Magpie Ethel

Estate Sale Friday - Labor Day Weekend

I wasn't holding out a ton of hope for estate sales this weekend as it is a holiday weekend and from past experience they are few and far between.  I did manage a couple today and found a few goodies tho.

Some floral tins (destined for studio storage), old unopened pipe cleaner package, green measuring tape, jingle bells, some old mini owl figurines, wooden doll heads for crafting, a couple of old glass refrigerator storage containers (more studio storage), a vintage jewelry box and a great light up Santa.

I did better than I thought I would.  I also worked a stop at the u-pick dahlia place into my route...thus the glorious dahlia bouquets...I love summer.

By the way did you notice the new banner?  I upgraded my typepad level so now I can have more design choices.  My daughter Kate (thank goodness for teens who are computer savvy) tweaked the old fruit label that Kim from Camp Whimsy sent me.  I spelled Ethel out with old Anagram game letters. We are still playing around with the banner...but hey it is a start!

Have a safe labor day weekend.

Back to School

Today I got tired of the beach/shell decorations that I have had displayed for the past couple of months.  I miss having holidays to decorate for during the summer. (I know there is the 4th of July...but then there is a LONG void until Halloween) So today I swapped out beach stuff for back to school stuff.

I put to use the vintage blackboard I got last weekend for a quarter.  Bright red apples for the new teacher.  Those classic yellow back to school pencils. School starts the 3rd of September for us...and I will have two kids in highschool.

Some vintage report cards for a gal named Barbara Straus from 1943.  Anyone know her?  They were an estate sale find...she got good grades.  I like the last category she was graded in  "Appreciates the fine things of our culture".

And while we are on the subject of back to school....did you know I have a collection of vintage chalk boxes?  I like the graphics on the boxes...totally quirky thing to collect...I display them on the ledge of a vintage blackboard.

 

And who could forget this "Back to School" banner that I found at an estate sale a few years ago.

It has great detail on the letters.  Each letter is about the size of a dinner plate. 

So Happy Back to School to all of you...I know my kids are ready to get back in the swing of things.

Estate Sale Friday Once Again

Another Friday.  Was headed out the door by 8 a.m.  Hit two duds and the third was a charm. (waited 40 minutes for the doors to open with about 12 other regular estate sale dealers ahead of me...I got in the door pretty quick tho)

Hmm..lets see, an awesome old plastic Santa and sleigh.  3 Halloween costumes in original boxes. Glitter and Modge Podge.  A bunch of old Christmas ornaments.

Old small chalkboard, wooden doll heads and old ballerina candle holders.

A bunch of Christmas ornaments.  2 old plastic deers marked "Rudolph" on their sides.  Old Christmas stickers.

3 Halloween costumes in original boxes.  Tweety Bird, Lemon Meringue (a cousin/friend of Strawberry Shortcake?) and a  Rubik's Cube.  My son is modeling the Rubik's cube mask.  He actually collects Rubik's cubes and can solve one in about a minute.  When he was younger he was a Rubik's cube for Halloween (homemade costume) for a number of years. I didn't even know they made Rubik's cube costumes (I shrieked when I found it)!

This is hands down my favorite thing.  I couldn't believe that all the deer had their original stands!  I think the deer are quite charming.  They have holes in their bellies to insert a Christmas light. It is all made out of that old hard plastic.

I also found a couple of silver vintage glass Christmas picks.  They are in the top Christmas photo on the left hand side.  When ever i find them I pick them up and add them to this pot.  As you can see I have found a bunch of them over the years. I display some at Christmas in a big silver container.

Not a bad day.  I may try and hit a few estate sales tomorrow a.m. as well.

Totally Random

I was trying to figure out something to post about and thought I would post about 5 random things in my house that make me smile.  I do not have a regular decorating style...not a pottery barn catalog style...but more of an estate sale finds, quirky and one of a kind style.

Here we go...5 things that make me smile in my house. (not including family members)

These silly little statues all picked up at estate sales or Goodwill.  I just like their expressions. (especially the charming bell hop in the center)

 

 

Random photos of people I have no idea who they are.  They just look friendly.  This woman hangs in my living room and people always ask me who she is.  I have no idea, but it looks like she loves flowers and is friendly. (I colorized the zinnias in the photo).  I have other photos of unknown people as well...I also feel sorry for them when I find them at estate sales and realize that family members are just letting them go.

 

 

 

A mirror that has seen better days reflection wise, but I love the scarred surface.  It always is embellished with this great garland of Xmas ornaments (estate sale find).  Metal tin dolls plates above the mirror.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a thing for old crepe paper honeycomb (folds out) items.  This is a wonderful old set of mushrooms...quite large marked "Made in Denmark".  It lives year round with my collection of cream pottery.  It is just plain silly, but I love it mixed in with the pottery.

 

 

 

 

 

BEWARE!  Low head clearance heading into the basement and this is the word of warning to all.  I just love the colors and different type styles on these old children's blocks.

Voila.  5 things in my house that make me smile.  Totally random, but hopefully they made you smile too.  Happy Thursday.

Mailbox Surprise

When I went to Farm Chicks in June I met a really nice woman named Kim.  We were both standing under our umbrellas in the rain staring in through the chain link fence at all the goodies waiting for the sale to begin. We chatted...exchanged business cards...end of story.  HOWEVER we stayed in touch through our blogs.  She lives in northern California and has an adorable shop.  You can find her here at Camp Whimsy.   It has been great getting to know her.   Today I got a surprise in my mailbox from her.

It is a great old fruit label with a super duper Magpie.  Great green color to boot.  Perfect for my Magpie Ethel blog. Thank you Kim you made my day!

My Personal Summer Camp

All summer long my kids have come and gone...they have both gone to a couple of summer camps each.  This past Saturday was my turn my for own personal summer camp day.  I spent it with Sally Jean Alexander taking a "Soldering for Virgins" class.

I am sure you may have seen this book called "Pretty Little Things" by Sally Jean Alexander.  It is an awesome book full of great ideas and techniques.  BUT, taking a class with her is like diving into the pages of her book and living it.  First off, she taught the class in her studio...let me rephrase that....HER AMAZING STUDIO.  She discourages photos so you will see none here, but it is full of beautiful things all done in creams and turquoise blue colors. You walk into her studio and just smile.  My favorite thing was two huge glittered turquoise electrified snowflakes that she attached to her ceiling.  It is a magical thing.  Her studio is also one that will be featured in an upcoming new magazine  due out this fall called "Where Woman Create" by Somerset Studio. If you ever have a chance to take one of her classes it is a day of fun...I am so lucky she is local (there were woman from all over - Chicago, So. Calif, Minnesota etc).  Check out her website Sally Jean.

She make soldering look so simple.  I did okay for being a virgin.  I have a long way to go, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly.  We spent the morning assembling artwork and getting ready to solder.  We all then meandered over to an awesome restaurant called Paragon for lunch.  Back to the studio for the afternoon full of soldering.  It was a great afternoon (altho not as easy as it looks).

This is my finished piece.  We basically were focusing on technique and soldering different shapes.  We ended up with a finished bracelet at the end of the class.  I have a long way to go to perfect the smoothness of my work.  I love my bracelet tho.  I like the bird on the left with the googly eye.  He is a color copy from an old book that I have.

This was my kind of summer camp!

Estate Sale Friday

Friday.  Estate sale day.  They are predicting 104 degrees today....It never get that HOT here in Portland.  I do not like hot weather as it makes me really grouchy. (ask my hubby - no air conditioning in our house).  So today the estate sales were fast and furious as to beat the heat.  I hit two TOTAL duds and then finally - payday.

Lots of Christmas!  I hit the sale about an hour after it opened and I found one giant box of goodies under the table with tons of great stuff.  Vintage birds in original box, Christmas corsages (a bag full of 20 of them!), thread covered balls that I use for ornaments, vintage deer, old glitter, old tavern candles, a great pillowcase and a cute little sweater.  Not too shabby!  For awhile there I thought the day was going to be a dud.

A tray full of old corsages and vintage figures for package tie-ons.

Old birds and old glitter.

Love the embroidery on this old pillowcase.  I just hope I can get the stains out.

L-0-V-E these old candles.  They are still attached to the original cardboard packing material.

The estate was that of a woman who used to work for Jantzen Sportswear.  She had alot of old unworn outfits.  I love to wear vintage sweaters and got this cutie.  Fits me perfectly. (not that I will wear it in the 104 degree weather!)

This was my oddest find.  What are these two crazy little men?  They are made in the same manner as little birds or snowman that I often see.  They appear to be flying but have very weird bodies.  Anybody seen anything like these two guys?  I don't think they are handmade.

Thanks for checking in...hope your weekend is cooler than mine!

 

Reindeer Day

Way back in March (the 13th) I posted about some reindeer that I had found at an estate sale. I was thrilled with my find.  Well, yesterday I had breakfast with my good friend Pam from One Gal's Trash. She is always picking up some little treasure for me and yesterday she gave me a bunch of fun stuff, but my favorite was a pair of reindeer. It occurred to me that I had never posted about what I had done with my previous reindeer find.  So thus, today is reindeer show and tell day.

The reindeer pictured above I found at the estate sale in March. 

These are the reindeer that I worked my magic on.  Shiny, glittery vintage style magic.  Pam gave me the two really big reindeer that are on the right. L-0-V-E them!

I really like how they turned out.  I think they would look magical combined with some vintage glittery houses or old bottle-brush trees.  I also made the beaded Styrofoam tree...a no-brainer project, just a lot of hours sticking in sequin or beaded pins!

80 Degrees and Sleigh Time

It always seems a bit odd to start working on Christmas crafts during the summer.  HOWEVER, I have learned from past experience that it does not put one in the holiday mood to work 24/7 after the kids go back to school on holiday stuff. 

Thus today's project.

 I found this sorry looking balding fellow this past year. The vintage sleigh and bells were tucked away with some of my Christmas goodies. Today I gave them a little transformation.

Now this little fellow sits in a sleigh chock full of holiday goodies.  He struck me as a musical man as in the first photo he had a very sorry looking song book.  I replaced his song book with one made from old cardboard from a shiny brite box and the words to "Hark The Herald Angels" from some old sheet music.  He has a couple of old horns in his sleigh, some glittered musical notes and lots of vintage bells, ornaments and happy vintage goodies.  I even added a jaunty bit of old holly to his hat.

I think he would look totally festive sitting on someones piano for the holidays...ready to sled right in with a musical tune!

Happy Flower Day

Nothing makes me happier than a wonderful bouquet of summer flowers (especially if it contains sweet peas).  All though today my day was also made by a wonderful comment from a woman at an estate sale this morning.  I was standing out front waiting for my number to be called when a woman approached me and told me how much she loved my Magpie Ethel blog.  That simple sentence made my whole day.  So if you are reading this Paula (if I screwed up your name, please comment and give me what for...I am so bad with names!)  i enjoyed chatting with you and you said such nice things about my posts.  Hope to run into you again soon!

As an added bonus the sale wasn't too bad!  Half off on Sundays and got these goodies!

This cool vintage coat in a yummy pink and blue plaid which fits me exactly right! ($6 to boot!)

 

Some vintage Christmas (corsage, picks and balls) plus garland in original box. Floral metal wall pot holders. A great floral valance that fits my window perfectly (plus I just painted my bedroom pink so was looking for a new valance....and I don't have to sew one now!).  A very retro v-neck vest which reminded me of one I saw in a Boden catalog recently.

These are my favorite find.  Teeny tiny old angel heads...I feel some crafting coming on!  Also a couple of other great larger angels too.

Oh, Happy Day!