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! :)
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!
Some new cuties for the show!
