Magpie Ethel

Thimble Size Find

I occasionally buy stuff on Ebay and Etsy.  Earlier this week I received two crepe paper figures that I had purchased from Ebay.  I was pleasantly surprised to find them even cuter when they arrived.  So dang tiny too.

Introducing Mr. Sailor Fellow and Patriotic Gal. They will be part of my holiday 4th of July display.

I knew they were tiny when I bought them and remember glancing at my ruler when I was reading the description online.  I was really struck with the tiny details and charm once they arrived.

Love the tiny stars and tarnished glitter on her dress.  They tiny sailor hat and detail on the sailor shirt is awesome. 

Treasures. Smitten with this thimble size couple.  They came to live at the right house.

Happy day.

Collection Challenge #193 - Vintage Valentine's Day Seals/Stickers

With Valentine's day quickly approaching it seemed fitting to throw a Valentine collection in for the week.  I have done a couple of posts on this collection before with challenge #10, and challenge #84.  Today is all about Valentine's day seals.

These darling little sticker/seals were meant for crafting or to decorate a Valentine envelope. Most of my collection dates from the 1950s and 60s.

Lots of hearts, of course. Some in the original envelopes or boxes.

I found a big stash of tiny red and silver hearts in the original cellophane envelopes. A great Valentine score for crafting.

Teeny tiny hearts.

The graphics on some of the seals are just darling.

Sometimes the stickers come in sheets.

These two designs are some of my favorites. The little illustrations of the girls and boys are adorable.

More hearts in yet more sizes and different packaging. I wish I could still buy them for a dime!

Cupids.

Cupid's arrows in gold and red. So many designs.

Sometimes the seals have been used, but I don't care.

I think these seals date a bit earlier to the 1940s.


An assortment of hearts with various sentiments.

If you have an idea for a collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of ____."  I enjoyed sorting through these darling seals for this challenge.

Happy day and hope your Valentine day is special!

 

 

Snow and Swans

Man, oh man the weather we are having!  I know this does not compare to what the rest of the country has been through, but in Portland, Oregon this is a big event for us.  We have about 11 inches of snow and more coming down as I type.  Predicted to end tomorrow evening with freezing rain as the grand finale.

It is pretty though and fun to play in.  I like the pop of color with my Valentine heart in the front window!

Being snowed in I am futzing around the house and studio doing projects.  For awhile we have had an assortment of cords tucked under a chair at the top of the stairs. I charge my iPad with one of those cords and pop in on the chair while charging.  Sometimes I do the same with my phone in this spot.  It is probably not the safest since we often sit in the chair too.  The cords drive me batty and I would rather have them tucked away. It just looks sloppy.

Enter the swan.

I got the swan last fall and he has been sitting at the top of my stairs near the chair.  He is handmade and an old rocker for a child.  He makes me smile each time I climb the stairs..silly, but I like him.

I got rid of the cords under the chair and decided I would put the swan to use as my modern day docking spot. I didn't drill holes or anything, but redirected and hid some cords. I now use him as a perch for my electronics that are charging.

I think the swan is quite pleased with his new use. 

Off to play in the snow...happy day!

Cold Outside, But Valentine Cozy Inside.

Cold here, but not compared to rest of the country.  A biting cold wind and snowing. Predicting 3-5 inches today! (We rarely get snow) The cold outside makes me enjoy the cozy red and pink holiday decorations inside even more.

A peek at the front window.  A giant pink Styrofoam heart hangs beside my collection of heart shaped baking tins. (hard to get a decent photo with the glare)

Here is the rack of heart shaped tins from inside.

On the front porch a galvanized basket of primroses and a galvanized heart. (The primroses don't look as perky today with the cold so I brought them inside)

Candy boxes and giant red cardboard hearts. I scored on the hearts last year after Valentine's day. I asked our local Fred Meyers if I could have a couple of their display hearts and they gave them to me. I noticed they have more this year, so may ask for a couple more after the holiday.

Valentine Tree.Coffee table with tons of vintage Valentines. I always have treats out for each holiday and with the kids away at college, I am the one that keeps eating the sour gummy hearts!

Love my collection of Valentine card boxes.

Valentine goodies everywhere. Lots of littles, that get grouped together.

I picked up the Valentine vase a couple of weeks ago at an estate sale. I now have two..and searching for more.

A favorite spun head girl.

This Valentine pig bank is one of my latest purchases. It lights up as well as tipping its hat when you put money in.

A little bit of spring on the dining room table while the snow comes down outside. The scent of hyacinths is wonderful.
Cozy and warm...on a blustery day.

Collection Challenge #192 - Vintage Pipe Cleaners (White)

I was organizing my studio last week and in the midst of it realized how many different pipe cleaners I have.  I did a challenge on them here with challenge #58, but focused on those of the colored variety meant for crafts.  I have a cool collection of the traditional white/cream colored ones that were traditionally used for cleaning out pipes.

I always grab the pipe cleaners when I find them at estate sales as I like them for crafting.  You can still buy them today, but I prefer to buy mine at estate sales. I like the assortment of graphics on the packages.

Polka dots. These will provide you with more pipe pleasure and were available at our local Fred Meyer store.

A Clean Pipe is a Sweet Smoke.  By Mastercraft, 50 pipe cleaners for a quarter. Dills brand. 24 pipe cleaners here for a nickle! I like that the pipe cleaners are "evenly wound" and "full bodied"...no skimping on pipe cleaner production here!
Dill's is the brand that I still see on the store shelves the most. I like the old style graphics better than the modern ones.
Rum and Maple Tobacco Corp. 36 for a dime.
From The House Off Edgeworth. 30 for a dime.
Love the little chimney sweep fellow hard a work cleaing this pipe. Barling brand.
Nu-Brush brand. Great helpful hint on the packaging about leaving the pipe cleaner in the pipe overnight for a really dry sweet smoke.

Cardinal brand.  40 pipe cleaners fro 39 cents. These are fun since they are flecked with red.

BJ Long brand. Again flecked with red.
Keep your PIPE sweet and clean. Yorkshire Ream-N-Klean. It was carried by Sears.
The flip side of the packaging provided lots of other hints beyond pipe cleaning...cleaning typewriter keys, hearing aids and burners in gas stoves. Funny, I dont' see a mention of using them for legs and arms for spun head figures!

So many manufacturers for such a simple item!  Are you wondering if I have a hidden pipe smoking habit with all the pipes in this post? Nope. All the pipes were my grandfather's and I inherited them when he passed away. They sit in his old pipe cabinet.  Pipe smoke always reminds me of my grandfather whenever I smell it.

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

Crepe Paper Project

I got a big ornate plastic frame the other day at an estate sale. I always grab them when I see them (if the price is right) as they are good for my crepe paper projects. That is the frame on the right with rest of my estate sale finds from a couple of weeks ago. Usually when I find the frames they are gold.

They spray paint well and I like how much crazy ornate detail they have.

In my Valentine stash I had part of an old crepe paper table cloth that someone had saved.  It was time to put the tablecloth to use.

I saved the cardboard backing to use as a template to make a new one.  This one was creased and it wouldn't work for my project. 

I picked up a can of spray paint at Lowes.  I was really surprised how many colors they carried of this brand! There must have been 50 different colors. The frame took two coats of paint. 

I spray mounted the crepe paper to the new cardboard backing and then popped it into the freshly painted frame.

I like how large the frame is and how the crepe paper adds a huge pop of Valentine color to this display.

A good afternoon project. It was also nice to actually put that scrap of crepe paper tablecloth to good use.  A super addition to my Valentine decorating stash!

On another note with old crepe paper scraps...here is a Halloween proect I did using the same sort of plastic frames and crepe paper.  Easy way to showcase some vintage graphics.

Happy Day!