Treasures!

 Winter is a low time for treasure hunting around here and this past weekend I really had the bug to get out and dig through some piles of old stuff.  So on Saturday I grabbed my mom and off we went!  We went to a thrift store in the next town north and discovered a diamond in the rough for used clothing.  I bought 4 warm and attractive sweaters for 5 bucks each!  I also got this little collection of "gold" jewelry.  Some to wear and some to craft with.  After that it was off to one of my favorite antique stores, which is out in the middle of no where and is one of those huge old houses that is just packed to gills with glassware, architectural salvage, antique and vintage clothing, costume jewelry, hardware and everything in between. 

 The woodpecker on a log planter is one of my favorite finds and was on a shelf bunched up with lots of lesser quality, kitschy figurines...you could barely see it.  You can't tell from the photo, but it has venetian dew on it's wings which gives it a spectacular old quality.  The lead skunk on the flip side was in a rotating display case that was packed with awesome things.  I don't why, but he really stole my heart.  His tail is velvet and he has a wheat penny stuck in his base right under his butt.  He's not a bank and doesn't have any moving parts...anyone know why the penny is there?  The little collection of bisque puppies was a no brainer.  I love old bisque!

 They had a big bushel basket full of old hardware doodads on the floor in one of the aisles.  When I was rummaging through, loudly, on my knees, the two guys working there came over to check out what the racket was...I looked up and told them it was a loose animal and he went that way, lol. 

 A half a turkey (he's missing on the other side), an adorable Christmas vase and a cool mini shoe.

 The guy gave me this beaten up old cake topper for free!

 I almost missed the dresser that was filled with old trim.  I found some real treasures in there...old old old ribbon and interesting and very delicate trim.  Not to mention the super thin antique mittens.  So precious!

 The trim drawers also had some random bits of old old millinery flowers.  You'd thought I struck gold I was so feverishly sifting through the ribbons to find all the flowers.  I took almost all of them home.

 And this colorful hat is a treasure trove of flowers too...if I could bear to take it apart...we'll see.

And a quartet of bunnies is a sign of what's to come.  I've been wanting a paper mache bunny for years...and finally I could afford one!  This guy was only five bucks!  Well...just don't turn him around...he's got a nasty ear injury, lol.  He'll look just swell in the studio filled with sprigs of goodies.  :)

And of course my mom didn't walk away empty handed...she's a sucker for books and magazines and let's just say that she had the heaviest bag!  

Hopefully we can do it again soon!