Decorating with Books

Have you seen how many books are at this weekends sale! Tons and tons and tons. Here are just a couple of pics from the sale...

Books are great for  ...ummm  ...reading! But guess what? They are also fabulous for decorating! 

Use book stacks to add interest to bedside tables, coffee tables,  kitchens, and of course, book shelves! Books are great for adding color, texture, and different height levels for items on display. 

There are a few different ways you can arrange them. 

1) By theme - In my kitchen I have vintage cook books and entertaining books. I use them to prop up collectables, and add interest. Since my kitchen has a red cherry theme, I try and find books with a touch of red on the title or cover graphics. 

2) By color - Collect a stack of books that are in a color scheme of your decor. I used a stack of bright orange books in my hallway, and a stack of neutral books in my guest room.

3) By title or subject matter - I helped my husband decorate his boring office shelves with some books and knick-knacks. He is a chemical engineer, so I used a variety of books about geology, math, science, and minerals. All of his actual work related materials are cold and new looking. So adding worn in, canvas covered vintage books helps warm up the place a bit, and adds a homey feel.

You can also arrange books by the title... which really makes the book hunting fun! I have a stack of books that all have the word "Love" in the title written down the spine. Another stack I have is a little more tongue and cheek - all titles about murder and death. 

As you can see, the possibilities are endless. Here are a couple more pics of books stacks in my home. 

This weekend's sale is the perfect place to start. Remember, part of the fun is the hunt! Mix and match books to create the look you are after. Remember to look under book jackets, sometimes a beautiful binding is hiding under a paper jacket. 

Vintage tupperware is always a great find. And I swear, I have seen it at EVERY Denver Gypsy Boys Estate sale. Wether you fancy the pastel colors from the 1950s, or the Harvest colors from the 1970s, you can find it out there.

Tupperware came about when inventor Earl Silas invented plastic containers with airtight tops. Soon food storage was revolutionized when people started using tupperware instead of glass, pottery, or wooden containers. But the true popularity came in the 1950s when Brownie Wise conceived of the home Tupperware Party.

Usually people collect Tupperware that makes them nostalgic for their childhood. I grew up with Tupperware from the 1970s in the Harvest color scheme: Brown, yellow, orange, and avocado green. So that is what I collect... and boy, do I have tons of it thanks to the Gypsy Boys!

My prize possession is my childhood set of Tupperware, recently mailed to me by my mom. I had no idea she still had it!

Tupperware stands the test of time. Even though my pieces are 30-40 years old, they are still in excellent condition, and keep my food fresh! And when you buy pieces at an estate sale, it ends up being cheaper than modern disposable plastic ware. Yuck! Who wants that, when you can have useful, colorful, collectable TUPPERWARE! 

Fix it up

My current decorating project is my master bedroom. It has a hollywood regency vibe... lots of black laquer furniture, and gold accents. I have been on the hunt for two matching nightstands that would fit into my vision. Below are some photos of they type of thing I was looking for, which I kept around for inspiration.

Available at Pegaso Gallery Design for 3,200.00
click here for more details

Available at Dixon Lane Antiques for 2,850.00
click here for more details

Well, my patience paid off. After months of looking, I finally came across a couple of nightstands at  a Denver Gypsy Boys estate sale. 

This is what I found...

YUCK!

They were dirty! They were moldy! And they didn't even have a top surface! In the past I was always hesitant to buy furniture that was damaged, too dirty, or moldy! But I learned that a little bit of elbow grease and know-how can rescue pieces like these, bring them back to life, and save me a lot of money along the way. Since they were in such bad condition, nobody else bought them during the first two days of the estate sale. So there they were still around on Sunday, at half price! Originally 80.00, they ended up only being 40.00 with the Sunday discount!

Let the clean up begin!

A little trick I learned from a professional antique refinisher... just get a bowl of warm water, and add a tablespoon or so of bleach. Wipe down the furniture, and the mold is gone! 

 

WOW! Look at that clean up swell! I followed up with a final cleaning of Pledge. I wiped them down inside and out! For the missing top, Gypsy Vince told me, "Just buy some MDF and spray paint it black." Well it sounded easy enough, so that is what I did. I found some MDF at Home Depot, and they cut it down to size for me. It ended up being about 6.00 a piece. A couple coats of high gloss spray paint and I was done. Thanks, Vince!

Now I am one step closer to my dream bedroom. I have more plans to paint the walls... so I will keep you updated and add photos of that soon! 

A mini collection

My very first collecting bug started with miniature bottles. I was on vacation in Pennsylvania to visit my grandmother, and we went into an antique shop. Scattered about I found some colorful, miniature bottles. I thought they were the coolest, cutest things I had ever seen! Plus they would be easy to pack up to bring home! I bought 4 or 5 of them... and so the addiction began.

25 years later, my collection has grown and I have put them on display in my guest powder room. I used an old type tray hung on the wall... a great way to display small items.

My most recent finds have been at Denver Gypsy Boys Estate Sales. Usually I just find one random mini bottle, but recently I found a grouping of a few Ruby Red mini bottles. I snatched 'em up. (Don't even get me started on my Ruby Red collection!)

Many 19th century manufactures created miniature samples of their goods in order to promote their product. Miniature bottles would commonly contain alcohol, medicine, bitters, and soda. They came in all shapes including fish, horseshoes, liberty bells, ball and claw, and barrels. Part of the fun of this easy collection is finding new shapes in new colors.

Because of all the colorful options, they also look beautiful displayed on a window sill. Miniature bottles are small, affordable (I pay anywhere from 1.00 - 7.00 per bottle), and easy to display.

Do you have a mini bottle collection? Email me photos and I will post them on the blog!

Cupcakes and Christmas

Ok, here is a little trick I learned from surfing the internet. Take an ordinary strand of Christmas lights, add a cupcake liner... and you have a modern light reflector!
First I found some vintage cupcake liners from a Denver Gypsy Boys Estate sale. These puppies were priced at only 50 cents. And to be honest, I only bought them because I liked the retro packaging. Sometimes you just have to buy things because they call out to you... finding a use for them will always come up eventually! For this project, your cupcake liners don't have to be vintage... but that's just how I roll.

Next, get yourself a standard sting of holiday twinkle lights. I actually bought these rainbow ones at a Gypsy sale last year. I needed the white strands since my faux tree was white. (Faux sounds so much better than fake). It's always a good idea to shop for holiday decor year 'round. It's a great way to save money buying things out of season. Items will always be priced higher if they are being sold near the time of the holiday.

Now the fun part. Just poke the light through the center of the cupcake liner. Do this a few million times and you're done! It just makes the lights look larger, brighter and merrier! 

Now don't judge my tree just yet! I am only getting started. I still have to add my vintage star, and tons of vintage Shiny Brite Christmas bulbs....

This method also works great for lights around the mantel or bannister. 

Trash to Treasure! Painted and embellished furniture

My wonderful, whimsical, and artistic cousin commissioned my to create this chair for her.
This is how I did it!
1) Buy a chair. From a Denver Gypsy Boys Estate sale of course! This basic wood chair was priced at 10.00.

2) Sand down any shiny surfaces. I used an electric sander. You don't have to be exact or extra thorough about it, you just want to rough up the surface so the paint will stick. 

3) Dust off any debris. I use a large paint brush so it can get in all the nooks and crannies. Use a damp cloth for any sticky or dirty spots. 

4) Now think of your design or theme. Gretchen came up with the original look from something she saw in Somerset magazine (Volume 5 2010, pg 94, "Black & White" by Allison Berringer). She wanted eggplant as a main color. Gretchen is a dancer, so I threw in some touches that had to do with dance. I found an old "How to Dance" illustrated book, and color copied some things from there. I also collected old hardware, old jewelry, and bought some flat backed rhinestones. Gypsy Boys Estate sales are the perfect place to find old jewelry and hardware to use for embellishments. 

5) Spray paint the chair with primer. I used Rustoleum. Again, it doesn't have to be perfect, just enough to get a good base. 

6) I painted on my main colors of eggplant and plum in various designs. For the seat of the chair I used a scrapbook paper that had a laser cut stencil design. I simply painted over the paper to make the stenciled look, then threw away the paper.

7) I sponge stencils to add more interest and design. Just paint directly onto stencil, then stamp onto chair. Let it all dry.

8) I then used scrapbook paper, and copied pages from the old book to decoupage. I cut out an Eiffel Tower image from a scrapbook paper, cause Gretchen loves Paris. I used Modge Podge - just apply some to the back of paper, stick down, then liberally cover the top of the paper. Go ahead and get messy.

9) To add some more interest, I used a colored pencil (in this case white) to scribble some designs, phrases, and quotes.

10) I then used a dry brush technique to go over any dark colors and paper. Dip a brush into a lighter shade of paint. I used white. Wipe off most of paint onto a paper towel. Then lightly lightly brush over chair. Any wood grain or raised areas will get accented.

11) Now it is time to distress. Make sure all paint and decoupage is dry. Use sandpaper to sand off edges, sand off some of darker paint (the white primer will show through), even sand some parts of decoupaged paper to roughen it up a bit.

To make the colors look a bit aged, apply some antiquing glaze. I use Valspar antiquing glaze available at Lowes Home Improvement. Just pour some on an old rag, and rub all over. Wipe away excess.

12) Finally, I added some embellishments. I included old hardware, old vintage jewelry, and rhinestones. I attached 2 curtain finials to the top of the chair.

Trash to Treasure!

Make a Vintage Christmas Wreath

Now is the perfect time to hit up estate sales to buy some vintage Christmas decorations. Get out your glue gun and get ready for some crafts! You can make some beautiful Christmas wreaths with vintage christmas ornaments and decor.

These two wreathes are examples from retrorenovation.com

to get step by step instructions for these, click here

Below are some photos of MY creations. All of the vintage ornaments and trinkets I purchased from Denver Gypsy Boys Estate Sales

Handmade vintage christmas wreath by Stephie D

I made this Christmas wreath as a gift for my BFF

This was my attempt at a Christmas ornament bouquet!

Here are some more pics of some of my Denver Gypsy Boys Estate sale finds! I can't wait to get started on some more crafty projects...