Magpie Ethel

Chomping at The Holiday Bit

Santas are more than ready to spread some holiday cheer at my house.

I am chomping at the bit to get my house decorated for the holidays. The lack of the week between Thanksgiving and December this year has really put the pressure on.  I still have two more shows and holiday parties scheduled here. I also have one more round of holiday Etsy to go.

I need to deal with this pile of inventory in the living room first.

 

 

Musical piles here. Inventory was in Ben and Kate's room prior to Thanksgiving.  Inventory moved to living room so they could have their rooms back for their visit.  Kids back to college on Sunday and inventory back to their rooms. THEN the decorating can begin!

Tis almost the season!

Collection Challenge #182 - Vintage Bow Ties

Melissa from Andromeda Vintage challenged me to show my collection of bow ties. I have a stash of them in my studio that have been collected primarily for crafting. I let some of my fancier ones go this year in a craft project, but still have some fun ones left.

Interesting the variety of shapes with a simple bow tie.

The classic black.

I think this bow tie is wisely named...the Butterfly Bow.

Here is my favorite holiday bow tie. If I was a fellow, I would be sporting this all during December.

The crafting project that I used these bow ties for most recently?  The little stands I made with old collars and vintage bow ties.
Thanks for the challenge Melissa.  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of ____."  

P.S. The newspaper ads in the background are all from my stash of vintage newspaper from Lawrence, Kansas dated 1936.  I bought a library archive of newspaper when in Kansas a few years ago. A great resource for old advertising and such.

 

 

One Lone Thanksgiving Bin

I got out my one bin of Thanksgiving decoration and decorated for the holiday. My house is a chaotic mess right now with inventory for my shows everywhere, but I have one little spot of Thanksgiving.

One spot CRAMMED full of turkeys.

I seem to find a few turkey candles to add to my stash each year in estate sale land. The other day I picked up a random grab bag at Goodwill of Christmas and there was a lone turkey candle in with all the holiday.

Turkeys are mostly ceramic or candles. Current candle count is 17.

Looking forward to the holiday. Both of my kids will be home from college and have not seen them in two months. I sure miss them. They will only be home for a few days, but looking forward to some family time.

Gobble, gobble..happy Turkey week.

Estate Sale Friday..So Happy To Do a Post With That Title!

Almost a full month has passed since my last estate sale. I hate this time of year when the slow down.  Today turned into a banner day though, with the holiday show at Monticello this morning, an estate sale at noon and then Plucky Maidens tonight.  It was a good day for vintage and to see friends.

I was soooooo thrilled to hit a decent estate sale.

Loving the giant Santa head.

I  did well in the Christmas department.  Not over the top great, but a good holiday fix.  Two strands of mercury glass garland, a Rudolph book, an assortment of smaller ornaments and a NOEL candle holder. I love this ice bucker with the red design. You can also see the pink garland in the background that I found.

A floral tin, a paint box for my collection, a couple of metal cups and a box of pin curl clips.  A vintage glass refrigerator dish and a cute little ceramic fish. My favorite find was this roll of stickers from Erv's Market and Delicatessen.  I love these old advertising items and did a challenge on them here.  I rarely find an item like this so was super happy. The vintage Easter is pretty great too.


The estate sale had tons and tons of clock parts and clocks.  The man must have repaired clocks at one point and it was fun to dig through his stash of them. 

This clock with the curtains molded on either side of the face is awesome.  Note the little star tieback.

The clock faces will be perfect for re purposing for New Years.  The tin red and cream clock frame is another favorite.

Another great find was this big mirror. I liked the shape.  You can tell by the reflection that we had a beautiful day here today! A good day full of vintage fun and blue skies.  Hallelujah!

 

 

A HOPPY Break

Yesterday I took a day off.  I went out to hit some antique stores with my Mom. We drove south, hit some shops and had lunch.  We drove scenic back-roads and chatted.  It was a nice break from holiday crafting (I actually still worked an hour in a half in the evening).

I was hoping some of the antique stores would have some crazy Christmas out.  That wasn't the case, but I did get a few small things.  My HEAD OVER HEALS purchase of the day made my quite HOPPY! HAPPY!

An adorable wood cutout bunny.

He is the end of this CRIB!  They were selling the footboard and the headboard separately and I thought this would make a great Easter decoration in my front window.  Since it is the end of a crib it is about chest high on me. I knew I would never find another..it is awesome!

A nice break with my Mom and a awesome vintage find. Back out to the studio this afternoon.

P.S. If you are local, Monticello Antiques has their big holiday show starting tomorrow. Amy and I fluffed our booth this a.m. and it is busting with Christmas. (yes, I forgot my camera)

Collection Challenge #181 - Vintage Thanksgiving Paper Items

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I pulled out my ONE bin of Thanksgiving decorations.  Thanksgiving is hard to find.  I have posted a couple of challenges in the past on turkeys and Thanksgiving.  This post I thought I would share my paper items that I decorate with for the holiday.

Large cardboard turkey.

A parade of smaller cardboard turkeys.

Some vintage bridge tally cards . For those that played bridge as part of their Thanksgiving holiday celebration.  Note the cute little puppy on the left playing with his turkey friend.

A pair of the cutest little cardboard pilgrims. Complete with rosy cheeks and a bird perched on that musket. Paper turkey coasters.

A lone cardboard cornucopia.

An assortment of vintage Thanksgiving paper plates. The pack on the top is unopened.
A portion of a paper turkey tablecloth. It has been cut apart, but someday I will use the turkey graphic for a project.

Last but not least three honeycomb turkeys in a variety of styles.

If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of ___". 

Gobble, Gobble = Happy Day in turkey talk!

 

The Forest

I live in Oregon which is known for the vast forests and many trees.  I think this lead to a bit of inspiration to craft some forests of my own...Magpie Ethel style.

A forest of sequin trees all shiny and colorful.

A forest of skinny chenille yarn trees.
A forest of gangly bump chenille trees inspired by one found at an estate sale.

A forest of colorful bottle brush trees. I dye all the trees and you can certainly tell that I like them non-traditional.

A forest of Styrofoam trees.  I like how you can stack the rings straight and serious or a bit wonky.

These trees store super easy. The rings stack inside one another and don't take up a bunch of storage space.
A forest of ornament trees. These come apart for easy storage too. All the ornaments hook to a center pole.

Quite the variety of trees in my Magpie Ethel world.

Always enjoy crafting up some new forest. Happy Day!

Holiday Etsy

Santa is taking a break from his list making to remind you that all my holiday items will be headed to Etsy tonight at 5:30 p.m. (pacific time) A little of this and a little of that.

Holiday bling and fun.  Plenty of Christmas sparkle and whimsy..come check it out.

Collection Challenge #180 - Vintage Dice

I recently found a new home for my collection of dice. Previously they lived in a jar in my studio in a cabinet. I never paid much attention to them beyond tossing some new ones in the jar when I found them.  They now live in an old bubble gum machine in my house.

Once I transferred them from the jar to this bubble gum machine I realized how many I had and the variety.  It was a good collection to share.

I have not tested any of these to see if they are bakelite or lucite. I am sure blogland will have some comments to inform me about some of these dice.

An assortment of white dice. All of these have been found at estate sales. I don't take them out of games, but usually find a bag or a few of them here or there.

White dice

Plus teeny tiny ones

Green dice in a variety of materials.

Red

Wooden red

Larger red

These are all wooden dice. Note the dice on the left that is handmade.
Some great orange dice. I like how the dots are a little more stylized.

A pair of oddball dice.  One blue.  The other is actually an eraser.

Mixed in with the regular dice are some letter dice.

They come from letter dice games like this.

I have never played these games, but I like how the directions for the games are printed on the inside of the paper labels.

A variation of the letter game with a bowling twist thrown in. Note the dice with the bowling pins.

I am glad I swapped out the place to display my dice collection. They are much more interesting and quirky in the bubble gum machine. 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, you may be LUCKY and I will answer your challenge next week!

Holiday Etsy

This Thursday my holiday creations will be headed to Etsy.

I tried to pull an assortment of what I would have at my normal sales and offer them on Etsy.

There will be a little of this..

and a little of that.

Fun, vintage holiday creations.

Coming to Etsy Thursday, Nov. 14th at 5:30 p.m.(pacific time)

I have also been listing vintage holiday items in my other shop E is for Ethel. I am happy to reimburse postage if you purchase from multiple shops and I can combine the orders for shipping.