Welcome to my blog about things I love to collect, refinishing furniture and decorating using flea market finds (with a few crochet projects now and then).Thanks so much for visiting!




Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Stories for Children 1904 book

 A couple of weeks ago I picked up this book at a garage sale for $1.
I thought the graphics were pretty and some of the stories are fun. 
I'm also surprised at several of the stories, we would never read to children these days.

I wanted to share some of the lovely pages with you for White Wednesday and maybe they can be saved and printed out if you choose. I would click to enlarge first and then save them to your computer. The printing should appear clear once you click on them...I hope...I'll find out once I post this!




The cover of the book, water stained and an inside page. There is no copyright date and all I can go by is the Presented To date of 1904
Presented to Marilla Holt Weld (can't make out the next word) 1904
By Gramma Packard


Thanks for stopping!

Linking to; 
Faded Charm for White Wednesday

What-da-ya-know...it worked!

This book is full of pretty graphics and if any of you really like this and can use them I'm more than happy to scan more and post them!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Pearl Button Shells

A few weeks ago while looking around an antique shop Mr. Wild noticed a pile of shells that were cut out and used for making mother of pearl buttons. He suggested that they might be interesting to show on my blog.

I bought 3 shells, they were only $1 each and since I'm such a mother or pearl button hoarder I thought they would be fun to have.


The 'right side' and the 'back side' of mother of pearl buttons


I searched online and was surprised to find a few good links to mother of pearl button making along the Mississippi River.

Years ago (late 1800's and into the 1950's) there were several pearl button factories in Muscatine Iowa nicknamed The Pearl City  and Pearl Button Capital of the World. Lacrosse Wisconsin was another button producer taking 6600 tons of clams from the Mississippi River.

I can make a pretty good guess that my shells came from the Mississippi River seeing as I live only a couple of miles from the Mighty Mississippi and not terribly far from Lacrosse.

Here are a few pictures and links to the information.

A button factory in Muscatine


Image courtesy of the Muscatine History and Industry Center




If you are interested in more information about mother of pearl button history, here are a couple of short articles on the subject.



Thanks for stopping!

Linking to;
Faded Charm for White Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home
French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday



Sunday, June 17, 2012

The mother lode of garage sales!

I hit the mother lode of garage sales!

sorry...this is kind of long but you'll get a good laugh....

I swore off garage sales last week because I broke down and bought that fancy embroidery machine (at a garage sale) that I have always wanted but I've been stressing over the money I spent for over a week now.

I told myself "NO MORE GARAGE SALES"!!!!

So I got onto Craig's list and clicked on garage sales in my area last Friday afternoon...I have sooooo much self control! 

(My friend, Karen, will laugh so hard when she reads that but she asked me to post my stuff, she lives in Colorado.)

So seeing as I'm a picture person I click on the sales with pics and there is a garage/estate sale about a mile from my house with pictures of old stuff! Whoa...no plastic toys!

So out the door I went not caring what I looked like.

I had a heck of a time finding the place, they had a sign on the main road but once you get into those twisty turny developments there were no more signs and I passed by the street. Turned around and decided to turn down that street, drove past a sign at the end of a driveway that says garage sale but has an arrow drawn on it pointing down the street, keep driving, street now changes name, turn around and slowly drive by the driveway with the sign....is that it? Everything is inside the garage and no cars or people. So out I get and start walking up the driveway wondering... IS this the place???

As I get closer I see a woman talking on her cell phone but I can tell it is the sale and OMG!!!!

Antiques and so cheap I could cry!

Then the man of the house pulls into the driveway and I tell him about the signs but he just smiles...oh well...I have the place all to myself so keep my mouth shut...right?

I start piling stuff in front of the woman and she starts adding and packing it.

Only 2 young couples stopped the whole time I was there (over an hour) and they walked away with nothing! How could they not see all of this awesome old stuff...LUCKY ME!!!!
Maybe they were looking for plastic toys....
(no offense to plastic toys but that is not on my want list)

So as I unloaded the trunk, I unpacked my treasures and took pictures...


The 2 most expensive things are the green depression glass pitcher $12, green depression 4 Cup with juicer $22. I collect this green glass that glows under a black light so a great find for me.

kerosene lamp $8, Victorian coat hanger $1 (leaning against the white box), 3 enamel refrigerator pans with lids $9 that I will use in the fridge, coffee jar, curling irons mother of pearl nail files and such, 2 very cool books, one is a dictionary from the late 1800's.

Green glass and clear glass knobs and handles with lots of extra original screws that are always missing when you buy an old glass knob. (In the plastic bag in the shoe box).


small kerosene lamp and green depression curtain tie back 


33 glass furniture coasters mostly with the Hazel Atlas mark and I NEED these for under my old furniture...the green ones glow under a black light too! $8 for all of them.


love the 2 wire mesh egg baskets, a glass rolling pin $2 for me to try the next time I roll out pie crusts from scratch and a sweet little etched cloche with the plate


cute little celluloid box and inside was a porcelain figure $1 for both


I LOVE the large picture $12! It will go perfectly over the old writing desk my mother bought when she went to work at the Golden Rule (early 1930's) in downtown St. Paul right out of high school. She said she saved up her money to buy that desk. The picture and frame is mint. I'll post a picture of both when I get the picture up.

Another marked Ironstone chamber pot and a lid that doesn't go with it (with pink flowers) for $5 (I'm collecting lids to hang on a wall). 


Love the picture frame of the little boy, he is so cute, I will just leave it the way it is.

I collect chipped edge shaving mirrors and this was too good to be true...the 2 larger mirrors were $4 each and the 3 smaller mirrors were $2 each! I like the shabby look of silvering loss so these are perfect for me.


The hand painted plate is marked France on the back for $3 and the sweet little cup with roses was .25 cents.


I love this picture with the little girl and the dog


Hard to see but a perfect piece of Redwork, very old chenille baby bedspread (the blue & white in the upper right corner) in great shape,
crochet piece $2 and a crochet edged pillowcase that was .50 cents. 
The green is a silk crepe piano shawl with hand knotted fringe and beautiful.
 2 glass wall fixtures for $2 each!
Mr Wild is a sparky (electrician) so no worries ever about buying old electrical.


Lots of old baby dresses...hard to tell one from the other...
If you click on a picture you can see all of it a lot better.


 little child's slip with beautiful crochet...


and lastly, I think this is handmade and it was kind of neat, a big cloth laundry bag.

I did walk away from a lot more and the man was making it even harder because he kept lowering his prices but I just HAD to stop buying.

Why does this have to be so addicting!!!!

Now to find a place for my treasures and maybe some will end up in my Etsy shop...not sure yet....

No more garage sales...hummm????  Might have to reconsider that!

Thanks for stopping!

Linking to:
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
The Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday



Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Doorknob Jar

You may think I have a bit of an obsession with white porcelain doorknobs???



When I find them at flea markets for $2 and $3 I buy them, although they can't cost more than $3 each.

Only a few more and that Wal-Mart jar will be full...it's already heavy.

I just think they are kind of fun and the more aged they are, the better they are!

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to;
 Faded Charm for White Wednesday


Monday, June 11, 2012

Pansies

I finally planted some pansies today that have been waiting for weeks...they became a little leggy so I trimmed them back and brought the remaining blossoms inside.

They looked pretty enough to take a picture.


Also, False Indigo from my garden in full bloom.


I haven't been a very good blogger lately, so much to do and things to catch up on.

I made a BIG mistake a went to a garage/estate sale last Friday...I gave in and bought an embroidery machine...what did I do!!!!!

I spent most of the weekend checking to see if anything was missing. Way too much to learn but I have always wanted a good sewing machine that can embroider large designs...now I'm into it and no turning back....what was I thinking!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Pretty little sugar bowl and other treasures

I can't seem to post more often than once a week, I have good intentions but somehow the weeks just fly by, especially now that it's summer and I want to be out in my flower garden as much as I can.

For the White Wednesday portion of this post....

While out rummaging through antique shops I found this pretty little Fostoria sugar bowl that just called out to me. I thought it would be cute holding old mop buttons
I don't usually use blue in my home but I couldn't pass this by.



And for the rest of my post....the weekend garage sale finds...


I stopped at a lot of sales and completely struck out until the very last sale, closest to my home.
The woman was selling some of her Victorian things and this mourning parasol caught my eye immediately.

She's a little tattered, the silk lining is shredding and the lace around the edges is starting to tear a little bit but she's over 100 years old!

That lovely burgundy color lining! 
It's a piece of history to me and I just had to give it a home, it was cheap too!



It opens and closes like it was brand new and the handle is in perfect condition.


She also had this old hat stand and it was just what I was looking for plus the vintage picture with curved glass. How can people throw away their relatives like this!!!


And lastly, Mr. Wild brought home his new toy today, his 1930 Ford Model A.
This is his weakness....


Can you believe this car has only 35,000 miles! 
Yup, she runs beautifully!

Mr. Wild bought his first Model A when he was 14, he knows his cars and this car is solid and sound, a real prize for car collectors.

We'll be going for a ride tomorrow for sure! Maybe he'll take me out for ice cream.


Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to;
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Faded Charm for White Wednesday
Elephants and Ivy for What's It Wednesday
The Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday
From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home
Common Ground for vintage Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday