I just looked back at the blog and realized that I haven't posted in almost 3 months! It seems like November, December and now January have blown by in a whirlwind of activity....New booth...Thanksgiving...Christmas...and the super-busy holiday shopping season on Etsy.
I went all out decorating for Christmas this year! It was fun to go to the antique mall holiday open houses and sales and to buy even more vintage Christmas (as though I don't have enough already...).
I got this sweet wooden elf at Williamston Antiques. He was originally part of a set of 13 or 14, but he's the only one that came home with me. I put him inside the big (four foot) lighted wreath that my dad made for Mr. KV and me about 35 years ago. The elf looks like he belongs there!
At Little Red Schoolhouse, I got this great bottle brush tree with a music box base. It's in mint condition with ALL of its ornaments and mercury glass candles. (I didn't take a picture of it all by itself -- it's the little tree on the right, next to the beautiful baby).
We found this big wood NOEL at Jeffrey's Antiques in Findley, Ohio on the way home from Thanksgiving. It looks great in the kitchen.
I picked I added several Japanese pose dolls to the growing collection. If you grew up in the 50s or 60s, you will remember these -- they have stocking faces and are wrapped over wire bodies so they can be posed. I got a Santa and an elf this year.
I was lucky enough to get three big blow mold Santa faces this summer and couldn't find a place on the front of the house for any of them. I'm going to sell one or two of them, but hung one on the back porch, facing the kitchen. I love being able to look out and see him there -- he makes me smile every time and our little granddaughter loves him. Maybe I won't take him down. Is it weird to have Christmas light up all summer?
We found the perfect place for the plywood Santa that I got last year -- next to the fireplace in the living room! He kept blowing over on the front porch last year, and I was afraid he'd break. He looked just right there.
After Christmas, I went back to Williamston Antiques with my sister, because it's one of her favorite malls. I got this great angel display from a dealer who used to be at our antique mall. It's big -- about 4 feet tall -- and really fragile, because it's that thin celluloid plastic from the 50s. I don't think it's ever been out of the box. Isn't it great?
The new booth has kept me really busy. Two weeks AFTER I moved everything in, I decided I hated the wall color that was there and couldn't live with it. So I moved everything away from the walls and painted. Not the easiest way to do it, but where's the fun in doing things the easy way? It's been a lot of work to keep both booths stocked (that's good news, though, because it means things are selling). I don't think I realized how much more planning and prepping would be involved with just adding one more booth. The furniture is starting to thin out a little in the barn and garage, though, and Mr. KV is very happy about that!
The 'Etsy Every Day' project was a real success. I listed almost 400 items in 2014; well beyond one each day. I've been keeping it up so far in January, but have really enjoyed not having the every-day commitment to deal with.
I know that there will be lots of flea markets and sales coming in the spring, so I've been trying not to buy now, but rather take a look at what I have and get it listed and in the booth. I've bought some great stuff in the past few years and completely forgotten about some of it! It's sort of like a treasure hunt (for free!) or an archaeological dig, going to layer after layer of cool vintage finds.
I found this really sweet tin Valentine candy box from the 1920s. It was made by Tindeco for the Sanders Chocolate Company, which was a favorite confectioner in the Southeast Michigan area, but are now gone. The box has great Art Nouveau styling and is in excellent condition.
I'd also forgotten about this Franciscan Coronado demitasse set that I got in Kentucky almost 2 years ago. It's really beautiful!
I looked in a back corner of one shelf and found lots of blue transferware that I'd bought at a sale almost four years ago. I think I moved it to the back in a 'safe place' and then didn't remember where I put it (have you ever done that?) How could I completely forget about 3 covered vegetable bowls, a gravy set, 10 plates and a platter? It boggles the mind!
I'll update more often now and will post pictures of more treasures as I find them in my basement. I also know that there will be a few sales that I just
can't miss and some shopping adventures with my friend Bargain Hunter, so there will be new things to find.
I'm really looking forward to getting back into routine. In a way, January, February and March are a relief, with no outside work to do and no holidays to plan and just lots of time to get inside jobs done. Am I the only one who feels like this? Do you get lots of inside work done in the winter?
