Magpie Ethel

A Wonderful Invitation

A girlfriend called me up and said they were going on vacation and while they were gone she would love it if I came and picked dahlias from her yard.  She knew that my infatuation with dahlias is quite strong and she told me she had some great ones just begging to be picked.

She did not have to tell me twice. She had two brick raised beds full of dahlias for me to choose from.

Dinner-plate dahlias as big as my hand!

I came home with enough dahlias to make up a few bouquets to sprinkle about the house on tables and windowsills.
Nothing better than a dahlia in their rainbow of colors and styles.

If you want to read more about my dahlia obsession...you may remember the dahlia/bee whisperer post, OR my summer ritual post, OR  the gorgeous dahlia that blooms in my yard (in full bloom this year as I type1).

Happy day...may you find yourself a bouquet of dahlias to brighten it up!

Collection Challenge #68 - Vintage Tin Canisters

 

This is the third of the tin series for collection challenge.  First we had vintage round tins. Next was a post on what were mostly candy tins, vintage tins, NOT round.  Now we have vintage tin canisters. 

These are canisters that I pick up at sales because they are cute, cheap and are great storage in the studio.

Most of them fall into the floral category. Condition is not an issue for me.

As you can see I use them for storage...I did not bother removing my pipe cleaners for this post. 

The tall tin on the bottom of the stack on the left is about 15 inches tall.

Plain jane kitchen retro canisters marked sugar, flour and coffee  These were in a free pile.

Another of those large tins that dwarfs the one beside it.

My one lone floral breadbox.

I did not realize how many of these I had until I started pulling them off the different shelves in my studio.

Great vintage style storage!  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of _____."  I will see what I can come up with.

 

Estate Sale Friday....Decent

I hit three sales today. One was decent.  I was #23 to get in the door and got in with the first wave of people. This was one of those sales where I had to poke thru things to find the good stuff.

The woman made jewelery and she had quite a few old plastic pieces for crafting.  I was happy to find these.  A cute old reindeer and a pair of old cigar boxes (which the crafting items were packing into).

Can you see the tiny doll fridge behind the deer's ear? It was tucked in with all the crafting stuff.  I like the willy nilly nature of finding things like that.

The plastic pieces were all fun shapes and colors.  Note the salmon and yellow colored circles with the dog and horse heads.  I am always amazed at the tiny stuff that I find.

The woman also made sea shell jewelery and had tons of tiny bags of shells. These will be perfect when the spun head mermaids show up in my studio again.

Miss sugar and spice and everything nice tea towel had to come home with me.

Packs of old tissue paper and some satin colored balls (in the background) for crafting.
The motherload of old tissue paper...original display box and original yummy colors.

A pair of towels with a beachy theme.  I thought this first one might look swell used as art or a crazy pillow (in my beach house someday).

It was a decent day. Good luck to all my east coast friends with Ms. Irene...will be thinking of you.

Plucky Maidens Recap and Celebrity Sighting

Last Thursday I did the Plucky Maidens show.  My friend Pam from One Gal's Trash and her friend Maria put on the show...it was their maiden event and they rocked it. It was a wonderful day.

Here was our booth.  There were three of us that combined our treasures and it came together pretty well.  It was long and skinny and full of fun! (from the aprons all the way to that green awning)

It was an outdoor event and I  hung my honeycomb garland from the trees.

It was a task to combine the goodies from three different people into one booth, but we did a good job.

It was a glorious summer day, a band played in the evening and we had shoppers all day long.  At one point in the booth I heard a voice that sounded oh, so familiar.  A voice I recognized from TELEVISION!

It was Emily Henderson!  Emily won the 2010 Season of Design Star and currently has a show called Secrets of a Stylist (both HGTV shows).

A photo as proof!  Amy (my neighbor at the show) from Into Vintage had left a comment on Emily's blog telling her about the show and Emily actually came!  Amy and I were thrilled to meet her.  My daughter Kate was also quite impressed that I had spotted her as she is a big fan too.

What a day..looking forward to the next Plucky Maiden show Nov 19th.  If you live in the Portland area you need to mark your calendar...I can't guarantee a celebrity sighting, but I can guarantee some good junking.

Collection Challenge #67 - Figural Jars

Nobody challenged me on the collection this week as it is a rather narrow topic.  I just decided to share it on my own since I think it is kinda nifty.  I have collected old figural jars for a number of years, altho I have not added to my collection in a awhile.  These are basically glass jars in whimsical shapes that once held some sort of product. I don't know much about most of these jars, so if you have some info please leave me a comment.

One Clown jar stamped with "Grapette Products Co., Camden, Ark" on bottom.

Quite of few of these jars were saved as they converted into banks. This jar once held a beverage syrup.

Little Bo Peep jar that once held baby shoe cleaner. It still has a bit of the original label.

Pig jar that converts to a piggy bank.

It once held some sort of syrup.

Jar in the shape of Abe Lincoln.  Stamped with "Lincoln Bank Bottle" on  back side. On bottom it reads "Lincoln Foods, Inc. Lawrence, Mass."

I like the lid.

Often the jar ties into the company name.  This jar is shaped like a liberty bell and is made by the Liberty company to hold maraschino cherries.

I think this one is a bear. It is stamped "Snow Crest Beverages" on the bottom.
A trio of jars that held "Spreckles Sugar and Cinnamon mixture" One of the jars has the original sugar mixture and label.

This cat is a mystery as the jar and the lid are not stamped.

This Lucky Joe bank originally held Nash's Mustard and had red lips on the jar. It was an example of black Americana. This is the first figural jar I bought.

It also doubles as a bank.

I am not sure what this figure it.  The side of the jar has measurements.

The lid reads "Use easy pour a drink guide on side of bottle".

This is a fellow with a monocle. The base of the jar is designed so it can sit flat or tipped forward. 

The lid is in really poor condition but I think it reads "Sun Ray Hot Dog Sauce".

This fellow is in the shape of a clock. I love the shape of this one, but don't know much about it.

A pig shaped jar that is a piggy bank! It has a teeny tiny curly tail stamped on the backside and once held mustard from the Nash company.

A baseball shaped jar.

A Milk of Magnesia jar that doubled as a bank.

A teeny dog jar that is stamped "Sugar-Starch, Corn Syrup" and "Certified Colors".  It is just over 2 inches tall.

A bit of a different collection. It lives on a high shelf in my kitchen all grouped together.  If you have info on any of the jars please let me know.  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a note and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of ____." I am coming up on SEVENTY collections!

 

Estate Sale Saturday...Much Better Than Friday

Thankfully the sales this morning were much better than what I encountered on Friday.  I was #32 to get in at the first one and they let in 25.  Luckily they let in another wave after a few minutes and I got in the door.  I hit a second sale on the way home and between the two stops I was a happy camper.

It was a Christmassy day...lots of Christmas ornaments to use for crafts.

Old bells, plastic Christmas holly, a pair of reflectors and another ornament holder box.

I was happy to find a Christmas corsage with a spun head elf.

A Shiny Brite nativity scene in original box.

My favorite find of the day was this card that goes over the neck of an old milk bottle.  It is from a dairy and reads "From Lucas Valley Dairy and your milkman George Geister".  George filled in his name on the blank ...I love that this was something that was saved. Note the glass of milk in Santa's hand.

A great gray tablecloth with sprays of flowers

I am always happy if my estate sale finds include old glitter

An old local flour sack.

A bunch of old Santa holiday savings cards from 1952.  Great Santa graphic.

I can't tell you how happy I was not to have a repeat of Friday! Not a huge haul, but definitely some fun stuff.

Happy weekend.

Castoffs

We have an older family friend who was cleaning out cupboards and such.  She knows I am crafty, but not exactly the TYPE of things that I make.  She called to see if I would be interested in some of her cast offs.  She mentioned ribbon (fine) and grapevine wreaths (no).  I was not expecting much to excite me when she dropped her cast offs at my house.

I was in for a treat!  Sure, I had a box of items that are destined for goodwill, but mixed in were some definite treasures.

Old jingle bells, candy canes and other holiday misc.

Sequins in original packaging.

I let out a SHRIEK when I saw the package of spun heads! I could not believe these were from her cupboards.

A package of vintage glass garland in PURPLE.  I have collected glass garland for years and have never seen it in this color...ever.

I was happy to see something as simple as an old gift tie ribbon in her things.

It is another one to add to my collection (she did not know I love these).

I am a sucker for the colors and the little foil wrapper.

Shriek number two came when I found some old Easter spun chicks and a bunny mixed in with some newer Easter crafting supplies.  There was even an empty bag that once held Easter grass (awesome graphics).  The chicks need a little TLC, but they have come to the right spot for that.

What welcome castoffs these turned out to be! Crossing my fingers for the cupboards that she mentioned she has yet to clean out!

Happy Day!

 

Estate Sale Friday...Two Words

I hit three estate sales today.  For those of you who believe I find treasures every weekend...sadly this is not the case.  I found nothing, zilch, zero today.  Sadly, I must admit it was a dud day.

However, there is always tomorrow. Have a happy weekend!

Collection Challenge #66 - Vintage Party

Lynnae challenge me to show my collection of vintage Mardi Gras and Masquerade items after she returned from a visit to New Orleans.  I don't have either of those categories specifically, but I can throw a fun vintage party with some of my items.

Let me just get out my vintage suitcase where I store most of my collection.

Open sesame....

Vintage party horns.

Old Party horns with crepe paper fringe.
I love the different designs on each of the cardboard cones.

Vintage party blow outs...again with the swell cardboard designs.

Blow outs with with fancy crepe paper decorations.

Often the blow outs have a design on the paper that straightens out when you blow.  I had one that was broken and when I unrolled it this is one of the designs (note the Occupied Japan logo on the end with the pig).

Another design.

I am partial to this blow out pair, as I love the plastic figures on the end.

For a little amusement at the party, how about some party snappers?

This pair have nursery rhyme decorations ...Little Boy Blue and Little Miss Muffet.

This lot (from my Kansas trip) are from the 1930s.  You may remember how my curiosity got the most of me here.

A merry time is had when wearing a vintage party hat.  I have an assortment of styles and designs.

Unused crepe paper hats.

The ability to make noise is often necessary for a wild party. I especially like the crepe paper wand on the left. It is a stick with jingle bells attached and fringed crepe paper to add a festive look.

Love women in polka dots on tin noisemakers.

For a bit more noise we can throw in a vintage party popper.

And of course we may want to wear a paper lei to get in the mood.

Great vintage colors.

Hats, leis, noisemakers, blowouts, party horns and party snappers...I think that about covers it for a good party.  I could still do another post of party items - plates, cups and such...perhaps in a future post...this one is long enough already.

Thanks Lynnae for this challenge!  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, please leave a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collect on of ______." I may be able to show a swinging good time!

 

 

Plucky Maidens

If you are local come join the fun...there will be over 50 Fabulous Vintage Vendors under the trees by the "Little Red Shed" (on the east end of the property) at McMenamins Edgefield.

I am helping a friend with her booth at this junking event and will have a few vintage items for sale as well.

I am super excited to do the booth set up.  I love dinking around with the display and making things look just right.  I am using the great old pieced tablecloth that I found last week made from vintage fabric.

I had a gazillion honeycomb balls waiting for a project so decided to make a super simple garland for our booth.  I took red and white baker's twine and strung it thru the honeycomb balls.  I then took different strips of vintage fabric and tied them between the balls. Fun, eye catching and easy-peasy.

Look for my garland and say hello!  It will be a fun afternoon with lots of vintage vendors to shop from.

McMenamins will be selling food, handcrafted beer, wine and spirits all day

Free live music by Rootdown begins at 6pm
Free outdoor movie in the concert amphitheater begins at dark
(Field of Dreams)

You can find out a bit more info on the show here.

Fun, fun, fun!