Welle Designs: Turning Vintage Finds into New Treasures

I am in the process of sharing what I saw at this year's Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, and for today's vendor highlight I would like to share the work of Lauren & Lori Welle of Welle Designs.

I've seen these cool bowls before made from old records, and they had a fun selection of them at a great price.  My mom bought a couple as Christmas gifts.

I've always loved these cool ticket bowls too!! Wouldn't they look great filled with popcorn on movie night?

I just recently shared some message boards made from vintage trays, and they had some as well that had ribbons to hang on the walls (Above). I really like this cute and simple idea of the "message block," shown above in front of the tray.  The little block of wood has chalkboard paint on the front, and a hole drilled in the top to place a piece of chalk!  Love it!

As you can see by the little hand in this picture, Sammy was drawn to this cute record clock with game pieces and a bingo card in the center.  "No touching, Sammy!!"

I really liked this tray on display, covered with bottle caps and a thick, clear resin, which Lori described as "just an experiment."  Sometimes the one-off, experimental items really get a lot of attention.  It reminded me of my last year at the Craftstravaganza when I had a couple junk mail decoupaged TV trays out for display purposes.  They weren't even for sale but people were very interested in them!

If you'd like to see more of Welle Design's work or contact them to purchase, be sure to check out their website!

Simply Vintage by Erin Moxness: "Jerelry, Clothing & Decor with Vintage Flair"

Time to share more of what I saw at this year's Junk Bonanza in Shakopee! For today's vendor highlight I would like to share the work of Erin Moxness of Simply Vintage.  The mini flyer I picked up unfortunately had no web links, except a note to visit their Facebook page, which I was unable to find.  I wanted to share some images of their stuff regardless, but in an effort to give proper credit to the artist, the phone number on the card was 701-388-0134 if you want to find out where she is, if she is, on the internet!

This booth was really fun to look at.  They had all kinds of little charms made from recycled materials.  You could even choose a cord or chain and have them put a necklace together for you right on the spot.

I love the pretty assortment of pendants made from vintage jewelry pieces!

These keychains made from puzzle pieces of the states were such a great idea.  What a fantastic way to repurpose a puzzle, especially if you have missing pieces!

Here are a couple trays of pendants made from sections of vintage yard sticks.  Cool!  This makes me think of our MN state fair, where we always used to get free yard sticks as kids.

These vintage watch pendants were beautiful and fun to look through as well.  These are all metal watch faces....every one unique!

More cute pendants...these ones have letters taken from recycled car nameplates!

Wonderful work, Erin!  And if you see this, please do pass on your web link to me as I'd love to share it!!

XO Handworks: Custom Recycled Pendants, Pins, Magnets & More!

I am still in the process of sharing what I saw at this year's Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, and for today's vendor highlight I would like to share the work of XO Handworks of Osseo, MN.

 I was really drawn in by this great display of jewelry made from recycled maps.  They have buttons, pendants, keychains, you name it.  I love how they displayed the soldered map pendants on a board with the map behind it, so you can find the location you want.  This is such a neat gift idea for someone who wants to show off their home state, country, favorite vacation spot, hometown, or whatever! Be sure to check out their beautiful creations here! They also have some really great items made from Scrabble tiles, bottle caps, and more!

A while back I used to sell pocket mirrors and buttons made from recycled maps, which were really fun.  I'm still hoping to offer more recycled map items in my shop in the future...once I get some better button making equipment that produces less duds!

Green Cricket Salvage: Unique Salvage, Inspired Restoration

In continuation of what I saw at this year's Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, for my next vendor highlight I would like to share the work of Beth Heeney of "Green Cricket Salvage."

This chair decoupaged with maps grabbed my attention and I just had to check out her display!

I love these cute necklaces made from vintage Fisher Price people!  She also had keychains.  What a fun idea.

Here's Sammy checkin' himself out in her cool mirrors made from tennis rackets.  Very cool!  I have taught Sammy to say "hey good lookin'!" whenever he looks in the mirror, so of course I have to show him every mirror in the place.

These cute sconces made from licensed plates were a neat idea!

Check out her website for more great stuff!

Karen Heddens Designs: Beautiful Hand-Felted Work Made From Reclaimed Wool Sweaters

I am in the process of sharing what I saw at this year's Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, and for my first vendor highlight I would like to share the work of Karen Heddens Designs. 

This was the only item I brought home from the Junk Bonanza, although I would have bought the whole dang event if I had the cash and storage space! ;-) I have always been drawn to hand felted items and this bracelet really caught my eye.

Karen takes unwanted, old wool sweaters and hand felts them, and then uses the felt to create a variety of beautiful items, including slippers, handbags, and jewelry like this.  These felted beads are securely attached with wire between two buttons with a bead on top, then attached to a bracelet chain.  I just love the color combination in this particular bracelet, and also like that the chain seems nice and sturdy and the clasp really clips nice and tight.

I can't wait to wear it out on the town!  Okay, with two little kids, it'll probably be a while until I have another night out on the town.  But when I do, I'm wearing this! ;-)

Junk Bonanza 2010

I just returned to my studio after an overwhelmingly inspirational visit to the Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, MN! Described as "the best junk roundup in the Midwest," there is nothing junky about it!  I would describe this even as being like a walk through a really cool, antique flea market where everything has already been "upcycled" into quirky, creative gifts.  These are the people who scour thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets and antique shops for cool treasures and old "junk," apply their creative juices, and give everything a new life.

As a display designer myself, I found it equally as exciting just looking at the beautifully designed booths.  You can tell that every booth and display was designed for people like me, by people like me, who are easily drawn in by neat old treasures and recycled art. Walking through the aisles of creativity was like a constant struggle between the cool stuff pulling me into the next booth, and the desire to run home to my studio and start making things!  Many of the vendors were not only catering to those who want to purchase their items, but also those of us who like making things ourselves, by offering up bins and bins of little found objects just screaming to be made into something.

I went with my very artistic and creative mom, who so graciously offered to come along and help me maneuver the crowds with my two little boys in strollers.  With two little ones, we were only able to stay for a couple hours.  So, I didn't get to see EVERYTHING, but got a bunch of photos.  So many, in fact, that I can barely digest all of them myself, let alone overwhelm you with one post that covers them all.  So, I am going to post some more photos over the next few days from a couple vendors who caught my eye during the event.  Stay tuned for more photos and links to come!

Until tomorrow, here are a few more photos from the morning...

DIY Thrift Store Table Turned Train Table!

Looking for a train table for your kids?  Why not try making one?!  I just had a BLAST making my own out of an ugly thrift store table. Check out my fully photographed process in my IDMommy blog! This would make a really fun project to do along WITH your older kids, and it's not too late to start making one as a Christmas gift this year!

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Cool Recycled Message Boards

Last month I was enjoying a wonderful girls' night out with some of my favorite fellow moms from my church, at a local Dunn Brothers' coffee house.  This particular Dunn Bros. is located in a historic house in Eden Prairie, MN (recently named the best place to live in 2010 by Money Magazine).

Anyway, the inside of the house is decorated with various pieces of furniture, art and decor for sale, I believe many done by local artists.  I had to snap a couple photos with my phone to share here.  I love this great way to re-use old metal tv trays and serving trays.  I believe these were painted, however, if you find a cool vintage tray you may want to keep the original art if it's in good shape.  Looks like they put a couple holes in the rim, tied a ribbon through it to hang on the wall, and then used them to stick notes to with magnets.  I think they were selling for $15-$25 or so.  I think that a few junk mail magnets would look great on these!  ;-)

This is another message board that was on display for sale...a piece of framed chicken wire with clothespins to hold notes and cards.  Another fun, simple way to display notes!

Here's an old post, in case you missed it, with another way to turn cookie sheets into message boards.

Groupon Offers Half Price Admission to Junk Bonanza!

I apologize for all of my non-Minnesota readers, but for those of you who live in the Twin Cities and love to find cool vintage stuff and repurposed items, be sure to check out today's Groupon for half price admission to the Junk Bonanza!  The event is held this September 16, 17, and 18 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee.

If you are NOT in this area and unable to attend, you might enjoy checking out their online gallery for a little eye candy and inspiration!

I've never been to this but it looks very much up my alley...and perhaps yours as well!  Happy hunting!

Organic Baby T's by Zebi

I love these super cute organic baby tee's by Zebi!  (via Inhabitots)  This of course makes me think about how I could make some myself too...you could totally recycle some funky old patterned clothing, curtains, tablecloths, whatever, by cutting out animal shapes and sewing them on a t-shirt...another fun way to make something old into something new!