Christmas on the 4th of July

On the 4th, The Breadman was in a state of decomposing on the couch.  1:00 in the afternoon, still in the clothes he slept in, slumped down on the couch with hair askew and half asleep.  I said, "I GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!"  So, I headed out to to the booth to straighten up and take a few things out.  (***The Breadman has worked 60 hours in four days so he has every right to be tired and sit on the couch.  But, the slouching and PJ's are just TOO MUCH for me.  Thankyouverymuch.***)

After I worked in the booth and I was headed home, I spotted a BIG YARD SALE sign, so I followed it.  It was a holiday and late in the afternoon, but I thought I might find some little thing to make it worthwhile.  When I got to the sale BAM there were boxes upon boxes of stuff everywhere with a shed standing open with even MORE boxes in it.  But, just because you see lots of STUFF doesn't mean it is GOOD stuff, so I held my excitement in.  But, you know what?  It was good stuff.  Good old stuff without prices.  Screech.  No prices.  Hmmmm.  Did this mean high prices or low prices?  Did they need to analyze each item or was I going to get a box lot price?  You just never know, so I asked about one item to get a feel for it.  I spotted a chenille bedspread in a trash bag.  I decided to ask about it - the lady said, "Well, would you give me a dollar for it?"  Hellzya!  :)  That kind of let me know it would be affordable, but not entirely sure how affordable.  I grabbed a box and started loading up.  I was the only one at the sale, so it was nice not being concerned about what is over there or what did that guy just pick up?????

So, on to what I did buy and what I did pay for it.  When I sat down my box for the lady to start sorting, she picked up a vintage box with a babies gown in it and said, "You might not want pay what I want for this - I want ten dollars for it."  I told her I would see what my total was at the the end and decide then (that's my nice way of saying HELL NO).  Her husband looked at it and said, "It don't look like it's worth a quarter to me" and she almost killed him with a dirty look.  *snicker!  Anyway, that made me nervous about the prices on everything else I had found.  She picked up a small box of old tiny Shiny Brites, some spun cotton santas and a few other vintage Christmas things and said, "That'll be 50¢ for that box".  That's when I knew I was in business.  Yippeeee.  She stuck that baby gown under her chair, so I think she really had just meant not to out it on the table for sale.

MAN I TALK A LOT.

Like I said - on to what I did buy!

I spotted the small handmade basket first, but thought it might be pricey.  Wrong.  TEN CENTS.  Then I found the one that is in the process of being made and grabbed it for TEN CENTS too.  I think it's interesting to see how they are put together.  Maybe I can think of a project for it.  

Fun little things are my favorites to dig out of boxes. 

Each one of these little pots was in it's own little box marked EDNA and MARJEAN.  I didn't even look to see what was in them, I just bought them.  Turns out the flowers are picks for cheese or fruit.  Adorable.  

Cat bubble bath bottle, a fun old plastic truck, wooden handled cheese sliver, a great vintage scoop - I like to keep these in my sugar/flour canisters - three fun old metal candy tins and a plastic piggy bank from Dillon's Grocery Store.

The old drop cloth was originally 11¢.  Love the graphics on the package.  I think the rabbit head went in one of those plastic tubes that was filled with candy and junk.  Kind of like the M&M tubes they sell at the holidays now.  The fun old metal lids are from Onion Dip, Sour Cream and Mince Meat.  Hiland Onion Dip is still a staple at our house.  Mince Meat - not so much.

A fun old baby bottle bag.  Heat the bottle and take it with you.  

 All these hankies and towels were folded up in a neat little pile.  Love the scotty dog towel.

This stern lady potholder will go in my collection.

As I unfolded the hankies, I found a note or a gift tag inside each one saying who the hankie was from and what year they received it.  I wonder why everyone always gave this lady a hankie?  Did she collect them? Was she known all over town as "the lady with the runny nose?"  These are the questions I ask myself.  

All of this stuff is great, but here is why my day was made:

VINTAGE CHRISTMAS

********on the 4th of July! *******

Great old heavy honeycomb bell, a nativity in the vintage box, ceramic head angel, TWO spun head Santa's, a wee little spun head Santa and a spun head angel.  

The Nativity, a box of wee plastic clothespins, three spun head angels and a wonderful vintage NOMA Tree topper.

A box of Shiny Brites - not in the most perfect shape, but not in terrible shape either.  A wee box of wee ornaments - one of my favorite things to find, plus a fat handful of loose tiny ornaments.  

There are a few designs I have never seen before - like the aqua candles and the one with stars.  Don't they look like little delicious candies?

An ornament hanger box for my collection, a fun foil box and a foil star.  When I saw this star, I remembered that we always made a simple foil star for our tree.  I don't know why I never remembered that until now!

A kneehugger.  

Evil little chap, isn't he?  The lady said, "I thought he was cute, but my daughter said he was ugly."  A little bit of both makes him perfect to me.

I looked at these plastic ornaments three times before I realized they were the kind you put little scenes inside.  A handful of red Shiny Brites and some little baskets that were labeled "Nut cups for Bridge".  

My favorite find are these little plastic candles - mostly because I have never seen anything like them before. The tubes had little hard round candy balls in them.  There are still a few in there.  Each candle has a name tag on it.  You just don't see the name "Elza" nowadays much, now do you?

A yard sale on a holiday with vintage Christmas to boot.  

It was a GOOD DAY!

Hope yours was good too!

I Love A Parade

It just occurred to me that we really do more actual celebrating of the 4th of July than we do any other holiday.  We usually hit two parades and at least two firework shows.  This year we are only doing one parade, but have the possibility of three firework shows.  

Yesterday was the Rodeo of the Ozarks Parade.  It's the beginning of the Rodeo of the Ozarks and a tradition I have only missed two times since 1973.  I used to go with my parents when I was a kid.  We would sit on the corner of the Chamber of Commerce and all the dignitaries would ride part of the parade route, then their cars would stop at the Chamber and they would unload and sit in these tiny little bleachers known as the "Grandstands".  We sat on the curb right where the big wigs stepped up to make their way to the Grandstands.  I, being a cute little girl like politicians love, would get patted on the shoulder and said, "Why hello, little one!" and have my hand shaken as they made their way past.  For more years than I can remember, the main one to do this was Bill Clinton.  At that time, it wasn't unusual to see him riding around town in his little red convertible.  He often came out to the lake where we lived and visited his friends the Tyson family (of Tyson Chicken).  He would toot his horn as he went by as we were nearly always in the driveway - me skating or riding my bike.  As the years went by, his political career got bigger and bigger, but he still came out to the lake to visit.  No more in his little red convertible., but in the Presidential Motorcade complete with Secret Service Agents that stopped by the house and requested me pull our cars up closer to the house to prevent shooters from hiding behind them near the street.  Reality check  - no more small town America!  I met him later in life when he was the President too.  But, that is a story for another day.  

So, back to the Parade.  Since it is a political year - it was cram packed with politicians.  There was also a new highway being dedicated last night, so it was a two-fer for them.  They were in the parade, then opened the new road. 

Since it is the Rodeo Parade - you can image there are horses involved.  

Ropers on horses.

Tiny tots on horses.

(It took me the longest time to figure out that that hair is part the ladies and part the pony's tail.)

Rodeo Queens on horses.

For some reason, this horse turned and looked straight at me.  

The Bean laughed and said, "That horse stuck it's tongue out at you!"  

I thought he was kidding.

But look!  That darned house DID stick it's tongue out at me.  :(

The stagecoach is always there.  More horses, of course.  

You know what comes with horses?

Politicians watching their step, that's what.  

This is Asa Hutchinson.  

He's running for Governor and he's the first politician I have ever seen that WALKED.  

So, good for him!  

(Except for the horse poo, of course.)

If you have a horse, you can come ride in the parade.  

And hundreds and hundreds of people do just that.  

There are things other than horses, of courses.  :D

Vintage police cars.

Vintage fire trucks.

New big fire trucks that blast their horns and sirens.  That's the only part I hate.

And, the horse poo, of course.

Flags of the Rodeo sponsors.

Homemade floats.  People passing out candy.  I was there with my 18 year old son and my 75 year old father, yet we managed to score a full gallon size bag of candy.  They were giving ups huge handfuls.  Who am I to tell them "NO"?

Ronald McDonald.  

We have the worst Ronald McDonald.  

He's like 17 years old.  

It's just weird.  

The flags at the beginning.  We stood with our hands on our hearts.  

All those people over there could learn a little something about patriotism.  

Thank you very much.  

Tonight is Firework show #1.  

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe 4th!

4th of July Decorations

Well, June certainly went by F-A-S-T, now didn't it?  I realized last week that if I wanted to see my patriotic stuff, I better get it out STAT.  So, I did.  It's always the same stuff, maybe in a different way.  Not sure I added anything to it over the past year.  I'll see when I look at the photos with you!  

***Yes, I still have those ugly Rooster curtains.  Nothing in my house is Rooster anymore, but I can't seem to find any  curtains that will go with my ugly couch and ugly carpet.  (We need to do some redecorating, but that will not be anytime soon).

I have George Washington standing by a 1950's car - why?  I don't know.  See my LET FREEDOM RING on the old toy phone?  HA-HA.  

 I bought that house several years ago at a Church Sale for $3.00 and I remember thinking that three dollars was a LOT (ha) and that it was too "new" for my decor - but I really love the darn thing.  I don't put up a tree or any lights, so the fireworks behind the house add some "spark".  

Silly things all together make me happy.

I found that photo of a little boy at a yard sale - his Sailor Suit made him feel patriotic-y to me. My chalkboard skillz aren't too great, but I wanted to use the cool old chalkboard that I traded Lara for at the Junk Ranch.  That little house is Bill Clinton's boyhood home in AR.

I have an old truck, so I  used it.  :)  That little doll in it is more country than I am - but someone made her for me and I love her.   This is my homage to a parade.  I love that Richardson Dinner Mint tin - all red, white and blue and I am a Richardson, so it's darn near perfection!

Uncle Sam's all together and all up high.  

The big Uncle Sam was at the thrift and priced really high, but I held out and got him on 75% off day.  He is hard carved and signed.  The roly poly guy is by the same artist - found at the same thrift a few weeks later.  

I think these books are new to the decor this year.  They are Zane Grey westerns, but the color theme was just too good not to put to use.  

The famous white shelves.  Okay, they aren't famous, but I don't know what I would do without them to hold my stuff.  They are mighty and hold a ton.  

Miscellaneous things - old advertising boxes, actual USA things and souvenir items.  And, of course, the wee Bean when he made the front page of the page.  :)

George Washington and Ben Franklin things - a great old USA puzzle and some more souvenirs.  

I did find that old Mr. President game this year.  Stuck the blue magnetic board up there for a pop of color then I darn near covered it up.

I love my Chocolate Covered Cherry box collection.  This one comes out for the 4th every year.  Miss America Brand!  I have a new one coming that I bought on Instagram - Valley Forge Chocolate Covered Cherries.  I can't wait to get it. (Did you know people sell things on Instagram?  Low prices, great vintage finds and NO FEES for either of you.  It's sort of awesome.)

Love this one truly vintage Uncle Sam I have.  

And, last but NEVER least - Hazel.  She is wearing her most expensive  dress ever!  I have a strict "no more than one dollar" outfit rule for her.  But, I spent FIVE DOLLARS on that red gingham dress.  But it is worth every penny.  It is a square dancing dress and it has layers and layers of petticoats under it with BELLS sewn in the layers so it jingles when she moves.  (Okay, IF she moved...).  I added in a denim jacket, a set of vintage red, white and blue beads and my favorite vintage patriotic flower pin.  Hazel is such a silly thing in my home, but she is a happy spot for me.  She distracts my attention from those rooster curtains!

Friday Finds: Just Enough

Today I went out to work in the booth which has been greatly ignored for awhile.  I had pulled a lot of things to go the The Junk Ranch.  Since the booth was low and most of my "best things" weren't in there - I had a 25% off sale all month long which seems to have cleaned out a lot of things that have just been sitting there.  When I got there today, I filled up three big bags of stuff that I am just SICK of looking at and threw it in the car.  Then I brought in a whole carload of stuff and filled up the booth!  Yee-haw.  I still have a slew of things all priced and ready to go on the next trip.  It's possible that the smaller booth next to mine might be empty soon and if it does, I will take that spot too.  I haven't quite figured out how to make the most of both spaces - take down the wall in between, take down half the wall either horizontally or vertically OR leave it as two separate spaces.  I guess I will have to see IF I get the spot before I worry about it TOO much!  

You know me - on the way, I hit a few sales and even drove way to far out into the middle of NOWHERE at the lure of a green chalkboard sign that said, BARN SALE.  *Swoon*.  Sadly it wasn't that great - they din't have much.  I did get enough to make it worth my trip, I guess.  Most of my finds came from two sales, but I think I stopped at about six.  At the first sale, I had a handful of Hot Wheels - not new, not old, just some advertising ones that I can sell for a dollar to two each.  They weren't priced, so I asked the magic question, "How much are these?"  And the lady replied, "Those are 50¢ each and I won't come down on them any, so don't even bother asking."  Now, this was obviously a woman that had been nickel'd and dime'd to death all day and she was hot and tired.  BUT!  I didn't even imply that I was going to dicker with her (I don't do that anyway) and I was planning on buying them.  But you know what?  Her attitude STUNK, so I put them back on the table and I left.  I'm sure she just thought I was too cheap, but golly, she was RUDE.  

The goods I did find:

A Primary School set of Balancing scales (on the bottom), an old metal cigar tin and a vintage fruitcake tin.  

Five yard sticks for 25¢ each - I have some projects I want to try with yardsticks, but I am not willing to sacrifice any of my neat old vintage ones.  The cool old metal stool was sitting beside the barn with an old gas can on it.  I asked if it was for sale and after much thought, it was decided that "a buck" would do it.  SOLD.

The blue jars were in the barn (which, by the way was not a barn  it was a shop with concrete floors, fans and plumbing).  They were $2.00 each, which is more that I like to spend, but I figured I better make it worth my trip to buy something to sell.  But, who am I kidding,  I haven't let a blue Ball jar out of this house.  EVER.  The bundle of child's hangers in pink, white and blue were at the RUDE ladies sale, but I had already bought them before the rudeness ensued.  The pool balls are my favorite find - they are small - maybe for Bumper Pool - I don't know.  They are about half the size of regular pool balls.  The post card is of a bunch of marines learning to tie knots.  I should have taken a better photo of that - sorry.

Tomorrow there are SO many sales advertised but I really need to NOT go shopping.  But, not shopping means scrubbing the tub, mopping the floor and washing towels.  :(  We shall see what tomorrow brings.....