The New Project – Vintage Vanity Rehab

I wasn’t kidding, there really is a new project in the works (several actually, but I don’t want to jinx anything).

I happened across this vintage vanity case in the very dirtiest, dustiest, cobwebbiest corner of an antique/junk shop. It had just kind of been tossed back there – I believe the owner bought it in a lot auction, and I guess this wasn’t considered valuable. Can you believe it?!

So I scooped it up – it was nearly free. And I almost didn’t take it with me, except for this little detail:

Isn’t that awesome? All four hearts were in perfect – if slightly discolored – condition.

However, the rest of it…. well, see for yourself:

There was just no saving that interior, so today I began the process of ripping it out and attempting to clean the outside – though I’m afraid I may have to resort to Plan B, which is painting the exterior. It has several oily-looking stains that haven’t come out despite a thorough scrubbing with Dawn. But I’ve a few more tricks to try, so I’ll let you know how it goes…

Next step: picking a fabric for the interior!

With ReprotDepot shuttered, where do you suggest I look for fabric worthy of those Bakelite hearts?

Of Weddings… and Cake Pops!

If you’ve read my scintillating bio, you know that I’m already married.

So why am I writing about weddings?

Here’s the thing. I am married. And our wedding was, in its own way, wonderful – all the important people were there, and of course, I was marrying my husband.

But, it was a rush-to-the-courthouse wedding, to be sure. The Boy got orders to PCS to Okinawa (for those of you who don’ t know, PCS=Permanent Change of Station) — for three years. The only way for me to go with him was for us to get married like, yesterday. So that’s what we did.

But we agreed that we really wanted to have a “real” wedding later, one with our entire families and perhaps a bit more style. And about the same budget.

Which is why I’m planning planning planning. (Translation: collecting zillions of ideas and hoping to some day sort it all into an actual wedding.)

I’ve been thinking a lot about the cake…. or not-cake, that I want.

Lately, I’m thinking of cake pops. And maybe a sweets table? Kind of like this:

via Sandy a la Mode

It was the color that originally caught my eye, but I’ve also been loving the current trend of uber-colorful candy bars at weddings.

via Crafty Ginger

I think I am in love with the color on these Crafty Ginger pops more than anything!

via Treatbox

And these hearts from Treatbox are just plain cute. They also seem immensely do-able, which is appealing, since we are doing almost everything ourselves.

via Bakerella

And finally, of course Bakerella would be included! I cannot even begin to express the degree to which I am smitten with these pops. AND, because she is ridiculously generous, she shared instructions for making them over on her blog.

I love these as is, but I think I want to do something much more graphic with the color. Our wedding theme is (tentatively) Hardcore for the Heartcore, which was kind of the theme of our courtship. We bonded over music, hardcore and punk especially, and we really want to bring that into the wedding.

What do you think? Are pops + sweets a suitable replacement for a giant cake?

What kind of pops would you make?

A hint of what’s to come…

This is my next major project:

Can you guess what it is?

A Birthday on a Birthday (with a tutorial gift!)

I swear to you I did not plan this. It’s a wonderfully fantastic coincidence that today is both my mom’s birthday and the official birth of the Silver & Chalk blog!

(okay, the only thing I planned was that, after realizing what day it is, I decided to get the post up before midnight, so that I could still make use of my precious birthday coincidence)

And the inaugural tutorial? My mom’s birthday present!

Before we get there, I suppose I ought to tell you a bit about Silver & Chalk, which was originally conceived as my photography business. (You can see my Photo 365 project over at Carte de Visite) It is also the official blog of my Etsy store – which is currently empty, but soon to be filled with treasures galore. When the camera’s not in my hand, an implement of art (almost any will do) is. Paints, pens, markers, mud, stain, bleach, paper, photos, books….. and matchboxes, which I’m going to show you today!

On to today’s post….

For the longest time I marveled at altered match boxes – I had always worked on larger canvases, cigar boxes and the like. So the thought of applying the same techniques to something roughly a tenth the size was an irresistible challenge.

Here’s the one I made for my mom, based on her love of the sea, as well as our family’s history with the beach.

Want to see what’s inside? Find out after the jump!