Chalk Couture Tamaras Treasure Trove

This past month has been fun trying out a new to me product. Chalk Couture is a product that launched just over a year ago but I stumbled across it a few months back while scrolling instagram.

I have always loved creating home decor signs but it has sat on the back burner while trying to build my online business . I have missed the fun creative part of sign design so I decided to give this product a try. At first I resisted getting involved in a new creative product since I simply do not have enough time in the day working at Tamara’s Treasure Trove. I finally gave in and placed my 1st order a few weeks back and boy oh boy am I glad I did. It took me less than 10 minutes to create a full blown colorful creation.

This product is so easy to work with and if I mess up I can fix it easily (unlike acrylic paints). I love nice crisp lines on my work and when painting free hand I sometimes did not get that. If my chalk paint gets outside the lines I can use a fine tip brush, dip it in water and push the paint back to where I want it. If I decide to change a color or part of my sign no problem as the paste is removable with water. When I am happy with the end result I can spray it with clear coat sealer and it becomes permanent. If you want a colorful chalkboard with temporary art on it don’t spray/seal it, leave it for as long as you want (it will not rub off) but when you want to change it out just wash and redo.

Chalk paste is a thicker chalk material. It's dries hard to the touch in less than 5 minutes. This means you can rub over your design and it's not going anywhere unless you want it to.  When you're ready to change out the design, just spray with water and it cleans right up and gives you a clean slate for your next design (or spray with a clear coat sealer to make it permanent).

The chalk couture silk screen reusable stencils the clean up is easy peasy with warm soapy water, or a disinfectant wipe. Wash, lay flat to dry and then put back on the transfer sheet and you're all set for the next time.

I am still in my infancy but was too excited not to share this new product with all my crafty, diyer friends. I fell in love with it so much I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start selling it so if you are ready to give this a try send me a message and I will get you set up with a mini kit to lure you into the wonderful world of Chalk Couture.

Click here to Shop Chalk Couture at Tamaras Treasure Trove

Ding Dong Avon Calling

In 1886, 34 years before women in the U.S. earned the right to vote, David H. McConnell, helped give them the chance to earn an independent income. He didn’t set out to create a beauty company. In fact, McConnell was a traveling book salesperson and most of his potential customers were housewives. With few advertising outlets in those days, McConnell used a then-popular gimmick—offering a free gift in exchange for a moment of the potential customer’s time. This inspired McConnell to work with a local pharmacy to create a fragrance that he could give away in small quantities to those who were willing to listen to his book pitch. Customers started taking more interest in the fragrance than they did the books McConnell was selling which in turn caused him to give up book selling and start selling perfume.

Based in New York in 1886, he launched a line of fragrances under the name “The California Perfume Company”. The company started calling itself Avon in 1928, named after the birthplace of McConnell’s favorite playwright, Shakespeare (Stratford-upon-Avon, a medieval market town in England’s West Midlands, is the 16th-century birthplace of William Shakespeare).

McConnell realized the best way to market his products to women would be to hire women to sell them. He hired his first female sales representative, Persis Foster Eames Albee, who was a wife and mother of two, and is credited with creating the company’s system for distributing products.The company allows its employees to purchase products and literature, and resell the items on their own time in their own style—exactly what McConnell was doing as a book salesman.

In 1887 one year into his perfume business, McConnell, thanks to Albee, recruited a team of 12 female representatives to market his 18-piece fragrance line. In 1905 the company launched Outlook magazine, a publication for sharing advice to employees and keeping representatives up-to-date on company news.

The following year, Avon had enough products to release a sales catalogue, a move that helped sales grow tremendously.

By the time the ’50s came around, Avon launched its iconic “Ding-Dong Avon Calling” ad campaign. It ran from 1954 through 1967, making it one of the longest-running and most successful ad campaigns in history.

In addition to new scents, other products were quickly added to the California Perfume Company’s product line. Popular early items included spot remover, Witch Hazel Cream, machine oil, mending cement, Almond Cream Balm, food flavorings, Tooth Tablet, and carpet cleaner.

Avon "Collectibles" didn't start to become popular until the early 1960s, when Avon began producing a line of novelty containers for its perfumes and colognes.

The company expanded its line of collectibles through the 1970s and '80s, selling jewelry, decorative plates and steins, holiday ornaments, and more. Avon Cape Cod Ruby Red Glassware design is based on an old, sandwich glass pattern and inspired by the lacy delicacy of the classic Roman rosette pattern, introduced in 1975 by Wheaton Glass for Avon. They were commissioned to do the pieces, since they were already making decorative decanters for them.

Avon chose to call their new dinnerware the 1876 Cape Cod Collection because it recalled the beauty of this quality glass and the spirit of the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the area where sandwich glass originated.

Official products are sold directly through Avon's sales reps and will come with certificates of authenticity. Some products, like their steins, are sold in limited, numbered editions, while holiday goods such as plates or ornaments are designed to be unique each year.

Avon is highly collectible sought after items and my favorite book to get an idea of the pieces available along with values is:

One hundred and thirty one years have passed by and Avon is still a very lucrative way to own your own business.

Avon.com, beautylish.com,encyclopedia.com,

Tiara Sandwich Glassware

Tiara Glass was marketed by Tiara Exclusives of Dunkirk Indiana that could only be purchased through home hosted parties between 1970 - 1998. Tiara offices along with the offices of Indiana Glass were housed in one building and both were owned by Lancaster Colony Corporation.

I found this awesome catalog/book online and it makes a great reference source I go to often.

Indiana Glass made a good portion of glass on behalf of Tiara Glass (Tiara warehoused, sold and shipped glassware but they never manufactured it). You will also find other glasswork companies such as Fenton and L.E. Smith manufactured glassware pieces for Tiara. My favorite book for researching the pieces Fenton produced for Tiara is:

A wide variety of handmade and machine made patterns were produced along with some reissues of patterns that were originally produced by Indiana Glass. These reissues used the same moulds for patterns such as Avocado and the ever popular Sandwich Pattern. The glassware itself is not marked with a maker's mark (with very few exceptions) most of their glassware used paper or little Gold labels saying Tiara Exclusives to mark their pieces.

The Sandwich Pattern is the most recognized Tiara Exclusive Pattern. Indiana Glass originally produced sandwich depression glass during the 1920’s (sometime during that same period Duncan Miller also produced something similar to sandwich glass) so it was natural for Indiana Glass to manufacture Tiara’s reissue of this beautiful pattern in the 70’s.

Tiara glass sold sandwich glass in clear, amber, ruby, chantilly (light) green, spruce/teal green, bicentennial (dark) blue, amethyst and peach/pink.

Tiara Exclusives operated for 28 years.

Tiara sandwich glass is what started my love affair with glassware and I actively collect the amber pattern. I started out with the chantilly green and when I had most of the pieces for my collection my tastes changed and I began my Amber collection (sold of all my green pieces in my booth at the local antique mall). I pride myself in saying I have at least one of every piece produced in Amber with the exception of the “stick” butter dish. One day I will find the final piece to complete my collection. After all the fun of collecting is "the hunt"

I love a fall Thanksgiving table set with the beauty of Tiara Amber Glassware pieces.

While I do not sell glassware online (I don't have the heart to ship out breakables) a lot of fine shop owners carry these beautiful pieces of history. Just go to etsy.com and put Tiara glassware in the search field to start your collection today (or add to an existing one).

Additional information can be found at theglassmuseum.com where I gathered the above information from.

Don't forget to visit my shop at Tamaras Treasure Trove for Shabby and Cottage Chic Home Decor.

Color Me Autumn

The autumn/fall color palette is my favorite shades of nature. The rich earth tones, the colors of the changing leaves. Autumn is the season where leaves start to fall off the trees, that is why Autumn is also called Fall. 

Days are getting shorter as night fall noticeably starts to arrive sooner.

Cooler temperatures are a welcome change along with the beginning of fall festivals, founders day celebrations and craft fairs going on every weekend leading up to Halloween.

I love this time of year as it seems to motivate me to get more crafty. I will share a few of my favorite fall projects. 

I painted a Christmas tree with Brown and Gold Metallic spray paints (make sure to turn it over so you can coat the underside to hide all the green) 

Using floral picks, leaf picks, burlap garland, decoupage words made into ornaments, tiny glass ornament balls filled with fall ribbon and acorns hung to adorn my little fall tree.

Scarecrow is made from barnwood slats, handpainted facial details and sunflower pick to the hat makes for a fun fall door greeter.

Tipsy Topsy Planter

The plastic pumpkins are readily available just about everywhere. I love the classic orange and black but they come in an array of colors with different facial expressions.

I used a nicely detailed tutorial to make mine and can be found on pinterest (birdsandblossoms).

I used a terra cotta pot and painted it black. Total cost was less than $10 and was completed in an hour.  

Tamara's Treasure Trove

TamarasTreasureTrove Is Now On Artyah

Tamaras Treasure Trove on Artyah

In an effort to expand my online presence I have created a storefront on an up and coming online marketplace called Artyah.

Artyah has been around for a few years but the latest enhancements and accessible customer service make it a more attractive addition to selling online.

The following is the greeting you receive when you visit Artyah .Artyah is a secure marketplace for handmade & antique/vintage goods. Buy and sell in our rapidly growing community of artists, collectors and suppliers.

While I can still be found on my own website with an extensive line of home decor at Tamaras Treasure Trove , I have decided to lend my support by adding a 100 items on this new site to see how it grows.

Be sure to give it a look.

The Bulletin Spotlight Item Vol.3 Paris Themed Decor

Shining the spotlight on a few wall hooks that would make a unique addition to any Paris themed space in your home/office.

You can purchase them individually or as set.

The eiffel tower comes in a variety of colors and the paris hook can be purchased in 3 popular shabby chic colors.

I have paired up the sweet PARIS double hook with the Eiffel Tower hook (to create a set) now available in white, off white and black

When you go to Tamara's Treasure Trove just click on the little search glass icon in top right hand corner and enter eiffel hook 'or' paris hook to see all the color choices available for purchase.

Would make a unique great gift idea.  

Fabulous Finds Friday for July 14, 2017

In previous posts I have made mention of my breakfast routine which consists of the Garden of Life Meal Replacement Shake, strawberries and almond milk.

I have been drinking this shake since January with my cumbersome, hard to handle blender. Clean up is not fun, it is large, clunky and very loud to use. The base of my blender started leaking last week which forced me to shop for something different.

I found the magic bullet on sale for $39.99 and I thought I would give it a try. This small compact blender is a dream to use. One of the blender cups comes with a handle, so I put the ingredients I want to blend, attach the blending base and within a few seconds I have my shake ready in the cup I will drink from (just take the base off and add the screw on cup rim). Clean up is easy peasy.  

I am quite please with my purchase and wanted to share it with you.

Magic Bullet Blender 11pc Set

Details

Make delicious party dips like salsa, pasta sauces, frosty milkshakes and more with the Magic Bullet 11-piece blender set. This set includes a high-torque power base, tall cup, party mug, 2 lip rings, travel lid, 2 resealable lids, blending blade, and a 10-second Recipe Book. The Magic Bullet Blender blade and bullet-shaped design help circulate the food back to the Cyclonic Cutting Zone for quick processing. This 250-watt blender grates, grinds, blends, chops and mixes drinks in high speed to save you time. You just need to place the bullet cup or the mug on the high-torque power base and press it to get lip-smacking smoothies or frosty treats. This stainless steel Magic Bullet blender comes with a recipe book.

Tamaras Treasure Trove