Bloggers are the Best!

Bloggers are the best, don't you agree?  I have had the privilege of meeting some of the nicest people through blogging.  Warm, caring and genuine people.  People whom I never would have met otherwise and because of blogging I have formed friendships with people from all corners of the world....

Like Gail, from over at Shedding the Wolf.  She does cool things like target practice, fly fishing, sewing, cooking, quilting, crochet, amateur radio and Morse code.  She's also a minister and works with hospice patients and recently she joined a Search and Rescue Squad.  Oh, and she holds 3 degrees.  Gail has no idea how totally awesome she is.  I want to go blast targets with her.  Last fall she was making infinity scarves for gifts and she kindly sent me one.  I don't know what the material is, but it's the softest, most snugly scarf I've ever seen.  I wore it all winter and I love it....  Thanks Gail!

Another one of my favorite people is Debbie over at Lakehouse.  Go and check out her lake house.  It is gorgeous, and romantic and shabby chic and I love absolutely everything she does.  Her house is like a window dressing.  I want to sit at her table and eat cookies and drink hot tea.  She makes lavender scented drawer pouches out of vintage material and lace.  She sent me a couple and Chablis immediately snatched one up for herself.   They smell heavenly....  Thanks Deb!

A new blogger friend is Donna over at Distressed Donna Down Home.   We share a love of vintage treasures and rust.  I love it when she shares her weekly vintage finds because she sniffs out the good stuff.  She re-purposes a lot of the things she finds and then sells them in her Etsy shop.  I want to go thrifting with her!

Donna recently had a give-away over at her blog.  She was cleaning out her hoard of goodies, named Horror Monster, and I was a runner up.  Donna knew that my nick name is Bird, so she put together an awesome box of birdy goodness for me.  Want to see?

First was a pair of vintage embroidered ovals...

A bird mold and 2 dainty little bird cages....

Bird ornaments and a set of flash cards for crafting....

These are fantastic - postcards from the early 1900's..  I LOVE these and plan to frame them.  The oldest one is from 1906, as well as ones from 1907, 1910 and 1927.

An old music book...

And this is my favorite.  A cute little bird with some vintage material, some of Donna's hand made tags and envelopes, and a frozen Charlotte.  The tags are beautiful and I'm going to use them on some of the bigger items I sell in my Etsy shop.   Do you know the history of frozen Charlotte's?  I didn't and asked Donna about them - this is what she said.... Frozen Charlottes were produced in Thuringia, Germany from 1860 to 1900.  They were mostly used in dollhouses.  The name Frozen Charlotte (Frozen Charlies are rare) derives from the fact they did not have movable parts.  The dolls were made of glazed bisque.  If the doll passed inspection, it was hand-painted. They range in size from ½ inch to 4 ½ inches.  These are factory rejects that were thrown out because of flaws in the glazing or missing parts.  The rejects were thrown into ditches at the backs of the factories. Some years ago collectors were invited to come and dig for the rejected dolls.  These come from a collector in Germany who dug up a massive collection.  They are highly prized by jewelry makers and mixed media artists.  The discolorations and flaws make them desirable for various art projects.

If you get a chance, please stop by and visit Gail, Debbie and Donna.  I think you'll agree that they are all very special ladies and I'm so glad to call all of them my friends.

Re-purposed Bird Cage

Over the weekend I picked up a bird cage at a estate sale with plans to re-purpose it.  I just didn't care for the galvanized green/bronze colors...

Honestly, I didn't do much with it except clean it up and then paint it with one coat of white paint using the dry brush method.  I liked the way it looked and didn't even distress it any further....

I think it would be cute filled with a string of lights, used for a wedding centerpiece or to hold wedding cards, or fill it with vintage books or dishes.  What would you use it for?

For sale here.

Linking up with....
Party in your PJ's # 52
Catch as Catch Can # 210
Vintage Inspiration Party 4-21-15

Worthwhile Wednesdays # 65

Estate Sale Finds 04-20-2015

After a week of cooling my heels (for me anyway) I met with my doctor who gave me some good news on 2 of my tests and the ok to get out and about with some dietary restrictions that I must strictly adhere to.  Hey, I can live with that.  Let's just say the door didn't have enough time to kick me in the ass as I flew out of it.  I hit the driveway running and didn't look back!

Let's see what I managed to come up with this weekend at a couple of estate sales, shall we?

I picked up both of these travel cases at the same sale.  I kept one for myself and put all my letter stamping supplies in it.  The other one will be for sale.  I haven't decided if I'll sell it as is, or if I should cover it with maps.  What would you do?

The tool box is already being re-purposed.  It will be cute as a coffee station or a silverware holder, a sea shell keeper or who knows what else.  The birdcage is awesome.  I don't much care for the color and I'm in the process of painting it white and distressing it.  How cute would it look filled with vintage books or dishes?  Or maybe used in a wedding?

I've never seen one of these teeter tot rockers.  This one is in really good condition.  The woman who sold it to me was very attached to it and I could tell she was having a hard time parting with it.  I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd be re-selling it.  I did tell her it would be going to a good home.  :-)    I've been looking for a bread box for the lake house so I was happy to find this one.  I've already started re-painting it.

I picked up the tin for Chablis and I grabbed a stack of hand towels for the lake.  We use them when we're out fishing and I get tired of Louie grabbing my good kitchen hand towels, so I like to keep a supply of cheap garage sale ones on hand.

A Christmas cake server....

2 tins - I've never seen the Campfire marshmallow one and thought it would be cute for at the lake since we make lots of S'mores.  The Salerno tin will probably get sold.  The wooden box is going to be painted and have mason jars filled with silverware placed inside.  We eat most of our meals at the lake buffet style, so this will look cute on the food table.

And check out these adorable baby shoes.   There was a small piece of paper tucked inside that said Kathy's baby shoes....  How cute is that???

I know Gone with the Wind is in really rough shape, but it's my favorite book and this copy was from 1937. I bought the Music reader because of the great cover and plan to re-sell it....

I loved the spiral bars on the spice rack and bought it to paint and re-sell - until Chablis saw it and snatched it up.  Guess she will be painting and keeping it for herself.  The 2 screw in handles will be perfect for a coat rack I want to make....

And here's my favorite find of the weekend - a vintage sled!  I loved it.

It's hard to see but it's a Flexible Flyer 2E.  It's headed to my shop.  I'm sure someone will love it and find some way to re-purpose with it.  Isn't it cool?  I'm not doing a thing to it except clean it up.

And that's it for this weekend.  What did you like best?

Repurposed Basket and Napa Crates

We found a couple of items at last weekends rummage sales that I wanted to repurpose a little bit.  Both were quick projects and it was nice to just sit and take my time on them.

First up was this neat looking circular, hanging basket.  I dug through my paint stash and pulled out 2 Behr paints, one in Pebble White and the other in Aqua Smoke.

The basket was so quick and easy.  First I dry brushed on one coat of the aqua and once it was dry I went back and dry brushed on a little of the white.  I like the way it turned out....

Here's the back side....

 And check out that large basket - just imagine the wide variety of things you could stuff in there?

Nexy up was the Napa Valley crates.  I simply painted on one coat of the Aqua Smoke and once it dried I lightly distressed it with a little sand paper.  To give the paint a little age and patina I brushed on a coat of light oak stain and almost immediately wiped it off with a rag.  I like this technique to bring out the deeper under tones.

These crates will look cute sitting on a shelf or counter, or perhaps hanging on the wall.

It took about an hour for both projects and and added bonus was that I used the same paint!

Both items for sale in my shop here and here.

Linking up with...

Let's Talk Vintage # 27
Craft Frenzy Friday # 86
Catch as Catch Can # 209

Estate Sale Finds 4-13-15

I know I'm supposed to be on lock down and getting some rest, but then, I've never been very good at following orders.  Ask my dad.  Especially when there were TWO church rummage sales this weekend just miles from my house.   So I compromised....  I slept late and had Chablis drive.   LOL!

Church rummage sales usually have really good prices and I got a few things.  Want to see?

2 nice Napa Valley crates that I'm going to paint and distress....

Chablis bought these cute reindeer and plans to sand them down and re-stain them....

This was a different crate but I loved the graphics and the sliding lid.  It's a super sturdy box and I'll probably re-sell it.  It has oodles of uses, don't you think?

I LOVE this hanging basket!  It is so awesome.  I'm gong to paint and distress this and sell it.   I almost want to keep it, that's how cool it is.   The Snow White pattern is vintage and has never been used.   A small skein of yarn....

2 really nice pieces of luggage.  The make up case is in really good condition except for a small stain in the upper tray....

And this train case is beautiful green leather with just a small slit on the leather on the bottom.  It has a working combination lock on it.  I've already cleaned them up and they look fab!

One small bag of silver for stamping, a tin filled with buttons, a cute cookie tin - love the blue colors - a new kitchen towel and this glass Skippy jar.  After I got the Skippy jar home and researched it, I found out that the lid isn't the original lid.  But that's ok, because I kind of like the mason jar lid that somebody substituted it with.

What did you like the best?   Did you find anything good this week?

Linking up with...

Let's Talk Vintage # 27

I'm the Vintage Blog of the Week!

Please join me today over at Adirondack Girl @ Heart where I have the privilege of being her featured "Vintage Blog of the Week."  How cool is that?

If you're not familiar with Diana or her blog, well, you are just missing out on something special.  Diana grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and blogs about anything vintage or antique.  Once I found her blog, she quickly became my go-to person for tips and advice on vintage items.  She is just a delight and I'm so happy to have found her.



Check out her FB page or her Pinterest boards.   You'll enjoy her posts about searching for bargain vintage, how she prices and sells items, the things she re-purposes and designs and of course her faith and family.  Thanks for featuring me Diana - that was so sweet of you!

** on another note, I'll be taking a little time off from blogging.  It turns out I have a bleeding ulcer and after spending the past few days in the hospital, I have some things that need to be addressed so I can get back out there poking thru estate sales and searching for geocaches.  Plus I have a great book review coming up.    I'll be fine, I'm sure, but I'd appreciate any prayers you can send my way!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter - Have a blessed day.

Feed My Starving Children

Are you familiar with the "Feed My Starving Children" (FMSC) Organization?  It's a Christian, non-profit organization that hand packs meals for malnourished children in over 70 countries.... to date...   Here's a link to their website.  The organization depends on the kindness of people to donate funds for the supplies  as well as volunteers to help package the food.  

This is the second time I've volunteered to pack food.  Not only is it a worthwhile experience, but it's fun too.  Last week we had my parents, both my sisters, my daughter, my niece and myself as a group to go help.  That day the group was packaging food for Uganda.

FMSC is well organized.  They schedule the food packing for 2 hour windows throughout the day.  Lots of school groups come in and volunteer their time.  I have to say, the kids really seem to enjoy doing it.  Here we are in our hair nets, getting ready to watch the short presentation, explaining what we were going to be doing and how the food packs are eventually used....

After scrubbing our hands, we're all sent off to the packing tables.  Each table has a country name and ours was Peru.

All the food is set up in large bins.  It consists of dehydrated veggies, rice, soy and vitamins.

Everyone circles the table and gets a job.  Some people scoop the food, some open the plastic packs and hold them under the funnels, some weigh the packages, another person heat seals the packs, another person counts the packs and loads the boxes with 36 packets.  Once a box is filled, the table shouts out a collective cheer and does a little dance while a runner comes over and grabs the box.   Then we start all over.

 Every 10 minutes or so we'd switch jobs so everyone got a chance to do something different...

 They pipe in music over the loud speakers and everyone dances and sings along.

These are the packets lined up on the counting table.  Once we collected 36 of them, they get scooped into a box...

And this is what a full bag of packed food looks like....

For the 2 hours that we packed food, this is what our whole group (about 6 tables of people) accomplished.  Pretty amazing, isn't it?

This is what the packaged food looks like when it's cooked...

Visit FMSC here.