Showing posts with label Fixed Assets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fixed Assets. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

fixed assets: vintage keys


I like keys.  They can be elegant and tall or short and stocky.  Some keys are decorated like fine china and others are purely utilitarian.  Keys lock away secrets or open the door to new possibilities.  I grew up in a small town and we rarely used keys.  We only locked the house if we were going on vacation, and then we had to search for the key.


Years ago I bought some vintage keys at a flea market.  I put my keys into a shadow box, strung up with pretty velvet ribbon and attached with pearl head pins.


Interestingly, lately I have seen vintage keys popping up at home decor stores.







I must not be the only one who loves keys!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

fixed assets: my first etsy purchase

I can browse etsy for hours looking for inspiration.  I like to look at bags people have sewn.  The decorative pillows always give me great ideas.  Scrolling through the vintage wares gets me all excited to stroll through the weekend flea market. 

Finally I took the plunge made my first etsy purchase.  I bought these vinyl winter trees.  The process of installing these terrified me.  I imagined frustration and tears ending with me surrounded by a pile of twisted vinyl.   I started soliciting my husband's help while waiting for my purchase to arrive.  Help from the husband can always be a dicey situation.  He's always willing to lend a hand, but he is not nearly as careful and precise as I am.  Projects are always a delecate balance of me trying to give him enough constructive feedback to get the results I want, but not too much nagging constructive feedback that I lose his help all together.  These trees seemed to be a recipe for disaster. 

My fears were not extiguished when I opened the box and rolls of vinyl tree pieces spilled out.  I didn't expect to have to assemble the trees myself.  I knew this was a project I would have to handle myself.  So I pulled out my step stool and went to work.

Much to my happy surprise it was so easy and fun to put these up.  And the results?  I love them.



I'm now staring at other blank walls in my house, wondering where I should stick my next vinyl masterpiece.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

fixed assets: new photo collage


Decorating a home just the way you want it takes time.  Until recently the walls in my home have been basically bare.  Partly because I have been focusing on other details, partly because my husband was reluctant to let me put anything on the walls at all.  Weird, huh?

Well, it all goes back to my hubby's childhood.  He was scarred.  He suffered home decor abuse by a mother who was a "country home" decorator.  I personally don't have anything against her decor, some of it actually appeals to me, but you definitely could not call it minimalist.  Every surface, every square foot of wall space is covered with country goodies.  Because of this my husband has a hatred for clutter.  He is drawn to long clear spaces of nothing.  It's taken me awhile convince him that hanging things on the wall can be good.

OK, back to the photo collage.  I was flipping though a Pottery Barn catalog when I became inspired by this:


My husband would have a coronary if he saw this picture.  However, I wanted to give it a try in my own home.  First I purchased two burlap mat frames from Pottery Barn because I loved them and I knew I would never be able to find a substitute that I loved as much somewhere else.  I found a letter L at Hobby Lobby for $10.  I loved the shape, but hated the gold color.  So I painted it red (which took several coats).



There are a lot of wooden elements in the catalog picture, so I found these old letterpress Ls that sit on top one of the larger frames.



I also love the large unmatted photos from the catalog photo.  I purchased some large frames from Target, but may not use the mats when I decide which photos to frame. 



So now there's only one thing missing...photos.  I have other photos on display in the house with family pictures and travel pictures.  I'd like to fill these frames with more artsy pictures, possibly pictures from the historic downtown area of my suburb.  But for now they sit empty, waiting for photos.
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