Box of Trinkets from My Brother February 6, 2009

I’ve got a sore throat so I won’t talk much today.

Wanted to share a box my brother gave me a while back.

Well, just one story.

These are from the estate of what we called my aunts but I’m not sure exactly the relation.  3rd cousins?  Doesn’t matter, these ladies were golden.  Good sisters who stuck together but did not take gruff from anyone and could talk a mouth full of truck if need be.  Nice southern ladies.  Stop me if I have told you this one before, oh right – you CAN’T!

I was visiting them from college with a friend and they drove us, in their big ole station wagon, to the restaurant.  As we were about to park a woman ambled by ever so slowly, making it so Aunt N & N had to wait.  Aunt N (the sassier of the two) said, “Well HELLO THERE uglier than me!”.  The windows were up, no harm no foul.  But we laughed hard about it, and not just that day.  I think at the time it was the shock of it.  As I age (not gracefully at all) I am realizing the old are not bereft of personality like perhaps I may have thought as a young girl.

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

Quilt Goodness April 12, 2008

I struggle with stuff.

I enjoy the hunt for new treasure, the surprise of finding. Conversely, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by my “stuff” and like I am not treating the things I already have very well, as they get lost in the sheer volume. I often dream of a spartan loft that showcases a few key pieces but it’s not who I am. All this to say, that I’m trying to reconnect with my current stuff instead of finding the thrill in the not yet obtained. This is funny following my last post, I know, but that was DAYS ago!

Day 1: Quilts in the Closet

One of the benefits of coming from a southern family is quilts. I was fawning over some quilts on ebay but decided instead to dig my quilts out of my closet and give them some sugar. A couple of puffs on my inhaler later, I was reunited with these little babies. My goal is to carefully launder them and use them (it’s tough in a household filled with full on dust mite allergies which is why they were in the closet in the first place). I’m not a hardcore utilitarian but I do believe the quilts should be used and in doing, create memories for my boys that connect them to their past. I have strong memories of using the basket pattern quilt on camping trips in our old VW when I was a kid.

I want to thank my Granny and Great Aunts Nancy and Nellie for these beautiful quilts. My Granny made a couple of them and I think Aunt Nancy and Nellie’s mother made the others. My Granny grew up on a farm raising 4 kids and working hard, she never learned how to ride a bike but took a plane to Thailand (in 1969) to meet me when I was born. She had guts and grace. Aunt Nancy and Nellie were big time Tar Heels fans. Didn’t miss a game that I know about. Aunt Nellie was funny as hell and Aunt Nancy was tough as nails and they took good care of each other and of us. One of my favorite memories was eating homemade cheese straws watching Miss America with them at Myrtle Beach.

It’s such a lovely day, I wish I had a clothesline to drape these over…

This shot reminds me of Ikat fabric:

The camper quilt, it’s green striped wool backing will forever remind me of my brother and I sleeping on long car trips. Remember back before carseats and rules? Before we got the VW, my dad used to put a mattress in the back of the LTD for us to sleep on during our drives to see our grandparents.

I’ll try and photograph some of my parents wonderful quilts when I visit them this summer. Maybe they need me to take a few off their hands. I’m a helper.

A Banner Thrifting Day April 10, 2008

It was one of those days that make you want to clutch your finds to your chest and run to pay before someone jacks up the price or somebody else just plain jacks you and steals your treasures. That good. This is one of the reasons I wanted to start a blog, to be in the company of people who (hopefully) find rusted tins, vintage pins, hand carved wooden mushrooms and silly old buttons as thrilling as I do.

Can you believe it? Who made it? Who gave it up? How did I get so lucky? 10 cents! The little orange cup to the right is another thrift find, one shiny quarter plus another for the faux bois planter. I will one day actually plant the plants, and you know which kicks I’ll be sportin’! (keep reading…)

Check out the wooden spool, the amazing color combination. Will I ever be able to cut into this? Probably not. $1.00

If it says, “As is” chances are good it’s golden. 25 cents.

These are lovely and make me want to poke something, not repeatedly!

Miss Piggy for President! I’m down.

I love vintage kitchen tools. Anyone have any good ideas or examples of how to display them?

And these shoes aren’t vintage or particularly cool but they fit, they are green and I like to pretend I will garden one day.

I’m striving for the wonderful detail Melissa at Yummy Goods always captures in her photos. Check her out and tell her I sent ya!

Here are the fish I threw back:

This isn’t faux, just plain bois. Why the hammer?

This was the size of my arm.

Random quote from my 5 year old: “Wouldn’t it be funny if there were seeing eye lions for cavemen?”

These were his picks of the day:

Thrift stores RULE! If you think so, join the Flickr Group, Thrift Thursday!