Weekend Junk Finds: Labor Day edition

Happy Labor Day! I'll be honest, I have no idea why we celebrate Labor Day and I can't even be bothered to Google it and find out. All I know is, I like Monday holidays because it means that The Mister gets a four-day weekend (he is normally off Mondays so they get the preceding Friday off to compensate for Monday holidays)! Many of the thrift stores around town are holding 50% off sales this weekend. I shopped a bit on Saturday and found some more inventory for my booths.

I was totally thrilled to find this cute smaller-sized metal Coleman jug. I'm sure it had been sitting in someone's garage prior to being donated so I scrubbed it good--I even took a toothpick to all those little grooves in the lid to get it looking good. The only thing I can't seem to get clean is the previous owners' surname written in black marker on the top of the plastic lid. :( Think that might be a lost cause. At least the black marker on the metal came off--thank heavens for Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!

The blanket is a gorgeous Pendleton plaid that still has the dry cleaner tag attached. It's beautiful and in perfect condition and even though the red is not keeping within the color scheme of my booth, I think it definitely has the autumnal vibe. The thing about Pendleton--they have used the same label for a long time so I have no idea how you tell if a blanket is truly vintage or not. Anyone know?

I've bought a few other blankets lately in addition to the Pendleton, including this pretty plaid one. I love the colors and I hope it will be appealing to a shopper! The cute little squirrel dish is in the right color scheme and I think he'll be a cute addition to my booth.

It's hard to tell the scale of this vase from the photograph, but it's quite large and I love the handles! I can't decide if I'll leave it plain or dress it up with some spooky Halloween-y vinyl.

More whites and creams for my booth color scheme. The large milk glass cake plate will definitely get a Halloweeny vinyl makeover, and the little milk glass sugar bowl will join two others. Obviously I love anything that is shaped like a trophy! The leaf dish is truly beautiful OLD ironstone. I found it at the consignment store and not only was it the 50% off color, I had credit for items I consigned so it was absolutely FREE! Hooray for 100% profit!

And this last purchase is the product of all of the mid-century modern blogs I read each week when I look through the links in Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. It's not a style that normally appeals to me but I'm fascinated by the simplicity of the designs. This gray vase is quite large and not only does it fit with my color scheme, I think its simple shape and trendy color will make it appealing to a buyer.

We went to a couple of really fun events last week. Can't wait to share! 

The weather's beautiful, Wish you were here

A few days ago, I posted what are undoubtedly the strangest items yet to find their way to my Etsy shop:

Vintage dead duck postcards

Vintage dead deer postcards

You know, normally postcards feature glossy photos of attractive local sights, inviting resorts, or beautiful views. Rarely do you find postcards featuring Dead Animals and the People Who Killed Them. It might make sense if I'd found these in some hunting lodge in Minnesota, but they came from a drugstore in a small Midwestern town. Back in 2005, I bought a vintage wooden card display from a drugstore in Missouri, and its contents included boxes of vintage wrapping paper, greeting cards, and these bizarre postcards. I've held onto them for 6 years now and finally decided it was time to let them go to someone who can appreciate their...um...uniqueness.

So, if you're in the market for some Dead Animal postcards, you know where to find them. While you're there, check out the other new stuff I've listed lately! There's some cool vintage wrapping paper that also came with that card display, but is slightly different in that it features no slain furry woodland creatures. If you like that kind of boring thing.

Posh Squash and a furry visitor

Oh, how I love my Posh Squash!
Last November on our girls' weekend trip to Phoenix, I purchased the wee pink squash on the left. It's teeny and made of the most beautiful rose-colored velvet. I loved it so much that even though it's a pumpkin it has stayed on my desk for the past year, where I could admire it's soft pink sweetness. When I found out that Kim from Olive Juice & Company was selling kits on her blog for her "Posh Squash" you better believe that I hopped over there in a hurry and ordered! I received the kit back before Halloween but just haven't had the time to get them made until now.

The pattern and construction itself is ridiculously simple--in fact, you can probably find instructions for free on the internet by Googling. What makes these so beautiful is the scrumptious velvet in the loveliest fall colors that Kim hand-dyed and included in the kit. I did use a thrifted skirt to make the brown pumpkin, an idea I got from Amy. I'm afraid the kits are all sold out for this year but bookmark Olive Juice & Co, because hopefully Kim will do them again next fall.

In other news, we had an unexpected guest the past few days:

Awwwwww! Isn't that a sweet little furry face? We played foster parents to a little ferret for the past few days. On Tuesday afternoon we discovered him hiding beneath the steps in our garage. We put food & water out but he disappeared that night, only to reappear in our neighbor's arms the next morning--seems he bunked with them on Tuesday night. He was out wandering again yesterday around noon so we let him back in the garage, where he stayed until about 30 minutes ago.

Maren was obsessed with him, as you might imagine. He's really friendly and ferrets don't exactly roam wild around our subdivision, so we knew he was somebody's lost pet. I was all set to make "FOUND" posters this afternoon but the neighbors spotted a "LOST" sign one street over, so they called the ferret's owner and made a joyful reunion. Turns out they are our back-fence neighbors, so little Westley (his mate is Buttercup! CUTE.) probably did a prison break out the dog door and hopped the back fence into our yard. It was a fun little diversion and I have to say that he's pretty darn cute for a weasel!