Greetings, dear readers!
This weekend I was afforded the pleasure of an experience of which many of you can already claim "veteran" status...an estate sale!
I didn't know exactly HOW these things worked, but I saw one advertised that had a kiln for sale...I have always wanted a pottery kick wheel and a kiln...not that I'm AT ALL sure of where I'll put such things...bit it seemed a good enough excuse to venture westward.
Apparently these sales start incredibly early (7 a.m...and on a SATURDAY, that IS early in my book!) so we went by the ATM...withdrew what meager funds we could afford (as the ad said, "Cash Only")...and set out. It was MUCH later than I would have preferred by the time we reached our destination, and, much to our chagrin, the kiln (which was still sitting on display) was sold for a mere $180.00! We were sad to hear it...but determined we might as well stay and see what other goodies we might be able to bring home with us.
Here are the vintage finds:
The mushrooms were ugly brown glazed salt and pepper shakers. Since they didn't actually look fit to use, I decided to paint and seal the tops. Aren't they TOO adorable? The little elfin creature was sitting in the middle of a box of vintage Christmas ornaments...I'll get to those in a minute! The wonderful little children's book, "Toten's Christmas Secret", (copyright 1951) has some delightful images:
And sitting downstairs by the kiln, was an old shoebox full of abandoned, handmade ornaments. They were so colorful, and...well...hand made! I just had to buy them!
Don't you just LOVE the expression on the princess' face? The pattern tracing is still visible on the felt ornaments, but that makes it even better! Two of my faves are the madonna and the needlepoint bear. Just look at the stitching! It makes my head hurt to even THINK about such intricacies!
And THEN, I found several piles of sewing goodies...behold:
It is SO sweet...and...bohemian looking. There are hearts and birds and flowers and cornucopias...it seemed very "Netherlands" to me. That's why I used it as the backdrop for the gnome/elf stuff...it just seems to "go together" you know?
And then I came upon these bundles of joy:
Are they not absolutely GORGEOUS? I just LOVE the flowers and tiny white pom pom trim! Much of the lace on the other board is tatting. I don't know what that is, other than it is a very intricate sewing technique done with tiny thread and needles (a friend of mine "tats" and has clued me in)
The wide, blue vintage velvet absolutely won me over...along with the yellow and white daisy trim...well, who could walk away from THAT?!?
But wait! There's more!
I found another children's book with such adorable illustrations...
Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest...but I think you can see the yummy colors and the sweet style in which the children are drawn. SO cute! Teamed up with my vintage wind up duck and lamb candle...it makes a darling little vignette!
And finally, a paper crafter's dream...old calendars to cut up and use in my altAred art! These are from the incredible Cynthia Hart and John Gossman...beautiful. Amazing photos from their vast collection of vintage ephemera...
A couple of examples of their calendar pages:
Once again, sorry about the "hot spot" on the photo...I was snapping feverishly and didn't realize I was overexposing things...
Pretty good for first time out, huh?
OH! I almost forgot! Stay tuned to the next post or two for a super duper exciting announcement!
More soon!
XOXOXO
Paula Clare
