Vintage Nautical Reclaimed Wood Tray with Rope Handles

This project begins with -- so, I found this old wooden crate....some things you just have to buy even though you have no idea what you will do with it (my husband does not understand this concept!). But I've been playing around with chalk painting and thought this might be a good 'project.'

 

I sanded the heck out of the thing then mixed up a batch of chalk paint in this really great denim blue color and painted it.

 

I then sanded the heck out of it again to give it that distressed look, had my wonderful assistant drill some holes in each side for handles, applied a couple coats of wax and buffed it out.

 I then created the rope handles out of some dock line and here's the finished product!

 

 

 

 

Creative Corner Display

Here is my new display at the Creative Corner in Holland. I was able to get this great window space when another vendor moved out. I had walked down to Harvest Antiques to browse for something I might use as display fixtures and hoping not to have to spend too much money. I spotted these asparagus crates and thought -- perfect! Throw some fish net over them and they take on a nautical look, which is a perfect backdrop for all my Float items. $5 a crate -- can't go wrong!

Vintage Hanky Pillows

In my cedar chest I've kept a collection of beautiful hand-crotched handkerchiefs that my grandmother made. Recently added to this collection were more handkerchiefs from my mother that she had saved. They were given to her by her mother mostly in birthday cards. In mentioning this to my sister, she sent me her collection as well as her wedding handkerchief.

So why did everyone send me their handkerchief collections? Well, what do you do with them really? Yet, they are not the sort of thing you want to discard as they really are beautiful. I had mentioned to my family that I was going to experiment with them to see how they'd make up into little heirloom vintage hanky pillows. So far, I've made 7 and I'm really liking how they turn out. I've found some pretty fabric to use as a backer for some of the white hankies and other coordinating fabric to use as a front or back. They are fun to make and just all look so different!