All Buttoned Up....

Wow, I have desserted you once again and this time I don't have anyone or anything to blame. My computer was working fine, as well as my camera, and I do have a bunch of stuff to share with you. But, this week was kind of a drab, cloudy, humid week that pretty much sucked the life out of me once I stepped outside. With all of these hurricanes and cold fronts and warm fronts clashing, the last few weeks of summer have been gray and dingy. But, I found stuff to do, went on some flea market trips and found some more treasures to show you. I have also gotten myself nice and organized, so now my craft items and vintage pieces are'nt thrown around the house.
I would like to thank ALL of you who wished me a Happy Birthday, I did have a lovely one!! Your comments were all much appreciated and made my day and days after even better. Oh how I love having blogger friends, its soo interesting to know people from all over the world, all connected with creative souls. You are all too sweet, and soon I will reward you for every kind comment and wish you have given me, I promise!!
As for today's post, well lets just say "The French Inspired Home" has gotten me into a little bit of a collectors mode. After reading that book inside and out, I have been taking so many trips to the thrift store, and flea markets, and I have started my first collection of vintage buttons. I love the packaging so much that I don't want to take them off of it, so for now they will just be displayed in pretty jars or cases. Yesterday, since I was in the area (well sort of, not really ;) I stopped by the thrift store once again and spotted some vintage mother of pearl buttons and silver floral ones. I was soo excited, since I have never seen any buttons in there before. I am also planning on heading over there at least once a week, since they are starting to put out their halloween stuff along with Christmas stuff!! Ohhh I cannot wait, and even though you have to search through some junk to find the treasures, its always worth it!! The buttons in the milkglass vase are from a flea market I visited with my mother last Saturday and the mixed buttons are the ones I found yesterday. I am sorry for not posting all week, and I plan on making it up to you this coming week!! Wishing you beautiful sunny days and some inspiration to start a collection of your own!!

Some Mix and a Match...

Hello again dear blog, getting back into the swing of things as you can tell!! So I have some exciting things to show you, and that usually means some of my thrifty vintage finds!! So anyhoo, I have a thrift store right near my house, and for some odd reason, even though JoAnn fabrics is right near it, and I am always in JoAnn's, I never seem to walk on through those doors. I have donated things to them, been in there maybe once or twice when they first openend, but have not revisited for countless months. So, on Monday I decided that I would venture on over to that giant thrift store!!
Even though it was early Monday afternoon, that place was hopping!! I couldn't believe it, and I also couldn't believe how many little treasures that store had waiting for me!! I traveled through each of the isles which contained glassware ranging from the 40's up until present day, then made my way to the book section and of course magazine area!! My hands were so full by the time I reached the magazine area that I didn't even bother looking through everything. I did see some old Living magazines which I should have snagged, and a BRAND NEW decorating book which I have seen at the major book stores for thirty dollars!! Well, I think I'm gonna be heading up there at least twice a month, just to see what they have since they are always getting donations!! So as you can see by the pictures, I picked up a couple cute little vintage vases. On my way to the cashier I spotted that smaller dotted Fire King milk glass vase that matches my larger one as seen on my Flickr page. I also picked up a taller milk glass vase, a small dotted single vase, a vintage silver tray along with a composition book from the early 1900's for just a few cents!! I couldn't believe that find, and I was so happy when I only spent a few dollars on the entire purchase!! Oh how I love thrift stores, dont you too!?!? Okay, well I have surprise for you on Friday, ohh I cannot wait, I know you will enjoy it as much as I will!! Alright until Friday my blogger friends, wishing you thrifty adventures and vintage finds!!



I made that little vase full of cockscomb and goose-neck foliage for my grandfather who was in the Hospital with a urinary tract infection. He's doing good now, but his father always grew the cockscomb in his garden, so I knew he'd enjoy it!!

Little Gems...

Hello again dear blog, how have you been?? I know I have deserted you once again, but I swear I had a good reason!!! You see, I knew that I would be heading up to an Antique/Farmers market this Saturday, so I thought I would wait to show you some vintage pretties. This past Thursday, while at lunch with my dear sister and our friend, we made plans to head up there for a little day trip with the girls. So, this morning I awoke bright and early, and when I say early, boy do I mean early, and got ready for our little adventure. Once I acted as the personal alarm clock for all who were going, we met up and got into my friends Jeep since it was such a beautiful day. With my hair blowing in the wind, we headed down to a favorite breakfast/lunch/dinner joint that we have been going to since we were babies to have the best breakfast and coffee in town. With our stomachs full and our blood pumping with caffeine, we turned up the music and took a beautiful drive past all of the farmers stands and yard sales and were finally greeted with a smiling farmer on the sign that has been there for years. Although, the girls had wanted to go here for no particular reason, really just to see what they had been missing for the gap in years since their last visit, I knew exactly what I was looking for, and I'm sure you know too. Greeted by the pungent aroma of roasted peanuts, and spices galore, we strolled through the aisles, stopping in candle shops and home good stands. Finally, after patiently awaiting the moment, we took our steps outside into the bright sun and headed towards the Antique area.
As soon as we got inside, I headed over to a little antique stand, and started looking through the vintage brooches and jewelry. To my amazement, the girls followed me and started expressing to me how much they loved the little gems. And I thought I was the only one who enjoyed antiques, but I guess I was wrong, and even though they do not share the same fondness of milk, jadite, and depression glass as I do, its a start!! So the images that you see are what I picked up, and since we were on a bit of a time crunch I did not get to peruse through the aisles as much as I would have liked, but I was very happy with my purchases! The brooches are art-deco styled from the late 40's to early 50's and the jadite salt and pepper shakers actually match my jadite cup and saucer. I saved another treasure for a different post, since I think it deserves one all by itself. And as for you my dear blog readers, I thought you deserved a brownie for all the times I have deserted you without prior notice. Okay, I'll stop blabbing on, and leave you with wishes of antique finds and some good old time with your friends and family!!

Flea Finds

Hello again dear blog, how is everyone doing?? Well, it looks like I'm slackin' off again... But not to worry, I really did have pictures ready and posts to type up, but I wasn't able to get on my computer all week due to technical problems. Darn these electronics which we spend soo much money on, and then after a few years of working fine problems arise! Well anyhoo, like I had said in my previous post, I was going to the Folk Festival again!! Woo Hoo, Man was that fun this time around!! I walked around for a bit, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then rushed into the antique's barn. That's really the reason I went for the second time, and I just could not wait to find some pretties! I was soo excited, and since this time I had plenty of time to make my way around to each of the dealers, I took my good old time looking at everything I could! (without getting pushed away by a fellow antiquer!)
As you can see from the photos, I did buy more then I brought back last week, and even with the hot and humid weather this past Saturday, I stayed and searched and searched. I was in there for such a long time, that I kept going back and forth to each comparing what I liked better. The dealers all looked at me as if I were crazy. Unfortunately the vintage hankies had been picked over, and unlike on the opening day when I was greeted by pretty florals and pastels, this past visit left me with a bin of brown and orange 70's flashback pieces. So I did not purchase any hankies, BUT!! I did get two new aprons, one that I did not see last week which is the really pretty turqoise and white one above. I couldn't believe I had missed it, and it is now my favorite among my ahem... "large collection ;)" (wow, 3 aprons in all!) I then traveled on over to this woman who had a bunch of old post cards, magazines, pins and textiles. That is where I picked up the Christmas postcards which I plan to use in my Christmas cards for future years, and those pretty rose "tie" pins. I highly doubt some man stuck them into his tie, since they are heavy and the "pin part" is very large. I believe it might have been a piece to a garden statue or something else. With bags in hand, I traveled on over to this very cheap glass dealer, where I picked up those two glass jars above. I love the old "Ball" jars, and even though I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with either of them, they will be used I tell ya!! Finally I went back to the "Apron Lady," poor woman, I should have asked for her name. She had some boxes full of old photos and calenders, and thats where I picked up the vintage winter photos from the 30's. If you could see a closer view , you would see it's the same family in both. I was also going to get this BEAUTIFUL picture of an old Hollywood German Shepard named Fang something from the 30's. But it was just a little out of my price range. Darn, I wish I would have gotten it, because now I miss it!! Oh well, I hope you enjoy the pictures and just wait until my next post, you will all be loving it!! Wishing you vintage finds, and some nice sunny days ( Boy, it's a beautiful day today!!)