Magpie Ethel

My Kind of Neighborhood

I have been busy in my studio gussying up some glittery Christmas houses. Altho I am still in the midst of making them, I thought I would share what I had finished.

A happy, sparkly Christmas neighborhood...I could move right in.

Candy Cane Gals

Still on vacation...hope your week is going well.

Red and white peppermint striped fun.

Goodie, Goodie Gumdrop Collection

At my last Friday estate sale I picked up a hodgepodge box of Christmas stuff.  In the box was one of those old fashioned plastic gum drop trees, where you stick candy on the branches. Evidently I have a thing for these trees as now I have four - and thus another collection.

Each of mine are different in style.  Plastic, but with different shapes, sizes or bottom trays.

A colorful forest of gumdrop fun.

The perfect kind of tree to have at a party.

Happy Monday

Hope your week gets off to a great start...start it with a smile.

 

Cheerio.

One More Estate Sale Before Vacation Time

Had time to hit two quick estate sales before I start packing for a week at the beach.  Forecast for this next week is in the triple digits.  I DON'T do heat well, so was thrilled to have a planned vacation already on the calendar. As you can see I found a bit more xmas this morning...set me back $3.50. 

Even tho I will be playing at the Oregon coast this next week I have set up some auto-posts while I am gone.  Nothing fancy and earth shattering, but just to bring a smile to your day.  Have a great week.

Estate Sale Friday

Ventured out into a bleak estate sale land today.  Not alot to choose from.  My best sale was a church sale where one of the parishioners had donated their estate. I didn't find anything to make my heart race...but at least I didn't leave empty handed.

A great handmade yellow stepstool (I will paint the plywood top).

A wonderful Christmas tablecloth in pretty good condition with some really great graphics. 

4 boxes of small ornaments (one box of gold the rest PINK), a naked cute doll, some old hair clips on original card (destined for my bathroom shadow box), a couple of old stockings and two cardboard ribbon spools.  My favorite find was a old box of greeting cards.

Old place cards.

Awning striped floral cards with cute matching envelopes.

"What's Cooking" greeting cards. I love the details on old cards - the little face graphic on the right is what is on the back of each card.

And the goofiest cards in the box are these from the "Hot n' Tot" line.  A big assortment for a variety of occasions, they feature naked cherub like children in translucent clothing. Lots of bare bums.

Not a bad day in estate sale land...still waiting for another doozy tho!

My Style of Gambling

I have never been to Las Vegas or a casino.  Poker, slot machines and the like all hold little interest for me.  However show me a $2 box at an estate sale and I'm in!!!

I found this box marked $2 today.  It looked promising and I didn't want to take the time to go thru it to see if it held worthwhile goods...I was ready to take the chance and gamble for some good stuff...estate sale style.

I love wondering if I will uncover that amazing treasure!  I didn't score anything too outstanding in this box - but it was worth the $2 price tag.

Christmas balls with a couple of great figural ones and a tree topper tucked in. (I know this will leave you wondering how I could possibly need more balls - but I do)

Cardboard "Made in Japan" houses, a couple of deer, a box of tiny ornaments and some of my beloved ribbon spools.

Birds and sugar coated bells.

And of course you must be curious if the box had anything less than desirable - which of course it did. This is what did not make the cut and will go to goodwill.

Celebrating Summer

In my world, I think everything should have a bit of fun.  Each summer I hang my handmade fabric banner in my backyard.  No occasion, just to make me happy.  It is made of old cutter floral tablecloths and some newer fabric.  It has faded over the years, but it still does the job.

I recently bought a second smaller banner from Kim when I visited her shop "Maxwell General" in California.  It is a perfect complement to my older one and fits near my studio door.

Last week when i was at the Barn House sale I bought a couple of fabric flags to display in my window box from Retreat (who had an awesome space with a  a great beach cottage theme).

 

I seem to be in a major fabric flag banner mood this summer.

Simple, easy, backyard decorating. The nice thing is I don't worry about the weather - if it rains, they get wet. 

Oh happy summer day.

The Holiday Void and Beach Bound Etsy

I really like to decorate for holidays and there is a BIG void between 4th of July and Halloween.  A big void. After the red, white and blue is put away I pull out my shells and beachy stuff to do a beachy theme.

Lots of jars of shells and old wave worn blue/green jars.  My aunt has lived near the Marshall Islands for years. She has done a ton of scuba diving and shell collecting...alot of what I have has been a gift from her.

Silly little finds like this little native gal dated 1955 on the bottom.  She is sitting in a little grove of vintage chenille coconut trees and coral.

Starfish, coral and glass floats.  A mermaid hides amongst the treasures from the sea.

An handmade shell mirror and a pair of vintage sea shell shaped containers.  I made seashell flowers to fill them with.

Tiny vintage flips flops that have turned rock hard over the years.  They are only about 5 inches long...teeny tiny and super cute.  I found them in the basement with some old store stock of a pharmacy that was closing.

So all this beachy stuff in my house has inspired my latest studio creations.

This mermaid is living amongst a patch of seaweed created from vintage mercury glass beads and pipe cleaners.  She is perched on a real shell and the sand is really a sheet of sandpaper.

This spun head gal has been busy beach-combing and has a bucketful of shells to prove it.

This little pig-tailed mermaid is fanning herself with a tiny seashell.

A decoupaged canvas panel with a song titled "The Mermaid" as the background.  The mermaid image is from an old greeting card.  If you double click the photo to enlarge you will notice the base of the panel has a border of sea shells and vintage earrings to add some bottom of the ocean floor sparkle.

And true to the beach theme we are off to the beach in a week for a family vacation.  What fun!  And of course you know the my little creations are all beach bound Etsy.

Serendipity Part Two

My previous post last night left me going to make some flowers while I watched "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".  We are seeing the new Harry Potter later today and I needed a refresher.  While I watched the movie I made these addictive flowers from my vintage flower kit.

Are these not just plain happy?!!! They are super easy to make as well.

This is the finished Serendipity piece with the flowers tucked in.  I love the glitter letters that hang in the background that spell out F-U-N.  I think that pretty much sums up the mood of my studio and my creations.

Hope your Sunday is full of happy, colorful FUN!

p.s. Etsy tomorrow - I have been working on some beachy fun in the studio!