Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Come see me at the SOWA Holiday show in Boston!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! And thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! Does it feel different to be a bit older? Nah! Especially since I've been work, work, working to get ready for the SOWA Holiday show, which is only 10 days away! Eeek! I'll have lots of new goodies and old classics to offer and I really hope that if you're in the area, you'll stop by and say hi. I've literally been cooped up in my studio since last holiday season...this is my very first show of 2011! While I do miss see everyone and watching people get excited over cute pieces of cotton, I don't miss lugging things around and packing and unpacking and most of all...trying to find an unloading space and then a parking spot! But doing it only once this year will be no problem! Plus this will be the first time I'll be back in Boston since the big move! It will be very nice to see all the old buildings and all of my old (but not too old!) friends!

This year SOWA Holiday is only one day (Saturday) and I hope to see you there! :) Here are the details:

The 8th Annual SoWa Holiday Market
Saturday, December 10, 2011, from 11am – 7pm
Cathedral High School, 74 Union Park Street.

Some new cuties for the show!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Guess what today is? Well sure, it's Thanksgiving...everyone knows that...but it's also my birthday! And my little sister's birthday....she's turning 14! And me...well I'm turning twice her age. She'll be the exact age I was when she was born! Wow! Time flies when you're having fun! Happy birthday Suzy!

Well...I made a delicious chocolate cake from scratch for the feast today (planned before I realized my birthday fell on the actual holiday this year) and I can't wait to share it! We'll be spending the day in New Jersey with Ben's family and oops...I've still got to frost the cake before we leave!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Estate Sale Amazing-ness

Gobble gobble! I think this pretty turkey planter (or gravy boat?) is happy to have a new home this Thanksgiving!
My mom and I decided to go to an estate sale last Thursday. We got there a little late and had to wait outside for a half hour with frozen toes (or at least mine were frozen!). But it was well worth the wait. As soon as they let me in, I asked where the Christmas stuff was. In the basement. On my way there I passed through the kitchen and grabbed this turkey like I was on a scavenger hunt game show...no looking and inspecting...just grabbing and tucking under my arm and kept heading for the basement.

When I got there I immediately spotted the Christmas stuff. Mostly newer, eh-type-stuff, surrounding a basket of old old ornaments. A lady was stuffing her arms full of glass bells and then ran off. That's ok...she left the best stuff, including a few more bells and some fantastic glass ornaments. But I couldn't believe she passed this up:

A victorian wire wrapped ornament topped with a flower in wonderful shape. I felt lucky!

When I got home and dug through the basket more, I found three old glass bead garlands. Two short ones and a long one that included many foil wrapped presents. It was broken into several small lengths...I need to sit down one day soon and restring them. They're beautiful!

And these little doodads were in the mix as well except for the giraffe, swan and tiny pin cushion, which I picked up and put in the basket myself.

Under the Christmas table was this massive thing. (Sorry for the blurry shot). It's chock full of "balloon picks" and I'll have many happy spun cotton characters as a result.

There was a room in the basement filled with tools and hardware and such. And what did I find among the nails and spools of wire? This funny little guy! He was made in Germany and reminds me of the paper mache jack o lanterns. This guy had had a fall and was smartly glued back together, mostly in the back...but he's perfect to me!

Also in the tool section among the rusty pliers and wrenches were these five things. I didn't recognize what they were at first, but their shapes and patina caught my eye. They are paper stabbers (I made that term up just now). They would sit on a desk and you would stab receipts or what have you onto them. Someone was smart enough to make them a little safer with corks. These were surprisingly expensive when I asked for the price, but I splurged because I thought Ben would appreciate the manly, utilitarian-ness they would bring to the living room.

This picture is a little blurry too...but a box of toothpicks with great graphics and a little wooden box were easy choices to make. The rat's nest looking thing in the middle was actually packing material that was sticking out of a box of hardware. It's old and old-looking and I see it being very useful and pretty in some future work!

And then of course from the tool and hardware section I found some nice old hardware. Including some brass acorn finials, a coat hook, an eagle finial, a large ceiling hook, really cool numbered brass tacks, a leaf handle and two authentic edison light bulbs. They were so cheap that I felt that they offset the cost of the paper stabbers.

I screwed one of the edison bulbs into my makeshift floor lamp! Perfect! And bright!

These bunnies are just beautiful and were luckily rather cheap at $12 for the set (the bunny in the middle is quite large). However I had to save them from being bought by someone else...who happened to not be very happy about it! I had asked the estate sale lady to set them aside for me and just two minutes later I saw her selling them to someone else! Eeek! I said, oh...you had set those aside for me. The lady made some rude comments and the estate sale lady apologized. Then a few moments later, the lady started looking through my other pile of stuff that I was waiting to have priced...gosh! I felt bad, but oh well! Sometimes estate sales are cut throat! I need to come equipped with a giant box and a sign next time! lol

Luckily I didn't have to fend off anyone to buy these cool straws, which were tucked away in a cabinet. And the only reason I thought to grab them was because of Magpie Ethel's cool straw collection! The paper straws have a really neat quality to them and I think the pack on the right is one of first plastic straws that came on the market. If you look closely, it says "Really Waterproof!" It's funny to think that you had to worry about your straw dissolving before you were finished with your drink! Thanks for the idea Laurie!

And some fun honeycomb pumpkins are always welcome in my home.

I was running low on old birthday candles for my birthday girls to hold...but I just stocked up!

And this old ceramic baby booty has me thinking about nursery decorating. Not just yet though!

And probably my most unusual find...a giant bird's nest! I have a collection going now...

What a fabulous estate sale! Certainly worth the wait and the slapping away of snappy hands! :)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Apple Sauce!

Here in Saratoga, Ben and I live surrounded by apple orchards. This fall on a warm day we even walked from our back yard into the neighboring orchard (which is huge!) and had ourselves quite an adventure where I even found a pretty milk glass pedestal dish on the side of the road...go figure!
And the orchard on the other side of our driveway was abundant with apples this year, but there was no pest control of any kind so they were filled with worms and black spots and looked rather icky. I was too busy to pick my own at the neighboring orchard this fall, but I was in luck the other day. My dad fixed the cider press in the orchard next to his farm and now that the apple growers are forever indebted to him, he's been showered with apples and cider and happily shared some with me! Aren't they pretty all stacked up in milk glass? Well that was last night....

This is what they look like this morning! For the first time ever...I made yummy applesauce! And I didn't put any onions or garlic in...they just happened to sneak into the photo as a sort of visual garnish... It was easy and fun to do...

Thanks to this little do-hicky! Ben spotted this at a yard sale in Boston and scooped it up for a buck or two a while back. It cores, peels and slices apples in a few quick turns of the knob. We were fighting over who got to use it last night....it was fun watch the apples turn and turn and turn!

Yay for local produce! :) Oh...and if you're wondering, I just used these directions as a guideline and added lots of cinnamon. Yum!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Thanksgiving Update!

Acorn Aila - SOLD
Miss Turkey Party - SOLD
Celebrating Suzy - SOLD

Gobble gobble gobble! The turkeys are in! And so are their pilgrim friends! I'm getting hungry just thinking about the big feast the whole country is about to have on Thursday and these guys are just the ticket to dress up your table or hutch (as in my mom's case) for Thanksgiving! :)

As usual, blog readers get first dibs on my new spun cotton one-of-kind figures. Click on photos to enlarge. If you see something(s) you love, just email me at vintagebycrystal@yahoo.com and I'll let you know if they're still available. First come first served! I'll update ite
m statuses in this post as often as I can to make it easier for you to know what's available. Items often get scooped up quickly, so make your selection as swiftly as you can, you can always add available pieces to your order later. Also feel free to include second choices if your first choice is unavailable, but make sure you label them "second choice".

Shipping is $3.50 for one item and $1 per additional item up to $6.50, then additional pieces are free. All paid orders will ship out immediately and should arrive in a few days. If you'd prefer priority shipping, which is a little faster, just let me know, it's only $1.50 extra. I send Paypal invoices via email unless you specify that you'd rather pay via check. And of course email me if you have any questions! Happy Shopping!

Pilgrim on a Pumpkin - SOLD
Bring a Pie Pilgrim - SOLD

Miss Poppy - SOLD
Pocahontas - SOLD

Miss Thankful - SOLD
Pretty Polly - SOLD

Harvest Fairy - SOLD
Mrs. Tom Turkey - SOLD

Farmer Phil - SOLD
Leaf Jumper - SOLD

Red Turkeys (4 available) - SOLD

Blue Turkeys (4 available) - SOLD

Friday, November 18, 2011

Thanksgiving Update!

Thanksgiving is when?! Well I've created a handful of Thanksgiving goodies just in time for the big feast! A flock of turkeys, pilgrims, Indians and figures who just know how to dress for Thanksgiving. I hope you'll come scope out some goodies to dress up your Thanksgiving table this year! Items will be shipped out immediately. :)


Blog readers get first dibs on new pieces as usual and if you'd like to be notified about upcoming blog updates and special events, just sign up for my mailing list on the right side of my blog, or leave a comment with your email address.

New one-of-a-kind pieces will be available for purchase on:

Sunday, November 20th. Here, the blog. 12:00 pm EST.

See you here on Sunday! :)

Teeny Gifts!

I'm a lucky girl! So so lucky! I'm so lucky to know so many fabulous and generous people who have extended their skill at crafting and their skill at hunting to me.

These happy/grumpy acorns were sent to me by Heather Donohue, who I met at the Tinsel Trading workshop I taught. I made such a big stink about her stinkin' cute creations that she sent me some! Yippee!! And I think she has more for sale. Check out her website! Thank you so much Heather! They are helping to nurse my baby Christmas cactus back to life with their good/mean vibes, as you can see here in the photo. :)

And this doesn't look like such a teeny gift from the outside....

But once you crack this baby open...teeny cotton chicks! Lisa, who also came to my workshop, went treasure hunting at Hell's Kitchen right before the show and scored some other goodies that she showed off and we drooled over, but she was so kind enough to bring me a find from an earlier hunt. A awesomely gigantic vintage paper mache egg with the most wonderful graphics on the outside. And two oh so adorable chicks inside! I LOVE it! Thank you so much Lisa!

And during the jaunt to NYC for the workshop, we stayed with Ben's mom and stepdad, Ed. Ed had just gone through his mother's house and found some really sweet treasures, which he showed me (it was like a time capsule!). His old boyscout uniform, a sweet book he wrote as a kid and other childhood treasures. Among them was a lead figure of a sledder. I exclaimed that I had a set of the same figures and he so generously insisted that I had his sledder to the set! I love it! Thank you so much Ed!

And this was a gift from today. A teeny chuckle as my not so teeny Sophie squeezed a nap into a teeny box. So cute!

I'm a lucky girl! Oh...and I really need to photograph some amazing gifts from our wedding to show you....so amazing! :)

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Christmas Update!

Miss Matilda Tree - SOLD
Babe in Toyland - SOLD

Fa la la la la.... I'm so happy with all of these brand new spun cotton cuties! I dug deep into my "save for something good" vintage Christmas material stash. Including a homemade craft from years and years ago where someone took a bar of fancy soap and made it into something beautiful (above), and trying my hand at recreating a vintage sleigh. I hope you find some goodies that strike your fancy! :)

As usual, blog readers get first dibs on my new spun cotton one-of-kind figures. Click on photos to enlarge. If you see something(s) you love, just email me at vintagebycrystal@yahoo.com and I'll let you know if they're still available. First come first served! I'll update ite
m statuses in this post as often as I can to make it easier for you to know what's available. Items often get scooped up quickly, so make your selection as swiftly as you can, you can always add available pieces to your order later. Also feel free to include second choices if your first choice is unavailable, but make sure you label them "second choice".

Shipping is $3.50 for one item and $1 per additional item up to $6.50, then additional pieces are free. All paid orders will ship out immediately and should arrive in a few days. If you'd prefer priority shipping, which is a little faster, just let me know, it's only $1.50 extra. I send Paypal invoices via email unless you specify that you'd rather pay via check. And of course email me if you have any questions! Happy Shopping!

Miss Santa Secret - SOLD
Becky Ball - SOLD
Santa Wreath - SOLD
Miss Nut - SOLD
Snowball Bunny - SOLD
Miss Cardinal - SOLD

Reba Ranch - SOLD
Disco Dolly - SOLD
Miss Snowdrop - SOLD

Santa Narwhal Rider - SOLD
My Friend the Bunny (box) - SOLD

Acorn Santa - SOLD
Pink on the Wing (box) - SOLD
Pinky Santa - SOLD

Pink Bird Nest (glass) - SOLD
White Bird Nest - SOLD

Santa Long Stockings - SOLD
Bill - SOLD
Sally Long Stockings - SOLD

Tinky in a Boot - SOLD
Sweet Susie - SOLD
Red Rider - SOLD

Blue Santa - SOLD
Pinky - SOLD
White Santa - SOLD

Santa Snowball - SOLD
Stocking Stella - SOLD
Miss Golden Deer - SOLD

Gift Bearing Bunny - SOLD
Miss Gift Giver - SOLD
Ice Santa - SOLD

Stand up Squirrel (not ooak) - SOLD
Skiing Santa - SOLD
Lily White Cat Girl - SOLD

Leather Stocking Santa (rare antique baby boot) - SOLD

Miss Horse - SOLD
Miss Kitty - SOLD
Mr. Pup - SOLD

Miss Earmuffs - SOLD
Darling Doll - SOLD
Angel with a Cake - SOLD

Blue and Red Girl - SOLD
Miss Hanukkah - SOLD
Happy Boy - SOLD

Scarlett Santa - SOLD
Santa Bell - SOLD
Maude - SOLD

Extra Large Figures (8"):
Poinsettia Pam - SOLD
Santa with Kitten - SOLD

Santa in Sleigh - SOLD
Reindeer (unattached) - SOLD