Vintage Christmas Bicycle Decoration

Hi friends! I hope you are well. I'm just trying to figure out how the holidays have come upon us so fast this year! I feel like it was summer just yesterday....ah, if only.  Well, to everything, there is a season and now it is time for all the wonderful things that come with winter.  I am looking forward to the holidays and definitely starting to feel the Christmas spirit as I completed this delightful piece over the weekend.  It's an old-fashioned bicycle with a shadowbox frame from Prima and I must say that I really like how it turned out.  It will be a Christmas gift for my Mom as she loves all things Victorian.  I purchased the bicycle frame, Victorian ephemera and Prima flowers from Simon Says Stamp, if you are interested in making one too. The bike was $19.99 and the embellishments were another $15, but I found a $5 off coupon online, so it came to a total of about $30. Considering how much I would spend on a store bought gift, I think this was a very reasonable purchase. And a handmade treasure like this is so much more special to give, in my opinion.  Anyway, there's the rundown on that it, just in case your interested. Now, for my project! I'm entering it into this month's Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #18-"Texture!"

And also for this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge- "Christmas!"

The bike comes unfinished and with the wood base, also unfinished.  I first glued micro-beads to the exterior of the bike, let it dry completely, then sprayed painted the whole piece with Krylon gold spray paint.  I painted the wood base with Prima crackle paste in antique silver but I didn't care for it, so I inked it in different areas with Teresa Collins Glitz Gold metallic ink and then smeared Teresa Collins Loft Black on areas to create a worn, antiqued look. This satisfied me.  Now it was time to begin building the scene on the inside of the round shadowbox frame.  What fun it was to pick and choose from the various ephemera and pretty flowers!  I first sponged a few white doilies with more Gold Glitz ink and layered them on the back "wall" of the frame.  There is a big and a little Christmas tree in the chipboard ephemera and I chose the big tree as my center focal point, adding different chipboard elements and flowers in layers to try and make it look like an old-fashioned Christmas scene.  I have miniature LED lights (another $4.99) on order so I can add them to the inside of the frame so it will light up. I'm excited to see how that will look! 

After I finished the inside of the frame, I added more Prima flowers, some Dollar Tree plastic sprigs and berries and a few tiny pinecones I found on a walk recently, arranging them at the base of the bicycle. The little bird I added is also from the ephemera package and he's so cute.  I then glued the chipboard Merry Christmas banner along the front of the base and sprinkled a bunch of white chunky glitter all over different areas of the bike and base for a snowy effect. 

Thank you so very much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!