Latest Junk

 Whew, I made it - it hasn't been a whole week!  As promised, I will try to keep the commentary brief.

 Vintage Raffia Ware mugs plus one tumbler.  Thank you Annette for reminding me what they are called and welcome back to blogland after your little family hiatus.

 How happy are we (me) that we don't have to be Barbie and wear one of these any longer.  I am ALL about comfort!  I do love the box, though.  A Sweetheart of a Figure!

 This tin might be one of Kathy's follies.  The lid is a little sprung but I brought it home anyway in hopes I can figure out how to fix it.

 A nice score of vintage book boards.  In my perfect world I would find the time to use them to make inspiration kits.  Big sigh.

 It was a good ephemera day.  The Old Faithful picture is one of five "giant" Yosemite postcards.

 A couple more tea balls for my collection and an old wooden fishing float for my patio wall.

Favorite find of the day!  This is a MOE airplane desk lamp made between 1948 and 1953.  I have done a little research and it looks like I can still find replacement bulbs for it so restoration is to come.  I don't know if I will be able to part with this one!
I hope you are having a good junk week!

Rolling Along With The Junkalanche

 I'm still here and still not making any significant progress in digging out the art room.  I tell you what, I am going to be GREAT at retirement, although I have been told that I still won't have time to get everything done.
I have been neglectful about photographing the recent finds so I made a point of getting a picture of the Saturday finds before I sorted them away.

 I was intrigued when I found these little nun figurines and thought they were sort of beautiful.  I did some research when I got them home and they are Depose Italy Fontanini and someone has WASHED OFF all the paint.  Boo.  They are supposed to be painted.  I still think they are sort of beautiful so I hope someone else will think so too.

 It was a good day for vintage tablecloths.  I don't find them often.  The ivy is a cutter because it has a stain from what looks like a paint spill.  The other two are a little faded but overall good vintage condition.

 I should have taken a better picture of the other tablecloth.  It is my favorite with a pretty yellow and turquoise color combination.  Shiny Brites on top but I only brought home the plain round ones that were good colors.  I'm not sure I ever found a purple one before.

 A Japan baby shoe planter and some lace for the inspiration kits.

 A whole menagerie of chalkware nativity figures.  These are going to make me squeal again when I re-find them next Christmas.

Last but not least, a 1986 Mickey squeak.  Toys are not my "thang" but some things just can't be left behind and need my help to send them along to their new forever home.

The Beat Goes On...

Some recent finds to satisfy my junk-tooth.  If you click this bigger I'm sure you will wonder why in the world I bought that pile of very old and very filthy laces in the lower left of the picture.  Or maybe you won't.

This was the attraction in the bag.  A long-ago crafter fashioned a crochet corsage.  I just have to press and deconstruct so I can figure out what she was up to.  For a hat maybe??

Yes, the pincushion rocker is wearing a vintage plastic lampshade on her head.  Clearly a party girl!  I am pretty sure I have a little lamp up in the attic that it will fit.  I adore the cutting board and the tin.  The tiny mirror next to it says handmade in Italy on the back.

The pattern in the back is for Barbies.  Oh! I mean 11" fashion dolls.  Excuse me copyright police. I don't often run across old rolling pins.  They bring back fond memories of my "earth mother" period when I baked bread and put up the produce from the garden and rolled out countless pie crusts.  Maybe I will learn to like cooking again after I retire.  I'm sure The Husband would be down with it!

I have now proven, without a doubt, that you can have too many Scrabble tiles.  They aren't even popular for crafting anymore but I still feel compelled to scratch them out of the bottom of a filthy bin. My jar is completely full already so these will be heading to Etsy, pronto, and hopefully someone still has a use for them.  I adore the old Composition Book.

Every page is covered, front to back, with handwritten recipes.  They are not written out like we do today with a list of ingredients followed by instruction.  Each one is just a narrative of how to make something.

Bits and pieces in a beautiful old Fire King dish with it's gold edge still intact. The fabric on the right is a stack of hearts someone cut out and never finished the project.

When I find things like this at The Bins it makes my heart heavy. I can only hope Bettie didn't get them in the mail. 8+(

I think this wire thing is pretty neat but I have no clue what it is.  There is no bottom in the basket and it doesn't look like it ever had one.  Anyone?  Any ideas?

One last picture.  We are Seahawks fans around here and this is a souvenir postcard of the old Seattle Kingdome.  Go Seahawks!!

One Day Fix

I had little time for junking last week due to the big girl job so Friday noon was my only stop last week.  It was a good junk fix! The tablecloth in the back has some stains so it will be a cutter to line the inside of the wire shopping cart that is still sitting here waiting for a rescue. The picture is perfectly dark and aged in my eyes.

This celluloid covered box is a little worse for wear but it is staying with me for a while so no worries.  It will eventually get a bit of fix-up too.  The inside is crying out for some vintage wallpaper.

The suitcase is, well, a suitcase.  What else can I say!  It has a pretty burgundy satin lining.  I didn't get a good picture of the pillowcase on top of the suitcase.  It is a single and has the sweetest southern bell and pink ruffled edge.  Perfect for a little girl's room and already listed over on my Etsy.  I spotted another set of pillowcases with blue birdies, a single with embroidered roses and some doilies, of course, because I'm stupid on those darn things.  I finally caught up on the ones I had laundered with FOUR HOURS of ironing last Saturday.  Good grief.

Lunch at The Bins

No, I did not eat lunch at The Bins, although I have seen people do it!  Since I work so close I heeded the encouragement of several blog enablers friends to see what would turn up if I stopped every day.  This represents about 40 minutes of digging each day this week, although I did have to "speed pick" the place in 20 minutes on one day.

This vintage girl was already missing her arms and she is destined to lose the rest of her body as soon as I can figure out how to get it off.  There is a metal rod running from her neck to a speaker in her tummy.  Head bone connected to the belly bone, dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones...

 All in all, the loot was similar to an estate sale only spread over 5 days.

 By going every day I was able to realize that everything left in a bin that goes to the back room is not immediately headed to the dumpster.  There were several times when I saw things I had seen the day before and realized they had piled new junk on top and brought the bin back out.  It would interesting to know what their criteria is for deciding it is time to empty it and start over.

I dug and dug and another picker even helped me but I could not find the lid for that tin in the upper right with the vintage silver leaves in it.  Sometimes people toss things from one bin to another as they are digging so you have to pick the nearby bins when you are looking for something.  In the end I took it anyway because I think it would be great with a glass inside so it could be used as a vase.

 These little spun head sweeties were inside an old Hickory Farms box.  I have learned to ALWAYS pick up boxes and give them a shake to see if there is something inside.  Since I have been picking there I have found a 14K gold ring and a stunning vintage angel tree topper that way.  The best thing is the box has protected them from the dead vacuum cleaners and bowling balls that get tossed on top.

 I adore the little green bowl.  The condition is beyond selling but I think it will be perfect as a saucer under a flower pot.  I learned it is Gladding McBean which was part of the Franciscan line.  My father-in -law worked for the Interpace factory that made Franciscan dishes for years so that was interesting for me to learn about.  When I got married he offered us any set of Franciscan dishes we wanted and we chose some trendy brown ones that I have regretted for 40 years because I could have gotten Franciscan Cherry Blossom FOR THE ASKING.  Yes, I was a teenage bride and that young and stoooopid.  Every time I see a piece I say "there are my dishes I didn't get".  We all have a few life regrets....

 This is a copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare in a lovely tooled leather jacket.

 I gathered up these three Tom Swift books from two different bins.  I adore the titles and they are perfect for display.

  I was delighted when I found the blue INARCO sugar bowl that goes with the set I found at the VOA in this post. Three vintage crochet pattern books and a sweet circus themed baby clothes hanger.  Sorry I didn't take a better picture of that!

 Two boxes of Shiny Brites and a few that will be added to my personal collection for my tree.  The head popped right off this old one-legged doll and I love the wonky, winky eyes.

The picture in the back is not embroidery and not paint-by-number.  It is painted with those embroidery paint pens that were popular back in the day and already framed.
Will I be going back, well maybe not every single day but, boy howdy, YES, I will be be back for more.  I think I'm addicted to The Bins.

I Couldn't Resist

After the fun finds I scored in the lunchtime picking, I couldn't resist going back on Saturday to see what I could find without a deadline.  I still wasn't inclined to spend hours there so this is what I came up with in about 90 minutes.  That big beige thing in the back is a square lampshade.  I love the shape and it looks good enough for a make-over.  Laurie, the honeycomb bells are in the Ethel box.

I found another Starline suitcase.  It isn't as small as a train case but what I would call an overnight bag.  This one is in worse shape but I still think I will be able to rescue it.

A pretty vintage tin and some wooden spools I need like a hole in the head.  I am going to have to list some because I can't get the lid on the jar anymore.  I am so much better at finding than I am at listing.

More Shiny Brite ornaments and a big pile of silver and gold leaves.

Play money and game pieces.  That is a self-healing cutting mat under them.  I picked that up for the son.  He isn't a crafter but he likes to tinker with things.

Another little Dennison "book" to add to my collection and a beautiful Westmorland milk glass vase. Sorry about the way it washed out in the photo. That book under the bell isn't old.  It is one of those storage boxes like Michael's sells.  I figured it would come in handy for something and the prices are right at The Bins.

I grabbed a box filled with repro Victoria-style die-cut Christmas ornaments because a few of this style were in the box.  They seem to be made of wax.  Does anyone know anything about them?

This is one of my favorite finds.  It is a little 3-ring binder filled with typed song lyrics and prayers.  I opened it to this page.  Those of you who are of a certain age may remember taking birthing classes and having a "labor song".  This Old Man was my song.  I am tone deaf and can't carry tune to save myself but I belted this one out for couple of hours - LOL!  When I had my second child there was no time for singing.  I am sure the nurses were grateful!

Even though I have dozens of patterns waiting to be checked and listed, I can't pass up ones like this.  All except the one in the upper right are for doll clothes.  They are not dated but the style of the envelopes makes me think 1940s.  Imagine, the little girl who's mother was making these doll clothes for is now a Grandma herself, or more likely a Great Grandmother.  I love when things like this survive and can be passed along to someone who can continue to enjoy them!

Lunchtime Pickings

 I haven't been photographing the junk like I should lately, mostly because my work table is a mess with trying to get things photographed and listed.  This was a lunch stop at The Bins yesterday.

 The Santa's noses are all a little "sooty", undoubtedly from all those trips up and down the chimney.  I have about 45 minutes to shop when I stop over there at lunch time.  I was noticing some of the "full-timer's" shopping carts, piled high with goodies.  I was really quite amazed at what some of them had accumulated with the time to wait there for bin after bin to come out.

 I dug but couldn't find the little poker chips to go with the Bakelite holder.  It is a smaller size and I thought it would be fun to use like a piggy bank.  Quarters fit in it perfectly.  The ugly ornament is made from a tea ball.  I have a similar one that was in my Mother's Christmas stuff.  I have been saving it all these years in case my office had another Ugly Christmas Ornament contest.  Now I am double prepared.  I really hope I don't find a third one.

This wicker purse has a broken handle.  I will try to repair it, but if I can't I am happy to remove the velvet strawberries and peas.  I have never seen the peas before.

Here is a lame-junker story.  I spotted another train case, similar to the one I recently rescued.  My arms were completely full because I generally start out with just a shopping bag and not a cart, until I see if I need one.  The carts can make it really hard to navigate in the tight quarters.  Well, I headed up to the front to get a cart.  On my way back I got distracted by another bin and totally forgot to go back and grab the train case.  ARGH!  I hope someone else rescued it!!

Oh a different note, The Husband introduced a new line in his Etsy shop this week.  He has made shaving sets, razor and brushes for a while.  The razors are the modern type and there has been a recent resurgence in popularity for the old-school safety razor style so he added them to his line.  If you haven't visited his shop before, he makes a lot of great gifts for men.  There is always a link over on my sidebar.

**********************UPDATE!************************

Sue from Serendipity Vintage has educated me that my little poker chip holder is probably a thread holder.  Makes perfect sense and I see it from a whole new perspective now.  Thank you, Sue!