A House Full Of Stuff: My Vintage Christmas Haul

 Hi Pals! Hope you're all happy and well! :)
This post is about something that happened to me last December, on my birthday of all days! Angie (who's birthday it was also, hee hee) came with me to this fabulous old house. The owners are friends with my uncle, and my uncle asked if I'd be willing to help them go through their old things. They're getting the house ready to sell, and all these things belonged to their parents, who have passed away. *Isn't this vintage wallpaper beautiful?

 

So my job was to start digging through piles like this, and separate the things that I think are worthy of going into an estate sale, and say what they might be worth.  I really didn't have any intentions of buying anything, or asking to keep things for myself. But you know. lol 

*There ended up being some great things in this dusty pile.

 



I look absolutely crazy eyed in this pic, and I needed my roots done so bad!!!! But there was this little crawlspace in one of the bedrooms upstairs, and the owner says "Oh, that's just Christmas stuff in there". Say what????

 



So the owner went back downstairs and had a sandwich, while Angie and I went through the Christmas boxes. When I was done, I offered her a dollar amount that I considered to be the same as any other estate sale I'd go to. But I'm going back over to the house to help her some more, and pay off my debt instead. How's that for a deal?

OK, here's what I came away with!

*lots of pictures, and NOT very good ones. Lighting is just terrible at our house.

 

 He's my new favorite Santa! Love his blue eyes!

 

 These mugs were in that pile under the stairs!

 

 Those are little Christmas carol booklets!

 

 This guy is big. And I can't wait to finish him with beads and sequins, and put him on a pillow!

 

 Because I totally needed more vintage ribbon and tinsel. lol

 

 Apparently if it was sparkly, I took it!

 

 No words, just love!

 

 Also under the stairs...unopened Gurleys! And I can cross that little plastic ornament (or is it a gumdrop?) tree off of my "must find list! Also, I love the lavender/turquoise combo in this x-mas corsage!

 

 My first figural light bulb!

 

 And I know Laurie (aka Magpie Ethel) finds these all the time, but I never have. So I was thrilled to find a whole card of these foil and glass bead tie-ons!

 

And more vintage seals...because I was running low. Ha!

 

So that's that. Now, I can honestly say that if 2015 doesn't bring any vintage Christmas stuff my way, that's just fine by me. I have way more than one girl needs!

I'm going back to help with the house again though! Gotta pay off my debt.

 I'll let you know how that goes. :)

Erica

 

 

Angie, thank you for going with me to dig through a dusty, old, house on our birthday! I know it was the last thing that you wanted to do, but you did it because it was the first thing that I wanted to do.

Love you- Me

 

 



Vintage Stuff I Haven't Told You About!

This post will only make it seem like I've been buying tons of stuff. But I really haven't been. lol

These things are from that chunk of time a few months ago when I didn't have a computer. The flea market was still going on. And I went to a few estate sales. Here's what I found!

 

Actually these were at Goodwill. I didn't own a single thermos. Wasn't going to jump on that bandwagon. But there they were...all three of them sitting together like that. An instant collection. So of course I HAD to.

 

 This guy is a major score for me! I've wanted a Santa Candy container like this for years. I went to an estate sale that was a total bust. And just as I was leaving (empty handed) I looked up and there He sat, up high on a shelf in the dining room. He wasn't priced. So I asked how much and was told $1.00.

He's German and in such great shape!

 

 Ok, What do you think? Is she holding a mitten? And He's trying to go deliver toys without his mittens, but She's saying "Wait Dear, You better put your mitten's on".

Or is She holding an oven mitt? A squirt gun? lol.

 

 Flea Market finds, and a couple things from a good sale at an antique store. My favorite thing here is the box that the Tree Top came in!

 

This large Santa table cloth is not old. But I was thrilled to find it at the flea for only $2.00!

 

 Another Tree Topper with Santa this time. And one teeny knee hugger.

 

 The little turquoise Santa is one that I didn't have. Harder to find I think.

 

 I want to do something fun with these two reindeer. I might have to get a little "Magpie Ethel" with them.

 

Nice to find tear drops instead of the same old round ones.

 

Whew! Ok, now I feel a little better. I felt like a had a dirty little secret that I had to share with you guys. Had to confess and come clean. Now I have nothing more to hide.

Oh! Well...maybe a couple (little) things. :)

Thanks for listening! I hope you're all having a great week!

Erica :) 



The Christmas Mantle

Yikes! Seems like I just can't keep up lately. I'm sorry it's been awhile. We had our Christmas party (for our group of high school friends) last weekend. So that was a lot of fun! And then we also had Thanksgiving out at my parent's house, since it doesn't work to get together on Thursday.

 

 I found this guy a couple weeks ago! Right away I knew he would go over the fireplace.

 

 And he did!

 

 I then figured that Santa could use some Elves. And so they found their home for the season too!

 

 Our little place gets almost no sunlight. So it's always so hard to take pics.

Sorry for the glare.

 

 One of my favorite planters holds glass picks.

 

And this guy was found this summer. He's also a favorite. I have two of these aqua McCoy planters with the icy looking ridge, so it helps things look at least a little symmetrical.

 

 This glass garland isn't "vintage". I bought it at Macy's in the late 90's. It was originally really expensive stuff, but I was able to buy it after x-mas for 75% off. Each strand is 7 ft. and I have 6 of them. They're real fun to decorate with!

 

So that's that! We love having a real wood burning fireplace, and have been making a fire almost every night lately. I'm almost done decorating. Still need to get the big tree up. That'll happen Friday  I think. Hope You've all been well!

Erica

p.s Just a reminder to those that are part of the SWAP, packages need to be mailed no later than Dec.8th!

 

"Mama, let me in, let me in"!

 

 

 

Dear Fiddy, (An Estate Sale Tale)

Do you ever wish you could say Thank You to the little old lady who's stuff you're taking home? Every time I enter an estate sale, it doesn't escape me that these things are the remnants of someones life. And where are they, as we rummage through their home, loading up our arms with their memories? Maybe He has passed away and She is now in a nursing home. Or maybe they both decided to "sell it all" and head to Florida. 

Either way, sometimes I just wish I could say "Don't worry, I'll take care of and enjoy your things because I feel lucky to have found them". 

I saw these chairs in an Estate Sale ad a few weeks ago. I wanted them sooo bad, but there were just way too many reasons why I had no business going to the sale. For one thing, there was a snowstorm that night. And I knew I would have to get to the sale by 2:00 or 3:00 AM for a good number. 

The sale was packed with vintage and antique things, so I knew that the dealers would be there overnight. So I didn't go. And I didn't go on day #2 either. Then on day #3 I thought I'd see if anything was left. Of course the chairs were GONE. And the lady managing the sale said that #2 in line bought them. Oh well.

I was able to find some other cute things.

 There must have been lots of good x-mas stuff because I was able to scrape this stuff together out of the boxes that had already been gone through. I'm happy with the leftovers!

I really like the snowman stenciled one and the ornament box itself!

There were tons of cards and Valentines. The woman of the house was a teacher, and her name was Fidelis Davitt. But the children called her Fiddy! My favorite cards are the two tiny handmade ones. One is made of beautiful old wallpaper. And the other (with the big red heart) just says: To Fiddy, From Me. Isn't that the sweetest?

I could have gone nuts with the valentines. 

 I love the one where they're in their swimsuits!

 I grabbed a couple x-mas cards. The pink one is German!

And a few pretty Easter cards.

I'm missing some pics but I also got a cute old ladder that I'll make into a plant stand, and a wonderful white blanket with pink roses on it. 

OK, so THEN I went out to dog sit for my parents while they were in Costa Rica for a week. The town I grew up in is loaded with little shops and antique stores. So I walk into one of the shops that I worked at when I was a teenager, and there sat THOSE DARN CHAIRS! AHHHHH!

I wasn't strong enough to walk away this time. So long story short, I bought my (Fiddy's) estate sale chairs at an antique store for a ridiculous price. But at least I got to stay at home in my cozy bed and the dealer did all the work, during a MN snowstorm no less! Thank you dealer!

Dear Fiddy, 

Thank you, for passing on your wonderful white chairs, the valentine cards from your days as a teacher, and your  pretty Christmas ornaments! I will treasure them!

Erica :)

New Pyrex and Estate Sale Finds!

Thank you all for your uplifting comments on my last post about the dogs. We still haven't found Cami and Molly a home, but I'm sure it will happen at the right time. And anyway, at least they're out of their previous situation. And that's what's most important! Can you believe the rescue group we are working with pulled another 48 dogs out of that same barn??? So sad to see animal abuse like that. Anyway...

So, my sister in law is amazing in so many ways, the first being that she is a full time mom to 3 little ones. But then she goes and does unexpected things like buy me Pyrex and drop it off at my house...for no reason at all! These pieces are probably now the prettiest ones in my collection. I've always loved the 024's! I'm not sure what we call this color. Lime? Apple Green?  

And then there is this stunner! It's called "Ocean Filigree". It's in Mint Condition and even has it's carrier. Love love love it! Thank You dear SIL. Love You!

OK, I have been feeling very sick with my R.A. But we'll leave that for another post. Or maybe skip it altogether. Like you want to hear about that! But point being, I finally had a good day today and felt like I could leave the house! So like any normal gal would, I headed straight for the above scene! Ha! Yes, I went to an Estate Sale and found true happiness as I sat on the floor of this crawl space and dug for Christmas junk!

I had to kick myself a bit because I didn't go on day #1, and this was now the end of day #2. I could tell I would've really scored some great stuff had I gone yesterday. Oh well! I was happy with what I got, including a vintage aqua silverware tray! A couple card boxes and a new in package old felt stocking.

 These are my favorite kind of celluloid reindeer, so I was thrilled to find a herd of them! And I got to add another knee hugger to my collection!

I love finding Christmas corsages. I'll open this one up and add some glass balls and maybe a bell or something. 

I guess I took a blurry pic. But anyway, obviously I found an old BINGO game.

I pulled these tiny mercury glass picks out of some weird candles that were in one of the garbage bags.

This great old box with the deer and snowflakes was also in the garbage. 

Ha! Ok, it sounds worse than it really was. It's not like I was "digging" through actual garbage! Errrr..

I'm a vintage tinsel hoarder. I just love the stuff! But I do actually use it so that makes it a little better.

So that's that! Not a lot of stuff but it was fun! Best of all I only spent $3.00! I think the people running the Estate Sale were thinking "Oh, look at that poor girl sifting through the trashy Christmas leftovers"! lol 

Hello, It's Me, Wellie (aka Noel)

Mama took me to the dog park today. As always I was the littlest (but loudest) of the 20 dogs there. I thought it would be kinda exciting to pick a fight with a Rottweiler. Yep, it was.

Mama had to apologize to people, and she was embarrassed, and worried about me!

She said "Wellie, you're lucky to be alive"! 

Oh Mama, you're so silly!

P.S.  Mama wants you to know that there will be a 

MARKET MONDAY this Monday, March 31st

 at 5:00 PM Central Time!

Hope you can make it!

We are linking up with THRIFTASAURUS today! Please hop on over there to see tons of fun "stuff"!