Trailer Trash

This week I've been in the container dragging out a few things that were closest to the door...jewelry, picture frames and a couple of Jenny Lind twin beds. When I look in there I'm overwhelmed at all the things that need to be sorted through and all I can figure is that I just have to jump in and it will all come together by May.

I have cleaned all the costume jewelry that I've found so far and sorted and stored the newly cleaned pieces in eleven different egg cartons...some with a dozen slots and some with eighteen. Then, there are a couple of large mailing envelopes full of odds and ends that could be used for crafts maybe....

Bizillions of necklaces of all kinds...long beads, short beads, chunky stones, chokers, chains, faux pearls...you name it, I've got it.

 A large portion of it is Sarah Coventry. This is the only set I found still in it's packaging. It's dated 1961. My grandmother used to sell Sarah Coventry jewelry part-time in the 60's and 70's and I still have some of my bracelets she gave me.

I've had a lot of fun looking at all the costume pieces and wondering where the heck you would wear some of it...like these sweet little bees.

There were several picture frames and a couple of mirror frames gathered in one area. I am going to hold off on the mirror frames thinking they possibly go with something farther back in the trailer. I have prints that will work with these and I have selected new finishes to compliment the prints.

I ran across this Levi's ad from 1966 and thought it would be fun to frame. I always loved illustration art and learned to draw from copying pictures from books and magazines. The frame will be an aged black, actually not far from it's original state...but cleaned up considerably and given a protective finish. I'm thinking a white mat...

The other two will get a painted honey finish. They too, will be aged to compliment the prints, which now looks like a couple of Charles Russell prints I've had for a while.

I don't have "befores" of these. I just jumped in there when the mood struck and started painting. They came from my shopping trip a couple of weeks ago and I thought I'd just throw them in this post since we were talking about frames.

I know you remember this style with the dips in the sides....brown with gold inside the rim. I painted them off white, changed the gold to red and then painted over that with off white, speckled some red with a tooth brush and distressed them. They have a couple coats of water-based poly to give them a little pop.

They are ready to send to my sister tomorrow so she can mat and frame the Russell prints going in them.

I found these on ebay several years ago and have been saving them for the shop I knew I'd have some day.

From the same shopping trip...I liked the look of the peaceful pastoral lithograph print and the frame was nice enough so I bought it. I took it apart this week to clean the frame and glass and when I took the print out...

...there was another one underneath it. It's titled The Departure. I didn't get all of it in my picture, but there is a waiting carriage for the "happy couple". It's an interesting print and you can only imagine what the mother is telling her newlywed daughter as they go down the stairs. But,

What's the deal with the shoe? Hmmm.

Okay, back to the container...and we have these girls. I think I will clean this up and leave it as it is. Maybe there is another photo behind this one too.

The frame is pretty...the baby is cute, but the mat needs help. We'll see what evolves here. I'm seeing an empty frame so far.

And finally the Jenny Lind twin beds. I have the headboards and foot boards. I found side rails for one and feel like there really should be another pair in there somewhere. All along I've been thinking white.

By yesterday afternoon I was seeing them in black in a boys room. And today....

I knew I couldn't let all those different sections go to waste so I got out my favorite colors and went to town. I am adding some more red and white tomorrow and then I will paint over all of it again with black. Just like the white frames, I will sand just enough paint off to let the color peep through. I can see these in a little boy's room with Pendelton blankets and a Chimayo rug...or a floorcloth that looks like one.

Check in with me next week for the finished products and to see what I drag out of the trailer next.