Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thrift Haul - Not Bad for a Only a Few Trips

We're so close guys!  It's almost the Friday after Thanksgiving, and for most of us that's GO time!  I really wanted to decorate earlier this year, but for the most part I refrained.  A little deer here and a small Santa there have been able to squelch my desire to decorate "early."  I'm still trying to mentally figure out where I'm going to put stuff to display it nicely yet keep it out of The Little Dudes hands.  It's going to take some creativity that's for sure!  On to the thrifty finds - we only made a few stops this week.  The snow and snot are still slowing us down... 
This one has kind of thrown me for a loop.  It looks old but also kind of fake.  The paper seems aged by it's color but otherwise is in good shape.  I don't know, do you guys?  Is this a modern reproduction or an actual vintage decoration.

 These Beistle decorations aren't super old, from the 70's and 80's, but they are still just so sweet!  
 I scored this gem at an antique store.  It will be perfect for a little crafty renovation project! 
 Two little Made in Japan Santa's and a cool old metal lunch pail that is also destined for some kind of crafty project.  Wouldn't that be a cute make up box?
This is my favorite find from the past week.  It's a piece of "Anna" Van Briggle pottery that was actually made right down the street from where I live.  It used to be very popular stuff around here, but since the pottery closed a few years ago, it seems to have fallen out of favor.  Lucky for me though because that means I can find gems like this at the thrift.  And the little frog is removable so I can use it multiple ways.  It's a keeper for now.  (I wrote about my first Van Briggle find here)  Have you ever hear of Van Briggle or is it mostly a Southern Colorado thing?
 I posted these here on Sunday, but I wanted to share them again because I just love them!  These are the two mini wreaths out of the five I made that I'm going to keep.  I used the same technique as before, just on a small wooden form instead of a foam one.  The forms are probably about 2.5 inches in diameter so they make a nice sized little wreath.  
We'll be heading over to my parents house for Thanksgiving this year.  I'm bringing the sweet potato casserole because for whatever reason, making that seems to make The Mom's husband a little crazy.  I found this recipe on Pinterest that looks pretty good so I'm going to give it a go.  That's the extent of my cooking responsibilities.  What about you guys?  Any fun plans for Thanksgiving?  Will you be cooking everything yourself or enjoying someone else's hard work? (Like us!)

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Instagram Recap

I feel like this week was wicked uneventful, but I apparently had lots of fun on Instagram.   
This Dream Pet was my only thrifty find from the week before.  I love him!  I just found out that he has a lovely female counterpart, (thanks Melissa) so now I'm on a mission to find her.  
I replanted Chompers Junior into a fancy new house.  It's a venus flytrap that I grew from seed.  
 These magazines were a fun thrift score that have been super entertaining to go through.  So many crocheted bathing suits...
 The seventies seemed to have been a kind of creepy decade for crafting...  Creepy but kind of cute.
 It snowed!!!  Yay, I love snow!  
 This is the first crochet project I've done in a almost a year and I remember why I put it down for such a long time.  I have the shortest dang attention span since The Little Dude was born.  It's ridiculous... Look, is that a dog with a puffy tail?!
 Anyway, these boot cuffs actually were a great project for me because they worked up pretty dang fast and are really cute.  I made another set for the Best Bud and will probably make a few more pairs for others.  
 I went to an auction...and it was super disappointing.  The auctioneer and pace were much better than the last one I went to, but the merchandise was worse.
 Found this pretty little pink Pyrex.  One of my regular customers has called dibs on it already...she's the best!
 I made a bunch of these little guys so I could scratch my wreath making itch.  This one went to the booth today. 
 Squeeeee.... aren't they cute?!  Two of them will be staying with me to keep the big one company.  
 Are these not the most stoned looking Santa's you've ever seen?!  Hahaha!  

 Do you Instagram?  Find me at andromedavintage if you do.  It's so much fun!!!


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

One Little Keeper

First of all, THANK YOU so much for all your kind words about my wreath!  You guys are seriously the best and I appreciate all of you so much! 
Ok, enough with the gushing...(though I could totally continue)  I got the stuff to finish The Mom's wreath and will hopefully be able to work on it soon.  Things have been a bit crazy around here.  The Husband has been working an obscene amount of hours and now The Little Dude has come down with a super icky snot nose.  He's healthy and happy otherwise but, UGH....snot is SO GROSS!!!   Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze some Christmas crafting in between boogie wipes and sick baby cuddles.  Yeah, it's not all bad.  : )
Because of all the craziness and my self induced thrift freeze, this was the only thing I picked up last week.  She's a little Dream Pet from the 60's I believe - Rae knows way more about these guys than I do.  Anyway, don't you love the little eyelashes and playful expression?!  I'm thinking she will stay with me for a little while this year.  That face is just so dang sweet, I smile every time I look at it!
I'm really itching to get the Christmas decorations out, as I know some of you have already.  Which side are you on - decorate before or after Thanksgiving?

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Instagram Recap

Am I the only one who has noticed how out of control word verifications have been lately?  I had to refresh this one 3 times before I could read what it said.  I'm not a robot and I can't read Sanskrit or non-existent letters/numbers.  Dang!!!
These Corning ornaments were in my sun room for a year before I realized what  they were.   Yup, I'm that observant...
 I should have bought this dude.  Thrift regret!!!
Our zoo allows peacocks to roam the grounds freely and they let you get so close to them!  The Little Dude loves to see just how close he can get before they run away.  I usually have to grab him before the bird does! 
 The booth got a good floofing this week.   I LOVE that freaking tree!!!
 So I made one huge batch of regular buttermilk biscuits and one huge batch of pumpkin biscuits (with my Big Momma's cutter) and in the middle of it my oven crapped out.  Oh.Hell.No.Oven!!!  After I had a mild stroke it decided to start working again.  Stupid contraption, make me freak out like a fool...
 One little picture of Pyrex almost sold this cute but expensive book for me.  I think I was having a wicked case of "empty hand syndrome."
 I didn't get much at the thrifts this week, but I did find a few boxes of light bulbs.  I found a pin that inspired me to make these fabulous bulb clusters.  
 Won't they look great hanging next to my fabulous wreath?
 I didn't spot this guy, The Little Dude did.  We were walking through an antique shop and he started giggling and pointing like crazy.  He really wanted this creepy ass thing!!!  Though the more I look at him, the more I like him...

Do you Instagram?  Find me at andromedavintage if you do.  It's so much fun!!!

Update: The wonderful pumpkin biscuit recipe can be found here!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Booth Update

The tree is up in the booth - I just couldn't wait any longer!!!  I LOVE this tree and it is perfect for my booth because even without lights on it sparkles, which is fanfreakingtastic because I don't have an electrical outlet in my space.  It really draws people into my little alcove.
The Best Bud came down and helped me floof the booth (yes, that's a technical term) during vendor night yesterday.  Thanks for your help and handwriting, it looks great!!!  I'm so lucky our owners do that for us, otherwise big changes would be really complicated for me (The Little Dude HATES going to the booth now).   It may not seem big, but changing that chalk board wall is a pain in the rear and requires some mess making which I would rather not do with customers around.  
I'm excited to see how this holiday season goes.  If last year is any reliable measure, it should be awesome!  It's such a fun and cheery time of year.  Just try looking at that tree without smiling a little!  I bet you can't!
Oh, and I just bought a pair of boots for myself for Christmas!  Hopefully they come tomorrow and they fit, cross your fingers for me!!! 
 Have any of you bought yourself an early Christmas gift yet? : )
Have a great weekend everyone! 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Fabulous Vintage Ornament Wreath!!!

This post is going to be a bit short because I stuck to what I said last week and didn't do a whole lot of thrifting ... which is just fine because look at the freaking WONDERFUL wreath I had time to make!  Squeeeeeeeee!!!
This is my first attempt at wreath making of any kind and let me tell you guys, I think I've found a new love!  I don't have a lot of little bitty pieces to stick in between the ornaments, so I'm glad that I wrapped the tinsel garland around the form since it peeks through here and there.
 The bulbs with the fluffy stuff inside are old flash bulbs that my Grandparents gave me.  I knew they would come in handy one day!   They worked perfectly for this project.
 This guy is my favorite vintage Christmas find so far so he totally had to take center stage.  Ornament wreath making is going to go up there with my most favorite crafts.  It was so dang fun, I need to make more!
I'm pretty stinking proud of this thing if you couldn't tell.  Everything but the form and the hot glue came from estate sales or thrift shops.  It's hanging up in my sun room until it's time to get the Christmas decorations up.  It's going to be really hard to not to decorate early!
What do you guys think?  Are you inspired to make your own?  Do you have any wreath making tips or tricks you would like to share?
Thanks for all the encouragement guys!  You're the best! Those of you that are nervous - Melissa! - you totally have to take the leap!  The end product is worth it!


Sunday, November 10, 2013

Instagram Recap

This Barbie case is so seventies.  I really wanted to buy it but the inside was trashed.  Too bad, it would have been a great box for fabric scraps.  
 I got the new CB2 catalog in the mail the other day.  Why do they do that to me?!  I can't buy anything in there anymore though I WANT to so bad.  This little town decorator set would be the first thing I bought - it has a thrift shop in it!!!
 Nothing to see here!  Hahahahaha! Such a strange cat...
 My antique mall had a huge new monument sign installed so we celebrated with a champagne toast.  The owner will be able to upload different pictures to the LED screen and notify passing people of events and sales.  It's pretty dang cool.
 The Mom and I went up to Denver to do a craft project with Heidi at Vacuuming in High Heels and Pearls.  She is so nice and has the cutest house!  We had a really great time.  Thanks again Heidi!!!
 I want a vintage camper so bad I can taste it!  This will have to satiate that craving for a LONG time.   It's at Michael's. 
 Since I hope to get a bunch of Christmas stuff to the booth soon I needed to figure out what I was going to sell and what I was going to keep so I started my wreaths.  I know, it's a tough life! ; )
 This is a peek at the one I'm making for The Mom.  She does a tree in her front room every year that is just decorated in gold ornaments. This will match that perfectly!  
 I worked on my own too and it's fantastic!  Making ornament wreaths is so much FUN.  I know I said I have enough ornaments, but I totally don't, these things take a TON!  I'd like to make a few more for the booth, so back to the Christmas section I go.  

Do you Instagram?  Find me at andromedavintage if you do.  It's so much fun!!!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Quick Booth Update

This little booth of mine, I'm gonna let it shine....This little booth of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let shine let it shine, let it shine!!!  What is with the singing lately?!  I can't seem to seem to stop...weird.  
Anyway, sales have been really good lately!  I have the best customers!  Someone bought almost all of my Butterfly Gold stuff last week and that giant globe finally found a new home.  I'm going to take it easy with the thrifting (for reals) for the next week or two so I can take some time to get all my Christmas stuff ready.  So excited!!!
Do any of you guys plan on buying vintage gifts for friends and family this year for the holidays?  

Monday, November 4, 2013

Thrift Haul - More Christmas!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know.  Last week I was two seconds away from busting out in song and this week's haul has just pushed me over the edge! Christmas tunes will play in my head for the next two months...not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  
This Tom and Jerry punch bowl set is probably my favorite find of the week.  I think it's Hazel Atlas but I'm not totally sure.  It will be going to the booth in the next week or so.  Re-sellers - when do you guys start putting out your Christmas stuff?

I must be the only one in my area who buys Shiny Brites because I keep finding a TON of them.
These little bits will be really cute on the ornament wreaths I hope to make.  I have a whole bag full of those little fire hazard light covers.  
A few non Christmas things made their way home with me last week.  The Hazel Atlas plates are a bit too yucky for resale... Poor me!  All of the little critters here will be going into the Etsy shop soon. 
I hit two estate sales this weekend and the pickings were slim,. The two Vera scarves are my first Vera finds ever.  I'm going to keep the yellow and grey one and sell the brown one.  I probably wouldn't have bought them if I didn't read Jill's blog A Little Bit of Everything.   She's the Vera queen!   I'll put the bar glasses in the Etsy shop and probably decorate the safety pins with buttons for Christmas gifts.   Holy crap...Christmas crafting is right around the corner!
I'm hoping going to get started on making ornament wreaths soon.  I've never made one before, but Hanna and Erica at The Adventure of Two Thrifting Sisters made them here last year and I think I can follow along on their blog posts.  I'm ready to get started with my Christmas projects!  I'll be kicking it off this Saturday when The Mom and I head up to Denver to do a little crafting class with Heidi from Vacuuming in High Heels and Pearls.  I'm so excited to meet a blog friend and make her cute project!  It's going to be a blast!
Do you have any special vintage holiday crafting you do?