Transforming Necklace Holders

It seems I can never leave well enough alone lol! 

Hum....How could I transform necklace displays?

 I am partnering with Barr Display for the Fancy Flea November 2 in Plant City Florida and we have been busy picking out inventory from their store to bring.  

Our vision is to set up displays of their products at the Flea along with some ideas on how to transform them. I would never mess with these perfect necklace displays, but since Barr Display gets them from overseas by the crate there can be a few perfectly imperfect pieces, like the one below.......Transformation time!

There will be new ones for sale but,we will also be offering the perfectly imperfect ones for sale at the flea greatly discounted for you to transform

I sprayed this one with heirloom white paint and stenciled the chandelier and Paris, then laid lace over the top and sprayed it with black paint.

I transformed this one with paint then transferred the graphics from Graphics Fairy with the blender pen method and finished it with dark wax.

We will also be bringing these leatherette displays, they come in white and sell for $3.25.   Nope, I couldn't leave them alone either.....I sprayed the big one with pink paint and stenciled "Boutique" in white.

Well, It's five weeks till the Fancy Flea.....Crunch time, fun time.   I'm so excited to vendor at the Fancy Flea again, the last one I did was April 2012.  One of the very BEST parts is seeing and meeting blogging and Facebook friends.  It doesn't matter if you are a shopper or a vendor there is nothing better then spending a fun day with like minded people who totally "Get" and love the same things you do.  It's a carnival atmosphere filled with inspiration, friendship, and a lot of Yacking!!

I can't wait!!!

  

Happy Creating

Carol

How To Make A Memory Table

I love when I find a table with a lip around the edge.  I get some glass cut and then put old photo's or post cards under it and I have a "Memory Table"

Here's what I started with, a sweet vintage side table

I painted the table with a grey paint that I mixed up and then had colored matched at Ace.  I then made it into chalk paint, I added a little plaster of paris and water

After I got the outside of table painted I painted the table top white....I was not able to get a nice clean line between the white and grey so I pulled out some Frog Tape (These people don't know I exist) I had picked up at the thrift store...I thought I would give it a try!

I had heard bloggers talk about it, but did not quite understand why it was so great.  Oh my gosh it's wonderful, here's the deal....If I had put blue painters tape on a freshly painted surface, I would have torn the white paint off when I removed the tape.  I waited about 12 hours for the paint to dry and then used the frog tape and ...Amazing, it did not take the white paint off when I lifted the tape up and I had a nice crisp line between the grey and white paint.  

Frog tape is thinner than blue painters tape.  It stays in place, the paint does not bleed, and when pulled up it does not tear the paint off...Amazing

I'm just passing this on since I know so many of you are like me....No patience to sit and wait for paint to dry!

I then brought the table to a glass cutting store and for $5.00 I had glass for the table.  

Now it was ready for postcards or pictures

I put the table in my booth at Orange Tree Antiques and priced it at $58

A little love, a piece of glass, and now someone can enjoy displaying their memories!

  

Happy Creating!

Carol

Partying with Miss Mustard Seed

Altering A Childs Dress Form

How cute would this child's dress form look in a nursery or a little girls room?

When I saw that Barr Display had children's dress forms I could not wait to take one home and play with it!  In case you are wondering:  Yes, basically all I do is play here at The Polka Dot Closet

I started with a child's size 4-6 yr form

I wanted to try transferring rose graphics onto a form, but I will be honest with you, it always makes me a little nervous to "Practice" on expensive dress forms.......But, whew...it worked!

I started with a vintage post card that had a rose bouquet on it.  Now, I am not a computer whiz.  I have a Mac with a program called "Pages".  This program allowed me to remove the background behind the flowers and to alter their size.  

After creating a variety of sizes, I linked the rose bouquets together to form a random pattern.

I copied my completed graphic onto Transfer Artist Paper (or TAP) with my ink jet printer.

I then had to trim around the flowers (this took forever), pin them onto the form, and iron them on.  

Now...these people don't know I exist, but, the reason I always choose TAP paper instead of T-shirt transfer paper is that the TAP paper is transparent. 

So...if I did not trim close enough to the graphics (like the flowers in this project) it's not noticeable once they're ironed on.  Also, you cannot over-iron TAP.  If I go over an exposed graphic that I previously ironed on, it won't melt off.  

I purchased my TAP paper at Jo-Ann online. It costs over $2 a sheet, but worth every penny for a special project. 

The skirt was made from the crinoline of a vintage wedding dress that I hand dyed.  I then ruffled YARDS of the tulle from the dress to make this cute little bottom ruffle.

I used satin from the dress for the the waist band that ties in a bow at the back.

 I finished off the form base and cap with a white crackle finish

I think this would be so cute in a nursery or a little girls room.  Goodness, I can see a little girl playing dress up; dressing her form with the outfit she has picked out to wear to school the next day! Of course, they are great for sewing and hemming clothes. 

I am partnering with Barr Display for the November 2, 2013 Fancy Flea in Plant City Florida.  We will be bringing a few of these child forms to the Flea.  

If you are interest in purchasing a child form that is unaltered or one with roses, you can email me or contact Barr Display 800-222-2702 

Can you guess what I am working on next?  

        I love having a boy.  But...it sure would be fun to have a girl.... JUST to dress her and decorate her room!

OK, I have to get back to playing!

  

Happy Creating!

Carol

Partying with

Altering Hand Displays

I had fun altering some hand displays 

I'm partnering with Barr Display for the Fancy Flea a show we are doing November 2, 2013 (You can read about it HERE)

When I go into the Barr Display's retail store here in Orlando I'm like a kid in a candy store.   Hum...What can I play with??

I know...How about the flesh colored hand display!  I used Heirloom white satin spray paint by Rust-Oleum then hot glued lace around the cuff

They had a few hand displays that were already a shiny white.  For this one I hot glued on a sequence applique.

And I love this one...I used the cuff of a vintage wedding gown 

These are great for sitting on a dresser or vanity to display rings, jewelry, gloves, or necklaces. 

Barr Display has a large assortment of hand displays available, type "Hand" in their search box

We will have a limited number of unaltered hands that were store displays available at the Fancy Flea for $10....Hum, how will you alter it???

I love these...Think I'll give myself a hand lol!

  

Happy Creating!

Carol

A Suitcase Transformed Into A Display Case

This was was so fun, I needed a display case for the flower pins I'm making for the Fancy Flea, a show I'm doing November 2, 2013

I decided to use a suitcase (Or maybe it was a tool box) I bought at the thrift store a while back

It was all wood with a gorgeous handle lol! 

And a great price...When I saw it, I knew I couldn't pass it up..I would find some use for it...

...Ah, a display case for my flower pins!

I cleaned it up, painted it with grey homemade chalk paint and stenciled "French Boutique" on the side

Then I wrapped ruffled torn muslin and ribbon over that gorgeous handle 

And covered the inside with vintage look tissue paper.  Now, I did a little math (Yuk) to get the right spacing and used self drilling screws for hanging my flower pins

But wait, if I set this on a table it would take up a lot of space.  So, I decided to put legs on it.  I used legs discarded from a previous project and attached them with leg plates from the hardware store.  I don't know what the plates are called, I just know you attach them on the bottom and then you can screw the legs on.

The legs fit right in the case...How cool is that for traveling!

Now I have the perfect traveling display case

The suitcase will be filled with flower pins....I've been busy making more

I think they look so shabby cute and feminine on jackets and shirts

I'll be selling them at the Fancy Flea for $10 a piece

For those of you that make jewelry, something similar to this would be a great jewelry display case!

Ok, I'm off working on more Fancy Flea projects...I'll be back soon!

  

Happy Creating

Carol

Partying with Crafty Goodies