Handmade Homemade Hand Altered Buying Online and Local

 

Handmade Homemade Hand Altered Buying Online and Local with LilacsNDreams. Welcome to everyone visiting!

Special reminder that buying products this way is better for everyone, creators and buyers. 

Handmade is considered made, or prepared by hand rather than by machine. It is made by hand, a hand process, and made by people using their hands. Individual pieces, or materials that compromise a finished item. Paint, wire, and pieces combined that create a final item. 

Hand Altered is glued, nailed, screwed, sewn, stapled, embroidered, inscribed, painted, drawn, photographed, etc. Any alteration, or embellishment to an item by hand, hand controlled machine, and traditional art or craft method. Hand Altered can also be referred to as hand embellished, or hand assembled too. 

Homemade can be referred to pieces that are repurposed, upcycled, restyled, reimagined, etc. Made or prepared in the home, made by oneself, crudely or simply made. Creative touches, quality supplies, ingredients, and so on. 

So, why pieces like this? Many reasons which I will mention a few.

1)  Find something unique. Home decor, clothing, wall decor, and many things will not be exactly what someone else has. You can keep up with the trends  by fixing, adding, changing, fixing it up. Makes it unique for you.

2)  Super Craftsmanship. Handmade items get individual care, special attention, focus on details, quality control, etc. There are no assembly lines with unskilled workers. 

3)  Putting money into good hands. When you pay an artist, or craftsman for their work they are actually getting the profit from it. You are not paying a CEO of a major company, their overhead, and so on. You can also improve the economy, and make a difference by shopping this way with Handmade, Homemade, and Hand Altered.

4)  Better Customer Service. I like to think that buying this way you get individual attention from the seller. When receiving products you might have a hand written note, a thank you, and once in a while you might get some little freebie included with your item. If you have a problem with some kind of mix up, lost or damaged in shipping, maybe item received was faulty, it is almost always taken care of effectively. These sort of issues though happen less frequently due to the care, and the concern Sellers strive for in having Happy Customers. 

5)  Go Green. Smaller scale operations will produce less waste, use recycled materials, found objects, industrial salvage pieces, etc. items that could have gone to the landfills, but with these technique of Sellers they are spared and used.

6)  Get custom items and alterations. Great to have things made just for you. It’s a pleasure to receive one of a kind items, and maybe to help complete a vision you might have of something not yet out there. Also, if you don’t have the skill or time to make it yourself, there is someone out there who does. 

7)  Make somebody’s dream come true. Many of us dream about quitting the day job, becoming your own boss, and doing what you love to do everyday. Whether it is for you, or helping someone else with this, it is very inspiring. 

                              “Do What You Love, and the World Will Follow”

As mentioned before there are many categories that fall into these topics mentioned. Jewelry, clothing, accessories, home decor, housewares, vintage, used, soaps, lotions, bath products, etc. they all have something in common. Start from scratch, connect things, or pieces making something for you. 

There are many wonderful sellers out there doing all kinds of work. They take much pride in what they do, and like many others work very hard at what they do to make their items to be offered to you. When shopping please don’t forget about them. I would suggest if you have not already bought something like this . . . Give it a try. You will be very surprised at what you get, and will want more. It’s addictive! 

The picture below was made by a friend who is no longer here. She took much pride in her work, and spent much time with it. This bunny was made from colored glass beads using safety pins to form the body. Under the body was a light, and when lit was so soft colored and cute!

Thank You for visiting with LilacsNDreams. See you again soon. Till then take care, and be safe!

Toodles . . . . . . 

Federal Glass Bowl Candy Dish Compote Holder Wood Bowl Glassware Home Decor

 Federal Glass Bowl Candy Dish Compote Holder Wood Bowl Glassware Home Decor with LilacsNDreams. Hello to everyone who visits today!

Yesterday was kind of a lazy relaxing day. So, when it was time to consider what to share with everyone I was a little bit stumped, and not quite sure what to share this time. So, I went back through old pictures, looking at past things I’ve done, having memories of things I did, etc. That is when I decided to share a little bit of things I had done over time. The pieces I am sharing have all sold back in time when I started this change of interests for selling. This would be around the time I was getting started with repurposing different pieces, and I was starting to experiment with painting too. I miss some of these pieces, and wish I still had them. I enjoy being able to combine sometimes a vintage piece with another to give it a new life for others to be able to enjoy too.

This is a Federal Glass Bowl Candy Dish Compote Holder I had repurposed, restyled, and upcycled. 

This was a cute, sturdy little piece that I combined 2 pieces of glassware uniting them to make this one compote piece. Many uses for it like a candy dish, candle holder, jewelry dish, catch all, in bathroom with some soaps and things, and the possibilities are endless. I used a gorgeous iridescent clear glass bowl by federal glass. I united it with a glass candle holder with an hexagon shape to make the base/stand for this adorable piece. Both glass pieces were sturdy, and just adorable together! It look store bought.

Now, this is a picture showing some items I found while thrifting back in 2011. Pay more attention to the brown wooden bowls. Those bowls were my first projects that I painted. I used white spray paint, a French blue spray paint, and the pink paint I used was a pink slipper color. It was a trying time to learn to paint with spray paint, what to do so it wouldn’t run, and I also tried a little of distressing with the white and blue bowl compote stands. The other pieces you see I eventually did some plate compote stands with them too. Creativity of uniting pieces is fun, and makes the finished items unique in small ways. Adds a little life, and character to items being repurposed and preserved for new times and uses.

Below you will see a picture that shows the wooden bowls I had painted with the colors mentioned. I was pretty proud of myself, and how they looked when finished. It excited me to do more too!

Hope everyone enjoyed seeing some of my first repurposed, and restyled pieces I made. I haven’t done as much with the compote plate stands like I use to. But, I do dabble a little bit with it yet. 

Thanks so much for visiting with LilacsNDreams everyone! I appreciate you stopping by, and hope to see you again soon. Take care till the next time, and be safe everyone! Toodles . . . . 

Mini Wooden Crates Handmade Restyled Repurposed DIY Crafting

 

Mini Wooden Crates Handmade Restyled Repurposed DIY Crafting with LilacsNDreams! Welcome to all who are visiting.

Today I am going to share with you an item that is used for crafting, and give you a few ideas that have been shared too. All of the pictures below came from one of the Facebook Groups that I follow, Dollar Tree Farmhouse DIY. So much fun, others helping others, and sooo many crafty ideas are shared there too. Many crafters you will find get a lot of their supplies from the Dollar Tree stores, and Dollar General stores along with other places too. With these 2 stores you get new products you can create with. Painting, Mod Podge, glue, calendars, placemats, wired garbage cans, pizza pans, sheet pans, and the list goes on. 

So, one of the members of the facebook group asked for some ideas that have been done with the wooden mini crates that are sold at the Dollar Tree store. What you see below the picture of the crates is just a few things of what everyone was sharing. 

Crates shown are what is being used for the craft ideas people were sharing

The mini crates here were painted, chalkboard tags added to the front, some wooden balls making mini pulls, and these mini crates were placed inside the bigger crates which have been painted, and stacked too.

This project was created with the mini crate which was added to 1 of the handled cutting boards. You can see what was painted, paper/cloth added, wording, ribbon, etc. How cute for a counter top, or on the table too.

This is cute too! Looks like the crate was stained, had some stained feet added to the bottom, white wording was added on the side, and some cute embellishments were added in the top of the open crate.

This is another crate stand that had been made by putting the smaller ones into the bigger stacked crate boxes. Chalkboard tags added to the front, and this piece shows how they can be used for pull out storage drawers probably in the bathroom.

Another popular craft to make with this mini crate is the appearance of stacked books with wording, some saying, names, dates, etc painted on the side. This one was decorated with some twine wrapping the books together.

Both of these pictures show the front, and side of this stand. You can use popular arrow signs for the sides with the wooden crates/boxes, or you could even use some paint stir sticks put together. A rope twine had been wrapped on the sides adding a little more character to this stand. The mini crate boxes could set within the trays used on this stand. 

There are so many things that can be used to craft with, and create with at your dollar stores, things found from thrift stores, and so on. The possibilities are endless. The next time you see something you like, you want it, but don’t want to pay the price on it. Keep in mind that maybe you can still have it by making it, and spending a lot less than what you see in the store. Plus, you can alter a little by putting your color on it, some little touch you want to change, something you might want to add, and etc. 

Hope you enjoyed this, and maybe are able to get some ideas of things you can do too. If you’re not the crafty type, but know someone who is, maybe they can help you out with your idea. Don’t forget to check online too. There are a lot of crafters out there who would be happy to help you because they love what they do.

Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams! Hope to see you again. Till the next time take care, and be safe. Toodles . . . . . . 

Glass Candle Candy Snack Dish Pedestal Stand Home Decor

Glass Candle Bowl Dish Stand Candy Dish Jewelry Dish Snack Dish Bowl Pedestal Stand Home Decor Centerpiece Table Decor by LilacsNDreams.

I repurposed, restyled, and upcycled this gorgeous glass stand by using 3 pieces of glass. I united them using an industrial adhesive. I used a glass candle holder along with 2 glass snack dishes to make this pedestal stand. All pieces have a very clean shine, and show very very minimal signs of use, if any. I am not seeing, or feeling any knicks, chips, cracks, etc.

There are Many Ways to Use These Pedestal Stands:

~ Can be used for all types of events, and parties. Wedding, Anniversary, Birthday, Display in a Shoppe or Cafe, Special Occasions, Office Supplies, Catch all for everything, etc.

~ Great for displaying candles, candies, nuts, mints, pastries, truffles, etc

~ Unique home decor center piece, table decor, candle holder, some succulent plants, etc

~ Add a little glass cloche with it

~ Add some seasonal decor, some of your favorite things, knick knacks, etc

Many versatile uses to consider, scatter around the home for use, and I think you’ve got the idea. Another unique feature with some of the stands is that you can flip them over to use in a more single simpler way. This will depend on the base that the stand has.

MEASUREMENTS:

    About ~

6 1/8” tall
5 6/8” diameter
5 1/4” wide base foot

Buy this for yourself, or for an unforgettable gift!
Please note sale is for glass item only. None of the decorative accessories are included with this. Only used for visuals, and suggested ideas.

It’s a pleasure to help you find your treasures. Please ask any questions you may have prior to purchase. If you need more pictures please let me know. I would be happy to assist you. Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams, and come on back anytime.

I am listing this gorgeous handmade stand for $32.00. This price does include shipping.

Payments are accepted with PayPal, or Venmo too.

Any questions please contact Me (Kim) by email with lilacsndreams@gmail.com

Fall Halloween Home Decor Handmade Repurposed Restyled DIY

                                             

Fall Halloween Home Decor That’s Handmade Repurposed Restyled and DIY

Welcome to LilacsNDreams Everyone! Glad you stopped by! 

Below you will see pictures of things I have been working on within the past couple days that I have completed. Excuse the order of the pictures as me, and my IPad are not getting along tonight. I am showing you pictures of before, or close to it. Then, you are seeing the completed projects too. The little fall tree below is made from a Dollar Tree plunger, some burlap, Dollar Tree leaves, a planter, some glue, and etc. 

Below were a couple of items I got from the Dollar Tree store. A witches hat with a purple Boo, and below it is some witches feet that also have purple, and black coloring too. Below this picture you will see the completed project where I attached the witches feet to the bottom of the hat.  

Below you will see my first time creation of making a pumpkin from splatter guards bought from the Dollar Tree store. This picture is the completion, and below this picture you will see a picture showing the guards connected, painted, and before the leaves and ribbon had been added.

Below is a picture of my light post outside our front door. I added a little fall decor to that with Dollar Tree leaf vine, and in the pot some Dollar Tree fall flowers, and a couple of gores too. The lights you see came with this light pole.

I had fun with these projects, and am anxious to do more too. But, first I need to get some more glue to work with.

Thank You for stopping by LilacsNDreams! Take care till the next time! Toodles....

Repurposed Upcycled Reused Reclaimed Cake Cupcake Plate Pedestal Stands

Repurposed Reused Upcycled Restyled Cake Cupcake Plate Pedestal Stands

 Welcome to LilacsNDreams! I wanted to stop by, and share some pictures with you of some of my Cake Cupcake Plate Pedestal Stands, Snack Plate Stand, and Berry Candy Nut Bowl Stand that I have completed so far. I have a few others done, but these were my most recent treasures I worked with. Most of the time I collect pieces that do accumulate, and at some point they come together. I have often bought pieces that I thought would unite, and looked good together. Once I get home, look things over, I will often change my mind. I had this piece, that looks much better with that piece, this doesn’t match as well as I thought it would, and sometimes I find a flaw that will not be acceptable for what is being created at the time. The flaw might be noticeable, and distracting from the pieces that will unite. Sometimes if it catches I have no desire to use it. Just different thoughts used while creating pieces.

I’m having fun, and hope you are enjoying what is being shared with you. Any questions don’t be afraid to contact Me. Keep an eye on my Shoppe at Etsy  I want to complete a few more items that I have in mind. I hope to be posting these new treasures very soon for everyone to enjoy for the upcoming holidays, special occasions, weddings, gift giving, etc.

Thank You for visiting with LilacsNDreams! Stop by anytime. Take care everyone! Toodles....

Vintage Wood Letter Blocks Repurposed Crafted Quilt Word

Vintage Wood Letter Blocks Repurposed Crafted Quilt Word

Welcome to LilacsNDreams! I have had a productive busy kind of week. I was able to list a couple of other items with my shop at Etsy. Hubby was in last minute so I did some quick errands with that. I had a sale come through on Friday for me at Etsy in which I got that prepared, and shipped right away. I also was able to get a little crafting time in too! That was enjoyable, and I'm anxious to do more too!

A while back I had found a really small plastic container with a just few old wooden letter blocks in it. I'm not lucky enough to see this often when I am thrifting so naturally I snactched them up right away. Unfortunately, they had been pushed to the side with other craft projects when our son was home on leave for a couple of weeks. Well, during this past week I brought them out, played around with them a bit, course I started to get an idea and went thrifting through some of my own stash of this, that, and what not items. Got the glue out, and I got things put together with my little creative crafting. That is one thing I like about crafting. I always have a general idea of how I want to do things, but somewhere along the way I alter a little bit here, and a little bit there. Or, while I am sitting and waiting on glue to set, and dry my eyes will look around, and create things along the way that I can use with the project at hand. I enjoyed making this project with the letter wood blocks, and ordered more wood letter blocks because I have another idea for something I would like to create. 

With the left top picture it shows the items I set out to work with. With the top right picture it shows the wood letter blocks that I put together before gluing them. The picture below this shows one of those moments I had while I was waiting on glue to dry with the blocks. A little silver bead sat looking at me with one hole in it. The straight pins I wanted to use somewhere with the blocks was set into that hole. Reminded me of a little mini pin cushion. So, I dropped some glue drops on that right away before it got away from me.

The 2 pictures you are seeing below is the completed project that I did. I put wood blocks together spelling QUILT, and then I added different little embellishments to the top of the attached blocks to dress it within the quilting theme. 

I had fun doing this. Things sort of fell into place for me when I got started. I enjoyed it, and got excited with it that I was sharing pictures right away with a friend of mine showing what I was doing. She asked if I was going to do more, if I was keeping this, or will I put it in my Etsy Shop. I did spend time today searching for more wooden blocks at a reasonable price that I can craft with. I found some that will work for the next project. Unfortunately, I checked in on my order and found that the seller is on vacation. I will have to wait a full week before shipment will be done for my purchase. 

Oh, well, I know what to do when those do get here. Guess I'll just have to find another craft to work with, huh? LOL! I have some things sitting here that can be worked on, and shouldn't take me long either. Also, I have some Anchor Hocking Blue Glass Bubble Plates I need to find. They are some where in this room. I seen them when I was organizing things. Now...I can't remember where I put them. Be nice to find those, and get them listed in my shop too.

This has been a pleasure sharing these thoughts, and ideas of crafting with you. I hope you have enjoyed this, and maybe it has helped you with some of your own ideas too. 

Thanks for stopping by LilacsNDreams! Come back any time!