freshvintage

All I Want for Christmas

2009-12-15T20:11:09-05:00

While everyone else is offering ideas on what to buy friends and family for the holidays, I thought I'd be selfish and share all of the stuff that I requested from Santa this Christmas:

1. Bad-Ass Bowler Camera Bag

I wanted a camera bag that doesn't look like a camera bag. And one that I can stuff into a big totebag if I need to. In my quest, I came across this bag on the fabulous Photojojo, and dropped an enormous hint to my husband - something like, "Buy me this or you will be sleeping in the guest room on Christmas night". If you aren't interested in the camera bag, you should take a look at some of the other funky photo paraphernalia that they sell (and sign up for their newsletter).

2. Family Pass to Longwood Gardens

My Dad buys this for us every Christmas. Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA was once owned by the du Pont family, and has over 1000 acres of indoor and outdoor gardens. It is a really easy gift for him to buy us, which is important since he has fifteen grandkids, five children and five children-in-law to buy for (in addition to his friends, business colleagues and the occasional wife). Annual passes to the local zoo, amusement park or national park are my favorite go-to gifts for people who are hard to buy for.

3. Table Topics Conversation Cards

I never used this before, but I like the idea of having a bunch of conversation-starters for when we have family and friends over. It is a struggle to avoid the topics of religion and politics in our house, so I will try anything that prevents fist fights. The company also makes a few other versions, including a Girls Night out set and a mini set for kids.

4. Gift Certificate to QuiltHome.com

...so I can buy some of Heather Bailey's and Sandi Henderson's brand new fabrics. We are finally decorating the kids' playroom in the basement, and the color scheme is aqua and orange. I'd love to use some of their fabric for pillows and other accents. I haven't told Chris about this request yet...perhaps you are reading this right now, my dear, sweet, virile (or is it virulent?) husband? It wouldn't be the first time you bought me fabric for Christmas.

5. Garnet Hill Crocheted Afghan Scarf

Yet another gift that, if received on Christmas morning, will be solid proof that my husband actually reads my blog. And actually loves me. Alas, I do not have high hopes of ever seeing this scarf under the tree. Chris will be the voice of reason - he will tell me that I don't really need an $88 scarf that will probably get lost under our car in a parking lot or will be destroyed when I get it caught in an escalator or something stupid like that. Maybe if I tell him how well it matches his crocheted peter heater, he will reconsider.

6. Vintage Rescue Squad 2010 Calendar

Okay - I'm a little biased because three of my own photos are in this calendar, which was produced by Sue from Vintage Rescue Squad (so Santa Sue is sending me one). She included the dates for tons of US flea markets and antique shows throughout the calendar. Pretty smart, huh? You can purchase one from her new Etsy store.

7. Bloomingdale's Illustrated 1886 Catalog

A few Christmases ago, I received the reproduction 1897 Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalogue, which I absolutely love. Not only is it an excellent reference for determining the age and purpose of an antique, it also makes for great bathroom reading - even for people who don't like antiques (I know my neighbors read it all the time). That catalog has everything, from stoves to sewing trims to phaetons. According to some of the reviews, the Bloomingdale's Catalog will be along the same lines, but with more emphasis on clothing and accessories.

So, tell me...what are you asking for this holiday season?

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Are you following Melissa's 12 Days of Christmas Cocktails on her blog, Suburban Bliss? I love it - even though I am totally jealous that I didn't come up with this idea first.

OMG!

2009-12-08T17:45:51-05:00

We had a personal concert by the Jonas Brothers on Sunday at Disney World. Well, us and a few thousand other people.

It was totally by chance. We are at the Magic Kingdom (FL). Joe, Nick and Kevin are at the Magic Kingdom. I had my camera. They were singing. I took a picture.

We did not come to Walt Disney World specifically to see the Jonas Brothers.

Just wanted to make that clear.

You won't hear from me for the next week. I'm here with two of my sisters and our families. In a wine haze. (Fourteen family members is waaaay too many people for one rental house - no matter how big the house. Don't tell my sisters I said that.)

Catch up with you soon!

Random Acts of Kindness

2009-11-25T22:51:33-05:00

I paid $24 for this haul from two estate sales last weekend. I went with Chris and the kids to one of the sales, which is always interesting. They just bounce from room to room, searching for toys and yelling embarrassing comments about the house, the items for sale, the smell..pretty much anything that would cause a mother to hide in a closet for a few minutes.

I don't think this enamel pot was supposed to be for sale. It was sitting on the garage floor, filled with seashells, and I asked the homeowner if she would sell it. I'm glad she said yes. It is BIG. Like boil-an-adolescent-capybara big.

I bought six of these Cannon dishtowels trimmed with orange and blue stripes for two dollars. After doing some research when I got home, I learned that these towels were giveaways with Silver Dust Laundry and Dish Detergent in 1940. They originally came with a little pamphlet called "Ideas for making useful articles with Silver Dust Dish Towels", which included projects for making aprons and baby dresses out of dishtowels.

The aqua 1962 Paymaster checkwriter still works! It looks nice on my desk, but really don't have much use for it. I only bought it because I like the color. Not a good enough reason, according to my husband.

At the same sale, I found a pair of these little books filled with sample Letters circa 1886. There is one filled with business-related letters (Dick's Commercial Letter Writer and Book of Business Forms), and one with personal letters (Dick's Common Sense Letters).

Here's one from the Commercial book. This guy is totally pissed off that he didn't get paid for his fruit:

In celebration of Thanksgiving, here's one that sounds like it is straight out of a Jane Austen novel. "Thanksgiving Acceptance by a Bachelor":

And with Thanksgiving comes Christmas. I scored this box of vintage ornaments for one dollar. The one with the pink painted skier is my favorite, even though I hate to ski.

This 1955 Knickerbocker Baby Santa doll was fifty cents. They are selling on eBay for around $30. That's where this one is headed.

The whole baby Santa thing freaks me out. He has a white beard for Christ's sake. HE'S A BABY WITH A BEARD!

Do you think he has white pubic hair under his jolly red suit?

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I hope all of you in the US enjoy your Thanksgiving break. My holiday started on a high note this morning when the woman in front of me at the Starbucks drive-thru PAID FOR MY ORDER! When the Starbucks worker told me that it was paid for, I said "Who was she?" He was all like, "I don't know - I thought she knew you." And I was all like, "No - I don't know her, but definitely I noticed her fancy BMW". He said, "She just told me to tell you 'Happy Thanksgiving!'"

The funny thing is that she probably thought she was only buying one drink, but I had ordered one drink for me, one for Chris and a pumpkin scone. Total: $10.55. She was probably regretting her random act of kindness when she realized that she was feeding a whole family.

Are you out there Starbucks Lady? Can you hear me? I am thankful for you this Thanksgiving!! And I promise to pay it forward, just like Haley Joel Osment!

Found at a yard sale today

2009-11-21T08:33:04-05:00

I think it involves a hacksaw and a bucket of lye.

Erin's Flea Market Finds

2009-11-13T14:29:01-05:00

My damn little sister, Erin, is trying to outshine me in the "most awesomest vintage finds" competition. I thought I had her beat in my last blog post, but she is creeping up quickly. I think it might be time for her to start her own blog. It runs in the family, after all.

Erin visited Jake's Flea Market in Barto, PA last weekend. I've only been there once, and had great luck. Erin lives closer, so she visits more frequently and always finds good (and cheap) stuff. It is definitely worth the drive, for those of you in the Philadelphia area.

Here are the three things that she scored there:

Here's an old aqua-painted mirror:

An adorable toybox with an elephant decal:

And a stunning antique beadboard cupboard. Erin says that it is huge and heavy and that her photos don't quite capture how beautiful it is.

While Erin was trying to decide if she should buy it, she called me three times. My sister needs to replace her Wilma Flintstone cell phone with one that can take pictures - it would have made things much easier.

Erin isn't keeping this cupboard - it will be up for grabs at the next sale we have.

Well done, Ernie!!

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Hey - are you a fan of my freshvintage page on Facebook? What?! You aren't? I don't know how you have gotten this far in life without being a freshvintage fan.

Join today and you will see an exclusive photo of my husband dressed as a box of wine for Halloween. Yes, I said BOX OF WINE. A fully functional box of wine. Fish Eye Chardonnay to be precise.

And what was I for Halloween?

Cheese. Duh.

(There is no photographic evidence, but I swear I was cheese.)

Barn Sale Bounty

2009-11-10T18:20:20-05:00

A few weeks ago, I went to the moving sale of a woman who used to have frequent antique sales on her property near Media, PA. As soon as I walked into her barn, I couldn't stop smiling. If I had a bigger SUV, I would have bought it all. Everything was just my style, and the prices just couldn't be beat. I am just sorry that she is leaving the business, or else I would continue to buy from her!

These were the first two things I fell in love with (and the only large pieces that would fit in my car) - a waist-high wooden cubby shelf thingy and a tall flower display cart.

Can't you picture it on a street corner overflowing with colorful flowers? (I assume it was made for flowers or plants. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know.)

It has wooden wheels and six shelves, each smaller than the next. It is sitting on my front porch right now, but I plan to sell it at our next sale (which is yet to be determined).

I might add a beadboard back to the shabby aqua cubbies.

This sale didn't stop at the barn. Her garage and the first floor of her home were filled with the kind of vintage goodness that you typically read about on my blog. But cheaper and better than any yard sale I've ever been to.

This pink & white bedspread was three bucks. I found the piece of fabric at the bottom of a box of aprons that I bought. The colors are a little reminiscent of Cath Kidston, no?

I have enough antique lace and vintage trim to circle the globe twice.

Here's a box of colorful vintage embroidered trim. Three bucks.

... and a box of 130 assorted rhinestone buttons. Five bucks.

...and a box of 26 vintage aprons. Three bucks.

There were a few Christmas aprons in the mix:

And a few embroidered ones:

I couldn't resist buying a box of vintage baby clothes for two dollars. I am like a meth addict. I need to be on Celebrity Junk Rehab with Dr. Drew, where I talk about my tragic yard-sale-filled childhood and why I hoard antiques in an effort to guarantee love and affection from my mother because she had five kids in five years and it is the only way to get her attention.

Or something like that. Anyway, here are some totally cute baby dresses and knitted sweaters:

All told, I paid about one hundred dollars for everything in this post, the bulk of which obviously went towards the big pieces.

BUT - finding all of this fabulous vintage stuff wasn't even the best part of the sale. I know....what the hell could possibly have been better than finding all of this cool stuff?

Well, when one of the lovely girls who was working there noticed that I was buying so much stuff, she asked me what I was going to do with it. I told her that I am a dealer, and I also write about my junk on my blog. I handed her my card.

She looked at it and said, "I think I've read your blog. Didn't you write about...". And then she pointed to her nether region. I knew immediately that she was referring to our most beloved family heirloom: my grandfather-in-law's Peter Heater.

"Yes! That's me!"

I am officially famous now, and I have a crocheted cock sock to thank for it.

Mini Vintage Fan, Cast Iron House Numbers & My Cash Register

2009-10-27T18:28:15-04:00

Chris and I took a trip to the outlet stores & antique shops around Lancaster, PA a few weeks ago. On the way, we went to a barn sale where we really got to dig. Most of it was real junk, but I did find the wooden caddy and the two fans there. I paid five dollars for those three things.

Do you know what that adorable itsy bitsy baby fan was used for?

If you guessed "a car", then you are absolutely right!

It is a Trico Vacuum Fan that would clamp to a dashboard to defrost the windshield. It doesn't even have an electrical cord - it connects to the car engine using a vacuum tube that runs a little turbine in the fan. Didn't know I was a car junkie, did you? Intake manifolds and struts make me so hot.

Kidding. I just watched this video, where I saw it in action. That man obviously loves his fan. He hauled an enormous air compressor into his living room to demonstrate an antique car fan to his YouTube audience. If that doesn't prove his love, then I don't know what possibly could. Other than some kind of video of him and the fan tube in a compromising position.

Moving on...

I bought these heavy cast iron house numbers at an antiques store in Strasburg, PA. I love their patina and the mix of black & white.

Here's the cash register that I blackberried you about a few weeks ago. Our super-duper neighbors watched the kids for a few hours while Chris and I went to an auction in Hockessin, Delaware. When we arrived, I scoped out the selection of antiques and made a mental note of what I wanted to bid on. The cash register was not listed on my mental note, but I was stunned that only one person was interested in it. I couldn't let it go for so little money, so I threw up my number. And then I won! I paid $25.

It was made in 1949 by National Cash Register, and is metal with a wood grain-painted finish. The base and drawer on the bottom are real wood. It is so heavy that even my P90x-graduate husband had trouble lifting it.

The age of the machine is based on the serial number engraved on the metal plate above the keys. This web page helped me figure that out.

It doesn't "DING!" when you hit the big black button, but the drawer does open. It even has the keys to the drawer. Nothing happens when I push the buttons, though. The numbers in the top window don't change.

Am I the only one who wants to rip all of those buttons off and make some jewelry? Or something?

Do you think I would make more money selling its parts, rather than selling it whole (and non-functioning)? I've done a little research, and it seems that the brass National Cash Registers are worth much more than the faux wood grain ones. This isn't a surprise.

It would be great on display at an antique store. But I don't have one of those. And I don't want to lug it to an antiques fair to sell. Maybe I'll try craigslist?

What would you do with it?

(And please don't say that you would make a YouTube video of the cash register and you in a compromising position. I would be so offended.)

Jam, Eggs, Majorettes and Hillbillies

2009-10-21T21:19:41-04:00

I am so far behind in sharing my finds. I've been rolling around in the $260 of virtual paypal money that I scored from those Batman Legos on eBay. It was less than my original estimate, but you will not hear me complaining. Instead of buying Finn a new set of (cheaper) Legos or a Nintendo DS game, we agreed that a subscription to the Lego Brickmasters club would be an excellent idea. For $39.99 plus shipping, he gets a new "exclusive" Lego set every two months for a year. Now we are all happy! (And a little richer.)

Anyway, here are some finds from a few weeks ago. My big bargain that day was the 4 antique yellow egg baskets that I practically stole for two dollars.

The little blue book is a reader called Terry and Billy. It has the sweetest illustrations in it - particularly of the furniture. I mean, c'mon...kids are cute, but black painted chairs and matching twin beds are waaaay cuter.

Here is one of a birthday party in the dining room:

And one of the children's bedroom:

This wooden shelf was a store display for M. Polaner Jellies & Preserves, which was just a small-ish family business before it was bought out by a big company in the 80s. What a cool way to show off a little collection.

I found another one of these orange McCoy pitchers. I already have the same exact one on a shelf in my kitchen (you can see it in one of the photos in this post). And this is my favorite: a jadite scalloped flower pot by Fire King.

It is filled with mini ornaments, with some shapes that I've never seen before.

Everything in the first photo is sitting atop this chippy white bench, which is now occupying my front porch.

If you have a wonderful mother-in-law like I do, then you would be used to receiving random packages of vintage goodies in the mail. Like a big envelope filled with vintage dress forms from the 1940s & 1950s. Including a majorette pattern.

I know...adorable!

I found this 1890 ironstone platter at a very scary garage sale for a buck. Picture the 175-year-old stone house from Marley & Me filled with hillbillies selling an inordinate amount of bedside commodes. Do you have that image in your head? Good. Now add a pit bull.

When I walked into the garage, I repeatedly looked behind me to make sure that no one was sneaking up with a sharpened hedge clipper.

P.S. The house used in Marley & Me is ten minutes from the scary yard sale house.

Momomatic Jewelry on Etsy. And Batman Legos.

2009-10-11T19:23:24-04:00

Every once in a while, I check out the Etsy store of my new friend, Lotta, who I met at BlogHer. Her store is called Momomatic and she makes jewelry out of vintage buttons, beads and other nifty parts.

I ordered a necklace from her. It arrived in this pretty little package, complete with a black scottie dog tied to the purple string:

Upon closer inspection, I noticed the words Scrotum, Glans and Urethra on the wrapping paper.

And then I remembered that she bought one of my sex books at the BlogHer Swap Meet in July: Picture Stories of the Sex Life of Man and Woman. This was one of the pages from that book. Surprisingly, I just found the same exact book at an antiques store in Lancaster, PA yesterday. That sex book is a like one of those cats that gets lost, and finds its way home after two years and 500 miles.

Anyway, beneath the ball sack was my necklace:

Isn't it gorgeous? Lotta warned me that it was missing one of the rhinestones, but I didn't care. I receive so many compliments when I wear it (which seems like every day). It is one-of-a-kind, but she has many other fabulous jewelry pieces for sale, and frequently updates her shop with new items. Thanks, Lotta!

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Do you remember my Lego craziness a few years back? When I found five Lego sets at a thrift store for $12 and sold them for over $500 on eBay? Well, the insanity has returned with a vengeance.

I was at a yard sale last week with my sister, Heather, and I spotted the Batman Batcave Lego set, one of those enormous sets that sells for around $100 in the stores. I tried to hide my excitement, but I'm not very good at that. I literally "called dibs" on it to the homeowner and went in search of any other Legos. Heather hid behind an old fridge in embarrassment. I ended up buying the Batcave set and three Indiana Jones sets for $15.

When I arrived home, I made the grave mistake of giving the Batman set to my seven-year-old son who is obsessed with Legos. I know - what the hell was I thinking? I did this once before with a $100 Harry Potter Lego set and I ended up regretting it.

Finn immediately ripped the top of the Batcave box off. Unlike most moms who wouldn't care if their kid ripped a box, I yelled at him, "You just slashed the resale price by ripping that box!".

Fortunately, he started playing with one of the Indiana Jones sets and didn't start bonding with the Batcave. A few hours later, I checked eBay to see how much the Batcave sells for on eBay.

$300!

That's when I had to have a 30-minute-long conversation with Finn about selling the set on eBay. There was some yelling. And tears. Then I told him about his 15% commission. It is hard for a seven-year-old to understand percentages and commissions. But he understood perfectly when I said he could pick out any toy that he wanted, including a game or two for the new Nintendo DS he got for his birthday a few weeks ago. No more tears.

And so began the four-hour process of checking that all 1075 pieces were in the box. I printed 20 pages worth of inventory listings from Peeron. Maeve helped me sort by color:

The set was missing nine pieces. The ripped box and the missing pieces will bring down the value, but not by much. I am guessing that we will get around $275 for the set. You can follow along with the auction here: 7783 Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freezes Invasion Lego.

And here's the bonus: inside the Batcave set was this little boat from an other Batman set, the Hunt for Killer Croc. That set also includes Batman's Batboat, but we only had the Killer Croc's boat.

It recently sold on eBay for fifty bucks! The little crocodile man alone sells for $20.

To recap, your lesson for the day is: If you find boxes of Legos at a yard sale or thrift store, BUY THEM. Also, if you find a big disorganized bin of Legos at a yard sale, dig through them and see if there are any minifigs (those are the little Lego people). They are worth big bucks on eBay!

And don't forget about my 15% commission.

Just won this at an auction...

2009-10-03T12:45:28-04:00

Don't know what I was thinking.