Monday, June 17, 2013

Fun with Finials!


I've always wanted to make my own finials.


 I finally did. 


I recently came across 2 unusual pieces of coral that were perfect candidates.


I don't know why I never attempted to make my own before but you can be sure that I will be looking for finial candidates while on the hunt from now on!
 

This one is really dramatic in both size and shape. I love capturing its beauty in a finial where it will eventually be displayed atop the perfect lamp.
 

I couldn't believe this specimen that naturally resembles a classic finial.
 

In my opinion, a finial is the perfect way to individualize a lamp and shade.


 It never ceases to amaze me how much the finial adds to the presentation of the lamp as a whole.


Some of you might remember this pair of malachite earrings I bought at a rummage sale last year with the intention of turning them into finials.
 

What do you think of their makeover from dated, broken earrings to a pair of chic new lamp finials?
 
 



Thursday, June 13, 2013

Some Seaworthy Ideas


Do you know what this is?




How about this one?




 I'm guessing that it is meant to hold a nautical signal flag, but I'm not sure.


All I know is that when I came across them in my favorite boating consignment store the first thing that came to mind was how perfect they would be displaying my bracelets!


 I'm using this one to hold the bracelets or wrist belts that I've been fashioning from vintage belts to sell in my Etsy Shop.



I have started gathering up my costume bracelets and bangles to display on this one so I can see them all at once.



I don't think I will run out of room any time soon!
 

 It would also serve as a cool paper towel holder in a nautically inspired kitchen.


Tom, who owns the boating consignment store is completely bemused by me.

 

Just last weekend I spied this "hand rail" and promptly announced that I had to have it and would figure out something great to do with it!


 It took me all of 15 minutes to realize that it was exactly what I've been looking for to open my side gate!


After a bit more scrounging around I found the perfect piece of bronze chain to make it a reality.


 I couldn't get home fast enough to try it out! 


 I not only love how unique it is but how well it functions!


At my next party I'm going to make the guests enter through the side yard just so they can use the hand rail!


Speaking of our side yard...


how exciting is this?


Our tomato plants have gone crazy!



I can't wait to see RED!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

HISTORICAL PHOTOS YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER SEEN!




The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861


Hippo cart in 1924. The hippo belonged to a circus and apparently enjoyed pulling the cart as a trick



Charlie Chaplin in 1916 at the age of 27



Suntan vending machine, 1949



Annie Edison Taylor (1838-1921), the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She did it in 1901 because she needed money, and after  doing it said she wouldn't recommend it to anyone!


Only known authenticated photo of Billy the Kid, circa 1879


Sharing bananas with a goat during the Battle of Saipan, circa 1944


Jesse James, approximately 16 years old


Advertisement for Atabrine, an anti-malaria drug. Sign was put upat the 363rd station hospital in Papua, New Guinea during WWII
 

How could parents ensure that their children were getting sunlight and fresh air when living in apartment buildings?  The baby cage, ca. 1937



Hotel owner pouring acid in the water when black people swam in his pool, circa 1964


Bookstore ruined by an air raid, London 1940

 
 
Little girl comforting her doll in the ruins of her
bomb damaged home, London, 1940.

  
Animals being used as a part of medical therapy in 1956.

 
Artificial legs, United Kingdom, circa 1890
.

Unknown soldier in Vietnam, 1965


1920's lifeguard


1928 fashion show at the beach


Former slave showing whipping scars


Measuring bathing suits in the early 1920s. If they
were too short, the women would be fined



A space chimp poses for the camera after a
successful mission to space in 1961

  
 
Testing new bulletproof vests, 1923
  

A mom and her son watch the mushroom cloud after an atomic test 75 miles away, Las Vegas, 1953


Walter Yeo, one of the first people to undergo advanced plastic surgery. His eyelids were damaged in World War I, and he got a skin transplant to replace them.


Illegal alcohol being poured out during Prohibition, Detroit 1929


Austrian boy receives new shoes during WWII


The Ford Theater, where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated


Children eating their Christmas dinner during the
Great Depression: turnips and cabbage



Annette Kellerman promoted women's right to wear a fitted one-piece bathing suit, 1907. She was arrested for indecency.


Princeton students after a freshman vs. sophomores snowball fight in 1893


Martin Luther King Jr. with his son by his side removing a burnt cross from his front yard, 1960



The original Ronald clown of McDonald's in 1963


Apollo I crew members rehearsing their water landing in 1966


President Richard Nixon trying to use chopsticks while visiting China in 1972


Construction of the Manhattan Bridge, 1908


Construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961


Hitler's officers and cadets celebrating Christmas, 1941


Abraham Lincoln's hearse, 1865


Frozen Niagara Falls, 1911


Last prisoners of Alcatraz leaving, 1963


A penniless mother hides her face in shame after
putting her children up for sale, Chicago, 1948



Putting on a crinoline (skirt support), 1855


Recovering bodies after theTitanic disaster, 
April 1912

A most beautiful suicide - 23 year old Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from an observation deck (83rd floor) of the Empire State Building, May 1, 1947.  She landedon a United Nations limousine.
  

The real Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin, circa 1927


Melted and damaged mannequins after a fire at
Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum in London, 1930


New York City fire station, ca. 1912
 

Operation Babylift: Vietnamese orphans transported by airplanes to America in 1975 

 
Polish children examined by German officers to see if they qualify as Aryan, and would be allowed to live

 
Santa Claus in New York, ca. 1900
 
 
Smallpox victim, New York, 1881 


5:00 P.M., September 3rd, 1967  Sweden changed from drivingon the left side to driving on the right - this was the result


Unpacking the Head of the Statue of Liberty
delivered June 17, 1885



PRETTY AMAZING!