My Vintage Soul

Exception to the Rule

Among my New Year’'s resolutions was a vow to focus on selling more and buying less, particularly in the slower sale months of January, February and March.

The only exception to my rule would be a good estate sale. Which, thank God, turned up this week via Craiglist. The post was for a moving sale that promised "57 years of accumulation" and "lots of stuff priced to sell."

That seemed to be enough to bend the rules, didn't it? So, off I went, with hopes of getting a good fix for what was becoming a serious case of junking withdrawal.

But the first few items that I saw, which were outside on the driveway, didn't do that. $15 for a chipped and cracked concrete birdbath? $5 each for those ubiquitous white resin garden chairs? The same kind that I often see thrown to the side of the road during spring cleanup?¶

Fortunately, it was a lot better inside, where there was a stash of incredibly cheap vintage holiday items. So, I loaded up.¶

In fact, I found a Gurley-palooza: Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And more Halloween: Dime store trick-or-treat buckets, a metal noisemaker and what I think is an old paper mache lantern.

This one isn't marked so if someone knows how to tell a real one from a reproduction, let me know.

And more Christmas: Bottle brush tree, plug-in Santa (with a crown on his head?), candy box, small plastic tree and a tinsel-like decoration.

I thought I was good to go. Until I stopped in the garage, where there were canning cars. But were there blue canning cars?

Well, yes, there were. So I scooped up all six.

Now, I had sworn to cut back on wallpaper, seeing how I already have too much of it, but this red roll was just too cute and too cheap to pass up. Plus, it's perfect for Valentine's Day. If you like it, too, it's in the etsy shop.

And speaking of red and cute and cheap, let me present this little baby. It's a retro laundry basket.

I fell in love with it because of the snappy red stitching.

And the cute little pocket for clothespins.

And it folds up. Plus, the canvas basket snaps right off and can be washed, which I already did. It just might be a keeper, seeing how I'm planning a little laundry room makeover. But more about that in a later post. For now, I'm happy to report that sometimes it's OK to bend the rules.

Red Alert

With the holidays behind us, life is getting back to normal around here.

The Christmas decorations are finally down and packed away.

The children are back at college, starting their second semester. Which is why the Christmas decorations are finally down and packed away.

And, in other news, our luck with a rather mild winter finally ran out on Friday the 13th, and we had our first significant snowfall of the season.

And I think I am finally done updating the Etsy shop for Valentine's Day.

I pulled out the many things I have that are red and/or heart-shaped and listed those, including my stash of vintage red fabric.

Go check it out. I hope you find something that you love.

 

 

 

 

Less is More. Really.

I am so over this obviously fake Christmas garland, which is why when I took my decorations down, I hauled a big plastic garbage bag of it to the thrift store.

And I nearly added this garland to the pile because I've never liked those obviously fake holly leaves.

But I thought that maybe, if I take those holly leaves and cheap red plastic ornaments off, that there could be something worth saving underneath.

And there was. Now I have two reasonably realistic-looking and simple pine garlands, plus a new attitude about making do with less in 2012.

The Year in Junk

Before 2011 is too far behind us, it's time for one last look at the year in junk. So here, in no particular order, are my top 10 finds of 2011.

1. The year started off on high note with these aqua canisters that I found at an estate sale in January.

2. The annual town cleanup in April brought several good scores, including the scalloped window screen that I used to make the ornament tree in the previous post.

3. A silver tea service, that despite my efforts to clean it, doesn't look much better now than it did when I found it by the side of the road, in front of an old barn.

4. Another cleanup find was this box from a German department store.

Inside were several pressed metal Christmas decorations, including a MERRY CHRISTMAS banner and several Santas.

4. In July, at a garage sale, I found all of these miniature ornaments inside a brown paper lunch bag that was marked $1.

5. From the Route 34B Sale in September: A pefect pair of paint-by-number hunting dogs.

6. Oversized honeycomb tissue balls from the Bendixen estate, which were found at an estate sale in October.

7. Also found that same day at a church rummage sale, a vintage metal dollhouse.

And finally, a couple of Christmas finds:

8. A classic candy cane tablecloth. It's the same design as the one that Amy gave away recently. If you weren't lucky enough to win hers, you might be able to buy one at Bluebird Goods. I say "might" because they appear to be sold out for now.

9. and 10. And last, but certainly not least, a Holt Howard Santa riding on a train. Behind him are some of the branches from an aluminum Christmas tree which I sold on Etsy.

So here's to 2012. I'm hoping for joy, good health and lots of good junk. And of course I wish the same for you.

 

Introducing My Ornament Tree

All I really wanted for Christmas -- other than peace on Earth of course -- was to finally finish a certain project that has been on my to-do list for quite some time.

It started more than a year ago when I saw this in August 2010 at Bouckville.

Cute, I thought, so I snapped this photo, put it on my blog, and then promptly forgot about it. And then I got an email from Amy of Into Vintage, who asked if she could use my photo on her blog. She said she had been inspired and she had an idea. Sure, I said, flattered that anything on my blog could inspire the ever-amazing Amy.

And then she came up with this:

And you might say the rest is history as I'm guessing that this is probably one of the most "repinned" images on Pinterest.

So naturally, I had to create an ornament tree of my own.

But first I had to find just the right screen. I needed something large because I wanted to hang the tree above our fireplace in our great room, where there's a cathedral ceiling.

Lucky for me, the junking gods were listening because the perfect scalloped window screen was by the side of the road during our annual town cleanup in April.

And then for six months, the screen sat in the shed. Just before Thanksgiving, I realized that Christmas was indeed coming and that the ornament tree wasn't going to make itself.

So I added some new screening and repainted the frame. And then, using some small vintage ornament hooks, I started hanging ornaments. Big ornaments. Little ornaments. And then, I fussed far too much, arranging and rearranging.

But finally, a year later, here's my version of Amy's genius:

And here's how it looks above the fireplace.

A few closeups:

The repainted frame, which I promptly distressed with some sanding and some dry brush strokes of gold and silver paint.

A clear plastic star ornament at the very top.

A "trunk" of teardrop ornaments at the very bottom.

And lots of wonderful vintage ornaments in between.

To say that I love it is an understatement. Over the years I've searched for just the right look for the fireplace and I was never quite happy with a succession of wreaths that have occupied the space. But now my search is over. This is going to be there for forever with just a little minor fussing to rotate in new vintage ornaments that I love.

Peace on Earth indeed.

Thanks again to Amy for sharing.

It Was a Wonderful Time

Seneca Falls, N.Y., is a village just west of Syracuse that every December celebrates its claim to fame, which is that it's the location that inspired the fictional Bedford Falls in the holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life."

And seeing how the film is one of my favorites, and Seneca Falls is only about 40 miles from my door, I've been intrigued by the similarities between it and Bedford Falls.

Geographic references in the movie give no doubt that Bedford Falls is in upstate New York. And by that, I mean true upstate New York and not Westchester County (a pet peeve of mine).

The bank examiner wants to get home to Elmira in time for Christmas. Sam Wainwright's father's glass factory is in Buffalo and there are several mentions of Rochester. All are less than two hours from Seneca Falls.

And like Bedford Falls, Seneca Falls has a bridge, where, in 1917, one man gave his life trying to save a suicidal woman who had jumped into the canal.

But something made me hesitate about making the journey, and I think it was the possibility that what I would find would change my love for the movie and the idyllic Bedford Falls.

Well, I needn't have worried, because Mr. VS went to Seneca Falls on Saturday and we had, well, a wonderful time.

It was a beautiful day, and the main street (Fall Street) was filled with hundreds of friendly people.

The shops were stocked with all kinds of memorabilia. One florist handed out dozens of roses so everyone could have their own ZuZu petals.

And speaking of ZuZu, she (actress Karolyn Grimes) was there too, signing autographs and posing for pictures at the Hotel Clarence, which is named after the guardian angel in the movie.

There was even a It's a Wonderful Life parade, a rather short but sweet assembly with Mary and George Bailey among its participants. (A film crew from CBS' "Sunday Morning" was there too, filming a story on the village that will air on Christmas Day.)

So, in the end, I guess it really doesn't matter if Seneca Falls is really Bedford Falls. What I saw on Saturday was how much fun everyone had because they simply believed that it could be.

And isn't believing what Christmas is all about?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ugly Duckling, Meet Beautiful Swan

This is a story about how an ugly duckling became a beautiful swan.

Meet the ugly duckling(s), those ubiquitous cheese domes that everyone had about 15 years ago and then promptly took to the thrift store, where you can find them for around $3. The candlesticks, not quite as ugly, sell for under $1 each.

Here's the transformation: With your trusty Elmer's Wood Glue, afix pathetic cheese dome base to a candlestick. Be sure the candlestick is centered on the bottom of the base and that the base is level. If the candlestick doesn't have an ample base, you can beef it up by adding a small carved wooden plaque. Then weight all the pieces down (I used a 5-pound flat weight) and let dry. Paint the finished structure (you'll need several coats), and you'll be amazed by the instant cottage charm you've created with your very own hands.

Isn't it cute? Especially painted with a jadite (jadeite) green, which is called Duck's Egg from the Martha Stewart line of paint at Home Depot.

Same color but on a wooden pedestal bowl that I also distressed.

I wish I knew exactly whom to credit for this genius idea, but there's no way of knowing who came up with this first. I've seen these pedestal cloches all over the blogosphere and on Etsy, which is where mine is now.

I actually made several of these (plus some other upcycled wooden pedestal bowls) over the summer in hopes of getting into a "hip" craft show. But the show's idea of hip was an overabundance of skull jewelry, and my creations (and probably me) weren't hip (or disturbing) enough.

I'm hoping, however, that they're charming enough to give as a Christmas gift for a friend, or better yet, for yourself.

P.S. Does anyone know what's the preferred spelling of Jadite? Or is it Jadeite?

Please Don't Eat the Borax Wreath

I was excited to tell you how, using borax, which according to the box, is an "all-natural laundry booster and multipurpose household cleaner," I added crystals to what had been an old and rather ordinary bottlebrush wreath. It turned out rather stunning, if I do say so myself.

And then, I had one of those maybe-I-should-Google-this moments, and learned that borax, like most household cleaning products, can be harmful if ingested. So, with that in mind, if you decide to try this at home, keep your finished wreath (and the box of borax) out of reach of children and pets.

Disclaimer done, here are the how-to's:

1. Find something to crystallize. Many sites on the Internet tell how to form crystals on pipecleaner snowflakes, creating ornaments that you can hang on the tree. I used two bottlebrush-style wreaths that I found at an estate sale.

2. Mix borax with hot water to form a cloudy mixture. I'm not sure about the exact ratio of water to borax, but for the wreaths, I used about half of the box and enough hot water to fill an under-the-bed plastic container about halfway. It's important to use hot water because hot water holds more borax crystals than cold water and heated water molecules move further apart. As the water cools, the molecules move closer together and the crystals begin to form.

3. Add the item to the borax and water mixture and wait. And wait. With the wreaths, I wanted a healthy amount of crystals but I didn't want it caked on too heavily, and I wanted the crystals just on the wreaths' fronts. I was unsure of exactly how long it would take to get that look, so I checked the wreaths frequently. For the first few hours, I didn't see much happening. And then, about four hours into the soaking, there were some crystals. Another four hours, and my wreaths were just like I wanted.

4. I let the wreaths dry thoroughly and then I attached some reflector-style flowers that I wired on. The finishing touch is a silver bow of wired ribbon.

And there you have it, science that's easy to do and pretty to look at. But, because I wanted to sell them, I'm going have to go to Plan B, and I'm not sure if there is a Plan B. If anyone knows of how to add a safer snowy look to the wreaths, please let me know. In my Googling to find out more about borax, I found a recipe for homemade "snow" that involved grating a bar of Ivory soap and mixing it with liquid starch and water. I'm not sure if that's really any better but has anyone ever tried that, and how did it work for you?

Cyber Monday in My Shop

It's Cyber Monday in my Etsy shop, starting at midnight tonight and through midnight Monday (EST). Anything and everything is 15 percent off.

 

 Then, come on back here in a few days and find out how I made this vintage-inspired wreath with something that you might have in your laundry room.

 

What's Under My Aluminum Christmas Tree

The Christmas stuff is finally hitting the thrift stores shelves, emerging from whatever deep, dark hole where it's stored the other 10 months of the year. And despite my love/hate relationship with said retailers, at this time of the year, I stop frequently, hoping to find some vintage magic.

Of course with all those ticky-tacky resin figures, it's not easy to discover treasures. Fortunately, there's St. Matthew's, which has lots of great and cheap holiday vintage. In addition to the aluminum tree (now in my Etsy shop), I found this plastic church that plays "Silent Night."

It also lights up, or I should say it did light up -- briefly -- after I replaced the batteries. And then, it went dark again, so I changed the light bulb. Still no luck. Considering it's probably 50 years old, maybe it's just done working. (Being of the same vintage myself, there are days when I can relate.) Still, I might try one of those little lights you put in the village houses and see what happens.

More great stuff (not all from St. Matthew's): Three boxes of glitter ornaments in perfectly aged shades of gold, silver and white (snow).

A classic cardboard manger, which actually has several more pieces but I was too lazy to get them out. You can see them all in my Etsy shop.

Over in the Santa Dept., there have been several finds, including replicas of Mr. and Mrs. Claus that climb candles

and shake salt and pepper.

Santa boots, big and small.

A folding box for Christmas cards and a Mid-Century linen tea towel.

And spun heads too!

Here are some closeups: Two snowmen peaking out from a jungle of corsage foliage.

And a sweet angel holding a tiny bouquet of pipe cleaner flowers.

But my absolute favorite find is this Santa on a train planter. I think I'm keeping it for myself.

Yep, definitely keeping it.

Of course I hope that there's more good stuff. There are still plenty of shopping days before Santa arrives.