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Just a reminder that I have a ton of Easter that will be hopping over to Etsy on Monday night at 5 p.m. (pacific time).
Spun head bunnies and chicks.
plus a few other goodies....
Yesterday I hit one estate sale. It looked very promising in the paper and online and ALL the regular dealers and such were there. It was a very soggy morning as we all stood in line with our drippy umbrellas. Luckily I got in with the first wave of people (thanks Sue...you made my day).
This woman had saved everything and the house was packed!
One of my favorite finds were about 15 bags of unused party cups. They have super colors. Not totally digging on the Smokey the Bear embellishment (double click photo to enlarge Smokey), but he can easily be taken off.
Spun heads, vintage chicks, glass garland, old tins, foil candy containers and a couple of old fabric tape measures.
My best find was the shoe box marked "Ornaments for Wreaths".
It has a gazillion old pick style ornaments (in original tissue wrap)...a great chartreuse green, pink, pale lavender and turquoise. Wahoo!
This sale was so packed with goodies and full of shoppers that I knew I had missed stuff. I just KNEW IT. I had to go back on Saturday morning...so I did.
And this is what I found on my second trip.
An old box of chalk (for my collection), vintage Easter tin, child's phone, baby rattles and chew toys, more old molds and a yellow flowerpot.
The best find of my second trip where these Christmas stockings that were buried amongst a bunch of other stockings. I was GIDDY when I found the four of these stockings as I have a collection of them.
I also found a pair of wire ornament holders that slide over candle sticks. I think they are going to be spray painted and gussied up with some Magpie Ethel style.
Am so happy I returned this morning for a little more digging around at this sale.
I also left my umbrella at the sale yesterday. Today when I returned it was sitting on the front porch waiting for me! Good stuff and I didn't lose my umbrella after all!
I find alot of random things at estate sales and pick them up hoping to find a use for them one day. They end up in assorted cigar boxes marked for different occasions or holidays. I know that one day I will find a use for these oddball items.
The day has come for a few random treasures to be given new use. Voila....Easter Baskets made from found treasures.
These baskets have given life to the oddball, unusual and one of a kind. A little whimsical world created with things I have picked up over the years. The baskets are made from old metal molds with pipe cleaner handles. They are chock full of silly finds. I love how they turned out!
This one features a bunny floral pick.
I loved this little lamb when I bought him and finally found the perfect spot to showcase him.
I will be listing these one of a kind Easter baskets along with LOTS of other Easter goodies on Monday, March 1st at 5 p.m. (pacific time) on Etsy. Hop over and check it out!
Just a reminder that I will be listing St. Patrick's Day goodies tonight on Etsy at 6:30 p.m. (pacific time). The wave of green will be followed by Easter treats on Monday, March 1st. I do love my holidays!
I am not quite ready to put St. Patrick's day decorations out yet. I am enjoying the lull in holiday decorations (knowing Easter is going to hit my house in full force soon). I still like to have some quirky decorations out that make me happy.
How about a glass cloche filled with old thread spools in spring colors and a container of fresh daffodils?
Or a birdcage on my coffee table that houses a dog collection?
A happy mushroom growing from a potted plant.
A huge copper boiler full of handmade straw flowers (found at an estate sale, I didn't make them) that sits in my front window.
A couple of vintage vases that sit on my kitchen window sill. The teeny one is full of daphne from my yard and smells amazing.
A little display of old tiny chairs in a glass cloche. They are perched on a couple of rolls of old advertising stickers/twine to add a little interest.
Fun, unusual stuff that makes me happy...and nice to be able to display filler items between holidays!
I was busy this weekend in the studio dancing a little Irish Jig and coming up with a few gals to celebrate St. Patty's Day with. They will be on Etsy at 6:30 p.m. (pacific time) on Wed the 24th.
Bringing a little Irish green to your
Monday Morning.
Beautiful spring day here in Portland and still waiting for the estate sale season to hit. I did manage to go to two sales today...so got my Friday fix.
A bingo game, vintage Christmas, old tin shovel, a great green shoe rack and some old ribbon spools.
Christmas always makes me happy, especially if it is the smaller size ornaments.
I also came across of slew of old Christmas light boxes to add to my collection. Great, great graphics.
I always pick up the old ribbon spools if they have good graphics on the cardboard ends. I also like the ribbon that is printed with a greeting. Today I found some "Merry Christmas".
It joins the other ribbon in my collection - "To Mother", "Season's Greetings", "Happy Birthday" and "Merry Christmas" (today's find).
I also have a thing for patterns on ribbons.
I also found this tiny green vase today (about three inches tall). The tete-a-tete daffodil came from my yard...
Sometimes when I do my "Estate Sale Friday" post and show something unusual I have found, I KNOW some of you are shaking your heads and thinking I have gone off the vintage/estate sale deep end.
I know some of you were probably a bit skeptical when I came home with a pink sewer snake. A snake that was used to unclog the toilet. I was smitten with the PINK chippy metal base on it. I know there was alot of eye rolling with this find.
I have already put it to good use. I was visiting my friend Amy from Vintage Holiday and she had a great silver tinsel tree (new, the base needed a little TLC) that was headed to Goodwill. Instead of Goodwill, it headed home with me and has been given a whole new life.
My husband cut the neck off the snake and put the whole thing together. I painted the wooden base white (it was red). I think this will be a great display tree at my shows. The branches fold up for easy transportation.
I really like the pink, white and silver combo. An unusual thing to re-purpose...but I really think it turned out great...I think I'll be on the lookout for another snake!
You may recognize Crown and Crumpet from a article that was in Romantic Home magazine awhile ago. This tea/gift shop had been on my must see list for awhile and I was not disappointed. This place is over the top eye candy!
It is primarity a tea room, but there are little gifts and candies to purchase as well. We were allowed to look around and take photos...this shop is heaven!
The details and just quirkiness of this shop is amazing.
My only regret is that we didn't sit down and have a spot of tea....next time!
They had one wall where they had some great built in shallow cabinets. There was a wonderful collection of vintage spun head figures, wedding toppers, tins and just other whimscial finds. I have a wall in my house that is just begging to have this sort of cabinet built into it.
I won't be able to do a top and bottom cabinet, but I can do three lower ones. Look at all the goodies.
I love these old doll faces they had displayed.
Or how about this magical scene?
I could have wandered around and stared at all the goodies all day.
The seat covers are a rainbow of colors in orange, pink and turquoise.
If I had no husband or kids, I just might go over the top in a decorating scheme like this!
I did pick up a few trinkets...a little memento of a cute little shop.
I seem to be into mushrooms. This one is living in a plant in my living room...look at the detail on the underside.
This is definitely a city that I will be returning to soon..we still have a couple of shops that we didn't have the chance to see!
When I was in San Francisco we hit four stores in particular that really were one of a kind. The items I bought at these shops were totally whimsical and unpractical...certainly not a socks and underwear purchase. The things that made these shops so unique were the attention to detail, not just in what they sold and how they displayed and decorated, but even how they wrapped your purchases.
Let me show my quirky find...
Store number one: Bell'occhio.(no photos allowed inside) This shop has been featured in Martha before and other publications. It has been on my list of shops to visit for a long time. It has unusual items...take a look at what I bought. Everything was carefully wrapped with care.
I needed this hot pink flocked raspberry box. It is good sized and could hold a large grapefruit.
Bet you can't guess what is in the package?
Slowly, slowly unwrapping...such cute twine and even a little store sticker.
A pair of scissors that are divided (similar to shredding scissors). They are designed to make pom poms like the end of the package they were wrapped in. Totally cool!
I also got some braided chenille cord in pink and white that I love. This store will definitely be on my list to visit again.
Store number Two: Castle in the Air in Berkeley (blog).
This shop was on my "must see" list and a number of blog readers told me about it as well. Lots of miniatures and paper and just super unusual items.
I love the children silhouette cutout! Glittery stars, hot pink mushrooms in three sizes and some Valentine paper items.
I loved this pink foil cardboard trellis paper...can't wait to craft with it.
This paper pressed cardboard trellis and bird was one of my favorite purchases. I had never seen anything like it before. It is about 3 foot long and I am going to super high on a corner wall in my house.
Store Number Three: Tail of the Yak, also in Berkeley. There are some great photos of it on the blog Housemartin. Again, a super unusual store...whimsical and total eye candy.
I bought a number of paper garlands in a rainbow of colors. A silly metal clicking bird and some party poppers.
I fell in love with this hat. It reminded me of a jiffy pop popcorn bag. I am going to embellish it with a reflector flower and it will live on a hat stand in the studio. Or perhaps, if I am in the right mood, I may wear it one day!
Hope you enjoyed the show and tell. If you ever are in San Francisco, I would TOTALLY recommend hitting these shops. Each night when I fell asleep I would revisit each one and go thru their little magical worlds in my head. What fun!
One more shop to show...Crown and Crumpet coming next.
