Magpie Ethel

Estate Sale...The Grass is Always Greener

Yesterday was a dismal sale where I left empty handed even though I got in the door quickly.  Today I hit one and was happy to score some Christmas.

A lonely bottle-brush tree, tiny flowers and some old ribbon spools.

And a purchase that made my heart happy. In MY WORLD vintage Easter grass is always much greener than the modern stuff...I hunt it down, but I don't find it often. My stash was getting smaller and smaller...

Today I found a big bag of it to use for crafting!  The little Easter chicks I have been busy making in the studio will be able to run through little fields of it on their poker chip bases.

The grass really is greener if it is vintage Easter grass! 

Happy Day!

 

p.s. Easter will be arriving on Etsy soon. I will give a heads up on my blog as usual.

Spring....Not So Fast.

A lot of the country has had some nasty weather this winter. Here in Portland, Oregon we FINALLY got a taste of snow last night. Of course spring was on its way and my daffodils and camellia are quivering in the dusting of snow.

My morning walk with my neighbor through our white neighborhood was so peaceful ...snowflakes fell as we walked.  I know this does not compare to what many of my blog-land friends have had, but was a fun change of weather for us.

Also they cancelled school for my daughter so she is thrilled.

Green Reminder

Just a quick reminder that these fellows along with some other St. Patty's day fun will be listed tonight on Etsy. February 23rd, 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.

Hope to see you there. 

Collection Challenge #41 - Vintage Coloring Books

Janet recently asked to see my collection of vintage coloring books.  I am one of those people who loves to color. When my kids were little and we would go out to eat I was always happy when they seated us with a coloring page and crayons.  My kids got used to sharing part of the page with me.

I don't color in my vintage coloring books, nor do I know how I acquired so many. I do have some great ones tho.

The illustrations just tug at my heart and my box of crayons!

This coloring book came with directions.

No creativity on colors here..follow the directions please!

A couple of holiday coloring books.

These are all dated a little later, mostly from the 1960s an on.

 

I am amazed that out of all these coloring books, only two have been colored in. The rest are pristine and just begging for some coloring to be done. I find it hard to resist.

If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "show me your collection of ___". I will see what I can do.

Off to finish coloring my picture...

















 

 

Dancing A Jig on Etsy

There is still a wee bit of time before St. Patrick's Day, but these friends are ready to leave the studio and head off to Etsy. They will be listed on Wednesday, Februrary 23rd at 5:30 p.m. (pacific time).

Nothing like a little Irish fun in the studio.

 

2 Days In A Row...Estate Sale Happiness

I headed out this morning to go hit a promising estate sale. I was #8 to get in.  Like yesterday, was not a bad sale and have been smiling for a second day in a row!

A great old pink Easter bunny with topsy turvy whiskers and a vintage jewelery box.
A cute little old Easter chick.

A bunch of paper honeycomb eggs,  vintage Christmas ornaments, two small bouquets of flowers for crafting and some tiny plastic whistles.

Vintage rattle shaped pink and cream ornaments that remind me of Valentines day and some hot pink foil reflectors that I use for crafts (and have not seen this color before).

Some vintage dance cards from the 1930's that have awesome tiny pencils attached to them.

And finally, this poor little spun head bunny. Buried in the depths of some mediocre modern Easter decorations...he will spend a bit of time in my studio and be blessed with a whole new look...this is one lucky bunny.

He will be grinning along with me soon!  Hope your weekend brought you something to smile about...

Finally An Estate Sale Friday Post

I am thrilled to finally hit a decent sale and find something to post about. Hallelujah!

This was a family run sale and they opened the garage a bit early. I grabbed this old sand pail off the bat (missing handle).

The image is embossed and the graphics are darling. The pail was full of nails. The man running the sale at first told me that I would have to buy all the nails (for $10)...and this bucket went with rest of the lot.  I asked if I could dump the nails and just buy this pail. He let me do that and I got it for $1.

This is what else I got.

An old felt Christmas stocking, a paper mache glittery bird (I think I have about 30 of them now), and a box of paper poker chips for crafting.

Am giddy over this old cardboard chick. It has a little cardboard basket in the back to tuck goodies in and stands on its own.

A galvanized watering can, an old Christmas book,a tiny school bell and an old enamel container with lid (on bottom of the pile).

I got a bag of old holiday cardboard decorations,

Love this big Santa.

A child's ironing board (now I have 5...I use them for display at my shows) and an old enamel bucket.

A old child's card table and a vintage globe with a nice metal base.

Last but not least, an adorable little toy baby buggy. Not sure what i will do with it, but I liked the color and size.

Am wearing a good estate sale smile today and happy to find enough goodies to do a decent post!  Happy Day!

Collection Challenge Housekeeping Addendum #2

For those of us that collect, a collection is really never truthfully "finished"...one is always finding an item to add.

Case in point. Collection Challenge #17 Straws and Swizzle Sticks.

This was my most recent estate sale find to add to my straw collection.

The "Free Bubble Gum Straws" that were included in the box are still in my recent find (wrapped in the paper). They are as hard as rock...ready to break a tooth.

To add to Collection #22 Paint Boxes and Books. A unused paint tin.

To add to Collection #15 Birthday Candles/Holders. For my birthday, Barbara from Oodles and Oodles sent me a fitting birthday gift of bird candle holders (I had not ever seen these before).

Dang cute!

And last but not least, to add to my bird collection (not a featured collection challenge, but still posted about).  This birthday gift from Pam at One Gal's Trash.

Love, love adding to my collections! I have a few more future challenges ready to go, but if you have a challenge for me, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show my your collection of  ____". I am always up for a to do some digging in my stash.

 

 

Pink and Red Wishes

I hope it is a happy one. XO.

Honeycomb Topiary

A few years ago I got a couple of plain white styrofoam urns from an estate sale.  They had never been used and were from a shop that the woman had owned.  I liked that there was a pair and glittered them up to use. I used vintage glitter and it has started to tarnish already.

I have decorated with them in the past with floral picks and such.  I have never really loved what they looked like.  This year I decided to try and use honeycomb balls to do the topiary look.

I inserted a metal rod into the styrofoam filler in the urn (a wooden dowel would have worked as well).  I also added some silver garland to dress up the top of the urn.

I LOVE honeycomb balls and use them quite a bit.  When you open them they naturally have a tunnel where the cardboard comes together.  I inserted the rod through this area (where the string is located).

The tip of the rod was still showing so I added a second smaller striped honeycomb ball.

Voila...the pair in my front window.

I like the way they say "Happy Valentine's Day" to my neighbors as they walk by.

This was a super easy project that you could do with any taller urn/vase shape with a styrofoam support in the center. Love these topiaries!