Magpie Ethel

Halloween Snippet Four

A couple of more spots in my living room to share today.  Here is my little corner of Halloween treats... candy containers,crackers,party baskets and party games.

Another favorite spot is my tiered shelf. It holds all my tiny Halloween treasures.  An assortment of lots of tiny..mostly grouped by like item.  (it is hard to photograph this with the window light behind...arrggh) I also display all my vintage candy boxes in this spot too.

A coven of plastic witches.  I am always thrilled when I find them in estate sale land.

Candy containers. I have a skeleton as well but he is living in skeleton land.

Some of my favorite witch friends.


Devils

 

Pumpkin heads
Another Halloween! I had a few more snippets of decorations here and there but have run out of time before Halloween.  Hoping to pack it all up on Saturday and move my Christmas inventory into the living room.  Kate's room is packed to the gills and I need room to sort. 
Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Halloween Snippet Three

I really have a thing for pumpkins. These all lived in a different spot last year, but outgrew that area.

 I love the variety of faces and expressions.

I have a wire basket next to the pumpkin hutch that is full of even more pumpkins! Honeycomb pumpkins and a few cardboard ones that I could not fit on top.

Not a real pumpkin in sight this year.  With all my holiday crafting, I don't have time to carve one.  The vintage variety will have to do.

Another snippet coming....

 

Halloween Snippet Two...Meow

Meow.  Last year I had my black cats in a different spot, but they have been multiplying and this year they migrated to a built in bookshelf. (the two empty bowls on the bottom shelf are waiting to be filled with Halloween candy...if I do it early it gets eaten!)

Paper or plastic...if it is a black cat it is tucked into this corner.

The black cat in the circle is a new vintage find.  It is a noisemaker.

Black cats galore!  More Halloween snippets to come....

Collection Challenge #228 - Vintage Clipboards/Memo Boards

Small and simple collection today and one I don't add to very often.  I see clipboards at estate sales but try to only add those that are a little more interesting or unusual.

This is a fun full size clipboard with a map of the United States on it.

This is a smaller clipboard and I like the red clip on it.  I love how scratched and chewed up these boards get...the patina of use.

This clipboard must have hung in a special spot with its hanger attached to the top.
This clipboard has the best checkerboard pattern and I love the green color.  You may see this clipboard occasionally as the background of some of the photos I take.

My Mom gave this memo board to me a few years ago. While it is not a clipboard, it is metal and holds memos and such.  Original pencil still attached. It also has a little pocket where you can collect your receipts and bills.  It hangs in my kitchen.

This memo board has a clip attached but is intended to be screwed to a wall and then has a clip to hold paper items.  I like the dimpled metal on this one.

OK.   

A useful collection today.  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of _____".  Something new each week!

Estate Sale Friday. Over The River.

Friday the listings for estate sales looked pretty dismal. There was one listed that looked remotely interesting but it was in Vancouver, Washington...so up across the river from Portland.  I was on the fence about going but decided the potential for a vintage fix was just to strong...

I was there half an hour ahead of time and was about 12th in line.  I got in with the first wave of people and was the first person to hit the Christmas table.

A great old cardboard manger scene and a box of Shiny Brites.  

Ornaments were also priced individually so I picked up a few more. I was thrilled to find the pink tinsel garland.

A tiny mica snowman, tin bells and a vintage holiday tape dispenser.


A reindeer

A ornament making kit. I found lots of doo dads for crafting...vintage bottlebrush trees (still in original packaging), holly leaves and foil butterflies.

Spun head package tie ons.  My best purchase of the day was a BIG bag of mercury glass garland.  When I got it home I took it out of the bag and there were 9 strands of it!!

Extra awesome was the variety of sizes of the beads.

 

Always amazed when things survive the years in their original packaging...like this concertina garland.

I never pass up a grab bag of vintage gift tags.  Nothing better than going through them and discovering designs I have never seen before.  The Woodland Friends sticker book with the chipmunks and other creatures is new to me.

Last but not least some tiny shoes/slippers made from old greeting cards.  I usually see baskets or containers made from the greeting cards so thought these were a bit different.
One sale only, but glad that I decided to cross the river....worth the trip over the bridge for sure!

Halloween Snippet One

I had fun with Halloween decorations once again.  I tend to mix it up year to year and this year was no exception. 

I bought this skinny terrarium the other day at an estate sale.  I did not know what I would do with it at the time, but I found that my spiders fit quite nicely in it.

I love the big honeycomb spider...it is vintage.  Most of the other spiders are new.
My child mannequin head got in the act with a pirate hat. He still has no name.

My owls live in the niche above my fireplace. 

I found this cookie jar this year and he looks great with a vintage Halloween party hat.

Last year all my danglers hung from a Halloween tree.  My collection has grown since last year so I used an old florist rack to hang them from.
I found this big bad wolf years ago in a free box at an estate sale.  He was wet from the rain and tattered, but I liked his overalls and his orange and black colors. I added the little Boo pin to gussy him up.
All my blowmolds were tucked onto the top of my cabinet in the living room.  Last year they lived on the front porch.

My skeletons all live in this spot. I shared it the other day on my skeleton collection challenge.

A few snippets today...

more to come...stay tuned.

Collection Challenge #227- Vintage Halloween Skeletons

I did a skeleton theme this year in my front window for Halloween.  It was all because of a old large plastic skeleton head that I got earlier this year at an estate sale.  I decided then and there he would make a good focal point for my window...and more skeletons would join him.

He stares out the front window and a whole group of vintage skeletons hang around him floating in air. I also added plastic and rubber skeletons to my vintage umbrella corner of my front porch.

I have an assortment of skeletons that I display. A plastic hanging skeleton in original packaging. 

A few cardboard skeletons.  I like skeletons to be friendly and not bloody or gory. This pair fit the bill.

and so does this fellow...

A few plastic skeleton heads.

This one has a winky eye. 

This old candy container is a favorite. I love his toothy grin.

A skeleton dangler that has seen better days and is missing an arm.

Great old skeleton spun heads that were begging to be crafted with.

I like to display similar things together so all my skeletons live in one spot in my house for the holiday.

  The skeleton window looks quiet spooky lit up at night.

I just added a strand of lights behind the big plastic skeleton head which made it glow (it is made of a thin plastic).  The lights also illuminated the hanging ones in the right spooky manner.

The umbrella corner of the porch just adds even more fun when lit.

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

This skeleton post is the beginning of some peeks into my Halloween decorations for the year....more to come this week.

Right Place, Right Time...Got My Fix

I was not excited about the meager sales this weekend and was not planning on venturing into estate sale land. Thursday afternoon I had to return a library book. As I was about to enter the library I saw a girlfriend who earlier this summer had mentioned they were cleaning out a hoarders house that had some vintage Christmas. I asked her about it and she said to come over and look.  They had cleaned out all the hoarder house and boxed up the contents.  They had rented a spot ACROSS FROM THE LIBRARY.  Literally across the street from where I was standing...and of course I had time to go through a few boxes!

I have a bunch of these foil holiday danglers. I love the pink flower sequin detail on these.

This gal was staring up at me from one of the boxes.  She needs a little TLC...perhaps a candy cane holiday gal.  She is sitting on a Lefton snowman mug.

Vintage holiday sprays, tiny silver ornaments and an assortment of angels. Holiday mercury picks, the greatest chalkware Santa and a trio of frosted trees.
Vintage deer and a tiny Santa bell.
A kitschy Santa and his sleigh.

A flocked deer and a super duper foil accordian style decoraration. The ball has big stars on it and I have not seen one like it before.

The hoarder had a thing for bunnies. Lots of bunnies I had no need for, but these will be fun for Easter crafting. I also got a pair of vintage ornament boxes for my collection. I love the muted colors on the vintage glass garland. I need to restring it.  I also got these two funny faced ornaments.  There was a huge stash of candy canes in one of the boxes which will be put to crafting use.
Jingle Bells and cardboard choir boy tags. I was looking through a box marked Easter and found this little bunny rattle. I mentioned to my girlfriend I loved old baby rattles. She directed me to a box with an assortment of kid stuff. I found the little squeaky horse there.
In the same kid box I found this adorable tin zebra.

Beyond all the vintage Christmas this fellow was a favorite find.
I definitely got my vintage fix for the weekend. So glad that library book wss due!   Happy day!

 

 

Collection Challenge #226- Party Crackers, Mottos and Fortunes

Adrienne challenged me to show my collection of "vintage crackers, party favors and surprise balls".  I have done a few challenges on different categories of party stuff...challenge #11 nut cups/party favor baskets, challenge #110 - party books and challenge #209 - hatchets. 

I love old party stuff. I have lots of the old party crackers.  Some of the old packaging calls them mottos.  I have never heard that term used and looked up the definition of motto...a verse or maxim contained in a paper cracker.  Now it makes sense as these crackers do contain little verses.

I love this set of nursery rhyme mottos in the original packaging.

I found this set of Halloween crackers/mottos at a auction in Kansas a few years ago. I am always eager to find Halloween so was happy with this score.

Rather worn paper stickers decorate each one.

I rarely find Thanksgiving items beyond candles and the Relpo turkey so this pair of Thanksgiving crackers/mottos were fun to add to my collection.
This set of crackers/mottos was also found at the Kansas auction. They were in a very tattered box that was dated 1930.
Again, darling paper stickers.
This is all I saved from the tattered box.  The box originally held 4 dozen of the mottoes/crackers.
At one point I got really curious what was inside of these crackers. I had to open one up. There were tiny little verses and metal charms.
A lone Little Miss Muffet.

Love, love that things like this got saved in the original packaging.

I found these recently at a local estate sale.  The fringe detail is awesome.

These were found at the same sale. I think these are blanks for embellishment with your own stickers. The colors are all my favorites and I love the pop of foil silver.
Some of them had broken open in the box and this is what it looked like they contained. A tiny plastic charm and a verse.

I believe these dolls were intended as party favors as well. They have celluloid heads and the cutest faces. Each one holds a tube with a fortune rolled up in it.

I have quite a few.

Adrienne also asked if I had any surprise balls. Those are balls you unwind that usually have tiny prizes in them.  I have this cutie.


She was a gift from Amy. I ended up taking her apart after a blog land vote. You can see that post here and here.  She did have a happy ending though.

Thanks for the challenge Adrienne.  I didn't include party favors in this post...I may collect what I have and you might find that in another challenge.  This one is long enough as is.

If you have an idea for a future collection challenge leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of ____".  Happy day!

Estate Sale Friday and Saturday. Earlybird Payoff

I hit three sales this weekend.  Two mediocre and one that was pretty good. The best sale was on Friday. The list to sign up went out at 8 a.m. and I got there about 7:15 to sign up.  I was rewarded with #11 to get in the door. The sale started at 9 and I was the first to enter the Christmas room! I love that feeling of being the first to rummage through whatever holiday there is...giddiness at its best!

Santa must have me on his "good" list this year.

An assortment of vintage Christmas reflectors, random ornaments, mercury picks, a plastic tree and a pink flocked deer.

A pressed cardboard Santa boot and a plastic Santa sleigh with reindeer.

I find these little plastic holiday scenes occasionally.
The box was full of a dozen in assorted styles.  I have never found a whole box full.

A giant tin tree topper.

I spotted this giant star in the garage before the sale opened and was glad I scored it. The skeleton will be added to my Halloween window.
Happy to find some old cottage cheese and yogurt containers.
Love the Elsie the Cow graphic

I hit one sale today that was advertised as a 70 year accumulation. I found one thing.  You would think after 70 years I could find a bit more, but nope. I was happy with the old craft straw I found...thank goodness for that or I would have left empty handed!

Another weekend, another round of estate sales. Glad my early bird status paid off!