Aqua Thriftiness

Aqua, how do I love thee, let me count the ways. But before I start counting, let me invite you all to join these two fabulous parties, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays with Linda @ Coastal Charm and Vintage Thingie Thursdays with Suzanne @ Coloradolady. (Please click on the links here or go to their buttons located on my sidebar. Thanks) Between these two parties, there are countless thrifty treasures to be enjoyed. Speaking of counting, here is Number One.

I just love everything in this photo. Three pieces are marked McCoy and the tall kind of fluted vase is not marked but is definitely USA and was a Goodwill find for $1.99 as was the taller of the two plant pots for $3.99. The smaller round planter was one I recently found at a lawnsale for $2.00. (I almost felt like I stole it.) The rectangular planter is also a lawnsale find from last year at $1.50. Let's not forget about the tray, it is a bed tray that I found for $.50 cents.

Number Two. I was absolutely giddy when I found this bowl and serving utensils at a lawn sale a couple of weeks ago. It was an extremely hot morning and the sales had been full of sports equipment and kid's clothing. Then I found this sale. Mom was moving in with daughter and had to downsize. There was mostly new stuff but there in the corner of the garage, mixed in with plastic take out containers was this be-still-my-heart beauty. The color, Gorgeous, the white squiggly lines, How Divine. Both the fork and spoon were dirty but I knew salvageable. Hesitantly I asked how much for the bowl and utensils. Surely, it would be more than I would be willing to spend ...... she replied "Would .75 cents be okay?" Honestly, don't you just feel like you are stealing? But hey I didn't offer that price but gladly took it. I gave her $1.00 and told her to keep the change.

Aqua and squiggly lines, what more can a girl ask for?

Number Three. I know I showed you this tin before, but it needs revisiting. I was at a lawnsale that again had mostly new stuff including an impressive inventory of woman's shoes. The shoes were beautiful and were being sold for $10-25 dollars a pair. So when I found this tin filled with shiny brite ornaments, again I expected a high purchase price. The lady said $2.00 for the ornaments and that I could have the tin for free as it was being tossed out anyway. I don't know which I loved more, the tin or the shiny brites.

Number Four. Pyrex bowls and plate. The large casserole dish was a Goodwill find for $2.99. The smaller one in the Butterprint pattern was a lawnsale find for $1.00. Both the Pyrex dinnerware and the wooden handle utensils were from Goodwill, each $.99 cents. You have seen my kitchen and know that everything I have just shown would look fabulous there in my kitchen, so why is it in my shop? Two reasons. First, I only buy what I love and would use, and not just buy something I don't like because it is cheap. Secondly, I am trying to downsize a little myself and am being good about what is coming into the house.

Number Five. Music themed wall hangings which would look gorgeous against a white/cream wall. I am always drawn to anything music related. Music is a big part of my family. My daughter plays 4 instruments and sings, her father plays three and is a proper tenor.

That is 5 reasons why I love aqua but not all the reasons. I will save the rest for another post. I want to have time to go visit Linda and Suzanne. Be sure you stop by and say hello.

Got it at Goodwill
Sherrie

Here comes the Furlough Bride & Update on Rescued Birdies

Just wanted to first update you on the little birdies we rescued last Thursday. Since none of the bird rehabilitation centers would take the birds, they are still living with us. In just the past 4 days they have doubled in size and have started to fly. Unfortunately they still won't eat on their own and are being hand fed. We are trying to ween them. My daughter made this bird cage out of a box and screening. There is a flap in the back that we can reach in when doing the feedings. This is another in a long list of "firsts" when it comes to what my daughter involves me in ..... hand feeding baby birds, especially flying-at-you baby birds. Such a good mommy.
















WEDDINGS:

"Furlough Weddings can be simple and lovely." That was the title to one of the articles in this Everywoman's Magazine that I found at a lawnsale for $.50 cents, not a bad mark-up from its original cost of five cents. As a caterer I was hoping that it might be describing the food and decorations of the event. Instead it was an article about Wedding Attire. I loved the photo captions and just had to share and thought the folks visiting Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures might enjoy. Everything that follows are all from lawn and estate sales.

The article begins .....
"Because today's bride often must marry in haste, she wants to cherish at leisure, the memory of a beautiful wedding ceremony. Chances are her brand new husband has hurried off to his job of making this a better world for his wife and children. Meanwhile, bright plans for the future, thoughts of a happy past, sustain the little woman who waits. " Little Woman indeed, I thought perhaps a man had written this article but saw that it was a woman, one Gertrude Gordon Sachs. I had to wonder if Gertrude employed as a journalist/writer, presumably working outside the home, did she still view herself as the little woman at home.

The article continues with "She does it by having her wedding outfit ready for the wearing even though she doesn't know when that day will be." Hopefully the bride already has an actual beau and isn't getting the dress first and then finding the husband, that would be very sad. Here are a few suggestions for wedding attire as offered by the magazine and Ms. Gertrude.

What every well dressed bride is wearing for her Furlough Wedding.

This smart little number is described as "For a second venture into matrimony, this black bengaline suit has dash and line." Although I had never heard of that phrase, apparently dash and line is a good thing. I'm not so sure about the use of the word Venture as it relates to matrimony, sounds more like a business proposition than an Ad-Venture into marital bliss. Also I have to ask "What is a bengaline?"


The stunning little black number, bottom right, was described as perfect for a "hurried" wedding and as "Sweet and Victorian, it's a favorite with very young brides." After all, furlough only meant a few days. It is interesting to note two things here, that several of the dresses shown for weddings were black and I always thought that the phrase was "married in black and you'll wish yourself back". Secondly, the mention not of young brides but rather very young brides Oh well, how could these women resist a man in uniform.

I have always loved vintage wedding pieces. As you may recall, I even have an entire Christmas Tree devoted to the theme of Vintage Wedding. I currently have in my shop some pieces culled from that collection. Here are a few of the cake toppers, pearls, gloves and hats that are being displayed.

I especially love the hat on the left. It fits more like a headband with beautiful taffeta roses.

To me, although it is just my personal opinion, weddings and pearls belong together. I have put together quite a collection from several estate sales this summer. In particular, I have two strands, each marked Japan, that are heavy, finely knotted, exquisite strands.

This hat is a recent acquisition. It really is lovely although in this photo it looks like the top is made of saran wrap. I think it would be just gorgeous for a modern day bride.

There is something so beautiful about these tender sentimental keepsakes and even if I didn't know the brides personally, I still feel a connection. I am a hopeless romantic at heart and can not imagine being a young bride back then, and as quickly as saying "I do" to have your new husband off to war, and then wondering and worrying that you might find yourself not a newlywed but a widow. So let's raise our glasses in a toast to all the little woman left at home, our mothers and grand-mothers, that waited for their menfolk to safely return and a moment of silence for all those men that left behind a widowed bride.

Please be sure to join Rhoda and all the others participating in Today's Thrifty Treasures.

Got it at Goodwill
Sherrie

Tornado Hits Gorham & Orphanned Birdies

It is official, the weather service has confirmed that a Tornado set down in our little town of Gorham. This past Wednesday, around suppertime, suddenly the sky got dark, illuminated only by the rapid succession of lightning, and everything was drenched by the ensuing downpour. Then we heard it, the thunder, the kind of deep reverberating boom that makes the dishes rattle and the paintings on the walls shake ... accompanied by an extremely bright flash of lightning. You could see the lightning from whatever room in the house you were in, we knew something got hit, and it was close by. The lights in the house flickered once and then it was just as dark as outside, inside as well. We were without power for the next 4 hours. We were lucky. Come Thursday morning and into the afternoon, many folks just down the road were still without electricity.

***My friend Tiff at Folded Gingham has photos of the funnel shaped clouds (Click here to see).

We found out that trees had been uprooted, roofs pulled off and in one case, the roof of a barn collapsed and caved in, killing 2 cows and injuring several others. There were reports of downed wires everywhere. For us, we lost a tree. One well placed bit of lightning brought down half of a tree. It remains lying across my backyard. It miraculously just missed my lawn swing but the crown of the tree took out half of my ancient lilac tree and my beautiful blooming blue-hydrangea that I hadn't gotten the chance to take a photo of yet bush, flattened to the ground.



As we started to clear away the debris, we find a little nest with two little birdies. Now you know my daughter and her love of all things in nature and you know me, the good mom, so you know that the little sweet things, nest and all, came into the house. Between calls to bird rehabilitation places in the area, and feeding them a mixture of berries, wet dog food and hard boiled eggs, all ground up into mush, my daughter kept busy yesterday, her one day off from work this week. Unfortunately most of the rehab places had no power and were unable to help. So where does that leave the little ones come this Friday morning? Wait for it, you know it is coming, yes, sitting next to my desk at my office is a box with a heat lamp attached to the side, keeping safe and warm these 2 little nature orphans. Did I also mention that I am suppose to feed them every 40 minutes? Once a mom, always a mom, what can I say.

Wishing you all a safe and good weekend. The shop is continuing to do well and somehow it is all working out, running the shop next door to my office, both simultaneously. Thank goodness I have a great secretary and an assistant that are both treasures themselves. I have more photos but I apologize that I am wearing too many hats at the moment to post. I promise they are coming. Thank you again for all the wonderful comments that have been shared with me. Honestly, it has helped me to keep my sanity.

Sherrie

Welcome to my shop

My shop officially opened on July 10th. My apologies, I have been trying to post since the 11th. Between life in general and still working 40 hours at my "real job" and then all the hours at the shop, or spent getting things ready for the shop, it has been a bit hectic. I finally have gotten caught up on everything and now can go forward, that is until the holiday season. As tired and busy that I am, I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!! Thank you for your patience.

Welcome to my Shop. (Sorry Bad Hair Day, curse this humidity!) Please let me show you around.

Doorway view of the shop. I made the curtains out of scraps of fabric and trim. I wanted them to look like aprons. What can be more vintage fun than red pom poms!

I am so very happy! So very, very, very HAPPY!!! I had customers. I had paying customers. I had paying customers with lovely comments!!!! Can you tell that I am happy? Last Saturday, not even pouring rain or having to walk up a flight of stairs kept people away. Of course I expected friends and family, but was so happy to meet and greet new folks. It was a pleasure to meet fellow blogger Julie of Dog Trot Farm who knew of my open house through A Conversation at Goodwill. Several other local bloggers have commented that they will be stopping by this summer and I so look forward to meeting them all.

It was interesting to see what items sold and was surprised in some cases. My Moose leg lamp (yes a real Moose leg) sold to a college student attending the Maine Maritime Academy. She couldn't wait to take it to her dorm room. After all, nothing says Maine more than a Moose leg lamp. A 10 year old girl bought my old Royal Typewriter. She just loved the sound that the keys made. The jewelry and clothing have been huge sellers along with Pyrex and cookbooks. I never get tired of hearing my customers say "My Nana or Aunt or Mom had that same vase, dish or apron. The shop has generated some happy childhood recollections for the folks that have stopped by to visit. I already feel like a success with just those comments. It means that I am finding desirable pieces for the shop.

Having such a small space 14x15, I wanted to make use of the whole space but did not want it to look too busy or topple heavy. You know what I mean, when you go to shops that have so much stacked that you are afraid to pick something up for fear of causing an avalanche of plates, pottery and assorted glassware, all very breakable. So I created "rooms" cozy little vignettes as if you were visiting someone's home. I used old photos to identify each space. I have Mama's Kitsch'n full of Pyrex and aprons, Aunt Lu-Lu's Closet with jewelry and fashions, Road Trip featuring Vintage Souvenir pieces from Maine and around the country, and Papa's Study with old maps, photos and of course that 1930 Philco Radio I recently found at a lawn sale. In addition to these cornerstone vignettes, I have several displays that will totally change out at the start of each month.

I have created a new blog titled 2nd fl Thriftiques just for the store. It is there that I will be showing detailed photos of each of the displays and when new things hit the shop. Please click here to see detailed photos of Mama's Kitsch'n. I will next be sharing photos of Aunt Lu-Lu's Closet. Please be sure to stop by for a visit.

This is a little step stool that houses some light green pottery pieces. On top is my favorite color green egg basket. Sitting on the floor is a metal tray that I have had for years. Love the color but the center of the tray had a bit too much rust. Problem solved with a little bit of sanding, primer and chalkboard paint.

I have had this little grasshopper for years, and am ready, although still sad, to part with it. I must ask, how do you collectors/shop owners part with any treasure? That is the hard part for me.

I have a children's area. This little doll's crib needed a little TLC. I made the mattress from an old curtain and the pillow is from an old pillowcase that had seen better days.

This is my vintage wedding display. I have wedding cake toppers, beautiful hats in white and ivory along with gloves and pearls. I have it all displayed on my ashtray turned display stand that I previously showed. The whole display feels like a 3 tiered wedding cake. Come the start of August, this display will be changed out for a new collection.


This area is Nana's Pantry with crocks and jugs and blue & white dishes. Hanging on the wall above this display are 4 unused Ford 1986 wheel covers. I think they look great as artwork. The license plates are from a World War II London. They also make great artwork.



Above Nana's Pantry are shelves filled with McCoy, Haeger, Shawnee and Hull, all dark green.

This jelly cupboard houses my pastels. I especially love the aqua pieces on top.



A 1960's dress and pillbox hat.

Part of Aunt Lu-Lu's Closet.

In the center of the room, I have this fabulous table with 4 chairs. It may be sold any moment as I have 2 customers vying for it. For the moment it houses barware and glasses. I added a man's tuxedo cummerbund and tie along with ladies hat, gloves and evening bag, to set the tone for a "Night of Cocktails" for this display.

More photos to come, quickly, I promise.

I still can't believe that my dream to own a shop has become a reality. Honestly it was a lot of hard work but at the end of the day, I wouldn't have changed a thing. Thank you , Thank you, Thank You, to all of you who took the time to leave such wonderful comments in showing your support. Whether it was seeing your successful booths or shops for ideas, or just receiving your words of encouragement, you gave me the courage to try. I am grateful for your support.

Sherrie

The Shop is OPEN

The grand opening for 2nd fl Thriftiques is tomorrow July 10th!!! It is the culmination of weeks and weeks of finding display pieces, and preparing them for the shop ....... of putting together an eclectic inventory ...... a little bit of everything, keeping true to it being vintage or vintage repurposed .... refinishing the floor, painting ceiling and walls ..... and then the biggest challenge of all .... lugging up 100 boxes and numerous pieces of furniture up a flight of stairs, all in 90 plus temperatures. Who needs a gym membership?

I am sorry to not have been available these past couple of weeks but will now make it up to you in spades with photos from the shop, a virtual tour of my little piece of the world. I hope to see you stop by and say hi.

For those of you in the Greater Portland area, the Open House runs from 9:00 - 4:00. Please stop by for cheesecake and lemonade. I would love to meet you.

The shop is located at 8 School Street, Gorham, Maine (second floor). If you get off the turnpike in Portland and head out Route 25, it will take you right into Gorham. Just follow the University of Southern Maine signs, we are right around the corner from the University. There is parking behind the building and on Main St and School St.

I must admit to butterflies and knots in my stomach. What if you have a shop and nobody comes? What if they come and don't like what you sell? I suppose it is the heat and exhaustion talking, I only just got the AC installed. No matter the outcome, this has been a dream of mine for some time. I think I would have been more scared of not trying. Be brave, be bold, go for your dream. To all of you that have your shops and booths, I applaud your talent and drive. This is hard work. Thank you all for your support in my decision to open my shop. Have a lovely weekend.

Celebrating the 4th a little early

Today I am joining Joan @ Anything Goes Here to Celebrate the 4th of July with a Vintage Holiday Blog Party. Of course the 4th of July celebration marks the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a powerful and masterful document eloquently composed by Thomas Jefferson. It is a time to show our patriotic spirit and pride of this great country. U.S. History especially Colonial Times through the Federalist period, is my favorite time period to study. As you will recall, I have my degree in History, with a minor in Art History. If allowed, I would ramble on about the history of each of the signers of the Declaration, the events that followed the closing of the Continental Congress, but I shall show great restraint, and instead showcase a few things I found that are related to the time period of the Revolutionary War and its principle figures.


George Washington's Breakfast published in 1969, is the story of a young boy and his quest to find out what George Washington ate for breakfast. Now this book appealed to me as a child because the boy actually researches his question through the use of the library and ultimately the Smithsonian. I too as a child showed a passion for history, not so important about the dates but more the why and how things took place. Yes I did this, even at the young age of ten, when I studied everything I could about the Revolutionary War. No wonder I loved this little book. By the way, George Washington ate hoecakes, cornmeal cakes that would have originally been made on the back side of a hoe, and now in an iron skillet. He liked his hoecakes with tea. Hmmmm Tea, isn't that what started the War?

I found this framed book/magazine page some time ago. I was interested in only the frame and the piece of cardboard on the back of the frame, a panel from a chocolate box with amazing graphics from the 50's, but for the moment have kept everything intact. The page displays the Jefferson Memorial (from Architect's Design) with a quote from the Declaration.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."


No this is not a medal belonging to a Revolutionary War hero, but it is Vintage. I received this award in 1977 for outstanding excellence in U.S. History from the D.A.R, Daughters of the American Revolution. 1977 High School student, boy do I feel old.

I found these adorable cloth flags this weekend at a lawnsale and thought they looked good with my ironstone collection. Some of my pieces (not shown) do date back to the late 1700's.

A Johnson Brothers plate showcasing the home of Betsy Ross.

A Johnson Brothers plate showcasing Philadelphia Hall, where 13 British Colonies became the beginning of the United States of America.

We just celebrated Memorial Day in remembrance of the fallen heroes of Two Great Wars, that were suppose to be the last of the wars, to end all wars. Unfortunately, there are too many wars that have followed, including our recent war, the war on Terrorism. Each life that has been lost in service to our Country should be and needs to be remembered. It all began in 1775 with the men and women at Lexington and Concord sacrificing family, homes and lives for our Freedom and Rights that we so fortunately and with great privilege share today. Happy 4th of July!

Got it at Goodwill
Sherrie

A good haul for a weekend of lawn saleslaw

Well this weekend's sales were so much better than last week's, although the temperature was still just as hot. I filled up the car with goodies which is easy to do as my car is so small. Fortunately, it is 4 doors and I can creatively pack my treasures. It is like watching a dozen clowns come out of the small car at the circus when I start to unload, and unload, and unload.

My first sale of the day was at the Lion's Club annual sale. It started at 7:00 and I arrived there at 20 minutes before. I pull in just in time to see a truck pulling out, their first customer of the day. Now I still found a ton of treasures there so it makes me wonder just what other goodies I missed. Oh well. That is what I get for hitting that snooze button the second time. For the next 15 minutes I had the sale all to myself and found an old meat grinder, dishes, books, pottery and so much more, all for $20. The gentlemen running the sale were all in the 70's and they were cracking jokes and other such silly banter. I asked them if I should pay extra for the entertainment. They were delightful.

Okay, if you read my last post about my "sputnik" dishes and fried devilled eggs, you will recognize these plates as being the same pattern. My heart skipped a beat when I saw them, 10 plates for $.50 cents. Unfortunately, no cups. Nonetheless I was still pretty giddy about this find. I just think it is so funny that this is the second time that after posting about a certain collection, a week later I find more of that collection! I might have to post some of my other harder to find collections and see if it works.

The guys thought it was funny that I was going through a box of coat hangers that they were tossing out. I collect wooden hangers. The top hanger is from a store, sorry I didn't get a close-up of the store label, the bottom one is just a nice simple wooden hanger, and the fancy white one in the middle is my favorite.

It actually had a sticker on it marked Nevco Japan. The guys just gave me the hangers, after all, they thought they were just throw aways.


The photo does not do this vase justice. It it textured, gold, tan and white, the blue sticker you see at the top is marked West Virginia glass. Vase $.50 cents.


I love love love suitcases and will be using stacks of them in my shop for display. I got 2 suitcases, both Samsonite, both beauties, both for $1.00 each. They are in excellent shape and more importantly, no musty smell!!! That is one of the drawbacks to finding old suitcases.


I have been looking for an old lunch box for a vignette that I have planned and found this plaid beauty. It is solid; however, there is a lot of rust on the inside. But it will look perfect with my collection of Stanley Thermoses. The little bottle with the red metal cap was in a box of rusty nails and tin cans. Honestly, the whole box looked like trash, but that is why you have to be willing to dive in and dig. I took the photo before I had a chance to clean up both pieces.

This was my favorite find of that sale and for the whole day. A Philco radio. All its parts are intact and I should have taken a photo of the backside of the radio, the tubes are really cool looking. The radio can be tuned in for overseas and displays settings for Rome, Japan, South America and London. I didn't care if it worked, but was assured that it did. I plan on cleaning up the wood and knobs and using it for display only, anyway. I am researching the piece for the year it was produced. I then thought I would pull up historical information from that year, by certain dates and print it out as news bulletins to go with the radio in my shop. Just something for fun. The radio was $3.00.

This next piece came from a neighborhood lawnsale in Scarborough, that was a true neighborhood sale, with over 25 houses participating. I am not as familiar with the town and inadvertently went down the wrong road. The homes on this road overlooked the salt marshes and were easily all multi million dollar homes. When I saw the homes, I knew I had missed my turn, as these places didn't look like they did lawnsales. Oh my, can you imagine the treasures.

One of the houses from the neighborhood sale, was only selling plants and some garden stuff. The plants were nice; however, I knew that if I bought any, it would drastically reduce my cargo space in the car. Just as I was turning to leave, I noticed in the garage a shelving unit filled with the owner's own garden supplies, tools, gloves, plant pots. I could see this gorgeous blue and knew it was just not a pot from the Christmas Tree Shop. I asked the lady if she would be interested in selling it, that I just loved the color. She said yes and guessed that the price would be $1.50 like the other pots (the Christmas Tree Shop pots) that she was selling. I gave her $2.00 and told her to keep the change. I was feeling a little guilty. Here is the hard part. I love this color and it will look fabulous on a white table next to a glass jar filled with white shells, in my home. Or does it go in my shop?

Pickle server in its original box. $.25 cents. Church sale. To be the hostess with the mostess, one needs a pickle server, doesn't one.

My last find of the day. Neighborhood sale $8.00. Sewing machine base. I knew I could get it in the already stuffed-not-one-spec-of-available trunk- space-car, I knew I could, I knew I could. I would love to find just the right piece of wood, perhaps an old wooden sign, to make the top.

Yes, Saturday was a good day for lawnsales. Thanks for letting me show you a few of my finds. I am joining these fine ladies for a few vintage/thrifty finds parties. Won't you join me?

Just click below for your party invitation.

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures
Linda @ Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
Diane @ A picture is worth a 1,000 words for Second Time Around Tuesday
Suzanne @ Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursdays

I got it at Goodwill
Sherrie