Vintage Alphabet Party!!! Wahoooooooo!

I have had so much fun with this Alphabet Party that here I go againfor N and O! Ahem! Please don't comment on my stretch of the imagination...let's just call it being reaaaallllly creative....
Here goes! Vintage Nativity...


Nests with vintage goodies:

Come on... my friend used a vintage wine vessel and clip earring for the blue nest, there is a vintage bird in the egg cup nest and the other nest is in a vintage china cup..... think creativity okay?

Next up: Vintage Napkins and nesting dolls (available in my spotted hen shop on sale!)

Vintage October..... okay, okay, okay! stretching it a bit but I loooooveee Halloween and I missed H! So........ Vintage October.....

These are the wonderful vintage goodies I love to create with and some tags that are made with vintage (ahem) October images..... (they are in my recycledrita etsy)

Here is a closeup of the little goodies:

And...a vintage Oil and Vinegar set... Now you can't argue with that one!

Okay, there you go.... Fun huh? Go visit all the other members of Etsy Cottage Style who are participating and join the party!

Hubby and I went to Ventura and spent the day going thru the 30+ thrift stores (we missed some, or maybe our feet were just killing us!) It was fun! I found a couple of things I couldn't pass up and will be back on thursday or friday to share with you.

Until then, have a creative week...hee! hee! karen.....

White Wednesday and Thrifty Thursday all rolled into one!

I have always wanted to join both of these fun parties but when I am working, it is difficult to do our laundry...let alone organize these fun posts!

I am joining both because I got a few wonderful goodies when I was out with my hubby on saturday and 3 of them were white and I also have 2 white vignettes on our entertainment center that I wanted to share.

I have included my 2 French Petite Inspiration boxes...I love them! And that cuter than cute spool doll from Gail at littlebeachdesigns, a french box, some coral and a vase purchased on sat. and a bust from the goodwill. The purple thingie is a lid to something that I love (got at a garage sale years ago) and the pearls were my mom's...

Candlestick,candle, bottle and flameless candle are all from goodwill, the little boy and lamb were from sat. the mercury glass candlestick and wire cage are Target clearance..the pearls and buttons were from the flea.....

Here are 3 of my goodies from saturday...a vintage USA Pottery vase and 2 cute figurines....

Here is the little Angel boy and lamb closeup.....

I also got these great ornaments...I saw a lady purchase a box of 6 glass bird ornies like these in an antique store on clearance for $25.... I paid $3 for all.....

Here is the darling pink and gold girl...is she Lefton? I don't know but she is darling...those fat little cheeks won me over... This is going to my recycled rita etsy soon....


And this was my favorite find.....

A darling composition doll and a bouquet of clothes handmade for her. The woman who owned her used her as a model and she made her replica's of her own clothes so they could match....

I think I am going to have to pry her out of my junk-lovin greedy hands and put her and her wardrobe in my etsy...I'll let you know!

Soooooo..... If you love white vignettes, go visit Faded Charm and enjoy her lovely party and if you are a junk lovin' girl like me, go visit Tales from Bloggeritaville for some Thrifty Thursday!

Don't forget to go visit my etsy- the spotted hen for all my great sale items. Store is closing soon!

Thanks for visiting! karen.....
I

Halloween Arrives and a Clearance Sale

I LOOOOOOOVE Halloween! It brings back wonderful memories from my childhood! I especially love vintage halloween images like the one above. So, since I am off work for another couple of weeks and I joined the Artsymama Best Halloween Ever Blog, I already have the bug!
I created a bunch of cute Witchy girl tags and put them in my etsy shoppe...all one of a kind...
Here they are:

And since I have been home, I have been cleaning out. I am going to close the Spotted Hen etsy shoppe so I am having a big clearance and de-stashing sale. Great Prices! I would love you to take a gander and see if anything tickles your fancy...
here are a couple of things I listed:

A cute Stampin' Up rubber stamp set....

And this wonderful journaling kit from Randi Feuerhelm-Watts, and lots of other fun goodies!

Well, off to do my chores! Hope you are having a great weekend! karen.....

Lucky Me!!!

I was the lucky winner of this wonderful little quiltie from Pallas at Threads in Time... It is made with a pretty vintage hankie and a wonderful vintage image of a woman lost in thought...I just love it! But that's not all! I won this:

Bits and bobs of beautiful handmade lace! (Say that 3 times fast!) I think I am going to make a pretty frenchie wall pocket with it... I just love it!

I also was lucky enough to win another blog giveaway in this past month! Really! I don't just enter to enter...I love blog hopping and if there is something pretty being given away I enter... I feel so lucky! Anyway, here she is:

A beautiful spool doll made by Gail of littlebeachdesigns.... She makes me happy! I will show you her in a vignette in the house on wednesday and when I make something with some of that delicious lace...you will see it first!!!

Thank you Gail and Pallas for your lovely blogs and gifts!

I will be back later today...been putting together an etsy sale and added some halloween to my main etsy so I will share then! hugs! karen.....

Vintage Vacation Swap

This swap was so much fun but quite a challenge too! My partner was sweet Rhea of Sweet n Shabby Roses. She said she loves the U.S. and England, shabby colors ....
I broke my packages down to area's to visit...I started with my state, California....

I made this quilted wall pocket with some cute beach babes... the little label says "by the sea"

Here is a little mermaid bucket filled with See's fruit candies (a calif. co.)

Then off to England to see the queen...Of course she needed a pretty corsage to wear and some "bisquits and tea" I found a pretty little plate that was a souvenier of the Queen visiting Canada.. even the queen needs a vacation!!! I also included some of the Winnie the Pooh notecards that were a gift from England and a children's book that is about a voyage across the ocean by ship....

A scarf and postcard from New York....

And since Rhea said she likes the strong women of wartime, I made her a little package with some patriotic trim, a flag flashcard and a paper weight that I added an image to....

Now for the goodies that I recieved!!!!

Rhea made me some really pretty things and made a beautiful box to put them in....

A journal, postcards, a vintage stocking holder with a compact and pill caddy, a pretty mermaid tag, some millinery and some other fun supplies to make art with...what you don't see is the animal crackers and the cotton candy....Yummmy!!!!!

Here is the lovely box she made...I just love it!

I told her that I dream of owning a vintage travel trailer and foofing it up to travel the U.S. so she made me this cute journal.... And here is the darling mermaid tag...

And look at that cute trim she made! I can't wait to play with all those goodies! And isn't that decorated shell cute?....

All in all, it was a great swap... Rhea has been very sick so please say a prayer or think good thoughts for her, she can sure use it! Have a great week! karen....

Altered......everything!

I LOVE to alter things...I love to repurpose....that is how I came upon the name Recycled Rita.
Many people have asked why I used that name. I have loved vintage since I was little and made things out of anything I could find to keep myself busy...cardboard, fabric, bits of paper...you name it.
My family always says my mom could make a delicious dinner out of water and a toothpick because no matter how mother hubbard our cupboard was, she made a nice meal. I think I have the same mindset but I like to make something out of junk or castaways.
This party was perfect for me! I couldn't wait to share some of my altered goodies with you!

First up is what I am working on most recently....I saw these pockets in Somerset Life and then Robin made some pretty containers for her class kits and I knew I needed to alter some toilet paper tubes! Here is the result:

I used vintage images and waxed them to make them even more aged and filled them with pretty vintage lace, buttons and millinery to make a mini-kit and mini art pocket. These are available now in my etsy shoppe.

Here is a close-up of one of the pockets:

A few years back, I altered some cigar boxes, here is one made with an Asian theme.....

Japanese newspaper, postcard broken jewelry and pearls... This was meant to be a purse, but alas...it was never finished!

Here is the backside:

If this party happens again, I have so many projects to show you!

For now...I am off to make some halloween houses with these jewelry boxes that I have already covered in vintage document pages....

Go visit the French Cupboard to see the rest of the wonderful participants, you won't be disappointed! Maybe it will inspire you to keep something out of the landfills too! I would love to hear any ideas you might have! thanks for visiting! karen

Creatin' and Shoppin' the Flea......

I first wanted to let you all know that I am participating in Etsy's Christmas in July sale and all items in my etsy have free shipping.... now thru July 31st!

I have been really busy lately .... our camping trip was fun- it was so beautiful up in the mountains. I am working summer school so that is always busy. We had our car, fridge and dryer all break down....we are past most of that now.... and I have been a creatin' fool!

The picture below is a sneak peek of our vintage vacation swap. My partner and I just mailed out so I will share the rest with you soon but here is a little something, something......

Today I went to my little Flea Market.... I had such a fun time...just me, wandering around at my own pace. I stayed mostly with $1 finds because that is what fits my budget, but I love what I got! Here is everything together:


I love that Biscuit tin..only $1! And the doll dress...so sweet!

Here are the pretty paper items I got:

I love vintage prayer cards and some fun italian papers and a bathing beauty and baby postcard... I can't wait to make new things with these lovelies!

And buttons! I love me some buttons!


I also got a handful of mother of pearl buttons....love them too!
For some reason the same picture loaded twice... so you can see all my finds again!

Well, I am off to start dinner and hopefully create something new! Have a Happy start to your week! karen......