Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Antique Store Finds

 My Mom has been great about making sure that I get to the thrift store or antique shop at least once a week during all this cast business. Yesterday she took me to a really big antique store a few towns over.

 
I found quite a few cute things. Including this vintage Sugar Crisp ad, and the Texaco one above. They're big ads, and they'll be great in frames I think! Here are the other things that came home with me...

Somewhere on Pinterest I saw someone display their Red 401 Pyrex Mixing Bowl full of vintage cookie cutters. It looked so darn cute that I have been on the hunt for ones with red and green handles. These were cheap, but have you seen the prices on EBay for cookie cutters lately? Ridiculous!

A "Wolverine" brand kiddie iron for $2.50! My mom thought I was crazy for buying this. But I have a vintage red child's ironing board that I'm going to pair it with. I think my niece will think it's fun!

I couldn't pass up this Sunny Book for $1.50! But do you see that original price tag peeking out? Yes, I'd like 6/1.00 please! Haaa!

Hmmmm....It's a mystery for sure!

I added 3 cute vintage cards to my collection for only $1 each. I really want to get into fixing vintage images (digitally), and perhaps make things with them to sell. I need to think about it some more, but Meri has given me some good advice! Speaking of, Meri (of ImaginMeri's Creations)  actually sent me the super cute wrapping paper that's in the background, along with lots of other little treasures, when she sent her amazing Friendship Tag! Thank you so much Meri! You are a sweetheart!

Speaking of sweethearts...Debbie (of My Vintage Daydreams) sent me this darling kiddie toaster! She also sent a trio of the cutest little plaques with Dutch decals on them! I'll have to show you those another time as I messed up the picture! Thank you Debbie! You really made my day with that beautiful package!

 OK, back to the things from the antique store. Look at this sweet little thread box!
I wonder who EN was. I need to change it to a E.B though!

 Sweet candy colored Coats Threads!

LOL I shouldn't even show you this because I know I said I was quitting this habit! But the 024 Casserole is my favorite! I still wanted the pink one...and there it was! Actually this one is a "Desert Dawn" Pink, and I don't care that it's missing it's lid. I want to stack all the colors together anyway!

In other Pyrex news...I didn't have any of this pattern and they were only $6 at the thrift. Oops, I didn't wash them before this pic. I think the white one will turn out nice and bright.

Another Rand McNally for my collection, and some vintage x-mas ribbon.


And then these were all at the Goodwill. My favorite is that little Elephant! And the aqua planter is McCoy. It's got a chip, but that's OK!

I hope you're all having a fabulous week! I'm feeling much better and I'm hoping to do lots of crafting and art over the next few days! Talk to you soon!
Erica :)

There were so many red things in this post that I'm going to link up with Sue for REDNESDAY!
Make sure to hop on over to "It's A Very Cherry World" to see other cute things!








Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Christmas Cheers Me Up!

Hello Friends! Hope you're all doing well. Actually, I know a couple gals who aren't doing too well :(
So before I dive right into the unimportant vintage stuff, I wanted to mention them.
Debbie of My Vintage Daydreams is a sweetheart. She could really use some thoughts and prayers for her little boy right now. And Leslie of Brook Hollow Lane and Sally of Sally Annie Magundy BOTH had to say goodbye to their dogs this week. I know that's one of the most heartbreaking things ever. I'm thinking about each of these women tonight, and I was hoping that (if you haven't already) you might stop by and wish them well.
I've been in this cast for 4 weeks. I'm trying to be happy that I've accomplished that...but I still have 8 weeks ahead of me!!! Ahhhh! The good news is that I was able to take my arthritis meds this week. Now I should be able to use my hands and start making some things at my art table. Now here is what I have been doing to make myself feel a little better in the mean time...BUYING X-MAS STUFF ONLINE! Haaa! I couldn't help it! It's sooo darn tempting when you're stuck on the couch!

 I bought this card on EBay. I have a collection of Snowman cards that I'll show you soon.

Look at the inside! It was from Al, their MILK MAN! Isn't that cute???

Next came these huge vintage address labels. The kind seller included the "Sno Foolin" card!

 I "WON" these seals on EBay for $7.99. I have tons of little x-mas seals, but these are different because they're huge! The felted girl in the middle is the size of my palm.

Soon I'll get some of the best ones scanned and posted so you guys can print them!

OK, I have an addiction to spun cotton snowmen. But not just any of them...specificly this style! Seriously, if you are reading this and happen to have some that you'd like to sell, let me know. :)

I told Laurie of Magpie Ethel that this Santa (which will be great on a big wreath) and the lights below, are kind of her fault! Hee Hee! I spent one whole evening just looking at all of the vintage x-mas on her blog. Did you know that she has so much stuff that you can actually spend hours looking at her blog? She is the queen of holiday vintage!

So the next day I had my mom take me (knee scooter and all) to Annie's! I had Vintage Christmas on the mind. Annie and the girls hadn't displayed any x-mas yet, but I did manage to find this great old box of lights and the Santa head! The lights were only $7.50 and I love those graphics.

I wanted to apologize for not being good about replying to comments and emails lately! My hands have been so swollen and sore that I have stayed away from typing. But now I think it's all good!
Erica :)


Noel wanted to say Hi today. I think I've told you before that she carries a pool ball with her wherever she goes. That's my crazy girl! :)

We are linking up with Sue for REDNESDAY today!



Friday, September 14, 2012

At The Flea Market!

The weekend before my surgery I had planned on going FULL FORCE at both of the flea markets near me. This would be it for the year, so I had to go out with a bang right? LOL

The Yellow New Dot Pyrex was from EBay, but everything else was from that weekend. I've always thought that this cookie jar was really cute. She had it marked $15.00, but she took $10!  I got to cross that little strawberry jam jar off of my (mental) must find list too!

I mostly bought the x-mas lights because of the cute graphics, but I tested them when I got home and they DO work! Only $3!

I found a great old locker basket, vintage cookie cutters, and my favorite find...this J.CHEIN & CO wind-up rabbit! He still works too, and was $5.

The top two pieces of PYREX were from the flea, but the bottom one just came yesterday in the mail! The very talented and generous Renee of My Vintage Mending sent this gorgeous Turquoise Snowflake piece!
You can about imagine how excited I was to open that package!

OK, I bought more PYREX in those two days than I ever have on one weekend! I even bought patterns that I swore I wasn't going to collect (Woodland that's you). Because I think when I finally get it all stacked and displayed I'll be glad to have some browns and darker colors.

I found some little dress pot holders that will make cute little gifts!

This bag of vintage fabrics is HUGE! I paid $15 for it and was anxious to get home and see what was really in there. Oh boy was it good!

Gobs of cute fabrics...

Another bag of Hexies...

And dozens of Sunbonnet Sue's already cut! As soon as I can get back on my arthritis meds and my hands don't hurt, I'm really going to get serious about sewing!

I don't know why I thought I needed this used vintage Baby Book. Well, yes I do! It's full of cute graphics.


This baby boy's Mama was so sweet. She recorded every little detail. It makes me a little sad that it didn't stay in their family. It's so odd how that happens.

Pretty sweet huh?

 This folder of a dozen prints was just a dollar. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I thought they were neat.

What we do... Day by Day :)

Like eat our breakfast! :)

Hope you guys enjoyed seeing what I found at the flea markets!
Talk to you soon my friends!
Erica

Thursday, September 13, 2012

WINNERS! :)

Yesterday I reached 100 followers! Yippee! :) So tonight I was able to use "Random Number Generator", and draw two winners for my Christmas items that I posted about a few weeks ago. Here are the results:

 The winner of the SNOWMAN is Renee of My Vintage Mending! 
(time stamp: 2012 9/14 04:20:17UTC)

And the winner of the Reindeer Pic is Susie of "Little Susie Homemaker"!
(time stamp: 2012 9/14 04:20:01 UTC)

And actually they each won the opposite item, but we are flip flopping because I can see in their comments that Renee wanted the Snowman and Susie preferred the Reindeer's. I love when things work out like that!
Thank you ALL for following me, and making blogging so fun!
I'll be doing more giveaways now that we are approaching the holidays...so stay tuned!
Erica




Monday, September 10, 2012

I Miss Mary!

This Spring I found a whole stack of the best magazine ever, "Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion" at my local thrift for .25 each. There were a few in there that I didn't have, but of course I took them all!

 For .25 each how could I leave them there? This magazine was so full of inspiration!

This is MY copy of the "Premier Issue". I was a freshman up at the University of MN Duluth, as was my twin sister Angie. She visited home one weekend and I stayed on campus. And when she came back she brought me this magazine!  That's my sister! :)

I think I looked at it for days! Finally there were people who liked the same things that I did!
People who liked to CREATE and COLLECT...and collect! hehe

That first issue taught you how to make a tassel out of rag ball strips!

However I very soon found what would become my favorite section for years to come. The Artist's Workshop would feature a new Artist in each magazine. They would tell the story of how they became an artist, what exactly they create, and usually a look at their work space.

The artist in that first issue was a Folk Artist named Linda Solovic. Just look at the beautiful collage work she does with found objects.

I remember the day I went to Barnes & Noble to buy my highly anticipated, newest copy of H.C...and it wasn't there! The kid behind the counter typed some things into the computer and then told me (like it was no big deal) that they wouldn't be carrying it anymore, but he didn't know why. What????

I got online and found out the bad news. This great magazine would no longer be!
What a bummer! It was so great while it lasted right? And I'm so glad that I kept my copies!

A few weeks ago this tiny book was at the Goodwill for .99.  I never got into anything M.E besides the magazines, but I really love some of the encouraging sayings that are in here. So it came home with me.

At the beginning of the summer Target had a bunch of M.E. things in the dollar section. Did you see them? These note cards were too cute to pass by,

as were these recipe cards! I thought they would be great in my vintage J.Chein & Co. recipe box...but nope!
Vintage recipe boxes are much smaller than the cards made today. Oh well, the cards can be used for so many other things.

Of course there are still plenty of other cute M.E. things out there to buy if you must!

 Go HERE for this cute set of Alphabet and Number Magnets!

Or how about HERE for the 2013 Mini Wall Calendar?
Look at this super cute Paper Crafting Kit! You can order it through TARGET!
 
Target Online also carries this book, Sew So Cute!
 
 
How many of you subscribed to M.E's Home Companion? And if you did, do you miss it like I do? Have you found a magazine that takes it's place?
 
Well friends, I'm writing this post from the couch, with my foot in a blue cast. They even put some glitter glue on it for me so it has a green sparkle! This time around is prooving to be a bit more challenging than the same surgery that was done on my other foot, last year. The ankle joint was in even worse shape, so they had to add a pin and do a bone graft. Yuck! In four weeks I get the pin out, and then I'll get the cast off in another four weeks from that. When I think about having this darn thing on for another two months I could easily lose it! I've also had to stop my R.A meds due to risk of infection. I know lots of you have arthritis and know what it's like if you go off of your meds for weeks. It's pretty immobilizing.
I NEVER want my blog to be a place for me to whine about personal problems. But just this once I needed to vent! And I also wanted to THANK YOU all so much for the kind messages and beautiful packages that you have sent.
Blogging and becoming friends with some of the most kind women ever has truly been a blessing in my life.
I hope you know that you're helping me get through a very difficult time, and you're so appreciated!
 
Love, Erica