Welcome To

Welcome To

Monday, September 30, 2013

Orange and Black

Hello everyone, long lost Sister Hanna here.  The last few weeks have been filled with family time, weddings, work, and rain.  I think today is the first time I've seen the sun in a week!  Thrifting finds have been slim, but thank goodness I have a Sister that brightens things up with Pyrex gifts!
 I really have been acquiring quite the record collection, but man do they take up space!  I wish you could all hear my beautiful singing voice right now like my husband can, Men at Work was such an exciting find!  The black tulip is the beauty Sister picked up for me at the awesome estate sale where she found me my second Saxony (wink wink.)  The town and country fridgie was a lone survivor at my Goodwill.  The little bar cart deserves a close-up.
Really, a bar cart for a dollhouse?  I think it might need a mini decanter and glasses!
As I said slim pickings around here.  I thought I would pull some of my orange and black Pyrex out to get in the Halloween season.  My husband came home and asked if I was decorating for football season (our team is the Oregon State Beavers and their colors are orange in black.)  I said sure, of course, just so he wouldn't pay too close attention to some of these pieces that may have come out of hiding.

Erica is headed my way on Friday.  Here's to hoping she brings some good luck with her!
Always a Pleasure!
Hanna

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Super Exciting!

Hi Everyone! 

There is a large, single owner antique store in my town that I don't frequent very often.  They mostly carry furniture and new but made to look old primitives.  They even came to my estate sale last fall and bought a ton of newer stuff to sell in their store.  They are really nice people but just don't sell the type of smalls and vintage that I like to look for.  Recently, they ventured out and decided to open an estate sale company.  They hold the sales in an office space that they purchased behind their store.  So when you walk in, there is the large reception area and then lots of little "offices" that they organize like you would see in an actual estate sale held in a house. 

So their first sale was last Friday and surprisingly, there weren't a whole lot of people there.  I did see a couple of my dealer friends and my aunt was there too but I really expected to see a line of 40-50 people that accompany every single estate sale in this town.  I think that people were discouraged by the fact that it was being run by an antique store owner so they thought the prices would be really high.  They couldn't have been more wrong.

Normally, I don't really talk about the pricing of items I buy unless I got a really good deal on something that would usually go for a lot more elsewhere.  However, the prices at this sale were so incredible that I just have to share.


Like the pink cradle I bought a few weeks ago, I have no idea what in the world I am going to do with this tin doll highchair.  But it's my favorite shade of blue and has the remnants of the cutest decal on it and for $2 there was no way I wasn't buying it.


Brian loves old soda collectibles like crates and coolers.  I knew he would love this Pepsi bottle carrier but it didn't have a price on it.  When I asked, the guy said "We just sold one in the store for $40.00.  How about $5?".  I love how they realize that estate sales aren't retail stores!  The shortening bucket is for my 4th of July decorations next year and set me back a whole dollar.


I never pass up old jars, especially when they are only $2 each.  You never know when you may need to slap an old decal on one and make a new canister.

Since this was the first sale this company had put on, nobody really knew how the layout worked.  I had been inside the sale for about 5 minutes when I walked by one room and spotted a Pyrex Primary refrigerator set ($20 with lids included).  I had to be the first person to walk into this room full of vintage kitchen because there is no way that any of the dealers who I know pick up Pyrex would have passed up this


Saxony/Tree of Life #475 for, are you ready?  $5 with the lid!!  Can you believe it?  I have wanted this piece forever but have never seen it in person.  I have almost bought it online a few times but came to my senses.  I was super jealous when Hanna bought one on eBay a while back but knew I would find one eventually.  Either that or Sister's would go missing the next time I visited.

I also picked up something for Hanna but I will let her share that with you.  I did a really good job and left a lot of Pyrex even though the prices were amazing.  It's my way of paying it forward to all the other collectors out there :-)

I heard a lot of people grumbling about the prices on the larger items like furniture and tools and truth be told, I didn't even look at any of it.  All I know is that the prices on the smalls and things I love were dirt cheap.  You can bet I will be at their next sale!

Brian, the kids, and I are off to see Jason Aldean & Jake Owen tonight in Vancouver.  It's been a busy Summer of concerts and this is the last one for a while.  I can't wait!

Linking up over at :

Coloradolady for Vintage Thingie Thursday
Jann Olson for SYC Thursday


~Erica



Monday, September 23, 2013

Where Did Last Week Go?

Hi There!

This morning, I noticed that it has been a whole week since you have heard from us!  Normally when this happens, there is a reason for us being MIA.  But this time, I have no excuses.  Last week must have just totally gotten away from me.  But at least I have things to show you all.  How sad would it be to not only go missing for a week but have nothing to show for it?

Our local flea market opened up again last Sunday.  All Summer long, I have been reading all of your blogs and seeing your great flea market finds.  You are all so lucky to have flea markets to go to in the Summer!  For whatever reason, ours closes the first weekend of June.  Guess the sellers just want some time to hit the garage sales and restock.


I have been on the hunt for an old lamp shade like this for a while.  I have enlisted Brian to make a chandelier for above our bed.  He's thrilled :-)


This rusty old bread box will be repurposed into a planter.


I actually picked this up for Laurie over at Magpie Ethel.  But I had a nagging suspicion that she already had it.  So once I got home, I did a little search on her blog and lo & behold, she does have it!  Oh well.  It's so dang cute, I'm thrilled to keep it.


Although we have two bathrooms in our house, Maddie prefers to use mine to get ready rather than share one with her brother (crazy, huh?).  I actually headed to the flea market with the intention of finding her a cute box or container to corral all her stuff.  I succeeded!  This aqua case with it's Lucite handle fits in perfect with my bathroom décor as well as her bedroom.


Readers of our blog know how much I love turquoise and pink so the Lustro Ware shakers and Tea-Time baby utensils should make total sense!


The Story Wagon reader was also a no brainer.  I mean, it has a donkey on the cover!  Normally, Hanna is the owl lover out of the two of us but since she already has a set of these Shawnee shakers, these got to come home with me!


I can't wait to use this Samsonite travel bag when I go visit Hanna in two weeks!!


I was drawn to these vintage glasses because of the colors.  I thought they would be perfect for Fall.  When the seller saw me pick them up, she told me I could have them all for a dollar!  She said she just wanted to get rid of stuff, not make a fortune.  My kind of seller for sure.

With the horrible estate season winding down, I'm super happy that the flea market has started up again.  At least I have a (mostly) no fail way to feed my vintage addiction.

Linking up with:

Sir Thrift-A-Lot for Thriftasaurus & The Cottage Market for Junkin' Joe.

Have a great week!

~Erica

Monday, September 16, 2013

A Vintage Harvest

Happy Monday!

Before we headed off to the antique fair last weekend, Maddie & I went to our favorite local antique mall for their seasonal open house. This year it was called A Vintage Harvest and all of the vendors did an amazing job setting up their booths for Fall.  It definitely put me in the mood for some fall decorating.  I didn't find a whole lot of stuff but was happy to browse and get some inspiration.


I found this sweet little heater hiding underneath a table in one of the booths.  It's hard to see in the photo but it is the perfect shade of Jadeite green.  We own a heating & air conditioning company so I thought it would be a fun little thing to display.  It's new home is my bathroom.


You should have seen the look that Maddie gave me when I picked up this Black Flag Sprayer.  It will go with my Halloween decorations perfectly!  Vintage Halloween is so hard to find around here and if I do find it, I basically have to sell my first born to afford it.  So I tend to purchase the more non-obvious Halloween items to incorporate into my decorations.


The moon and star ornaments are new and are covered with glass black beads.  The seller added some vintage crepe paper adornments to make them a little more vintage-y.


I found this cute child's iron and bought it to use in my laundry room remodel.  My plan is to remove the cord and add a little hook to the iron handle.  Then I'll use it for a towel holder like Laurie did here.

 
I swear that every time I go to one of these open houses, I find an aqua refrigerator dish. This time was no exception.  I picked up the 502 plus lid for $6! 

So that 502 plus these cuties that Hanna steered me toward on eBay for mere pennies.....


Led me to another completed set!

 
At the Farm Chicks show in June, I bought an amazing black and red poppy tablecloth that I thought would be perfect for Halloween.  I finally got around to giving it a good soak and hang in the sun and it looks beautiful
 

 
Isn't it awesome?
 
Speaking of tablecloths, a while back I had someone leave a comment asking me to show my collection. 
 
 
 
I stack them in baskets and display them in my bedroom.  They are way too pretty to be hiding in a cabinet.
 
I hope everyone has a great week.  Mine started out great until about 10 minutes ago when I found out that Farm Chicks is on my birthday next year (Yay!!) but also on the same day as Alex's high school graduation (Nooooooooooooo!!!!!).  Not to worry though, friends.  Hanna, Rachel, & I already have something in the works to compensate for this devastating loss.  Alameda, here we come!
 
~Erica




Thursday, September 12, 2013

Coburg Antique Fair Finds

Hi Everyone!

I would have shown you all my treasures from the Coburg Antique Fair a little sooner but that sneaky sister of mine blogged before me!  I didn't want to steal her blogging glory, especially since she doesn't get to show off her finds as often as I do so I figured I'd wait a couple of days.  I know, I know.  I am the nicest sister in the world :-)

The fair opened officially at 8:00 but since it's out in the open, people get there as early as 4 am with their flashlights to start digging.  That's a little early, even for an early riser like me.  So Maddie & I got there at about 7:30.  There were already a good amount of people there but not so many that you couldn't walk around each booth freely.  That didn't happen until about 10:00 so we had lots of time to ourselves to pick before the after church crowd showed up.

The first booth we stopped in had some great smalls that would not very likely be there had we come later, and definitely not at the great prices the sellers were asking.


Bride & groom mica birds marked Japan.  Are you dying?!


Old birds for the Christmas tree


A pink mica snowman with a turquoise hat!


A couple of 50 cent holiday candy containers.

There was a lot of Pyrex at this festival.  One of the first booths we visited had two six foot long tables full of it, but I only had eyes for this beauty


I already have this Pink Scroll Space Saver.  My wonderful Sisterita bought it for me for Christmas.  But for $14 there was no way I was leaving it behind.  Ready for a funny Maddie story?  So when I go to the Coburg Antique Fair, I almost always barter.  Even if I'm just asking them to drop the price a couple of dollars, I figure it's worth a shot, even if the sellers say no.  Well we all know how Miss Maddie loves to barter so she makes me stand off to the side while she talks money with the sellers.  I told her to offer $12.00 on this.  After she spoke to the seller, she called me over to pay.  Imagine my surprise when the lady told me I owed her $10.00.  As we were walking away, I asked Maddie why I only had to pay $10.00.  She told me that she didn't think $12.00 was a good price so she asked to get it for 10.  That's my girl!


I told you guys that I was specifically going to be looking for throw rugs and stuff for Maddie's room remodel.  I was happy to find this runner.  Maddie got the guy to knock $5 off the price AND throw in a pink plastic piggy bank for her collection which you will see in a bit.


Is this little barrel not the perfect trash can for a vintage cowgirl room remodel?


This turquoise beauty brings my grand total of these metal patio chairs to 5.  I love that I don't even have to paint it!


I have a really difficult time leaving well priced tins behind.  The one on the right is actually an old Hershey candy container painted with a cute decal added.


This old rooster cake carrier is still sitting on my dining room table.  I'm not exactly sure yet where I am going to put it.  Do you ever do that?  Buy things that you have no place for but love it so much it doesn't matter?


No friends, I am not showing you my pink Rainbow Stripe bowls again (although I'm sure you wouldn't mind).  This is ANOTHER set that I found at Coburg for a price so good, I would have been a lunatic to leave behind.  Haven't I told you all that it's a good idea to have a backup?  Now I don't have to worry about using my other set.


Surprisingly, I only came home with one tablecloth, but isn't it pretty?  It was pretty stained up but a good soak and hang in the sun got it good as new.


I have had the pink version of this salt and pepper set pinned on my Vintage Pinks board on Pinterest forever.  I seriously never thought I would actually come across one in person and in turquoise no less!


Hanna and I have different feelings about these Hazel Atlas ivy bowls.  I love them but sister says she won't buy them because the ivy is an invasive species. Dang Oregon college education!


I guess she wouldn't have bought this Pyrex Ivy 444 either!  I did though because I have the matching 441 and bracket so now I can put the whole Chip & Dip set together.


I love these bake, serve, & store casseroles and Horizon Blue is one of my favorite patterns to collect.  I bought the Sweetheart Drinking Straws to use in my Valentine's Day decorations.  Don't you think they are perfect for that?


I have always coveted these child size watering cans.  Can you believe that I have found two this Summer?  This one is in way better condition than the one I found at the Plucky Maiden show.  Maddie bartered on the Frigidaire advertising glass for me with one of my dealer friends.  I was standing off to the side like I was told and I saw him notice it was Maddie and start looking around for me.  He started cracking up when he spotted me and yelled "getting your daughter to do your dirty work for you?".  The glass is really cool.  It has swatches of all of the refrigerator colors on it.  I wonder if they gave it to you when you bought the refrigerator or maybe gave it to you as a way to entice you into buying one?


Maddie found this pair of kissing salt & pepper shakers that she informed me will be decorating her bedroom this holiday season.  The aforementioned free pig joined all of his friends in her advertising bank collection.  And an antique fair just wouldn't be an antique fair without a furry figurine!




Maddie is really starting to get particular about the books she wants in her collection so although there was amount of vintage books for sale would have filled a library, she only brought home these six.  One booth we were in was really crowed so I decided to walk out rather than fight for space.  As I was leaving, I heard Maddie ask me for a dollar.  When I got out of the booth, I got a dollar out of my wallet and called to her to come and get it.  She looked at me and shook her head and held her finger up to her lips.  I could tell she was trying not to laugh.  Then she slid a dollar bill out from behind the book she was wanting to buy.  I asked her where she got it and she pointed to a sweet looking little old lady.  Evidently the lady heard Maddie ask me for a dollar so she slipped her one and whispered "Happy Birthday".  Maddie says we have to Pay it Forward now. 

So although we had a really fun day together, we both missed Hanna tons!  I saw so many things I knew she would love but probably wouldn't have room for.  She is a lot more disciplined when I am when it comes to possible vintage hoarding.  But I did manage to pick this up for her


Please excuse the little hand in the photo.  Maddie was trying to tear of the price tag before we took the picture to send to Hanna.  How cute is this lamp?  I told her that it was for a possible future baby's room but I have a feeling it will be on her nightstand before that!

Lots of photos & lots of treasures.  I can't wait until next year.  I am so fortunate to have such a great show 20 minutes from my house.  But next year, Hanna will be with us if I have to drive to Astoria and get her myself!

Linking up with:

Coloradolady for Vintage Thingie Thursday
The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday
Jann Olson for SYC Thursday
The Cottage Market for Junkin' Joe
Sir Thrift-A-Lot for Thriftasaurus

And when Pink Saturday is up over at How Sweet the Sound, I will party there too!

Have a great upcoming weekend!

~Erica

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Honeycombs and Some Other Prizes

Happy Tuesday!  Now that I'm working at home I feel all cooped up at the end of the day and a quick run to the GW is the only cure.  I've found a few goodies here and there, mostly holiday themed items for Erica.  Here are the prizes:
 I'm not the wild holiday decorator like Erica, mostly because we're never home for holidays.  I love contributing to her madness though!  I was super excited for the made in Denmark Thanksgiving turkey and Pilgrim, I've never seen anything like them before.  The Beistle kitty was irresistible too.
 I love purchasing creepy things for Sister.  The bunny is what we would call, "On the loose," but I thought he would be happy in Easterland at Erica's next year.  She also has a pair of anthropomorphic peppers and I felt like this grumpy veggie would feel right at home next to them.
I picked up a few random items for myself also.  First, I had to have this dip bowl with the zodiac signs.  I wonder what the chip bowl that goes with it looks like?  I really liked this beer shaker for Matt.  If you can't read it, it says "I have a few reasons for drinking, and one has just entered my head, If a man can't drink when he's living, how the hell can he drink when he's dead?"  This is about the most random made in Japan shaker I've ever found!
 I think the Pyrex gods were feeling sorry for me.  I can't remember the last time I bought a piece, let alone butterprint, lucky me!
 And my most favorite find, a Sunkist Oranges crate.  I sure wish the paper graphics were in better shape, although I kind of like this weathered look.
Its a big crate for sure and the first I've ever found at a GW.  I paid a little more than I usually would for a crate ($4.99), but I was so happy to find something for once that I just went for it!
In other news, I got a new fur niece (don't worry Erica didn't get a 4th dog!)  This is my Sister-in-laws new puppy Bindi.  She is a little angel and Piper loved her when they met last weekend.  So of course I've had puppy fever all week!  Here's to hoping I have some self control!

Better late than never.  I'm linking up over at Thriftasaurus!
Until we meet again!
Hanna