Poor Man's Silver

I had to buy a new washing machine last weekend.  So what does that have to do with hammered aluminum?  Well, I'll tell you.  I keep my collection of aluminum trays hanging from cup hooks above my washer and dryer.  I had to move them for the install so I figured I might as well dust them off and take a picture.
I limit my collection to ones that have some sort of handle so I can hang them up.  Every time I bring one home The Husband asks me if I have room for another one.  Well, I'm going to be put to the test now.  I couldn't get another front-loading washing machine that would fit in my space so I had to go back to an old-school top loader.  The door is going to smack in to the front row so some re-arranging is in order.

Last Minute Shopping

 My last minute shopping had nothing to do with Christmas.  While everyone else was fighting the crowds at the mall, I was treating myself to some last minute junking.  I scored another aluminum tray for my collection at the VOA and the rest is from Nina and Joe's Division Street Antiques.

 A big pile of buttons and a sweet little tin sugar bowl.  The button pile was the "real" kind so had all sorts of treasures, including a bullet, which I did NOT save.  I will show more of the buttons in a separate post.

 Creepy doll eyes.  Don't judge.

 This was a fun find.  I live in Portland but this is the first time I have found a City of Portland Fire Department uniform button.

Uniform buttons are a whole button category to themselves.  I don't know much about them but I always save them.  I Googled these and discovered the POD stands for Post Office Department.  Who knew!