Magpie Ethel

Easter Decorating at My House

I have all my Easter decorations out.  I think Easter is neck and neck with Christmas for my favorite holiday.  

This group lives in my kitchen nook and keeps me company during meals.  I add a few each year.

My china hutch holds my vintage bunnies on top as well as candy boxes.  The inside of my cabinet holds a collection of chicks and ducks.  I really like things grouped with like items.

In the hutch, behind the glass doors on the left.
and the right.
I pull some of my china and glassware out of the hutch, so the birds perch towards the front.  It is an easy display.

My collection of candy hat boxes and Gurley Easter candles decorates my dining room table.  I like how the hats work as pedestals for the candles...a perfect display.

I have a couple of built in cabinets in my dining room and one of them holds my collection of egg cups.

I really love this pyramid of vintage waxed Dixie cups with Easter designs.  Some of my larger Easter bunnies round out the scene.

Aren't the graphics awesome?
My sheep barely fit on the top of my cabinet anymore. My mom just found the cute pink squeaky lamb for me the other day.  
I am smitten with these little Easter dolls with their darling faces.  Last year I only had two.  

My collection of lollipop holders 
I added four new Easter bunnies in the past couple of weeks to this group. I love how well worn and loved they are.

Easter would not be Easter without my collection of little cotton chicks...with wire feet. I added quite a few new ones this year thanks to some friends who kept passing some my way.  

My fireplace niche has my collection of spun head bunnies.

I have LOTS of cardboard Easter cutouts.  So dang cute.
My collection of nodders grew a teeny bit this year.  

A few years ago I found this old crib headboard at a local antique mall.  This is the dull side of it.  I have a mountain of vintage honeycomb eggs that add some fun around it.

This is the side that greets my neighbors as they walk by.  
Thanks for making it through a very long post.  I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend and that the Easter bunny brings you some Easter treats.

Happy Easter.

Collection Challenge #278- Vintage Easter Grass and Eggs in Original Packaging

A long time blog reader Lisa, suggested part of the subject for this post. She challenged me to do a post on vintage Easter Grass.  I added the vintage Easter egg component to it since they go hand in hand.

If you have read my blog for awhile you KNOW THAT I LOVE VINTAGE EASTER GRASS.  It is superior for crafting and I did a post on it here.  I have a big bin full of the old stuff in my studio.

I am always amazed that I come across packages of this old Easter grass.  Evidently people just can't part with it sometimes.  The graphics on the old bags are what attracts me.  Some of these packages aren't the old waxy kind I favor, but the packaging makes up for it.

How cute is this pink bunny graphic?Here we have Flopsy's Easter grass. I like how I have found this design in different sizes.

Cellophane Easter grass, but the graphics are a winner.

I like the details like the original price on some bags.  I also find it funny that some of the bags boasted the grass was "non flammable".  I would hope most kiddos weren't around open flames on Easter morning.

Hand in hand with Easter grass are those simple plastic Easter eggs. I collect unopened packages of them. I just got this pack last weekend in estate sale land.  Fill and Thrill...what an true description of what those eggs do for a kid.  

It is also funny that all these egg packages were labels as Fill and Thrill, yet they all seem to be made by different companies.

There is never a shortage for the Easter bunny at my house. 

If you have an idea for a collection challenge, leave me a comment and I will se what I can do.  278 collections have now hopped my way!

 

Field Trip To Ash's House

I have met some wonderful people through Instagram and estate sale land.  One of those people is my friend Ash, who happens to live near me.  Ash is THE TOY COLLECTOR...as you can tell by her house and what she collects.  Her house just makes me giddy whenever I visit.  I am excited to share it with blogland.  You may also know her Ashtomaton on Instagram. This is a long post, but there is so much to share!

Ash is one of those people who collects and collects and loves things in multiples.  The minute you walk in her house you know this is a house like no other.  First we have the living room.  Here is the mantle.

This print over her mantle came from one of the Little Black Sambo Restaurants.

So many squeaky animal friends.

Her collection of Keane prints.Even her lamps are fun. (I caught Ash in the mirror here)

Her collection currently numbers 685 and I believe it.
Row after row of rubber faced cuties. These were made by Rushton.


The octopus and the fish are awesome.  I love how she has advertisements displayed with them.  She is still on the hunt for a whale if anyone has one swimming around!


In addition to the Rushtons and other squeaks there are dolls.
This cabinet holds a variety of dolls. Giggles, Joy, Love Me Linda and Little Miss No Name live here in this cabinet. I learned a lot about dolls on this field trip.

These Little Miss No Name dolls were only made for one year in 1965.  They creep me out a bit.  I actually googled the history on these as they were so unusual.  They were made by Hasbro and inspired by Keane.  She came with a tear too, which made her even sadder. 

These are my favorite cabinets in Ash's house.  Super fun eye candy here. If you follow Ash's instagram account sometimes you might see her wearing that bear head!

How fun are these giant polka dot friends?  The elephant is a toy box.  In addition to the giraffe, there is a kangaroo in this series...Ash is on the hunt for that still.

A closer peek inside the cabinet. Baaaaaaaaa


From the dining room we head into the kitchen.  Another spot of fun.  I remember when Ash picked up these paper charts with rules at a local estate sale.  I was just arriving as she was leaving and she played show and tell with these before I went into the sale.  She was giddy with this find and it is fun to see them up in her house.

This little shelf sits over the stove, so this is her audience while she cooks. How fun is that? Ash could not have a more perfect refrigerator to fit into her vintage loving house.  The pop of color is awesome.  Beyond the fridge in the little nook is her Disneyland collection as well as some other fun squeaks and toys.

Ash is lucky to live in an old house with lots of built ins and nooks.  This nook is filled to the brim.

A shelf of Dreamland cuties.

The top of her fridge is cuter than the top of mine.
More friends in her hallway.
No room is safe from the invasion of the toys.  Ash even has friends with her in the bathroom.  

When you live with vintage like this, it is only fitting to put all those darling old nursery containers to good use.

The fun continues upstairs of course.
There are lots of these vintage cutouts that decorate the walls in this stairwell. They are made by the Dolly Toy Company.

I love how Ash brings all those little vintage pieces together for one shelf of eye candy.  Bambi and deer land here!

Yet another built in at the top of the stairs. This one has glass doors but I had to peek inside for a closer look.

This is the vintage muff wall.  Yes, Ash really does use these.  I have seen her out and about with her hands tucked in one.
One of my favorite spots in the house is this cozy Knickerbocker bear chair.  I love how the chair is the same color as the bears that it holds.

Meow.Ash is a wonderful seamstress.  I have only ever seen her dressed in either a dress she has made or vintage.  She is very talented with that sewing machine.   This is the little room she works in.
It is no surprise that she has lots of company in her sewing room.

Last stop on the tour is the bedroom.

The animals on the lower shelves are made by Alan Jay...there really are some darling squeaks out there.

Such fun to come and play at Ash's house.  I was in for a treat when she let me do a field trip post.
Thank you Ash for letting me share your house and collections.
I think your toys are pretty happy here. 

 

Estate Sale Thursday and Friday. Good Vintage Finds

I hit two sales this weekend.  One on Thursday where I was number 6 out of probably 180 to get in the door.  Despite my getting in the door quickly, I only found a few of things. Still worth my time though.

Friday was an estate sale I had been waiting for.  I shopped phase 1 of the sale earlier this year and it was awesome.  Phase II did not disappoint. 

(some of my photos are a bit wonky as I was dodging raindrops.  I set up outside for this post and THEN the rain started.  I set up a beach umbrella and worked under that...egads!) You can see that this awesome Easter bunny was not successful in dodging all the raindrops.

I was very lucky with deer, both rubber and ceramic. The plastic Humpty Dumpty is the top of a sweet notepad holder.

A vintage squeaky dog, wood mushroom salt and pepper shakers and a can of old spray snow.
I got a whole stack of old towels with great graphics...cats, strawberries, flowers, owls etc.  Some fun designs for sure.  I also found a old turquoise colored pot with shell and seashore graphics.  It will go to my someday beach house.
This old beach towel will be added to my collection. (photo from my Instagram feed...come follow me!)
On the basement pantry shelf I found this old Santa jar.  Bonus for having my spun head radar on as it was full of them!
And old Wilendur violet tablecloth with original tag.  It needs a good soak.  As it sat folded the top panel discolored. 

I got a wood tiny picnic table.  Under the redwood looking paint there is green and pink paint. I will be sanding it down.  The coffee tins were all found at the estate sale on Thursday. I also found a pair of vintage Christmas deer.
Easter was plentiful.  I found old egg cups, plastic easter eggs in original packaging and other misc. Easter.  I was lucky to find three corsages in their original boxes.

I was thrilled to get this giant bunny.  There were four of them in the photo for the Estate sale.  I wanted one.  I was #11 to get in the door for this sale and knew that my chances were slim as some of the people in front of me would go for them too.  As I went in the door of the house I watched all the bunnies getting grabbed up.  My friend Tom grabbed one and popped it into my basket for me.  Such a sweet thing to do and it made my day.

Darling cardboard deer cutout, Swanky Swig glasses, a ceramic lamb and cat and other doodads.

This pair of pink deer caused quite a stir when they showed up on my Instagram feed.

I love the little homemade crescent moon shelf/staircase.  I have found these before, but this one is fun with the railing detail.

Mercury glass picks, an egg carton Christmas tree with great tinsel burst ornaments and a couple of super pinecone Snowman and Santa figures.

I got lucky with pinecone ornaments as well as a couple of boxes of indents ornaments.  Vintage playing cards and a toy camera in the original box.

A great quilt made from old barkcloth.
A child's shoebox for my collection that I do not have.
A vintage child's party invitation for my collection (and here) and a tin of old dental powder.

The bathroom had a whole drawer of handmade soap sleeves.  This alligator made me laugh.
A pair of etched mirrors, vintage garland, vintage bump chenille and a fun little embroidered head.

One of my favorite things at the sale was reuniting this pair of egg cup heads.  I found one at the first phase of the sale and then the other at the second phase.  Back together again.
I found yet another pair of child's sunglasses.   In the past couple of weeks I have found three pair each with a different corner design...clowns, ballerinas and bears.  You can also see some of the indent Christmas ornaments I mentioned earlier.

This sweet little snowman once had something else attached. I will gussy him up for Christmas and make him as good as new.

Such a fun sale.  I dug for over an hour and a half and left with a very full car.  A happy dance weekend for sure.

Easter Etsy Tonight

A quick reminder that I will be listing lots of Easter goodies on Etsy tonight.

Tonight. 5:30 p.m., pacific time. I've got over 100 Easter items ready to hop onto Etsy...come check them out!

St. Patricks Day at Magpie Ethel's House

I think St. Patrick's day is one of the hardest holidays to hunt things down for.  There is just not a ton out there.  I have one small bin of stuff. ONE.

My entire display is pretty much on top of my china hutch. One long row of Irish green.

 

These little crepe paper figures are a favorite.

I think the cardboard die cuts are probably the easiest St. Patrick's day decoration to find.  I have a good assortment of them.

This is one of my favorite St. Patrick's Day fellows.  He is a treasure.

This little candy box was a good find. I just found another today that is a bit different.  Lucky me!

An assortment of pins on the original cards.

I've never sent out a card for this holiday, but am glad that category of cards exists.  I have an assortment of vintage ones.
Party hats for the Irish.

Wishing you a lucky St. Patrick's Day this week! Go dance a jig and make it happy!

 

Easter Etsy. Say That Ten Times Fast!

I've got lots of Easter goodies heading to Etsy.

Lots of spun head friends.

Including a bunny convention of sorts.

Lambs are frolicking.  Chicks and Ducks are hatching.

                   I really have fun with this holiday.  There are lots of vintage tidbits to be found and tweaked for Easter. So many ideas hatch in my head.

Carts full of fun.

I really crafted a wide variety of things.  There is lots of Easter fun hopping to Etsy.

Bingo Bunnies.Fun little ornaments made from old cake decorations.
These bunny ear gals just make me smile.  Grinning ear to ear.

My glue gun has been quite busy.

I hope you can join in the Easter fun!  I have LOTS more than what is shared her on this sneak peek post.  If you follow me on Instagram you have seen more snippets.  EASTER ETSY - MARCH 9th at 5:30 p.m. (pacific time).

(Please remember that things get a little chaotic during my sales and an item is not considered SOLD until it is paid for.  If it is in your cart it is NOT safe.  I will reimburse for multiple orders with overpaid postage).