The Glass Bottle - a True Story

A couple weeks ago there was a garage sale at a neighbors. John had just had his 99th birthday and I was worried that he had passed away. I wandered over there and found a picture frame and an old glass bottle for my art projects. The lady at the check out said he had gone to a nursing home and that he agreed to the church members holding the sale for him and all proceeds were to go to a lady at the church who had 6 kids and no car. What a nice gesture on his part!

Several weeks went by and I was trying to decide what to do with the items. The glass bottle had an inscription on it:  W H NYE Druggist Boise City, Idaho. I googled his name and found out he was buried in the Pioneer Cemetery B.1833-D.1894 Served with the Army of the Potomac. Honorably discharged shortly after Antietam. Druggist before the War in the East and afterwards in Boise, Idaho.

I knew the bottle was probably old but not over 125 years old!

 I looked up the battle of Antietam and didn't find his name in the register so I contacted the webmaster that I had a name for him. He was thrilled to add Captain Nye. 

I can't believe I helped add to a page on the Civil War. Here is the link: http://antietam.aotw.org/officers.php?officer_id=18134 

" But Love Goes on Forever"

This is the box that was in my first photo in my last post. Given to me free at a garage sale earlier this summer by an older lady who said she used it for her earrings. She was selling her house and moving...I would love to be able to show her what I did with those frames as well as with this blank box.

The completed box. The topper is from a bird house given to me by a friend that was redecorating her yard. I took the birdhouse and it was in my garden until we moved and by then the whole thing was falling apart but I kept the metal top. 

Detail: little glass jar that I put ribbons in to match the color scheme. 

Small basket I've had for over 50 years! (it was in my original doll house) Music scroll, fairy dust, packet of "secret letters" 

The title of the piece comes from this ceramic shopping bag which is from the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage Missouri. I visited there with my family about 20 years ago. 

Our new neighborhood has held something called "The Sycamore Stroll" for years. I was lucky enough to be in town for this one. It is a neighborhood of garage sales with hotdogs, lots of neighbors on foot or bike going from house to house to find treasures. I was in heaven on my bicycle in the perfect spring air and abundant flowers. I bought a box of the little plastic wine glasses from a woman whose mother used to collect miniatures. I filled it with tiny glass beads and resin.

A friend gave me a roll of hand printed paper of bicycles. I've been cutting them out and using them in projects. I put the little dog that was made hand painted in Scotland, that I also have had for years.  

I hope you enjoyed my little journey with this piece as much as I did making it and telling you about it.