Magpie Ethel

Estate Sale Friday - The Other Side of the Fence

Today instead of hitting estate sales I was helping a friend with one.  The bad side was that I couldn't be out gallivanting here and there to all the sales.  The good side was that I could check out the goods at the sale I was helping with before the sale started. It was also fun to watch the craziness of the sale and visit with customers. 

The house had an amazing 180 view of Portland and was up in the west hills.  They have lived in this house for 40 years.  Unfortunately, there wasn't exactly the kind of stuff I collect.  Alot of stuff, but just not what I look for.

I got a couple of things.

This old book-bag with vintage clothing labels.  I just thought it was a little groovy.

And from the depths of the garage this bookcase.

I know it is very shabby looking and you may have passed it by, but I think it will work in my studio. I think I will swap out the knobs tho.

I have been having issues lately with a pile that continues to grow from the side of my work table.  Every time I turn around it has crawled an extra couple of inches. See the yellow tub, wire baskets and suitcase? That pile continues to grow.

This is the new shelf in the studio.

I like the wall aspect at the back of the table.  It totally offers more storage plus extra room on the top for display.

And the extra bonus - as of now, two EMPTY BIG drawers. (altho give them a couple of days and they will be full!)

Now I am off to put on my pajamas...exhausted from my long day at the estate sale!

Call Me The Bee Whisperer

Today I was making my weekly trip to my favorite u-cut dahlia place.

The place that I got to is at a house and they have quite a few plants in a side garden that you can cut.  Good selection and a rainbow of colors.

The dahlias are a little side business for the residence.  They primarily keep bees and harvest the honey - they have an apiary (tons of bee hives) and they sell their honey at their home and local farmers markets.

SOOOOoooo, today while I am picking my dahlias the lady that lives in the house was chatting with me.  I am a regular customers so she knows that I LOVE dahlias. LOVE THEM.  She asked me if I was afraid of bees and I told her not really.  She then told me if I wanted to walk thru their big honey/hive/bee production area in the backyard there were a ton of dahlias growing back there and I could pick all I wanted for FREE.  Now keep in mind as I walk back there that there are thousands of bees buzzing around. THOUSANDS OF BEES!  Lots of hives and the air is thick with the little buzzing creatures. Bzzzzzz

Can you see all the bees on this cloth?

BUT I WAS ON A MISSION FOR FREE ALL YOU CAN CUT DAHLIAS.  Those bees did not scare me one bit!

Here are a few of the bees houses - there were at least a couple hundred of them spread thru the backyard.

So I calmly cut dahlias with all the bees buzzing away as I clipped.  As and ADDED BONUS (yes, it gets better) the woman had some old flower carriers that she had recently got from the estate of a friend who had passed away.  So not only did I get FREE dahlias, I got four FREE old handmade flower buckets.

I love these carriers. They still have the deceased woman's name on tape on them - Ruth Westerberg.  It only adds to their homemade charm.

Once I get home I have such an abundance of dahlias. I figure it calls for the grand-daddy punch bowl arrangement.

I have two punch bowls that I can choose from.  The one on the left is an estate sale find.  The other was a wedding gift to my in-laws years ago and was passed to me awhile ago.

I used a large loose ball of chicken wire to help secure the stems.

I am in dahlia heaven and am bee sting free.  I feel like I have walked with the bees and they are my friends....what a great day!

Take a Tour of My Favorite Reading Spot

Oregon has a reputation for rain.  Today it is raining after a 28 day dry spell.  I just got the book "The Girls From Ames" from the library, and it is time to curl up in my favorite chair with the raindrops pitter patting outside.

This is my favorite comfy corner in our house.  It is a tiny corner of the landing near our bedroom.  The yellow dresser holds our sheets.  The dresser was FREE.  It was outside in the parking lot at a gift store.  The leg was broken off and it was just natural wood.  It was laying on its side and looked sad.  I went inside the store to ask about it and they said I could have it.  It was in the back of my Subaru lickity split!  I had someone make a replacement leg and then painted it.  I used some old vintage wrapping paper and cut circles from it and decoupaged them on the wooden drawer pulls to make them fancier.

I posted about this chair a long time ago.  It came from an estate sale down the street.  I had the seat cushion redone and it is a very comfy spot. The birdcage behind the chair has no living bird, just my collection of bird things.

The wooden turquoise mirror was another FREE find that was curbside on an evening walk.  It was already the great turquoise color but when I sanded it down it was a awesome pink underneath.  I love the two colors together. I added the vintage flower wall pocket at the top.  It just seemed meant to go there. 

The top of the dresser holds my collection of old wooden german figures.

Hope you enjoyed this cozy corner tour - I'm going to go start my book and listen to the rain.

Sweet Pepper Flake Tin

Sometimes I wake up and I just feel the urge to make something.  I had that urge yesterday.  I wanted to make something different and have been inspired by the silly little figures I have seen made out of old doll heads/vintage tin cans/odds and ends. No glitter, no bling.

I have had this little vintage spice can in my studio forever.

Yesterday it moved off the shelf and became something.

All the bits and pieces to make this doll were hanging out in my studio. (her eyes are usually open, but I laid her down for the photo and she has those eyes that flip back to fall asleep)

She is usually awake...like this

Lots of bits and pieces went into making her... vintage cloth tape measure belt with cool old buckle, old wooden beads, tin child's spoons, Christmas candle clips for a tree, adding machine key, springs, dice, a couple of Christmas lights and a old doll head.  It was fun to try and come up with different things to add to this gal to make her come to life.

She now perches on the top of an old tin green dustpan I have hanging from the end of one of my cupboards. 

I think I'll call her Miss Pepper.

Rainbow Forest

I spent last night dyeing Christmas trees in preparation for the Christmas season.  I don't do your traditional colors, but a forest of orange, pinks, blues and corals.

 

Next step in the process is to embellish each one with vintage glass garland.

 

A fun Sunday project.

Estate Sale Friday

I was out the door by 7:20 this morning to hit a sign-up list for a sale that looked promising.  Was definitely not a bust, but only a few items made their way into my basket.

A tiny bit of vintage Christmas, three old cardboard ribbon spools, poker chips, plaid tin thermos container and a couple of old jewelry boxes.  Next week I will post about what I do with these jewelry boxes.  If you have read my blog for awhile you may have noticed I have picked up alot of these (when I find them in good condition).  I have a stash of about 20 in my studio.  My favorite find was a book of old gummed household labels (double click on photo to enlarge and see the great detail).

Great graphics on the labels.  Peas, Currants, Blackberry, Raspberry, Beans etc. all have a cute label. Mailing labels, blank labels - just a wide assortment.

And for those of you who have alot of Poison in  your house - a lifetime supply of labels!

Happy Friday and a happy weekend to all.

The Perfect Summer Table

I like to head into Macy's occasionally to check out their Martha Stewart stuff.  The other day they had 40% of their clearance section. I scored a Martha Stewart turquoise cake plate for $7.64 (regularly $19.00).  I also could not pass up these turquoise polka dot plates for $2.03 each. (regularly $17.00 each - not Martha tho).

Love the colors and they inspired this little table setting for dinner tonight in the backyard.

I used my collection of patterned flatware.

I made a quick trip to the U-cut dahlia field for my 25 cent per stem dahlias.

I used some floral vintage cloth napkins and some plain pink place mats.  There are quite a few patterns going on - floral, polka dot, stripes, checks - but they are all in the same colors so they work, plus the patterns aren't ultra-fussy.

I couldn't pass by the orange frosted cookies.  I love how they look on the turquoise cake plate.

Now I just need to go make a summer dinner...just as yummy as this table.

For those of you who have questions about where I got my flatware.I have collected it for a few years and stow it all away in a certain drawer.  I pick it up at Target, TJ Maxx etc. I usually find it during the summer months.  I just got some the other day on clearance at Pottery Barn.  I like the array of patterns,...I just try to stay within the same color groups so they work together.

p.s. Gail that left a comment about seeing me at Seaside - your email keeps bouncing back to me.  Drop me a another line so we can compare shopping notes!

Home Sweet Home

Home from a week at the Oregon coast and pleased as punch to have missed the 107 degree day this past week in Portland. (as well as a long stretch of 100's and 90's).  Junking wasn't great on the coast.  I did hit a couple of estate sales which made me realize how lucky I am to live where I do.

I got this retro pair of sunglasses - which my teen daughter promptly took. (double click on photo - they have a great square frame).  They were a nickle at the Elks lodge sale.  The turquoise chippy old metal trash can was $2.00 and is a cool squat shape.  I'll pop a plant in it.  I spent the evening hours crafting reflector flowers for the holiday season...that is my kind of floral bouqet!

Happy to be home.