goodies and more goodies!

I had such a blast building inventory for the Knack Holiday Pop Up Shop, opening this Saturday!  Check out some of the goodies:

lazy Susan with sweet illustrations from a
Good Housekeeping cookbook from the 50's
(and a pair of candlesticks)

Susan!

croquet stick picture frame

push pins (from recycled buttons)
totally addictive to make...

croquet mallet candlesticks

candlestick convention

tag sale tray ($1) + vintage yardsticks

croquet stick trivet
(adjust to fit!)

tray with old Eric Carle book + vintage
Finger Lakes map

upcycled jars + recycled burlap + baker's twine =
tea light holders

Goodwill glasses + recycled burlap =
candle holders

mini clipboards, that is all

Everything is cuter in smaller sizes.  So when I went to the Ashfield Fall Festival (it's like being in a Yankee Magazine article, but you can smell the apple crisp), I snapped up some mini clipboards at the annual crap sale there. 

thanks Larry and Gail...

...and the warehouse crew

At first I thought of wrapping the entire board, but I couldn't remove the clip, and I also liked the idea of some of the board peeking through.  
Very happy with the results, and have now started searching for more boards at the Goodwill and Salvation Armani.  These would be great as creative ways to display small pieces of artwork or photos, and the cookbook one would be great to prop up in a kitchen to hold recipes.  You could also use them to hold to do lists, which is what I used to do in middle school.  Yeah, I was a dork.  And I loved me some clipboards.

ask every woman!

yes, those are two hot dogs, to the

right of "summer"

1950's children's grammar book

color war!

(I checked to make sure it hadn't

morphed into an offensive term)

who doesn't love a great rendering 

of a hedgehog?

(as in voyage)

why can't I figure out how to make this

go the other way?

croquet sets: nose to tail

Remember those croquet sets I've been collecting?  Well, we are going nose to tail with those gorgeous vintage mallets and balls!  Did we mention we'll be selling all of these amazing items at Twist in Northampton on November 11th and 12th?  Because we will.  And we can't wait to see you there.  


Here's a sneak preview:

croquet mallet sticks + adorable blue bottles 

scored from Freecycle = bud vase!

last gasp of the windowboxes

photo holders

recipe card holders

mallet sliced in half = candlestick holders

romantic dinner, candlelight from

croquet mallets

vintage wooden croquet balls + saw = photo holder

It's possible I have a basement full of carefully collected vintage wooden croquet sets.  Ok, it's probable.  My husband might confirm it.  And it's time for Twist, the coolest craft fair ever, so I'm starting to repurpose all of those gorgeous mallets and balls.  Croquet balls, not schweddy balls.  Incidentally, has anyone actually been able to purchase this ice cream?  Our friend Dave has scoured the Valley ("Hi, good morning, do you have schweddy balls?"), to no avail. 

I was inspired to get going on some photo holders when I found the perfect wooden bases at one of my glorious tag sales yesterday.  I'm quite certain they served another purpose, but it's as if they were meant to hold up a croquet ball.  I recognize that these photo holders are even better if you happen to have a ridiculously cute picture of your baby to stick in it.

does it look rakish and fun, or just crooked?

love the faded orange paint

coat of poly finishes it off beautifully

Stay tuned for some hat and dishtowel racks with the mallets and the awesome wooden handles I scored yesterday.

And let's not forget these fabulous candlesticks that Liz from sticks and bricks helped me create: