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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Fallow Week

I went to a few sales this past weekend but didn't get much - there just wasn't anything I was burning to bring home.

I picked up some forks (forks always seem to disappear in my house!) and a Pyrex pie plate at one estate sale, and to continue the pie theme, I picked up a new "oak leaf lattice cutter" for a dollar at the tail end of a tag sale where they just wanted to give things away.  I didn't want an enormous couch that looked like a set piece from Pee-Wee's Playhouse, though.

Not "my" lattice cutter, I haven't taken any photos
of my sad little haul
I made a delicious mixed berry pie in the new pie plate, unfortunately it was devoured before I could take any photos.  I had never made pie crust from scratch before, it was really intimidating until I actually did it.  Now that I've done it, I'm all about makin' pies.  This week I will attempt a peach pie.

Hoping this weekend is a little more exciting for sales.

As far as my bead table, right now it's covered in beheaded silk flowers and I've been making pin-up girl flower hair clips hand over fist.  The first batch were really pathetic, it's getting easier.  Photos later!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Beautiful Beads!

What a pure delight!! I am participating in a bead swap hosted by Sarah from My So Called Junky Life.  Sarah is actually my bead swap partner, too.  The other day I received her package and it was beautifully wrapped:

Pretty in Pink!

















What was inside was even sweeter:
How gorgeous is this? It's a kitchen matchbox!

















Then I opened the box:
I totally plotzed over the wee bird's nests, and could wait to open
this pretty blue drawstring bag!


















OOOOOOH!!! Pearls aplenty with lovely vintage pieces with rhinestones,
little rhinestone spacers, jet crystals, what looks like rainbow moonstone
faceted beads, pearly buttons and carved rose and rosary pieces.



















You could call it a handful of AWESOME.

















I have already started working on a piece that is different than my usual style, which is one reason why I opted to participate in a bead swap like this: fresh ideas and new inspiration.  I can't wait to get home from work today so I can continue working on it.  Naturally, I will post the finished piece ASAP.

Thanks so much, Sarah -- your packaging was so cool and the beads and other bits and pieces are gorgeous and so much fun!!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A Tale of Two Estate Sales

This weekend Randy and I hit two estate sales and each one was an example of what we're not crazy about and what we love.

Estate sale #1 -- Gorgeous house right on Ball Pond in New Fairfield, CT.  This house was amazing, each wall was covered with oil paintings in every room of the house.  There were antiques galore and a whole ROOM full of costume jewelry.  There were two tables alone just for brooches.

Incredible, this looked like it belonged in Malibu, not Northwestern CT!
We like to speculate about the owners, and we believed these owners were either in the art business or were avid collectors.

One of the offerings was a Takamine acoustic guitar signed by both Darryl Hall and John Oates.  They were asking $95 which made me think that the folks running the estate sale knew about autographs but not much about guitars because finding a Takamine guitar for $95 is a great deal. 

I don't love estate sales run by "estate sale organizers".  I know they get a percentage so of course, the items are priced to make money and not so much priced to MOVE. 

There was this AMAZING mid-modern chair that I regret not photographing because it was awesome and  also because they were asking $400 and I was hoping one of the savvier folks out there could tell me who the designer was.  I recognize Herman Miller and Eames most of the time and it wasn't either of them. 

Everything I wanted in that house was $60 or more, and I just don't want to lay out that kind of cash at an estate sale.  Still, it was a great house and it was pretty cool wandering around it and bugging out over some of the crazy stuff in there.

We saw this "Ansaphone" with handwritten instructions.
This is so Don Draper :)

They also had several old boom boxes and stereo systems, all of which seemed to work.

So yes, while everything was awesome, I really am not thrilled when estate sale organizers are running the show.  You might get a decent price compared to full-on-antique-store retail, but when I get such outrageous deals at other family-run estate sales, it's very very hard for me to part with the cash.

I DO regret not picking up this insane lamp for $65.  Definitely more than my budget, but it was really funky.  The base was stone, carved to look like one of those Hong Kong junk boats and the SHADE was deep red Venetian blinds held together by matte black ball chain in a rhomboid shape, totally fabulous, just too expensive.

It was worth it to go to this sale for the views, though, can you imagine having your coffee out on the back porch of this house every morning? I could:
A little overcast, but still lovely

















They wanted $50 for the set, which I thought was relatively reasonable,
but this isn't large enough for my kitchen.  I dig the groovy chairs though.


















Randy saw a reel-to-reel tape recorder/player that piqued his interest but we found out that it was already sold.  I ended up buying two necklaces for $10 -- one a factory-made glass pendant that looks like lampwork but isn't and a long necklace made of ropes of bronze seed beads that I am probably going to use to string an art guitar.
When her this oven stopped working, they couldn't find
a replacement because nothing out there was small enough,
one of the nieces told me. Note the flaming orange laminate
counter and "colonial" cabinets.
Estate Sale #2.  The entire contents were on sale and it was run by the family of a lady who had passed back in May.  Her nieces were running the sale and they were very fun.  We got there towards the end of the day and they were eventually just piling things up in boxes and giving them to me.  This house was a total time capsule. Check out the groovy built in stove over there.
















We picked up a coffee table, a solid wood record cabinet, a few Broadway original cast recordings on vinyl (SQUEALING! JAZZ HANDS!! my inner-theater-nerd went nuts) and the following:

Corningware percolator, Pyrex "Homestead" Cindarella  Round Bake (missing
the largest of the set and lids), and a divided oval casserole in what seems to
be chartreuse, not really yellow, not really green. 



















AVOCADO-RAMA Bundt cake pan, 4 sided grater, very heavy
rolling pin, and cheese plate (love the painted flowers on the ceramic)




















Pyrex "Spring Blossom" Cinderella bowl and a NEVER USED
Springform pan.  Cheesecake, anyone?


















Splatter-ware enamel stock pot with lid - great size, too, I think about
2 quarts? I have a huge one, but it's too big for soup.  This will do!


















Painted teapot from England - we suspect it's a Brown Betty.  The photo
doesn't do it justice, the deep blue of it just GLOWS.


















Very heavy carved wood salad bowl...right now holding some fruit.

















Whee! Cake stand! I *LOVE* cake stands! this one is lovely cut glass with
a silver plated base, I need to polish it up a little bit.


















Love the little flower detail that covers the bolt on the base

















Pyrex and Fire King Measuring cups, love the graphics on the Fire King one.

















Overall, it was a kitchen-queen's dream come true. I also picked up a new-in-box never used set of hot rollers, they're not vintage but my hair is so thick the set I already have isn't enough to curl my whole head, so this will be a big help in achieving my Flamboyant Flip a la Tracy Turnblad when the mood strikes me to do that (and it does).

I am linking to Apron Thrift Girl for Thrift Share Monday.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Thrift Share - What A Weekend!

This weekend was a rare treat, I ended up out on the road both days!

Saturday I went with my dear friend Eric, we have very similar tastes in things, except when it comes to lamps.  I know I am partial to really tacky lamps, I dub them "so hellish they're fabulous".  Eric thinks I'm crazy.  I came very close to picking up this insane lamp - it was a squaw with a papoose on her back, carved from wood, about 3.5 feet tall without the lampshade.  It was so wrong it was right - Eric absolutely refused to let me buy it.  I suppose cooler heads prevailed.

Individual covered butter dish -- HOW CUTE IS THIS? I had to have it.

















I have a weakness for cute bird figurines, and that warped deer was pretty
cute, too.  There's a better picture of that GORGEOUS tin behind them.


















Paper Blanks journal - I love any kind of Buddhist art, and this is also
sparkly in some places, even better. 


















Melmac serving bowl - in phenomenal condition - LOVE!

















I bought these for my friend Steve who collects owls, but they're so cute
I want to keep them. I'll be nice and give them to him anyway.


















At this amazing estate sale I was told to pack a box full of craft supplies
for $10, and it was a HUGE box, I was just stuffing rick rack and other
great things in there, and when I unpacked later, I came across these
amazingly adorable wood mushrooms.  




















Mid-mod snack tray with wooden handles, I just LOVE this! 

















This tablecloth came from a flea market a few weeks ago, didn't post it
then -- as I was handing my money to the lady at the table, she told me
this was a Vera tablecloth. I didn't see a signature or a tag, but either way
I fell in love with the bright graphic flowers, so Vera or no Vera, I love it.




















Barometer from Air France Concorde...how funky is this?

















My Craigslist white metal Daybed in the studio, also
a vintage wooden sewing box stand I picked up for $10,
right now it's FULL of unopened vintage rick rack.
























Two flowers for my hair and a barely used guitar strap - the colors are
amazing.  


















This weekend we are due to go to a Motorcycle show up in Rhinebeck, NY. I am hoping to either thrift or hit a few sales in that area while we're over there.

I'm linking with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Just A Quick Note

I had an AMAZING weekend full of great scores between Goodwill, tag sales, estate sales, a flea market and Craigslist.  My camera is acting up, so I won't have photos until later.  However, some of the things I found are:
- a barometer (in French) from "Air France Concorde"
- pink Melmac divided serving bowl
- a white metal framed daybed (only $35!)
- Intermediate Spanish Immersion lessons on CD (they are SO EXPENSIVE, even on eBay!) for $2
- Souvenier glass commemorating the New Jersey Turnpike, "118 miles of effortless driving". HA!
- A beautiful guitar strap
- A GORGEOUS Paper Blanks hard cover lined journal, which I'm using to track expenditures since The Man and I are trying to work out a budget.
- A beat up guitar for me to turn into art

AND SO MUCH MORE!

I also have a question -- WHO SELLS a Bikini Wax Kit at a tag sale? Well, obviously, one lady in my town does, but it was kind of jarring to see it there next to piles of books about how to have great sex.

I also sent out a box of beads for the bead swap Sarah is hosting over at My So Called Junky Life - I wish I had photographed it first, but I didn't want to wait for my camera to sort out before sending it.  Can't wait to see who gets and and what they do with it! I filled it full of fun stuff and vintage surprises.

I will be posting again later with photos!
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