Hazel Get New Digs & Other Stuff

I've blogged about Hazel before - my 1950's Buster Brown mannequin.  I love dressing her up for the holidays and in vintage clothes when I can find them.  I've had trouble finding shoes that I can actually get on her flat hard feet.  So, she pretty much wears pink Crocs no matter what else she is wearing.  I recently discovered those socks that look like Mary Janes, so I am jonesing to find her a pair of those.  You can see a sampling of her outfits on the sidebar to the left.  

I have a strict budget of $1.00 for any of her outfits.  Why?  Because she's a doll and I'm a grown woman, for Gosh's Sake.  :)  But, from time to time I do go over a bit if I can warrant that she can wear it multiple times or if I have just had a lucky streak of finding her a vintage outfit for a quarter.  

Last weekend at The Super Cheap Thrift Store, I spotted a dress on the vintage rack and I knew IT WAS MEANT TO BE HAZEL'S despite it's hefty $6.50 price tag.  Why, that's six and a half times my usual budget!  But.......it was worth every.single.penny.

A vintage Square Dancing Dress.  

Complete with Jingle Bells sewn into the petticoat.

I added a vintage red and white necklace.

And a vintage corsage I snagged in a bag of ugly corsages.

She just makes me happy in this dress!  

And, who couldn't use a little happiness on any given day?

The Bean and I have been down with the stomach flu since Sunday night.  I slept nearly 32 hours in a 35 hour period.  Very high fever, spewing from both ends (and at the same time, I hate to mention) and terrible muscle aches.  My Mom had it on Friday and still isn't feeling her best yet.  She was honest to goodness absolutely fine at 4:00 Friday afternoon and at 4:20 she said, "I don't feel good" and the spewing commenced.  Her fever got so high that they packed her in ice and mentioned sending her to the hospital.  I was worried sick, so I spent the night onthe floor.  Also known as "Germ City". The Bean got sick about 3:30 Sunday night and I followed along about ten minutes later.  The Breadman had it on Sunday, but seemed to only have the stomach part and not the flu part.  It has not been a fun week.  Let me just sum it up by saying that we actually broke the toilet seat hinges we used it so much.  How's that for TMI?  So, stay home in a face mask with a can of Lysol in your hands at all times.

And on one more good note:  TOMORROW MY MOM IS GOING HOME!!!!!!  Woo-hoo!

The Week in Junk in a Million Words or Less

There was an Estate sale that started Thursday.  I decided to not even go to it until Friday because there was a slew of antique furniture and hard to find items, so I knew it would be packed with dealers  And, yes, I know, I am technically am a dealer -but I am a small potatoes.  I still always go thrifting looking for things for me or for my collections.  If I find something worth reselling to make it worth the trip, all the better.  So, I went on Friday about 11:00.  There was a big shop building full of old stuff - chippy cabinets, old tins, wood working stuff, tools, etc.  Everything was priced.  And, I do mean every. single. item.  Like a hundred drill bits - all individually priced.  Rows of old cans - each one priced.  It must have taken months to price the thousands of things that there must have been in that shop.  Not to mention the thousands of little white stickers and hang tags.  I went all through the shop, but I didn't see much that I could even afford.  I went into the house expecting it to be crammed full of treasures, but there was only a few pieces of furniture, some old military uniforms and a set of dishes.  The lady having the sale told me that there were things in the garage, so I hightailed it out there because most of the things I like to buy are usually in the garage.  Again, there just wasn't much out there and what was there was priced really too high.  The only thing that peaked my interest was the owner's former schoolbooks from the very early 1900's.  Each one had his name written inside the front cover from My First reader all the way through 8th grade.  each book was $4.00 and there were at least four from each grade, so I couldn't buy them all.  But, I really wish someone in the family would have kept all those sweet old readers and schoolbooks.  But, I can't save everyone's memories now can I?  I left completely empty handed except for the handful of shopping bags that I had foolishly taken in hopes of filing them with treasure.  I do't think I missed out by not going until Day two - I just think they oversold their ad to make it look better than it was in reality.  I saw Saturday on Craigslist that everything was half price.  Why not price it lower to begin with?  Or at least, not so very, very high?

Estate Sale #2 I ran into quite by accident by myself on Saturday.  I was having a bit of a pity party this weekend so I decided to go out alone for a bit.  I spotted the signs and started following them.  Before I knew it I was out in the boonies and driving down really narrow dirt roads.  I turned here and turned there and finally found the sale.  It was located in a valley with somewhat of a mansion to the left and hillbilly squalor off to the right.  That's the unique thing about my area.  Big fancy homes right next to beat up old trailers.  When I got out of the car, the man greeted me by saying he was sunning himself like a lizard on a rock.  I thought that was funny.  Then I heard him say the exact thing to the next eleven people that arrived and I immediately wondered how the lady running the sale had kept form killing him.  There was a table full of Christmas items including four boxes of Shiny Brite ornaments.  They were round red ornaments with white roses and white with red roses.  They were different than I like, but I thought they might look good on a wreath or for the booth.  They were in the newer boxes and they had the address with a zip code on them.  They weren't priced, so I asked, "So how much are the ornaments?"  He said, "For you?  Three dollars a box or buy all four and you can have them for $11.00."  Oh My a one dollar discount!  Goodie gum drops!  Then he opened his mouth and spewed,  "Those are old antiques hand blown shiny brite ornaments from World War II and they are really rare and really had to find and valuable."  Uh, no they aren't.

I went into the garage and picked up four prints.  Two were Turner prints, two were not.  He stepped up right behind me and said, "Now those are Turner prints!"  I said, "Actually, these TWO are Turner prints,  The other two are not."  He wanted me to ask how much they were, but I swear to you if he had said they were $1.00, I don't think I would have bought them.  One sire fire way to get on my sh*t list at a yard sale is to follow me around and to tell me what everything is.  I call them "Thatsa Sales."  "Thatsa McCoy vase"  Thatsa antique"  Thatsa dead mouse"  YES!  YES! YES! I know!  I can see that.  

I did look in the jewelry cases and found this tiny knife for $3.00.  See how small it is?  Is says ACP on it.  I am trying to research it a bit.  It's sweet as far as a knife is concerned.  It has a nice patina on it.  I would take really great joy in finding something worth some money at a sale where they thought they knew it all.  :D  But even if it's not worth the three dollars, I like it.

Thursday I stopped at the Super Cheap Thrift and again on Saturday.  Guess what?  I have sad news to report.  It isn't so Super Cheap lately.  I used to get vintage tablecloths for no more than $2.00.  Now, they are $6.00 - and they aren't even vintage.  There are still cheap things, but a lot of the prices have gone up.  Boo-hoo.  

I did find this vintage baby quilt.  I collect vintage feedsack baby quilts, so this one will go to the booth.  I've sold quite a few vintage baby quilts.  I am slightly smitten with the gingham, but it's still going to the booth.

This restaurant ware cup is from locally owned AQ Chicken House.  It's been open since 1947 and it's World famous.  Bill Clinton loves it there!

I especially enjoyed the FREE REFILLS script on the bottom.

And, because I was desperate to buy stuff - this nice teddy bear.  It's not vintage, it's from FTD Florist.  We have a baby about to be born in our family and I just might include this n the gift.  Shhh.  Don't tell them it's thrifted.  

In other finds this week - 

Another vintage Hostess Fruitcake tin.  I use them to hold my jewelry making supplies, so it will be used.  Gone are the days of Hostess Fruitcakes.  :(

A vintage picnic basket.  I know own more picnic baskets than one human being should be allowed to own.  But, I am keeping it.  I already packed food in it once, which is unique since I normally use them to hold craft supplies.  I also bought one of those round "Party Balls" that comes apart and holds plastic ware for a picnic.  It's read and really cool and I Honest to Pete cannot find it anywhere!  That says a lot about my organizational skills.  Or  maybe my mental state.  Or both.  It will be a nice surprise when I stumble onto it one day out of the blue.  Getting senile is super fun!

A really cool old blue toolbox that I must not keep.  I really like it though.  I think it will sell in the booth, so I will sacrifice it.  Chase Automotive apparently appreciates money over vintage blue toolboxes as payment.  

A nice old, old basket.  Lord, I love old baskets - the stories they could tell.  I think this one is about 100 years old.  It will go in my collection.  To heck with Chase Automotive anyway.

Two matching vintage Floraline matte white planters.   I was surprised to find these at Goodwill.  

Actually, Goodwill has had some good vintage items lately.

I spotted this flag today.  Actually, there was a pile of flags, but most were printed on nylon.  This is an old canvas flag made in Pennsylvania.  

The Bean and my stepfather unfolded it and found out that it 5' x 9'.  And, it only has 48 stars.  I suspect it was on a Veterans casket at one time.  I have mixed feelings about me owning it versus the family still having it.  But then again, I didn't donate it to Goodwill.  See, I can rescue other people's memories! Not sure what I will do with it, but at least it's in appreciative hands now.

Finally, my last story of the day.  Friday The Bean and I went to the sale that we MOST LIKELY should not have gone to - The Mothers of Multiples Sale.  What teen age boy and his mom go to the MOM sale?  We went last year for fun and we enjoyed seeing rows of the same outfit, rows of three matching bicycles side by side, etc.  But,t hey also have a slew of household items, books, movies and other things too.  So, we stopped by to see what we could find.  The Bean bought a pile of books that he was been eyeballing at Target - $8.00 for the whole set versus $15.00 a book.  He also bought a big box full of Yu-Gi-Oh cards.  He's kind of old for that, I suppose, but he has been collecting hem since they came out.  I guess it's no different that a man collecting Comic books or baseball cards.  He likes them, so that's all I really care about.  

I was surprised to spot this vintage Grapette bottle among the new stuff.  Grapette was made in Arkansas, so I will put it in the booth and wait for just the right buyer to come along.  

So, if you are still with me after all that, thanks!  I don't blog forever and then I just yak and yak and yak.  Thanks for staying for the long haul!

With All The Frills Upon It....

I love my vintage Easter decorations almost as much as I love my vintage Christmas decorations.  One of the first collections that I ever had was bunnies.  I've passed up the cutesy bunny stuff, but I still have a deep love for vintage bunnies.  I also think that there is nothing in the entire world as adorable as a chenille chick.  So, Easter is definitely a favorite.    

One of my very favorite things is this old revolving tiered dish chock full of all the tiny vintage things I have collected over the years.

I love to look at it for a day or two and then give it a quarter turn then I have all new vintage goodness to enjoy.

There's just so much yummy Easter goodness in there!

Then there's the pink Bunny that the Easter Bunny brought me when I was six years old.  He's about four feet tall including his ears.  He's a part of our family.

I've been lucky enough to pluck a few vintage bunnies out of toy bins at a couple yard sales.  That little pink one in the middle, he stays out year long because he is just so darn adorable.

Vintage Easter baskets and flocked bunnies.  The biggest basket on the right is my own Easter basket that I have had since my very first Easter.  I started picking up the flocked bunnies about a year after The Breadman's Mother died.   (I tell this story every year, so bear with me).  As we cleaned out her house, I would find a brown bunny in a drawer and a pink one on the dresser and then a yellow one in the kitchen and so on and so on.  I threw them in a box as I found them one  by one.  When the house was all emptied out, I had a big box full of about thirty of those bunnies.   I had them in the TO KEEP pile on a table, but a man that was helping us clean took them to the Salvation Army instead.  I wanted those rabbits!!!  So, now I have to buy them whenever I see them.  

My incredibly sweet Annalee bunny that came in the mail one day from sweet Heidi back when out friendship was just beginning.  I added the ducky slippers because, well, they fit! 

My collection of paper mache eggs.  Most are marked West Germany inside.  I love finding these at the thrift.  I rarely do anymore.  But, I'm always hoping!

Ode to a Chick.  Lots of chicky things, vintage postcards and other sweet things.  

Like I said, I love all my Easter things.  So, the sad thing is, I didn't put any of it out this year.  It is killing me not to see all my bright sweet happy things.  But, I am barely keeping my head above water right now with all my responsibilities   I guess if the one that that doesn't get done is putting out my Easter stuff, then that's not so bad.  But, boy do I miss it.  :(

Next year I will put out every Easter thing I own, boil a million eggs, buy a dozen chocolate bunnies and make ducky cupcakes until my arms fall off.  Come hell or high water.  

I hope you have some Easter good news at your house.  Happy Easter!

Monday Finds

I drove across town today to go back to a thrift where I had spied something last week.  It was an old display shelf from a store, I think.  It was a filthy dirty yellow and the top needed to be fixed up somehow.  But, that's just the sort of thing I like to put in my booth for display.  I saw it last week, but had no use for it. Fast forward to yesterday when I bit the bullet and doubled the size of my booth.  Now, I need lots of weird shelves and such to fill it up.  Sadly, that filthy beat up old shelf was gone.  Someone else saw the potential in it, I suppose.  I just hope it doesn't show up in my very own Flea Market to taunt me.  It's happened before. :(

So, I left without the shelf and nearly without a thing.  I figured in that huge darn store there had to be something in there for me.  So, I walked up every aisle and looked and looked and looked.  I was almost ready to give up when by almost pure desperation I found something.

An older receipt book.  I can add it to Ephemera packets or use them for price tags in the booth.

Almost to the check out and I spot a big Ziploc bag full of corsages for weddings of days gone by.

I can part some of these out or include them in different holiday displays in the booth.

These two are the best - the big foil leaves and the millinery flowers on that strawberry corsage are worth keeping.  

I was almost to the check out when I spotted a girl from the back bringing out a tub of new merchandise.  So, I followed her.  :)  She went to the craft area and started putting out bags of different items.  At this thrift you cannot touch items before they are put out.  So, I waited.  Finally she was done, so I swooped in for a look.

At the bottom of the pile, I pulled out this packet that said Picto-Lotto.  I wasn't positive what it was, but I had a pretty good feeling.  I told The Bean, "This is why we came!" 

 When I got out to the car, I opened the bag and saw this fabulous flash card on top.  Score!  

Now before I go on, I should tell you that I spend many hours on ebay looking for vintage flash cards.  They tend to sell for crazy money, but I am always in hopes that I will find a nice big box with a misspelled title or something.  (That has happened before when I bought a Rushton Zippy the Monkey for $3.00 and a box of 125 spun heads for $8.00.)  Anyway, I have sold a few vintage flashcards in my booth before, so I would love to find some more.  They are great framed in a kid's room, kitchen, mudroom or about anywhere depending on the image.

These flash cards are definitely from the 1950's.  Love that flower design on the glass.  Do kids even know that a phone ever looked like that?  And a saddle shoe!   

Skates with four wheels that snap onto your shoes.  And, isn't that a CAR, not an auto?

Some of my personal favorites:

Cake?  Yes, please.  Twins - going to my favorite twin girls. Rabbit  - look at that cute little bunny!

A sweet bird and a dwarf.  

Of course, they can't all be darling.  

Some are harder sells like meat and bone.  Still, maybe for a kitchen?

There are at least a hundred different words.  A few are keepers, but most will go in the booth.  I can't decide if I should frame them or just sell them individually.  I'm tempted to frame them.  But, I am super cheap and lazy, so I bet I don't.  (!)

WHOOMP.....

Whoomp.....There it is!

If I Would Have Won The Powerball

This is one of the very first things I would have purchased.  

It's for sale not to far from my house.

And, I WANT IT!

Aqua and red?  Yes, Please.

It's a golf cart.  

But, I think it would make a great local yard saling vehicle.  

Not to mention an eye catcher for my own yard sales.

It's just the cutest thing EVER.

Maybe I could sell cupcakes out of the back of it.

Toot! Toot!  

I die.  

All By Myself

Wednesday is errand day at my house.  The Breadman is off so we usually go grocery shopping, pay bills and do whatever we need to do.  But yesterday I decided to do all that stuff a day early.  That left today a clean slate.  I suggested that they boys stay home and watch the nine hour movie "The Hobbit".  Okay, it's really only three hours, but I simply do not have time or the willpower to sit through a three hour movie in one sitting.  I've read the book and I know the movie is good, but I am just not into it right now.  So, the boys stayed home to watch that and I decided to hit as many thrifts as I could before I went to see my Mom for the afternoon.

Now, in theory this sounds like a great plan.  In actuality, it was kind of a waste of gas.  But, I enjoyed myself and I did end up scoring a few good deals at my very last stop.

First stop was a thrift that used to be in a huge location then they relocated to a much smaller location.  I went once and found it to be not great, so I hadn't gone back.  I decided to give it another shot today, but it still wasn't that good.  I did find a nice soldered pendant like I like to wear for $2.00.  They also had a grocery cart full of new calendars from Barnes and Noble.  I got The Bean a Hunger Games calendar and I got a 365 Cake calendar.  A different cake for every day of the year.  Great Googley Moogley.  Just what I need to look at every single day.  CAKE!

On to my second stop - a big thrift - giant in fact.  It used to be a furniture store.  It is packed to the gills, but I honestly could not find one thing in there worth buying.  Not even things that were overpriced or cracked or anything - nothing was my style or stuff I like to resell.  On my way to the door, I walked up the kitchen aisle one more time and spotted one small thing that at least made the stop worth it.

Okay, so it didn't really make the stop worth it.  But at least I didn't leave empty handed.  That's a no no!  This little piece of stoneware/restaurant are is marked United States Army.  I'm not sure what it is - I thought it was a little creamer, but it doesn't have a spout.  Or a handle.  Maybe a toothpick holder?  Or a mini spittoon?  Or a cotton ball holder.  I kid.  Except maybe about the toothpick holder.  

Third stop and I was out of time.  This had to be the place to find something.  This was the Goodwill across the town where I usually leave empty handed.  

I spotted this rocks glass on the shelf in the glass section.  I thought it was colorful and would be good booth fodder.

Especially since there were ten of them.  

Then I picked one up and saw the name Georges Briard and knew I had found something good.  I'll put them in the booth this summer with my Patriotic/BBQ summer display and see what happens.  That mid century stuff is hot, so hopefully I'll get a bite on them.  I'd put them on ebay, but the idea of packing and shipping ten glass items is just not appealing to me.

I also found this giant tray with raspberries on it.  You can see how big it is behind those rocks glasses.

I like the raspberries.  I don't think I've ever seen anything with raspberries as a motif before.  

See where the store marked it with an old Garvey marker?  $1.29.  Poor placement for the price as far as aesthetics   But, I think it adds to the vintage charm.  

So, that's it.  Just a couple of things and all destined to resell.  Still it was nice to get out by myself and take my time poking around in stuff.  There are a few sales in the paper for this weekend, but there is also a mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain, ice and regular rain coming.  So, I don't see any of those sales actually happening.  But, soon!  I just know it!