Magpie Ethel

Estate Sale Saturday

Back from a blustery spring break at the Oregon coast.  We had record rainfall one day (1.9 inches in 24 hours) and a flooded main highway. It was the rainiest I had ever seen the coast. Ever.

I was ready to come home and hit some estate sales.

I was number 15 to get in the door as I had signed up the previous evening.  I hit three sales after this one but they were all duds.  Glad I hit this one first.

A celluloid doll with bunny ears perched on a can of Christmas tree preservative.  The can is still full and I thought would be fun for a Christmas display.


I really liked these tiny polka dot glasses.

Vintage mercury glass garland in unusual shapes and styles with that old heavy tinsel, a tiny red plastic Santa boot and a tin Bingo spinner.

Portland is called "The city of Roses".  I thought it fitting to find an unused pair of gardening gloves with a rose motif. They are resting on a red wooden silverware container. (I now have 13 wooden silverware containers)

An old angel decoration that needs a little Magpie Ethel magic. She has a great plastic head.

I also love the Merry Christmas message on her plastic skirt.

A old candy tin and a metal cup that holds a bunch of old thimbles.  Thimble flowers will be sprouting from my studio this spring.

Some great fabric.  I don't sew much, but am always digging thru a pile of old fabric.

Horses, elephants, monkeys and other cute little critters decorate this fabric.

I must have been in an animal mood today.  I think this panel will be headed to Etsy.

Not a bad day in estate sale land. 

Happy day.

 

 

I love Easter. Part Two.

More Easter fun.  Here is my mantle.

I love vintage Easter paper decorations and group them together.

The top of my china hutch houses old candy boxes and an assortment of Easter bunnies.

Stay tuned. Still more Easter fun to come.

I love Easter. Part One.

On spring break this week, but the Easter decorations are out.  I love to decorate for Easter as I really love the pastel colors and the welcome to spring.

I don't think I have ever passed by a vintage honeycomb egg.  The old plastic carts are estate sale found.

I tend to segregate my decorations.  Chicks and Ducks.


I have more chicks that live here.  I have no shortage of chicks.

Cluck, Quack and Chirp!  Happy Day!

Collection Challenge #98 - Vintage Ethel

Today is a quick post as we are headed out for a week at the beach for spring break with the kids.  Elizabeth from Life in Smirleyword asked me if I collected "Ethel" items.  I do even tho my name is not Ethel.  Ethel was my grandmother and hence the name Ethel for my blog.  Her photo is on my header on my blog on the left.  Here is a photo of she and my grandfather. I wish I had those glasses she is wearing.

None of the Ethel items I have are from my grandmother.  They are all estate sale found or gifts.

Vintage Ethel pin.

Sometimes I add the pin to a vintage corsage and wear it to my craft shows.

A vintage felt heart patch.

An old Ethel postcard that was a gift from a friend in blogland.

My hands-down favorite Ethel item is my vintage wood sign that Kim from Camp Whimsy found for me in an alley in the small town she lives in.

Ethel.  Not a name you hear much these days.  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "show me your collection of ____". 

Thanks for the suggestion Elizabeth.  If you have not visited Elizabeth's blog before, she is a crazy collector.  Her house is chock-full of really amazing vintage items.  Check out this post and make sure to look in the background at all she has displayed.

 

Estate Sale Saturday - Hee-Haw!

I hit one family run sale early this morning.  They opened early just as I arrived and there were not very many shoppers.  They advertised vintage holiday, but their definition of vintage and mine are evidently different. It was all too new for me. Luckily there were other goodies to be found.

A great old fan with a turquoise base and a green glass container with lid.

This little bowling trophy reads "We tried" on the plaque.  It looks as if the gal has dropped the ball on her foot.

A plastic cake plate made to look like colored press glass.  You may remember some others I have from this post.  A pair of chickens.  They will join a flock that I have.

Another vintage towel. I have a crazy attraction to towels with a goofy theme or design. This Keep America Clean towel also references LBJ's clean up program on the trash can.  Dates it to the 1960s?

Vintage craft supplies.

Hee-Haw, my favorite find of the day.  I was one of the first into the backyard and scored on some garden goodies.

This is a good sized donkey and cart.  The cart was full of soil and hens and chicks.  It was so heavy when it was full that I could not carry it...and I am strong.

He is adorable and I love the original orange paint on the cart.

I also got a deer and two fawn statues.

A wooden red wheelbarrow and a handmade donkey with cart.  He has a googley eye which I don't often see in garden decor. Some of these friends will be headed to the Plucky show.

I certainly had my morning workout hauling concrete.  Hee-Haw! It was a good day!

 

 

Estate Sale Friday...Begging

I hit one sale yesterday.  I found one old metal cup. That was it.

It had me begging for a better one today.

I hit a family run sale with no list.  A group of us waited about 30 minutes before the garage door opened. I did not go begging today (altho my cup did not runneth over either).

This cool old office chair will be headed towards the Plucky Maidens sale.  I will be a vendor there in April.  It has a great base and is adjustable.

A groovy recipe card box, an old apple jar (with a repaired lid), a pair of plastic pig banks and a basket of spring flowers.

The spring flower arrangement will be taken apart...I wanted these handmade straw daisies.

I really liked the pig banks.  I now have a total of three of this design and I am going to hunt down more.  They all represent a different company.  One of these is for Meier and Frank and the other for Portland Loan Company.

I got a stash of vintage Christmas. Some swinging Santas with cotton heads and some old sugar bells and glass garland picks.

An old jewelery box and some vintage pink angels about 6 inches tall.

The sugar bells, frosted leaves and garland picks all came from a scary arrangement in a wicker basket.  I pulled what I wanted out and I was going to toss what was left of the arrangement and then I realized everything was arranged in a old milk glass container.  A hidden bonus!

Not a bad day...I did not go begging again today.

Happy day!

 

March...Out Like a Lamb

I am sure you have heard the old saying about March.."In like a lion out like a lamb".  I always thought the lamb referred to mild and pleasant weather. Lambs frolicking in fresh fields of green with spring flowers sprouting here and there. So many of my blogland friends have had warm temperatures and wonderful spring weather. I have been a bit jealous. We have had rain and gray...lots of it.

Here in Portland, Oregon I now think the lamb reference means fluffy and white fleecy SNOW.

Yes, snow in March.  This is my house in the wee morning hours. We don't get much snow as we live on the valley floor with little elevation. This is crazy weather for us in March.

Bring on spring.  Enough of this lamb and the fluffy white stuff.

Brrrr....happy day!

Collection Challenge #97- Vintage Belt Buckles/Closures

Two weeks ago at an estate sale I got this darling belt buckle. It still was attached to the fabric belt, so I knew it was a buckle. 

I put the buckle with the rest of my stash.  I was amazed at how many I had collected and decided it was time to share.  All of these buckles were estate sale found.  A good chunk of them came from one sale where the woman was a crafter.  I don't know much about them, so if any readers have input, please leave me a comment.  I just like the colors, shapes and variety.  Someday I may put them to use in a project.

I have grouped them by color.  Here we have the reds.  Look at the variety of shapes.

Greens and blues.

If you take a close look at some of the buckles, they have great details.

Grays and blacks.

Whites and ivories.

I am thinking these may be mother of pearl.

Two random colors that are loners. The top buckle I believe is glass and is marked Czechoslovakia on the back.

Jewels for the buckle bling.

Made from wood.

Silvers

These are all rather ornate.

Such details.  Look at this one with a bird.

Some of these have that art deco look. I think a few of them are bakelite.


Quite an assortment that I have stashed away.  97 collection challenge posts...getting close to 100! If you have an idea for a future post, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "show me your collection of ____." 

happy day.

 

Estate Sale Saturday - A Wee Bit of Holiday Luck

I ran out on Saturday a.m. to one sale. No list, just a line.  I was about ten people back, but was first to hit the room with the holiday stuff.

An empty stationary box for my collection. I also got two old foil candle holders.

A pair of pressed cardboard snowman.  In front of the snowman is an old netting hat with great velvet leaves for crafting.

A super crazy flocked PINK bottle brush tree about two feet tall.

A pair of dingle bells.  I have a large stash of these.  The bells are made of pressed cardboard and foil and they  are attached with mercury glass garland.

A quick in and out at the sale wearing my Irish green for luck....and that green worked like a charm. Always happy to find vintage Christmas!

A Magic Needle

One of my blogland friends Renee from A Vintage Mending gifted me with one of her amazing handmade aprons awhile ago.  You can read about it here.

She has the gift with a needle and also with putting together fabric patterns.  I love her mix of modern and vintage fabrics. I also love how she updates older designs. Here is the darling apron that she sent me for my birthday.

On her blog Renee shares her projects.  She is always sewing something.  My favorite project she has shared was a chair that she recovered in vintage fabrics. She rocked this chair.

I often leave comments on her blog and many times have mentioned that I think she has a magic needle.

Now she has one. I took the smallest spun head I could find and made a magic needle for her.  She can't use this one of course, but hopefully it will make her smile. Just like her blog makes me smile.

Thank you again Renee, am so glad that I have gotten to know you through your blog.  Keep up that magic with that needle of yours!