Some Very Local Estate Sales

There were two local estate sales today. I could almost see the back of one of the houses from my window.

My favorite find of the day were these Napco ceramic figurines. One is a planter, one is a bell and the other is just cute. 

I also found this large vintage bottlebrush wreath. It is about 16" across.

I have always loved illustrations by Charles Harper so I was thrilled to find this book in nearly perfect condition.

I haven't had a chance to sort these yet but I found a large bag of buttons.

My last find was a folding ruler. The hinges appear to be made from copper. I've collected so many yardstick and rulers but this is my first folding ruler.

My postings have been rather sporadic lately. A lot of self-imposed changes have been happening in my life. A few weeks ago I suddenly decided that I wanted to move from my condominium to a house. I talked to my lender and she gave me the green light. I talked to a couple of realtors and started looking at houses. But everything in my comfortable price range was either a fixer-upper or in a location that I didn't like or move-in ready but tinier than my condo. I was becoming very discouraged.

At the very least I wanted a house that had an updated kitchen like mine, in a safe neighborhood like mine, and had a nice view like mine. But I also wanted a flower garden, a fireplace and more square footage. After many discouraging hours of looking at houses online I finally {and quite suddenly} decided that all I needed to do was to remodel my condo and remove anything that I no longer enjoyed.

So beginning today my Dear Handyman has started remodeling my upstairs bathroom. I can hear things being ripped out as I am writing this. I hope to use a lot of my vintage treasures when it comes time to decorate. I still plan to find time to attend estate sales and share my discoveries. My creativity will now be sidetracked towards decorating the various rooms for a while.

Has anyone else ever decided to move and then changed their mind? My Dear Handyman doesn't know if we're coming or going.

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, It's a Very Cherry World, Savvy Southern Style, Tales From Bloggeritaville, The Brambleberry Cottage,  The Thrifty Groove and Very Merry Vintage Style

A Very Busy Estate Sale Weekend

We had a lot of things to do this weekend so I was happy that I could squeeze in a couple of estate sales in the morning.

My favorite find was a display box filled with little vintage Christmas trees and chenille stick {pipe cleaner} Santa Claus ornaments. There were a lot of trees with Santas in this box.

We found this nice plaid Thermos brand carrying bag with a bottle and box. I'm not sure what the plastic box held but I found several extra cups inside.

I can always use more apothecary jars in various sizes.

I don't believe this is very old but I plan to do a display with this Bingo cage.

I seem to be collecting various glass insulators. I found these two odd sizes marked Hemingray and Brookfield. I love the teal colored glass.

And I have a project in mind using handmade lace doilies so I picked up more of these.

So besides catching a few estate sales in the morning we also attended a birthday party held at the Disney Grand Californian at Disneyland that evening AND watched my son practice competition driving at a race track in the hot California desert the following morning. It was a very fun but exhausting weekend.

This is linked to:
Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, It's a Very Cherry World, Mod Vintage Life and Very Merry Vintage Style

Not-so-corporate Nameplate

When you work in a "cubicle farm" you are usually issued a nameplate so that people know where your desk is if you're not there. But most nameplates are plastic with a name carved out and quite boring. Since I work in a creative environment, I decided to do something to change up my nameplate.

I began with all thrifted items which included a Scrabble tile holder, some Scrabble tiles, a vintage yard stick, old lace and a piece of rhinestone jewelry that I found recently. I cut the yardstick to the same width as the Scrabble tile holder and sanded the edges.

The wood pieces did not look old enough so I rubbed them down with some Feed-n-Wax that I bought at the local hardware store. You can see the difference in how rich the color looked after I applied the Feed-n-Wax.

To make the lace and rhinestone embellishment, I used a needle and thread {also thrifted} to gathered some lace and tied that off. I used a wire cutter to remove the pin backing on the rhinestone brooch. I glued them together and then glued them both a little off-centered on the yardstick piece.

I glued the embellished yardstick piece to the tile holder. Finally I glued the Scrabble tiles on the yardstick piece. And now I have a not-quite-standard corporate nameplate.

This is linked to:

All Thingz Related, Between Naps on the Porch, FaveCrafts, Home Savvy AtoZ, Homemaker on a Dime, Keeping it Simple, Life Made Lovely, Making the World Cuter, Marvelously Messy, Mod Vintage Life, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Rook No. 17,  Running With Glitter, Sew Can Do, Singing Three Little Birds, Skip to My Lou, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, The DIY Showoff, The Girl Creative, The Southern Institute, Type A and Vintage Wannabee

Flashback Fun Finds

My favorite find today was this table-top juke box reproduction radio. It cleaned up nicely and will look really cool with my other vintage kitchen decor items or I might put it in my online shop.

I also found a couple of teal, Ball jars. These need some cleaning before I display them with my other teal glassware.

I always love suitcases so I picked up this doll case with a Ginny doll inside. It turns out that the doll is an early 1950s, jointed Ginny. The dress that was in the case is too large for her but I wanted her to have a little bit of modesty for the photo.

I have no idea what I am going to do with these but I found a bag of MIB flash cubes.

This last item is a card of sewing snaps but it had such a nice illustration for something that was so utilitarian. It was only when I got home and read the manufacturer's name did it surprise me. It is made by the Scoville Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Conn. which was the hometown of my in-laws.

Hope everyone found some fun finds this weekend.

This is linked to:

Apron Thrift Girl, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, It's A Very Cherry World, Mod Vintage Life and Type A

Designers Craft Connection Blog Hop - My Favorite Technique

Welcome to the Designers Craft Connection Blog Hop for the month of August. This month's theme is "Your Favorite Craft Technique". I enjoy so many different techniques but I had to choose only one.

I finally chose a sewing project using thrifted threads. I had thrifted so many plastic spools of thread and didn't want to waste them. I created a reusable cup holder using only thread and felt.

This project uses a lot of thread and a lot of patience. The colors I chose created a sunset sky look when I started creating stripes of colors. You can keep sewing until you cannot see any felt background. 

To begin, I used a cup holder from the local coffee house as a template. I opened it flat and cut a piece of felt to match. I later discovered that the sewing tends to shrink the felt. My suggestion would be to cut a piece that was about twice as long as the finished size. 

Next, I started sewing back and forth. I started with a medium color (in this case, orange) as a background. The medium color would end up being covered but it created an overall background. Adding light and dark colors later created the visual color bands.

Feel free to experiment. You can sew vertical as well as horizontal rows to create unique patterns. I sewed in a wave pattern. You can also use zigzag stitches. And you don't have to make a cup holder. Sew squares together to make a purse or use a strip as a headband. Remember that the inside of the cupholder will also be seen so sew on both sides of the piece with a variety of colors. This is a celebration of color and upcycling.

Please use the Designers Craft Connection Blog Hop button on the right column to continue through the hop. Aren't you curious to see what favorite techniques other designers enjoy?

I am honored to be featured at:

Sew Can Do

This is linked to:
All Thingz Related, Between Naps on the Porch, Cherished Treasures, FaveCrafts, Homemaker on a Dime, I'm Topsy Turvy, It's a Very Cherry World, Keeping It Simple, Making the World Cuter, Marvelously Messy, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Rook No. 17, Running With Glitter, Sew Can Do, Singing Three Little Birds, Skip to My Lou, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project,  The DIY Showoff, The Girl Creative and The Trendy Treehouse

Bits of Blingage

I'm in the process of decluttering my life which means I need to bring in less thrifted treasures each week. Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper about this. But I am trying to buy less at fewer sales while getting rid of a lot of stuff at home.

Having said that... I found a large selection of sparkly, costume jewelry. I believe some pieces are old. These photos show about half of what I found. The other half is a mix of colors and materials that I didn't like as much as these bits of blingage.

Most of these are mis-matched pieces. The seller didn't see much value in these. But I see them as inspiration for many lovely craft projects. 

I also found some old glass door knobs. I have a project in mind for these as well. 

I love it when your imagination can see treasures in other people's trash.

I am honored to be featured at:

Very Merry Vintage Style

This is linked to:

Brambleberry Cottage, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Mod Vintage Life, Savvy Southern Style, Tales From Bloggeritaville, The Colorado Lady, The Thrifty Groove, Type A and Very Merry Vintage Style