A New Year and a New Project

I haven't posted in a MONTH!  It's hard to believe because the time has flown by.

I thought the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas was busy before -- all the usual holiday stuff and lots of family coming to stay in the week between Christmas & New Year's.  Now that I've added in a mall booth and a really busy Etsy shop (no complaints here), I've been beyond busy.

We had a wonderful holiday!  All three of our sons, with their wives and girlfriend, were able to be here.  The Florida ones, who work for the Ritz-Marriott hotels in Naples, were even able to be here on Christmas Eve & Christmas, though it's their busiest week there.  What a blessing it was to have everyone together -- we reminisced and caught up, laughed alot, talked alot and ate alot.  It was such a delight to see the grown-up 'boys' and their ladies interact as adults & friends.

So now everyone has all left (sadly), the laundry is started, the house is (almost) straightened up and I'm thinking about getting back to work.  With the luxury of not working a day job (almost) and the basement re-organization well underway, I feel I should have lots of time to get to the projects and items in the basement...and the barn...and the garage.  We'll see...

I was inspired by Gina at Vintage Junk in My Trunk, who had an Etsy 365 Project last year -- she listed at least one item every day and tracked her progress on Facebook and her blog.  If you've never visited VJIMT, check it out -- it's a great blog and her Etsy shops (VJIMT and Vintage Christmas Junk) are filled with fun vintage items.  Anyway, the old saying is that 'Imitation is the highest form of flattery', so I'm hoping Gina will see it that way when I launch the 'Etsy Every Day' project.  All the credit for the idea goes to you, Gina, and if I fail, it will be all on me.  We have lots of travel planned for this year already, and a grandchild to be born in 3 weeks, so there are some possible potholes in the road ahead.

I hope you'll all follow along in this sales journey.  It's always good to tell someone else about a resolution, because it makes you accountable.  Well, I'm telling lots of someone elses and I'll be accountable to all of you.  I'll be posting each day's listing on my Facebook page and will wrap up weekly (hopefully) here on the blog.  Wish me luck and keep checking back!

Fun Finds: 'Yellow Drawers'

I went to the antique mall last week to restock, take in more Christmas and 'fluff' the booth.  One of the other dealers there, Giselle (who shares my love the truly odd and kitschy), showed me a little chenille & pinecone gnome ornament she was buying.  (As if I need MORE vintage Christmas!)  She thought that I'd want one, too -- she was right!

Actually, she was wrong...I wanted three.   She bought three, as well and we stood at the checkout desk for a long time discussing their various merits:  they were all part of a gnome orchestra set and each had a different instrument and different colored hats, chenille legs and spun cotton feet.

The other employees were laughing at our discussion about which ones we wanted to keep and which to put back, especially at my final observation:  "I just have to keep this guy because I'm partial to his yellow drawers"!

Here are the other two guys...

 And here's old 'yellow drawers, himself" (isn't he cute?):

Fun Finds: Madame Alexander Baby Doll -- Complete!

I found this sweet Madame Alexander baby doll at the local thrift this week and couldn't pass her up!

She still has the hang-tag tied to her wrist and all of her clothes -- from her hat down to her shoes and socks are original!  She even still has a basket with millinery flowers tied to her other wrist.

Her outfit is tagged 'Precious' by Madame Alexander.  I think she's composition and she looks like she's the same age as my Effanbee Dydee baby from the mid-1950s.  Her clothes, though, look more like 1940s.

She has a sweet face and perfect eyelashes (no bare spots)!

If you read this post and know anything about this baby, please let me know!

Two Sad Truths...

Sad Truth Number 1:  The second that Halloween is over, Christmas starts showing up everywhere -- too soon!  Well, because people start shopping then, too, I made a promise to myself to really stock up my Etsy shop, so all I've done this week is work, work, work.

My goal was to get 200 items listed in my Etsy shop by November 1 (today).  I didn't make it -- but I gave it a good try and am now up to 189 items!  Hopefully, I'll hit 200 tomorrow.

Sad Truth Number 2:  Working is not as much fun as playing (or shopping)!
There were some good sales this week, but I determined that I wasn't going to buy anything new until I got lots of things listed and ready for the mall.  It was so hard not to go shopping yesterday or today...

I did buy something great last week -- these two 1950s lamps with stovepipe fiberglass shades.  They're small and would be perfect as bedside or vanity lamps.

Sunday is Dealer Day at the antique mall (when it's open to our dealers 2 hours early so we can work on our booths) and I'm planning to start bringing in a little bit of Christmas.  I think it's just wrong to push the December holiday when we're still 4 weeks away from Thanksgiving, but people start buying now to decorate later, so I'll try to make them happy!  By the way, if you live in southeast Michigan, the first Sunday of the month is a great time to shop Livingston Antique Outlet, because so many dealers have just stocked their booths!

Speaking of shopping and selling on Etsy, I think thrift shopping is contagious!  My youngest son has just opened an Etsy shop specializing in vintage records, vintage barware andall things rock & roll.  He's like me -- can't pass up a sale or a thrift shop -- but he's also a musician, and has been the go-to person for rock knowledge around our house.  So he's decided to turn his love of music and old stuff into a small business.  If you get a chance, check out OldTimeRockNRoll -- it's a good place to find old records in good condition and at good prices.  If you're looking for something in particular, let Dan know and he'll search for it for you.  Don't forget to tell him 'Mom sent you'!

That's it for today -- back to work!  Next time, I hope I'll have some more thrifty finds to share...

What Do You Think This Was?

I picked up this very interesting table at the local thrift -- I paid more than a 'thrift' price, because I loved the styling and thought buyers in my booth might, too.

It's all brass (I think) with a wood inset top -- even the legs and shelf on the bottom are brass.  It has casters and they're little metal ones like they used years ago.

The detail on the drawer is lovely.  The drawer is wood and faced with a brass sheet that's been folded around it and nailed in place.

The top is inlaid and looks like oak to me -- it's joined wood, not veneer.

I could see this as a bedside table in the hospital sets of Downton Abbey, or as a bank or cashier's table in The Sting.  It really looks like 1910s to 1930s to me, and the quality speaks to that era, too.  It could be newer, just made to look old, though.

What do you think?  When do you think it was made and what do you think it was used for?  I'd love it if one of you could identify its era and use!

New Life for a Sad Jack-o-Lantern

I finally finished one of the projects on my list this weekend (a rare occurrence, lately).

I bought a blow mold at a rummage sale a year ago, planning to sell it at a bargain price, because of its condition.  It was a black cat sitting on a jack-o-lantern and the orange on the pumpkin was faded to almost white.

I decided to keep the cat & pumpkin and paint the pumpkin a renewed orange (thinking that new granddaughter might like it in a couple of years).

I've seen blow molds that people have brush painted and you can always see the brush strokes -- they look really bad.  I bought Rustoleum spray paint that is made to bond to plastic.  The toughest decision was neon or regular orange?  Since I could barely see the old finish, it was impossible to know which it had originally been!  I opted for regular, as the neon was too much like landscaper's orange...

I didn't take a good before picture, because I thought I already had one... The pumpkin was almost the color of the cat's mouth, though.  I think that was originally orange, too, but I didn't try to paint it.

Taping off all the black and masking the cat was the biggest part of the job (it took almost a half hour to make sure it was perfect.

I made sure it was completely covered, but didn't want it to be too opaque.

I think it turned out pretty well!  Now all I need is the granddaughter! :-)

September = Spend, Spend, Spend!

Now that we're through the first week of October, I'm looking back at September and all I see is spend, spend, spend!

I knew it would be like that to some extent, because both Greenmead Flea Market and Michigan Antique & Collectable Festival in Midland, Michigan (affectionately called just 'Midland' by all of us who love it) are in September.  Those are BIG 'merchandising' opportunities.  Thrown into the mix, though, was a great estate sale that I would have missed if my friend Bargain Hunter hadn't text me to ask me about pricing a typewriter...

I was invited this year to go, too, to the Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, Minnesota, but I just couldn't make it work.  I definitely want to visit my friend and fellow picker, Kally, there in April next year!

So I almost had the basement completely organized, but have sabatoged all my efforts by bringing in the sweet things I've bought lately.  But who could resist finds like these?

West Bend Hallite Casserole with great Bakelite knob

West Bend Hallite Casserole with copper lid & handles

I can't resist pennants and I picked up some great old ones!

Two vintage Brownies in boxes.  One has film, too

Can't resist melmac, either.  These are cute little serving pieces

From Midland -- I LOVE this picture of 'Bob', painted by his Aunt Ev in 1951.  She really captured his personality!

From the estate sale -- this is the typewriter I helped price for Bargain Hunter

This is from the estate sale, too -- I'm excited to put it together and turn it on before I list it on Ebay.  I don't think I've ever seen one work -- just as display or for sale in antique malls

This print is really big -- 18x24 or larger

This little kitty holds a pen as his tail

A hard-to-find Teetertot Shoofly bouncer by Delphos Bending Co.  I hope it will sell better than rocking horses do at the mall.  It has a seat, which makes it great for displaying vintage stuffed animals or dolls (but it's NOT for real babies any more!)

Art Deco kitchen clock

Wood shopping list from the 1960s

These flocked cats, made in Japan in the 1950s are wonderful

A made-in-Japan asian planter from the 1950s.  I might keep him, he's just so cute!

Pantry Parade tomato range salt and pepper shakers

These made-in-Japan 1950s cats are great, too.  I see a made-in Japan, mid-century and cat theme developing...

With Spending-September gone, I can concentrate on listing on Etsy to get ready for the Christmas shopping season, which has already begun!  I can also (hopefully) get the basement organized (again)...I'm afraid that will turn out to be a never-ending task.

Maybe I'll even have time to post on the blog more often!

But, before you go, what do you think about Bob -- would you have bought his portrait?  I'm thinking about resurrecting 'Would You Buy It Wednesday' since (I think) Junker Newbie doesn't do it any more.  I would definitely have contributed Bob...

What about Bob -- yes or no?