The Rest Of The Weekend Pick And A Little Peek In The Other Art Room

 I went out again on Sunday and think I managed to satisfy that junk-Jones I had going on!  I visited a second sale in the most amazing turn of the century house.  That is one of the things I love about estate sales, sometimes you get a chance to see inside those wonderful old houses - up close and personal!  I had to keep circling and asking myself if I had been in that room already.

 I also went back to the book hoarder house.  Even on the third day you still had to turn sideways between the stacks and not for lack of customers.  I picked up this one because who could resist that cover??  The book was published in 1854 so I will have to actually read it and see what is inside.  The sub-title is "and what I saw there".  The era would make me think it is the evils of drink but the font is a little too light-hearted for that.  I will report back.

 Doesn't this sheer bow look like an angel?  I see a project here.  Those magazines were from the book hoarder, as well.  I picked these two out of the stacks for the ads.  I could have thumbed all day.

 When I got home I walked out to The Husband's art room (the shop) to let him know I was home.  He was turning an exotic hardwood called Padouk. 

The sawdust was the most amazing orange color, way more vibrant than photos in the poorly lit shop can convey.  When the sawdust is freshly turned it is a bright, vibrant orange.  Beautiful wood!  He is experimenting with making corkscrews and bottle openers so keep your eye out for them to appear in his Etsy shop.

Estate Sale Fix

 There haven't been any estate sales on my side of town recently so I was really looking forward to the ones listed for today.  The first house was filled to the rafters with mantiques.  Clearly a book hoarder and no woman had ever lived in that house.  I did find a nice little pile, though, including sheet music with great covers plus my very favorite find of the day.  I might cruise back over to that one for half price day tomorrow.  Who doesn't want radio tubes at half price??

 Do they still make a Skipper doll, Barbie's little sister?  I had Skipper and Scooter and Ricky when I was a girl.  I was never a doll girl and it's till true, but I always buy paper dolls when I find them.  I AM a paper girl.
The title on this sheet music tugs the heart strings.  WWI.  I have not idea what that metal thing is but I knew when I saw it that it would come home with me.

 Sweet sheet music cover.  I got three with a bird theme - yay!  That wooden tag on the keys is labeled with ballpoint pen and says Cabin #136 Silver Springs. 

 My favorite find of the day!!  "I Married Adventure" by Osa Johnson.  I remember the summer of 1968, between 8th and 9th grade, when I read this book.  It used to be in my mother's bookcase and I don't know what happened to it and always wished I could have it back.  What to my wondering eyes should appear.  Even in the hoarder house of books this cover jumped right out at me.  The spine is pretty filthy.  Any ideas for how I could clean it up??

I really am trying to not buy any more vintage linens but a bundle of 11 for $2 and none of them broken.  Well duh.  Could.Not.Resist.  I also bought a box of interesting bits and pieces of bling.  There are three interesting pins in the center of this picture.  They say USSR 1965.  I have looked on line and can't find a thing about them.  I think they are interesting since that was the height of the cold war.  If you know something about them please let me know.
I might have gotten the junking out of my system, or maybe not.  We will see what develops tomorrow!  Half price day, you know....

Some Fun For Me Tonight

I don't usually shop eBay unless I am searching for something very specific but I ran across this listing when I was looking for a finial for my Steampunk lamp.  Don't ask me how I got from lamp parts to vintage buttons...  LOL!  How could I resist a button listing with low (fair!) shipping.
When I got home from work tonight, the package was sitting on my kitchen table.  I will be having some fun tonight!!

Steampunk My Way

 The vintage finial I bought off eBay arrived toady so I was able to finish up my lamp project - steampunk done my way!  This idea has been rolling around in my head for a while and it turned out exactly the way I visioned it.  Whew!  I know steampunk isn't for everyone but I love the look!  The filament in the bulb looks kind of like a heart doesn't it - perfect for Valtentines' Day tomorrow.

 The lamp base has been sitting on my bedside table for years but the shade I made for it had seen better days.  I knew I wanted to do something completely different and this is a far cry from the batik-covered shade with the purple fringe!

 I don't know how to do wire-wrapping so I winged it with attaching the vegetable steamer "petals" around the bottom.  I soaked the shade frame all weekend in highly concentrated Miracle Grow.  The harp wouldn't co-operate at all so I ended up dabbing on brown StazOn ink to mute the shiny brass.

I said I would show the Paris souvenir scarf from the last post after I washed and ironed it so here you go.  Love the Eiffel Tower!!
Happy to have a project finished and moving on to other things.  The ideas always come faster than the time allows.  This is headed back to the bedroom now.  Sweet dreams!

Making Do

 There were no estate sales inside my driving bubble this weekend and slim pickings at the thrift so I had to make do with some bottom feeding at The Bins.  Junking, one teeny, tiny piece at a time.

 This vintage Paris scarf was worth the long drive over there.  I will show the whole thing when I get it cleaned up and ironed. 

 Yes, that is a plastic elephant.  It's kind of funny what you pick up when you are paying $1.69 a pound.  There is another elephant somewhere in this heap.

 Oh look, they are both in this picture.  Very, VERY vintage plastic deer that I got home and realized their ears are missing.  Good grief, now that will be a challenge.

 I got a total of nine bells.  Those blue Christmas bells will do well with a coat of blue glitter.

 There are three vintage German Putz-type sleighs.  Those will need a little glitter-love, as well.

A vintage sewing pattern, a dreamy vintage negligee, many snippets of embroidery, a rose stencil, millinery rose bunches and some sewing trims.  Bells and elephants.  Go figure.
Some days you really have to squint your eyes to see the possibilities!

Update From The Rescue Vortex

Just a quick update from the vortex so you know I didn't electrocute myself with that vintage Bakelite lamp socket.  After I switched it out and ran to living room and told The Husband, "get ready, I'm going to plug it in" and, WooHoo, the lights didn't go out in Georgia or here in Portland Oregon, either!  Little wins.
Sorry I have been so absent this week.  I am still caught up in the vortex of this project, Etsy and the big girl job.  Still much work to be done, patina... the shade...  Just wait till you see what this bulb looks like when it is turned on.  I hope I can figure out how to take a picture of that.  Oh!  And I ordered a very cool vintage finaial for the top.
Until next time,  I'm back down the rabbit hole....

Monday? Really??

 Monday? Really?  I must be caught in some time-warp thing.  I don't even know where the weekend went.  Maybe it was all the fat I ate during the Super Bowl party.  Slowed my brain to a crawl. 
So what is this thing anyway?  It is part of the recipe for one of those Strange Notions thats starts whirling around in my head when I should be doing something constructive.

 Believe it or not, I bought this ugliest lamp in America (or maybe the world) to get that Bakelite socket off the top.  All the way to the checkstand, I told anyone who would listen (and some that didn't care) that I was just buying it for the socket.  They looked at me funny.

 Here's another little hint.  I had to do the same thing when I bought this a couple weeks ago.  It was covered with the most gawd-awful red and white lace boudoir hooker shade that it was embarassing to buy it.  Seeing things for what they CAN be is one of my talents.  Maybe.  Time will tell.

 I mentioned the trip to Rejuvination Hardware for the special must-have light bulb to make my dreams come true.

 I thought I couldn't buy a new harp that would fit the vision so I bought one off eBay (which hasn't arrived yet) and then what to my wondering eyes did appear at the VOA??  I love choices.

 I might use these...

Or maybe some of these.  That's all for today.  I'm back down the rabbit hole.

Tissue Paper Confessions

 I was wandering through the Dollar Tree the other day and discovered that they carry some really pretty patterned tissue paper.  I'm a sucker for roses so of course I had to have this one with the white roses, among others.  Well, okay, I bought every pattern they had, after all, it was the Dollar Tree.

 Today I found this sturdy letterhead box in the recycle bin by the back door at the office.  No, I am not too proud to dumpster-dive.  I find some great boxes there.  It's one of the undocumented perks at the big-girl job - LOL!  I had been wanting a "just right" box to store by die cuts and this fit the bill perfectly.  I covered the box in tissue papers and glued a rose border on the end so I can remember what's inside.

I used the same paper as a background for a new page in the altered book several days ago.  I already showed you the page on the right but the one on the left is new.  I love the way the text on the page shows through the sheer tissue.  It creates an interesting background with little effort.
Hmm.  Well, I have gone this far so I might as well admit I have a vintage suitcase filled with tissue paper.  I buy it.  I save it from gifts.  Sometimes from other people's gifts.  I use it to wrap my Etsy sales.  I use it to MAKE stuff.  I USE it.  This means it isn't a collection - right??

Plunder and Bling

 On Sunday my son and I visited Rejuvination Hardware to buy a fancy light bulb for a project I'm planning.  If you live in the area this is a very fun store to visit.  They sell reproduction vintage hardware as well as the real thing.  If you are like me and old escutcheons and vintage doorknobs take your breath away this this place is a must see!
On our way home we swung by Antique Alley.  He was searching for vintage woodworking tools and I am always game to walk through an antique mall.

 I came away with this little armful of lace, bling and another satin dresser box.  Seriously, can you really have too many of those??  Honestly, I do have a plan for them.  Another story for another day.

 I made my weekly trip to the VOA on Saturday.  I have been having excellent luck on finding buttons lately but the plastic flowers and corsage were my favorite finds for the day.  The candle ring near the center of the picture is a thicker plastic, almost like Lucite only flexible.  This might just have to hang around my house for awhile!

The buttons were nothing special but still... they are buttons!  A co-worker told me today that he watched an episode of The Hoarders last night and they opened a box and the poor woman screamed "my buttons!".  A hoarder I am NOT, but I sure hope they let her keep those. 
I didn't take a very good picture of the little bowl.  It is vintage porcelain enamel with two little birds.  I am not bothered by the chip on the edge.  Too sweet to leave behind.
I hope your weekend picking was good!

Celluloid Tight Tops and Glow Bubbles

 LOL - say THAT title three times fast!  These vintage buttons are made of celluloid, which was an early plastic.  "Tight Top" refers to the way this group is made.  They are a celluloid top that is "tightly" wrapped under and attached to a metal back.

 There are a few "Glow-Bubbles" in this lot.  They are made in the same way but the dome is semi-transparent and the inside of the metal base has a shiny foil or tin coating that gives it a little "glow". 

 Since my buttons are all collected from estate sale button tins and poke sacks, a lot of them are pretty scuffed with not so much glow surviving.

 Celluloid actually dates back to the late 1800 so it truly was a VERY early plastic.  It was not very durable and the ones we find in button boxes today are often kind of "rotted" looking and responsible for some of that funky smell you sometimes encounter in old button boxes.

Celluloid is also very flammable.  If you touched it with a hot iron it might just go POOF, up in smoke.  Luckily, I don't iron my buttons.  8+)

Altered Book Pages and Thankful Thursday

These pages seem appropriate to what I am feeling tonight.  I don't talk much about the "big girl" job but I had a breakthrough today on a project I'm working on and left the office on a high note.
I am thankful for good conversation at the end of a good day.
I am thankful for cold beers with good people.
I am thankful for 55 degrees in January!!!
I am linking up today with Annette at Sew Many Memories for Thankful Thursday.  Please hop on over and remember that there is almost always something to be thankful for, even when it is a lesson learned.

Oops, Sorry Carol!

I made one of my photo Altoids tins and a card for my sweet friend, Carol, and gave it to her last week.  Her real birthday was Sunday and I forgot to post this.  Happy Birthday, Carol, I love you!
She loves everything poodle so I searched the Internet for a vintage poodle photo that "whispered" a caption to me.  That is how I make my photo mint tins.  The original photo was so sweet that I made it into a card.
You might also notice I made an alternate background to use when I take pictures on top of my workbench.  I love the one covered with the bright yellow wallpaper but sometimes it is a little too busy.  This one is covered with dictionary pages and I have Carol to thank.  My little background screens are made from scrabble boards.  I only had one complete one and needed two.  She needed more "B" scrabble tiles for her project.  A perfect trade with a perfect friend!