28 March 2011

The First Day of Spring = 6 More Weeks of Winter

It feels that way doesn't it? One snow day this past week and now just bone-chilling cold.  It's hard to get excited for Easter etc when it's so cold and miserable out!

But maybe there's no controlling your inner calendar ... the one that tells you that everything should be bright and shiny and yes... pink! These are recent finds that I only realized were mostly pink after I got home.





as far as i can tell, it's a standing candy dish? it's a gorgeous bubblegum pink with gold flecks.




Here's to 70 degree days ... may they come sooner than later!

21 March 2011

Funny Story of How Sometimes Your Holy Grail is Right In Front of Your Stupid Face

To add to the bevvy of small catastrophes last week, my washing machine chose to act up and wouldn't go through it's drain & spin options. It's a brand new, front-loading HE [energy efficient] washer (and I have a mile long list of why no one should ever buy this type of washing machine, EVER) that is computerized.  There are some sort of sensors that pick up on how heavy the wash is and how many minutes it should go through it's cycle. Long story short, I'm finding the sensors aren't accurate and it's tripping itself up, shutting down mid-wash and like a computer - it won't do ANYTHING unless you unplug the whole machine (aka reboot) and start all over. I wasn't happy.

The plug for the washer is behind it, and off to the side. To unplug it, I have to step up on a small table, lean over the top of the washer and yank. To the right of it is the laundry room sink with a towel bar above it. The whole set-up is something I look at every day, 15x a day without giving any of it much thought.

So the other night as I was furiously rebooting my washing machine, I noticed that something looked off with the towelbar over the laundry sink. I've only used this bar to hang up cleaning rags, etc. There are separate bars higher up in the space for drip-drying clothes so this bar is purely utility.

I must of bumped or rubbed against it trying to get to the outlet because lo and behold....


HNGGGGGGG. It's the Hall Mack Double Space-Booster Bar that has been hiding in plain sight and that I literally did not even know that we had or even think about checking it for oh...I don't know... the FIVE YEARS WE'VE BEEN HERE.








Which completely proves the point that these inventions were founded on, doesn't it? Hideaway space savers that are 100% functional when you need them to be.

This type of bar has been on my mental "wish" list. Clearly this one has been neglected and you can see that it has some tarnish and paint on it. No worries~! The brackets on these are easy to remove and now I have the plan to take it down and clean it up for use in one of the bathrooms - probably to replace the ceramic bar in the main bathroom. I'm so excited over this project, fingers crossed that it goes as smoothly as I hope.


...and the washing machine has since stopped being fussy. For now. :)

19 March 2011

Oh Deer!

I am alive, I pinkyswear. Just a little bit busy! Nothing worth posting; my weekends are too crazy to thrift but I manage to hit some places during the week. Pickings seem slim lately but this week's finds have a definite theme:



The top photo feature Royal China Co. "Deer Me" plates. I LOVE DEER, I love when I wake up in the morning and the back yard is full of deer families munching on grass. I just watch them for as long as they'll stay, it's so calming. Anyway apparantly this pattern of china is extremely hard to find so I'm not feeling optimistic about collecting a whole set or even a few more but the curvature of that soup bowl makes for a sweet little display, so they went onto the display shelf as opposed to the ... functional china shelf. Aren't the colors gorgeous though? I love how it's a pair of deer, buck & doe.... heck I love everything about these plates!

The bottom photo is a modern plate by Black Thistle Co. I can't find much about this company except that they were responsible for the recent set of Alice in Wonderland patterned ware. This deer pattern looks like a vintage embroidery pattern, it certainly fooled me into thinking it was older. I'm not keeping it, I am giving it to my friend Sara when I see her in a few weeks, as she is deer-obsessed as well and I think this plate would make a very cute display piece as well.

Other than this, I've been picking up smalls with the intent of saving it for shop merch. If our idea of a shop falls through, they are all easily sellable pieces on Etsy.  We are nowhere near as quick as Dana at Mid2Mod so don't expect any sort of grand opening post anytime soon!



I have a hilarious story about another new discovery in the house, complete with photos, however it's going to have to wait for tonight because I need to get out of here now. It blows my mind that it's going to be 5 years this summer that we have lived here and I'm STILL finding new features, doo-dads, and treasures in here! This one was a goodie, it was something that I wanted very badly, and didn't even know I had it - it was hiding in plain sight! That is all the teaser I will give... for now!

07 March 2011

Thrift Share Monday!

This is me on top of my game... sort of. These are a combination of the past 2 weeks' finds.

FINALLY found some teak candlesticks. $3 for the pair at a local thrift. Mr. Owly is solid wood, I love him so much. It's from Vintage Looks in Philadelphia.
This was an Etsy find - I needed one of these & was going to purchase a new one when I found this one. It's perfect right out of the box, all shiny and chrome-y.
These are a time-capsule hardware store purchase. Since the house is stonefront, I'm not sure where to put them but I will find a place. Oh yes I will. 

06 March 2011

Amazing Local Door Sighting

Partner-In-Crime snagged this photo today and sent it to me. Amazing right! I didn't think anyone around here had starburst escutcheons... let alone two. Add in the windows and double it ~ this is one swoon-worthy front door.













04 March 2011

I've Been A Busy Bee

...but I've had time to read everyone's blogs; if not comment. Nothing very interesting is shaking here in MontCo, but I will share the collage that was referenced in the last post ~ Mel was superhumanly quick it making it and mailing it to me, I've had it since last week. I only wish my photos showed the details in this, they are so incredible. The tile is only 4" x 4" so please try to imagine the size of the clippings she used. Tiny! But oh-so perfect and cute, down to the rock garden in the front! We all love it so much here, and I can't wait to rearrange some wall things to hang it up somewhere that everyone who visits will see!



We finally hit the milestone of NEEDING A STORAGE SPACE this week. We're debating a storefront in the near future as well, which makes me nervous. Ideally I would (and have, for years now) love a vintage clothing shop of my own. Since quitting ebay and being ever so lazy about Etsy, I have acquired a whole room full of vintage clothes etc. Add that to the now overabundance of midcentury furniture, we do have enough inventory for a shop. At least to start one. To keep it fully stocked would mean that I have to go out again for vintage clothing which I have pretty much ceased to do unless I come across something special. I'm not sure I want to dive into something like that again.

I've picked up a few little doo-dads this past week (and a half?) that I will have to share later. They were fun finds so I'll be sure to get them up tonight or tomorrow! :)