Freebie Friday - how 'bout them apples? { free images }

Today I'm sharing these two lovely apple images with you. About a year ago, I bought a home correspondence course textbook on how to become a fruit grower. According to the copyright, the book was from 1912 and was published in Great Britain. The plates and black and white illustrations in the book were just awesome!

Here are two of my favorites. These are both high resolution images with a transparent background. Click on the image for a larger view, then right click and "save as".

If you end up using these images, please post a comment and link back here and let me know how you used them and what you created. I would love to see! Happy crafting!

Vintage awards...reimagined { inspiration file }

I'm always excited when I see a vintage or antique item bound for the trash pile that can be rescued and reimagined. In fact, some of these items are downright beautiful when given the chance to show off their colors, form & texture.

Since I'm on the theme of vintage show ribbons for some reason, I wanted to share a few pictures of how vintage awards are being rescued and reimagined in interior design.

This designer was able to find just the right hues to complement the bedspread in this child's room to make some wall art.
{ photo: Francine Zaslow }

A trophy reworked into a bedside table lamp with a chic grey shade.
{ photo: The New Victorian Ruralist }

Goodwill to modern art. A cool tutorial on how Denise at the Pink Postcard breathed some life into these Goodwill trophies.
{ photo: Pink Postcard }

A while back, Ballard was on the trophy kick too and offered old trophies as beverage coolers.
{ photo: Ballard Designs }

A dollar and an idea { quick ornament DIY }

So I found these ornaments for $1 each at my AC Moore store. I normally try not to buy things I don't need, but I haven't seen this type of ornament so inexpensive before. At only a dollar each, I have a little license to play...

I reimagined these boring ornaments in to something fabulous. First up was removing that, ahem, hideous gold string. (Oops, I forgot to take a pic of a circle ornament. I'm showing an oval shape I bought instead)

Next I found the rosette image. The Ribbons Galore site has a digital custom rosette maker that lets you change colors and styles. I made one I liked and saved the image. Next I layered that image with a circle button image and my horse image.

After grouping the image, I printed it out on my inkjet printer with regular paper. I found my inkjet was okay and smearless for this project if you don't go crazy with the glue. If you'd rather use a color laser print, your local copy shop can help. I used regular paper for this. Using cardstock works well and is easier to work with when you smooth things out (less likely to tear); it's your choice.

Trim around the image (perfection isn't needed for this step). (TIP: working on top of wax paper for this next step is helpful. If glue gets anywhere it pulls easily off the wax paper, not taking parts of your image with it). With a foam brush, I used Matte Modge Podge decoupage medium and applied it to the FRONT side of the image. I then placed the glass ornament ON TOP of the image, making sure the glue was evenly distributed. Turn the ornament to its back side and smooth the paper out, or use a brayer or bone folder. Check the front of the ornament to ensure the image didn't shift when you were smoothing it out. Set the ornament aside to dry (TIP: putting wax paper and then a book on top is helpful). This picture is of the back side, trimmed up and drying.

After the ornament was dry, I put two coats of black acrylic paint on the back. When those were dry, I did a quick coat of spray sealer. If you have any bits of dried Mod Podge on the front of your glass at this point, a straight edge razor blade will take care of 'em.

Poke a hole through the ornament. I used my cake tester to push 13" of ribbon through the hole. I'm showing another ornament here where I purposely left some of the glass border around the edges.

Here is one of the ornaments before it's ribbon, but it's all done and super cute!

I played around with some free leather and plaid textures and added my horse images to create these, which are in the process of drying (sorry for the glare)...

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and it inspires you to create something of your own!

I'm linking this up to Under the Table and Dreaming's Sunday Showcase Party.

Under the sea { DIY coral }

{ photo:  Home Stories A 2 Z }

What does the Wal-Mart pet aisle and dreamy interior trends have to do with one another? Nothing? EH, wrong! If you look around, here is proof that you can find inspiration and cool decorating items in unexpected places.

Pop on over to one of my favorite blogs, Home Stories A 2 Z, and read Beth's tutorial to find out how she reimagined some Wal-Mart coral in to something beautiful!

Here's a freebie tip for you: find the ugliest pieces of aquarium coral you can find. Even broken pieces are okay. They're bound to be cheap and on sale, and what do you care, you're just going to paint them anyway!

Vintage horse show ribbons { inspiration file }

This week I was inspired by vintage horse show ribbons and rosettes. As a horse lover, I'm always looking for a horsey craft to do. And since I can't draw horses too well, the extent of my crafting usually involves framing a horse print. This week I want to find something unique to do, and maybe tie in the horses with Christmas or make an ornament? Hmmmm, what should I do?

I wish I still had my old horse show ribbons from my childhood...sigh. Somehow I don't think they'd look quite as cool as these vintage ones that inspired me this week. While I figure out what I'm going to do, take a look at some of these ribbons and rosettes I found and get inspired...

Heather Bullard found this tub of vintage ribbons at a flea market (lucky girl!) and shared her great find on her blog. I love the multiple layers and varieties on the rosettes.

{ photo:  Heather Bullard }

These pretties were posted on a horse riding blog called All That Jazz.

{ photo:  All That Jazz }

A while back, Everyday Beauty shared her collection. I love the variety of line art on the buttons.

{ photo:  Everyday Beauty }

An all time favorite creation, this wonderful wreath from Danny Seo at The Daily Danny. If I'm able to collect enough ribbons, I'm gonna make one of these for sure. I've pinned it to my Crafts I Simply MUST Do board on Pinterest.

{ photo:  Danny Seo }

I love this closeup of a vintage duo from FergusAndSadie on etsy.

{ photo:  Fregus and Sadie }

Salvage Studio shared a collection of her dad's ribbons from the 40's and 50's. I love the foil buttons and what looks like a hand folded ribbon rosette.

{ photo:  Salvage Studio }