a mixed bag.

hieee. i just wanted to share a few random things that i've been keeping in my back pocket.

this is the display at ceramic dreams in broad ripple, IN. (can you spot the hair treasures?) i have loved having my items for sale in this wonderful shop!

if you live in the broad ripple area, you should definitely visit ceramic dreams to paint some pottery and browse the handmade gift shop. tanya, the owner, is so supportive of local handmade goods. what a great business!

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when i was in florida this summer, i delivered 13 pieces to my aunt donna. all of the pieces were made from her mother's old jewelry, and aunt donna wanted each of her sisters, nieces, and grandnieces to have something. 

here's one of the headbands: 

(tulle, feathers, and a vintage gold & pearl O brooch) 

here is chelsea (my aunt donna's niece) in her headband. it looks great in her blond hair! so pretty! 

i am so glad that i could give my aunt donna, chelsea, and all the rest of the girls a little piece of their mother/grandmother/great grandmother in something that they can keep forever. 

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i have met some really great people in my program at IU. we're pretty lucky that we all like each other and like to do things together (besides homework). some of the girls bought hair treasures and warmed my crafty little heart with their kindness.

here's one of my classmates, claudia, in her new treasure:

purple perfection, if you ask me. this one was made for her. 

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new project: 

sara from sara & mallary photography asked my sister and i to participate in something special for their web site! sara wants to highlight local vendors for her bridal clients, and we get to be a part of it! 

my sister trisha is a stylist at DL Lowry in indy (she is amazing! go see her!), so her part of the project will be to do some "wedding hair" (on sara, i think -- possibly professionally videotaped). and my part will involve professional sara & mallary photos of a hair treasures wedding collection. 

i am so excited and grateful that sara invited us to be included in this vendor spotlight. i am hoping that by thanksgiving, i will have a brand new bridal collection -- a piece for a bride and maybe 5 or 6 bridesmaid pieces. i'm thinking i want to go a little more over-the-top than i have with previous collections because i don't really have any guidelines. sweet!

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that's enough of an update for now. tonight it's cool and fall-timey. i ate some pumpkin pie ice cream, which was sort of a dream come true. i can't wait to start wearing sweaters and hats and other warm things. i hope you are loving wherever you are. 

hair treasures featured on AnsleyHaydenHasLove.

hi, pals. i have been a busy grad school bee, but i just wanted to share something wonderful!

one of my sister's dear friends, hayden, has a beautiful blog, dedicated to bridging the ideas of art and love. she is a beautiful girl inside and out, as you can see from her posts, and i feel like our appreciation for the beauty in simplicity may make us kindred spirits. 

i answered some questions for hayden, and she put together this post about hair treasures. check it out and browse the rest of the blog. i know you will find something that will make your day! 

(here's a little excerpt from my AnsleyHaydenHasLove question&answer) :

here in indiana, it's turning to autumn. i am loving my leafy bike rides to campus. i hope you find beauty in something simple and lovely today. 

a hair treasures hoedown.

i was so honored when my friend annie asked me to donate an item for a silent auction benefitting amethyst house here in bloomington. amethyst house is an organization that provides services for people drug / alcohol addictions, and annie has worked at the women's house for a couple years.

the silent auction was only a part of the festivities for this fund-raiser. the event was a square / contra dance, complete with a caller (who sort of didn't know how to be a caller), a fiddle, bbq, and a live auction (featuring a real auctioneer in a cowboy hat).

here are some pictures of the donated headband (my apologies for the low-quality phone pics) :  

(orange faux suede band. topped with tan, brown, and brown w/ white polka dot feathers and gold vintage leaf brooch.)

(i believe this brooch came from my aunt donna. she was so kind to give me some of her mother's beautiful vintage jewelry to use for hair treasures.)

(look! people were bidding! the last time i saw the paper, it was at $20.)

annie and i pretty much tore up the dance floor, except for the part when i got really dizzy from too many "swing your partner"s and fell onto a chair and then involuntarily banged my head into the wall more than once, due to the disorientation. (i don't know either.) i laughed lot, learned some sweet dances, got a sweet free bandana, and left the whole thing a hot, sweaty mess. a complete success if you ask me!

(i got to be the "man" in our partnership. i messed up pretty much every single move we were taught and even caused annie to clothesline a girl. yikes!)

i really hope that the first annual square dance was able to raise money for amethyst house. i'm so glad that hair treasures was a part of it!

recent wedding treasures.

oh, hi.

first things first: so i won't be participating in the bloomington handmade market this year. it's very humbling to be rejected from an event that i wish i were cool enough to participate in. i know there are tons of vendors who are much more artistic and have more unique items, so i am excited to see those in november! it's a bummer that i didn't get accepted, but i am not going to let that crush my crafty spirit!

moving on to a happier subject, i thought i'd share some recent special orders for weddings. marriage!

desire' contacted me a while ago through my dear friend ashley nacke. it's so fun to realize how small the world is and how connections can be made through facebook and the blog world! for her brother and (now) sister-in-law's wedding, desire' wanted something to match her bright red shoes (and so did one other bridesmaid).

the shoes:

i decided to mimic the shape of the rosette and add some vintage jewelry to each of the two pieces. i went with diamonds because desire' said it matched the bridesmaid jewelry. here's what i ended up with: 

faux satin rosettes with some of my favorite vintage jewels:

here's deisre' sporting her treasure and wedding 'do:

so pretty!

i just finished some pieces for my friend erika's wedding. erika is one of the secondhand happenings gals, and i am so excited that three of her bridesmaids will be sporting hair treasures. 

erika's bridesmaids requested pieces similar to the designs i did for jara's wedding (the twisted fabrics with beading). she sent me a picture of the jewelry and even gave me the fabric (whoa!), both of which helped tremendously. 

erika's bridesmaids' jewelry:

(i love the yellow and dark pewter color together!)

here's what i came up with: 

one headband and two clips, all three beaded similarly. i used glass beads in silver and the darker pewter color. erika's bridesmaids' dresses are yellow, and the darker fabric in the background matches the jewelry. perfect!

the headband (to be worn by the lovely laura balke) :

two peas in a pod (not sure who will wear these, but they will be matchers!) :

erika's wedding is in just a couple weeks. i can't wait to see pictures of everything! oh, and speaking of secondhand happenings and weddings, if you haven't already checked out something borrowed, you need to! the SH gals are now offering a beautiful assortment of vintage dinnerware to rent for special occasions. pretty perfect, right? right. 

more fun things are happening in the hair treasures world. i will post again soon! have a happy sunday. 

welcome to my humble abode.

i am ready for my triumphant return to the blogosphere. hello, world. the past couple weeks have brought many new changes for me, including moving to a brand new town and living by myself for the very first time and starting grad school at IU. it's been a whirlwind thus far, and i'm not expecting things to slow down anytime soon.

i began nesting for my new apartment long before i moved in. i started preparing / collecting wall decor, rugs, curtains, lamps, and all kinds of things to make this little place feel like home. i figured it would help with all of the newness that is currently surrounding me.

i want to share some photos of my apartment. i think i would describe it as granny-meets-hippie-meets-fabric-store. if there are any items of interest, i will describe. enjoy my little tour!

living room (and gretta) :

curtains, lampshades, pillows, flowers in vase, and canvases made by me. rug from urban outfitters. couch from goodwill. lamps from favorite finds in carmel. coffee / end tables and shelves from target. quilt made by my grandma. table runner from my friends jessica & jessi's etsy shop, j. emporium. end table covers from world market.

lamp close-up:

i did a lampshade tutorial a while ago. this is my second finished product. i love the green base! green glass pressed flower art from nashville art/craft fair.

living room / dining area:

more fabric canvases / frames made by me. table from craigslist. table wall decor from goodwill / target / michael's. table rug from urban outfitters. 

close-up of table wall decor:

more living room:

shelves, clock, and record box from target. shelf curtain and heart art made by me. wall shelf from nashville flea market. framed posters from my friend jessica (frames from goodwill & hobby lobby). fan from my parents. record player from the internetz.

secret craft corner:

i made this curtain to cover up my plastic drawers and bins full of craft supplies. the fabric is made from a thai kimono that my friend emily gave me. (her mom didn't want it!) my dad described this fan as my parents "first marriage fan." 29 years old and still going strong.

record area close-up:

jessica gave me these vintage post cards and original hatch show print poster as a gift when i moved from nashville. (band of horses on the player.)

behind-the door shelf:

(the things hanging from these hooks say a lot about me.) midwest is best bag from renegade handmade in chicago. helmet from nutcase in portland, oregon. 

dining area/kitchen:

green table coverings/cloth napkins from goodwill. breadbox from my old school. vase from goodwill. flowers made by me.

the view into the kitchen and hallway:

these two little ottomans (ottomen?) from target fit perfectly as counter seating. letter holder / key hanger from goodwill. tiny wall hanging in the left-hand corner from anthropologie.

kitchen:

lantern from anthropologie. flower hot pad from hobby lobby. patchwork oven mitt & hot pad from egypt (!). soap basket and towels from target. (the tiny owl on the oven was my mema's.)

above the kitchen sink:

the lantern and oven mitt are hanging from the cabinet knobs. framed owl fabric art made by me.

hallway:

dresser and picture frame from target. hanging shutter, table cover, and vases from goodwill. faux flowers from michael's.

bathroom:

shower curtain, towels, and rugs from target.

above the toilet:

there was a gross metal shelf above the toilet that i decided had to go asap, but it left a big ugly unpainted spot. i covered it with fabric and this floating shelf, then added the bucket and towel as decoration.

above the toilet close-up:

sink area:

check out that crazy expandable mirror! soap dispenser from world market. cup from anthropologie. toothbrush holder from target.

bedroom:

curtains (window and closet) made by me. quilt made by my grandma. shelves and dresser from target. mirror from goodwill. wall hooks from world market and urban outfitters. rug from urban outfitters.

dresser area close-up:

floral box from world market. wood/bronze box from southeastern salvage in nashville.

bed!

my grandma made this beautiful quilt! pillow cases, lights, lamp, tables, and dandelion decals from target. art above the light switch made by me.

bed wall close-up:

if only i had a sweet headboard! (please disregard the one light that doesn't work. oops.)

desk area:

desk from office depot. floating shelf from target. picture frames from goodwill. backpack from american apparel(!).

closet:

i'm proud to say that i dismantled my closet doors all by myself and rigged up these curtains. 21 yards of fabric, 12 shower curtain rings, and a 6 foot shower curtain rod = easy closet access. gretta is excited about it. (to the left is a little dandelion collage including one made by me (on the bottom).

and, of course, one more picture of gretta posing for the camera. she is such a diva!

my parents were skeptical that all of this furniture would fit into my 560 square foot apartment, but i managed to find a place for everything. the dresser in the hallway holds all of my fabric. the little dining table has drop leaves that open so i have a bigger area for crafts and sewing. i have a place for everything, and since i'm the only one who lives here, i got to call all the shots. it's been fun setting everything up and making it all homey. 

i have some hair treasures news and other fun things that i'll post soon. i hope to carve out a little time in the near future to make some new pieces. i'm feeling inspired. oh! there is an arts & crafts festival in bloomington this weekend, so maybe i'll see even more inspiring things! can't wait!