Magpie Ethel

3 Estate Sale Weekend

I hit three estate sales this weekend.  One on Friday and two on Saturday.   Most of my finds came from one on Saturday.  I got to that sale early and waited in line...I was number three in line to get in and it was well worth my wait.

I got to the Christmas closet first.  I scooped up all the tiny boxes of ornaments. 

I can never get enough of the tiny size.  I also did well in deer department. I also got three strands of glass garland for ONE DOLLAR.

This Holt Howard cookie and candy jar was probably my best score. I also got a HH pixie figure and Santa in sleigh.

I'm always a sucker for an old pinwheel for some reason. The jar that the pinwheels are in will head to my studio to hold spun heads. The musical Santa (in the original box) and the Santa mug were good holiday finds.

A pair of owls for Halloween crafting and a nativity set from Germany that I have never seen before.

This cute little tin will join my collection of candy tins.  The collection has grown since collection challenge #65. I'm always on the hunt for vintage craft supplies.  I was happy to find a good stash of Swistraw and some tin mold cups.

This little fellow got many comments on my Instagram feed and I sold him right away.

I was lucky in the book department.  The Shiniest Star and Pranky are both really great pop up books.

I will be reading the old Better Homes and Gardens holiday magazines for crafting ideas.
It always amazes me when I find linens with the original folds and tags still on them. These kitchen towels had never been used.

I got a couple of afghans for the beach house.  The lamp is one that can be mounted to the wall.  That lampshade made it a no brainer to buy with the ship motif.
I can't pass by a box of hankies without rummaging through them.  These gems were hidden amongst the usual florals.

Last but not least, one groovy full size bedspread.  I think I am going to have a mod beach bedroom.

It was a good weekend in estate sale land. Hope you found some treasures too.

 

Someday Beach House Update ONE, Living And Dining Room Plus The Swim Caps

If you missed the post where I announced that we bought a beach house it is here.  We have had the beach house just over three weeks and we have been BUSY.  The beach house is about an hour and a half drive, so I have either gone down for the day or have spent the night at least once a week since we got it.  Tom and I have been busy.  Amy (Into Vintage) came down with me overnight and sewed her little heart out.  Progress has been made, but there is a long way to go.  I will update periodically. 

3 weeks in.  Here is an update.

The living room and dining room are coming together.  

Those two rooms are the rooms you see when you walk in the front door, so it is nice to have those to welcome me when I go back and forth.  Most of the vintage goodies that I have in the living room are those that I had tucked away for my #somedaybeachhouse.  I got the rug the other day and it fits perfectly (at overstock.com).  The chairs are a work in progress.  I got them from my Auntie Kathy who passed away last year.  Amy is making me new chair cushions for them.  I have been collecting vintage bark cloth for this project and Amy is rocking them with her amazing sewing.  She sewed 30 yards of piping for this project.  I owe her big time.

I had this pink table waiting in my garage for my #somedaybeachhouse. The lamp shade was also waiting and found at an estate sale a couple of years ago.  Most of the shells came from my Auntie Kathy.

Note the vintage fish themed waste paper baskets.

I have had this printer's tray stashed away the entire time we have lived in this house, unused.  (19 years)  It will be fun to fill with beach treasures.

I got this vintage shower door the other day from the estate of my sister in laws grandparents.  It was free and features fish and seaweed.  It is really hard to photograph into the window.  I had no idea what I was going to do when I got it.  I decided to use it as a window privacy screen in our living room window.  Tom and I hung it on our last visit and I could not be happier. Here is it looking in from the driveway.  (The house will be painted a fun color this summer)

My aquarium cabinet just makes me happy. I bought the cabinet from a girlfriend and painted the inside blue. I wanted it to look like an aquarium. I added my collection of ceramic fish and some shells and coral that were my Auntie Kathy's. My aunt passed away last year and had lived overseas in the Marshall Islands. She had collected and crafted with shells and had some wonderful things.

I found the inflatable sea horse Sandy, last year at Farm Chicks.  How perfect is it here at the beach house?

I got this display cabinet a couple of months ago at a local antique mall. It was locked when I bought it and Tom ended up taking the back off and removing the lock to open it.  It will display the oddball vintage sea themed treasures.  My favorite so far is the inflatable sea gulls that I found at a local estate sale. They are in the original packaging.

I have never had a spot for my $5 estate sale lamp at my house.  I covered a new shade with some vintage fabric from my stash and it will shine brightly at the beach.  The end table it is sitting on will probably get a coat of paint.  It was a free at the curb table (along with a matching coffee table).

I really love the bleached wood wall in the living room. It is a focal point and I have made the most of it.  The built in bookcases on the side are a bonus.  This pink piece was a twin headboard.  I got it after we bought the house hoping it would work on this wall. It did.  I like how the S design looks like waves.  The paper mache anchor I have had FOREVER and I found it in estate sale land.
This wall is just the perfect place for all the vintage beach eye candy that I have collected.

The dining room and the living room are one big room.  I painted the dining room white.  The table and chairs I found in Seattle after I saw them on an Instagram account (Rusticmint...thanks Jeanette).  We will be installing a new light fixture once I find one I like.

This cabinet I found locally and I love the unusual lines.  It has a floral decal on each of the sliding doors.  I have never seen another like it.
The crazy big coral pieces are from my Auntie Kathy.  It was fun to finally get my seahorses out of the bin they have been stored in.

There is still lots of tweaking in these two rooms.  I'm off to a good start though and the rooms make me happy.  Speaking of happy, I FINALLY got my swim caps displayed.  They are living in the family room.  That room still has a ways to go, but Tom and I hung the shelves for them on our last visit and I got them displayed. (We are sleeping in this room too until we get the carpet out of our bedroom, so that is my bed in the foreground of the photo)

It really is fun to see the house come together.  So many ideas going around in my head and so many treasures to display.  We are working on pulling up the carpet in the bedrooms and hall.  That is a chore in itself since the foam pad was GLUED to the floor in one room. In the other room INDOOR OUTDOOR CARPET was GLUED to the floor.  Progress is being made though.  I'll update periodically.  Fun to share!

Happy Day!  

p.s. the swim caps are displayed on new wig stands that I found at a local wig shop.  Aren't they cool?  I love that they came in pink and white!








 

Spring Etsy Tonight

Spring Etsy tonight (May 10th).  5:30 p.m. (pacific time)

Lots of fun things to charm you.

Hope to see you there.

Someday Beach House

My long time blog readers have heard time and time again over the years how much I want a beach house.  Every since I got married Tom and I have spent at least a week in Seaside, Oregon each summer.  The town holds many memories for me and fun times with Ben and Kate.  Lots of memories watching them grow up and just happy family times.  I have been getting email alerts for a bit when a house would come on the market.  Seaside isn't a large town (6,500) and I wanted to live in a certain area of the town, so houses were few and far between.  Those that were in my price range were either too small or needed lots of work.  I finally got an email update about a house that was within my budget and had much of what I was looking for.  My mom and I went to look at it initially and then Tom and I made a second trip.  We made an offer and it was accepted. We got the keys last week.

Here I am in one of my swim caps from my collection standing in front of it.  If you follow me on Instagram you know I have used the hashtag #somedaybeachhouse quite a bit.  This summer we will get a new roof and paint the exterior a fun color.  I am hoping for a coral colored front door. (also hoping for a Dutch door)

It is a solid house.  1900 square feet with 2 bedrooms, 2 bath on the main floor and 2 more quirky bedrooms upstairs.  It has a family and living room.  There are plenty of projects.  Lots of painting and tearing up carpet, but I like to do that stuff.  It will be fun to put my Magpie Ethel twist on the house and make it my own.  I have tons of vintage beach stuff stored up to decorate.  If you follow me on Instagram you have seen the start of the transformation.  It is four blocks from the ocean, so after a long day of projects we can take a break with a stroll on the sand.

These photos are all BEFORE PHOTOS.  This is the way the house looked when I first saw it.  THIS IS NOT MY STUFF.  I love this wood wall.   I think I will keep the grayish blue wall paint color for now.  There are hardwoods in the living and dining room. We are hoping hardwoods are under the carpet in the two main floor bedrooms and hall as well. Cross your fingers.

The living and dining rooms open up to one another and the kitchen is to the right of the dining room. There are tons of windows and this is a pretty bright room.

Lots of counter space and storage in the kitchen.
The garage was converted to a family room.  There is still an unattached garage in the back that is huge. That back wall will display my swim cap collection...which numbers 43!

A good size master bedroom.

The two upstairs bedrooms are quirkier attic bedrooms with lower head room.  They are still two extra bedrooms.  I am going to put 4 twin beds in this room like a dorm room. The house will be able to sleep 12 once I get everything squared away.  (and perhaps some grandkids wayyyyy down the road).I love the back garage.  There is an outdoor shower as well.

I am giddy with finally owning a beach house.  It will be a ton of projects, but I am excited to have a new spot to decorate and play with. I also just love the ocean and the beach. We have taken 3 carloads and a U-haul truck load over so far.   I bought some furniture for the house once we made the offer.  My parents are also downsizing to a retirement home so I was able to shop their house for things that I needed. The timing worked out really well with that.

I have soooo many things tucked away.  This house is going to be crazy fun.  Here are a few things I have done in the week we have had the house.

My whale collection has come out of boxes.

I bought a cabinet from a girlfriend and painted the inside blue.  I wanted it to look like an aquarium.  I added my collection of ceramic fish and some shells and coral that were my Auntie Kathy's.  My aunt passed away last year and had lived overseas in the Marshall Islands. She had collected and crafted with shells and had some wonderful things.

Last but not least a peek at the living room.  I still have much to do.  A new rug and couch.  Cover the orange chairs (thank you Amy).  I still need to unpack boxes lurking in the background. This is the start.  I think it is fun to see it in the beginning.

So off I go on this beach house adventure.  I will share as I get rooms finished and we make progress.  I am just happy.  Happy to finally have my someday beach house.

Spring Etsy, Birthday, Flowers and Fun

I have a bit of a break between holidays so each year I come up with some one of a kind and no occasion figures.
It is fun to use some of the vintage tidbits that I have found.  It is also fun to craft with no holiday in mind.

I craft happy.

I decided this spring listing would be perfect for some birthday fun.  Bingo birthday girls, party birds and birthday swans.  (I will have more on Etsy than those in the photos)

I hope you can join the Etsy party.  Tuesday, May 10th at 5:30 p.m. (pacific time).
The next round of crafting is Fourth of July and I have had lots of people asking about the date for that.  No date yet, but I'm crafting away and hope to have patriotic goodies listed by the end of May or early June.  I will post a date and time once I get it figured out...both here and on Instagram. 

 

 

Estate Sale Friday. One Street, Two Sales

I hit two sales on Friday.   One was run by an estate sale company and the other was a family run sale a few blocks away.  It was nice to hit two sales...bang, bang...and be done!

I got two floral curtain panels, a glass fishbowl (now I have three), a floral wallpaper remnant, and lots of littles.  One of my favorite finds was a Cath Kidston toiletry bag for $1!

It was a good day for Gurley candles.

An old lunchbox with a darling corsage design, a fun clip on lightbulb cover, candle clips and a sweet little bird figure.

I always have to rummage around the workshop. I was rewarded with some funny luncheon meat cans.  They were full of nails when I bought them.

The orange rack will be perfect for my beach house.  (Yes, we bought a beach house.  For those of you that don't follow me on IG that news is new to you.  I AM SO EXCITED and will get a blog post up on it soon.)  I think the rack was intended to hold fan belts.  I am decorating one room in gray and orange so this rack will fit right in.

I never ever pass up old ribbon spools with the great graphics.  I use these as bases for my spun head crafting and I have gone through hundreds of these spools. There were lots of little ceramic figures at the sale.  The little christmas gals have hair.

I got a whole pile of baby hangers. The little cutout designs on these! They just don't make them this darling anymore.

Two little ceramic lambs.  The one embellished with pearls is crazy.

A pair of whisk brooms.  Note the mushroom growing out of the top of one. So nice to stay on one road for the sales.  Thank you for the vintage goodies Malden Street.