Magpie Ethel

Road Trip Finds

Estate sales are nill today, so I am sharing road trip finds instead. I have shared a couple of finds and have a couple more finds that I will post about soon.  Here are some of the goodies that found their way into our truck.

Penny Pineapple. She is a chalkware advertising figure that dates from 1942. I don't know much about her. I do love her facial expression.

The reason she caught my eye is that I already had this little wooden plaque that mentioned her. "Penny Pineapple is very sweet. She lives in the sun and likes the heat."

She has a friend named Lee Lemon. I think there is more to this series, but I only have the two plaques and now my little chalkware figure.

I found some vintage Easter.  I think the plastic rabbits originally held a small shovel in their hands. I thought perhaps they could hold a small lollipop instead.  A metal easter basket and some pink plastic doilies round out this holiday.

An assortment of crafty stuff. Old striped pipe cleaners, cake decorations, old owls and a wooden box of cardboard numbers.

My spun head magnet was on target on this trip.

5 boxes of unused Dennison like seals. These are of the foiled variety.

I especially like the pink elephant in overalls and the good luck bird.

An assortment of vintage Christmas...reindeer, reflectors and glass garland.

 
Some old foil light covers and some great tiny bottle brush trees on toothpicks.

I love to find old Santa photos in the original cardboard sleeves.

Even if the child looks a little apprehensive.

A box of old cardboard house ornaments in original box. I paid $5 for the box of 5 houses. I later saw ONE of the same houses for sale for $15.

And last but not least, one of my favorite holiday finds.  An old Christmas card list metal box.  I have a collection of these and I had never seen this particular box.  If you ask nicely I may share this collection in a future collection challenge.

I was happy with what I found. I would have loved to have found more, but it was fun to poke around in unfamiliar shops.  I have a couple more stories and finds to a share...

Happy weekend and may your Halloween be spooktacular!

 

Road Trip Halloween Finds And A Trip To The Curious Sofa

When my mom and I were in Kansas City we took the opportunity to visit the Curious Sofa.  I have read Debbie's blog for ages and seen photo spreads in magazines featuring her house and her shop displays.  I was happy to hit her shop when it was in full Halloween mode.

This is what greeted me when I walked in the door.

I walked around the shop a couple of times just to take it all in...I would love to see it during the Christmas holiday.

I will be collecting gloves this year at estate sales to try my hand at this display.

Really a fun shop and amazing unusual displays.

With Halloween quickly approaching I figured I better show my road trip Halloween finds.

A wonderful Halloween paper hat.

I love the honeycomb detail.

An owl place card made out of bump chenille.

Vintage Halloween stickers.

My favorite Halloween find came from an auction that my mom and I hit (post coming on that).  I was the high bidder on this box of old crackers or "snapping mottoes" as the print on the box indicates.

The box is stamped with the date April 1930 and originally held four dozen crackers for different occasions. They are in somewhat rough shape but they are old!

I will display them with my the rest of my Halloween vintage party goodies.

We will be having a party this weekend to celebrate Kate's 17th birthday. We won't be actually using these vintage party goodies, but they be on display and add to the festive decor.

Love my orange and black Halloween!

 

 

Collection Challenge Addition - Road Trip Finds

I am still playing catch-up from my trip so instead of a new category for my collection challenge, I am going to share two new finds that will be added to previously shared collections.

First off, to be added to my drinking straw and swizzle stick collection.

This package of straws was picked up at an antique shop in Fairbury, Nebraska.

I had not seen this box before.  It was not marked when I picked it up so the shop owner had to call the person who had the booth that I found it in.  I held my breath as I waited for the price...

Three Dollars! It had to come home with me.  I liked the carnival man on the front of the box.

As my mom and I were driving into my neighborhood after ten days on the road there was a sign advertising an estate sale.  Of course we had to stop and I picked up this box of straws.

You just can't beat the graphics on these old boxes...these straws were ideal for the patient at home.

Second, my FAVORITE find on the trip will now be part of my pincushion collection.

It is a pincushion calendar of sorts.  I found it at an antique store in Kansas City. It is 12 inches tall and has the original pins and flags that came with it. I love the "Remember" flag at the top.

Basically you used different colored flags to mark different occasions.

Pink for Birthdays. Green for holidays.  Red for Dates.  Blue for everything else.


I had never seen anything like it before.

It is in pretty good shape. It has a couple of stained areas, but they don't detract from the charm.  Dated 1964 Vt.Toy Farm Inc.

Happy to have a couple of new finds for my collections!

Remember, if you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show my your collection of ____".  You never know what I can pull from my stash!

happy day!

 

Home Sweet Home

This little gal was one of my finds on my road trip. Her smiling face pretty much sums up the mood of my trip with my mom.

!0 days on the road. Flew into Kansas and then drove home with my mom junking as we went.  Hit a flea market and an awesome auction.  Good food as well.

Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and home to Oregon....a couple of the states I had never been to before.

Happy to be home and lots to share.  Isn't the little pigtail in the back adorable?

Happy Monday!

Halloween Fun #5

This is my last little snippet of Halloween fun while I am on my trip. If all goes according to plan I should be back tomorrow or the day after.  I dropped my camera while taking these photos and I think the focus is off a bit..dang! (but decided to go ahead with the post)

I have a collection of small holiday items that I display on a tiered shelf.

A coven of cute witches.

Old plastic Halloween containers all estate sale found. The two black items on the shelf are old candy filled witch heads (still full). 

Pumpkin men - vintage and reproduction.

A slighly blurry Halloween family!

Hopefully I will have a new non-Halloween post on my trip very soon!

Halloween Fun #4

I seem to be drawn to black cats for Halloween.  I like to have them all grouped together.

A fun little Halloween tree.

Halloween Fun #3

Sharing another snippet.I have alot of old paper items. I did not realize how many vintage candy boxes I had accumulated until I set them all up on the top of my china hutch.

Quite a few of them are made specifically for Halloween candy and have Halloween graphics on the box.

These two old paper cutouts are from a local meat market that closed some time ago. They live on top of hutch in my living room.

Vintage paper decorations are often really easy to store as they fold flat.  Here are some old paper honeycomb balls in my front window.

I added an old plastic pumpkin and some bump chenille flowers.

More Halloween fun!

 

 

Halloween Fun #2

Another snippet of Halloween.  My party cigar box.

I took a old metal cigar box and filled it with vintage party items for Halloween.  Old paper favor cups, masks and noise makers.

And of course a few fake mice are scampering about adding a spooky tone.

More spooky fun. 

Halloween Fun #1

A few snippets of my Halloween world while I am on vacation.

Remember the vintage typewriter I got a couple of weeks ago at an estate sale?

It is part of my coffee table display.


A couple of crows are perched on it.  I also filled a couple of old fish bowls with candy corn, candles and some rocks with Halloween messages.

A fresh bouquet of fall colored dahlias and there you have it.

Flying overhead are some vintage bats hanging from my chandelier as well as a reproduction Christopher Radko lantern.

Spooky stuff...

 

Pumpkin Man Makeover

Sometimes I find an item in the depths of an estate sale that begs me to take it home and make something special with it.

Mr. Head definitely needed a new look besides the plastic pick.

At first I thought he was a pumpkin.  After looking at him closer I think he is an apple. I loved his goofy expression and decided to go with my first impression and make him into a pumpkin Halloween man.

Vintage bump chenille and an old pick up stick container rounded out his makeover.

He seems to be singing a happy new tune!

He will find a happy family with the rest of my Halloween goodies..am sure you will see him again soon!