"Show Me Your Wares"

My title is what my grandmother always said to my mother, aunt, sister and I after we went shopping, if we went shopping without her...we were supposed to open each bag one at a time and show everybody what we purchased, and everyone would "ooh" and "aah".  My grandmother is no longer with us, and I miss her a lot.  My mother, sister and I and our families have vacationed in Cape Cod at the same time for the last two years and my mother, sister and I will still say, "Show me your wares!" after sight seeing or flea marketing on the Cape and laugh, thinking of Grandma Brenner.

That's what Thrift Share Monday feels like for me, so I love it.  Here are my "wares" from the past weekend of tag/estate/church rummage sales:


Milk glass - I especially love the candy dish - both only $1

Yay! An old tube radio -- Randy LOVES these, this was in great shape
even though only the AM works - $5 at a barn sale.



3 strings of lights and upholstery tassel trim (for future guitar projects) a
pretty tin and a quilted lined lunch bag -- this pile cost me $8.25

Note cards, vintage rick rack & bias tape, very old matchbook and
what I THINK are "BeDazzler" bedazzles, but what I am going to use as
push pins on my inspiration board or hammer them into a guitar

One of several 60's era Life magazines I picked up



Things have not changed, the media are still freaked out about
"subteens" growing up too fast.  Watch out for those FANCY HAIRDOS!

You know you want it...it's FESTIVE.



I'm very excited about this issue which is in EXCELLENT
shape and is FULL of photos that I can use for decoupage

One of my HOLY GRAILS!!! This is a reproduction,
but it was way cheaper than it would have been if I bought
it online, which I have been hemming and hawing about.
I love it, it brightens up my kitchen.

NOT SHOWN:  Art Deco End table for $5 - I need to clean it up and I'll post the before/after shots.  I also picked up what I THOUGHT was a costume jewelry ring for $5 -- silver toned with faux sapphires and diamonds...but today I noticed that it was stamped 14K inside the band. Now I'm wondering if it is in fact, real.  I also picked up some Pyrex but will post that in a different post as it was drying in a dish drainer last night while I photographed the other stuff.

I am linking to Apron Thrift Girl, Thrift Share Monday -- because I want to see everybody's wares.

The Lights

One of the places I would like to curl up and live in was this lounge in the Marquee - so SPARKLY!!

Is this over the top? I don't think so, I think there's a
place in the world for ropes of crystals to hang from the
ceiling over pink light bulbs, besides a Las Vegas Lounge.

Randy told me that I could do this in my studio, but not on the main
floor.  Sometimes being the only female in the house can really stink.

Actual gondolier singing opera in the Venetian

View of the Strip from our hotel room

:Love this

The Freemont Street Experience is a strange mix of old and new -- Freemont Street was the original "strip" and it's full of the classic old neon we've all seen in the movies and the old TV Show in the 70's .  I have to say that there's some charm in it but it's also kind of nitty-gritty with a very different crowd than the newer Strip - some people say this is the "Real Vegas".  It's definitely worth checking out but I don't think I'll be hanging out here regularly when I meet up with Mothra out there again -- it's a little TOO real for me, if you catch my drift.

Old neon + LED TV screens 

You can see the roof over Freemont that has a non-stop
LED light show, sometimes it's spectacular, other times
it's basically advertising.  It encloses the light and gives it
an almost surreal experience of daylight under there.

The Pioneer was still operating when I drove through
Las Vegas from California on my way back east to CT,
now it's a gift store that has tables proclaiming "Everything
$0.97 Cents!!"

This place has a seedy romantic vibe to it -- we didn't go inside but I read that they
refurbished the interior.

Looking down Freemont Street from El Cortez

And this is the place where I lost most of the winnings from the night before,
and let me tell you, the place was LOADED with second-hand smoke.  As an
ex-smoker, I feel kind of hypocritical complaining about second-hand smoke, but
there was SO MUCH of it that when I woke up the next morning I felt like I
smoked a pack of Camels - non filtered.

One of my FAVORITE places to go was the Pinball Hall of Fame, where
they had pinball machines from many decades, check out this one, it's
so old the numbers aren't digital - they flip! Yes, I played it and it was awesome!

Viva Las Vegas!! Part Two

My best friend Mothra didn't really "get" my love for poking around flea markets, estate sales, vintage stores, thrift stores, tag sales (how we say garage sales in CT) or antique stores looking at "someone else's unwanted or abandoned old crap."  Mothra likes things new and pristine and never-used.  I knew she was indulging my need to check out the Charleston Antique Mart because we have been best friends for 29 years and she loooooves me.

After poking around with me, she is kind of coming around to the Dark Side, and I'm thrilled, it's fun to talk to someone else about the things that make me throw up some jazz hands and squeal.  Like vintage dish towels and travel souvenirs.  I am almost jealous because where she lives in Lake Havasu City, they put out a weekly paper similar to the Pennysaver which is nothing but listings of garage sales/estate sales and fleas.  I  bet there's a lot of great Hollywood Regency stuff out that way!  She even told me via email today she might go out this weekend to some garage sales.  You go, Mothra!

Mothra said "I can't believe how much character everything has - this is at least INTERESTING."  Perhaps one day she will know the sheer joy of gazing over a pile of boring stuff and zeroing in on that ONE thing, feeling her pulse race and the wash of intense glee when you flip the item over and see it's reasonably priced and you have the cash. 

Back to the Charleston!  I want to show you some of the lamps that set my heart ablaze:

What are these dogs, Afghans with haircuts? Greyhounds
with perms? They and their fiberglass lampshade were awesome.

These lampshades were ALL wrong, but I loved loved loved
the teal bases.

Not the original shades, but I loved the shape of these two!

Hollywood Regency at it's over-the-top finest! The lamp
base lit up (red) -- I also loved the bar-cart, too.  This
dealer also had zebra skin chairs and surf records.

My boyfriend loves old tube radios, I like old clocks, I took a few shots of both:

This radio was in GREAT condition and was playing an "oldies" station

Check out this INCREDIBLE gorgeous stereo cabinet!!! Again, fantastic
condition - turntable and radio

Even a slot for records -- just like the stereo I grew up with (except Mom's
was that mid-century faux-colonial...I like this one much better)

I love the rounded corners on this one

A clock radio AND desk lamp!!!

Old rotary phones, clocks, and a Selectric!!! 

Some other fun things...

Swizzle Sticks!!! Oh, how I long for some classic
Vegas Casino swizzle sticks...but not at $5+  I also loved
the TWA "destination" swizzles.

Randy was so close to sporting the below shirt -- the abstract pattern, not the dice on fire

If only it were an XL...the "L" looked a little small in
the arms.

Holy cats! This is just a small section of the whole shelf.

There was a tremendous amount of vintage clothes here, I looked over a bunch of handbags and hats and even gloves, and managed to control myself.  I really wanted this aqua number even though it's MUCH too small for me:

I can see myself doing some major Brady Bunch choreography in this
bad boy.

I should have picked up a few of these for my decoupage -- just for the articles, of course!!!!:

Naked + go-go boots and big hair = awesome

So many amazing tiki bar accessories -- and how about THAT lamp?? HOT!

I don't know how this happened, but I'm so glad someone took a picture.

I will do one more Vegas post, but concentrating more on the vintage signage and neon out there that I love so much.

Viva Las Vegas!!! Part One

I'm exhausted and broke but had a great time! My best friend, Mothra moved to Lake Havasu City, AZ last year, and thanks to her man's job (he's a pilot) she flies East quite frequently.  I've flown out once to see her in AZ and then this past weekend she drove three hours up to Las Vegas and met me there and we were on the go since the moment I touched down.  Both of us have sworn that next time we'll spend more time doing nothing and less time being crazy.

Our itinerary included walking almost four miles of The Strip, poking in and out of several resort/casinos and window shopping in many of the high end shops that would laugh us out the door if we walked in there.  We had delicious Mexican food at Hussong's which I HIGHLY recommend.  We ended up at the Venetian where I sat at a slot machine for pretty much the first time and ended up winning $100.  Woo! I was pretty excited! 

The next morning we went to the AMAZING Peppermill which is half diner/half insane throwback 70's lounge complete with super low banquettes surrounding pools that are on fire.  Seriously. 

After reading reviews about the "flea market" we realized it was more of a swap meet (new cheap things in a cardboard box on the ground) which isn't what I wanted, so I did a little research and found out about the Charleston Antique Mall. And it was glorious.  16,000 square feet of antique and vintage finds and VERY reasonably priced.  The only thing that stopped me from buying everything I could get my hands on was the fact that I had a small carry-on suitcase.  I wished I had a panel truck!  I will post what I actually purchased (very little, showing remarkable restraint) later, but I did take a ton of pictures, mostly because I had to show Randy all this great stuff. 

First of all, let's talk Pyrex:

Lovely striped mixing bowls in a rustic china cabinet - they were too big
for my suitcase so I didn't even look at the price tag - and how cute
are those pitchers on the second shelf???

Same dealer/cabinet - dots! I loved the paper lanterns, too.

Some Pyrex Wannabes were mixed in

If only I had a bigger suitcase/panel truck!! I would have
finished my Daisy cinderella bowl collection and added
to my Autumn Harvest...and I probably would have nabbed
that chicken, too.

Oh, Green Square Flowers, how I love you...and with a lid.  Had to walk away.

Many of the dealers had Pyrex among many other things, there was some fun Fiestaware and other mid-century stuff.  One of the things I am KICKING myself about leaving behind was a "Hostess Set" in it's original box - salad tongs and two sets of salt and pepper shakers in peach plastic. The wee salt/pepper shakers were ADORABLE. Le Sigh.

I was swooning over this dinette set and all the gorgeous tableware on top of it:

One of my Holy Grails - but I want red vinyl seats.  Or mint green. But with
the nails like these! This set was in great shape!

And this post is getting lengthy, so I'll just add this one more shot:

Another "grail" the metal lawn chairs - and I just LOVED
how this particular dealer styled her space, just lovely.

Stay tuned for more fun stuff from the Charleston Antique Mall!

Bead Table Wednesday

Very chaotic table today - last night I went through that giant bag of vintage costume jewelry given to me by Randy's Aunt and a pile of stuff from my Grandma Brenner that I have never thoroughly gone through. 

Grandma Brenner had a TON of circle pins, many of them still in pretty good condition (Paste/rhinestones intact).  Randy's Aunt's stuff was heavy on the "statement" pieces made of mostly wood or plastic.  Some of which I didn't think were worth taking apart.  I found some strands of wood/glass from both of them that I liked - the wood in particular.

There's no clear project in the above picture - I have some "rejected" acrylic pendants for one reason or another - bubbles, buckling, I hate that!  I also have a bunch of crystals from flea market purchases I have taken apart - in this case, wine glass charms.  I'm still working on a series inspired by Fresh Home Magazine's exotic locations layout, I have finished "India", "China", and "Australia" and am working on "Brazil" -- greens, the wood I re-purposed from Grandma's necklace, bone, and little hits of fuchsia.  Very springy! 

I finally obtained some photos of these inspiring design layouts to show you the colors that has me humming.



Australia - love hte various blues/greens with the white that pops!




I love the soothing greens/bamboo (or wood) with the pop of fuschia!



Ah, lovely China!

I think this is my favorite! India with bold pinks
and orange and yellow and hammered silver - sigh!

My mother is coming over tonight so I can tweak the two pieces she has submitted for approval for her church group's retreat - they want me to make 6 necklaces with their specific themes to give as prizes, and that will be fun, although I have a hard time making anything exactly alike - I would stink at an assembly line, I like each thing to be just a little different, even if I'm using similar charms or colors.  Sigh, I gotta do what they want me to do!

Only two days until Las Vegas...it's been so hard not to buy anything, I keep seeing all these great lampwork beads and other things on Etsy that I want.  Isn't that the way?  When I have money to burn, I can't find anything but when I'm trying to be good I see so many amazing things that I have to grit my teeth and force myself offline and pretend I didn't just see that ONE focal bead, or that other ADORABLE tote bag, or that Pyrex Square Flowers casserole.  I have to keep the big picture in mind -- Las Vegas + Flea Market + other insane shopping = need money for real.

An Estate Sale Bust and Unexpected Bounty

When I pulled up to this awesome mid-century ranch I had high hopes, which were quickly dashed as we were directed towards the barn/garage rather than the house.

What I could surmise by what was offered, either or both of the owners at one time was a watchmaker/jeweler or antiques dealer - which meant everything was priced REALLY high.  Even on half price day!  I ended up with an orange juice pitcher, a straw handbag and some vintage clip-on earrings that I plan on taking apart for the funky beads.  I was too dispirited to photograph any of my booty.

However, Randy's aunt gave me a large bag of her no-longer-wanted costume jewelry -some of it is worth keeping intact! The stuff I want to take apart and re-purpose is funky too, so I'm excited to get upstairs and start sorting everything.

I have been sick for the last 3 days, nasty head/chest cold - I am very low energy and blah.  I can't wait to feel normal again.  Only four days until I am in Las Vegas! YAY!

The First Of My "Exotic Destination" Inspired Cascade Pendants

I mentioned before that I was so crazy about that layout in Fresh Home Magazine, showcasing design ideas inspired by other countries.  They were so colorful that I posted my favorites on my "inspiration boards" knowing I'd want to go back and use them as a jumping off point for my cascades.

I tend to do two kinds of necklaces - I like mix pendant blanks with teeny tiny papercraft and then fill them with acrylic

Cascades are what I really love to make, though.  I hang a bunch of beads and beads-on-chains from circles or ovals of various sizes and materials.

The cascade I made last night is based on the "India" layout, my absolute favorite of the lot.

I realize how little hot pink or fuchsia I have in my bead stash - I have lots of blues and earth tones and even some pastels, but no bold brights.  I will have to remedy that, but did what I could with what I had.

I love this so much I am going to keep it.  I might make another one similar, but I tend to never do the same design twice, partially because I'm a Gemini with rampant ADD and partially because I like each thing I make to be a one-and-only. 

I wish I had better lighting, I really need to look into a better camera.

I'm wearing "India" today and have already gotten a few compliments, but I think it's because I'm in all black and the bright colors really stand out.

The design layout that
inspired me.

Work is busy today and all I want to do is hole up in the studio and break out all the beads, but tonight I am having dinner with one of my favorite people and fellow estate sale enthuisast.

One of my goals is to start getting up earlier and having more time in the morning before the office grind.  Not only do I have great ideas in the morning, but I like how peaceful my house is at that time.  No teenage boy bickering or loud heavy metal blasting, nobody looking for me because they can't find anything.  Peace.

However, I also like my bed a little too much to believe that I'm ever going to really start getting up at six or GOD FORBID 5:30, which is the ideal time for me to be up and productive.  Maybe someday.