Sunday, December 21, 2008

Vintage Christmas - Ad Nauseum?

Is there a such thing as having too much vintage Christmas crap around the house? I don't think so! This year, I actually did a little less of the vintage thing only because I got a small tree this year (trying to save a little dough) and too many ornaments would take down the tree! Not to mention I have a young cat who finds these items irresistible and since she could probably jump almost to the top of the tree, I thought it wise not to put some of my best breakable vintage ornaments on the tree. Speaking of my nosey cat (Abby), she managed to get her tail in this Santa picture to the left. It's always got to be about her!

Anyway, I decided to take pictures of some of my vintage Christmas items that I've acquired over the years. Most of my glass ornaments I got at a church rummage sale, and the rest of the decor is mostly from various garage sales. The only Christmas item pictured here that I got at the Sacramento Antique Faire was the one-foot tall light-up Santa and for practically nothing...Probably because it was freezing and raining that day, and he just wanted to get rid of what he could and go home! Also, you may recognize some of the items from my last post. I decided not to part with the vintage Christmas stuff after all!



I decided to keep the two candelabras that I found at a garage sale the other week (only one pictured here). I've always liked these fake candle sticks, and the orange color of the bulbs is a bit mesmerizing. They're also very bright...When my husband walked in the room the first time I turned them on, he was like, "Whoo, is that the sun!" My son also liked them, so I've kept them both (plus they were only a $1.00 each). I've had to mix up the bulbs between the two sets in order to get one fully working candelabra! In front to of the candelabra pictured is a vintage plastic Santa in his sleigh and his six reindeer. (I thought there were eight reindeer - I guess they weren't concerned with accuracy when making this one.) I found it a few years ago at a garage sale. It also came in its original box! I actually have one other I decided not to put out this year.


I also found this trencher (for $3.00) at the same garage sale as the candelabras. I had bought it knowing that I would probably keep it. I love the way the vintage Shiny Brites that I've collected over the years looks in it!


Here's yet another find from my last excursion. These Santa light covers were found at an estate sale. I think I paid a little too much for them, hence they're staying in my collection for now. Plus, I like them, of course! Abby (our cat mentioned above) particularly likes them too because I find them all around the living room.


Here's a vintage glass tree topper I found several years ago at a yard sale. This picture sucks...sorry!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a little bit of my vintage Christmas decor this year. There is a vintage set of Shiny Brite ornaments that I decided not to keep, which are currently for sale on eBay. It's a beautiful set of 12 ornaments, I'm guessing from the 60's, with the "Twelve Days of Christmas" theme. Each ornament is a day. A really neat find! Click the picture below to go to our eBay store.




Well, I'll close for now...Thank you for reading!


Happy Holidays to all!


~Jeannie

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Rain or Shine

It felt good to get out today and do some estate and yard sales. We've been so busy lately, I've not had a chance. Being that it was cold and wet this morning, and I wasn't too anxious to leave my warm home (I know I seem like a wimp to all the east coast die-hards), I only hit up a few sales...As you all know, the later it gets the less desirable items are all that's left, and all I can think about is how much gas I'm wasting as I visit sales that only consist of kitchen crap and very used shoes.

Anyway, I was happy with the items I did find after visiting 1 estate sale and 3 yard sales. Pictured above is the lot of my odd but fun mix vintage stuff. I was a little bummed I didn't find more vintage Christmas stuff; in particular I would have loved to find vintage wrapping paper or tags. I was also on the hunt for old home and garden magazines. The estate sale I went to seemed so promising with drawers, cupboards, and boxes full of stuff. Seemed like the perfect hiding place for Christmas paper goods and ephemera but unfortunately for me, it was more of a quilter's paradise. I did manage to find a little Davy Crockett mug made by Hazel-Atlas, which was just sitting by itself away in a side cupboard of the kitchen. Some of my best finds at estate sales have been the items that are still not unpacked from cupboards, drawers, and boxes because these are the items that are less likely to get picked over by those who manage to haul their butts out of bed earlier than me. Plus, the folks running the estate may be less likely know the worth of these items and offer them up at great prices!

I also found the lot of silly vintage Santa light covers at this estate. The rest of the stuff I actually found at one yard sale.

A collectible but not all too PC "Kiddie" Davy Crockett mug by Hazel-Atlas. Valued at $18-$20 according to my Hazel-Atlas Glass book.


Vintage enamel pin in great condition!


A congregation of fuzzy Santa tree light covers.


A vintage mariachi noise maker!


I couldn't resist the plastic Christmas candelabra, which you can see in the first picture. I actually got two of them! Kitschy but fun! And I also got the wooden trencher (bowl) at the same yard sale. I'm keeping that one...Right now it is being used to hold vintage glass ornaments!

I will be selling most of these finds in my online vintage store and/or on eBay, so stop by and see what you can get! We also have a lot of other vintage finds and vintage-inspired home decor!

~Jeannie

Got Wine?

Since I didn't have to spend all my energy doing Thanksgiving dinner and entertaining this year (we went to a family friend's house), I decided I didn't want to just sit around the house this holiday. My mother- and father-in-law were in town, and we decided to hit the local wineries in Clarksburg just a short distance from our home. In the 10 years I've lived here, I can't believe I've never been to this particular location. Beautiful scenery, great wines, and it took us no more than 20 minutes to get there!

We visited Bogle Winery, which had the most beautiful grounds and free wine tasting (always good), which seems be pretty much the norm when you avoid the pricey Napa/Sonoma area of California. We bought a 2006 Ghost Du Roam there. We also stopped in at the Old Sugar Mill, which really is an old sugar mill that houses several different winery's tasting rooms. It was one room after another...You could get really snockered with just this one trip if you weren't too careful! We got a 2004 Petite Sirah from Heringer Estates and a 2006 "Lockwood Oaks" Cabernet Sauvignon from Todd Taylor. We splurged on the Todd Taylor one since he only made 214 cases of this particular wine. He was there in the tasting room too. My husband made sure we visited this tasting room merely because he and Todd share the same name. When you know nothing about these wineries like us, I suppose that's a good enough reason to pick one to visit! I ended up being the one who really liked his wines, however.

Anyway, I thought I'd share some pics of our short but lovely excursion; a bad but fun excuse to spend a lot of money on wine!

My husband and son at Bogle Winery

Beautiful vineyard that's changing colors in Clarksburg

Old Sugar Mill

My attempt at being artsy-fartsy at the Old Sugar Mill

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you would like to avoid the mall crowds like we did this year, be sure to visit our online store for some great holiday deals!

~Jeannie

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Lucia

Some of you may have read my posting about my grandma, Lucia (everyone called her Lucy), back on August 15th of this year. Because I had shared a bit of her life with you at that time, I thought I should also share her passing yesterday morning. I can't say how privileged I feel to have known her and to have had her as my grandmother. She was one of the most loving and giving people I've ever known, and she always put her family first. She always told me that family is the most important thing. As hard as it was to see her go, it was peaceful, and I'm happy that my mom and I were there at the time she left us. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

She was born in Michigan in 1919, the youngest of 5 children. Her life wasn't easy...She never had a lot of money, but she was a tough lady and never complained. She had a lot of faith and taught me a lot about having faith as well. I was lucky - I was my grandmother's only grandchild, so I got all her attention. I was also lucky enough to have her and my grandfather just 2 miles away growing up in Southern California. When my mom and my dad moved to California from New York before I was born, my grandma and grandpa shortly followed so that they could be with their daughter and future grandchild. My grandma always told me that that was the first time her mother, my great grandmother, told her to leave her so that she could be with her daughter in California. My great grandmother understood what it meant for my grandmother to be near her child, and when I moved to Northern California, my grandma knew that she, too, would not try to prevent my mom from moving to be near me as well. Luckily, my grandparents also agreed, a couple years later, to make one last move to be near us.

I have so many memories of my grandma throughout my life. She was there for all major and not so major events in my life, from the day I got married to every soccer and softball game I ever played.

She was very tenacious and always found a way to get what she wanted even though it was almost always for someone else rather than herself. Whether it was an autograph from a movie star or getting Mickey Rooney to wave to me up in the balcony after watching his musical production of Sugar Babies, which was a gift to me for my birthday back in the early 80's. As a young girl, I remember loving Mickey Rooney in the movie The Black Stallion (which my grandma took me to see multiple times in the theater without ever suggesting we see something else by the 4th time around) and of course, my grandmother adored him from the old movies; so we shared that together, and we were both so excited to see him in person at the musical.

My grandma even managed to get the frame of TV news reel that had my mom shaking the hand of Robert Kennedy during a 1968 fundraiser in Binghamton, New York, which was covered by the local news. My grandma got a fellow from the news station to literally find the frame of my mom and Robert Kennedy together and cut it from the film reel itself.

There are so many stories...Too many to list here, but it's nice to at least get a chance to share a few of them here now so that they can live on in our hearts.


Here is a picture of my entire immediate family on my wedding day in 1999. My grandma is sitting on the bottom right.

I love this picture of my mom and my grandma on my wedding day.

Love you Grandma...xoxoxoxo

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Day of the Dead Collectibles

It's barely October 1st, and I'm already looking forward to Halloween! I'm not sure what changed for me, but I used to hate Halloween...You'd think it would be the other way around; that I would love Halloween as a child and hate it as an adult but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm not sure exactly why...I guess primarily it's watching my son have fun with the holiday and making it special for him. I'm also just more fascinated with the holiday than I was previously. Being a lover of the state of New Mexico, and in particular the town of Santa Fe, the Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), which is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, is noticeable there and just about anything that reminds me of that town is comfort to me; thus my fondness for the Day of the Dead figures and my growing collection.

So, in the spirit of Halloween and my fascination with the Day of the Dead figures, I thought I'd share some that I've collected over the years, including this Paper Mache skull I found at the Sacramento Antique Faire. How old it is, I don't know, but I liked it and I got it for practically nothing. All of my Day of the Dead figures rest on my mantel in the family room. My grandmother took one look at them and shuttered. I think her exact words were, "yick." I understand that other people don't understand it. I've told people about my little collection and most don't get it. Nevertheless, if those little buggers weren't so expensive, I'd have more! Luckily, my husband seems to like them too. In fact he bought me the surfer, shown below. We were both Southern California beach bums, and he surfed nearly every day back then...when we were young and didn't have a care in the world!

Pictured above is the first of the collection. My mom got it for me in Santa Fe on one of her excursion, which she did not take me on, thank you very much! It looks like he's hitting the bottle, but to be honest, I'm not sure.

I just love these mariachis. I think I need a horn player though, don't you? I bought these on one of my excursions to Santa Fe. I think I'd already spent so much money on these two, I didn't want to spend more for another guy in the band!


Here's the surfer skeleton that my husband gave me for Christmas a couple years ago. He got it from a fun, local Sacramento store called Zanzibar that has a great selection of these guys.


I figured by this point, you're tired of looking at my collection one-by-one, so here's a picture of the rest all together. My mom got me the nurse (?) and the kitty (I love cats), and my husband got me the Keith Richards look-alike.

If you're interested in finding some vintage figures, my best suggestion would be to go to eBay, although I would imagine it's hard to know if you're getting something that is truly vintage or not. Either way, you're getting a piece of handmade folk art. No two are exactly alike. I've also found them in different online stores by just doing a little Googling, but those tend to be even more pricey.

If anyone knows of a good resource for Day of the Dead items online, I'd love to know where!

Ta-ta for now!

~Jeannie

Monday, September 29, 2008

The Cottage Book Has Finally Arrived!

I finally got my copy of Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes, the book I had the privilege of contributing to with many other of my fellow vintage-loving colleagues. I was pleased to see that quite a few of my pictures made the book including a vintage Mexican apron that I currently have for sale on my website. You'll also find the beautifully hand-embroidered tea towel pictured on the right side panel of my blog. You may need to scroll down to see it!

The book is filled to the brim with many pictures of vintage, cottage collectibles and furniture that are listed with their values and the contributors' websites where you'll be able to find an array of collectible goodies! It will definitely prove to be a great resource for someone looking to get that great vintage cottage look.
To order the book online at just over $10.00 off the retail price, just go to my Amazon Bookshop!

Thank you for visiting! Stay tuned for a post about Halloween and Day of the Dead!
~Jeannie

Sunday, September 14, 2008

You Snooze, You Lose!

So, I just returned from the Sacramento Antique Faire that I wrote about yesterday and had a great time. It’s been a few months now since I’d last visited, and it was great being immersed in the market once again with all the vintage stuff, particularly things that you don’t normally run across. I did pick up some things for me and my family and for my shop.

For the most part, I got really some good deals but did have a “when you snooze you lose” experience. It’s happened to all of us, I’m sure, but I feel like I’m the queen of indecision sometimes and occasionally get punished for it! I saw three little vintage figural light bulbs in pretty good condition at this small booth. For some reason I love those things. I once got a couple 1930’s Santa head bulbs that were in this huge box of vintage Christmas stuff that I bought for $2 total (score!) at a church rummage sale and didn’t even know the bulbs were in there. I ended up selling the bulbs for $10 each. Anyway, the figural bulbs I saw today were of a blue bird and a couple Japanese lanterns. I wandered one foot away to see what else the vendor was selling when some woman and her Our Lady of Guadalupe market bag (which I kinda liked – reminded me of Santa Fe) came swooping in and snatched all three up for $2.00. They weren’t marked so I didn’t immediately ask thinking I might bargain with the seller if there was something else there I liked. Had I known it was going to be two bucks for the lot, I would have bought them then and there. Oh, well…I got some fun things so I’m really not too broken up about it! But I did give that gal and her cute market bag some stink-eye as we both made our way down the rest of the isle.

By the way, in my previous post, I mentioned that I prefer to go to the antique faire earlier rather than later. I explained that the reason being that I hated to think of everything I may have missed if I go later in the day…After today’s excursion, I just remembered another reason why I don’t like going later – the crazy crowds! I’ve never seen so many people just literally stopping and talking or just sort of milling about right at the entrance to a booth. You can't get in and you can't get out...The later being pretty bad when you're faced with a booth that primarily has a table of eclectic" $1.00 only!" items.

In the spirit of Halloween soon arriving, I took a picture of some fun vintage masks. I remember having a bunny mask that was made by Collegeville. complete with a thin plastic outfit that tied in the back.



These were the most beautiful and clean vintage oven/stoves I've ever seen. And such great colors too! The folks selling these stoves have a store called Buckeye Appliance in Stockton, CA.


This one was just so wonderfully displayed with the vintage kitchen accessories and all.








Without further ado, here's what I actually bought!

This was my first purchase of the day. I know this has nothing to do with vintage, but I just fell in love with these little rusty quails! They'll be perfect in my yard, and I feel I got a good price at $25.00 for all three. Garden art can be expensive! (Please ignore my crab grass!)



Even though this small McKee refrigerator dish is missing it's glass lid, I couldn't help buying it considering I just happened to mention the matching McKee salt and pepper shakers I'd found at a garage sale in yesterday's post.


I just love this find! These are Shiny Brite ornaments with the "Twelve Days of Christmas" theme. Each bulb is a day. The box has seen better days, but the bulbs are in great condition!



I couldn't resist getting this for my house. I love western stuff, even if it's a little kitschy. I happened to mention to the gal that I bought this from that I love Santa Fe and would love to live there some day, and she proceeded to tell me how she had just returned from her first trip there last week and absolutely loved it! She, too, would like to live there some day. Interesting how these things happen. She has her own store, Topia, in a great little Gold Rush town near Sacramento called Sutter's Creek. She has a knack for display and sells a great array of vintage/garden-style items and art, including some great metal work and vintage watering cans. I think I just happened to purchase one of the only western-styled items she had to sell! If you're ever in the Sutter Creek area, be sure to stop by her beautiful store.

I couldn't resist buying these Little Little Golden Books. The "Four Puppies" one was my favorite as a child growing up, and I've read this book over and over to my son (in the original size) over the years (now he can read it to himself if he wanted - they grow up so fast). These were so cute and small and the "Four Puppies" one was on top when I walked by, so I had to buy them for my son.


This last picture was just simply to be used as blackmail later when my son is a teenager! All kidding aside, he was interested enough to see what Mom was doing all morning to help display my last purchase, a cute Santa apron. I'm thinking of keeping this one. We'll see if I actually end up using it, but it makes me smile!

It's been fun sharing today's adventure! Thank you for reading!

Until next time....

~Jeannie

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Gettin' That Giddy Feeling

I'm getting that giddy feeling I usually get just before going to what I hope to be a great sale or the Sacramento Antique Faire that's held the second Sunday of every month.
I've finally decided that I'm going to pull my sorry a** out of bed tomorrow at the butt-crack of dawn (as my friend, Tina, would say), pack up the car with my cute cart, boxes for holding small things, bubble wrap for hopefully good vintage glass finds, and get to the Antique Faire before all the other vintage-horders get their grubby hands on my vintage finds! I kid...kind of...I've never been the type to wait until the end of the faire for the supposedly good bargains because all I can think about is, 'What did I miss earlier that day?' Plus, I'm usually lucky enough, at least at this particular faire, to find items at pretty fair prices.

I thought I'd share with you some of the items I've found at this particular faire and sold online or will sell online:

Some great Pyrex

I just love this rainbow design on this mixing bowl. I kinda wish I didn't sell this one.


I just love the blue delphite Pyrex bowl. I had a complete set of three!


Pyrex's Friendship pattern.

Such a cute vintage baby's divided dish. This was one of my most fun Pyrex finds!


Below is an adorable (and so soft!) vintage chenille baby blanket. I've not yet put this up to sell, but I will soon! However, feel free to contact me if you are interested or have any questions about this precious blanket!

Try to ignore all different formatting I have going on with these photos. I took and edited these at different times.

I also found the cake saver and Hawaiian straw bag that I featured on this blog at the faire. I will be updating an album soon that will contain more pics of my finds (besides Pyrex!) from this fair.

OK, I didn't find these McKee salt and pepper shakers at the faire, but I thought I'd share them in this post because they were one of my best single garage sale finds! I nearly threw my body across the table they were on to reach them before anyone else could snatch them up. I turned them over to find a sticker with $5.00 written on it! I could hardly contain myself. I've not managed to separate myself from this pair...I'm not sure if I'll ultimately keep them, but at this point, I can't part with them. These are the same McKee salt and pepper shakers that are featured in C. Dianne Zweig's new book, Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes, that I had the honor of contributing to with some pics of my vintage finds, including these shakers.

Take care and I'll let you all know what I found tomorrow at the faire!

~Jeannie

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

A Note about My Other Passion

So, while this has nothing to do with vintage stuff or is even a family anecdote, I thought I'd just quickly share one thing with you because I was so excited about it I nearly peed my pants!

I do have another passion, aside from collecting old (or semi-old) stuff, and if any of you have ever read my profile or my 'About Us' page on my store website, you may know that I love the Southwest and dream of someday living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Well, one morning a few months back, I got a burr in my saddle and decided to write a letter to the editor of New Mexico magazine...And they published it in the September issue! I was just tickled! I've never written a letter to a publication nor have I had my words published in print (be it a school paper or a widely distributed magazine)! To read more about it, see my other blog about my soul-searching adventures and ramblings.

Anyway, just wanted to share! Thanks for reading!

~Jeannie

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Let's Go Antiquing, Girls!

I've been away from the blog a lot longer than I'd like. Things have been hectic around here with my son starting 2nd grade and getting ready for a short trip to Southern California to visit family and enjoy a NASCAR race. I know the words enjoy and NASCAR in the same sentence may seem like crazy-talk to some of you, but I have to admit it - I love NASCAR and I love going to races. In fact, I really didn't understand the whole NASCAR thing until I went to a race. I'm not really sure how it happened other than my husband was somewhat of a fan and wanted to take my son to a race up here in Northern California...I decided I'd go just to not feel left out, and I've been hooked ever since. You know what I'm talking about NASCAR fans...Am I right or what? I know - I know...But if you read my Mustang post, you'd know what a car nut I am to begin with.

Anyway, I'm sure none of you logged on to read about that...But I did want you all to know that I've been trying to get some vintage items up in our online store and our eBay store. Here's some of the latest...I have a ton more vintage items to sell, but like I mentioned above, I've been a little busy!


It's a Pyrex-sta's Paradise


I just love this cookie canister with the adorable little decal and red handle!

We also have a couple vintage sheer half aprons that are in near perfect condition and priced to sell! I think they're just perfect as the end of summer gets closer and more time will be spent indoors.


All these items and more can be found on our 'Flea Market' page.

For the readers of my blog, I'd love hear what kind of items you love to collect!

Well, I'll be off for now. I've got to go pack my Nascar t-shirts, hats, and shorts...I also have to go remind my husband to pack our folding chairs, car flags, and backpacks that have all our favorite drivers' numbers on them....You think I kid!

Friday, August 15, 2008

I just love this old picture of my grandma back in the early 50's, so I thought I'd share it. Behind her is a great old ad too. Unfortunately it's a bit hard to see with this scan.

I recently made her a scrapbook with this picture in it, along with many others of our family, including a great pic from the mid 30's where she and all her sisters and friends are together down at the local swimming hole. It was a hit with her, and it was finally something I could give her that she didn't feel compelled to give back somehow later on! While looking through the scrapbook, she begins to reminisce about the old days; she loves to tell me stories about her younger years no matter how many times I've heard them, of course. One of her favorites is from when she was 18 or so and some girl decided to confront her in the bathroom (where exactly I'm not sure) and talk a bit of sh**. So my grandma, being the feisty Sicilian that she is, took this gal's face and "smooshed it into the wall" and my grandma demonstrates by holding up her hand like she's palming a ball , twisting her wrist as if she were juicing a lemon. It gets a laugh out of me every time, which is probably why she always retells that one over and over. All I can think of is that I wished I'd had the nerve to do that to a couple girls back in my teenage years! And she's only 5' tall while I'm 5'9"!