from salvage to savvy

I keep telling my husband that all of those magazines I buy are an investment.

He laughs. I can tell he’s not yet convinced.

I think that this little project might change his mind though.

In the last Flea Market Style magazine there was an article on page 76, titled; Pretty in Pink and Green.

Oh yes, pretty indeed. Pink and Green is one of my all time color combos.

But that’s not what caught my eye.

Nope, it was the cute little salvage turned savvy label holders made out of “orphaned sugar bowl lids”

Kinda like the cute little vintage door knob photo holders I make, but instead you use the top or lid,

preferably vintage.

My version is shown below.

As usual, there’s a  little back story to go with this fun little design.

You see this lid didn’t look like this when I bought it.

Nope, instead it looked like this…

not as cute as the dainty china lids with pretty little flowers and gold trim.

No mine was kinda on the plain side, just clear glass and it looked as if it had yellowed with age.

It was scratched and had some rough edges, but I had a plan brewing in my head the minute I laid eyes on it.

I knew it was a keeper when I saw it pushed way back behind some other dishes, discarded  and left to sit on the shelf without a reason for existence.  ((drama))

It was dirty, dusty and grimy.  Just the way I like it.  Don’t ya just love it when you take your prized possession up to the counter and the proprietor says; “whatcha gonna do with this?”

I just grin.

But I’m really think’n; “I’m not going to tell, you might want it back once you hear my awesome idea”!

So here was my plan…

I’ve always wanted to try etching on glass and I thought, oh goody…here’s my chance!

But as time went on, my plans grew a bit grandiose.

I thought to myself;  hmmm…why not try to etch the glass but also try to etch over some letters and peel them off leaving a word in the etching?

So I bought the etching cream and some stick on letters and got busy.

First I cleaned it real good and got my work area ready.

Then I had to think of a word…why does it seem so hard to decide on a word?

I always see words on walls, painted on boards and on furniture and I tell myself; “I like that word” but then when it comes time to decide on one, my brain goes dead.

ooooh…how about “love”

now that’s original.

Okay, I’m ready to begin etching.

Here we go…

First fail.

Letters fell off 😦

On to plan B

That plan would be  “no word”

man… just think of all that stress wasted on picking a word.

But that wouldn’t be the last fail.  Seems that etching isn’t as easy as it looks.

I etched this lid five times and it still didn’t give me the look I was hoping for.

Were my expectations to high?

All I wanted was a  frosty finish, I got splotchy.

No worries…I have a plan C

I didn’t get  pics of that process, but it’s pretty easy to explain

and I’m so good at storytelling that you will probably be able to visualize my process.

I painted the underside of the lid a very light gray.

Actually it was white paint with a tiny dollop of metallic silver.

Two coats and I was done.

I was tired of messing with it.  It sat on my work table for weeks, untouched.

and it grew on me.

And here we are again. I guess it’ll do.

I used a 16 gauge raw tie wire.  I call it raw, but it’s not

It’s just a nice shade of charcoal gray.

I use this wire for a lot of my wall cross designs.

Typically this is the wire I will paint before sewing the beads on.

This is important why?

It’s not so much.  It’s just the reason I happen to have it lying around my workshop.

I have gobs of it.

So I measure about 24″ of wire, clip it, wrap it around the top knob, leaving extra for the loops that will hold photos, cards or cute little cut out flowers.

Sometimes you gotta improvise.

I’m a little OCD about some things, this time it was the little end of the wire that didn’t quite tuck in like I wanted it to.  Simple solution…curl it.  Now it lies nice and flat on top of the lid.

Same thing with the other end.  Just a little loopy loo…

and I’m done.

Wait.

There’s more.  It needed something.

Like an accessory.

This is when my love for dismantling old junky jewelry really pays off.

Digging through my stash of beads and bangles,

I found a precious little antique silver  filigree heart and a sweet little rhinestone cross

Okay. Why the close ups?

Because I had to make the rings myself.

I just happen to have to 20 gauge wire hanging around and that’s exactly what it needed.

Just a touch of bling.

I’m so proud.

So what it didn’t come out just the way I planned it.  Things rarely do.

But at the very least…

I think my hubby might be starting to believe that I actually do learn something from all of those magazines.

Linking to these awesome bog parties:

Funky Junk Interiors: SNS #92

The DIY Show Off

Thrifty Decor Chick

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