The Brass Paperclip Project

142 Hankies and A Beachy State of Mind

Yes, you read that title correctly...142 hankies.  That is how many I counted in my stash this week.  Oh, my goodness, they are going to keep me busy for a while.  I did have fun going through them though...it's quite a collection.  I've got several dozen stunning lace bridal hankies, nearly as many with fancy monograms and a random assortment of beautifully embroidered and embellished ones that I'll be photographing and adding to my shop over the next few weeks. Here's a sneak peek of some of the lace ones...

As for what went into the shop this week...I added my first beach-inspired mini-collection, which I blogged about earlier this week in the first of a new series called Drab to Fab, where I'll be showcasing some behind the scenes scoop on how I use vintage and recycled materials in my designs.

Other goodies that hit the shop include a gorgeous assortment of shell-pink goodies from the 50s, a vintage cake topper and a vintage fur (maybe mink?) collar.  You can click the links below the photos for more information about each item.

Pink Lace Capelet - Lace Collar

Vintage Pink Beaded Clutch Purse

Vintage Pearl and Crystal Crown

Vintage Wedding Bell Cake Topper

Vintage Fur Collar

It was a great, busy week, but I'm definitely ready for the weekend.  I'll be busy putting back the last of the summer veggies to enjoy later this winter.  If you missed my Farm Fresh post yesterday, be sure to check out the seriously sexy food videos I posted...hubba hubba.  ;)

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to keep in touch! 

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P.S. There are still two days left to contribute to my Charity: Water campaign...and don't forget that 40% of my September Etsy sales will be donated too, so shop with joy knowing you're making a difference!

Farm Fresh: Celebrating Food

As summer winds herself down and starts to tangle with the first chills of fall, I'm left wanting to keep her to myself for just a little while longer...while secretly flirting with fall on the side.  This weekend I'll be roasting peppers to freeze for the winter and processing 20+ pounds of tomatoes that I picked from my garden yesterday...all the while, snacking on first of the season Honeycrisp apples and fresh pressed apple cider.  Putting food back for winter is a nostalgic and romantic way to preserve the season while allowing yourself to move on and celebrate the bounty of the next.

And celebrating food is really what this post is about today. I could hardly contain myself when I first spotted these videos by Tiger In A Jar. I've never seen a recipe presented as a video like this before and I can honestly say, I am in love!  Talk about celebrating food...they are serious eye candy, dare I say...food porn, even.

 

This one for pesto is equally tantalizing...

 

What did you think?  Will you be cooking this weekend?  I can tell you that I'm going to have beets and basil in my market basket tomorrow...

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!  XOXO, Cindi

P.S.  If you liked this post and want to stay in touch, I hope you'll follow along at any of the links below: 

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Thrift Store Confessional No. 3

I had to run across town for something last week, so I figured I'd hit up one of my favorite thrift shops while I was over there...you know, to save on gas.  It's all about the environment, people. ;) 

And lucky I did!

I scooped up a handful of great vintage gloves, a pink doily, lovely lace collar, an etched shot glass and two vintage plates which I believe to be for seafood.  They have sweet little wells for butter or cocktail sauce. 

The pink doily is going to make a sweet flower girl basket and the dishes will be part of a beach themed collection I'm working on.  The gloves will be listed fairly soon, but I'm planning to embellish two of the pairs first.  The gold beaded gloves are already available in my shop...click the link below the photo for more information.

 

Vintage Beaded Gloves - Size 6 1/2 - Made in Hong Kong

 

And then there's always one that gets away.  If I'd had $400 to spare and a place to put it, this beauty would have come home with me...

That's all for this week.  Hope you are enjoying my confessions.  If you missed No. 1 and No. 2, you might want to check them out...if you're into that sort of thing.  You can also follow me at any of the links below to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

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XOXO, Cindi

 

Drab to Fab: Recycled Vintage Sea Shell Flowers

Drab to Fab is a new series where I'll show you something old and drab that I've recycled and reworked into something new and fab.  Sound like fun? 

To kick it off, I'm sharing the scoop behind a new mini-collection of bridal accessories that I just listed for sale in my Etsy shop.   The pieces all feature vintage shell flowers that came from a crazy old "decorative" arrangement that I found in a thrift shop.  The shells were arranged in a bouquet that sat in an oyster shell base of some sort....unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of the base.  Stuffed in among the shells were bits of plastic greenery and the whole thing was covered in a layer of dust.

Even though the arrangement was well past it's prime, I loved the little shell flowers and knew that I could turn them into something fabulous.  I bought the arrangement, took it home, took it apart, swabbed every shell clean with a q-tip and here's what I came up with.  You can click the links below the photos for more information about each piece.

Wedding Headpiece - Rhinestone Tiara - Beach Wedding - Mermaid Crown

Fascinator Headband - Pearl and Rhinestone - Beach Wedding

Wedding Fascinator - Ivory Flower Hair Clip - Magnolia - Vintage Sea Shell Flower - Bridal Hair Flower

Wedding Fascinator - Ivory Flower Hair Clip - Magnolia - Vintage Sea Shell Flower - Bridal Hair Flower

I'm feeling like these would be awesome for a vintage or 1920s flapper-style seaside wedding... I can see the bride in the tiara, the flower girl or maid of honor in the headband and bridesmaids or moms in the magnolias.  The magnolias can have hair clips or pins added to the back so they could even be dress embellishments or pinned to a ring pillow.  I do have a few shell flowers left and am planning to put together a few boutonnieres.  I'm also happy to customize pieces, so feel free to contact me if you have some other ideas about how to use these shells.

Hope you enjoyed my first Drab to Fab post.  What did you think?  If you want to stay updated on everything that's happening at The Brass Paperclip Project and catch some more sneak peeks you can follow along at any of the links below...

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XOXO, Cindi

 

Monday Morning Blues: Handpainted Upcycled Wedding Dress

I came across this dress on Instructables yesterday and WOW!  I am so impressed!  This daring bride found her canvas - a plain white vintage wedding dress - and painted it herself!  (Ok, that is three exclaimation points in a row, so I need to calm down.) 

But seriously, this dress is amazing and the bride posted a tutorial, so anyone can do this.  If you are looking for a truly unique way to personalize your wedding dress - or any dress - this is something to check out.  Added bonus, she got her something old and something blue in one fell swoop.

Have a great Monday!  XOXO, Cindi

 

Vintage Love and a Halloween Teaser

It was a busy week at The Brass Paperclip Project this week with loads of vintage wedding and bridal items listed, my first sales shipped and a mid-week shopping trip.  Here are some of my favorite pieces to hit my Etsy shop this week...click on the links below the photos for more information.

Vintage Beaded Gloves - Size 6 1/2 - Made in Hong Kong

Vintage Gold Comb - Made in Japan

Rhinestone Hoop Earrings

1930s Art Deco Vintage Beaded Purse - Made in Czechoslovakia

Rhinestone Bridal Comb - Made from Vintage Rhinestone Pins

I'm also starting to think about Halloween...here's a taste of my hauntingly beautiful Halloween collection...fun for a Halloween wedding or Day of the Dead celebration.

Halloween Accessories: mask, fascinators and more...

Sadly, I did not get to my veils this week...still not 100% happy with my photos...they may need a bit more work.  Fingers crossed that I can get them up next week.  My photo shoot this week never happened, so it's game on for next week...jewelry, hankies and some vintage French collars...too much fun!

That's all for this week.  Thanks for check in.  If you want to stay updated and catch some more sneak peeks you can follow along at any of the links below...

 

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XOXO, Cindi

 

5 Minute Foodie: DIY Bagel Chips

Just in time for the weekend, here's a fast kitchen project that will reduce waste, save you some money and impress your friends.   If you have stale bagels or bread lying around, you can easily turn them into homemade crackers and chips.  A true trash-to-treasure project for the kitchen. 

All you do is slice the bagels in thin rounds and toast them on a cookie sheet at a low heat until they are dry and crunchy...250 degrees for 15-20 minutes works well in my oven. 

They are done when they have a nice toasty color and a good crunch.  Let them cool completely and then you can store them in an air tight container for a loooong time...if you can keep from eating them all first. They go great with dips in place of regular chips...I'm kind of partial to artichoke dip.

This technique works equally well with the last half of that baguette you never got to that is now rock hard on your counter...you know the one.

Slice off thin rounds and toast them up the same way...instant Melba toast!  These bigger rounds are great for bruschetta and tapenades.  Mmmm.

So that's it.  If you don't have any stale bread laying around, day-old breads from the bakery work well too.  Now go whip up a batch, invites some friends over for cocktails and snacks and have yourself a great weekend!  XOXO, Cindi

Thrift Store Confessional No. 2

Ooops...I did it again.  :)

Was feeling a little antsy during that last week of summer vacation...my daughter was at her last day of summer camp, hubby was home working on projects...I was anticipating big changes this fall.  Felt like I had to get out of the house and revel in a little retail therapy.

The day's haul was small, but good.  I was in the right place at the right time to snag a nearly mint condition vintage Whiting and Davis mesh evening bag with a gorgeous rhinestone clasp.  Favorite find in a while, actually.  Gorgeous! 

I also picked up a black patent leather clutch with a killer lining in spotless condition and a creamy leather clutch with a rich golden lining.  Both will be altered to greatness at some point. 

Final score was a small collection of vintage eye glass cases that I'm going to experiment with...have an idea in mind, so more to come on those.

Now that I've confessed, I guess I'm off the hook until next time.  I am so excited to be back in the swing of things.  And now that my shop has re-opened and I have my license to shop, I hope you'll check back for more of my confessions!  You can follow along at any of the links below...

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XOXO, Cindi

 

Monday Music: Pigeon John - The Bomb!

Happy Monday!  If you're not feeling as chipper as yours truly {newly minted 40-year-old!} today, this song by cool cat, Pigeon John is sure to get you going.  My hubby played it for me yesterday and I instantly wanted to tap dance to it. 

Hope it makes your Monday a little funkier!

XOXO, Cindi

 

 

Hair Pins and Purses and Jewels, Oh My!

Wow!  My first week back in business has flown by.  It feels so good to have The Brass Paperclip Project bridal shop back up and running.  I had a lot of fun getting some great new pieces photographed and listed this week, but there's still so much to come.  I've been trying to change up my photo styling a bit...which was really slowing me down...but I keep coming back to what I do best and I'm starting to think I should just stick with that...LOL.

Here are some teaser pics of some pieces that I listed this week...you can click on the links below the photos for more information.  I'd love to hear your feedback...see anything you really like?  Anything you think I'm crazy for posting??  LOL

 

White Feather Earrings

White Rose Flower Hair Clip with Ostrich Feathers

Vintage White Beaded Purse

Re-fashioned Jewelry Hair Pins

Enamel Flower and Pearl Hair Pins

Pearl Hair Pins

Next week I'm planning to continue listing hair pins and purses, which I've already photographed, as well as some vintage veils.  As far as my photo shoot line-up for next week, it's jewelry and vintage lace hankies.  If I can squeeze in some actual design time, I'm going to work on some tweaks to my doily flower girl baskets...I've got some ideas for improvement that I'm excited to implement.  We'll see how time goes.  :)

That's all for this week.  Thanks for check in.  If you want to stay updated and catch some more sneak peeks you can follow along at any of the links below...

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XOXO, Cindi