Simply Nouveau

Black bobby pins

2010-03-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

#121
Materials: Vintage black buttons with a very cool flower and ridged pattern. Bobby pins measure about 2" in length.

#122
Materials: Black buttons over-layed with purple tulle, white buttons, and purple wire.

SOLD
Materials: Grey buttons, grey/silver buttons, cream tulle, and purple wire

#128

Materials: Vintage black, woven fabric buttons about the size of a penny.

SOLD

Materials: Vintage, black, rounded buttons that flatten out on the back a little. Dainty, simple, and cute.

White bobby pins

2010-03-23T15:25:00.001-07:00

Please reference the number underneath the picture to specify which pair you want to order.

# 115
Materials: Vintage white and silver buttons with clear edge

#124
Materials: Vintage white, cone shaped buttons with shell-like pattern

SOLD
Materials: One opaque square and one silver square button with faux-diamond in center

#125
Materials: Vintage white buttons with impressed flower pattern. Shiny!!!

Julie's brooch

2010-03-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

This turned out to be one of my favorite pieces of jewelry so far, so I thought I'd share. I made it for my friend and gave it to her as a birthday present. I figured a brooch was a good alternative for someone who doesn't wear a lot of clips in her hair.

Pink bobby pins

2010-03-14T15:47:00.001-07:00

Please reference the numbers underneath the pics to help specify which ones you would like to buy.SOLD

#111
Materials: Pink and brown buttons with purple wire. Small, approx. 1/4" across. Subtle and cute.

Compass bobby pins

2010-03-14T15:43:00.001-07:00

SOLD

Materials: Unique, antique white and silver compass buttons on bobby pins. Buttons measure 1" across

Purple bobby pins

2010-03-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

All bobby pins pictured are for sale unless marked "sold". Please reference the numbers underneath the pics to specify which ones you would like to buy.
#116
Materials: purple and lavender buttons, purple tulle, purple wire

#117
Materials: Round, antique purple buttons on bobby pins

ka-BLUE-ie (bobby pins)

2010-03-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

Bobby pins are 2" in length, buttons are less than 1/2" across. They are available for sale unless marked as "SOLD". Please reference the numbers underneath pictures when ordering. SOLD

SOLD

#118

Materials: electric blue buttons, navy buttons, navy wire, purple and white tulle on bobby pins

Gigantic Brooch

2010-03-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

This one has a pin on the back so you can wear it on your favorite jacket. It measures around 1 3/4" across. #119
Materials: white and brown antique buttons with white tulle on a brooch pin.

Sold: more to come

2010-03-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

SOLD

SOLD

Colorful hair clips

2010-03-10T14:50:00.001-08:00

Alligator clips measure approx. 1 3/4" from tip to tip. Please reference the numbers underneath the photos to help specify your order.

SOLD

#107

Materials: deep blue button, light blue-lavender button, maroon and cream tulle, purple wire on alligator clip

#103

Materials: Orange and yellow buttons, golden wire, purple and cream tulle on alligator clip

Brown Clips

2010-03-10T14:41:00.001-08:00

Alligator clips measure approx. 1 3/4". All are for sale unless marked "SOLD". Please reference numbers underneath the pictures to help specify which clip you would like to order. #106
Materials: Light brown and pink buttons, silver colored wire, and cream tulle on alligator clip.

#102
Materials: Dark brown, brown abalone shell, and chocolate brown buttons, maroon and cream tulle, and golden wire on alligator clip.

#101

Materials: Golden floral pattern button, chocolate brown button, maroon tulle, and golden wire
on alligator clip.

Black Hair Clips

2010-03-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

Alligator clips measure 1 3/4 " tip to tip. All are for sale unless marked "SOLD". Please reference number underneath pictures of clips to help specify which one you are ordering.
#105
Materials: Grey buttons with purple and cream tulle, green wire on alligator clip

#104
Materials: Black button, grey abalone shell button, purple tulle, black wire on alligator clip

#100

Materials: Black, grey, and white buttons, maroon tulle, and copper colored wire on alligator clip

The Rachel

2010-03-09T11:05:00.000-08:00

I am the girliest of my friends. I love flowers on my clothes, in my hair, adorning my shoes... I love accessories and coordinated sweater sets. I love a-line, strapless dresses with peep toed shoes. As much as I love these things, I rarely end up wearing them. Instead, I always reach for my jeans, tennis shoes, and my grey fleece when getting dressed for a night on the town. My friends are much the same and so I thought I would start with darker colors. My goal was to achieve a more subdued level of adornment that would blend in with tee shirts and Chacos. This is an example of one I made for my friend for her birthday. It measured maybe half an inch across and provides just a hint of shine and poppies without being as obvious as a 50's pin-up flower.

Cute as a button...

2010-03-08T22:20:00.001-08:00

My newest project. Little hair clips made from antique buttons.

I loved buttons as a girl. Even as an adult I can appreciate the shiny, delicate intricacies they have to offer. I love that they come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and textures. So, when I had the opportunity to receive an entire box of antique buttons that had belonged to my mother-in-law, Glenda, I took them without question.

In 2007, only a few months before Glenda passed away, she came to visit my husband and I in South Carolina. At the time, she was publishing a newsletter she called Mind Matters, Caring for Someone with Memory Loss. She planned to have a fundraiser where people would sell baked and handmade goods and the proceeds would go to the Alzheimer's Association. In preparation for that sale, I had made several sets of wine charms using buttons and even made cards to mount them on that read 'Cute as a Button'. Unfortunately, Glenda passed away unexpectedly, before we had a chance to sell them. I'll never forget how excited she was about them and how "cool" she thought they were.

I still have the wine charm sets, aside from a few I gave to family members. Haven't been able to bring myself to part with them yet. So it seemed serendipitous, the day my friend Julie held Glenda's dusty black cigar box in her hands. It was bursting at the seams with buttons of every make and model. I didn't know what I would do with my new found treasures at the time I received them. I just knew I would do something with them. In fact, I think I was supposed to do something with them. I think Glenda would be pleased.

Like a label, but not...

2009-12-13T18:24:00.000-08:00

This turned out to be cutie patootie. I used some green fabric with a grape-leaf like pattern and made a "label" for the front of this repurposed wine bottle. The fabric is edged with some ivory ribbon and a small florette made from tulle and two buttons adorns the upper righthand corner.

Tigerlady

2009-12-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

Tiger print? I know, it's nuts but that's the point. The olive green, partially frosted, glass along with an out-of-control purple and pink flower with a gold button on the front? Fo'get about it. It's enough to make you want to date a man one third your age.

Coraline

2009-12-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

ALREADY SOLD: If you've seen the movie Coraline you'll get the black button reference. This went to my only customer at the craft fair, who bought it for his mother. Hope she likes it.

Gramma-chic

2009-12-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

This used to hold Cabernet. Now the bottle is frosted half way up, with fabric wrapped around the top. The fabric is off white with olive green an burgundy repeated print. I made a floret with creme and burgundy tulle and sewed a gigantic antique button in the middle that is ivory with gold detailing.

Foof-tacular

2009-12-12T11:34:00.000-08:00

Very girlie and very foofy. I think this would be so cute in someone's bedroom, craft room, studio, I dunno... Great for a girlie-girl. The burgundy fabric wraps all the way around the bottle, which is frosted top to bottom. The over sized flower petals are made out of burgundy and creme tulle

while the center is a clear plastic button overlayed with an antique wooden button.

My first "craft fair"

2009-12-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

My first craft fair ever turned out the be quite the experience! I shared a table with my friend Zoe who hand paints silk scarves. The gift sale took place in an art gallery, apparently the first event of its nature to have been held there. Things started out regularly enough...

View from the entrance (left) and Zoe at our table (above)ready to sell some handmade goods!

Much to our surprise, apparently, the big draw for Friday night was not actually the gift sale itself. Rather, it was 'Pinups and Pugs'. A troop of Pinup Girls came to have their pictures taken with local pooches as part of a fundraiser. Also, a local Pug rescue organization was invited to attend. All included a grand total of 28 dogs and a handful broads were suddenly in attendance at our gift sale.

Our neighboring vendors whom I lovingly named "the underoos girls"(see picture above) enjoyed the majority of the sales amongst the Pug and Pinup mayhem with somewhere around (I'm guessing) three pair of handmade underwear sold throughout the night. One pair of which, was bought by another vendor.

Our entertainment of the evening: A ukulele player. Some of his set list included 'House of the Rising Sun' and a twenty minute rendition of 'Knock, knock, knockin' on Heaven's Door'.

Bring on the dogs! All twenty-eight of them!

Ben and Kellen. Two of the nicest people (and the best customers of Friday night) posing with their handmade pottery.

Dogs, food, and alcohol!!!!!!!!! Things are starting to get nuts!

The Assistant Director posing with some retro-tastic merchandise. She was working her buns off that night.

More dogs! Which one is up for adoption and which one came to pose with the Pinup Girls?
Ahhhh! Mayhem!

Pinup Girls, having run out of dogs to have their pictures taken with, decided that it was time to get their drink on!

Two ladies and one of the dogs up for adoption. By this time I was under the assumption the entire place was inebriated (with the exception of Zoe and myself). So, after standing unnoticed for a full minute while these two had a conversation about this dog with each other, I snapped their photo and left.

Artist painting a portrait. He worked quite diligently throughout the night off in a corner away from the drinking, doggy, debacle.

The girl in the brown sweater here showed up three and a half hours late. (Well after the reformation of our gift sale into doggie party.) The dress she's wearing was for sale. I don't know what she would have worn had she sold it. Notice she is selling cremebrulee being served at "pug-level". I held my breath in anticipation that her blanket would become a doggie self-service-flan-station, but she eventually moved her goodies into a box out of snout distance. She sold more than any of the other vendors. Apparently, given enough alcohol, people think buying food off of the floor with twenty-eight dogs running around (some off leash) is a good idea.

At last, nearing the end of the night (NINE O'CLOCK PM), I took a photo from our table to capture my view of the party. By this time nearly all of the vendors had left or had abandoned their tables; and pretty much the place had digressed into a social gathering. We came to realize not one person in attendance had come with the intention to buy gifts, or dogs apparently, as most of them had already brought their own. Alas, I had to drive an hour home and could not partake in the merriment. So I continued to sit at my table, hoping that at any minute a shopper with a hankerin' for some silky scarves and twinkly wine bottles might come through the door. They did not.

I sat through most of the day on Saturday as well. More shoppers came in and out, though not too many. I sold two bottles. Lots of people inquired if I was selling wine or olive oil as they picked up my illuminated bottles with chords coming out the back that attached to a power strip. So not a total loss. I still spent over a hundred dollars more than I made, just to be there. At least my registration costs are going to help the little children, as that is the mainstream focus of the gallery that held this event.

I am obviously a novice in the world of craft fairs and need to figure it out. Maybe next year, though... Next year.

Craft fair madness!!!

2009-12-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

My old friend Katy called me up and informed me of the Splendorporium: Splendorcraft Gift Fair coming up in Portland, Or. She told me she saw some of the bottles I made on this blog and suggested I sign up to have my own booth. Little did she know that last year, being the first year of bottle making goodness, I had promised myself that "next year I'm going to enter a craft fair". After my father passed away in August of this year, any future planning of any kind went right out the window. As summer turned to fall, and then winter approached, the task of digging up information on where and when to find a craft fair to enter seemed daunting at best. I had other things to worry about.

So when Katy called and a craft fair opportunity virtually fell into my lap, it was a no brainer. I took it as a positive omen and immediately sent in my registration. My dad would have been proud. He was always pleased when I showed him the crafty projects I'd been working on and was impressed with the fact that I'd endeavored to sell them.

So amongst all the craft fair preparation "madness" I thought he could help out by keeping an eye on my grape decorations. The above picture is of my Dad's cat 'Dumpster' helping out as I cut and glued fabric.

Personal Project

2009-11-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest attempt at thinking outside the box. Well... with lit up bottles still being the primary media, I can at least call it thinking 'around' the box.

I pulled out a bottle left over from my wedding decorations that I had frosted with glass etching cream. I put lights in it as per usual but this time instead of leaving on the label and adding artificial grapes I took it with me to my friend Ann Desimone's studio in Portland.

Ann is a fashion designer who currently operates under her private label: iseeyou designs. It was fabulous! She has a great work space and mountains of fabric to choose from.

I custom decorated this bottle to go in her work studio which is painted in hues of fuchsia and green.

Laurel Ridge Barrel Select Pinot Noir

2009-11-13T15:14:00.000-08:00

ALREADY SOLD

This particular bottle is already gone, but being our favorite Pinot, there are plenty more where that came from...

Terra Vina Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

2009-11-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

ALREADY SOLD

Sooooooo tasty and the bottle looks nice too.

Purple and black label with gold lettering.

I put some dark purple grapes to match the label and a bright burgundy ribbon to add a bit of contrast.

Lemelson Vinyards: Thea's Selection Pinot Noir

2009-10-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

ALREADY SOLD

Maybe I'm kind of a poser... I never drank this wine. C'mon give me a little slack here, I can't drink ALL the wine. This bottle was given to me by my mother and I must say, this is my FAVORITE one so far.

The label itself is blue-grey. Copper accents along with a copper ribbon and some dark grapes that bring out the purple tones help make for a terrific little bottle. Glass glows warm green.

Erath: Pinot Gris

2009-10-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

ALREADY SOLD
A darker green than most white wine bottles, this Erath bottle takes a longer, skinnier approach as well. I chose green grapes, true to the genre, so to speak. Label is wheat colored with brown lettering. Ribbon is a reddish brown color. The glass glows a yellowish green.

Funny story about Erath. I always thought they made up the name as an acronym. Turns out Dick Erath started the winery some time in the 70s (I believe).

Witness Tree: Chainsaw Pinot Noir

2009-10-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

SOLD

This bottle has a great image of a tree on the label. Colors are burgundy with gold lettering. Ribbon is a sheer off-white. Bottle glows warm green when it is lit.

Dalla Vina: Bella Vista Red

2009-10-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

ALREADY SOLD
Now known as Terra Vina, this winery based out of Wilsonville, Oregon refers to this as their table wine. I couldn't believe they consider this as just a table wine... Then I tried their Cab Franc.

This bottle is taller and more slender than regular bottles. The glass casts a warm, green glow. The label is black and burgundy with gold lettering so I chose some grapes to accent those deeper colors. Ribbon is a cream color with a touch of gold trim.

Bottles are Back!!!

2009-10-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

The leaves outside are changing as summer begins its annual fade into fall. The burst of new colors reminds me that it's that time of year again... time to dust off the dremmel tool and start making my wine bottles again.

Fall is my favorite! Having already embarked on a few "color drives" to enjoy the changing leaves, dabbled in a bit of grape harvesting, and helped out with a little wine production this year I find myself swept up in Autumnal excitement and involved in the harvest season more than ever. It's a perfect time to start making these little beauties again.

Metal sculpture

2009-04-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

My father is an amazing artist... he doesn't know it or acknowledge it persay, but he is. He makes the most beautiful, 3-D metal work I've ever seen. Recently, I realized that I had a golden opportunity here to apprentice him and asked him to teach me how to make these incredible works of art. He was more than happy to. So, I wanted to share my progress on my first metal sculpture.

This is my first flower and the basis for the rest of the piece.

Phase two, I added another flower and some smaller leaves to add a little more dimention to the piece.

Phase three: Another bloom and three more large leaves. This piece is really starting to fill out!

The welding is proving to be soooo tricky! Especially since I am working on this in segments on weekends when I can visit my parents. I have to be very careful not to ruin any of the previous work on it, or heat the acrylic finish on a completed flower while welding. I'm still not finished quite yet, but I'm really anxious to, I want to get this on my wall!

Bottle for Sara

2009-04-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

I have really laid off of the wine bottles, though I always have a few ready to go lying around somewhere for the occasional sale. My friend Sara had commented on liking the bottle lamp I made and hung in my kitchen so I whipped one up for her for her birthday. The glass is frosted and the copper wire is treated with clear acrylic so she can hang it outside if she wants to.

I forgot to take a picture of it before giving it to her, so I snapped a quick one with my camera phone. Not the best pic, but the bottle turned out nicely. The chord for the lights comes out of a hole I drilled in the back, just like all my other bottles.

Personal Project: The Wedding Album

2009-02-23T18:27:00.001-08:00

I like to think I can use this blog to post some of my personal undertakings as well as my public ones. So though, I primarily post things for sale here, I will occasionally show things off too.

I took much pride in my wedding as all brides do, but I felt especially connected to the whole process being as I made almost EVERYTHING for it. I cut sticks from my own yard, dried them, removed the leaves and put them into etched wine bottles with a single burgundy Gerbera Daisy for centerpieces (see the "Happy Accidents" post if you want to see a picture). I bought wreaths of faux leaves at Big Lots and cut each one apart to sprinkle around the tables and bar area. I duct taped fabric to some boxes and stacked them up in tiers to display the carmel apples we served, instead of cake. My husband and I spent hours cutting celophane wrap for those apples by the way. I could go on and on about all the little details I put together for that shin dig. I had a wonderful time doing it, and I will forever be proud of the accomplishment.

All that said, you can see why no ordinary photo album would do to properly commorate the event. So I took it upon myself to make a scrapbook. The scrapbook of all scrapbooks, in my opinion. Over fifty pages of GLORIOUS wedding memories all cut, pasted, fussed over, and eventually settled on by yours truly. Here are a few that I managed to get some decent shots of:

As you may have guessed, leaves were a theme for the book. Refelctive of the fall season in which the wedding was held.

Some disclaimers now, regardless of the heft and size of this project I am not now, nor will ever be the kind of woman to subject anyone to sifting through this book. It is strictly for my own viewing pleasure. Also, about the pink. I'm not a pink kind of girl, but the room we used as the bridal quarters was a kind of pinkish salmon color and the pages I used resemble that. There, glad to have cleared that up.

Dark amber S.N. bottle

2009-01-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

Currently: SOLD
My first Simply Nouveau labeled bottle!

This is a dark amber glass with purple grapes and a chocolate bow that ties in nicely with the cream and charcoal tones of my new labels.

Green King Estate with Label

2009-01-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

Currently: SOLD

My friend, Patrick said that drinking this Gwertz from King Estate is like "drinking flowers". I would have to agree. Now, with the help of some twinkly lights, this bottle of wine is like looking at flowers too. Prettyyyyyy.

My Own Labels

2009-01-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

I needed some labels to apply to my wine bottles. I like the plain ones, but there is also definately an appeal to the ones with the labels still on them. Having been unsucessful at obtaining an alleged "label remover" I read about online, I came up with another solution...

I went to a neat little website I found by accident called My Own Labels (http://www.myownlabels.com/). They were great, easy to use, and they print up a fantastic product. It's so professional looking. They have all kinds of styles and then they have at least five color choices of each label. I went with some smaller labels, about the same size as Benton Lane uses. They are secretly supposed to be for baked goods, but the actual wine labels were bigger than I wanted anyway.

Laurel Ridge bottle

2009-01-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

Currently: SOLD (to another Laurel Ridge lover, along with another super cool bottle I didn't have a chance to take a picture of!)

One of the few bottles that I kept the label on, this bottle came from Laurel Ridge in Carlton, Oregon. My favorite vinyard.

Green Erath bottle

2008-12-30T13:17:00.001-08:00

Currently: SOLD

This was a bottle of Pinot from Erath vinyards. Though the wine was a delight, the bottle was a stubborn project. However, I refused to be thwarted by an unruly wine bottle and my efforts prevailed at last!

Bottle lantern project

2008-12-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

My newest project as of late.

I'm trying to configure a lantern out of the wine bottles I'm making.

I've tried hanging it around the house in different spots. I bought a set of Christmas lights to attach it to, instead of using an extention chord.

Finally, I decided I liked it the best in the kitchen window, above the sink. It makes a great nightlight and the extention chord hides behind the ugly curtains.

Whiskey bottle for Jr.

2008-12-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

This Woodford bottle was a gift for our friend John, who joined us for Christmas this year.

Nothing says 'classy guy' like a whiskey bottle filled with lights.

Amber glass bottle

2008-12-26T16:52:00.001-08:00

Currently: SOLD

I've sold a couple of these so far and am getting orders for sets of more. They are my personal favorite too, the amber glass is so unique and the only vinyard I know of that uses it, is in Oregon.

Green, skinny, frosted bottle

2008-12-26T16:49:00.001-08:00

I looooove the shape of this bottle. It's slender neck with the frosted glass casts interesting shadows. It went to my Sister-in-law and her boyfriend, Jeff.

Green frosted table wine

2008-12-26T16:46:00.000-08:00

Currently: FOR SALE

The glass is frosted with a chemical process that won't scrape off. It gives a totally unique appearance to the glass.

Green table wine bottle

2008-12-26T16:41:00.000-08:00

Currently: SOLD

A pretty typical table wine bottle, this one was a darker green tint. A woman purchased this along with an amber colored bottle.

Green bottle: Bogle

2008-12-26T16:36:00.000-08:00

Currently: SOLD
Bogle is an inexpensive brand of wine which commonly comes in bottles with these fantastic shapes. These two sold as a set.

Brown bottle

2008-12-26T16:33:00.001-08:00

The brown glass on this bottle and it's skinny shape make it stand apart from the typical green glass. This one was given to my mother as a gift, but I wanted to post a picture of it to show how different each one can look.

Green Benton Lane with label

2008-12-26T16:29:00.001-08:00

Currently: SOLD
One of two bottles I actually decided to leave the lable on, this one is a lighter green with a Benton Lane Pinot Gris lable on the front. The light green grapes match very well with the green on the label.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

I got a new camera for Christmas! Hooray! BG is currently pacified

with the new Xbox games I got him. The rest of our Christmas will happen as soon as the snow melts off a little and we can make it to Oregon!

Snow Days

2008-12-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

Artie was born for the snow. He loves it! He bounds around in it like a gazelle. He hops and jumps and yips and bites at it. Then he whines as he eats a mouthful of it because it is cold.

It makes up for the fact that though I love snow, I've discovered the experience isn't quite the same as when I was a child. I was determined to build a snowman, for example.

As I set out packing my first snowball, I found it wasn't as blissful as it once was. "I'd kneel in the snow, but my pants would get wet and cold", I thought to myself. "My back hurts", I soon realized. "Hmm. Building a snowman stinks", I finally decided. So within five minutes of beginning my snowman, I was back in the house where it is warm and dry.

On the upside, with over a foot of snow now on the ground, Bruce has begun teaching me how to snowboard at a nearby park. I began in the front yard and graduated to the park. Next lesson, we start boarding in the streets like punk kids. Can't wait.

Presents for puppies

2008-12-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we've been snowed in for a day and I'm either showing signs of creativity or cabin fever. I can't decide. Anyway, I was thinking about what to get my dog for Christmas. Yes, that's right. My dog. The problem is he already has everything.

Stuffed animals? He has more than most children.

Tennis balls? Plenty.

Bones? Yep.

PediPaws? Toothbrush? Grooming supplies? Check, check, and check.

With the thought of my mother questioning the lack of presents for my pooch on Christmas day, I knew I had to think of something. So a little cellophane wrap, some leftover ribbon, and a couple of milkbones later. I had some cute stocking stuffers ready to go.

Wine bottle set

2008-12-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

Currently: SOLD

This is the second 'set' of bottles I've sold. I've been selling these on Craigslist one by one. When I posted a picture of one of these amber bottles, I was asked to make a second one to match and sold them as a set. These are my personal favorites of all the color combinations possible. I love the amber glass.
Working on this bottle project has really been fun for me. It stirs my imagination for projects yet to come.

Christmas wreath

2008-12-09T15:35:00.001-08:00

A sort of family tradition, I made my first wreath this year since I was a kid. My grandmother taught me how to make these and once I started making this one, I found out it was like riding a bike.

I really hope Santa brings me a new camera this year for Christmas. These pictures are a little crummy, but I'm so proud of my wreath, I thought I would share it anyway.

Wine bottle project

2008-12-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

My mother called me up the other day.

"There is a woman at work who puts Christmas lights inside wine bottles and sells them. Can you make those?", she asked.

"No.", I replied.

After much assurance to her and myself that this was an impossible endeavor, I decided I had better look into it. Turns out that the equipment I purchased to make wine bottle vases (that didn't work) was exactly what I needed. Go figure!

Happy Accidents

2008-12-02T00:32:00.000-08:00

Bottles, bottles, everywhere and not a drop to drink!

We saved bottle after bottle for an ever-so-awesome DIY project I cooked up for my wedding. I was going to cut the necks off of wine bottles and sand them down to make fancy vases.

After borrowing a tile cutter from my father, I found out that cutting the bottles was easy enough... Getting them to look good too was the trick!

Come to find out, I didn't have the proper equipment for wine bottle vases so as any true crafty, artsy, thrifty person would, I turned my folly into intention.

I frosted the bottles and used them as vases anyway. They actually ended up looking quite nice and made sense, being as the event was in the heart of the Willamette Valley wine country.