Magpie Ethel

My Vintage Radar was Strong Today

I must have my spun head radar on at all times.  Today I was running errands and when I got out of my car at the local paper store, I noticed that the car next to mine had a bag of vintage goodies on their back seat.  Everything was priced and bagged and ready to head to a booth at the local antique mall. I waited for the car owner to return and ended up buying stuff from the trunk of her car.  My radar is STRONG when it comes to vintage treasures...I can just sense it nearby!

 

I have never seen heads like this.  They are a some sort of composition - but they are cute.

A teeny tiny angel in flight.

Also a thank you to Sadie Lou Who for including me in her Etsy treasury called the Funky Mantle!

And last but not least, if you live in the Portland area and want to hit the grand daddy of all craft shows it is this weekend!  Come shop at Crafty Wonderland on Sunday, December 13th from 11-7 at the Convention Center...I'll be a vendor at this event and it is a great, huge show!

Have a great night.

The Holiday Rainbow

I have drifted away from the traditional green and red in my holiday decorating.I think I decorate in a holiday rainbow theme.

This banister boasts my vintage foil candy container collection.  They are made of foil and come in an assortment of sizes and patterns.  In the past I have used fake green garland, but this year decided to use this tinsely white instead and the color just POPS!

Between my dining and living room I hang some garland and a rainbow of vintage ornaments.  I especially love the extra large ones.

I love paper whites (and trader joes has potted ones for $2.99). I decided to do some fun arrangements after seeing some rather untraditional ones last week in Seattle. I had some snowball style picks and used some vintage ornanent clusters to gussy them up.

My tiny vintage tree collection lives on my living room table.  Simple and colorful.

And of course a colorful vintage ball wreath and my cardboard Santa collection.  The silver urn is jammed full of old mercury glass picks.

With my tree toppers I just pop them into my collection of cream colored pottery in my cabinet.

A rainbow of Christmas color...wonder where that pot of vintage gold is?

 

Estate Sale Saturday...Crafters Heaven

I just can't seem to keep up with life at this point in the holiday season.  Too many things on my plate, but did hit a couple of estate sales yesterday.
The sign up list went up on Friday for one sale that advertised crafts and sounded really promising.  I had a commitment when the sign up list went out so I called my friend Paula and BEGGED her to sign me up.  She did and I was one of the first 15 in the door. (Paula, I owe you!)
I ran to the basement right off the bat and was rewarded with a vintage craft heaven.

Ribbon spools, spun heads, bump chenille, garland, glitter, tiny old Christmas ornaments, birds, sequins and beads...the loot in my basket grew with each step.

This is not ordinary garland.  As the box explains it is made by the dwarfs of the black forest.

 
Vintage holiday stickers.

Bump chenille and some kind of gimp like twine in yummy pastel colors. 
Handmade flowers, plus the loom to make more and an instruction booklet (I have a good quantity of the straw in my studio)

I won't be drinking of out these old Dixie cups, but I couldn't pass by the graphics and the fun colors.

I love these vintage bells (lower left corner) - an old fashioned craft project.

This one will join my collection in the studio.

 
It was one of those estate sales that put me in a very good mood all day. 

I have one more sale to go (Sunday at Crafty Wonderland) and am hosting a cookie exchange on Tuesday at my house.  I am finally catching up a bit and will be getting some holiday photos of my house posted...stay tuned!

Just Look For A Couple of Santas

If you were to come visit me at my house during the holiday season and you had never been to my house before, I would just tell you to look for the house with the Santa collection on the front porch.

 
I used to plug all the Santa's in, but we often blew a fuse.  Now I just use a couple of spotlights.  Below is a new Santa that I got this year and he lives above my living room window.

Ho, ho, ho....you can't help but smile when you come up to my front door.

I have a couple of wooden cutout Santas.  One lives outside and the other one on the right peeks out from my living room window.

I even found a new Santa at an estate sale today to add to my collection.

He is happy to become part of the family.

Ho, ho, ho and happy weekend!

Bells and Snowmen

I am slowly making my way thru my holiday decorations.  After about 12 hours I have finished the main floor.  I have a sale tomorrow, so I need to get ready for that.  I did get my snowman and bell collection out - it is one of my favorites.

I absolutely love this tree.  I got it last year and it displays all those little tiny vintage bells - there are over 80 that I hung this year.

Tiny bells and bigger bells in a rainbow of colors.

And how can you not love a snowman collection...

 

I can't take a decent indoor photo - but this is where the snowman live...on top of my china hutch that houses my santa mug collection.


I promise to get more holiday photos out soon.  If you live in the Portland area I will be at the Duniway Boutique from 10-9 tomorrow.  (additional info on my sidebar).  Tis the season....

Mental Vacation

Last week was crazy.  I made 72 party birds, 29 reindeer and finished 14 of 17 glittered houses...Etsy and two upcoming shows are keeping me busy.  Thanksgiving festivities.  Took my daughter to two lacrosse events. Chopped down a Christmas tree and it stands undecorated in the living room.  I decided I need a little vacation so my mom and I did a quick road trip to Seattle.

We hit antique stores in Centralia, Washington as well as my favorite store Maxine's in Seattle.

I have new Christmas fun to inspire me. Great pink garland and a mother-load of reflectors (Centralia).

The winking snowman from Maxine's totally won me over.  The bottlebrush trees just made me shriek with delight with those crazy fun colored stripes.  I am ready to tackle the holiday decorations!

No trip to Seattle is complete without a trip to Daiso, the Japanese Dollar Store.  This is a store chockful of colorful, happy things.  I can always find goodies there.

How could I not pick up glass jars with pink polka dot lids?  Dish washing sponges with smiley faces, patterned packing tape...I had one happy basket of goodies.

I returned home ready to tackle the Christmas decorations. The trip did me good. Today is the day that Christmas struck my house...off I go to bring out the bins....