Weekend Junk Finds: Vintage Christmas Loot

 Blurry photo, sorry--it was taken with my phone and looked fine on the little screen. This represents the fruits of my Black Friday shopping. When you're in a tiny town where the only major store is Wal-Mart, you have to get creative. I hit the local thrift stores and turned up these. I'd rather have a pile of pink vintage Shiny Brites than a $79 flat screen TV any day!

The beautifully tarnished vintage glass glitter on this sleigh stuck out like a shining beacon on a thrift store shelf full of ugly figurines (one of those seasonal eye exams Barbara is talking about). It's a fun piece--it's marked Japan on the bottom but the fun thing is that the sleigh itself collapses almost flat! The flat part in the middle is actually two pieces connected with elastic string. They can be folded together, pushing up and making the glittered sides of the sleigh come together. Very handy for storage!

Why, oh why did the fashion of wearing a festive Christmas corsage pinned to your winter coat die away? Who's up for helping me to bring it back? My collection is getting to the point where I could wear a different one every day for the whole month.

 And one last small-town thrift store find. I saw this rubber-face Santa on my way out the door, after we had already paid. He was on the floor and I walked right by him the first time. I wasn't sure if I ought to spring for him, so I took the Phone-A-Friend option. Actually, I texted the owner of another rubber-faced Santa, who said she'd buy him.

I'm pretty sure I knew that would be her answer before I even hit "Send". I went back for him and I'm pretty glad she talked me into it. ;) My Santa is 24" tall with a rubber face, gloves, and boots. He's not in perfect condition by any means: there's a chunk out of the back of his peplum (the belt is cleverly attached to the peplum, to give him the appearance of wearing a separate coat and pants), there are marks on the rubber and some paint loss on his face and hair, and the tip of his hat seems to be covered in a glob of melted candle wax. I like him more and more every day! There are some faint markings on his gloves but I can't read them so I don't know anything about his manufacturer. Does he look familiar to any of you?

We dragged the Christmas tree up from the basement yesterday so that I can spend the week getting things decorated. I must admit that right now, the thought of having to haul out all of the boxes and bins, make a gigantic mess figuring out where to put everything, and then stow all the boxes again has me feeling completely overwhelmed. I have two events this weekend, and I have some other projects going on as well, all with top priority so I'm starting out the month already feeling completely stressed out. I think by a week from now I'll be feeling much better but for now I'm already feeling the holiday crunch.
What's your best tip for dealing with holiday stress?

Vintage Christmas Math

MINUS

EQUALS

Now that's my kind of math homework!

Product Review: Carbona Silver Wipes

A few months ago, I applied to test and review a new product made by Carbona: Silver Wipes. I have used Carbona products before in my laundry and been very happy with them. Once, The Mister left a pen in his uniform pocket, which I unknowingly sent through the washing machine with predictably disastrous results. I scrubbed the spots with Carbona Stain Wizard Wipes and was able to get nearly all of the set-in ink out!

When I saw that Carbona now makes Silver polishing wipes, I thought would be a great product for all of us thrifters and junkers that love to buy vintage silver and silverplate treasures.

When I saw this cute little tarnished Revere creamer, I knew it would be the perfect test subject for my Carbona Silver Wipes! This is the Before picture so you can see the tarnish.

And here is the After--it looks so pretty and shiny now! The Carbona Silver Wipes were very easy to use. I normally use cream silver polish and it tends to have a very strong, stinky chemical odor, but I didn't notice any odor with the Carbona Wipes. I only had to use one wipe for this small creamer, but I imagine that depending on the size of your piece and the severity of the tarnish, you might need to use more than one. They're very inexpensive though, so that's not a problem.

One thing I thought was interesting--although the product is called Silver Wipes, you can use them on other metals such as brass, pewter and copper. I've been on the lookout for brass items to resell in my Etsy shop so I'm eager to give the Silver Wipes a try when I find a great brass piece!

Overall, I'm happy with the Silver Wipes and would recommend them. Polishing silver isn't my favorite job but these definitely make the task easier!

(I was provided with the Carbona Silver Wipes to review but the opinions are strictly my own!)

Weekend Junk Finds

Oh, who am I kidding? The thrift freeze is over. Truthfully, it never really got started.

I'm always on the lookout when thrifting for great old wool blankets, but they seem to be harder to find for me these days. Back in 2006 I found a vintage wool Hudson Bay stripe-style blanket with a tag that reads "Faribo".

After some research, I found out that Faribo was a phonetic or Anglicized spelling for the French Faribault--as in, Faribault Woolen Mill in Michigan, where these blankets are made. Since that time I've been on the lookout for more and this is the first I've found in all those years! This one is yellow and brown plaid. Not my ideal color combination, but it's perfect for autumn so it's currently covering up the ugly upholstery fabric on the new chair in my front room.

This guy is an older find, but I just never posted it. It's a vintage Arkansas Razorback hog pottery statue. I showed it to my personal Arkansas expert and she said that it might even be a Camark piece. Camark pottery was produced in Arkansas from 1926 to the early 1960s. I waited until football season started to list it on eBay and nobody was more surprised than me when the auction ended at $102.25! I still have no idea what made this piece so desirable, but I'm sure glad I picked it up!

Ah, my favorite time of year at the thrift stores! All of these came in one big bag mixed in with newer junky ornaments. The fluffy pile in the lower right was a beautiful delicate glass bird ornament that had old silver tinsel for feathers. The beautiful delicate glass ornament is now a bundle of beautiful delicate shards, but I thought I might be able to rescue the perfectly aged tinsel.

Free junk! This pretty aqua blue ball pitcher was found at my favorite little consignment shop. I had credit for items I consigned, so this cutie was free! I actually already have a beloved Lu-Ray aqua pitcher (a gift from a sweet bloggy friend) so as much as I adore the snowflake shapes on the sides, this guy will probably be for sale next Spring when/if I do another vintage market.

Did you find anything this weekend? Any squirrel dishes, perhaps?

I'm linking up with The Nifty Thrifty at a living space!

Squirrel!

Back when I was thrifting inventory for my two vintage/craft shows, I came across this darling squirrel nut dish. I was excited to find him because I was particularly looking for 'autumn-ish' items for my booth, and this fit the bill perfectly!

He sold pretty early in the day of my first show, so it looks like my instincts were right on mark. I must admit I was sad to see him go.

Which is why when I found this version of the same dish at the very same thrift store recently, I snapped it right up! I'm not dumb enough to let something this cute get away the second time.

But then it got a little freaky. I was at a different thrift store THE VERY NEXT DAY (uh,what thrifting freeze? I don't know what you're talking about) and guess what I found:

A pair of them! They were sitting on adjacent shelves, but had different colored tags (and different prices) so they didn't even get priced and put out in the same week. What are the chances?

And then it got weirder because a few aisles away, I found another one! Of course I had to take him back for a group photo:

I think they're following me. Or maybe I'm just a little nuts (hee hee.)

Weekend Thrift Finds: the short-lived thrifting break ends

 Sooo....remember back here on the 15th when I said I was taking a thrifting break for a while? That lasted about a week before I caved. I was in the thrift store to get stuff for Halloween costumes and couldn't resist a look around...

Vintage Hull white pottery urn. I've said it before, and it holds true: I cannot resist urn-shaped vintage pottery! I sold a similar one at my second market. I try to be really selective about the vintage planters I buy but this one had pretty gold glaze detailing over the pale green that reminded me of the scales on a pinecone. It's filled with vintage Shiny Brites.

A new-but-vintage-style Fiesta sugar and creamer set. I don't even collect Fiestaware but the color is so gorgeous I had to grab it! This will head to my Etsy shop.

 

Again with the vintage planter buying. This one is marked Wm. Frazier Briar Calif and I love the bright green color. It matches the green McCoy log planter I bought a few weeks ago. (Note to self: QUIT BUYING PLANTERS!)

Repro brass letter stencil wall hangings from Urban Outfitters. The M is hanging in Maren's room and the b and A are waiting in the wings for some clever use.

Vintage sparklies and a sweet Eiffel Tower pin marked 'Paris'. Need I say more?

Up tomorrow: Halloween pictures (finally!)

Weekend Junk Finds

Friends, thank you all for commiserating with me last week on my weather disaster. I was still feeling pretty blue when I wrote that post, I'll admit it. Tuesday night I held a 'Trunk Show' at my home with the remainder of my unsold handmade Halloween items. I was really worried that I was making a huge mistake and setting myself up for failure. However, I had many sweet friends come over to visit and shop, and by the end of the night I felt so much better! Just seeing my friends lifted my spirits immensely. Thank goodness for my wonderful friends! By the end of Wednesday I'd pulled myself together and out of my funk completely. I listed quite a few things in my Etsy shop and am trying to get a few more things up there in the next day or two.

I was sorely tempted to hit the estate sales last weekend, now that I'm not on such a strict crafting schedule--but the reality is that I'm buried under inventory that needs to be listed on Etsy, and have ZERO business adding to that mess! As much as I'm tempted by my new free-er schedule, I'm putting myself on a junking freeze for a while until I get some more items listed and hopefully sold. Hence, this may be the last Weekend Junk Finds post for a little while because I need to focus on getting things out the door!

Some vintage fabric scraps from an estate sale. Now, let's just remember for a moment that I DON'T SEW and therefore I have no business buying fabrics. But they're so pretty! And I think I got charged maybe $1 for all of these, plus a large piece of pretty red vintage velvet.

Have I ever mentioned that I collect these metal state ashtrays? I might have once before, but I think perhaps I need to do post with all of them together. I'm always on the lookout for cool vintage Colorado travel souvenirs anyway, so this was perfect! Underneath the ashtray is a pretty yellow and white chenille crib blanket.

This sweet tiny apron is made of fabric with an Alice in Wonderland print. There was a note pinned to the back from the owner saying she thought it was from1936 or 37. I found it at my local consignment store, and I'm kind of shocked that it ended up there! I collect Alice things so I had to have this one, but since I don't have a good way to display this wee apron, it may eventually end up on Etsy. The short strand of mercury glass beads was from the same estate sale as the fabric,

as was the large circus-themed glass in the center of the photo. I know circus-themed parties are very popular right now and I think this glass, filled with aqua Jelly Bellies with some cute pennant flags stuck in the top would be THE CUTEST centerpiece for a circus party! I know I should not bring home orphaned vintage glasses but darned if I don't keep doing it.

The two glasses on the left were in a bag together at the thrift. I'm pretty sure the black star glass is a Swanky Swig--I happen to have two of the red version. This one will be perfect for Halloween! The glass with the gray and black leaves is Libby. The two glasses on the right were also found together at a different thrift store. One has little animals and the other has pink roosters--I can't tell if they were originally red but faded over time? I don't know enough to know if they are true Swanky Swigs, but they're darn cute either way. Really not particularly useful, but too cute to just leave there on the thrift store shelf!

I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!

Weekend Junk Finds: a parliament of owls

Hello, friends! Saturday was my BIG DAY. Actually, it was the second of three BIG DAYS that I'm having in a period of about four weeks. The first was my triathlon, the second was my craft/vintage market on Saturday and #3 is the craft/vintage market coming up this Saturday. After that, I'm going to sleep! I'm exhausted.

I have some photos of Saturday's market to share tomorrow, but today I have some junk finds to show.

I love the pretty pale yellow and gray quilted pillow. It goes perfectly with the pillows from last week's post! I'm not sure if it was originally a quilt piece made into a pillow, or if it was quilted specifically to be made into a pillow. The milk glass tumbler sold at the market on Saturday, and the aqua Butterprint Pyrex is going in storage for a while. I'm thinking of doing a craft/vintage market next May with a pink/aqua/pastel theme, and I have a few pieces of pink & aqua Pyrex stashed for it already. I think this sweet pillow and the ones from last week will go too.

 

I've been buying up owls like crazy for my booths! The little owl figure on the left is marked Japan, and he went to market with me last weekend but didn't sell. His wee brass buddy DID sell, and the big green planter is going with me this next Saturday. The funky granny square afghan is going to market as well.

I bought the big orange beaded brooch because I thought I could do something Halloweeny with it. Haven't figured out what quite yet, but I'm thinking! And did you spot two more owls?

A winking owl and one with big orange jelly belly-type eyes! They're both going to market with me on Saturday. Did you know that one of the names for a group of owls is a parliament?

The green McCoy planter has a big chip out of the inside lip making it just a bit too imperfect to try to sell, so it gets to live with me, which doesn't break my heart one bit! The local Goodwill already started putting out Christmas (earliest sighting ever for that store) and I found a good warmup in three Shiny Brites. The tweezers have ends with a little round indentation--perfect for picking up beads. I found them in a big bag with the shell pieces. Honestly, that was one bag of random stuff that I'm really not sure why I bought. I think I got caught up in the thrifting moment.

Rolls and rolls of vintage seam binding! Years ago, back when I first started thrifting and reselling, I came across several bags of seam binding rolls. They were a bit pricey (I thought) at around $6 per bag so I only bought one bag of about 6 rolls, and then I ended up reselling them all in one big lot. Ever since then I've regretted a) not buying every bag and b) selling the few rolls I had. When I found all of these rolls spread across five bags, I was determined to not make that mistake again! They were a better price this time, which made my decision easier. I'll probably take the fuller rolls to market on Saturday.

And one last find, two huge antique Vignaud Limoges platters. It's hard to tell scale but the one in the back is very large! They're very pretty and shabby style with gold scrolly edges and rim. In researching I found that they were sold in Wanamaker's department store, which was in NYC and Philadelphia. I took these to market but didn't have a good place to put them (they're huge and heavy) until later in the day. I don't think enough people saw them so I'll have to find a better location this coming Saturday. They're big and heavy and would be a pain to ship, so I'd really like to sell them in person.

Did you go junking this weekend? I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!

Weekend Junk Finds

Junk is taking over my house! Not in a call-the-producer-from-Hoarders type of way, but in a two-vintage-markets-in-as-many-weeks sort of way. It's a good thing, really. That's what I keep telling my husband, anyway!

A few weeks ago I found a garage sale less than a mile from my house.

The first things I saw in the driveway were these old pillow cases, both nicely embroidered. The one on the left is appliqued with the sweetest print fabrics, and both have a row of pretty shell buttons that close the cases.

Once I ventured into the garage, I found these--a strand of mercury glass beads, a crocheted Christmas card basket (why do I buy these? I swear they never resell but for some reason I love them) and an old blue glass Ball jar. I also found the plaid tablecloth in the background--I love the combination of red, green, yellow and gray! It's a Simtex and the tag charmingly informs us it was "Made Right in America." There were several more tablecloths at this sale and all of them had a tiny note pinned to the corner with the dimensions of the cloth noted in spidery handwriting.

Moving further into the garage, I unearthed this yellow rose printed tea towel and the fantastic aqua gingham pillow with tiny black rickrack edging. It's stuffed with a great old down pillow.

The girl running the sale was younger than me, and she told me this sale was all her grandmother's things. The garage was pretty packed full, and when she said "you should have seen it last weekend, it was even more full!" all I could do was groan because of all the good stuff I must have missed! She said that they're still cleaning out her grandmother's home & storage units so I gave her my business card with an invitation to call me but I'll be watching that corner for garage sale signs for a while!

A few other recent finds--even though I've largely quit buying aprons, I couldn't leave this fruit-print cutie behind. The pint canning jar is a different brand than I usually find (Drey) and the pink Gooseberry Pyrex fridgie somehow survived the Goodwill Outlet without a single chip. 

And one last find, this one destined for one of my booths--a silverplate trophy bowl from 1967-68. Hope it sells!

Simply Mad for Yellow & Orange Plaid

On Monday, I made what could be termed a 'questionable' inventory purchase for my upcoming markets:

Do not feel the need to adjust your monitor, that is indeed a yellow and orange and black plaid chair. The colors are even brighter in real life; the yellow stands out more. It can possibly be seen from space.

The thing is, the colors are perfect for Fall and for the Halloween theme of my booth. It's in great shape and it was a great price. It's definitely eye-catching and I think having it outside my booth will hopefully draw people over to look (and then they'll venture inside and buy lots of things! :)

I posted this on my Facebook page on Monday afternoon and asked if I'm crazy, or perhaps crazy like a fox. The responses varied. I'll let you go ahead and guess which one my husband thinks I am.

So yeah, I know it's not for everyone. It's a statement piece for sure, but I think it totally crosses the line from "ugly" to "so ugly it's really awesome." What do you think?

Even though it's Wednesday, I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!

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! 

Weekend Junk Finds: Beautiful Buttons

Hello, friends! This weekend I visited one of the markets where I will be a vendor in just over a month (gulp). It was my first time to that particular market but it was really fun! The venue is pretty because rather than being in a parking lot like several of the other craft/vintage markets around here, instead it's on a large open grassy space like a park. There was live music and several food trucks showed up (including the famous Denver Cupcake Truck) and there were many families out enjoying the beautiful morning and shopping.

Being at the bustling market made me excited to be a vendor there, but it also made me just that much more nervous! I've been freaking out a little bit in the past few days about the prospect of getting it all done and having enough stuff made/found to have two nice full booths, not to mention constructing the booth itself. Maren started school a week ago and I thought for sure that with the return to a structured schedule that I'd have so much more time to work, but instead it's been the opposite. I am starting to feel panicked and frustrated that I can't get more done in a day, and I've got to get a handle on my stress and ratchet up the productivity levels or I'm going to be in the hurt locker in about three weeks.

After I went to the market and had my freak out about inventory and my lack thereof, I decided to hit the thrifts. I found a few things that are fun and I'll show those next week when I get them all photographed. In the meantime, I have a fun find to share with you from last weekend. I mentioned last week that I was pleasantly surprised by the state of my local Goodwill store. One of the items I picked up was a bag of carded buttons. It was packaged up tightly and therefore difficult to see exactly what was inside, but I thought I saw a few vintage buttons so I decided to risk the $3.99.

When I got home and opened the bag, I couldn't believe how many full cards of buttons were actually inside. As I started looking at them, I realized that many of the buttons that I had thought were plastic were actually molded glass! The cards are marked West Germany.

There are many duplicates of each design and they are just beautiful! I have found some vintage glass buttons but nothing like this. There are around 40 full cards, and several more partial cards along with a large handful of loose buttons. I believe some of the loose buttons can be put on the partial cards to make a few more complete sets.

In addition to the glass buttons, there was a large pile of regular plastic buttons--some vintage, some newer.

Also in the bag was this ruffler foot for a sewing machine. I frankly cannot even tell which direction is up or if it is complete or how I would even attach it to my sewing machine. But if it is complete and compatible with my machine, I think it's worth about $20.

And mixed in with the loose buttons at the bottom were several thimbles. Most of the plain cheap silver metal variety, but there was this one plastic thimble advertising a tractor and farm implement company, and a sweet little sterling silver thimble as well! I'd say that bag was well worth the $4 splurge!

Even though I am an avowed button-hoarder, I know that I can't possibly use all of those beautiful glass buttons so I plan to bring most of them (I've gotta keep a few of those pretties!) to my booths. I'd love your suggestions on what you think a fair price would be for me to charge for them.

I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Tuesday!