The Brass Paperclip Project

Whew! What a Week!

Whew!  What a week.  Things have been rocking behind the scenes here at The Brass Paperclip Project.  I've been working on a dozen new flower girl baskets that I can't wait to list over the next few weeks. Here's a sneak peek...

I also confessed to my recent shopping sins in Thrift Store Confessional No. 10 and featured my first real wedding of the year.  If you missed that post, be sure to check out all the great handmade details in Tiffany and Daniel's Downtown Vintage DIY Wedding

Most importantly, I've been busy stocking my shop with a ton of new merchandise.  If you are looking for great vintage wear-now treasures for winter weddings, Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras or maybe even an Inaugural Ball, I've got you covered!  Take a peek at some of my favorite new items...  (click the links below the photos for more information or to buy.)

Vintage Sequin Purse with Bows

Art Deco Pearl and Rhinestone Brooch

Vintage Brown Velvet Muff

Mid Century Gold Box Purse with Vintage Postage Stamps

Vintage White Embroidered Gloves

Art Deco Rhinestone Shoe Clips

Next week is a short week for me.  My daughter will be home for MLK day on Monday and I'm chaperoning a field trip on Friday.  In between, I'll be listing more new merchandise, copping to my shopping sins and hopefully treating you to my first giveaway of 2013.  I hope you'll come back to visit or stop by on FB or Twitter for a chat.  See ya next week!  XOXO, Cindi

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Thrift Store Confessional No. 10

A week or two before Christmas, I treated myself to a stroll through one of my favorite antique malls....which I guess means that today's post is not technically a thrift store confessional...just a straight up shopping confessional.  ;)

Antique malls are just as fun as thrift stores to me because you never know what you will find and there is always a find to be found.  On this particular day, I took my time, peering into every dark corner...digging through baskets of linens and keeping an eye out for vintage beaded purses.  I came up short in the beaded purse hunt, but did find a cool retro evening bag, a silk velvet muff purse, some awesome doilies and a funky piece of shell art.

The doilies are already washed and in the process of becoming flower girl baskets.

The shell art has been deconstructed and the shell flowers are all ready for a project.  Remember my last shell project?  These will be used in a similar way. I have to admit though, I did feel bad cutting this piece apart...and I found myself silently apologizing to Opal, whose name was signed on the bottom, for destroying her creation. Hopefully, my new designs will do these pretty little flowers justice.  Better to have them out where people can enjoy them than stashed in a dusty old antique mall, right??

If you're still feeling sad about me cutting up this picture, here's a fun image for you to play with that I made from a photo of the shells...looks like it's 100 years old, doesn't it?? And it's even got Opal's name on it.  Just right click on the image to save it to your desktop...and shoot me a picture if you do something cool with it.  :)

The purses are available in my shop now...click the links below the photos for more information about each one.  I will tell you that the muff is one of my favorite recent finds...it is so unique and in fantastic condition...a lucky find, I tell ya!  I dressed it up for the photo with a vintage brooch...I may not be able to part with this thing... 

 

Vintage Brown Velvet Muff Purse

 And the ever-so-chic mid-century purse...I love how streamlined this is and it's really clean...a plus!

Mid Century Gold Lame' Clutch Purse

So, that's my confession for this week.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I've got some more great finds to share from my Christmas trip to Indiana...always find great stuff in the heartland!  Where is your favorite place to treasure hunt??  XOXO, Cindi

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Thrift Store Confessional No. 9

Forgive me readers...it's been waaay too long since my last confession.  But I promise I'll make it up to you!  I did a lot of shopping over the holidays and have lots of fun stuff to share.  Today's confession actually comes from thrifting I did back in October.  As you can see from the photo above, I scored a pair of PRADA shoes!  ZOMG...they aren't even my size, but for $8 I simply could not leave them on the shelf...LOL.  They were obviously well loved and are a bit shabby, but they have found a new home in my photo prop collection.  You can see them on display in my shop showing off a gorgeous pair of vintage rhinestone shoe clips. Aren't they purty?  (Click the link below the photo for more info about the shoe clips.)

Vintage Rhinestone Shoe Clips

Some other fun finds included three vintage purses, a pile of antique books and two gorgeous vintage Italian rosaries.  Two of the purses are available in my shop now...one, a sweet white beaded bag and the other a funky navy blue one.  I'm saving the third one to embellish. 

Vintage White Beaded Purse

Navy Blue Woven Fabric Purse

The rosaries have been photographed and will be in my shop soon.  Not sure what I will do with the antique books.  I did buy one to give as a gift, but still have four left.  They had a place in my Hogwarts Halloween tablescape, but are now stashed on the floor of my office.  Any ideas?  Well, that's all for now.  Hope you'll stop back next week for sneak peeks of my most recent finds!  If you don't want to miss out on anything, go ahead and click the links below to follow my updates all over the web or subscribe to this blog to have posts sent directly to your e-mail inbox.  XOXO, Cindi

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Thrift Store Confessional No. 8

Forgive me readers, it's been one week since my last confession.  I did sin, but this week's shopping spree wasn't really my fault...it was all about conserving resources.  My hubby's van went into the shop last week - half-way across town - so I had to pick him up at the shop after he dropped it off.  Then, since the shop was nearly half-way to one of my favorite thrift stores on the other side of town, we had to swing past...since we were nearly in the neighborhood and all. No point in wasting the gas it took to get half-way across town. Conserving resources, you see?

My hubby is actually the one who first introduced me to thrift stores when we were first dating.  When we have the chance, we still love to go together and see what we can find.  In the beginning, I didn't like the smell, wouldn't touch anything and sort of stiffly peered at whatever those things were on the shelves...my, how things have changed! 

But I digress, back to my confession...check out the pretty little stash I found this week...a vintage beaded purse, assorted jewelry and three vintage doilies.

Here's a close-up of the jewels.  The red earrings are Czech crystal...probably from the 1930's.  The green brooch is a Coro...love that large stone in the center.  The little tear-drop earrings are new and are destined to become hair pins.  The rhinestone ring is a stretchy thing that I'm going to experiment with.  The pearls are a gorgeous champagne color and have a sterling silver clasp which is a real surprise.  And they are heavy too!  Not sure what I will do with those yet, but they were too nice to leave behind. The earrings have already sold, but the brooch is available in my shop...click the link below the photo for more info.

Vintage Emerald Green Coro Brooch

And check out this darling vintage white beaded purse.  I fell in love with the shape!  It's not often that I find round beaded bags.  I guess technically, this one is more of a pear shape, but isn't it sweet?  The chain was a cheap-o replacement that didn't match the frame, so I removed it.  I'm happy to put a new chain on it, but I figured I'd wait and see who buys it...sometimes people just want a clutch and don't care about the chain.

Vintage White Beaded Clutch Purse

Last, but not least are these three sweet doilies.  I've been collecting doilies to replenish my doily flower girl basket inventory this spring.  In the meantime, I've got a whole bunch listed in my shop, so be sure to check them out if you are looking for a unique flower girl basket...

Click here to see my full assortment of vintage doily flower girl baskets

Finally, I always find some treasure that I can't justify buying, but have to share.  This week it's actually about the one that did NOT get away...this funky rainbow sailing ship kite.   My hubby tossed it in the cart for our rainbow loving daughter, so I pushed that crazy thing all over the store...good thing I didn't need much room in the cart!  People commented on it every where I went in the store...nothing like talking to people in thrift stores...never a dull conversation, I tell ya.  It is now hanging in the garage awaiting the blustery skies of spring.

So, that's my confession for this week.  I'm feeling the draw of the thrift stores pretty strongly today, so it seems silly to try and fight it...LOL.  Thanks for stopping by...I hope you'll stop back next week to see what else I confess too.  XOXO, Cindi

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Drab to Fab: Recycled Glass Flower Bridal Bouquet

Last week I listed my first ever bridal bouquet in my Etsy shop and promised via Facebook to share the backstory.  The truth is, this bouquet started out as a kitschy glass bonsai arrangement that I found in a thrift store.  These little trees became popular during the 1960s -1970s and sometimes cost hundreds of dollars depending on the size of the tree and number of flowers. 

The arrangement itself wasn't so bad, but I thought I could make some cool hair accessories with the flowers...I hadn't seen anything made with glass flowers before, so I wanted to try something new.

It took all my strength to cut the flowers apart. You can not imagine the amount of wire I had to cut through.  Each individual petal has a thin wire embedded in it...to make up the flowers, the wires are gathered and twisted together into stems...the larger the flower, the thicker the wire stem. (Thrifty Tip: This is also one of the ways you can tell if the flowers are vintage or not.  Newer flowers have holes drilled in the petals and the wire is simply wrapped through the hole.  Older ones have the wire actually embedded in the glass while it is still soft.)

Once I separated the flowers and leaves from the arrangement, I realized how heavy the flowers were.  Sadness.  They were far too heavy to wear as a hair clip...they would never stay put.  I didn't think they would work as a brooch either, so they sat in my studio for a loooong time until it hit me that they might look cool in a bridal bouquet.

I painstakenly cleaned each petal with a q-tip and polished those flowers till they sparkled.  Then, I raided my silk flower stash to find flowers that would work with the glass ones and came up with a lavender and gold combo that reminded me of an Etsy treasury I did a few years ago.  (That treasury, BTW, happened to land on Etsy's front page...very exciting!!)

Once I had gathered the flowers, the bouquet came together quickly.  I love the variety of colors and textures and the surprise of the glass flowers mixed in.  It's a playful combo, not too serious...but elegant enough for just about any ceremony.

I do have a few of the smaller buds and some leaves left, so I'm hoping to find the time to turn those into matching boutonnieres.  I think as a set, they would be gorgeous.

So that's the behind the scoop on the recycled glass flower bridal bouquet.  It is available in my shop for immediate delivery.  Click this link for more information:  Purple and Yellow Wedding Bouquet.  If you are interested in a custom boutonniere to match, let me know.  And let me know what you think of my first bouquet!  I'd love to hear your comments!  Thanks for stopping by and be sure to keep in touch.  You can follow along at any of the links below so you don't miss a thing.   XOXO, Cindi

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Monday Morning Blues: Vintage Jewels

Nothing like some sparkly baubles to shake the Monday Morning Blues.  Take a peek at some of the new blue items I've been listing in my Etsy shop this morning.  I've also added new photos to the headband listing, so check it out to see the headband on a head.  (Novel idea, I know.)  Click the links below the photos for more info...

Vintage Rhinestone Earrings

 

Blue Peony Hair Clip

 

Hand Beaded Rhinestone Headband

Aqua Blue Vintage Rhinestone Earrings

These would all make wonderful gifts for a bride-to-be, qualifying as "something old" and "something blue".  The peony and the headband could also count as "something new" since I altered older pieces to create something new.

Hope these brightened your Monday a bit!  Enjoy the rest of your day...or just get through it or whatever works for you.  ;)  XOXO, Cindi

 

Thrift Store Confessional No. 6

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, I was recently treated to a fantastic girls weekend in Port Townsend, WA.  We stayed in an amazing B&B, ate good food, drank too much and even crashed a costume ball!   And, while we were there...we hit some antique malls and thrift stores.  This week, I am confessing to buying this sweet little stash of treasures including: a vintage wedding cake topper, vintage wedding picks and an assortment of vintage earrings.

I was very excited to find the wedding cake topper...they are very hard to find and are usually quite expensive.  This one is in amazing condition and the people are actually somewhat attractive...so often their faces are out of horror movies...LOL.  This one is chalkware, probably from the 40's.  I am in love with all the pleating.  The flowers are very unusual too...sort of plastic, but in a celluloid way, not the tacky plastic way.  I'm going to have to test them to see what they are.  This may or may not make it into my shop.  I have developed a true love for the old cake toppers and have amassed quite a collection.  I always think I will put them into my shop, but then I don't want to part with them.  We will see.  :)

The cake picks were another fun find, but I'm still not sure what I will do with them.  I have a few ideas, so I'll keep you posted.

The little pile of vintage earrings were dug out of a bin of junk jewelry at a thrift store.  The two pairs in the front are unmarked, but the two other pairs are Coro.  They are all clip-ons and screw-backs and are in great condition.  The green pair is available in my shop now.  (Click the link below the photo for more information.)  The other three pairs are destined to become something else, so watch for those in the future.

Vintage Emerald Green Coro Earrings

So, what did I leave behind?  Loved this little pin cushion...

And this metal hot water bottle circa 1915 was awesome...love that it's the same shape as those ugly rubber ones we have now...the metal is so much classier. 

Next week, I will be sharing a special Halloween costume confessional which will be fun, so I hope you'll come back and let me know what questions you have or what else you want to know about thrift store shopping.  You can follow along at any of the links below so you don't miss a thing. 

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Until then...  XOXO, Cindi

 

Vintage Hats and Still Thinking Pink

It was another short week for me and wow, did it zip by!  My goal of getting hankies and veils posted is still on hold while I have been focusing on getting pink things listed for my October Do Good: Think Pink fundraising and awareness campaign.  (I blogged about it earlier this week, so you can click that link back there if you are interested in helping to fight against breast cancer.) 

Here are some of my favorite pink pieces from this week.  Click the links below the photos for more information about each.

Hot Pink Rose Hair Clip

Delightful Dahlia Ring Pillow Alternative

Hot Pink Tea Rose Hair Clips

Blush Pink Peony Hair Clip

Two other items I'm really excited about adding to the shop this week are these two gorgeous vintage hats...again, click the links below the photos for more info.

Vintage Floppy Sun Hat

Vintage Petal Hat

That's all I've got for today.  My family is visiting from the east coast for a week, so I've got some fun blog posts already lined up for you and will try to squeeze in some great new items in between sightseeing, cocktails and meals out...LOL.  Gotta love a stay-cation!  Have a great weekend and hope you stop back again soon!

You can follow along at any of the links below to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

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XOXO, Cindi

 

Thrift Store Confessional No. 5

What a day I had...all set up for a photo shoot and wouldn't you know it...too sunny!  I know.  Living in Seattle and complaining about the sun is ludicrous.  I should be kicked out.  But, you can't shoot photos in harsh white light with crazy hard shadows, so what's a frustrated gal to do?  You guessed it...go shopping.

In my defense, I had planned to hit the mall for some cheap white satin shoes I could use for photographing shoe clips on...and then to the party store for a good wig I could shoot hair accessories on...and then to the craft store for a large white canvas I could shoot all my other photos on...but the lure of the thrift store was too strong...and I am so weak.   I struck out at my first stop, but hit a gold mine at the second.

As you can see from the photo, I scooped up a great floppy hat with gorgeous old roses (which is already available in my Etsy shop,) some silver thread, a string of vintage pearl buttons, an aqua hanky keeper with a matching sachet, a tiny shell box and three more vintage purses...the one with the gold chain will get a little embellishment.  I'm thinking one of my special vintage hankies will get packaged with the satin keeper...how sweet for a bride to be??  The shell box needs to be a ring box and I'm not sure about the thread and the buttons, but you can never have too many supplies.  Right??

I used incredible restraint today and left a few things at the store.  The first being this smokin' vintage aqua blue Singer sewing machine...it would have looked so cute in my studio, but since there's no way to know if it works, I resisted.

The second was this little wooden stool that reminded me of one we had just like it when I was a kid. The little seat back flips down so you can stow the whole thing away.  So cute!

So, there you have it.  My soul has been cleansed for this week.  Here's a link to the series if you'd like to read all of my thrift store confessions.  I'll have more to show you next week, so I hope you'll check back. You can follow along at any of the links below to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

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XOXO, Cindi

 

Do Good: Think Pink!

Last week was a short week for me, so I'm playing a bit of catch up today.  I'm really excited to share some information about what I'll be doing this month to support Breast Cancer Awareness.  Most of us know someone who has been touched by breast cancer and we all know cancer sucks.  When cancer strikes we wish there was more we could do to help.

This month, I'm going to make it easy for you...help by shopping!  For the rest of October, I will donate 20% of the proceeds from the sale of any pink item in my shop to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research.  When you purchase a pink item, you can tell me who you'd like the donation to be made in honor or memory of, so it's a great way to celebrate someone special in your life and add a special meaning to your purchase.  To easily find all of the pink items, just type "pink" into the search box on my shop home page.  I will be adding new pink items all month, so be sure to check back often.

Here are two new items that I listed this week.  You can click the links below the photos for more information.

Pink Flower Hair Pin

Pearl Hair Pins

I also have a very special wedding dress to tell you about. This dress was sent to me to sell on consignment by a fantastic lady named Pat Logan.  She had the dress custom made for her wedding in 1969.  She was married for 40 years, but sadly, lost her battle with breast cancer just one week shy of her 41st anniversary.  I had no idea when I took the dress that she was sick.  She never mentioned it, just said that she wanted her dress to go to a bride who would treasure it as much as she had.  We had planned to split the proceeds of the sale.  After she passed away, her husband Steve contacted me to let me know and at that point, we decided together that we would donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the dress to Susan G.Komen in Pat's memory. 

This is Pat wearing her dress on her wedding day...click the link below the photo for more photos and information about the dress. And if you know someone who would love this dress, I hope you'll share the link or at least help spread the word.  Thanks!

Vintage William Cahill Wedding Gown - Size 2 

In addition to raising funds for breast cancer research, I'll be sharing some special DIY projects this month.  I personally, feel very helpless when someone I know gets sick, so I just try to do whatever I can to help.  Often times that means nothing more than lending an ear or offering words of support.  But when my nurturing side really kicks in to high gear, I start cooking and crafting.  Tomorrow, I'll be sharing a great tutorial for how to make super soft and comfy masectomy pillows.

And later this month, I'll be sharing tips about what to put in a breast cancer recovery care package, as well as information about how to set up a Smile Train to provide a stream of home-cooked meals for anyone who needs a little extra TLC.

I hope you'll follow along all month and chime in with your own ideas and suggestions about how to help when times get tough. And don't forget to check out Etsy for a huge assortment of handmade breast cancer related gifts and treasures. 

The treasury photo at the top of this post is a great example of what you'll find.  It's called Tougher Than Cancer and comes via Flora By Toni Linn. In the words of Toni, this treasury was "curated with love for the strong women who are currently fighting, the courageous women who have lost their lives, the beautiful survivors, and the brave women who will be faced with this devastating disease. This is in memory of one very special woman."

Cheers to all of you for making a difference!  Have a great week!  XOXO, Cindi

P.S. If you would like to stay in touch, you can follow along at any of the links below so you don't miss a thing. 

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