The Power of Attraction

I am a firm believer in the power of attraction, and along with that the idea that whatever you focus on expands! Within the last year alone I have acquired a vintage mohair couch and club chair, turntable, fridge, and camper! But this is not solely about purchasing items you like, it's how things come to you in unexpected ways. I think the best example of this is my vintage aluminum canister set. My neighbor gave me a canister set she found in her cabin, and though I was in love with it, it was missing the sugar canister. No matter, I loved them and cleared the clutter (my huge microwave) to make room for them.

 After seeing my canister set on Facebook, my cousin's friend contacted me and told me she had a sugar canister that she thought matched  for me. I picked it up and indeed it did match! A beautiful canister set that came to me for only the price of gratitude.

Just added-S & P set from antiquing in Hixton.

Soon afterwards, my mother gifted me this spice set too!

This holiday season was a particularly delightful one for me. I had decided to cut out the stress of gift giving by not pressuring myself to get the perfect gift. You know what? I do believe that everyone got a well-suited gift from me this year. I also received well-suited gifts this year. The following are a few of my favorite gifts!

Daddy-O got me this gorgeous vintage blue coat!
 Blue is my favorite color, which you don't see too often.

I think this gift was for Daddy-O, but I'm claiming it as mine!

My brother made me a beautiful wooden tray and this vintage sign that goes perfectly in our newly remodeled breezeway.

Good Luck
Compliments of T J Wirrer
General merchandise
Mattoon, Wis.

Bo Peep found this plate in Waupaca brought it home to Mattoon, and fits perfectly in my "new" living room!


Last spring I bought some rocks and shot glasses from my late Great Uncle's estate. I didn't even know other sizes existed until I spied Rebecca's Collins and highball glasses at Mississippi Mayhem! I always gravitate towards glass at any thrift store, but no matching glasses were to be found. Then I received an early birthday present from Bo Peep.

Tom Collins, Highball, Old Fashioned, Rocks, and Shot.

Imagine my delight when I spied the glasses as I opened up the box! Now my mismatched glasses are gone to make way for my beautiful "new" set! Even though they are bar glasses I plan on using them as kitchen glasses. I delight everyday in using these beautiful glasses, and there's no reason to store that joy away!

And would you know it, now I noticed Annie has some too! My focus is expanding.

My mother gave me some of my Great Aunt Helen's lovely jewelry which includes Mount Rushmore sweater clips! Now I am reminded of her whenever I wear one of these.
 I have received many more great gifts, and love witnessing the power of attraction in my life. It never gets old. And if you're wondering what all this power of attraction talk is, I have been reading E Squared by Pam Grout. I highly recommend it!

Converting Clips to Posts

We're so excited to bring you a post from our new HVG candidate, Marilyn Mercury.  Recently she wielded her glue gun to do a bit of updating to a fabulous piece of vintage jewelry.  This is an easy How-To for anyone who hates those biting clip earrings. 



On the 4th of July, Mr. Mercury and I were looking for something to do that, of course, needed to involve driving our 1965 Mercury Comet. After looking through craigslist, I found a flea market in Northfield, MN, about an hour from where we live.  This drive is one of the prettiest routes you can take, traveling through gorgeous farm country.  We try to go there at least once during the summer. It was a beautiful summer day, which was most appreciated because summer took so long to get here this year.  Here in Minnesota, we still had snow in May!! 

Marilyn enjoying the Summer sun on her flea market trip.

When we got there I was a bit disappointed that it was such a small flea market, but I did find a few treasures, one of them being these amazing atomic-looking earrings! Now at first glance, most vintage earrings seem unlikely to be worn because they're usually clip-ons.  I have often passed them by before, but these just intrigued me.  I just had to try and make them work!! 

So off to Joanne Fabrics jewelry-making department I went. This is something I've never attempted before.  I was overwhelmed at the selection of tiny metal pieces for making necklaces, bracelets and earrings!!

I picked out some silver metal posts and backs. I already had at home some Gorilla glue and a hot glue gun. I figured one of those would work for adhering the posts to the backs of the earrings after I pried the clip portion off with a pliers.  


I ended up using a drip of Gorilla Glue to secure the base of the post.  After letting that dry, I then surrounded the base with hot glue. 

clip removed and post glued in place

I'm not sure it will hold for the long haul because these earrings are very heavy!! But I can't wait to wear these babies out! I think they'd look best with the very outfit I found them in, but now I'll have to wait til next summer! 

For now I will model them in my recent thrift store find, a beautifully beaded cardigan.  It only needed new buttons and a few tiny holes stitched up! Can't beat a deal like that! $4.50 for the cardigan and $3.00 for new buttons!

We think Marilyn looks smashing in her new cardigan and earrings!  Finding vintage pieces is not only an adventure, but restyling them to fit your needs can be so rewarding (not to mention economical).  Thank you for sharing your project with us, Marilyn.  Now I'm off to find my hot glue gun...

Handmade Jewelry

It seems the craft stores are now well stocked with beads and jewelry accessories of every design. This trend piques my interest, and I love jewelry that reuses materials!
I originally met Anna about 2010 at a craft fair. Her stunning jewelry intrigued me, she had beautiful designs, and upon closer inspection I discovered they were made of vintage stamps and papers.

Anna has much better photos of her jewelry.

Beautiful.
I took her card and kept up with her website. I finally decided to commission some custom jewelry from her with my art on it. They turned out great! I treasure them and wear them regularly.

The backs are equally beautiful in case your necklace flips over.

 I started researching some stamps that I had found on a pick last summer, and decided to donate them to Anna. I knew she would treasure these pieces of history as much as I did and put them to great use. And she did and offered to make me some jewelry out of one of my stamps!

Wearing my Johnny Appleseed 1966.

 Here are some examples of Anna's work, and I recommend you check out her website. You can pick up some great stamps for reasonable prices and have Anna make you some custom jewelry.