Some Exciting News!

This little pile of treasures is brought to you by the VOA and Monticello.  The blue birdie, dresser box and the cabinet card are from Monticello Antique Marketplace.  I was so glad I decided to stop in because...
wait for it...
The manager saw me shopping and told me she may have a small wall space for me in April or May!!!  WooHoo!!  I was losing hope and backing off on buying the things that I consider too big or too heavy to offer on Etsy.  It is really hard to leave things behind but there is only so much I can cart up to my attic before my house sinks.  It is a very small space and still can't hold anything very big but it is a foot in the door.  I am excited and NERVOUS, too.  I'm on the hunt now for a furniture piece I can use to display things.

The rest of the treasures are from the old, reliable, VOA.  This adorable donkey planter is marked Japan on the bottom.

The mid-century coffee mugs and bowl are Inarco and still have their original foil labels on the bottom.  Sadly, I could not get the Forest Green tray clean.  I even tried Barkeepers Friend, but no luck.  Since I have a collection of Forest Green, this will be a keeper and put to use in my kitchen.

I was delighted to find two of these pieces with china roses.  They are ALWAYS chipped when I find them and these two are perfect.  I guess I forgot to take a close-up of the other one - oopsie.

The sweet blue birdie has the original label, as well, and is Goebel.

These are the "keeper" plastic buttons from the huge VOA score.  You can click the picture bigger for a closer look.
A couple of updates...
Several readers reminded me that the crockery cloche in the last post is a chicken feeder or waterer.  Soon as I heard it I remembered and I thank you for the memory jog.
There have been several guesses about the "What's-it" in this post, including something to check the temperature inside wine barrels and something to check the temperature of maple syrup.  Both seem totally plausible but it is still a mystery. I did find out you can still buy new ones that are very similar.  They are sold by scientific instrument companies but none of them tell the purpose.  I found both plastic and wood and the wood seemed to be so it wouldn't spark.  Just another piece of the puzzle...

I See Junk In My Crystal Ball

 This is just day #2 of my vacation and I already lost my ever-lovin' mind.  I never get to take advantage of half-off Friday at the VOA so I apparently made up for it all at once.  A paper gypsy lantern, an Eiffel Tower bottle filled with icky blue water and a crystal ball.  A CRYSTAL BALL, for crying out loud.  On half price. How could I not buy that??

 Poke sacks filled with mysterious treasures waiting to be discovered, five pairs of sweet vintage dress gloves, a glass strawberry to add to my collection, Boy Scout neckerchief rings, another jewelry box, a gorgeous handmade wedding bouquet, an assortment of XL men's t-shirts so I can try making one of those skirts that are all over the Internet and an adorable art-wear jacket. Oh! Plus a pair of Nina of New York heels that appear to be unworn and a Victoria BC luster-wear souvenir cup.

Did I mention I got a CRYSTAL BALL??  I see junk in my future [and in my past and in my present].
I was so excited about today's finds that I posted right away and haven't even shown my estate sale score from last weekend yet.  Where Bloggers Create is just a week away and I am no where near ready.  I see cleaning and organizing in my future, too!

A Rosy Sunday At The VOA

I debated whether to show my treasures from last Sunday since I only got four items but these lamps are just too pretty to not show them off.  I seriously don't need them but they were still sitting there waiting for me a week later so I decided it was destiny.  That's as good an excuse as any - hehe!  I just LOVE the roses on the front so it looks like I am going to be learning how to re-wire lamps.  I have heard it isn't as scary as it sounds.
Since there were only four things I didn't take time to clear off the table full of SugarCushion makings so I apologize for the cluttered picture!
I also got the tattered tin and the "book" it is setting on.  It is actually a wooden box with an embossed leatherette binding and lined with vintage paper.  I have no idea what the original purpose was but I knew it had to come home, too.  Sort of looks like a "rosy" day, doesn't it!

Wanna See the Latest Junk?

 A hobo sack from The Bins.  The Husband is still hopeful so I am still along for the ride 8+)  Yes, this is how I carried it out.  Pretty "green" I thought.  These pictures were taken as I unpacked so nothing is washed or cleaned up yet.  Raw junk.

 Let's see what's inside.  Some kind of ornaments printed on something that feels like heavy interfacing.  No clue if I can get it clean or do something with it but it weighs about an ounce so why not try?  One sweet paper rose and a couple yards of beaded lace and an old dollhouse hutch.

 This was my favorite find at The Bins.  Most of the autographs and inscriptions are dated 4/4/44.

 It looks like a kind and artistic friend decorated the inside cover for Madeleva.  1944.  Wow.

 Vintage linen bits and pieces and a large piece of Christmas fabric.  That one that says KNIVES is a handmade knife roll.  I wonder how special those knives were to need their own little cozy.

 Beautiful vintage embroidery and crochet edges.  Where did all the "homemakers" go?? 

 The pale blue in the back is a vintage negligee, the kind with double sheer layers and soft lace trim.  If I was one of those brave artsy-types I would wrap a funky belt around the middle and blouse it up and wear it over my jeans.  A girl can dream.  In my dream I'm 29 and look like Barbie.  It's my dream and I can if I want to.

 As if all of that wasn't enough I headed off to the VOA when we got back home.  I needed something to carry my loot in and liked it so much it had to come home, too.  When I pick up sturdy handled baskets at the thrift I place them around the yard and use them to deposit the random weeds I pull when I doing my walk-abouts.  It's much easier to keep up with the weeding when there is a handy spot to toss a handful.

 I couldn't resist the pattern and roosters on this metal plate.  The back says Made in Brazil.  It is going to be a lid for that huge apothecary jar I picked up a few weeks ago.

Another lid-less sugar bowl for the growing collection that never gets made into SugarCushions.  Ah well, a Winter project.  The Lucite lipstick holder is going straight into my brown and pink bathroom to replace the gold one I call my "Jimmy Hendrix" lipstick holder because there is a left-handed guitar player sitting on the edge.  I'm pretty sure it isn't him. I don't think fans had golden lipstick holders.

A calligraphy set just like the one I already have because it was only 99 cents, paper doilies and a neat old metal candlestick.  Too bad it didn't come with plastic flowers!

 Little metal frames.  I have matching ones already and SOMEDAY I'm going to do something with them.  They don't take up much room.  I swear I'm not a hoarder. 

 Totally wonderful original box of vintage crochet thread.  Can you just see the "dry goods" store?  Someday I will have to tell the story of The Golden Rule store in the little farm town where I went to high school.  It was right out of the turn of the century until they decided to remodel and modernize it.  So sad.  It had creaking hardwood floors and shelves behind the counter with boxes of women's gloves and hankies and a dressing room behind a bark cloth curtain and the scent of history.

A poke sack of loot of the finest kind.  Check out that flower trim.  I have never seen anything quite like it.  Wooden spools and lace wrapped around an old potato chip box.  It doesn't get much better.

A good day of junk.

Birthday Pick

Yesterday was my birthday so I went to Michael's at lunch and treated myself to the latest Somerset Studio magazine.  When I got home the husband suggested we go to TinTin for dinner.  TinTin is an Asian buffet and they serve sushi that I just love.  I know that sounds goofy to eat sushi from a buffet but trust me - it's really yummy.  I attempted to eat my weight in calamari and sushi!

 When we finished and went outside there was a cloudburst pouring down rain.  We hadn't gone prepared for that so we stood there on the covered sidewalk, gazing forlornly across the parking lot at my car.
Me:  "You know, we can walk under this cover all the way over to the VOA".
Him:  {with a look of panic} "NO"

 Me:  "Seriously?  Not even on my birthday?"

 Him:  {panic escalating} "NO".

Me:  "I drove.  I have the car keys."
Him:  "That just proves I should always be the one who drives."
Me:  "I have the cigarettes, too." {I know... I wish...}
Him....   hangs his head in defeat and follows me down the sidewalk and through the VOA where I picked up the rest of these treasures in the picture.  I did offer that he could just sit down on one of the used couches and wait. I think I saw a rainbow when we came out.