Stepping Out in Faith!

Well, my friend Bargain Hunter and I signed the papers today to get a booth at our local antiques mall! We're really excited and have lots of ideas for making it work, but it's pretty scary, too. We take possession on February 1 (a Tuesday) and hope to have everything in place by Friday, February 4, so we don't lose the weekend traffic. Needless to say, that will be a VERY busy week!

I'll keep you posted on our progress as February 4 approaches and hope to have pictures to post, too.

This is REALLY scary!

About 6 months ago, I radically cut my paid work hours to be available to help my husband with his new business. Since then, I've been trying to find ways to earn money, while still being flexible in my hours -- not an easy task in this economy!

I've done lots of thrifting and estate-sale-shopping with my friend, Bargain Hunter. I've bought and sold on Ebay for years (okay, so I've bought more than I've sold -- who's counting?) but started selling on Etsy in October. I'm having so much fun! I find that I enjoy doing this more than just about anything else.

But, here's the scary part... My friend Bargain Hunter and I were talking about our dream to have a booth in an antique mall. She found out that our favorite local mall, Livingston Antique Outlet, has a few coming available in February and March. BH wants to get one of them and share it. We figured out that we'd have to sell just 13 items each to make the monthly rent. And LAO gets great shopper traffic -- you can hardly find a parking place there on the weekends and there are always lots of shoppers at other times of the week, too. The idea of doing that, though, is REALLY scary to me -- but exciting, too!

What's funny is that, in her last post, BH blogged about how scared she is to sell on Ebay and Etsy -- that's a piece of cake! I'm totally freaked out by the idea of selling in a mall! How can two friends who have so much in common have such different points of view?

So what do you think, dear readers? Should we give it a try for 6 months or so and see what we can do with it? Is it too late to begin doing something you've wished you could do for 20 years or more?

Pretty scary stuff!

Quick Trip to Salvation Army

On the Wednesday before Christmas, I made a super-quick trip to the Salvation Army, just to see what was new. I found a real treasure trove of thrift!

All Christmas items were 75% off and I found lots of older holiday items plus a few other vintage deals:

An oh-so-beautiful, handmade ceramics cookie plate
A red sputnik ornament (free, because it has no hooked end)
A large boot candle
A singleton candle salt shaker (Lefton-like)
3 packages of wired tinsel - I'm thinking of lots of projects...
2 Tin 1960s trays
Mirro cookie press + bin of cutters -- $1.99!

Knitting needles & knitting gauge
Presto pressure cooker user's manual from 1946
I *love* this picture at the back of the book (it's worth the whole thing)!
The kitchen here is the National Pressure Cooker Company's 'cheerful, modern' kitchen --

Here's the caption:
Closeups of the 'cheerful, modern' kitchen

24 Days of Advent - Day 21 - Christmas in the Kitchen

We have lots of Christmas in our kitchen -- probably because, like most people, we spend a lot fo time there! Here are some pictures of our kitchen Christmas

A large bottle brush wreath
A shelf with old gift boxes and various Christmas kitsch
The shelf over the stove -- more kitsch
(I wonder how many tinsel trees I have?)
Handmade Christmas tea towels - not easy to find

The top of the hoosier cabinet -- more kitsch
(do you sense a theme here?)

A little pennant from Christmas, Michigan
Lots of angels -- mostly Gurley candles

24 Days of Advent - Day 16 - Christmas Lights

Remember when you were a kid and your parents would bundle everyone into the car and you'd all ride around and look at Christmas lights? (Think choruses of Oooooohhh and Aaaaaahhhhh)! We all loved the gaudiest, brightest and most tacky displays -- there just couldn't be too many reindeer, elves or snowmen!

That was always one of my favorite Christmas activities (and, truth be told, still is). Our own display is modest by comparison to lots that we see, but that's okay.

The wreath on the front of the house was made by my dad about 30 years ago.
The candles by the front door are from the 1960s -- I have 2 sets, but only use one. It's too bad I can't figure out a place for the second set!

The lights on the gate (affectionately called the Divorce-Gate around here because my dragging it home almost led to our divorce!) look great, but aren't very bright because we're good green citizens and they're LEDs.
I made the star out of bamboo sticks, zip ties and lights from directions on Martha Stewart's website. Of course, like everything else here, Santa and the Snowman are old -- both thrift finds that turned out well.

The trees ( to the left) were made by my dear friend Kally out of tomato cages, lights & grapevines (many *thankfully* cut from my yard) and given to me when she moved.

And there is the unwritten (but still mandatory) rule that the Christmas tree MUST be visible through the front window! Okay, so it's over to the side, but you can still see it . . .

24 Days of Advent - Day 11 - Gurley Candles

Every kid who grew up in the 1940s and 1950s played with Gurley candles at the holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Easter). They were inexpensive & colorful and easy to find -- sold a Woolworths & Kresge's and all the other five-and-dimes.

The candles were first made in the 1930s by Franklin Gurley and marketed under the name Tavern Novelty Candles, commissioned by Socony-Vacuum Oil Company (now ExxonMobile) as a way to use the excess paraffin byproduct of their refining process. If you have candles with a Tavern sticker or Tavern box, they're older than Gurleys, as Tavern became Gurley Novelty in 1949.

The most collected Gurley candles are the Halloween & Christmas lines, but there are also Easter and Thanksgiving that are gaining in popularity. The candles sold for as little as a dime to a dollar or more -- now you can expect to pay anywhere from $3-15 and as much as $30 for a set, all depending on the rarity and condition. I've been collecting them as I find them for years and never care if the wick has been burnt or they list a little to one side or another -- I just think that shows that they've been loved and have a history!

Angels of all kinds!

Trees, churches, choir singers & elves

Snowmen of all kinds!

Nativity set (not set up right now -- no room!)

Carolers (not set up right now - no room!)

I've intended to sell both the caroler and the nativity sets on Ebay (which is why the pictures look like they do) but every time I get ready to list them, I just can't bring myself to do it! Hopefully, I'll have a place to display them some day...

24 Days of Advent - Day 10 - 50s Stuff

I just can't seem to get enough of old Christmas decorations! Every time I see them in at an estate sale, flea market or antique mall, I'm drawn to them like a moth to a flame.

This shelf is all from the 1930s - 50s, but mostly the decorations are ones I remember seeing when I was little. Very few of them (if any) are from my childhood.

The top shelf is mostly trees -- I really like the bottle brushes.
The tall one on the left is a truly tacky one that winds up and plays 'Santa Clause is coming to town. I think it's a home-made job (which always makes it better, to my mind) with really tacky elves and decorations glued all over it & glittered.
The light-up Santa is just like one that was my favorite decoration when I was little. He's still one of my favorites!

Santa in his sleigh was my husband's when he was little.
These are all old candy containers and gift boxes.

The building in the center below is an old bank
and the snowman in the corner is a wax candy container.

The light-up Santa belonged to my father-in-law, who loved Christmas as much as I do,
and I was so pleased when he gave his Santa to ME!
I have such wonderful memories of Christmases at their house!
The cardboard Santa & sleigh is from my husband's house, too. I remember when my mother-in-law gave me boxes of old decorations and Christmas bulbs and just laughed and laughed because I was so excited to get them.

24 Days of Advent - Day 3

Today's picture is an Econolite Christmas tree -- one of my favorite things! Heat from the light underneath warms the tree and makes it turn. It's simple and nowhere near mint, but lovely (and hard to find).

24 Days of Advent - Day 2

This is the second day focusing on Christmas at our house! I've always loved reading and books in general and began collecting antiquarian books when I was in high school. So it's no surprise that I'd like to collect Christmas books, as well. These are just a few of them -- we put them on the music stand of the piano (out of reach of the dog's mouth)!

The one on the left is a small book from 1913 with beautiful illustrations of the verses of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, published as a gift edition.

The 1912 book on the right is Let Us Go to Bethlehem, a book of essays about the Biblical chapters dealing with Jesus' birth. It's a gift edition, too, but it would be pretty heavy reading!

The blue Christmas Carols book is from the 1952 and each carol page has a great illustration to go with it.

My favorite one, though, is The Golden Christmas Book! If you've never seen it, try to find a copy and check it out. It's full of stories, puzzles, carols, coloring pages & games, as well as the story of Jesus' birth. We had this when I was little and my sister and I worked through every page and activity. I still have my original one, but it's pretty well 'loved'.
My favorite part of this favorite book is right inside the front cover: a tissue paper Christmas tree! Okay, so it doesn't look like much to our tech-savvy eyes. It was pretty exciting when you're just a preschooler, though!

24 Days of Christmas - Day 1 - Nativity

I'm shamelessly copying another blogger by doing this but, hopefully, she won't mind -- imitation is supposed to be the highest compliment! I'll have a Christmas post each day with pictures from my home or items I'm making for Christmas (if I ever have time!)

Because Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus Christ, my first pictures will be of our nativity set. This was a gift to us from my in-laws for our first Christmas -- it's something they did for each of their 5 children. Just as Christ was the cornerstone in their lives, they wanted Him to be the cornerstone in ours.
I've added lots of characters to the set -- one a year for many years. Especially dear are the chicken & other fowl and the dog who follows the shepherd.

The gold glittered pine cone in the stable's loft was a 'gift' for baby Jesus from my oldest son at age 3. The ivory soap, painted cone & pine cone trees around the stable were all made by one of my guys in preschool. As the ivory soap 'greens' and glued on stars have fallen off over the years, each tree has become more precious because of the little hands that made it.
If you look back at the first picture, you'll see that baby Jesus isn't in the manger. It looks a little odd for the whole month of December, but it's our family tradition to put him away and then get him out on Christmas morning and say a prayer of thanksgiving for Him before we do anything else. As a matter of fact, that's not a bad thing to do every day!

Popcorn!

A while ago, I got a bee in my bonnet to get a vintage popcorn popper (and use it, of course). What fun is it to have old stuff if you don't use it?

Well, we had our first old-school popcorn (no bag, no microwave) this past week and it was pretty good, too. It would have been better if I hadn't put in too much popcorn -- there were lots of unpopped kernels. Next time I'll follow the directions -- and, yes, there really were directions!

Am I the only one out there using vintage small appliances?

A Tale of Three Sales

Sale #1
My friend Bargain Hunter and I went to a local sale at lunchtime on Wednesday. It was at the home of a former librarian and there were books in every room (which I was really looking forward to), but I think most of the really good stuff went out the door early that morning. I did manage to get a few things:

2 small pie or tart plates -- one Pyrex & one Fireking
A vintage Christmas tin

A turquoise Melmac serving bowl & 2 mugs

Sale #2 - A real Frog
Bargain Hunter and I have a standing joke-- she gets so excited about yard sales advertising things like "60 years of accumulated treasures" and I finish the sentence with "all on 3 card tables". This sale was actually just that! It was advertised as an estate sale with household, kitchen and some antiques. It was literally a long table & 2 card tables in a garage with the saddest (smallest) assortment of junk I've seen in a long time. Oh, well. As Bargain Hunter says, "you have have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince."

Sale #3
The next sale I went to was billed as a "Pickers' Sale". I got there 10 minutes after they began giving out numbers and I was already #39! There was one man there (#1) who had arrived at 10 last night and slept in his truck in order to be first. It was, indeed, a picker's sale, but was nothing exciting, either -- everyone picked through plenty of junk! I did get a few things, though:

9 old hankies -- we'll see how they look when they're washed & ironed!

2 pretty funny photos -- A New Year's baby from 1951
and
'Bertha and her friends' from 1957
A small yellow hemstitched tablecloth with 4 napkins,
a glass sugar bowl (a criss-cross look-alike)

and 4 green striped napkinsAll in all, this week's purchases aren't bad for less than $10 total!

First Etsy Sale!

I posted my first two items in my Etsy shop last night and one of them sold before I could even get the other one up! That told me that I'd absolutely priced my item too low. It's okay, though -- it was a good learning experience and now my 'opening night jitters' are behind me. It's odd to be so intimidated by all the great things I see on Etsy, because I've sold so much on Ebay.

I also didn't charge enough for shipping. Rather than allowing the buyer to calculate the exact shipping cost from my location to theirs, Etsy forces the seller to charge a set amount. That can be a real bargain to a buyer in California if I only charge enough to send it Ohio, but if the buyer's in Ohio and I charge enough to send the item to California, that's not fair either! I wish Etsy had a 'calculate shipping' option like Ebay's -- it's SO much better all around!

I worked it out by offering to refund any overage in shipping that comes to more than $1. As a Christian, I can't allow people to pay more than it costs and that system seems fair to me.

I'll keep you all posted on how the sales are going. . .

Opening the Shop Soon!

I spent most of the day photographing, wrapping and boxing up items for Ebay and my Etsy shop. I had so much fun going to estate sales and flea markets with my friend Bargain Hunter all summer, but all the treasures I found have to go somewhere. One of my son's friends, when he came to our house, walked down the basement steps and said, "Wow! This looks like an episode from 'Hoarders -- Buried Alive'!" Personally, I think he was exaggerating, but nonetheless, I got the message.

A Capri Cream & Sugar Set

A light blue Lu Ray Creamer

It's HARD to get rid of things! I always have a hard time at sales buying things I don't particularly like but know will sell well, so most of what I buy, I'd love to keep. These are just a few of the items I'll be listing soon -- you'll be able to actually SEE something when you click on the link to my Etsy shop!

A Holt Howard Cat Salt & Pepper Set

Shafford Black Cat Redware Cookie Jar
Tin Strawberry Tray

I'm getting into the selling spirit, though and have been reading lots of great blogs about how to display, how to photograph and how to wrap items for my shop. I have to admit that it's really intimidating -- there are some truly creative and interesting people out there in the blogosphere and on Etsy! I don't think I'll ever be one of them, but my creative muse has been awakened.

First things first -- the hoarder's pile must go. Then I can start making some things I've had on the drawing board from the vintage fabric, findings & buttons I've been collecting. I think these days 'they' (whoever 'they' are) call a person's second career the 'encore' job. Well, maybe this is my encore -- an it should be a fun adventure!

Flea Market Finds

I had such a great time this summer, hanging out with my friend, Bargain Hunter, and going to flea markets and estate sales. You'll see some of the the great items I picked up in my Etsy store or on Ebay in the next few weeks; but there were some things that I just had to keep! Here are some of the treasures I found:

A Homer Laughlin Kitchen Kraft look-alike cookie jar

A great recipe tea towel (you just can't have too many tea towels!) --
check out the recipes below...
Yet another vintage clothespin bag with clothespins
A homemade sock clown with the cutest look on his face.
Normally, I think clowns are scary, but he's cute --
maybe it's the polka dots.

A pair of Holt Howard cat salt & pepper shakers --
too bad that the 'meow' mechanisms are broken in them.

A chef grocery list and pencil holder -- too cute!
Bargain Hunter and I will no doubt go to more sales this fall -- I'll keep you posted on my flea market & estate sale finds!