A Dolly and A Doll !

 

This is the Dolly. You might recall that I found her a few weeks ago at Goodwill. Well, then I received an email from a woman named Ruth, and I think she's just a Doll!

Here is part of that email:

 

You are my kind of girl - except that I'm old enough to be your Grandma.  I love what you collect and really enjoy your blog. I'm only a blog reader, and too timid to have any kind of Internet identity, so that I'm not able to comment on your blog.  I see today a little doll you've just found at Goodwill.  I would dearly love to purchase her if she's for sale.  I think I'd even have bought the ones that weren't in good shape.  I'm in my second childhood and still play with my toys.  I've made a dollhouse of sorts in my sewing room by stacking old wooden soda crates on their sides.  Your little doll would love to live there with the other dolls.  They have a really good life!

 

Well of course I said yes! And off this dolly went to a new home. Then the fun really began. Because Ruth (being the Doll that she is) sent me lots of pictures to show me where the dolly was now living! Just take a look at this!

You gals won't believe the talent!

 

 This is "The Family" that Noel (that's what Ruth named her) would be coming home to!

Ruth makes all their clothes by hand!

 

 The Family enjoying a picnic.

 

Ha! I love this one! Notice the Donkey? And the fireplace is adorable!

 

 When Noel arrives she is given a lovely little bedroom of her own!

Notice the nightstand and the painting above the bed.

 

 The Family Estate! Can you stand how cute this is?

No fancy doll house needed. The stacked crates make a perfect home!

 

 Noel in the Kitchen, complete with Rice Krispies, a wood burning stove, and wonderful curtains!

 I just noticed that the table leg appears to be a clothes pin!

 

Every home needs a little kitty and a tiny basket!

 

 What girl wouldn't love a custom made nightgown and bathrobe?

 

 And just look how cute the nightie turned out?

 

Goodnight sweet little Noel! I'm so glad you have found your forever home!

 

Ruth- You have brought me so much joy by sharing these pictures!

I'm excited to share them with my blogger friends too! These are the kinds of things we appreciate around here...little details, and hand-made cuteness! lol

YOU are such a doll, and I'm so happy we have become friends over this one little dolly!

Erica :)

 

 

 

 

So Then The Next Day...

 I went to Annie's, my favorite antique store in my home town.

You guys are probably getting so sick of my x-mas posts. If you can just bare with me through Dec.

I promise I'll take a good long break from bringing home x-mas stuff!

 

Won't this Snow Ball box be great for displaying with my vintage Snowmen?

 

 So first I have to tell you that everything was marked super cheap. Like .50 to $2.00.

And because I want to do a Christmas craft show next year I just started scooping things up.

 

 I was super excited to find lots of little deer!

 

 These will be great in a wreath!

 

 A cute little gang!

 

 Lots of bells and even a reindeer with TWO antlers this time! lol

 

 A medium sized wreath.

 

And pretty ornaments.

 

But you won't believe what happened.  This is a store that I've been shopping at since I was about 15. And it's a small town (or it used to be) where everyone pretty much knows each other. I love this place so much. First of all, even if only one woman is scheduled to work, there is always at least four of them sitting at the big table by the register just talking and drinking coffee. And they're all "little old ladies" if I may use those words.

Almost everything that I bought came from the same booth, and that woman was there...drinking coffee of course. And as I went to pay she said "Give her half off of everything".

And I said "Nope, absolutely not"! And we argued back and forth and I said "How about 10% off, that would be wonderful?" And she said "You better take half because tomorrow I'm going to put a sign up that says half off of all Christmas". Fine!  :)

She went home then, and the other ladies told me not to worry about it because they know that her house is PACKED and she just needs to sell stuff.

 

So that was a fun day in my home town. I'm heading back out to my parent's house now to load up all of my bins of x-mas decorations. I store them there because I just don't have the room. I promise that I won't stop at any of the shops! lol

Hope you're all having a great day! It's snowing here in MN!

Erica

 

 



A Tisket A Tasket...An Estate Sale Basket

 A couple weeks ago I went to the 50% off day of an Estate Sale. It was a real digger of a sale! Boxes and boxes of little bits! The result is this basket of x-mas stuff that's been sitting in the corner of my dining room, just waiting for me to sort. So let's do it together, shall we?

 

****Note this sale showed TONS of vintage x-mas in it's ad. So I purposely didn't go on days one and two. I just want to make sure that I'm given some sort of credit for "trying" to keep the addiction at bay!

 

 I like the little red and silver one with a basket of flowers on it. It has a Shiny Brite cap.

 

 The ornaments at this sale must have been wonderful if these were still hanging around.

 

 The Angel is marked JAPAN and the deer each have one antler!

 

 What were the chances of finding that jumbo spun head again? lol

 

 supplies...

 and more supplies.

 

I'm somehow missing a pic of my favorite thing in the basket. But it's those XL mica covered sugar bells that say Merry Christmas on them. I hadn't seen them before!

I paid $10 for everything including the big basket. It was a fun time and best of all guilt free!

 

But then last weekend happened! Dang you "Vintage Christmas Buyer's Guilt"!

 

I spent the night out at my parent's house so I could watch their dogs while they were away. So of course I had to check out all my usual little shops. The Angel, tinsel, and hot pink Shiny Brites were at the little thrift store.

 

But I just had a feeling that once I took some of the vintage stuff, the manager would put out more of it. So I went back the next day! And right in the same spot were more boxes of ornaments! I'm sooo bummed about the indented ones. There were originally 8 of them, and I'm now down to 4! They break if you even glance at them!

 

 Apparently I can't walk away from Santa Mugs. Believe me, I really do keep trying.

 

 I think next year I might try doing a x-mas art/craft show. And I thought that this angel trim would be good to put around the tables. I don't think it's very old. I also found an ornament kit to sell!

 

What were the Ice Follies? Does anyone know? This has the cutest pictures in it! I suppose if I took the time to sit down and read it I would learn something!

 

The next day I went to my favorite Antique Store. Post to follow.

Hope you're all having a great week! I thank you so much for stopping by!

Erica :)



It's A Holiday Market Monday Take Two!

*THANK YOU for all of your helpful (and sweet) comments on my last post!
 Hi friends! Welcome to my first little Holiday Market! It's a mix of both handmade and vintage items. If you don't find something today, I'll be having at least two more markets before Christmas.

As always, if you're the first person to speak up for an item below, consider it SOLD. Thank you for making this so easy and fun!

Please make sure that I have a working email for you, and I will send you a PAYPAL INVOICE within about 48 hours.

Merry and Noel: $22 PAIR SOLD
My first spun head dolls I think. A sweet pair of angel girls made of nearly all vintage materials. Their skirts are remnants of an old tulle x-mas tree! 4 inches tall

 

 Santa Mug Collection: $8 SOLD

The one with blue eyes in the only one not marked JAPAN. All are a bit chippy or crazed.

Jumbo Vintage Deer: $19 SOLD
Celluloid deer with vintage trims, and glitter. He stands 9.5 inches tall!
 

 Holt Howard Angel Tree Topper: $30 SOLD

She can be a tree topper or free-stand. Her chenille arms are original to her. She holds a vintage candy cane and tree from JAPAN. Her skirt is made from a vintage tulle x-mas tree that I pulled apart. Glass mercury beads go all around her waist. I re-glued her HH sticker to the inside of her cone. Oh! And her halo is made of that wonderful vintage pink tinsel!

 

 Holiday Crafting Supplies: $8    2 AVAILABLE BOTH SOLD

I packed these bags! There are glass beads, a Santa, a Snowman, a Spun Head, a lots of other fun stuff! There's a vintage poker chip too if you need a base for a character.
 

 

 Spun Cotton Pink Angel Lights: 45.00 for 2 Boxes SOLD

I tried them last night and they work perfectly. I don't think they've ever been used. There are 15 angels on each strand. Sorry, I don't want to break up the set. So darn cute and unique!

 

A close up!

 

 Set of 3 Handmade Christmas Corsages: $12 SOLD

If you saw my previous post, these are the three that are entirely vintage materials

except for the foil bow.

 

 

St/2 Antique Composition Snowmen: $12 SOLD

The one on the right has a repair to his knee. It's done well though. These are just under 3 inches tall.

Not sure if they're German or Czech.

 

  Baby Jesus Scene: $18 SOLD

The metal piece was some sort of gage. I've cut a very old card down to fit the back.  It has two kinds of vintage tinsel , and a wonderful old mica covered star over the tree (I've waited soooo long to use that little star lol) The tree (not the glass beads)  and deer are new, but the angel is an original

 Holt Howard!

 

The card was from 1941 and I put some of it on the back!

 

Shiny Brites: $12 SOLD

I'll find you a S.B box top. These are in "good vintage" condition. Some age related wear.

Measure about 2.5 inches across. Standard size.

 

 

Happy Holidays! Erica  



What Was The Deal With Market Monday? (and a few finds)

Hello there my Dear Bloggy Pals!

 I'm sorry about the confusion with "Market Monday". Here's what happened. First of all the day started off with a very nasty email from someone who read a post of mine. And by nasty I mean that this woman was completely out of her mind. But more importantly she was so very wrong, both about me and the post itself because she didn't read it closely. So after immediately deleting the comment I got right to work on my "Market Monday" post.

 

(Several weeks ago I scored this big concrete planter for $9 at the 50% off day of an Estate Sale)

 

So then my market started at 5:00pm and right away I started having problems with

 being able to contact any of my customers. Every sale was from someone

that had a no-reply email and a completely blank profile.

 



(Vintage aqua plates marked "Poppy Trail by Metlox", found at Goodwill for .99 each)

 

So after waiting all evening with no contact, and not even knowing if they were serious buyers...I just decided to shut it down. It was just "one of those days"!

 



(A bunch of spun heads, including a jumbo one, found at my favorite antique store)

 

Now let me say that each of these customers ended up being REAL (and very nice) !

 They contacted me by last night and it all worked out. And of course I appreciate them shopping at my little market so much!

 



Did you think I could get through a post w/o showing any x-mas stuff? Haa!

Fun "smalls" from that same antique store.

 

Now for my "SOAP BOX".

I believe that It's frustrating for many bloggers who receive comments from people who have Google profiles that are totally empty, and a no-reply email address. I get that it's each person's right to create their online identity whichever way they choose. But I can't tell you how often I want to thank someone for a kind comment they've left on my blog, and I can not. And it's even worse when someone has asked a question and then I go to answer it and it says "no-reply". I worry that they'll think I'm being so rude to not even answer.

And it really makes things difficult when it involves my "Market Mondays".

 



( Because I love tacky spun cotton characters so much, I felt I should have some that are encapsulated forever in "unbreakable" plastic! lol They were a good deal on EBay )

 

So, that's the story! I'm just suggesting that if you have a no-reply email address you might want to consider changing it, or just make sure that you leave us a way to get a hold of you when we need to.

 



Here is a helpful tip: If you name your dog Noel (not Noelle) you can easily find her name on an assortment of Holiday décor...making it even more tempting to buy! :)

These were each .50 at that 50% off Estate Sale. I think I will cut a hole in the round piece to make it a feather tree skirt.

 

OK- I will re post my previous "Market Monday" this coming Monday the 18th at 5:00 central time. I'll be sure to add more items too!

 

Thank you all so much! I hope you're having a great week.

Erica :)