Tuesday, March 31, 2009

BE MY GUEST!

One of my favorite rooms in my house is my guest room. When we bought the house, it was Pepto Bismol pink on three walls, and dark brown cork on the last wall. Can you say UGLY?

The first thing we did was take down the cork. Big mistake. The previous owner must have had stock in a glue factory, for he had painted the glue on the back of the cork squares. Trying to take it off completely destroyed the drywall underneath. Off we went to Home Depot to buy more drywall. We painted the room ivory, and decided to put wallpaper on that back wall. As it happens, we saw some gorgeous floral paper in a little B&B we stayed in in Vermont, and were lucky enough to find the same wall covering back home. After that, it was time to buy the accessories. We played bedstead bingo and traded our maple (double bed) with my parents for their cherry bed, so they could give the maple one to my niece. (Got that?)

The oak chest was the first antique I ever bought. Guest room dreserThe Hitchcock chair came next, and then the oak mirror. (I have this thing for oak mirrors -- mostly a thing for frames, but we won't get into that now.) Before I got carpal tunnel syndrome, I used to do counted cross stitch. You can just see one of my projects on the far left, and another on the left side of the dresser. The Colonial prints on the left came from Goodwill, and the floral prints on the right came from a garage sale. The ewer and pitcher came from a yard sale, and the 1950s waste basket (which weighs a TON) came from an estate sale. That's a chenille spread on the bed--yup, another yard sale find. There's a skylight in the ceiling, so the room is always bright and cheerful--a little too cheerful for me come summer when the sun is up at 5 a.m.

Okay, I wasn't going to mention it, but yes, I DO have a thing about frames -- In gold frames
be them mirror or picture. And I tend to collect pictures in little gold frames like the ones here. Aren't they darling? I try to buy them whenever I see them -- which isn't often enough. I believe I currently only have four, which doesn't seem near enough.

So, what do you look for when you're on the hunt?

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Officially OUT OF BUSINESS

While I've been toying with the idea of opening an Etsy Shop, I've also been thinking a lot about my former business. I used to have a booth in an Antique Co-op. I never could afford to sell real antiques, so most of my merchandise was in "smalls." I sold a lot of collectibles, and dealt mostly with dishes and other kitchen items.

It's been a year since I left the co-op, but I held onto my leftover merchandise "just in case" I wanted to go back into business. But the truth is, I haven't missed it. Oh, I've missed the people, and I've missed the thrill of the hunt, but I haven't missed the time spent on the inventory and keeping track of sales/taxes, etc.

The other day, I was skimming CraigsList to find sales, and I came across a request from our local Animal Rescue organization for items for their annual garage sale, and decided on the spot to donate the whole kit-and-kaboodle.

I went through the boxes on Friday, and only kept a few things (an old bowl, an ivy-painted box, some old buttons, and all my "ephemera" -- old greeting and postcards, and some hand-embroidered linens).

Yesterday, the GRASP sale volunteer pulled up the Boxes of co-op stuffdriveway, loaded up her SUV and drove it all away. All 31 boxes of stuff.

I feel sad that that portion of my life is over, but I feel happy that the money they make on my donation will help find homes for abandoned cats and dogs.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

A Rummaging We Will Go!

Yesterday I went to my first rummage sale of the season. Holy smoke! We (Mom and I) arrived just two minutes before the sale was scheduled to begin and there must have been close to 200 people waiting in line. At 10 sharp, they swarmed like locusts and entered the church.

Talk about a free for all! I estimate half of the furniture was snapped up in less than five minutes. (Luckily, I didn't see anything I wanted -- until it was too late, of course. A darling little plant stand for a buck!) I was looking for rose plates -- and naturally, there were none to be had. But I did find a few nice things.

The first thing I grabbed (and the most expensive item) was a (very dirty) Tupperware cake carrier. (I popped it into the dishwasher and it came out sparkling clean. Thank you, Mr. KitchenAid!)

Next up was some gorgeous wrapping paper Giftwrap(for a quarter--in it's original packaging). One of the packets (a Monet painting) came from an English store--as indicated by the price sticker of one pound/35P. The colored tissue paper (for a quarter--also in its original packaging) was a steal, as well.

Since I was looking for roses, I think I spied the only "rose" oriented item in the entire sale: Some gorgeous rose paper napkins (in their original packaging), originally sold at Napkinsthe Victoria & Albert Museum in England. It came with an ivy-napkin holder (wonder why I chose that?). And to make sure I got full value out of the napkin holder, got some Christmas napkins in their original packaging.

MS EntertainingLast of all, I snagged a first edition copy of Martha Stewart's ENTERTAINING for 50 cents! Truth be told, I already have a first-edition copy of this book. But I figured it would be swell to have an extra copy at our family's summer cottage. Who knows, I might want to throw a beach party one day!

In all, I dropped the vast amount of $5 -- such a deal!

On the ride home, we spied an estate sale. It was a lovely home (the basement was finished with a full kitchen -- the perfect in-law apartment, that is if you're a vampire and don't want to see daylight), and surprisingly, most of what was left had NOT FOR SALE signs on it. (Some really nice furniture.) Xmas Salt & Pepper

I did find something, though. I collect kitchy 1940s/1950s Made In Japan Christmas figurines and grabbed these Napco cuties for $2 for the pair. It's rare to see these figurines with a price tag less than $10 these days, so naturally I grabbed them. As it happens, I already had the little girl, but that's okay--I've got more than one duplicate. To have the pair is really sweet.

Anybody else go rummaging this week?


Thursday, March 26, 2009

SHOWERED IN SILVER

When I got married some 18 years ago, my mother offered to buy me a set of Sterling silver tableware. That was before my girlie gene kicked in and I foolishly said, "No thanks."

I have leaved to eat those words. (And without Sterling silver, I might add.)

A week or so ago, my mother said she Knife spoonhad something to show me. She unwrapped a little bundle of tissue and bought out a spoon with a little rose on the end of it. "Ohhh! Pretty," I cooed, "where did you get it?" I figured one of her friends had an odd piece and had given it to her. Sadly, one of her friends had fallen on hard times and was selling the silver. Did I like it enough for her to buy it for me as a gift?

Whoa! That was unexpected. But I was thrilled and this time I definitely said, "Yes!"

Yesterday, my mother picked up the silver in Silver in Boxits handsome wooden box, and gave it to me. The pieces say "Heirloom Silver," but I don't know what the name of the pattern is.

What do you think?

This is the silver with my best china (Royal Albert "Silver Maple.") Years ago, my mother gave me her Silver Maple tea set, that my (paternal) grandmother had given her. I bought the rest of the set (lacking some serving pieces) from a China Replacement company in Canada. (I'm on the lookout for a Silver Maple teapot.) Placesetting2
Don't they look fine together?

I love how they look -- but they need to be hand washed. Not so lovable. But, why should they just sit somewhere gathering dust, eh? I'm having company for dinner tomorrow and I'm using them!


Wednesday, March 25, 2009

To Etsy or not to Etsy?

I'm still learning about blogging and am fascinated by all the "giveaways" that seem to be going on around me. (Maybe someone can explain them.) Is it just people with Etsy stores that do this? Do other people do this?

I have to admit, I've thought about opening my own Etsy store, but I don't know what much about it (and am not sure how to find that information). I used to have a booth at an antiques co-op, and I still have a lot of leftover stock. Maybe that would be a way to part with it -- and recover my investment. Hmm.

Maybe I should just have a garage sale. But that takes a LOT of work. (Like an Etsy store doesn't?) Sadly, I have no crafting talent, so I can't make things like some of the stuff I've seen. I was invited by Wanda to enter her latest giveaway and she had the most gorgeous stuffed pink strawberries. *Sigh*

The things I have aren't cute and sweet. BoxlotI'm a sucker for stuff like figurines--like these little guys. I bought them in a box lot just to get the little Bride & Groom (I collect brides and grooms--mostly wedding cake toppers). Now I'm stuck with these guys and need to find them a home.

Hmm.

Monday, March 23, 2009

JONSING TO GO JUNKING

There's still at least another week -- maybe two, before the garage sales in my area start up, and boy am I hankering to go junking. Okay, Friday I did go to an estate sale, where I bought a stars and stripes windsock for $1 and a little blue-and-white bowl (without a lid) for $3 (I figure I'll toss my loose change into it), and that got me searching the streets for more estate sale signs.

I'm currently into roses, and it was the Blud dish1blue rose on the "front" side that captured my attention.

Of course, I always feel a bit guilty when I go to an estate sale. Almost always someone has died, and you see the sad remnants of a life now over. Boxes filled with sensible shoes, bed pillows nobody is going to buy. But I tell myself that the family needs to clear out a home and move on, and I'm there to help them out, in my own small way.

It was late afternoon, and the pickings were slim. I'm particularly interested in unique plates, either blue-and-white (that I've been hanging in one of the bedrooms) or roses or other hand-painted flowers. And I've decided I want to put a couple of pretty pictures in my main bathroom. So I'm on the hunt.

What do you look for when you go junking?

Friday, March 20, 2009

THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING

I like to take a walk around the garden on the first day Snowdrops1of spring and see how things are developing. Yea! The snow drops are out! (And wouldn't you know, it snowed overnight.) We planted crocuses a couple of years ago, but there's no sign of them, and last year we only got a few. Time to plant to some. (Or it will be next fall -- if we remember.)

The daffodils are also up and raring to go. Here's one of the clumps in the backyard.

Daffs 3-30-09It's sunny -- it's spring. How can you not feel hopeful?

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Feeling blue...and brown

Okay, it's only been four days -- but no one has found me so far. Shall I throw myself on my fainting couch and weep tears of sorrow and frustraction?

Nah!

Meanwhile, here's a picture of some of my brown transferware. I started collecting it after seeing a display in a magazine. I only have about 10 or 12 pieces, and I paid more than I would like for most of them. But I do like them and they look nice against the beige paint in my dining room.

Monday, March 9, 2009

TEA ANYONE?


I love my collection of bone china teacups and saucers. One of these days I'm going to make a photo collection of all of them. In the meantime, Ive taken just one of them, but isn't it pretty?

Sunday, March 8, 2009

MY NEW BLOG SPOT


Hello,

If you've found me here on Blogspot -- welcome! I used to have a blog on Typepad, but no one ever found it, so I'm now here on Blogspot and liking what I see so far.

I love to go junking for neat stuff. Who can afford to buy new these days? I live in New York state near the shore of Lake Ontario, and I'm counting the days until yard sale season starts. I'll be sharing my finds here on my blog and hope you'll share yours, too.

In the meantime, I've posted some of my older posts so that people can see what I've been up to over the past year or so.

Hope to hear from you soon!