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...

Soggy Friday Sales

Last week, I took Thursday night off, which really means that I didn't get anything ready to take to the mall.  Instead of fluffing the booth, I hit a few sales to the south of our town.  It was a chilly, rainy day and the yard sales are almost all gone, so it was lots of windshield time with very little shopping.  I went to an estate sale where everything was super-high, except for the unpriced stuff in the basement (always a good place to dig).

A great old camera -- lovely for display

I filled up a bin with Christmas stuff from several piles in a corner.  The sellers priced the whole bin at $5!  I was pretty happy then, but even happier when I put this little beauty together at home:

This is a 'Crystal Pine' tree from the 1940s.  It's layers of clear plastic 'boughs' separated by plastic tube dividers.  It's wonderful!  

Next stop was a Craigslist sale about a 1/2 hour away.  It was a woman (in her 50s) and her mother (70s) who had a very interesting ad. The opening lines were about how they were both avid collectors and were having a sale so that they wouldn't be on TV in an upcoming episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive.  I can relate.

They had 3 portable car-port tents in their tiny front yard with everything sorted by category & organized (nice), but most of what they had was priced like an antique mall (not nice).  There were a few goodies that just jumped out at me, though:

 This sweet set of Royal Sealy kitties, Made in Japan, from the 1950s:

This Made in Japan Santa.  I love his happy look, but can't figure out what he was made for.  He has slits all around his back and sides and little holes in his hat (like salt & pepper shaker holes).  Not enough room underneath for a light bulb and no place for the cord and too big a hole in the bottom for a stopper.  He  almost looks like one of those napkin lady dolls, but that doesn't make sense on a Santa.  Any ideas?

This was under a table in the kitchen tent -- I was so excited and did the happy dance through the raindrops all the way to the car!

A Pyrex red with gold holly.  AND the serving rack  AND a lid!
I'd seen these in books, but not in person -- I'll definitely be keeping this one!

I had thought these were casseroles -- it's actually a 404 bowl.  

Last stop was Treasure Mart in Ann Arbor, an 3-story resale shop that has really fast turnover and usually has great items.  I was disappointed to see that their prices are getting higher -- almost as high as mall prices.   they have a 10% discount per month on anything over $5, but there were very few things therethat were even one month old.  I did find a few good buys, though:

A custard glass plate with ruffled edge

Metlox Californial Ivy divided relish and a Vernon Kilns salt & pepper set

A Monmouth Pottery Western Stoneware bean pot.  I really had to dig to find out about this one.  Monmouth Pottery was in Illinois and Western Stoneware was one of their main lines.  I like its art deco look.

I've been picking up so much more American pottery than I used to (Franciscan, Vernon Kilns, Metlox, Monmouth, Paden City).  I'm going to have to learn more about it!

In the Mail Today: Mid-Century Clip-On Bird Ornaments!

Look what came in the mail today -- these 1950s clip-on bird ornaments.  These aren't classy and beautiful like their mercury glass 'elder sisters' from the early 1900s, but are totally kitschy plastic birds!  They have a spring inside and they open and close like a clothespin.  People used to put them on their Chrstmas trees in winter and their outside trees & bushes in the summer.  I saw some on Etsy a while back and that particular lot was priced well beyond my budget, so I've been watching for them ever since.

These little guys definitely need a trip to the bird bath, but other than that, they're great!  I plan to keep some, share some with some special family members (you know who you are -- I hope) and sell the rest.   Mid-century kitsch is so much fun!

Thrift Shoppers Anonymous?

A friend pointed out to me yesterday that I hadn't posted in a while.  When I looked at the date of my last post, I could hardly believe it!  June 14 -- more than 2 weeks ago! 

I've been so busy, but have really missed writing here (and catching up on all of your  posts).   I took a week off of work because our vacation year ends on June 30 and I still had 6 days left (they'd be gone if I didn't take them).   The most wonderful part was that I stayed home and tackled several projects I'd been putting off. 

I got so much work done!  One day I reorganized my booth (with some very valuable advice from my friend Sandy -- the Booth Whisperer).  It needed an major overhaul, so I brought some things home, took some new stuff in and seriously rearranged.  I'd gotten tired of looking at the items that weren't selling and if I'm sick of them, I'm sure the shoppers are, too.  The mall was getting ready to have their 10 year anniversary sale and I gave 20% off just to move some things out.  Sandy encouraged me to bring in a metal cabinet and put it in the middle (I never would have thought of that), as well as a really cool industrial cart I had at home.   Here's what the booth looked like when we were finished:

  I spent a day and a half ironing -- do you believe it?  I ironed 20-25 dish towels, 4 sets of cloth napkins, at least 20 aprons and about 15 tablecloths.   Then I took a little suitcase I'd bought for display and the industrial cart and filled them with dish towels and tablecloths. 

I love this little Knickerbocker bear from the 50s and the way he looks with the dishtowels

  I really need to get a hanging rack to display the aprons.  A friend who lives in Minnesota is going to cut out the base for me (as soon as I draw up the plans and send them to him).  He's a great woodworker and does such careful, beautiful work that I'm sure my hanging rack will be the Sistine Chapel of display-ware!

I haven't been shopping much at all, as working on my 'storage' space (that's a fancy term for piles of stuff) has allowed me to see all the great things I'd bought but forgotten about.  So, other than a few trips to the local thrift and some stops at garage sales, which were almost not worth the gas, I've been keeping my money in my wallet.

At the sales last week I picked up this nice enamel farm table and Santa with one reindeer:

I think Santa needs some work -- like all good Christmas things, he's 'some assembly required'

It's hard to slow down on shopping!   I've finally realized that being a thrift shopper is like being a compulsive gambler:  you're always sure that the next great bargain is at the next sale!  I think there needs to be a Thrift Shoppers Anonymous, because finding great stuff is addictive.   Now I've got to close...my estatesales.net and auctionzip emails just hit my inbox...  

Being First at the Sale -- THAT'S a First!

Last week I got to be first at a sale -- that's never happened to me before!  On Wednesday, I saw a small notice in our local county newspaper for donations to a village historical society's garage sale on 'Thursday, Friday & Saturday'.  No dates, just a time and place.  I took a chance on going there before work and was first in the parking lot -- there were no signs, so I had to go to the door and ask if the sale was that weekend. Since I was early, I even offered to help them set up (figured I might get a sneak-peek...)  The two ladies working it had spent the entire week setting it up in a very big room all by themselves ... they said they wished I'd been there earlier.

By the time they let us in, there was a HUGE crowd of 6 people (and I was first)!   Most of the things were newer and not to my junkin' taste, but I did get some nice things...

American Plastic Bricks, which were building tiles before there were Legos.  I HAD to snap these up -- I had them when I was little and want to play with them

A campfire toaster and 3 great 'Mad Men' mid-century glasses

A 1960s card shuffler and another thermometer set (minus the baster).  I may see if I have a baster I can add to make it complete

Some old books & booklets, but nothing exciting...

An unused scrapbook and (THIS is great!) a 1955 'Beauty in Britain' book.  I HAVE to keep that -- have I ever  mentioned how much I love all things British?

  I got some great Christmas stuff, too ...

1960s metal tree-hanger candy holders, in their store box

A tin with a few old ornaments

These three 1950s Made in Japan Santas are great! 
The two on the right have stuffed 'nylon' covered faces -- we used to get lots of little novelty dolls like this in the 50s & 60s.  Each of these is 9 or 10" tall and they were a real find! 

  The sale was 'by donation', so you took your items up to the checkout and suggested your donation.  I offered what I thought was a generous donation (and the checkout lady did, too) -- until the other lady came over and was really upset that the Santas were there.  She had intended to price them separately, but didn't get to it.  Oh, well -- a bargain for me!  Do you think it was wrong that I just smiled and agreed when she said (bitterly) "You really got a good deal there."?  I don't (they had all week to price, after all)!

Quick Christmas Recap

This might be my last post of the year, but I hope not... 
We had such a great holiday season!  We traveled to Naples, Florida for the week leading up to Christmas to visit my son and his girlfriend.  They both work in the service industry down there and can't get away for the holiday because it's just about their busiest time.  It was so good to see them both and hang out with them (and the sunny 80 degrees every day wasn't bad, either).   We flew home on Christmas day, which is the perfect day to travel -- the airports (and jets) are almost empty!

When we got back to beautiful Michigan, our other two sons and family and friends came to have our 'second Christmas'.  My youngest son brought his brand-new fiance (they had just gotten engaged on Christmas Eve),  We're so excited to have her become part of the family!  Sadly, my aunt (who's 89) and my niece & nephew and their families couldn't come, so we weren't complete, but it was a great family get-together nonetheless.

Some dear friends who moved away 2 years ago came back into town for a quick overnight visit.  We (my friends & family) had our annual (15th, actually) 'Bucket of Doom'.   That's a plastic bucket crammed full of bottle rockets (600+) with a special design for optimum firing, built onto a custom-made wooden sled.  It never lives up to expectations -- only 2/3 of the rockets ever go off and only about half of those go UP & not sideways -- but that's part of the fun of the bucket!   It's a good thing we have acres of land & snow on the ground!

After the excitement of the bucket died down, we all gathered for a spirited round of Mexican Dominoes.  We had LOTS of laughs and such a good time.  There isn't much better at Christmas than family & dear friends sharing the precious gift of laughter!

Here's the fun THRIFT part:  my friend, who now lives in Minnesota, has become my personal picker!  How cool is that!  She brought me a box of wonderful treasures from estate sales in the north country and also a box of hand-picked great stuff from her mother-in-law.

 We looked at the stuff a little while she was here, but there was so much going on, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures to show you.  Tomorrow, I'm going to go through it all and (hopefully) my last post of 2011 will be a tribute (and giant THANK YOU) to my picker friend Kally!   I have to admit that I'm glad the craziness of Christmas is behind us, though it's always a let-down when everyone goes away and the house gets SO quiet again.   I'll just have to soothe my blues by looking at some great vintage stuff & sharing it with you!

Merry Christmas -- God Bless Us, Every One!

May you have much laughter...

 a sense of wonderment...

time to spend with those you love...

and to share sweet memories of those who are no longer with you...

I wish each of you a very Merry & Blessed Christmas!

Finishing Up an Odd Job

I don't know how things are at your house, but there's nothing like the impending visit of houseguests to get me moving on finishing up odd jobs.  Things I've been happy to let slide for months weeks suddenly take on a new importance.

We're having family visit after Christmas, and I FINALLY hung up a great 1950s wall box that I'd gotten at an estate sale.  I've had this sitting on the cabinet that it's hanging over (now) for almost a year.  It had been there so long that, when I showed Mr. KV what I'd done, he said  "Oh, that hangs on the wall? I thought it was supposed to sit on the cabinet!"

The cabinet was my aunt's, the Christmas tree stand was given to me by my mother-in-law.  It was her great-grandmother's and is from the 1800s -- it winds up and plays 'Silent Night' and 'Kling, Glockchen'.  The cream colored felt tree skirt is from the 1960s, I think -- I picked it up a few years ago.

Like all odd jobs done close to the arrival of company, completing one leads to another.  Once I'd hung up the box, I had to figure out what to put in it.

It turned out to be easier to fill the box than I'd expected...  I added a few vintage Christmas items -- a bottle brush wreath, Gurley Santa candle & a pair of Lefton angels.  The tin is a souvenir from King George's coronation in 1937 (no, I wasn't there to get it in person...) The three English money boxes are from King Edward's & King George's reigns.  The loving cup is one that my Aunt Gene won in tennis in her youth in the 1940s and the Scottie with the Haggis is a gift from her -- she's very proud of our Scottish heritage!  Since the cabinet below the box used to belong to her, it seems only fitting that some of her favorite things are displayed above it, along with some of mine.

Dealer Day = Shopping Day

The first Sunday this month was Dealer Day at our mall -- I know I've told you about this.  Just in case you forgot, it's the one Sunday of every month when the mall is open to its dealers to prep their booths from 10 - 12 with no shoppers there.  It's a wonderful bonus to us!

This particular Dealer Day, though, happened to be the last day of the 10-day sale . . . so after I fluffed and re-stocked my booth, I did what most self-respecting dealers do and went shopping!  I've figured out that we all just keep buying each others' stuff. . . hmm.

I still had birthday money from my Aunt Gene -- I'd been holding on to it for months (and Christmas is coming soon), so I figured I could do some mall-price spending.  I found some great bargains, but here are my favorites -- Happy Birthday from Aunt Gene to me!

A Lefton Santa & his sleigh from the 1950s -- isn't he neat?  I wonder what went in his sleigh?  There are 2 holes on each side, as though something was strung between them...

A Farmer Peet's Lard Bucket -- just perfect in the kitchen filled with red-handled utensils

A wall-mounted gold & silver aluminum tree from the 1960s -- I know, it's total kitsch, but also totally cool!

The tree came with its original box -- can you believe it?

Gurley Christmas Candles

 Have I mentioned that I like Gurley candles?

Gurleys on the hoosier cabinet

the Amen corner

the elves in the middle

the snowmen

the angels on an old spice cabinet

the pastel angels in the back row are really hard to find

the Santas on my great-great aunt's treadle sewing machine

 Do you think there's a 12-step group for Gurley addicts?