Creating " Pearl "

Greetings dear friends & readers


About 4 years ago now my friend Gail closed down her Gift Shop - I had worked part time in this store for 18 years  but left about 7 years ago to focus on my Craft Cottage.
After Gail closed the doors The Mr & I went with our large enclosed trailer & took several loads of left over stock 
back to Gails house.
This torso/mannequin was amongst the stock, in fact there were two of them - it had been for sale for $160 -
 $80 in her half price sale

No one had bought them so I asked Gail what she wanted for this one & she said $20 !  I promptly paid her for it & now Wish I had bought the other as well.
Home it came & - in typical "Julie fashion" - sat in the corner of my bedroom gathering dust bunnies for 4 years !!

I had a rather vague idea of what I wanted to do with it but nothing specific.

One afternoon in late summer I dragged it out onto my deck area & began to paint it with some leftover acrylic wall paint that I found - Cottage Cream
It took several coats to cover the fabric body & the dark wood base but eventually I was happy with it

Inside it sat - in a corner of my lounge - for a further two months!!

Last weekend was a long weekend here in New Zealand being Queen's Birthday Weekend.
I dragged it down to a light sunny spot by my french doors & began to decorate it with cream crochet doilies, of which I have rather a few 😉

I had this deep cream fringing which I glued to the lower part & then just carried on - making it up as I went along - mod podging on doileys & vintage laces.
It was fun but I needed to walk away from it often,  then go back & view it through fresh eyes

Slowly over the course of the weekend I built up the doiley coverage

Until I decided I was happy with it .  .  .  .  then I stood back & decided "she" needed a belt around her waist 
& a corsage at her neck 

I found this fabric flower for the corsage & embellished it with some milliners netting 
For the belt I used a wide cream cotton lace & then fashioned a calico "flower" which I embellished with pearls & a lace frill + more milliners netting.

I decided to add a long string of Pearls around her neck ... this is when I decided to name her Pearl 💗

Lastly I lightly sanded/distressed the woodwork & then glued a row of mother-of-pearl buttons around her neck

The back view

The front view ... I gave her two good coats of mod podge when finished which has sealed all the fabric nicely 
& will make her "wipeable" should I need to clean her 😉

I have taken her outside to my deck area to try to get a clearer photo on this dull grey winters day.
I really, really LoVe Pearl 💕 & am so pleased I finally got to bring her to life

I also managed to complete some more upcycles for my local St John's Op Shop over the long weekend

A wooden coat hook with gold hooks - I didn't even unscrew the hooks, just chalk painted over them ... the colour 
is Arctic, a pretty pale duck egg colour

This wooden camphor box got the "Arctic treatment" also 

You can see in the left hand photo how the marker pen colours bled through my paintwork despite 3 coats

The interior of the box was such a mess - someone had stored felt pens/vivid markers inside it at some stage.
I painted the sides & planned to line the base & inside lid with some cotton fabric. 
Unfortunately the vivid markers bled through the paint - even 3 coats didn't hide it, so I glued some pretty scrapbooking papers onto the sides, which complimented my lining fabric.

This plain wooden tray was my first attempt at using the stencil I purchased from Paint Me Vintage in this Post
 I rather love how this tray turned out & gave it a good wax afterwards to make it wipeable

And two more gold mirrors - one completed here & one still in the process - the colour "Old Linen"


I could not believe my luck last week when I won an Auction on Trademe for these gorgeous vintage 
embroidered tea towels.

I just adored them & was even more thrilled when the parcel arrived in the post & they were even more special !

I am unsure as yet what I will do with them but I am absolutely certain they will Not be used to wipe dirty dishes !!!

Thanks so much for staying with me through this rather long post dear friends,
I am battling both a head cold & a tummy bug at present so I am off to join this little furry friend & tuck up for this wintery afternoon

Take care dear readers - be kind to yourselves & to each other
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0