Upcycled doll heads into angel ornaments

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Sorry, I only have “after” shots.

Whelp, maybe I shoulda done some before photos?  Or can you picture a vintage doll whose head has been pulled off?  Because that’s where these begin.  She was a stuffed dollie, in Dutch clothing and wooden shoes. No one bought her as is, despite this lovely face.  So, off with her head, and hair.  The hair had been a glued on, braided wig that came off easily and was replaced with angora goat curly locks.  (If hair doesn’t come off by peeling it back, I used pliers for a better grip and give a good tug)                                                                                                      Next, a bundle of trailing lace and ribbons were glued into her neck cavity where the body was once attached. Feathers got curled and glued to the back of her, and a cluster of old millinery blooms were clustered and adhered around her neck.  (This project works well with stuffed body dolls whose heads have been glued or sewn on.  When you remove the head, there is typically a neck or neck and shoulders that are hollow.)

 Actually, I might have gotten a little bit out of order, because the hair comes after the ribbons, flowers, and feathers. If you add the hair first, it’s in the way.  You need the other pieces in place so the hair can cascade over them.

On a few of the heads, I subbed a blossom in place of the trailing ribbons.   The main consideration is to fill in the hole where the torso was once connected, and camouflage it with something pretty- lace, flowers, jewels, etc.

After each is complete, I glue a ribbon loop to the top of her scalp as a hanger.  Some dolls have a rubbery head, and you can also secure the hanger with a pin.  I try to either hide the spot with another curl over it, or a bit of bling.

Remember, anytime you glue something, the glue is only as strong as what you’re attaching it to.  That is why, with these, I get the ribbon down through the curls, onto the scalp itself.  If it were glued only to the hair, when hung on a tree, the hair could pull away from the head.  Gluing the hanger directly to the head, not the hair, is much more secure.

Aren’t they sweet?

Remaking Santas, one used to be a wizard

holiday decor
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This guy didn’t start out with a wish to deliver toys all night long in a sleigh one night a year.

His previous job was casting spells.  I tore him apart, ripped off his clothes (not in a fun way), and started gluing red velvet and mink onto him to facilitate his career change.  His old, fake fur beard was pulled off with pliers and a fresh, angora one was glued in its place.

Here is another, midway through his reconstruct.  He began as a Santa, just an ugly one.

Here is how he started.  So hairy, he can’t even find his sleigh to climb in, let alone read his naughty list.

Once he was made over, you could once again see his face through his new, angora goat hair beard. And hopefully, I made the nice list by helping him out.

I don’t blink I got a before pic for this guy.

Randy gifted me this one to redo.

No fabric for him, I was able to do the transformation with paint and glitter.

Lots of glitter!  And some white mink.

I kinda like the funky stripes on this Claus, so I just updated him with teensy mother of pearl buttons, lace, mink,  and a vintage buckle on a strip of leather as a belt.

I just love redoing these gentlemen,  and hope the changes are upgrades.

Holiday paintings on vintage paper

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These mischievous knee hugger elves were a fave of my childhood.

So when I thought about painting some holiday pages, they were my first thought as a subject.

I had a couple old sheet music pages of Jingle Bells and one of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman and thought both titles were just right for these sprites.

Of course, I needed a doodle of this jolly old elf too.

The my caroling book, where I was finding all the perfect sheet music, had a quaint little village on the cover and it inspired this painting.

Home, Sweet Home, found in another old book, was just what I needed for a ginger bread house.

And how could this title not get a snowy owl?

All of the pictures were created on vacation.  Either while watching the ocean from our balcony, or while on the airplane. When I travel by plane or as a passenger when we go on long drives, I like to flip through vintage books and draw on pages that catch my attention.  Then after arriving, I’ll get the paints out to finish.

Hmm, maybe I need another trip, so I have an excuse to make more.  I tend to only do these while traveling, and absolutely love working on them. It seems like I only have time when I’m on vacation.

More hand made holiday goods for the November sale at Good Juju

Good JuJu, holiday decor
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Remember the two kitties I made from vintage quilt scraps last month?  I had small bits of the fabric left and turned it into stockings.

I made lacy stockings too. These are ornament size, not hanging up to stuff with presents  sized.  Well, unless you are a very stingy gift giver, they won’t hold much at all.   Oh, that’s wrong!  Stick a generous amount on a gift card and slide that in!

I also have angels under domes.

Angels with trees on teapots.

An Angel driving a floral jalopy.

Angel statues you can dress up in crowns.

A sweet lil vintage Angel gazing out of a gingerbread house window.

There are lots of gingerbread houses.

And plenty of angels.  Not to mention the deer, trees, and Santas.

Oh, and paintings too.

I’ll show more in the next post.

November’s Juju sale will be festive

antiques/junking, Good JuJu
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Christmas came early for me this year.

Extremely so.

I spent millions, well maybe just a few, but it felt like millions, of 6-9 hour days packing away Halloween and decking the halls with  Christmas cheer before I flew off to Florida.

And I tell ya, when I got on that plane, I was ready to start my vacation.

People say to me, how nice it must be to only work two days a month.  Hmm, not quite the way it goes.  Our sale is two days a month, but there is a month full of behind the scenes, hunting, gathering, crafting, tagging, cleaning, and displaying that goes into the two days the shopping occurs.

And if I have plans during the month, my work schedule gets tightly condensed into a few days.

Because it’s important to me to have things ready to roll before I leave, that way I can relax and enjoy my trip.

And yup, I sure did enjoy it!  I could kick back, look at the frolicking dolphins from my balcony, and know that when I got home, all I had to do was unpack my suitcase, not my booth.

That made my extra long vacation easy to just be in, live in the moment, not fret about work.

I’ll have more pics to come of the rest of my booth later.  The sale will be Nov 7-8 from 9-6 each day in the Old West Bottoms of KC at Good Juju.

Fun in Florida

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This pretty much sums up our trip.  Lots and lots of balcony time.

Sometimes while painting.

Sometimes with wine.

Sometimes together, other moments relaxed there with a book, napping, or just telling stories and giggling with nieces.

We had a nice kitchen, so were able to eat in when we wanted, but went to all of our favorite restaurants too.

The food was great!

The company even better!

We did get out a bit to shop, and enjoyed a day in the old school side of Tarpon Springs.

We had lots of beach time too.  Once a dolphin swam up within a few feet of Shelli.

We were also treated to a night of self care with facials and foot-cials, plus under eye patches.  Most nights we watched movies, one night we told fortunes.

It was super laid back.  I kept saying that our “job was Beach” and that was Kenough.

A Woodland Wedding

celebrations, family
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My week in Florida ended, but my vacation did not.

Sissy and I attended Bobbie’s granddaughter’s wedding in Indiana the next day.

It was a joyful event, so much happiness and love.

The day couldn’t be more perfect, nor the location.


I’d grown up near it, but had never even known that park existed.  So the day after the celebration, some nieces and I explored the trails.

We might have also goofed around with some of the remaining decor before helping pack it all up for the bride and groom.

Not living in the same state as my family means that I’ve missed out on too many special occasions, haven’t been able to watch the babies grow up, or be a part of get togethers.

Which meant that being there for this was an emotional night.  I was already verklempt from happy tears, then I was wiped out when I saw bouquets with sterling charms featuring Bobbie’s fingerprints.

Ack, there I go, I’m teary again just looking at this picture!

Sights like Hannah dreamingly watching her brand new husband as he had his mother/son dance, made me cry too.  It didn’t help that my seat was facing a sweet memorial table with a framed photo of Bobbie looking directly at me.  I’d glance at the picture, thinking about how proud my sister would be of her kids and I’d lose it.

Tears are even more contagious than yawns, so I infected the table with them and we were a soggy mess.  I kept telling myself not to do it, but I was a time bomb, ready to explode with tears at each and every endearing moment, then causing a chain reaction among my tablemates.

My time in Pendleton was much too short, but was jam packed.  I got to visit with the family who didn’t go to Florida, see my beautiful grand dog, Ryder, go with Sissy to eat our favorite lunch (at the hospital we spent so much time in while Bobbie Sue was ill), walk in the woods, visit friends from school, then plan another big get together with the nieces next year at the beach, and mostly just be happy to be there with them all.

At the Elms

friends
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A special friend having a birthday.

So we made slightly impulsive, sorta expensive, but worth every penny, reservation at the Elms Spa in Excelsior Springs.

We treated ourselves to an afternoon in the Grotto, then relaxed with tea in the spa lounge, where they had a heart shaped piece of wood on the wall.  My kind of place.

It’s an historical hotel, with gorgeous details throughout. And ghosts!  We took a ghost tour and learned about the spirits haunting different rooms.  My buddy even heard a ghostly party in the rooms above her overnight.

 I was jealous.

After our refreshenings at the spa, we got dressed up and went out to dinner.  Since I’d just had a facial, I wasn’t going to mess it up with makeup.  But I did put on nice clothes, which is a big deal for me that late at night.  8pm is way past jammy time for this old gal.

I even wore fancy shoes.  It is very unlike me to be out and on the town at night, and even more bizarre to not be in my spongy, sift, Oofo sandals.  These babies even had a bit of a heel.

Yep, it was a fancy excursion and a wonderful getaway.

Around the cottage lately

cottage, dogs, Sugarwings
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In the month that I was blog-less, things puttered along as usual around the cottage.  Our chickie babies have grown up and started laying eggs.  Some are cuddlers, some are not, most are pretty friendly.  We have one that grew up kinda dumb, one that is skittish, those 2 are typically problems when it’s time to be rounded up.  But over all, I’m quite smitten with the other 20 or so birds and love to take them treats.

Speaking of treats, Molly had a birthday and Sugarwings made her a special pumpkin, yogurt, chicken cake to celebrate.

She was gifted a new toy that she shared.  Sorta.  You can tell by her face that she’d rather have it to herself.

Sugarwings had wisdom teeth pulled, and slept on the sofa a few days to be babied by Grams.  Dorothy helped me keep an eye on the patient.

So did Bones MaGee.  She cheerfully sat nearby Sugarwings during the convalescence.

My eagle sketches were included in a local show.

This one was used to make buttons and postcards to give away.

We took a tour of Monarch Watch at KU to see where Sugarwings interns as a caterpillar pooper scooper. ( Among other jobs there.)

Sugarwings, my buddy, and right hand man, and I went to see the sunflowers in their glory.

The never ending fields of rolling hills in bloom are just breathtaking.

Not so glorious?  We spotted a leak in our ceiling, which of course meant a bigger leak in the roof.

Oh well, houses get old, fall apart and need fixed, right?  It would hypocritical of me to not appreciate aging things, I do work as an antique dealer, after all.  And our mall just celebrated a birthday, with a special evening event and extra day of sales.

So, yep, business as usual during my last month.  I make things, hang with the Grandfairy, chill with Rich, the hens, and dogs.  The house falls apart, we put it back together.  And look around for the pretty things in life to enjoy.

Holiday paintings in my booth

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, Hand painted, hand painted signs, holiday decor
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While I’ve been away from my blog, I’ve still been in the habit of snapping pics of what I’m working on.  And as usual, my main focus has been my booth at Good Juju, in the Old West Bottoms of KC.

I’m over the moon excited about my November sale’s holiday theme and wanted a noticeable way to sell ornies.  Especially after seeing just how many were being brought into the mall by other dealers.

Wow, Juju must have the highest concentration of Shiny Brites in the Midwest.   If you’re looking to add some vintage glory to your tree, uhm,  I think I know what direction to point you in.


On the rear wall of the booth, my banner is flipped over to the Christmas Cottage side. It was a quick transformation from Haunted Cottage.  The pulley system for hanging it made it simple to lower, turn over and hang back up.  I did it by myself in a flash.

Well, maybe not like a lightening flash of speed.  The canvas is 6×8’ and sorta unwieldy.   It isn’t heavy, but a little stiff and bulky.

 And big.

 I waited until I had all of my leftover Halloween goods packed out of the way and the center of the space was open and clear, then tussled with it a bit.   But the pulley process itself was super easy.

Another painted holiday touch is a couple of reindeer I prettied up with pink, white, and glitter.

Earlier this summer, I’d found a set of deer and a sleigh at a garage sale.  I sold three of the cuties with the sleigh and saved back two for my decor.  I kept the ones in the worst condition and gave them a makeover.  They were rather holy, I’m thinking from years of repairs, hanging, and stapling lights to them.  I patched holes with calking and changed the look from traditional to cottage chic with paint.

Since the glitter was sprinkled over Elmers Glue, they aren’t exactly good for yard art now.  The adhesive for the vintage millinery blooms on their sparkly heads and the old ribbon was water based too.  But after 50-60 years of living out in the elements every December, I think these gals deserved a break from pulling a sleigh in bad weather.   They can be house deer now.

Or booth deer, I guess.  I’m rather fond of them and would not be upset to give them a holiday home in my breezeway after our last day of sales, if no one else claims them.

Hey, thanks again for still reading after the kerfuffle of blog switching.  I’ll have more antique mall pics coming plus all the other stuff I’ve been making in the last few weeks.  See you around?

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