Memorial Day and the New Summer Display

Today I was able to wake up naturally and not have anything in particular to do. So I got a lot of snuggling in with my little Gooseberry. BJ and I started C25K after breakfast. I really want to love running, but I'm not there yet. My body is doing this really awesome thing where it converts all exercise into weight gain. I exercise as my job and have a 6 mile round trip, uphill both ways-not even exaggerating!- against the wind both ways because the wind ALWAYS changes direction by the end of my shift bike ride. Yet I have gained back the 2 pounds I lost this spring and maintained my doughy body that I accumulated during last season's work/exercise/bike routine. UGH! I'm so frustrated and it makes me crave donuts which will probably just turn me into a WALL-E type person. I'm going to try something new with the running and hope I can get back to where I was at the beginning of last season. 

After our first go at running, we went to visit our booth. Before we left I had told BJ that I wanted a Pyrex fix. Ask and you shall receive (except for not being fat I guess...) I found a Brittany blue Pyrex dish right when I walked in the store! I also found this exceptionally cute pink and black metal shelf for my someday house. One of the dealers who was working was quite jealous that he hadn't seen it first, so I'm glad I spotted it! The Pyrex was perfect for my summer display that I was planning on putting together. I've been meaning to switch it over from spring, but today was the first chance I had. I'm not sure what I'll do with all my pink Pyrex that got the axe from the display, but that will be left for another day.

Normally I don't like changing my displays because change gives me major anxiety. Even something as small and meaningless as this can tighten my chest and make me feel like I'm raging. I've been handling it better since changing over from Christmas. I was so done with Christmas by the time I managed to get that done that it was a welcomed change! This new display feels refreshing and fun. I really like that I was able to pull together new, old, thrifted, etc. The bug sprayer is pretty clean and I just couldn't resist the shiny graphics when I saw it at Goodwill. This is probably another bad vegan moment, but whatever. It's ghost spray now. The lips, little red headed girl, and Washington DC souvenir tumbler are all recent thrift scores. 

I picked up a Giant Barrel of Monkeys at the thrift store and didn't get a chance to open it to see if it was complete. It turns out that there were no monkeys, giant or otherwise. It was full of vintage cowboys and indians toys with a few random spacemen, a single Roman, and a single Viking. Some of them were really detailed and quite graphic. There was a Native who had a severed head and a cowboy with an arrow impaling his chest. I decided to keep three spacemen and the two little Revolutionary War figurines for this specific display.

I found this Yankee Doodle 45 (not what's inside the sleeve...) on some sale in the fall and have been waiting to display it! I found a picture of my most recently deceased grandfather  (I have 3 sets of grandparents. One grandpa is still alive. It's complicated.) this winter while cleaning out the jewelry box that had belonged to my grandmother. The picture in the floral frog is him in uniform. The illustration is his American Legion card that was also lost and found in the jewelry box.

This is the bottom shelf. I have so much Pyrex that I had to leave some of it on there, so I just left the stuff way in the back. I've been looking forward to making rainbows for this display. I still need a green and a blue 501 to complete my rainbow. I filled my diamonds carafe with a yellow hankie to look like lemonade. I was able to hang my new-to-me bowler's towel in the back.

I found the "bomb" this past Thrifty Thursday. When I saw it, I thought it was really silly and I knew I needed it for this display. Bombs bursting in air and all that. It's a dried gourd painted black with this stem as the fuse. Seventy-five cents well spent, I'd say!

I got a fortune from a fortune cookie a long while back that says, "May the rainbow always touch your shoulder." I had it in my spring display, too, but it is most fitting with this rainbow stack of 024s . Sorry about the dark pictures. I just know that I'm not going to have time to do this post until who knows when, so I'm getting it done in my last free moments before bed before my 6 day week starts again...

This is the top shelf. I haven't figured out a good way to light this one yet, so flash it is. Bleh. I created the red white and blue bouquet from Michaels. It's all 50% right now. I love the sparkler looking bits! The Ball jar it is in also has red white and blue lights from the dollar spot at Target.

Penny hasn't gotten to show off her new dress that I got her from an estate sale yet! It fittingly is red white and blue and is so cute! I made her a little wand of mercury glass beads that I got in a junk craft box for $1 from a garage sale during citywide. 

I found this little blue and white flower in a grab bag of Christmas ornaments at the thrift store. Sadness doesn't look so sure, but I think it looks great in my display!

I'm going to go catch up on this week's episode of Little Women: NY. I'm guessing that work is going to be crazy busy tomorrow and I don't know that I'm prepared, but Memorial means the official end of crazy flower season and the rest of the week will be a transition into mellow summer!

Belated Swap Meet Share

The prices on all the Pyrex were not great, but don't judge me. Sometimes you just have to buy things when you see them. I felt the space saver was worth the cost for the lid alone, considering lids go for higher than the dishes on evil bay! I bought a bunch of things from this dealer, so she gave me a better deal than sticker price. There were so many more things I wanted to buy, but I blew a wad of cash on this stuff and had to hold back.

I was able to complete my Friendship fridgie set with one final orange 501. There were two little red ramekins, but I opted for only one because it was pricey. It's so cute and tiny! 

I over paid on the jadeite canister. I'm really annoyed with myself for getting emotionally invested in it, and I think I'd be lucky to get my money back if I chose to sell it, but whatever. Can't hit it out of the park every time, right? The McCoy planters next to it are from the thrift store with thrift store prices! I found a cute little plastic cactus at another thrift store. I can't grow real ones for some reason. 

There was very little that I got for the shop from the swap meet. The only other thing I found for myself was a deer planter. I'll have to take an updated deer table picture. It's ridiculous how quickly these animals reproduce! I'll end the post with an honorable mention. We got to an estate sale really early and were 2 and 3 in line. The first person didn't look like Pyrex competition so we stayed. I was so disappointed that he went right for what I had come for. He was really nice and let me go home with the shiny snowflake open baker. Most people at these sales are total dicks, so it was very refreshing. He accused me of being an eBayer and I told him NO! I'm a collector! I'm not sure about where you're from, but the eBay sellers here are cutthroat assholes.  When we got home from the sale, we learned that Prince died. Then I called my mom and she told me that her adoptive father died. Everyone seems to be buying the farm lately. It's all very sad, but as is life. At least we can find little pockets of kindness buried under all the crap. The citywide purple love, dance parties, news takeover, and outpouring of love was so wonderfully overwhelming. The kind man at the sale and the way people were able to pull together it a time of sadness gives me hope for humanity. 

So much love <3

Citywide Junking

I thought citywide was good last year, but it was nothing compared to this year! So. Much. Good. Junk. I'm quite amazed that I've already got it all processed and ALL OF IT into the booth! I'm not sure how I made it work, but I did. If the cart sells, it may be a different story. The picture above is most of day one's haul.

We found the MCM cork lamp at a garage sale we look forward to every year. They always have a wide assortment of junk and this year had a bunch of stuff in the way of vintage. One of the ladies told us that someone had tried to offer $5 for the lamp when the sale first opened. They only had $8 on it and I thought that was an amazing deal! 

It was the year of the suitcase because over the course of 2 days, I found 3 at sales and then another at the thrift! I debated over keeping all of them and making a table of them stacked that can hold things inside each of them, but I think I need to wait until my someday house becomes a reality to start making any furniture. I kept a red Samsonite and a small blue one for myself. The one above has a very lovely lavender interior and it was very well cared for.

Our first two stops were estate sales, but they weren't advertised in the regular venues and were family run. Most everything was very reasonably priced. We picked up a Cosco cart, a few mugs, some Disney pennants and some dirty vintage gag gifts. I'd love to share my favorite find from this sale, but I fear for those who are easily offended or at work. 

This is one of my keeper items from the second estate sale. It has a knob to turn "on" and it lifts the shakers to that they can be pulled out.

Sorry this picture is a little blurry. We went to a sale next door to one I had planned on just because it was close. At a glance, we didn't think it would be our kind of crap, but boy were we wrong! Pottery galore! We picked up a McCoy urn planter, a TV lamp, and a McCoy pebble planter that matches a smaller one I found at the thrift store last month or so. We also scored a couple of turquoise tumblers that are for keeps which I'll show you in a bit.

I found a few crewels, pumpkin pails, a cake carrier with bakelite handle, hat box from Minneapolis, and a cool starburst garbage can. BJ found a squeaky dog that still squeaks and blinks! I'm undecided because I don't need to start collecting squeaky toys and if I keep it, I'll have 3 which is an official collection... BJ is already annoyed with my blow mold addiction. But these can be ornaments for my candy corn tree in my someday house!

Here are some of my favorite finds that will be for me. The cactus fabric is a skirt! It has ties on each side and it really full. The cuckoo clock doesn't seem to work, but it is a bigger version of one that my grandpa gave me and has deer and mushrooms, so I'm sold. Vintage Christmas was not great, but I did find Holt Howard candle holders for just $1! Score! I picked up a bunch of hankies that I don't think I can part with, two embroidered pillow fronts, and a pretty blue and green floral piece of fabric. The Mr and Mrs Claus shakers were pricier than I'd normally pay at a garage sale, but I could't leave them behind!

Day two of sales wasn't as plentiful, but had better junk. It was mostly a day for keepers what with pricing, but day one was a solid booth filler, so it evens out. I finally found a reasonably priced quilt and it is pink! There are several condition issues, but I'm hoping I'll be able to connect with someone who could fix it up. The first sale we hit on day two was a charity sale for Pet Haven. We felt overjoyed to find so much great stuff there and give a little extra to help the babies. That is where the crinoline, butterprint 501 (with mint lid!), ice cube tray, Federal bowl, two suitcases, and a bunch of other junk came from. It was a really great start to the day! After we had hit all the citywide sales, we went to one I found on craigslist. It was listed as a vintage sale and I knew the prices would probably be higher than usual. I picked this sale for the amazing tablecloths pictured on the ad, but didn't get any because they were expensive. The quilt on the other hand, I felt okay parting with $30! Also from there were the anthropomorphic and jadeite shakers, clown metal game and noise maker, a single panel barkcloth curtain, a pair of circus curtains, and a bowler's weeping towel.

I know it probably makes me a bad vegan, but I just love vintage circus imagery! I recently found a really cute framed picture that I'll have to share once I unearth it from my cart of curiosities. That elephant and lion! I need my someday house soon so that I can display all my vintage circus stuff together. I have a trunk I got free a couple years ago down at my mom's. It's all piling up! I recently heard that clowns originally had the big lips painted on to mimic black face because black people were considered buffoons. It hurts me so much that it's all so offensive, but I can't help myself. I certainly don't love the images for any of the hateful and cruel things they represent, it's just the whimsy that makes my heart melt. I actually hate the circus and clowns, and always have. I know it's weird and makes no sense. >_<

This towel is so silly. It says Minneapolis on it, too, which obviously endears me. If I can make it work, maybe this will go into my red white and blue display. Coming soon!

The last sale that we went to was also listed as a vintage sale. On the way there we heard a commercial for someplace that gets it's beef from a "boutique ranch." WTF is a boutique  ranch?! Is it a place where fancy cows go to fancy die? I call BS. There is no such thing has a humane slaughterhouse and growing cows for food isn't fancy. So I was going off about this stupid commercial and the use of the word boutique in general. I find it so annoying that life is so highly curated now. Boutique this, that and everything. And what do you know, we were going to a garage sale that called itself a boutique sale! I HATE THAT! I was worried that prices would be outrageous, but they weren't terrible. We picked up a couple Fenton pieces, a cute cow creamer, a votive holder that looks like jadeite, but I don't think it is because it is really thin and clear-ish on the bottom, and the pink elephant from a few pictures up. I fawned over this at the Gathering of Friends at Bachman's this spring, but it was $45. I got this one for $3! And I'm not sharing it, it's mine. 

I promised that I would take pictures of my finds from the swap meet, I did! Stay tuned!

Oh My Lanta, or I'm Too Tired to Be Alive

I  have been working six days a week at my seasonal gig. Apparently nobody wants to work at the store I'm at so there is not a lot of help even from the help we do have. So, I've been given 6 days of duty and many more hours than I had ever wanted. I guess I'm grateful for the income, but not for the unrelenting tiredness that accompanies it. We went back into the freezer this weekend and that meant pulling all carts under cover and taking down all the baskets and tomorrow I get to undo all of it- probably by myself... Ugh! So in these last spare moments of freedom, I'm going to attempt to do some kind of recap.

I know I'm lazy and share a lot of photos that I've already posted to Instagram, so if you follow me there, sorry for the repeats. I've had a couple of good Craigslist scores this spring. One of them was actually exceptional stuff, but pricier than I'd normally go. The picture above is my keep pile from that score and there was much much more that headed to the shop. I was able to upgrade my BP 444 and pink 502 while completing my pink fridgies with another 501. My 503 is in very sad condition, so I'm crossing my fingers for an upgrade on that one!

We went down to the Le Sueur swap meet again this year after originally deciding to skip it, but I'm so glad we didn't! I don't have pictures of the rest of the stuff we found, but this red prystal faceted bakelite bangle was one of the last things I found. At $1 it was certainly the best buy of the day and it moved to the head of the class in my collection! I'll have to do a post about my other finds when I have time to take pictures. Sadly, I got no deals on anything else, but they were items that have been wanting so I thought I should make it worth the trip.

I've been looking for a new desk for the longest time, but never find anything I like or want to spend money on. I had found another desk on Craigslist at the same time as this that I would have preferred as it is more of a desk than this, but this one was too perfect to let slip away. It was originally delivered to a residence mere blocks from where I grew up, which is a small town in the middle of nowhere that no one has heard of and people rarely move away from. The most recent owners bought it from a vintage shop in Hopkins, which is where my shop is! It was so meant to be. As much as I crave atomic Mid Century, I just can't help myself with this style. It is already the perfect color and it fits all of the crap I've wanted hidden away, plus has space to display cute things! You can see the red Pyrex ramekin, jadeite canister, and orange 501 I got at the swap meet (which completes my Friendship fridgies-503 also could use an upgrade in this set.)  I also fit in TWO McCoy planters that I found at a thrift store recently! I'll have to take better pictures. 

We hit an epic estate sale that was run by the daughter of the deceased. Those kind of sales can either be high end eBay prices, or so good you feel compelled to buy it all! And I did, except a desk that simply wouldn't fit into the full Jeep. It was a small house with not a lot left, but I found a lot of great stuff to fill my shop and my own overflowing menagerie of junk. I got a tote full of Christmas for $2. A quick peek inside gave me a glimpse of a flocked Santa, which we all know I can't leave behind. I figured for the tote itself and the Santa, it would be worth it, but it was better than I could have imagined! TWO strands of glass garland that are both in great shape, glass horn ornaments, a flocked goose, bird clips-albeit broken, and so much more! I picked up another vintage jelly tote for myself, two yellow metal stands for only 50 cents each (my first finds and my cue to stay), a pink elephant that I will not be sharing with my shop owner, bakelite bar tools, a 475 verde square flowers for 50 cents, and a bunch of smalls. I am using the strainer as a hanging basket for one of my fuchsia plants. I also got a giant lamp that we still haven't taken out of the car. There was a lone lamp shade that was the biggest I've ever seen in my life and I sure wish I could have seen the lamp that it went with because it must have been grand!

We paid for upstairs stuff before going down the basement because we had so much stuff! I got a great garbage can that I hope to use as an umbrella holder or something in my someday home. I also found a turquoise wooden handled weed picking tool and a hanging basket watering bottle that I hope works. The shelf is really what made the sale though! It was $3 and took a lot of work to get off the wall. The screw was rusted into the concrete block, but with a little work, we were able to pull it through the hole. As you can see there was already a second hole, so I'm not too worried about it. I'm so in love with this piece and I can't wait to see where it hangs in my someday home! For my sanity, I really hope it isn't too far off. 

BJ came around the corner with a shopping cart at the thrift store on Thursday. We normally don't use carts except for at the Co-op, and that day we both got one! I was thrilled to see that he found the rest of the Spring Blossom 470s that I needed to complete my set. While this pattern gets a bad rap for being so common and a somewhat unflattering shade of green, it holds a special place in my heart because it was the first dishes pattern than we decided on when we started upgrading to adult living together. So after we found the Big Bertha, I decided to take all my SB off the shop pile, and add back into my own collection. The measuring cup I found says that it is for general household and photographic use only. I bought it because I thought that was quite interesting that it gives photographic rights right on the product! 

We found a ton of really great bakelite this weekend! It was all very reasonably priced and I just couldn't leave the stunning colors and fun shapes behind! I found two red with black marbling spacers, a flying saucer, a bookend, a squircle, and one that looks just like a slice of pineapple! I also found a couple that match set some pieces I've purchased there before.

BJ and I have both taken off this coming weekend for some garage sale-ing so I'll finally have 3 days off in a row! I'm hoping that I can catch up on some things in the afternoons, so maybe I'll actually get around to taking those pictures I talked about! With that, I'm off to bed so I can wake up and rehang a million baskets.