Magpie Ethel

Estate Sale Finds and Some Irish Green

Estate sale season is finally starting up again.  I went to one today.  The list to sign up for the sale was to be out at 8 a.m.  I got there about 10 minutes early and the list had already been put out.  I was number 29.  The first probably 15 names on the list were all in the same handwriting - GRRRR... I hate when the dealers sign up their inner circle of friends!  Fortunately I got in the door with the first wave of people.

Not a huge haul, but here goes.  A great vintage suitcase (I have been looking for one to store bump chenille), 2 old jewelry boxes, a container of old birthday decorations, two reindeer, a cute pixie and three pine cone elves in original packaging.

 

I love these tiny cowboy candles and SOOOOO wish they weren't so shabby.  I will try and clean them up soon.  They were mixed in with this container of old cake decorations. (note: more birthday candles for my collection!)

I like these two celluloid reindeer (especially the one with the pink bow)  They came in the box with the Santa graphics.

 

My favorite find was a box of old stickers.  I have alot of these and some of these designs are new to me.  There are also a couple of St. Patrick's day designs which are harder to find.

 

They will join their friends in this drawer in my studio.

Oh, and the Irish Green I mentioned in the title of this post?  I've made a couple of leprechaun friends that are heading to my Etsy store. 

  Have a great weekend. 

Four Eyes

Recently I was cleaning out a drawer and realized how many pairs of vintage eyeglasses I have collected.

Wow!  I often find them for 50 cents or in the free box.  I love the frames and how cool they look. Often they have a nasty prescription glass that I can't even see clearly thru when I put them on.  (I wear contacts by the way).  When I was in college I picked up a pair of vintage glasses somewhere. They had cool frames.  I took the lenses out and wore them out alot - to class, football games, etc. No lenses, just the frames.  Weird huh? But I loved how they looked...they gave me a whole new studios persona.  The minute I put on a vintage pair of frames I just become a different person!

 

Call me four eyes, but man oh man, am I styling with these frames!

Happy Tuesday!

Why I Love Estate Sales

As I've mentioned a million times now, I love a great estate sale.  I like to see the old houses.  I am amazed by what people saved.  I like to find the unusual treasure.  The last estate sale that I hit a couple of weeks ago provided a couple of treasures.  Here is the picture of my finds from that sale.

 

I have put to good use two of the items I found.  The ball fringe in the center of the photo (draped over the turquoise tray) was something I have been on the hunt for for quite awhile.  I got about 4 yards for $2. (great price!)

I have some curtains in my living room that I made from barkcloth that I got at the Coburg antique sale last summer.  I have been looking for some large ball fringe to finish them off for months. Before...

I love the fabric and the yellow stripe is perfect in the living room.  It just needed a fun detail. So I dyed the ball fringe a light teal color.

I used one box of Rit Dye and dyed it in a plastic tub.  I saturated the fringe first and it took the dye fairly well. I dried it in the dryer to get it to fluff up again. (word of warning be careful it doesn't tangle if you are doing a few yards.  I pinned mine together)  I love how big the balls are.  After....

I think it really added a fun detail.  The other treasure I put to use was the metal green towel rack (next to ball fringe in top photo.).  I had the guy at the sale unscrew it from the wall.  It is the perfect vintage green for my kitchen and it was 50 cents. (I have a thing for vintage green tin in my kitchen) Voila!

 

It is below the sink and sets back under the lip of the counter so I don't bump into it. I use it for the dish towels that need a good drying overnight. 

I am so happy with how my new finds found a good use.

Oh!  I just wanted to mention that my Monday morning got off to a very good start when I learned I won my FIRST give-way over at My Vintage Soul.  I won three adorable vintage doll dresses!  Lucky me...lucky way to start the week!

grrr.typepad won't let me center all the photos!

Springtime Birds

I took down the Valentine's decorations and am not quite ready to get Easter up.  In the meantime I needed something springlike and I was inspired by my recent bird purchase from Beth.

Beth makes the most amazing "Dime Store Chic" pincushions that she embellishes with all kinds of fun buttons, trim and such.  She uses old figures as the inspiration and adds her special touch. I have wanted one for quite awhile and when I saw this bird recently on Etsy....it tweeted at me to buy it

Love the detail on the backside!  This pincushion (which I would never dare to stick a pin in!) became the starting point for my post Valentine decorations.

I had a couple of nests (one of which was found here).  I added an old tall dome that I got recently, a playing card from a vintage game with the word "nest", and some decorative eggs. 

I have a great fireplace with a built in mantle shelf.(ignore the flash glare) with original sconces on each side of the built in.

Since I was on the bird kick I used these cool little twig branches with nests interspersed with some green candles.

I also have these birdcages stacked on top of a cabinet.  I put them up there after the Christmas decorations came down.  The cabinet is full of pharmacy antiques which my husband collects.  The turquoise bird on the right sitting on the books was an estate sale find.  I like how the turquoise colors pick up the original paint inside the cabinet

I am loving the bird theme in the living room.  I am ready for spring!  If you want to learn more about my bird fascination you can check out this post or perhaps this one.  Have a tweet night!

Over 3 Months Since My Last Good Estate Sale

My last decent estate sale was on November 7th.  The sales just dry up during the holidays and I miss getting my weekly fix.  I really miss it...I need the  excitement of a good sale.  Today the drought ended and I finally hit a good one.  This is part of the ad in the Newspaper.

S.E. Portland Huge Sale

Mother died at 96.  House jammed packed.  tables, chairs, settees, china, silver, sterling flatware, dolls, glass, books, linens etc.

I was number 68 on the list to get in, but fortunately got in fairly quickly.  This is what I got.

An iron table with a glass top, a metal table with a wooden top (which I'll paint), crepe paper, old Christmas, old ribbon, poker chips, a green metal towel rack, vintage stickers, books etc.  It was goooooooodddd!

A bunch of unused paint brushes, the cool wooden circular storage container (on the ground), a Easter basket full of old ribbon on original spools, old fabric tape measure and bottle brush trees.  My favorite finds were the creme colored big ball fringe - about 4 yards of it. I have a curtain project I am trying to finish and have been looking everywhere for some.  I scored with this $2 find.  I also love the metal towel rack (center of the picture).  I had the guy unscrew it from the wall.  It is the ideal green color for my kitchen...perfect!

Old pipe cleaners, old paper poker chips, a shadow box, these funky handmade metal trees with old Christmas balls, old books and a good sized box of really good ornaments.

Lots of figural ornaments and teeny tiny ones too.  I love this little Santa gal in the indented one.

  This old pressed cardboard Santa. He is about 6 inches tall and CUTE!

I dug in the depths of an old trunk armed with a flashlight to pick up each of these vintage stickers from the bottom of it.  Love the little Easter chick with the sassy hat.

An old clothespin container in the shape of a dress.  I collect these (surprise, another collection) and have about 15 hanging in my laundry room.  This one has three cute little green buttons to add a little charm.

Old songbooks. (one dated 1938)

I didn't know what this little crocheted item was when I tossed it in my basket.  I thought it may have been a pincushion. Note the little button on the side.  When you unbutton it, the insides come out to reveal this...

 

A little tote bag.  You re-button the bottom after the bag is out and it gives it a firm bottom to hold your purchases.  It is a wonderful shade of green and I am going to have fun using this cutie.

Last but not least this funky purchase.

These are CANDLES shaped like leaves.  They vary in length with the longest being about 12 inches...see the wicks on the end?  I put one on its side to show how skinny they are.  One of these days I will put them to use.  I have never seen anything like these.

A great sale!  The only bad thing was that when I was checking out (with my hands full of goodies) I couldn't find my purse!  I was right by the door and thought perhaps I had set it down and while I was calling out prices to the cashier someone had walked out with it.  I totally retraced my steps thru the entire crowded house and thank GOODNESS I found it in a dark corner of the basement where I had been.  It had been sitting there for at least half and hour before I noticed it missing.  I was so caught up in my goodies I totally spaced it.  Was I lucky or what...never again.  I was in a panic!

Thank goodness it turned out fine and I left that sale with my purse over my shoulder and estate sale goodies in my arms.  Thank Goodness!

A Valentine Swap

I did a Valentine Swap with the ultra-talented Jenny from the fabulous Everyday is a Holiday blog.  I love her stuff and she emailed about doing a swap for one of my little spun head gals.  This is what fun I got in return today in a package from her.

   A wonderful wooden Valentine plaque decorated with some of her yummy cupcake illustrations.  A sparkly frosting of glitter makes it more mouth watering!  I almost want to reach out and grab one to eat!

 

Four of these wonderful little cupcake decorated favor cups.  A mix of colors and styles to boot!  They are adorable and will be part of my Valentine decor for years to come. Thanks Jenny!

I included a special little extra gal for Jenny.  I had a spun head that had pigtails.  (Jenny always wears her hair in pigtails). I had never seen a spun head with pigtails before and I was happy to make a special little gal and send it off to her.  This is my first official swap and it was a winner!

I forgot to take a photo of what I sent off...if you are curious about what I swapped Jenny has a swell picture of them on her current post. 

 

Oh,I almost forgot... I hit a GREAT estate sale today.  The estate sale drought ended today.  I'll be sharing my treasures in my next post.

Valentine Day Fun

I usually give out little Valentine treats to my close girlfriends.  I like to just drop them in their mailbox and bring a smile to their day.  I didn't do anything elaborate this year, but varied from the traditional pink and red color scheme.

This year I did orange jelly beans as well as heart shaped pink ones. I tucked them in a clear bag and added some orange polka dot ribbon. I found some cute simple letter-pressed cards to tuck in with the treats.  I will deliver these goodies tomorrow...I think my friends will feel loved!

Just wanted to also share this cute arrangement I have had in my living room for awhile.  I got a good size bouquet of carnations from Costco and cut the stems short and made these little arrangements.  The vases I used have built in wire grids across the top to keep the stems tidy.  The nice thing about carnations is that they last a couple of weeks (just change the water) and they have a wonderully clove-like scent.

And speaking of flowers...I had this heart warming delivery this morning.

My hubby actually went to a florist that I really like called Ink and Peat and ordered flowers to be delivered.  I love the pale orange and pink combination. (I must be on a orange/pink kick).  Usually my husband picks up a bouquet of roses at Costco and while I love the thought, this arrangement is so much more me.  He'll get a big hug and kiss when he gets home from work tonight!

Have a great Valentine's Day!

Abe Lincoln

Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday.  He was our 16th president and is one of two Presidents honored on President's Day (George Washington is the other).  In honor of his birthday, I decided to share a couple of my Lincoln finds.

A wonderfully illustrated book by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire copyright 1939 and 1957  I love the pictures. Also a spun head figure of Abe Lincoln.

Three spun heads from my collection.  I am sure these are Abe Lincoln.  I love that he was such an important historical figure that he warranted his own head for crafting!

Happy February 12th, Abraham Lincoln's 200th Birthday!

Bric-a-Brac

Last week a friend called me while she was shopping at the Salvation Army.  She had in her hands four little bags of vintage spun doll heads and wanted to know if she should pick them up for me. 

This is what she bought.  Clearly labeled Bric-a-brac...99 cents. Yippee!

48 spun heads with gold glitter hair!  I love the fact they were labeled bric-a-brac.  That is such a fun old fashioned word...say it ten times fast!  Bric-a-brac,bric-a-brac,bric-a-brac.  It just clatters off you tongue.  According to the dictionary it means: misc small articles, collected for their antiquarian, decorative, or other interest.  I am definitely a bric-a-brac collector.

The little bric-a-brac heads joined these friends..destined for new life in one of my little creations.

These are some of my favorite heads..they have the cutest expressions.

I think I will make myself a little sign for my studio, it will read.

Magpie Ethel, Queen of Bric-a-Brac!

I think it is quite fitting!

 

Also had a nice mention on Today's Creative Blog, regarding Valentine's Decorations. Thanks so much Kim...have a wonderful sparkly heart day!

Not My Best Week

This was not a good week as reflected in my lack of posts.  Tuesday I was scheduled to get my last remaining wisdom tooth out.  I had a morning appointment with my dentist and much to my horror my dentist was only able to remove HALF of my tooth (curse those darn curvy roots).  Luckily he was able to schedule an afternoon appointment with an oral surgeon who removed the remainder of my tooth.  I had a three hour window between appointments and thankfully my mouth was quite numb.  I basically spent Tuesday in a dental chair on one drug or another.  Not my best Tuesday.  The tooth fairy was very generous to me and my dentist did send me a $10 gift card to Barnes and Nobles as an apology - at least I got a couple of perks.

I spent part of the week rearranging my studio now that the huge stack of Martha magazines have left.  What a space sucker they were!  I moved an old metal cabinet that I had in the garage into the studio and now I have more storage space.  I got the cabinet  (it is the white one of the left) last year at a sale for $11.00. (second day, half price) I didn't have a spot for it, but I liked it, the price was good and it had the original label inside.  It had now found a new home!

Lots of shelves inside quickly filling up with jars full of fun.

I like the fact that it is metal.  I am going to use it as kind of an inspiration board.  Right now I just have stuck up a bunch of things that make me smile. I know it will get full really quick once I get started!

I had a bunch of tiny tin children's plates from vintage tea party sets.  They had seen better days, but the graphics are great.  I hot glued magnets on the back and they turned out really cute.  An easy way to display them now!

Hoping for a good weekend...

ready to eat some solid foods!