Suprise Package

Just a few days before Christmas this lovely surprise package arrived in the mail from Annette at So Many Memories.  Happy mail!! Just look at all those pretty papers.

Best of all, she included this beautiful tea towel that she made herself.  Buttons and birdies, how perfect for me!  We are so hard on kitchen towels at our house that this one will have a special place of honor where we won't mess it up.

These sparkly ladies are also postcards so I am seeing some fun mail art in my future.  Thank you, Annette, for being such a dear blog friend!

Merry Christmas To All!

Yes, Virginia, Kathy DID do some Christmas decorating!  My living room is very low-light so I apologize for the poor photos.  I tried changing the f-stop and I tried using flash and concluded it is a good thing I don't make my living as a photographer because I would starve.  You'll just have to trust me that it looks better in person - LOL!

The angel chime is a project I did a couple of years ago.  I scored a bag of vintage plastic angels last weekend and another candle chime yesterday at The Bins so there is another one of these in my future.  The one I found yesterday is an orange and black Halloween theme.  Who knew!

The jewelry tree and the renovated Putz houses are new for this year.  The little houses were in rough shape when I found them but I dampened them and clamped them down with clothespins and got them straightened out.  Glittering and decorating them was great fun. The pink trees are Magpie Ethel goodness.

Another project from Christmas past.  The triptych was estate-found this year.  I actually got two of them and decided to keep both for my Christmas decorating this year.  I like the way they "ground" the little vignettes.

I hope you are all enjoying a "sparkling" Christmas!

Recent Junk

 There hasn't been much time for thrifting lately but I did manage a quick trip through The Bins and found a few things.  The white necklace display stand was undamaged but quite dirty so I painted it gunmetal gray and gave it a second chance.  I had absolutely no reason to buy a crow or a baggie of golf tees but it seemed like a good idea at the time - LOL.

 One cookie cutter is missing from this vintage set but close enough!  I adore the graphics on the box.

 These old die-cuts are on a card that is marked Dec. '42.  It amazes me when something like this survives the stirring and digging frenzy at The Bins.

 A wooden hanger and a set of tiny salt and peppers for my collection.  How appropriate to find this hanger during the poinsettia season!

 Here is a close-up shot of the pretty gold edge on this velvet-lined box.  It has seen better days, for sure, but that makes it perfectly patina-ed (is that a word??) in my eyes.

Plus a few recent buttons.  These are not from The Bins, they are from Nina and Joe's.  Notice the quarter I added for scale.  These are all LARGE buttons.  The black glass one was missing the shank but I was able to repair it with a tiny eye-hook, good as new!
This holiday season has been overshadowed with family drama, a tragic loss and an intense project at the big-girl job but I did finally manage to get some decorating done last weekend.  I will attempt to take some photos in my very low-light living room so I can share in the next post.
Hope you are doing something fun today!!

Happy Mail!

I was delighted to receive a surprise package from an Internet friend, Sheila, in the mail this week.  If you read her genre you may know her better as best-selling author Lynn Viehl.  We "met" as a result of my Etsy shop.  She is not only a best-selling author but also a very talented fiber artist.

I was thrilled to receive this beautiful lined tote bag embellished with red and cream beads.  It is stunning and I can't wait to use it!!  Oh, to have the patience (and the eyesight!) for all that stitching.

I learned that she collects vintage cabinets cards and uses them as inspiration for the characters in her books.  She is a regular Etsy customer and I love to include a little something extra with her orders so I specifically had my eye out for some cabinet cards for her during our Autumn trip to Pennsylvania. I never expected anything in return so you can imagine I was over the moon with this surprise package!

She has my number!  The button book is one I do not have and it is sitting on the ottoman in my living room as a special treat for my Christmas day reading.  She also shared these buttons from her personal collection and told me the ones in perfectly patina-ed little tin are from FRANCE.  How cool is that!  Thank you, Sheila, and I am so happy we "found" each other.  I love the Internet!

Mid-Week Thrifting

 I haven't stopped in the Super Skanky Thrift in a while so I pried myself out of my office at lunch time on Wednesday and cruised over.  Not a big haul but I was happy with the finds.

 Sans the rubber grapes, there were about 150 pieces of vintage millinery fruit in this pile.

 A pretty milk glass vase and how could I resist a saucer with flowers AND birdies!

I haven't decided if I will keep this aluminum basket for my collection or pass it along.  I am running out of space for my collection and this one is pretty large.
Today is all about getting some decorating done and finishing up the little bit of shopping I do.  Have a Merry Saturday!

Christmas Crafting

 I STILL haven't gotten any decorating done but I HAVE been doing a little Christmas crafting.  A bling tree doesn't quite qualify as a "bucket list" accomplishment but is HAS been on my to-do list for a long time.  I pulled out all my bling stash and just went for it

 I used a Styrofoam tree I picked up at The Bins.  I clipped off whatever was on the back of the pretties and put the hot glue on them, not the Styrofoam and just started plunking.  I was kind of amazed how many pieces it took to fill the cone.  Time to accumulate more because I really depleted the stash - oh darn!  8+)

I filled in the spaces around them with straight pins from my accumulation and then mounted the whole thing on a thrifted metal candle holder turned upside down.  I intended to use vintage pink tinsel garland around the bottom but couldn't get it to look the way it wanted so finally settled on pink gimp.  Now I just need to get some decorating done.  The rest of you are putting me to shame!

Weekend Finds

 I was busy in the office on Saturday but managed a quick trip to The Bins on my way home and my usual pilgrimage to the VOA this morning and found a few treasures.  One of the things I always seem to find at The Bins are wood pictures frames.  There, my tip for the local junkers! The cardboard chest will get a wallpaper make-over.

 I was delighted when I spotted this nativity, in the original box, at the VOA.  The other side of the box is pretty damaged but it did it's job and protected the nativity scene, which is perfect.

 These Hummel-like candles were also found at the VOA.  There are no markings on them so I looked on line and some say Japan and others say Hong Kong.  No matter, they are adorable.

 The big glass jar, the doll hat and the dish are also from the VOA.

 The paper dolls are from The Bins and I could only find one doll. They are Abraham Lincoln and his family by Tom Tierney.  Dang, I would love to have found the Abraham Lincoln paper doll!

 And who would I find peeking up at me from a bin but Annie!  She looks factory-made but I haven't found any marking or tags on her.  I need to take off the clothes and see if there is anything inside.
I hope you all had a "junky" weekend!

Bloggy Love from Victorian Studio!

 Maureen from Victorian Studio made my day when I arrived home from work last night to find this package waiting for me.  She knows me well!

 This handmade journal is perfection with the steampunk theme, buttons and a bird.  Like I said, she has me pegged.  Doesn't it have that look that whatever is inside will be "safe"?

 She included vintage hankies, buttons, and a needle book for my collection plus two neat pendants.

Her holiday cards are just stunning and I am going to include this one in my holiday decor this year.  Thank you so much, Maureen, I adore every single thing!

Thanksgiving Hunting and Gathering

I managed a few stops and gathered a little pile of treasures over the long weekend.  Looking at this picture I realize I left out a lace curtain that was soaking in the sink. When the gathering happens over several days, sometimes things slip away before they get a proper portrait.

The tall green vase is for my son.  The flowers next to it are old Lucite.  I pried the velvet-rimmed portrait out of a corroded and dented copper plate I scored at The Bins.

This horse show ribbon was my favorite find.  It is 1974 from the State of Jefferson.  For those of you who are not from 'round here, it is an area in northern California, just below the Oregon border, that has for years proclaimed themselves to not be part of California and be their own independent state.  Apparently they haven't had much success with that. 

I researched this very raggedy little pot and it is Staffordshire blue transfer ware.  It is apparently part of a child's tea set.  It is very worn but might be a nice little placeholder in someones collection.  I think it is sweet.

My son spotted this Dover book for me when I introduced him to The Bins.  He hasn't been out "junking" since he was a little boy and I think I might have hooked him - lol!

What I See In My Crystal Ball

I'm sure none of you are surprised by what I filled the new glass globe with.  My crystal ball always sees buttons in my future - lol!  I picked out all neutral tones and it took about 6 hours of sorting because the globe is so big so I got a mega-fix of button sorting.  It is pretty impossible to control the placement of the buttons so I was very happy when that little star button settled in exactly the right spot.

No Black Friday for me.  I am hoping everyone else is at the retail stores and I have the thrifts to myself.  A girl can dream!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends!

Junk and Inspiration

 First stop on my Saturday junking was the Plucky Maidens Junk Fest.  On my way there I saw a sign for an estate sale so I made a stop there on my way back and then swung in to Division Street Antiques to see if they had any Christmas out yet.

 Plucky Maidens is all about inspiration, for me.  I visited Magpie Ethel for the pink reflector flower which I am planning to use on the top of my tree this year and a couple of pink bottle brush trees to spruce (he he) up my little deer collection for the holidays.  I also found two tiny bottle brush trees for a project I am working on.  My indulgence was the empty watch case.  I want to do some kind of vignette inside it but it has to "steep" on my desk for a while until I figure out just what to do.

 The estate sale looked like a bust when I got there but I managed to scrounge up a shoebox full of fun little bits and pieces.  I was especially happy to find all those old-style Altoids tin.  The ones that start out with paint on them always seem to patina better than the reproduction ones.

 The flower globe, postcard and doily are from Nina and Joe's Division Street Antiques.  They did not have Christmas out yet but Nina said they would be working on it today and tomorrow.

Some fun little vintage office supplies and I am always delighted to find original Dennison.  90 for 30¢, those were the days!

My favorite part of Plucky Maidens is all the vintage inspiration!  I saw one of these at the show and remembered I had seen one at Nina's so headed straight for it when I got there.  I had one years ago but seem to recall that it was plastic and not as big as this one.  The flower frog in the bottom unscrews and comes out. It is a project in progress on my work table.  I'm sure it isn't a big mystery to those of you who know me but I will show it in my next post.