Tutorial Tuesday: Easy Vintage Postcard Wall Hanging

Tutorial Tuesday: Easy Vintage Postcard Wall Hanging

As a teenager dreaming of traveling the world, Amy of ehmeelu started to collect postcards...

I loved everything about them - the cool retro typography on the mid-century ones, the handwritten messages giving little snapshots of half-forgotten trips, the colourful stamps, the kitschy photos of every type of man-made and natural landmark you could imagine!

When I got older and actually moved to and from Asia, I didn't keep many personal items...moving by airplane has a way of whittling down your belongings! But somehow that postcard collection just kept growing. It seemed a shame to keep it in a box, so with the current trend of 70's style wall hangings in mind, I came up with an easy display idea.

All you need to create your own vintage postcard wall-hanging is…

• a handful of postcards
• some paperclips
• a thin dowel to suspend them
• a sturdy darning needle (to poke holes in the postcards)

First, choose your postcards. Remember you want to display some of the backs too. Do you have cards with interesting handwriting, or messages from people you know? I chose eight postcards with a retro Canadian theme, including two with messages addressed to my grandparents! My dowel (a lonely wooden knitting needle) was just long enough to hold two columns of postcards.

Once you are happy with the layout, carefully punch holes in the corners of the postcards with the darning needle. I placed them 1 cm in from the sides and 0.5 cm from the top and bottom edges. Every card needs a hole in all four corners, except the two cards that will hang at the bottom, which do not need holes in the bottom edge.

     

It’s easy to measure the position of the holes on the first postcard only, then use it as a guide to punch the rest of the holes.

Now thread a paper clip through the holes to join the postcards in the layout you have chosen.

The paperclips at the top of the layout will just slide onto the dowel. If the dowel is a little too thick to easily slide them on, just bend the paperclips open a little wider, and squeeze them tight once the columns of postcards are positioned the way you want them on the dowel.

You’re done! Now hang your vintage postcard wall hanging anywhere a wall needs a little colour or sense of adventure!

...project by Amy Anderson, who after living in 8 apartments, 4 cities, and 2 different hemispheres, has done a lot of creative shoestring decorating!

Find Amy’s knitting at ehmeelu.etsy.com

facebook.com/ehmeeluknits or, follow

@ehmeeluknits on Instagram.

Customer Service Sunday

Customer Service Sundays • How WESTies go the extra mile for you makes all the difference! • A new installment to WESTs posts, look forward to learning about the care that goes into each handmade or curated item from your favourite WESTies. 

Did You Know? Caitlin of Real Swanky hand writes a personalized thank-you note for each order, carefully bubble wrapping each embroidered piece with 3 of her snappy business cards? Parcels are wrapped with cute upcycled/thrifted kraft paper, to boot. Custom orders are happily welcomed with a turnover rate of ~5 days! Rest easy knowing your orders from Real Swanky will find you poste-haste in one piece!

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Earth Day Design Challenge Entries

The theme for the latest WEST Design Challenge was Earth Day. WESTies were encouraged to design or curate something  focused on re-using, recycling, up-cycling and reducing our impact. 

Here are all of this month's entries, in order of submission. There is a poll at the end of this post. VOTE for your favourite submission! The poll will be open for one week, and the winner will receive a special spot of recognition on the blog until the next design challenge!

Dayle from vbling says: "I [was] very excited about this design challenge and got to work right away with something I've been wanting to make for ages." Her lovely necklace is already sold!

Turquoise Butterfly Necklace by vbling

Krista from KristasJewellery says: "I bought a pair of earrings a while ago and never ever wore them or knew what to do with them so I took the aluminum charm off of one of them and made it the focal point of this necklace. I used three Picasso jasper stones as they are an earthy green and felt that they went well with the classic black and white of the pendant."

Pendant Necklace by KristasJewellery

Laura from PrairiePeasant says: "These miniature book necklaces are made from recycled leather, vintage buttons and offcuts of paper from larger projects. I have been wanting to work more with leather and these little mini books are the perfect project to start off with. All the leather I have is either scraps salvaged from various sources or garments that friends have given me, knowing that I might be able to use the leather in some way."

Leather Miniature Book Necklace by PrairiePeasant

Lisa from BitchinKitsch'n'Kitchen says: "This Earth Day, celebrate by whipping up a nice, fresh batch of home-squeezed juice! Perfect for oranges, lemons, limes, or tomatoes! This fantastic juice press has survived since the 1930s, and has many more years of life in it."

WearEver Aluminum Juicer from BitchinKitsch'n'Kitchen

Andrea from WeAreBoundTogether says: "The wood that covers the book are from salvaged scraps and leftover oak wood. Wood is sanded smooth and lightly finished with non-toxic danish oil which retains the natural colour of the wood. The script has been hand burned with a pyrography pen. Working with wood has been a rewarding experience, I love the earthiness and feel of wood and that these pieces are no longer in the back of a scrap pile."

Oak Book Pyrography by WeAreBoundTogether

Vote for your favourite design challenge entry on the poll below. Only one vote is allowed, so be sure to choose your fave!

The poll will close in one week on Sunday, April 20, at midnight, and the result will be posted on Earth Day. The talented winner will receive a spot of recognition on the WEST blog until the next design challenge. 

Earth Day Design Challenge

We're all hoping spring will be here soon; what's better than another design challenge to get us thinking about flowers blooming and trees turning green! Earth Day is on April 22, this year, so let's use that as our inspiration. The theme is here on the blog and the WEST forum on etsy. Take this inspiration in whatever direction your imagination leads. The goal is to challenge yourself, be inspired and enjoy the creative process!

Recycled Floppy Disc Notebook from WeAreBoundTogether

As you think about the theme, add comments to the discussion thread on Etsy about your process. Take pictures of your process and the finished item and post them in the discussion thread when you are done. It's interesting and inspiring to others to hear the story about how you arrived at your finished product, so go ahead and share a few comments about your process! The results of the challenge will be posted after the deadline, and then voting for your favourite will commence. 

Recycled Vintage Maps Button from PeriwinkleDzyns

Bohemian Oval Coiled Mat by PrairieThreads

The new theme for this challenge is Earth Day! Re-using, recycling, up-cycling and reducing our impact are all great angles for this challenge. Will you turn that old t-shirt into a new grocery bag, maybe you'll find remnants of fabric and make a light spring scarf, what about just finding a fabulous vintage piece to add to your home decor? I know we all love mixing old things with new to achieve the perfect look. You've got a whole month to come up with your design ideas and create. The deadline for this challenge is Friday April 11, with the entries being posted on Sunday April 13. When the entries are posted, you can vote for your favourite entry. The winner will be announced on Earth Day and featured on the blog side bar until the next design challenge. 

Fabric Flower Necklace from Heidi-and-Seek-Boutique

A few notes:
Create something new, especially for the challenge. Entries for each challenge must be finished by the posted deadline. Vintage and supply sellers are welcome to participate too, with a focus on artful photography and careful choice of item.
Happy designing! I hope this challenge and the few ideas I found in WESTie shops inspire you!
Ready... Set... Get Creative! 

Make the Most of Your Craft Dollar - Popular Post Revisited!

Those of you familiar with me or my Etsy shop know how I love to be thrifty with my craft supplies.

I thought I'd share some of my favourite tips for getting the most out of your craft dollar.

1 - Use what you have - yes, I know that's an obvious one, but before you head off to the nearest big box craft supply store take a peek in your supplies, maybe you already have something that will work? or something close enough that will take your project from drab to fab? I included the brass earrings above because when I first started making jewellery from computer parts I rarely mixed them with anything from my "regular" jewellery stash - then a friend encouraged me to think outside the box with my supplies - and voila! I now love pairing together the unexpected.

2 - Use coupons - not just that weekly coupon from the purveyor of plastic made in China supplies that shows up in your mailbox every week but check your favourite Etsy supply shop. Many have coupon codes for returning customers or seasonal specials you can take advantage of--ask them!

3 - Shop outside the normal confines of the craft store. The dollar store, grocery store, hardware store, art supply store - all can be inexpensive sources of materials you would pay way more for at the mall or large craft chain store.

4 - Thrift, church, charity, consignment, used, pawn stores, restore - whatever you call them, they are all fabulous sources of new and lightly used supplies or items just waiting for a new purpose--and the best place to consistently find vintage items at reasonable prices. Their prices can really vary, and yes, some contribute less to charity than others but buying at any of them helps to reuse items!

5 - Garage sales - people get tired of hobbies all the time and clear out their leftover supplies

6 - Garbage picking - see something interesting at the side of the curb or in an accessible dumpster? go for it! just be careful, some items are not worth the bed bug risk.

7 - Supply Swaps - got a bunch of friends with unwanted or excess supplies? hold a supply swap! it works for clothes and baby items, why not craft supplies?

8 - Kijiji, UsedWinnipeg etc. - online sources for no longer wanted supplies from some discarded hobby or estate.

9 - Clean out your supplies on at least an annual basis. Confine yourself to a set amount of space and keep your supplies labelled and organized. It doesn't matter how great a find or a deal it is if you don't have space for it, or you can't find it when you need it.

10 - Have fun! If finding thrifty supplies is more work than it's worth for you, then reconsider your approach. For me, finding a bargain or a treasure is half the fun, but if that's not your thing that's ok too! The point of being thrifty is to be mindful and respectful of our valued resources: our time, our energy and our money. Do so in the way that works for you!

I hope this gives you a few ideas - would love to hear in the comment section what you do to be thrifty with your supplies!

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This post first appeared on WEST in February, 2011. Written by captain Ruth of PeriwinkleDzyns

While our WESTies are busy creating and selling at local awesome craft fairs we will be revisiting popular posts of the past!