How about some Suitcase Christmas Decor?

Thanksgiving Day is done & over now. This year we got to spend it with my grandma since she moved back to Indiana & I enjoyed it in all it's craziness and overdosing on excellent food!

I can't believe how busy I am with all my crafting for craft shows & it seems as though the special orders have been booming as well! I'm NOT complaining, except for the shortage of time. It leaves my blog a little short on the postings, even though I think I have some cute things to share with you. I hope I can make it worth the wait sometimes.

A majority of what I make is pretty much one-of-a-kind items because I work with what ever I find. In most cases, I only have one, occasionally I can get multiples, but it's not the norm.

The project I'm sharing today is sort of one of those kind of projects.

I actually had TWO green vintage suitcases that were more of the smaller sizes, like the carry on variety. I found my inspiration, where else - Pinterest! 

Click on photo to direct you to the proper owner at "A Bit of Heaven" Blog.

It's just a grungy old suitcase that has "I'll be home for Christmas" painted on it in simple brush strokes. Nothing fancy & a bit rustic looking. I love it, but I don't have any super cool "old" suitcases like hers, so I just kept the idea in the back of my mind (it's getting a bit crowded at the back of my mind tho!)  then one day it hit me! I can use that song title on a suitcase I already have, but in a different, decorative design that will really pop!

Using my Silhouette Designer Edition program & my Cameo, I made my design & tweaked it a tad bit from one suitcase to the other, but essentially they were the same

Surprising to me, I sold the smaller of the two at my first craft show. I didn't think anyone would buy one, at least not for the prices I was asking for them, especially in my tiny home town. But someone did & that left me with the slightly larger one to take to my next show. I never got pictures of either suitcase, sadly.


 

I had one left for my 2nd craft show & someone was admiring it, but decided to have a look around the rest of the show before deciding they wanted it. Unfortunately, she missed out in the meantime, as another lady bought it for her college aged daughter as an early gift. The first lady appeared upset with herself that she missed out.

Once we get home after the craft show, there's a message already waiting on the answering machine from that same woman wanting me to make her a suitcase whenever I find another green one. Then, I get on my Rustique (pronounced Rus-teek) & Chic Facebook page & see that she's also left me a message there, requesting again that I make her a suitcase.  **Ya know, it makes me feel good to know that someone LOVED something I made so much & that they had that much regret for missing out & that they are so determined to get one. She didn't even care if it wasn't until after Christmas before she got it.

I told her that it was going to be a little while because I have prior orders & the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with family in town before it would get finished and she was good with that.

I ended up getting started on it immediately for fear of running into problems & delays (that's a typical day for me). It ended up going fairly smooth & I finished it ahead of schedule.

I do love how it turned out & I even did a better job on the bow this time. 

I'm beginning to think I need to have a suitcase of my own to keep!

I'll be linking this project over at Remodelaholic's Anonymous Link Party...so go check out some other amazing ideas!




   
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Simple Little Elf Tree for Christmas

I'm in the Christmas crafting mode for that ever loving holiday craft show season again. In all the crafting & painting craziness, I'm trying to remember to take pictures.

 This little tree is one of those like soooo many of my projects where I buy something without having the first clue of what I'm going to do with it. So, it's sits around waiting for its destiny...some day.

This tree started with the little wooden boot. A friend pointed it out to me at a sale & thought I might be able to figure out something to do with it. I hadn't the foggiest idea at the time, but it was small & so stinking cute that I didn't care. It's made of wood & it turns out that it was hand carved by a somewhat local craftsman. COOL!

One day this past summer, for some odd reason, it just hit me that I could use it as a base to put a small tree in. I thought it looked just like a Santa boot, so I painted it black. 

It still needed something else to make it a little more interesting, so I broke out my trusty Silhouette Cameo & made the whimsical "label" on the side.

It has a bit of a primitive or rustic look to it instead of the predictable child-like feel that you may likely associate more with elves. It only stands about 8 inches tall, so it is pretty small.

It's simple in design, because I'm just not good with decorating trees, which kinda fits in there with flower arranging - same concept. I put in some dark red pip berries, some handmade tea stained chenille candy canes & some home spun ribbons tied on. Never mind the red string at the top. It was an experiment that I forgot to remove before taking the picture. Lastly, I tied on a rafia bow that streams down & I attached a rusty snowflake in place of a star at the top. See? Simple!

It probably took me just as long to decorate this itty bitty tree as it does a 7 ft. tall one!  Nope. I don't work fast.

 
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