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Crafts - with a Vintage Flair
Get
your scissors and glue ready! These crafts all begin with a vintage
image. We've
provided detailed, step-by-step, illustrated instructions, and
a list of needed materials and tools. Free templates and vintage images
are provided for simple download in PDF format, sized and ready. You’ll
need the free Adobe Reader on your
computer:
For the Holidays
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Crackers
for all occasions. These festive candy-filled tubes are an
English tradition. This is a simple paper project, suitable
for
children or crafting parties. |
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Antique
Blocks
are vintage treasures, gilded with an aged, cracked varnish finish.
No one needs to know that they were once common milk
cartons. We'll show you how to make them from the
simplest
materials and ingredients. |
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Kissing
Dangles
for Valentine's Day. The old legend says, "If you kiss under
a
dangle, your hearts will entangle." Okay, we made that up.
This is basically paper, string and some beads, but it looks
quaint and romantic. |
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Heart
Basket
is traditional Danish paper weaving, with a twist.
This
small basket is woven of silver and gold metallic paper, with a special
lacing of red satin ribbon. This is a great "door knob" gift from the
office Valentine fairy. |
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Santa's
Cookie Plate
will be a Christmas Eve tradition. This plate combines reverse-glass
painting and decoupage. We've even provided several Santa
images
for you to choose from. |
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Christmas
Candle
resting in a fluffy bed of white whipped-wax "snow"!
We give
you six different images for this easy, glowing project. |
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Tag
Ornaments
are dainty and sparkling, and the glass marbles magically magnify
the vintage images of children. Who would know they started
out
as common cardboard key tags? |
Home Decoration
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A Vintage
Cake Pan
is the way to deliver your next baked treat to a friend or party.
The vintage illustration is a gift in itself, with your
recipe
printed on the back. This craft has two variations, four free images,
and two great lemon dessert recipes. Try the Victorian
Lemon-Coriander Seed Cake. It is delectible. |
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This Vintage
Suncatcher
is a translucent treasure with an Arts & Crafts look.
Equally stunning hanging in a window or displayed on a stand,
you
can make it with plain window glass, copper foil tape, and some simple
reverse-glass painting. |
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Pet
Treat Jar. Grab
one of those glass canisters you always find at yard sales and make
this charming kitchen accessory. You'll learn how to
hand-paint
lettering on glass, the easy way. |
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Lacy
Love Letter Box will keep your treasured mementos safe.
This project is an interesting combination of decoupage and
antiquing. |
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Coasters
from old CDs! We admit it - we love recycled crafting.
And
who doesn't have some old CDs around the house? Copper foil
tape
gives these an old-world look. |
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Bottle
Cap Magnets.
These have to be our favorites so far. They are as
pretty
as a picture, with a charming retro look. They can be magnets
or
pushpins. Or you might think of something else entirely! |
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Switchplate
decoupage
is a wonderful project for people who are "turned on" by cats!
We
give you two variations to try - and three wonderful vintage cat
images. |
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"Flower
Faces" Flower Pot
combines decoupage and decorative painting to glorify the common clay
pot. There are two variations to choose from, and over 20 vintage
images to use. |
Card Making
Why do you love crafts or scrapbooking?
For us, it is the joy of
creating something new out of the old. Putting
things together in a new way. Transforming common or plain materials
into something decorative, whimsical or beautiful. Creating objects,
with love and care, which tell a story.
That’s why we love to make
things using vintage images and
illustrations from antique postcards. Rich in color, artistic technique
and symbolism, postcard illustrations from the turn-of-the-century
capture the essence of life’s highlights – holidays, celebrations, and
sentiments – in strong visuals. Far beyond clipart. When used as a
central element of new art, they speak their storied past in a
contemporary setting.
Crafting with vintage images
is also a way of keeping this artwork
alive and vibrant. The Golden Age of postcards ended with World War I,
and the rise of the telephone. Once relegated to collectors and picture
books, the digital age of the Internet is making incredible Public
Domain vintage
images available again – but how can you use them creatively?
We hope to answer that
question, and make these images live again, with
these fun and easy crafts. Many of these projects
may decorate your home. Many more can
be thoughtful gifts. In this age of mass-production and Amazon-handy
items, the most treasured gifts are those made by hand. At its heart,
each project begins with the simplest of raw materials – a beautiful
vintage image.
As you explore, it might
become painfully obvious and also gratefully
appreciated – master-crafter Martin is a Kindergarten teacher.
VintageImageCraft is all about IDEAS AND
INSPIRATION
We are passionate about
sharing this vanished art. Two generations of obsessive family
collecting will do that.
Our
website will take time to develop. We have paint under our
fingernails and glitter in our hair, but we are getting there.
Please come back often. And please, contact
us with a note if you have ideas or questions.
Scott
& Martin
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