Christmas wrappings...

I've only wrapped one gift so far and this one is travelling to NH for my mom.

I think I'll be wrapping everyone's with vintage sheet music!



Chrismas Shopping

Our elves are very busy this week preparing for 3 shows this weekend! On Saturday we will be at The Little Italy Mercato and Saturday night we move over to India Street for the  Little Italy Tree Lighting & Christmas Village. On Sunday-be sure to come by the McKinley Elementary Arts & Crafts Fair in South Park. Dress warm for our blustery San Diego weather!

Time is ticking...

Join me at Papertales in Point Loma this Saturday from 4 to 7 for a wonderful evening of 

 Christmas shopping!

Boxes & Boxes...

We have stacks of empty flatware chests and typewriter cases that I can't part with. We started to paint the silverware chests white and line them with vintage sheet music. Then...we thought we would enhance them with small Christmas trees with vintage sheet music rolls, a little burlap and more sheet music...

These trees & more are available at The Cornerstore in El Cajon, CA.

19 years ago today...

This beautiful hand made spoon heart was sitting next to the coffee pot this morning!

After 19 years of marriage I still get incredibly thoughtful anniversary gifts-truly from the heart...

NYC

While we were in New York we decided to go to Hoboken, New Jersey-home to Carlo's Bakery aka

 The Cake Boss!



After a 20 minute $45 cab ride, we discovered a line of about 50 people outside. When we were selected to go inside, there were another 40 people in a very small bakery! We bought tons of pastries, saw Buddy's sister and one of the bakers from tv! We enjoyed our cannolis and cupcakes then found a $9 bus back to the city! Evelyn was a good sport and let me stop at a flea market on the way to New Jersey.

Vintage Hair Accessories

My daughter thinks only "old" people would wear these! We stained a piece of leather, sewed on a vintage shoe buckle, added the stick and voila! I'm back in the 70's!

NYC

Lizzy & I are off to New York City this morning, we were chosen to be in the audience for Martha Stewart's Show on Consignment/Thrift Store finds! We are very excited about the show and spending a quick weekend  in NY.

I'll let you know all of the details next week!

Tony

I just finished a custom belt buckle for a new friend. This is a photo of her dad with his horse "Tony". I was lucky to find a rhinestone horseshoe amongst my treasures!

I dropped the buckle off a little while ago, I hope she likes it!

Yesterday...

Yesterday, I bought this leather belt at Amvets Thrift Store. It was half price!

Today, it is a cool new cuff for my daughter!

Did you know that Martha Stewart has a show coming up on Consignment/Thrift Store finds? I can't wait!

Restyled leather & vintage spoons

Look what you can do with scraps of leather and vintage spoons!

A flattened spoon, a few rivets, bits of leather and wow!

We added two snaps so you can adjust the cuff to fit your wrist.
These will be available to purchase soon!

Rethink, re-purpose, re-style....

vintage jewelry for the bride & her party...

Tomorrow is the big day! Our first Bridal Bazaar!  We've covered the dress form with sheet music, painted cinderella's coach chippy white, made t-shirts (with a minor spelling error!) and made lots of vintage jewelry for the brides of San Diego!  Take a peek...

vintage spoons with restyled earrings and buttons

a link from a belt & a button make a fabulous bracelet

                                       buttons & earrings make blingy bracelets & cocktail rings!

We are very near the wedding cakes! They look just like Cake Boss or DC Cupcakes and we get to sample them all!  Can't wait.

Getting Ready for the Bridal Bazaar...

Lizzy B and I took some photos for our upcoming day at The Bridal Bazaar in San Diego. It was quite an eye opener to see my teenager put on a wedding dress to model for me!

                                                                                    Vintage floral curtain tiebacks

These bracelets are made from vintage dictionaries!

I am working on a custom boutonniere for a groom, I'll post the picture as soon as he picks his favorite piece!

What happens to the rest of the typewriter?

Someone just asked me what happens to the "rest" of the typewriter after we remove the keys...

it ends up in our garden of course!

Wedding Accents

Can't you see these on a handsome guy in a tux? These custom cufflinks were made from vintage typewriter keys! The B's are for two brothers and the vintage maps are for a special Mercato customer!  More cufflinks will be available by special request and at the upcoming Bridal Bazaar in August.

Happy Father's Day...

This is a photo of my dad from the 1930's, I made the photo into a belt buckle and added a few vintage rhinestones. He's no longer with us but I'm glad I have this wonderful piece to remember him by!

Happy Father's Day to my dad, husband, brothers and all of the wonderful dads in our lives!

Take dad on a tour...

Visit funky South Park with dad! You can tour the homes, shop, have lunch and grab a latte at Grant's Market! Then, stop by my booth to see our new line of vintage mosaic tile jewelry and floral curtain tieback necklaces!

Mermaid's Mercantile

What a weekend! Lisa, Tricia, Rita and Christie were all at Glitterfest on Saturday and then some of us continued the fun at The Mermaid's Mercantile on Saturday. Here are a few photos:

My spoons made into stamped circles                            Vintage Bling 4 U

Vintage Bliss

See you gals in June!

Brimfield!

We left at 6:30am (I was still on CA time, 3:30am!)

The car was empty when we started!

The first stop was my brother's booth in May's Field. He showed me a copy of Antique Toy World which had a tribute to my dad and 2 friends who have recently passed away. In the day, they were a big deal at Brimfield!

It took 2 hours to find my first typewriter! By the end of the day we had 4! I also found out what Santa does in his off months!

Score! We spent hours digging through piles of silverware. Liz quickly learned you can get a nasty wound from a fork!

We had a great day at Brimfield and are planning our next trip. (oh, as we were leaving for the day, trying to pull our wagon full of silverware, typewriters, Fiestaware and the pair of antique skis, my sister in law scored 6 diningroom chairs and she won! She spent more than me!)

Mermaid's Mercantile giveaway...

Join us on May 23rd for The Mermaid's Mercantile in Solana Beach. It is a magical market with over 20 artisans. If you go to the Mermaid's site you will see that many of us will have special giveaways during this month's show! I will be giving away a vintage typewriter key necklace with 'XO' on a sterling 18 inch chain. Simply leave a comment below or on my facebook page and on The Mermaid's Mercantile site letting me know that you will be joining us at the mercantile. The winner may pick-up the necklace at The Mermaid's Mercantile on Sunday, May 23rd. Just stop by my booth and introduce yourself!

For those of you who can't make it to the marketplace, a second name will be drawn!

Good luck and see you on May 23rd at The Mermaid's Mercantile!

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

My bags are packed and I'm off to...

The Brimfield Antique Show!  This is one of the largest and best known shows in the country. I haven't been since I was little when my parents used to set up at Mays Field. Now my brother has taken over the tradition and is there 3 times a year selling antique toys.

I only have one day to shop but hope to find wagons full of vintage treasures! I'll post photos as we walk the thousands of booths. I can't wait!

Mom

This is my mom at Hampton Beach, N.H. probably in the late 1950's. I think my brother, Julio, is the little blondie! I love her bathing suit and towel on her head. In honor of Mother's Day, I made her photo into a belt buckle for me to cherish:

I added a note of vintage rhinestones, sealed everything with an epoxy coating and I love the way it turned out!( you'll have to wait until Father's Day to see my dad's photo!)

If you'd like to order a belt buckle from your own photos, send me an email gina@lizzybees.com

These make awesome graduation, birthday, anniversary or any day gifts!

So exciting!

I'm thrilled to have some of my sterling spoon necklaces featured on Jenny Doh's site crescendoh! Just click on the 'shop' button-just in time for Mother's Day! Jenny's site is full of wonderful art as well as inspiring stories-check it out today!

a little thank you goes a long way...

My neighbor's daughter dropped off a handwritten thank you note the other day...

I knew her mom was having a particularly trying week so I decided to make her this...

I used the original thank you note, vintage french book pages and a vintage chandelier crystals. I hope I made her day a tad brighter...

Then I went back to Poofy...