Tuesday, November 24, 2015

my special evening at blithewold

Signing a book for my supertalented friend Karen Harvey Cox, who also tinkered this photo!
One of Rhode Island's many gems is Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum. It's a breathtaking horticultural and historic attraction and it was the recent setting of Crafting Night at the Museum with Elyse Major. {How fun is that!?}


Photo credit: Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum
The name Blithewold means "happy woodland" in Old English and that evening I was quite the blithemaken {which may or may not translate to "happy maker" but let's go with it ...}.

Wouldn't a line of tinkering supplies be a dream come true!? Wish Out Loud!
I prepared for the event by gathering supplies to make three tinkering projects: cans, clothespins, and tags. I decorated supplies and take-home bags and ordered buttons. I wanted everything to be perfect especially since this was my first event where attendees had to pay.

I designed and ordered buttons from Zazzle.com
Books and cupcakes: a perfect combo!
Blithewold is reknown for its brilliant Christmas displays where the entire house is decorated by dedicated volunteers and it had just been set-up the day before. To have the glowing lights, boughs and baubles as a backdrop to my event was beyond words. {It made me miss my parents so much, wishing they were there.}

Pretty be-ribboned delicious cupcakes from Fatulli's Bakery & Deli fit the order of MAKE THEM GIRLY;
shown festooned (!) with tinkered flags
Blithewold's Education Progams Manager Julie Christina, and Jill Cleveland, ensured that every detail was taken care of from tablecloths to cupcakes ...

Tinkered touches included millinery forget-me-nots wrapped on stemware
to champagne flutes and selections of bubbly ...


to rose-patterned china for my tinkering buffet.


Everyone had such a lovely time tinkering, talking, sipping and nibbling.
My dear dear dear longtime blogging friend Karen made an hour drive with her friend Joyce to attend! Karen also surprised me at my first-ever booksigning, too! A multi-talented artist and generous sweetie, Karen wrote her own blog post about the event which is so perfect I almost didn't write my own. Read Karen's post here. What a happy-cutie she is!

The paint and scrap table
Attendees got to play with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint courtesy of my friend Nancy Chace's shop Sea Rose Cottage

One of the evening's projects
It was a magical evening for me and hopefully the first of many events like it. Many thanks also to my awesome friend Maureen Ricci for all of her help that night!

My wish 4 U: A peaceful, healthy and happy everyday.

Thank you for reading.

xo
elyse


Tuesday, November 17, 2015

$50 novica giveaway

If you follow my blog you may know that while I love to promote and support small businesses, I don't often do product placement pitches for large companies (although, if anyone wants to offer me a shed, I'm in!). However, since 2011 I have been happy to host giveaways for NOVICA.

NOVICA is one of the leading fair trade artisan websites. They work with National Geographic to give talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents and provide access to the world market.

I tried to quickly assemble the above collage of insta-faves to showcase that they have a variety of items including: new arrivals: http://www.novica.com/new-arrivals/; chess sets: http://chess-sets-games.novica.com/chess-sets/; anklets: http://jewelry.novica.com/anklets/; jewelry: http://jewelry.novica.com/ and "gifts for him": http://unique-gifts.novica.com/mens/. Learn more about NOVICA here.

NOVICA has generously offered a $50.00 gift certificate for me to give away.

Here's how to enter:
Please leave a comment on this post stating which department of the NOVICA site you like best. It's that simple.
For additional entries, please like/follow Tinkered Treasures on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter or subscribe to my free e-newsletter and leave me a comment letting me know. 
This giveaway is open internationally. A winner will be chosen from the comments on this post using Random.org. 
The winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 24, 2015 on this blog.

Thanks so much and good luck!

xo
elyse

UPDATE: November 24, 2015
The giveaway is now closed.
Thank you all for taking the time to enter and share!
Using Random.org the winner is sandyhills x



Monday, November 2, 2015

tinkering is tinkering no matter what size


Whether I'm crafting something large or small, my go-to supplies are pretty much the same: foam brushes, low-tack (painter's) tape, decoupage medium, a glue stick, paint and paper.


Lately I've been tinkering some large-scale items. I had the idea to turn a children's wardrobe and chair into a desk suite. You might even call this endeavor an Ikea Hack.

Click on image to enlarge for detail
I found color inspiration from a package of floral/khaki PiP Studio napkins -- a superfind discovered at a HomeGoods store. At the time, the vibrant choice seemed bold for me but looking at it now, it's pretty much aligned with my favored colorway. I had small pots of interior paint mixed to match the colors of the napkin.

The hubs helped by using the existing shelf as a template, and cut a second as a work space from a sheet of plywood and installed it at desk level.

I covered the top-back of the MÄLARÖ chair and inside-back of the SUNDVIK wardrobe with open napkins, adhering with glue stick and sealing very gently with brush strokes of decoupage medium aka Mod Podge. I first tried using spray-mount but found that it was just too fumacious (and the wardrobe was too bulky to bring outside for that step).

I was going for a paint-dipped effect for the chair legs. I might re-do them using spray paint for better adherence to the metal legs.


I painted the inside of the wardrobe the khaki of the napkin background and once dry, began to outfit the piece with other Ikea items such as these SOCKERKAKA baking cups thumb-tacked to the inside door as small supply catch-alls.


Using hook-and-loop tape, I mounted SKURAR metal candle dishes for use as a magnetic board and a mini chalk board (with a cut circle of chalkboard oilcloth affixed with glue) for messages.

Hardware source: Primrose and Company and Sea Rose Cottage
The idea is that for a small space, everything can close when work is done.

But when open for business, provides a compact space that is charming and inspiring.

Isn't the mini chandelier so fun?! It's meant for a locker, is battery-operated and is secured using hook-and-loop adhesive.

No matter what size project you're tackling, just remember that it doesn't have to be perfect. Enjoy the process. Mistakes can be disguised and will add character -- and stories -- to your one of a kind treasure!

xo
elyse

{Find details of my favorite supplies, methods and suppliers in both of my books} 
Tinkered Treasures and Seaside Tinkered Treasures