Magpie Ethel

Ebay Good Fortune

I got lucky on Ebay recently with a little lot of pipe cleaner dolls. The seller had FOUND them in a box in his attic (love that fact) and had listed them on Ebay.

I got them yesterday and they are even more charming in person. These are the fellows.  I love the tiny celluloid (?) heads. The figures are only about 3 inches tall.

They have really cute details like the tiny, tiny flowers on the lapels and a little black button closure at the waist.

The boys came with some adorable girls.

They make quite a couple.Did you notice that each of the figures is carrying a small tube?  I noticed that in the Ebay listing pictures.  The seller did not mention anything about them, but I thought the tube may have some paper rolled up for a message. I was right.

Each of the dolls carries a small fortune in the tubes. I only looked at one since it is hard to put the fortune back in.

I think it was certainly good Ebay fortune with this purchase! (penny in background for size)

Good fortune indeed.

Estate Sale Friday/Saturday. My Favorite Finds Were Free.

Beautiful weekend here weather wise and nice to stand outside waiting for an estate sale to open under sunny skies.  I hit 4 sales this weekend...2 good, 2 duds.

One old plaid metal picnic basket and a BINGO box (with a wonderful enthusiastic boy as the graphic).

Three decks of playing cards.  One dog, one cowboy and one for the game of Rook.  Vintage thumb tacks and old candle holders for the Christmas tree.
I liked this deck of Rook cards as the box had cards with three different designs.  I thought they may be fun for some Halloween crafting.

A teeny bit of vintage Christmas including one of those old metal holiday tape dispensers..which I collect.

Some old faded crepe paper flowers.  They will join a few other flowers in my bedroom to make one BIG bouquet.

Birthday candle holders in a rainbow of colors, old clothespins and some old paper clocks.  The clocks will be perfect for some spun head gals at New Years.

An old blow up Halloween sword and trio of Halloween candles.

A tiny concrete fish and a dress up wig in original box.  The box will be fun to add to my Halloween decor.

In case you were wondering...the wig is for dressing up like a pirate.

My favorite finds of the day were free.  When I was shopping the estate sale I noticed they were using old boxes to corral items for sale.  I emptied a couple of the boxes being used and brought they up front with rest of my stuff. They threw in the boxes for free.

A vintage Halloween Butterfingers box and a old shoebox for a child. I will use the Butterfingers box at Halloween for display.

The shoebox will be for storage with a bonus of cute graphics.

Not a bad weekend in estate sale land and thank you again Debbie for the awesome number! 

Happy Day!

Collection Challenge #104 - Vintage Garden/Flower Items

Spring is here in full swing and it was almost 80 yesterday. Last week at the estate sale I got a box of vintage plant labels.

The box got to me thinking that I have a fun array of vintage garden/floral items that make up a fun collection.  Most of it is collected due to the graphic nature of the item or its quirkiness.

The Garden Club must have been a big manufacturer of various garden related items. Pole Pins in original packaging.

Garden Club company again.  Vintage crumple wire in original packaging.

This collection has to include an assortment of floral frogs. I like the variety on the left as they work well to hold a card or paper item for display.

This box was empty when I got it.  Love, love the graphics on it tho and would have loved to know EXACTLY what was in it once upon a time.

This handmade flower fund container was handmade.  It has a slot in the top to put coins in.

This note was tucked into the slot when I bought it. It reads, "Dad made this for Powell Valley Sunday school birthday offerings about 1925. They repainted and discarded it".  I am glad that it was saved and I found it.

I always pick up vintage flower catalogs when I find them. The illustrations and colors in the catalogs are amazing.  This one dates from 1961 and is from Jackson and Perkins.

It also contained a huge color insert in the catalog.  It is poster size and the colors are vibrant.

Even more awesome is the flip side of the poster.  Daffodils!

Another catalog dated 1958.

A bulb calendar.
 

From the LA Times Home Magazine, October 1958.

And last but not least a metal floral powder duster (for spraying insecticides).  I love the graphics on this and it may become a lamp base someday!

Fun stuff and how I love spring and summer and all the flowers that come with it!  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of ____." You never know what a new season will bring.

happy day!

Can I Make You Smile on Monday?

Nice swim cap huh?  A perfect addition to my collection!  This one is a vision of tulle like ruffles in a soft lavendar and white.

Renee from My Vintage Mending sent me a surprise package with goodies and the swim cap was included in it. She also included a note with this message about this wonderful swim cap.

"The swim cap belonged to an area socialite who's husband was a big whig in Washington.  Her home was a time piece of 50s house-wife perfection."

So happy to add this swim cap to my collection which now numbers ELEVEN.  I still have no beach house to dispaly the collection in...but still wishing.  Someday.

 

Mom Milestones

My kids are growing up and my nest will be empty next year.  I had a busy weekend with Kate having senior prom on Friday.

Hard to believe my little Kater-tot is 18 and will be heading off to college in the fall.

I spent Saturday with Ben at Oregon State University for Mom's Weekend. Ge is a sophomore there this year. (The lion statue is part one of his fraternity mascot and they get painted pink each Mom's day weekend.  This year the tuxedo was new)

Growing up. Spreading their wings.  Being a mom never ends.

Estate Sale Friday...Wishing For A Lower Number

I was number 18 to get in the door today.  They let SEVENTEEN people in so I had to wait a few minutes before I got in the door...having the door close before you get in is not a good feeling.  A woman got to the Christmas stuff before me, but I still got good stuff.

A deck of cards with ballerinas and another with a race horse.  A good sized bag of old pink ornaments (some are on picks, but the majority are not)

A set of tins with a great sailboat graphic.

A cluster of vintage mercury glass garland picks.

Two great old pots in a muted green and four of my mica birds that I love so much and collect.

An old yearbook from 1937.

I like to pick them up occasionally as you can't beat the rows and rows of smiling vintage black and white photos for crafting projects.

Busy weekend for me.  Kate's senior prom is tonight so we will be getting her all gussied up for the event.  Tomorrow is Mom's weekend at OSU, so will be driving down to spend the day with Ben.  Glad I could sneak a sale in this morning before my weekend got crazy.

Happy day!

 

IKEA Lust

I have been seeing this IKEA cart on a few blogs.  It is part of IKEA's spring line.  I love the color.  Luckily we have an IKEA here in Portland and I ran out there the other day. They had two in stock, so I grabbed one (it also comes in gray).

I put it together and decided it would work best in the studio for now.  I had no trouble filling it up and organizing it.  All my craft paint fit really well on the bottom shelf.
If you happen to venture out to an IKEA, they also have a Liberty of London look-a-like line right now.  Dish clothes, plates, napkins and glasses.  All kinds of fun springy stuff.

Glad I got that heads up in blogland about the cart...tis a happy day!

 

Collection Challenge #103 - Vintage Decals

I was looking over my list of challenges and decided Janis, who asked to see my collection of decals would get her request this week.

I love the vintage decals as the graphics and subject matter are so charming.  Most of them that I have were made by Meyercord.

Vintage fruits

This adorable bunny is oversize and is about 12 inches tall.

Simply charming. Bird decals.
Some funkier flowers.  The large flower is about 7 inches in diameter.  Groovy.
I really like the nursery rhyme themed decals.  They see to be one of the more popular themes for decals that I have run across.

I love the colors in these Oriental themed decals.

Really great details.

Mushrooms

Farm scenes.
Cute little animals.

This decal claims to glow in the dark. I think these unpackaged ones glow in the dark as well.

Morning glories and roses.

This envelope was marked as a free sample ..to acquaint you with Meyercord decals.  I would take one of those samples any day.

I also love that when people used some of the decals from a sheet they took the effort to save those that went unused...I am sure this is why I ended up with so many bunnies.

Ivy

If you were wondering I do put these decals to use sometimes. 

I have also found that when using these vintage decals, they often don't do well with age.  When you put them in the water bath that makes them slide off the paper backing, sometimes they begin to break apart. I sometimes spray a couple of coats of spray shellac over the decal and let it dry before applying.  Sometimes this will do the trick in keeping them intact when applying.

Fun decals and thanks for the challenge Janis.

If you have an idea for a future challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "show me your collection of ____."  Your idea will go on my list and it may just show up on my blog.

happy day!