SOWA August 24, 2009

I wish I would have asked what SoWa stands for.  SoMA or SoBA I would get.  Anyone?

Every Sunday, 10-4,  in South Boston happens “New England’s largest outdoor bazaar”.  It’s open May through October 25th.  There is a Farmers Market, a Hand-Made section – which was an open air Etsy, and an Import Market.  Plus live music and food.  Good times.

My favorite was the antique market.  It’s housed inside an enormous hollowed out old factory. It was stunning.  The prices were also a little stunning.

Isn’t this beautiful?  I have a thing for old game boards and paraphernalia.  My husband & I got excited about this piece for above the mantel but the 250 price tag killed it.  I think that a big part of what I love about vintage is the hunt and the score.  The rescue!  When I buy or curb something I feel like I am taking an under-appreciated relic and giving it it’s proper respect.  If I were to buy a warped wooden wheel for 250, I would feel like a sucker.  Hmmm, how to justify these feelings with my Etsy shop (that SHALL RIDE AGAIN!).

I like a shop that leads with a negative.  Another thing I will NOT being doing is buying this Chanukiah (name of the menorah for Chanukah).  I really love the this one.  Much of the Judaica is not to my taste but this is perfection.  Except the 300 dollar price tag.  I am assuming it’s silver so maybe the price is justified but I could not stomach it.

This little sock doll was fetching.  I think it was 22 dollars.  A lot of things were priced at 22 dollars.

I liked these red chairs and this vendor was selling a lot of wire gym baskets.  15 each if you bought 3 or more.  I thought that was fair but forgot to go back and pick some up.   Excuse to go next Sunday.

This is the one thing I did buy.  It’s an illustration of Simple Simon and the Pieman.  It was an insert in the Boston Globe.

The vendor shrewdly gave my youngest the shell he was admiring, thus securing my purchase of the illustration.  At 5 dollars, I walked away happy.  As did my shell loving little guy.

Well… July 24, 2009

I am never too busy to brag!

Look what I found while dropping off tons of crap donations at the thrift store.

Ahhhh, old metal box you were calling my name.

Thrift Repurpose June 30, 2009

Edit:  I am just going to let this one ride & call it Vintage Photo Friday.  I am up to my eyeballs in boxes.  Will catch up with you all soon!

A while back on Vintage Photo Friday, there was some discussion & sharing of ideas for storing/displaying vintage photos.

I was excited to find inspiration in this vintage napkin holder at the thrift store today (Happy Anniversary Pat & Charlie)!  I picked it up because I am a sucker for metal and swirls, then I put it down thinking it wouldn’t really work with our cloth napkins.  But bam, I thought photos.  I also thought I would paint it but decided I liked the yellow with the photos.  Yellow is a color I am always surprised I like.

The photos in front are from my last trip to Brimmfield.  I am trying to scale my (non-family) photos down to just a few collections, vintage marching bands, vintage construction photos, and people at the beach.

I love the bathing suits on the people in the front and the suit suits on the guys in the back!

Ok, she does not fit my “rules” but just look at her.  I wonder where she is going and if she is more excited than she is letting on.  Truthfully, I am not sure if it was her or the bus I was more taken with when I plucked her from the pile that chilly Brimmfield day.

Any more ideas for how to display vintage photos?  Leave a link if you feel like sharing.

More vintage photos this way:

Green Jello

Knot Sew Crafty

Sheep on a Spring

Pineapples & Artichokes

Pamdora

Through the Looking Glass

Handy Crafts

My Own Crafty Wonderland

Woolanthropy

Los Angeles is My Beat

The Bee Bonnet Report

Living, Laughing and Loving in Austin

A Jen Too Many

Raine-works

dobco

Cheetah Velour

Thrifting is a Thing of Beauty June 3, 2009

***I would like to apologize in advance for my liberal usage of CAPS in this post.  It’s my fingers getting in on the excitement of the day.***

For I had a banner thrifting day today.  And I really needed it.

I was feeling peeved about the closing date looking like it’s going to move back and just needed some cheap therapy.

I know you are supposed to appreciate and try to understand peoples’ differences but I can not fathom why a person would not love the heck out of thrift store shopping.

I went to a shop today that I had not been to before, and there are not many of those out there.  Someone told me about it and I can not remember who.  Whoever it was, I owe you a kiss, beer or babysitting (your pick).   The place was a treasure trove .  I am not ready to be as selfless as the forgotten one who pointed me in the direction of the shop in the first place, so it will remain nameless for now.  Sorry Kate, love ya!

Drink up the goodness below:

Little faux bois tin, with a touch of fake wicker (anyone know how to say that in french?) thrown in for good measure.

A beautiful vintage umbrella that functions.  It has the most delicate wooden handle.  I am thinking of doing something with it on the porch.  Ideas?

I picked up a funky old chair that is the color of the green in this lap blanket.  I am thinking of painting the new craft room teal and chartreuse and think the old chair with this blanket thrown over it will work nicely.  First I have to vaccuum what looks to be the excess fur of an entire cat clan off of it, cut the skirt off, paint the legs and fabreeze it with a vengeance.

Are you ready?

Then I came across this vision of crafty win!  Do you SEE it?

This little birdcage appeared to never have housed a bird (or their droppings).  It came stuffed with fake flowers that I generously donated back to the store.  The cool guy at the check out counter asked what I was going to do with this and like a dork, I replied, “I’m going to do something crazy with it!  Like paint it hot pink or something!!!”  Seriously, I said that.  Then just to try and dig myself out of the old lady hole I fell into I added, “I know.  I am CRAZY.  Lookout!!!!”  But if making a fool of myself is the price to pay for such thrifted goodness then a fool I be.

I also picked up a few pieces of Pyrex, a yellow mug, an orange leftover dish, and an avocado mixing bowl to add to my growing collection.

I loved the shop and the people working there so much that I trekked out to their second location.  When you are feeling the thrift mojo, you do not question, you ACT.

Initially the second shop seemed like the uncool cousin of the first.  It may have had something to do with the 20 month pregnant woman with the hoarsest smokers voice I have EVAH heard gabbing into her cell phone the whole time.  She was not RESPECTING the THRIFT.

I found this painting that is a little more “pop artish” than I usually go for but I felt like it was painted well and after I walked by it once, it beckoned me back.

But then, then I saw it.  At first I didn’t bust any sudden movements for fear someone else, like the lady standing RIGHT in front of it, would grab it.  Then I panicked and made an ungraceful lunge for it.  In the process I knocked over a few hideous photo frames which the aforementioned woman caught while giving me an annoyed look.  Again, DO NOT CARE.  Fool I be lady, get the F outta my way!  I caused such a commotion that one of the workers came over and said, “Let me help you get that down.” in her best talking to a crazy lady voice.  Do not care for it is MINE.

Oh good gawd I love it.  It’s massive, it’s fetching, it’s MINE!

It is the rare bird that looks better close-up!

ahhhhhh.

Dayenu already but then I spied these beauties on the shelf and flipped when both skates were actually in the box.

PRISTINE condition.

You hate me a little bit, don’t you?

Thrifted May 31, 2009

I have not been in a blogging state of mind lately.  I have not been writing much about us being in the process of buying a new house because a) it’s not that exciting b) there are many hurdles to jump before it really happens and c) I am saving up all my house themed posts for AFTER we move in.  You have been forewarned, I plan to bore you silly with the decorating details!

I have put my Etsy shop on hold, it will return specializing in funky ephemera (someday), but I haven’t stopped thrifting.  I wanted to share with you some great scores I got while in NC visiting my parents.  My father is a super collector of tins and this is one trait that hasn’t skipped a generation (unlike good looks and modesty that Daniel and I inherited from Granny and Granddaddy!).

I am scaring myself in my advancing age.  I am turning into a crazy cat lady but without all the cats.  Turns out I collect vintage children’s toys and vintage products aimed at children.  I will admit to being slightly embarrassed by this fact but unable to curb the impulse.  Does this make me kooky or pitiful?

I mean could you resist these frolicking baby elephants?

Inside of this beauty was a bunch of lovely vintage buttons.  I picked a few out to share.  I made button rings before and that was fun and easy.  Do you have any other ideas of fun projects to do with vintage buttons?

And here is a peony in our yard after a big storm today.  I am going to miss that plant.

Charlie and Pat, Back in Action April 2, 2009

My favorite little thrift spot is seasonal and they just opened this morning for the spring.  I was there 20 minutes before opening with the little one, to wait in line.  The folks who came after me formed a lateral line which would have sent me into a rage if it were anywhere but C&P’s.  The thrift “store” is housed in a garage and it’s a little tight in there but I managed about 9 laps around the place, adding more to the stroller each time.  First thing I picked up was a replogle vintage globe on a beautiful stand, 2 bucks – BAM.  Then I spotted a vintage Boston Public School desk and chair, it’s lower middle on the grid.  Or at least the underside is pictured, the desk has elaborate wrought iron legs and a wooden top with a beautiful patina.  The chair is perfection on a metal base.  More photos to come when they are not shoved into the back of the minivan.

Oh, and I got a COMPLETE box of vintage vocabulary cards for a quarter.  LOVE THEM THE BEST.  I have to go pick up my big guy from school so I’ll rush through the remaining scores:  vintage wooden kite string winder upper thing that is as light as a whisper, a mid-century lamp that I did not capture in it’s full glory – it has a double shade!, I got a milk glass chicken because it seemed like I should (not usually a chicken gal), a funky little metal bowl filled with seeds for 10 cents a pack, and a sweet little bird that I believe hangs out at bars and spits lime into drinks (at least that is my vision for her)!  Life is a little more sparkly with Charlie and Pat’s up and running.  It’s like someone hit the “vibrancy” on picnik a few times and I LOVE it!

Happy thrifting to you!

Altered Thrift March 23, 2009

My favorite thrift store folks, Charlie and Pat, gave me two ceramic wall hangings when they were closing up their shop for the winter months.  I mostly took them because my granny taught me it was polite to take what is offered to you.  I have since found this to be a cultural/regional thing.  Southerners generally think you rude if you don’t take what is offered and Northerners think you rude if you do.  Just my take on it, feel free to share if you have a different opinion (I’ll let you decide if I mean that in a Southern or Northern way!).

Before:

Anyhoo, the hangings were ugly not to my liking so I painted them.  My original plan was to paint them one color but I couldn’t decide between the green or the blue and my craft group said go for it with both colors.  I hope to do one more coat of a high gloss finish but for now I hung them up.  I might have to take them down later as my husband diplomatically said last night, “I like what you have done with those, I’m just not sure if I like them enough to hang them in the living room.”

After:

I think I might need to move my hippo and green man if they stay but more than likely they are headed to the craft room.  No worries.  It really was about the process for me on this one.  It was fun to paint and see them transform from fugly to less fugly (says me).

I had to stop myself from painting more things blue.

In the Market for a Bargain? November 8, 2008

Today, November 8th, and tomorrow, the 9th some vintage sellers on Etsy are participating in the Vintage Market Sale. Just enter VMS into a vintage search on Etsy and there will be some bargains to be had!

I have listed some new items at a discounted price and have marked down others.  They are in the VMS section of my shop!

Convo me if you’ve had your eye on something in the shop and we just might be able to work out a deal.  I’m in the SALE spirit this weekend!

These are things I have just listed or will be listing soon.

I’m hoping this book will appeal to all the steampunks on Etsy!

I got this vintage teether mint in package at Brimfield this fall.  I’m a sucker for that red background!

Vintage metal bird sculpture, unmarked and unfazed!

Enjoy your weekends!

Tracey

I’m on a Roll… October 6, 2008

I’ve got butter on my pants!  Boom-CHA

2 in one day.  Special for you because you’re special.  Blogging is like that, spurts and spells (most of mine, dry).

I had such a good rummage/yard sale day on Saturday.

I met my friend at a church rummage sale first thing Saturday morning and got some good bits for the shop plus a huge framed papyrus with all the Egyptian gods painted on it for the growing collection of Ancient Egyptian art and artifacts in the boys room.  After the Unitarian church sale we went to Charlie and Pat’s rummage sale were I pick up 2 beautiful vintage Italian Christmas creches.  You don’t have to celebrate the holiday to have a good eye, my pretend Jewish great grandma always used to say!  On the way to drop my friend off back home we squeezed in a yard sale.    We got some cool games and random goodness.  I hit “just one more sale” (or two) on the way home and hit the MOTHER LOAD.  You know how when you pull up to a yard sale and you know if it’s a match or not.  I parked and immediately began scooping up the scores.  I really wanted all the other folks to vacate the premises and claim this one as MINE.  I bought a pair of vintage roller skates all rusted and lovely:

3 framed vintage children’s albums.  Some framed funky prints, an atomic tea cup and saucer that had a tin sheriff’s bandage in it, and 2 metal tables that are the most perfect shade of green. They are keepers.

Photo does not capture the olive-y greatness that these possess.

I told the woman I loved her taste and stuff and we had a great conversation.  I even slipped her my card, which was my challenge to myself of the day.  She let me into the garage, which was blocked off ( I had already asked about buying a metal globe located in the cave twice), and showed me 2 boxes of dolls. This beauty caught my eye and I bought the boxes off the cool woman with fabulous taste (you should have seen the house!).  A kind flickr flickrer informed me it’s a Japanese pose doll.  She’s fetching.  I’ll be posting her and some other finds in my shop today and tomorrow.  I hope she goes to a great home.  I had a blast acquiring her.

Here is an old Japanese ad featuring pose dolls:

The Macabre Wedding Dolls September 21, 2008

Perfect for Halloween or just plain scaring your engaged friends!  Just wanted to let you know what I’ve been up to this weekend.  Stocking the shop.  These are my favorite from this weekends postings.  I scored the little Kewpies  at Brimfield and they were so creepy I had to love them.

The listing reads,

‘Til death do us part…

Up for your consideration is this vintage couple ready to tie the knot although I think they are too young to tie one on.

They stand soberly at 4 inches tall and are dressed in the finest and most delicate crepe paper gown and tux. Their bodies are made of plastic but their hearts are made of love.

They are in good vintage condition, especially considering how fragile crepe paper is. Her gown has some spotting on the bottom near the hem. The photos show this accurately.

These two are perfect for use as a cake topper, an assemblage piece on the perils of young marriage or for your freaky baby wedding doll collection!

I won’t make a habit of advertising here but it’s Sunday and this is all I got people. 

You can find them here if you are so moved!