Saturday, April 2, 2016

Gilding The Lily

I haven't been into the blogosphere in a very long time but much has been going on at Shoestring Cottage. The urge to decorate everything within reach started off indoors and for a while I was much taken up with stringing old pieces of jewellery and beads onto wire and draping them over light fittings, over hooks and onto picture frames.



I had a lot of fun making light fittings too, and they cast a lovely patterned light because of the cut outs 


Eventually I ran out of things to adorn and the urge to embellish  seeped out of doors. I had already filled the front porch with bits and pieces but now all available spaces were full.  



So my beady eye searched the possibilities.  This was the first piece I completed.


 And here is a close up of some of the parts of it.


I shouldn't really say "I" made it, because poor Mr Shoestring suffered a lot in the construction and we both shed blood when the more fragile pieces came to disastrous ends. It was a great project because these odd pieces of glass and china are either lying about in cupboards alone and unloved or cheap in op shops.  I had a self-imposed limit of $3 tops for the components so each piece has been very cheap to make, and how they sparkle and twinkle in the garden!  The Duchess of Ringloes has decreed that they should be made into water features but I think it may be a bit difficult to drill holes through the fragile glass and crystal.  It's something to ponder on though.  

Treasures from opportunity shops have been very plentiful and paintings in particular have been in good supply.  



These are a couple of recent favourites and I think it may be time to call a halt because the walls are almost covered at Shoestring Cottage.  

My darling number two daughter has recently been back home and brought treasure with her as gifts for me.  She is such a clever girl and knows my taste well.  




the darling little shoe vase says "Love the giver" on the front banner and the paintings of flowers and strawberries are so pretty.  



The pink glass diamond shaped art deco box will eventually go and live with the other pink glass but for now it has pride of place, being so special.  The two green containers are frosted and I might put mother of pearl buttons in them.  They will be very much at home with the other treasures in the sewing cabinet.  Having my darling girl over the sea and far away is very sad but I will just have to look upon it as akin to having my very own personal shopper there to scour the op shops for me.  

We found some wonderful old wooden coathangers recently too, and I was charmed to see there was such a business as "hat renovator" which seemed very sensible, as hats were comparatively expensive items.  I wonder whether they dyed old hats or just added new trims and steamed them to refresh the felt and put them back into shape.  



The script is difficult to decipher in this photo but it was Wellington Dry Cleaners and there is also an "Odorless Drycleaners" coathanger!