Estate Sales and Race Cars

I am late posting this week because it was my birthday and we were out of town. I want to share some of my estate sale finds and then I will explain the belated posting.

Because we were heading out of town, I found several estate sales outside of our normal shopping locations. My favorite finds of the day were several Paint-by-Numbers. They were still in their boxes with all of the little jars of paint. Two are unfinished but the one shown here is not only completed but the "artist" signed and dated the piece. It was completed in 1970. 

The paintings were found in an out-building that must have been someone's craft room. I also found these large wooden spools and some floral supplies. I used to love the straw flowers that were so popular in the 70s.

In the same building were these old, wooden game pieces and a large number of glass insulators.

Inside of the house I found an unused Strawberry Shortcake pillowcase and some vintage pink flowers.

I found a lot of other small items that I can use for crafting; more wooden rulers and Christmas items.

Now to explain why I am late posting. I always wish my parents had not only encouraged my dreams when I was younger but allowed me to pursue my dreams. My son has a dream to drive race cars. So I am encouraging him to dream big because some dreams do come true. This weekend, my birthday weekend, we were out at a race track in the California desert. My son built his own car and is now learning how to race correctly on a real race track. I want him to live the life he imagines and have fun in the process. He is driving the red car in the middle of the pack.

I got a little sunburned but I also got a chance to hunt at some different estate sales but most importantly, I got to watch my son as he reached for the moon.

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Creek Home, Brambleberry Cottage, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, It's a Very Cherry World, Tales from Bloggeritaville, The Colorado Lady, The Thrifty Groove, The Thrifty Home and Very Merry Vintage Style

No-Calorie Birthday Cake

My birthday is coming up so I decided to make a no-calorie birthday cake.

Of course the cake is made of fabric and bits of lace so besides being no-calorie it also has no-taste.

My self-challenge was to use only thrifted items but it still needed to look like a piece of cake. The "icing" is made from satin ribbon and trim so it appears smooth and creamy. The "white cake" is lace so it has a porous cake texture. The "filling" is pink trim so it appears more dense.

This was a fun, simple project using all thrifted items including tatted, handmade lace. I plan to use this as a pin cushion.

This is linked to:
504 Main, A Little Knick Knack, Between Naps on the Porch, Blue Creek Home, Blue Cricket Designs, Brambleberry Cottage,  Cherished Treasures, Chic on a Shoestring, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Creating a House of Grace, Creative Everyday, FaveCrafts, French Country Cottage,  I'm Topsy Turvy, Inspiring Creations,  It's a Very Cherry World, Keeping It Simple, Making the World Cuter, Marvelously Messy, My Backyard Eden, My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Paisley Passions,  Passionately Artistic,  Running With Glitter, Savvy Southern Style, Sew Can Do, Simply Designing, Singing three Little Birds, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, Somewhat Simple, Sunburnt Cow, Tales from Bloggeritaville, The Girl Creative, The Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Very Merry Vintage Style and What Allie's Making Now

Silver and Porcelain Treasures

Today's hunt began with a false start. The first estate sale was advertised as a Saturday/Sunday 7am sale. We got there at 6:30 only to be told that they had the first day of the sale on Friday and today's sale would start at 8am. That threw us off a bit but we just went on to the next sale.

My favorite find of the day were these silver plated pieces. I love the shape and detail of the urn.

Estate Sale Vacation Days

I took two, half-day vacation days this week. For both days I was up at 5:15am and out the door. I went to two early estate sales and would you believe there are people who park motorhomes outside of the estate sale locations and sign up on waiting lists beginning at 4:30am! {Hats off to any reader who might be one of these dedicated estate sale hunters.}

Although I wasn't the first person in the door, I did find some lovely treasures. My favorite find of the day was this biscuit tin with poppies and plaid. It needs a good cleaning but I love the vintage look. Luckily the inside is clean and the dirt is only on the outside surface.

I also found this green biscuit tin, also very dirty but the pattern is so quaint. Both of these tins need a good, gentle cleaning.

I love old world globes and have a small collection so I was thrilled to find this vintage beauty. I did a little research and believe this to be from the 1950s since it still shows Hawai'i as a territory.

The best deal of the day were these vintage games. I got them at a great price. I bought several more but these were the most valuable.

I also found a handful of mercury glass spikes and a few other Christmas decorations. This will be added to my ongoing collection of spikes. I'm curious about the gold spikes at the top of this picture. They have labels that say "Japan" and they look awfully shiny yet the bead at the very end looks like old Mercury glass.

These are Santa cupcake toppers. I love the three skiing Santas at the bottom.

I found a vintage tablecloth decorated with 19th Century scenery.

I also picked up an odd lot of toys including a vintage, wind-up walking turtle (marked Made in Japan), tin train, old hand-buzzers and a wooden Pinocchio toy.

I also bought three little jars of old buttons. In the first jar there were these strange looking buttons. Take a look at the bugs and worm buttons at the bottom of this photo. When I first saw the worm buttons I stopped to make sure they weren't moving before I touched them. Has anyone seen these before?

I returned to one of the estate sales that I visited during the week and found a few more treasures at half price.

This is a set of three pitchers marked Royal Holland Pewter. I loved the sleek lines. 

I also found this mid-century ceramic piece marked Frankoma. 

It was a great three days of thrifting. 

Happy Mother's Day!

This is linked to:

Apron Thrift Girl, Coastal Charm, Common Ground, Creating a House of Grace, Finding Fabulous,  French Country Cottage, It's a Very Cherry World, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, The Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Thrifty Groove, The Thrifty Home and Very Merry Vintage Style

Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop - Mother's Day

Welcome to the Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop for the month of May. This month we are celebrating Mother's Day (or Birthdays.)

My mother was an excellent seamstress and taught me to sew at a young age. Thank you mom! So to celebrate Mother's Day, my project is a wreath made up of various, vintage sewing notions.

On this wreath are vintage button cards, spools, tomato pincushions, strawberry needle cleaners, snaps, sewing needle cards and two measuring tapes. Everything used to create this wreath has been thrifted. Here are some detailed images.

If you looked real closely you might have noticed that the filler material between all of the vintage notions is actually die cut pieces of a sewing pattern. The following is a tutorial to make the basic wreath.

To make the wreath, I used the Sizzix Frame, Circle Scallop die and cut scallop circles out of a sewing pattern. 

Using thrifted straight pins, I pinned scallop circles around the wreath form.

I used about 1 1/2 sewing patterns to create enough scallop circles to cover this wreath. Once the basic wreath is created then you can decorate it any way you like. Some other decorating ideas might be large buttons, lace or ribbon. If you want to make the wreath permanent then I suggest hot gluing all of the parts. I chose to pin my vintage pieces onto the wreath.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful moms out there. Please continue to hop through the Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop using the button on the right.

Proud to be Featured at:

Maybe Matilda's

Cherished Treasures

SNAP!

                                                            

All Thumbs Crafts/Sunburnt Cow

Marvelously Messy

Rook #17

                                                    

A Girl and a Glue Gun

The 36th Avenue

This is linked to:

4Rs, A Little Knick Knack, All Thingz Related, Between Naps on the Porch, Blue Creek Home, Blue Cricket Designs, Brambleberry Cottage, Cherished Treasures, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Coastal Charm,  Common Ground, Craft Envy, Creating a House of Grace, FaveCrafts, Finding Fabulous,  French Country Cottage, Homemaker on a Dime,  I {heart} Naptime,  Inspiring Creations, It's a Very Cherry World,  Keeping It Simple, Krafty Kat,  LollyJane, Lovely Crafty Home, Making the World Cuter, Marvelously Messy,  My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Paisley Passions, Passionately Artistic, Rook No. 17, Running With Glitter, Savvy Southern Style, Sew Can Do, Simply Designing,  Singing Three Little Birds, Skip to My Lou, Someday Crafts, Somewhat Simple, Sunburnt Cow, Tales from Bloggeritaville, Tatertots and Jello, The Colorado Lady, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, The Girl Creative,  The Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Thrifty Groove, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Thirty Sixth Avenue, Truly Lovely, Under the Table and Dreaming, What Allie's Making Now and Wildflowers and Whimsy