“Vintage” Dress Form

Yesterday afternoon I popped into the recycle area of the dump and found a dress form. Purple, non-vintage, a little grimy, but good bones. I thought somehow she’d be fun for displaying my jewelry at a vintage craft fair in November. I brought her home and went to work with some duct tape to seal the gaps and the same old book I used in my shadowbox project. The book is some sort of horticulture guide from 1883 that I picked up (almost in pieces) at a garage sale years ago. It’s all written in German from what I can tell. I found my bottle of Modge Podge and went to work. I started simply gluing strips, then found the watered down paper maché technique to work much better. All this while I made dinner (see pot on stove!) I saved the first page for the front of the bust and a few interesting charts to place here and there. The neck tag is part of the binding that shows the title of the book. The back neck tag came from the tiny pieces of folded fabric at the top and bottom of the spine that finish off the book. Lovely red and white striping.

With a blank vintage award rosette, a really cool old etched “good business” button I found at Red Books & Chairs, and a round ornamental piece of lamp hardware all glued together I created the brooch.

The locket and chain are from the Alameda Flea Market. The locket holds a photo of my great grandparents.

I’ve yet to figure out what to do with the telescoping white plastic base of the dress form, so check back, I’ll think of something.

UPDATE:
My friend Rose suggested finding an old lamp base. So today I went to the recycle area again and lookie here! Five bucks and a hacksaw job!