got them in a box with some other things.
Was going to Goodwill them, then thought, RUST!!
Took 3 times to get them to rust, but I did it!!!!

formula? White vinegar, salt.
Lay item on paper towel.
dowse with vinegar, salt heavily.
Wrap up i paper towel,
Put in baggy.
Check in a couple of days.

If more rust desired, add more vinegar and salt.
(keep in mind that after they are 'done' and
lay out in the air awhile, they will continue to rust.)
Don't you love the colors of these?
And how about that bit of blue patina in the pic above?

Anyone need any rusty keys??
Who knows, maybe I'll just get into the rusting business,
and forget all the rest? =)

Oh, almost forgot.
This big eye hook was in the box too.
Can't you just see it with a ribbon holding a picture?
Pretty cool rusted huh??

Big Monday Blessings to all.
Having fun in Oregon.

barbara jean

Pretty Pin Cushions

I went over to thank my friend Lululiz for the tips on how to spot MOP buttons.
(post here)
and look what I found! ( above pic)
She had made two pin cushions from an idea she saw here!
Pin cushions made with candlesticks.
(pictured below)

Didn't' she do a great job??
I love the danglies hanging down, don't you?

So here are more ideas for you!!

Blessings
Barbara jean

PS be sure to let me know if you make anything from ideas you see here.
I would love to show them off to my friends. =)

Mother of Pearl Buttons

On the previous post I asked how I would know if buttons
were Mother of Pearl or not. (also known as MOP)

There are a couple of tips on that post,

and then this one from Lululiz.

So for those of you who also wanted to know,

this should be a great help.

Thanks to all of you!

Lululiz said...

Great find! And isn't it just so much fun emptying out a big bag and searching through to find the good stuff? I can happily spend hours doing that.
As to recognizing MOP buttons, this is how I do it -
Turn the buttons over and look at the back. Especially on old buttons you will find that the back is not very smooth, it will often be bumpy and show little bits of the shell outer

Touch the button to your cheek. Plastic buttons will feel warm compared to MOP, which are cold when you touch them to your skin

If you have washed them, click one against your teeth, I know it sounds silly, but you can tell by the sound whether they are plastic or MOP/glass, plastic sounds much duller than MOP or glass

The beautiful shimmery shine can never be properly imitated by plastic, once you have looked at a few, you will just know.

Blessings
Barbara Jean

PS You will be glad to know that most of the ones I found were MOP!!
WOO HOO!!!!

Fun Finds Friday - Buttons

Buttons.
A whole BIG zip lock bag filled with buttons.
I washed them all, then put them out on two big
cookie sheets to dry.
They almost filled that 8" jar in the top picture.

That was what was left after I sorted out all
the "Mother of Pearl" buttons.
I said it like that cause I'm not sure
I know how to tell if they are or not.

I think most of these are.
Can you tell?
How can I tell for sure?
My friend Dinae (Diane Knott's Musings left this comment:
Diane said...

Barb, they sure look like MOPs to me!! YOU DID GREAT!!!! Wonderful find!! MOPs are usually not perfect and they actually do have the pearly look of the shells they're from. If you compare them side-by-side with plastic or bakelite ones, you'll see the difference right away. You have a good eye!
You go!
Diane

Tete said...

Mother of Pearl will look like an opal- kind of shimmery to the light- and not a solid white.
Love buttons! One of my favorite things and I love the rusty ones!
Hugs- Tete

Thanks Ladies!!!

And look what else I found.
RUSTY buttons!!!
I just love rust.
These will be so fun to play with on my art.

That was just a smidgen of my fun finds last week.
Rest still waiting to be unloaded from car.
(had to do inventory before I could lug more treasures in.)

Hope you are all having a great first week of the New Year.

blessings

barbara jean

Oh, I forgot to tell you:
That whole big bag of buttons was only $2.00!!!!!!!

Free Pretty Things For You

Jenny, at
Free Pretty Things For You
did a feature today on my Tart Tin Tutorial.
(she jazzed up my little tart tin picutre. So cute!)
Thanks Jenny!!

I'm so glad she found me, cause now
I know where to go for some free cuteness when I need it.



And she has a cute meme going on Wednesdays!


Hope you will go check it out!!

blessings to all
barbara jean

PS I won't be on here or visiting quite as much as it is inventory time! ugh!

but I am still alive and well and will be around when I can
with little bits of gladness for you. =)

Love and Baby Tags

A quick and easy project for you.
You know those little word cards we all love?
Here is an easy way to jazz them up a bit.

Just take your card, add a bit of lace, and trim,
dry brush around the edges, and, sweetness!
Below is another idea: a bit of music paper
background, corner trim, baby picutre and a bow.
These are very simple, but you could jazz them up more, too.

Oh, you say you do not have any of those little cards?
Have no tears, you can still do it!!
I went to Microsoft word. (you can use any program you can type into)
Type out the word you want, in the font you want.
Lay out several on a page, and print them off!
Wah lah!! Lots of sweet cards to play with!
(this is a copy of a layout sample to give an idea of what I mean)
I tried my hand at scanning but could not figure it out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And here are some new nests.
I found some great material on my walk a few days ago.
On the streets where there are huge maple leaves,
and cars have run over them, and it has rained,
over and over and over again,
the leaves get all mushed and stringy.
Perfect bird nest material.

I think these are my most real looking nests ever!




I'm planning to sell these just as they are,
for others to fluff up and put in their
favorite unique piece to display them.

Blessings and a Happy week to all!

Barbara Jean

Pink Saturday Sunshine

Summer fun. Eating grapes at Grandma's

"ooh. It's dripping down my arm."

"What are you guys doing over there?"

Our little granddaughter Rowan.
This is how we entertained her while getting ready
for a garage sale last summer.

Smiles and Sunshine, and Happy New Year!

Blessings
barbara jean

I'm joining Beverly for