Christmas light bouquet

Ever wonder what to do with those old strands of Christmas lights?  The ones with the really big bulbs?

Here's an idea - make a bouquet out of them!  I've put them in a vintage enamel container, but you can use almost anything as a vase to hold the light bouquet. And, they're lovely displayed year round.

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Repurposing

I love to repurpose vintage items. By that I mean to use them for a purpose for which they were not originally intended. A lot of times I buy vintage items without knowing what I want to do with them and sometimes I buy with an idea in mind and never get around to using them. Right now, I have a lot of those copper or bronzed baby shoes in my Etsy shop.



There are a total of seventeen shoes, seven pairs and three singles. Some of the shoes are very old - maybe even victorian. I originally bought these because I was going to use them as little planters on my deck and porch. I never got around to doing that because for one thing, I'm not sure it would be good for them to be out in the weather. So, that is why they're now in my shop.

I can see lots of other uses for them. I think they would be adorable as part of a baby mobile. Use some of the shoes and some wooden blocks spelling BABY or the baby's name - or add some vintage toys to the mobile such as rattles. I also think they would be adorable to make centerpieces for a baby shower. They could have flowers or rattles or candy or whatever else matches the theme and be given away as prizes for games. Of course, I still think about the planter idea for an indoor area.

I've posted this before, but an idea I borrowed from someone at a flea market is to use a vintage string of Christmas lights as a bouquet in an enamelware container. It's a great way to repurpose those lights since I personally think they're a fire hazard and a way to display some of your vintage items at Christmas. I have added one of those "bouquets" to my Etsy store in case you're looking for one.

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Flea market ideas

I love flea markets - so many treasures to be found. In recent years, I've been able to pick up a lot of really good decorating ideas from flea market vendors. And so, I've found even another reason to love them. I want to share a couple of those ideas.

I love vintage mirrored dresser trays and they are readily available at very low prices. They come in all shapes and sizes. One vendor had three of them stacked with candle holders in between. So, I decided to borrow that idea for my guest bedroom and here is the result:



The small tray on top has small rings on the side to hold lipstick. I chose two green depression candle holders because they match my decor but just about any candle holders would work.

The other idea involves vintage Christmas lights. I've seen those vintage strands of lights with the large bulbs and have always wondered how in the world they could be used. So, I never bought any until I saw this idea at a flea market.



The vendor had used a vintage enamel container and placed the lights in it as if it were a bouquet. I have so many enamel pieces and just loved the idea. So, I bought several strands. Even though it's no longer Christmas, I think these colors look like Easter.

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