Anvil Designs 5th Etsy Anniversary January 24, 2015

Anvil Designs is celebrating our 5th anniversary on Etsy!

~also known as Etsyversary~

*We want you to celebrate with us*

Gift with purchase January 24, 2015 only.
**one per customer** 

One of three styles representing our best sellers will be tucked in with your purchase. Basil, Thyme or Herbs.

Hand stamped, rustic, vintage spoon.

Looking forward to the next 5 years!

~Thank you~

Measure Up ~ Upcycled Assemblage Earrings for Carpenters, Contractors, Remodelista's & DIY Queens

Yesterday I was working on a custom order and staring back at me from my workbench was this piece of broken tape measure. 

It had been sitting there a long time, a couple of years I'd say, patiently waiting... So in the middle of the custom order it said "marry me to that piece of tin shed, earrings would do". 

Seriously, I stopped what I was doing and set to work on this marriage!

"Measure Up"

Available on Etsy $36.00

I had the sense to grab my camera because heck, how often does a broken tape ask for marriage to a broken shed? 

The white tin is the destroyed shed I also use to harvest my LOVE letters. The white is part of the shed trim. The large red bead is coral that I have had for many years and the ear wires are oxidized sterling. I felt the dangles made enough of a statement and a simple wire would show them to the best advantage.  

Shout out YAY for Milwaukee Tin Snips!

I had a lot of fun photographing these too ~

Have a great weekend!

Road Trip Series Assemblage Necklaces #3

Road Trip

3rd in the series

Flat Tyre 

found object, vintage toy car, rosary style, mille flore, skull, turquoise, glass, ceramic, shell & copper assemblage necklace by Anvil Designs / Barn Swallow Studio

May only your jewelry get a flat tire ~

More Junk Hoses in the Garden - Words with Hose~

The Junk Hose Birdhouse is my most viewed post to date. In honor of that here’s another fun thing to do with an old junk hose in the garden. Use them to write words on your raised beds!

Here I have used an old grey hose that I had butchered so badly with the mower I had to put the mower on jack stands and unwind its tattered-ness out of the blade housing where it was all wound up and sliced almost through in several places... what that means is there wasn't enough to do a large birdhouse. Or a small one for that matter. 

When I saw JD trying to bury it in the dump trailer under some real trash we had words, some of them were colorful. I have been known to cuss like a sailor and when my good junk is threatened it's all hands on deck! I got the "these pieces are to small to do anything with" argument. Right matey! Are you kidding me? 

Truth be told I didn't know what I was going to do with some of these smaller pieces but thank goodness I'm quick on my feet because I wasn't going to be the one walking the plank on this day. It just so happened the dump trailer was backed up the drive near the junk raised beds we had completed but had not yet finished decorating! Que the music from Jaws. Dawdumph, dawdumph dawdumph! Next thing you know I said you go get the drill and some screws and I'll meet you back here with scissors and a pencil.

I beat him back and started lightly sketching in pencil the word "Grow" on the wood. When he got back with the drill and wood screws I had already cut the G and was holding it in place to take the first screw. 

This is a simple, easy and fun project for the garden.

Ahoy! I mean happy gardening~

The Junk Hose Birdhouse~

I’m literally hell on wheels on my Garden Tractor which is a fancy name for a riding mower.

At least any hose I have had longer than 6 months thinks so anyway… needless to say I have a few, or more, mowed hoses in my junk pile. Obviously, to me they aren't junk just because they are now more suitable as a soaker hose or sprinkler. 

I cannot say how many times JD has tried to haul them off to the dump and I have pulled them right back out kicking and holler’n!

Then I saw this birdhouse on Pinterest. A game changer it was! 

Photo credit unknown - Birdhouse believed to be on the grounds of http://www.mcmenamins.com/Gardens

You see, we needed to donate a handcrafted item to an event for a charity auction and soon. I told JD we are making a birdhouse out of one of those old hoses for the auction. I got the deer in headlights look. Never fear, PJ was here and soon we were building it! The best part to this junk collector is we didn’t spend a dime. It was all time and material found in my junk pile or lying around. Here is the one we made. 

Now JD still wasn't convinced even with my and PJ's oohing and ahhing. We decided it needed to be put on a post to better "show" at the event. It even had a built in perch!

The junk hose birdhouse sold for $150 at the silent auction and JD had a small serving of crow and an ice cold one to wash it down :)

May all your junk be treasure!

Anvil