Oodles and oodles

The stairway's reign of terror ends

I have been living with a nightmare for 10 years: the stairway of our house. The shade of blue we painted it turned out a lot more, hmm, vibrant than I wanted. The paint job itself left much to be desired. A piece of wood trim developed a large split, and the cats decided to use a corner area for a scratching post. All that kept me from doing it over (other than the usual lack of time/ money/ motivation) was remembering what a literal pain in the neck it was to paint those big, high walls while trying not to fall down the stairs. Oh, and painting around the door frames of the five doorways that open onto the upstairs landing.



This spring, I couldn't take it any more. I think it was wanting a nice home for that cute little green table that got me going. I solved the painting- around- the- door- frames issue by painting the walls and the trim white.  I found a pretty lace curtain at the thrift store. (The green you can see through the lace? Actual leaves on the trees! They appeared last week!)



The shelf came from a sale the first weekend of yard sales. Because I had no money because I just went to the gas station was feeling inventive, I mixed  some leftover pink paint with some leftover white paint for the shelf.



And then I got out all of my yard-sale vases and planters and endlessly rearranged them. I was happy the blue walls were gone ...

and happy to find that I've got room for some new vases and pots!

The weekend sales report

I found this train case at a sale on Friday. I think I'll do something with it eventually, but at the sale, it came in pretty handy for toting home some little treasures.



The sale was at the home of a nice lady who's retiring from her antiques business. (Yes!) A nice lady who's retiring from her antiques business and marked stuff pretty cheap to get rid of it. (Double yes!) Everything I bought was $1 or less, except for the hat and barkcloth, which were $2 each.



Vintage honeycomb hearts from Denmark.



Christmas what-nots. I collect the elves through the year and eBay them closer at Christmas.  I'll keep the snowman and sled.



Next to the toy food, these arithmetic flash cards were my favorite find. They're from 1950 and in perfect condition, with the sweetest graphics.



A hat with lots of flowers. Enough said.



And barkcloth. Really pretty barkcloth, with spring flowers and butterflies.

And a bib apron with big bright strawberries, a tiny wooden sewing box, a crocheted pincushion, a few hankies and cookie cutters ... sigh. It was fun. I think the season is off to a good start.

A little bite to eat

There's nothing like a nice breakfast on Sunday morning. Fortunately, my favorite find from a sale on Friday gives me many choices. If I don't want eggs over easy ...



I can have pastry ...



or fruit. Later, for lunch, I think I'll have ...



vegetables! And after all this healthy food, I think Sunday evening calls for a cookout.



Anyone for hamburgers and hot dogs?



I was pretty thrilled to find this little box of food, because I played with exactly the same pieces with my dolls growing up. I still have a lot of it. (The little milk bottle and teapot and creamer in the first picture is part of a childhood set that belonged either to me or my mom.) I've never seen it anywhere, let alone at a bargain price.



You can imagine how excited I was when I opened the lid and saw what was inside. Now I need to find some teeny-tiny plates and silverware.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and Happy Easter to my Orthodox friends.  We're off to eat feta cheese and stuffed grape leaves and lamb and baklava at a Greek Easter celebration!

Dictionary amour

We've got quite a situation on our hands in Central New York: an adjective shortage. The meteorologists started out using "splendid" to describe the weather, then moved on to "gorgeous," "wonderful," "fabulous." Who knew it would go on so long, this streak of late spring weather?


I don't have enough adjectives to describe my French dictionaries either - a two volume set, each a bazillion pages long, 50 cents apiece. With color plates. Of  fleurs, and papillons, and, well, other things in French. They are, like the weather, magnifique.   

A bright and happy place

I loved elementary school. I loved the smell of crayons, the soft lined penmanship paper, the sound of the pencil sharpener. I saw my first-grade teacher a few years ago, and I thought I would weep with happiness. Seeing her brought back all of my memories of school, and all of them were happy.



Which is probably why, when I run across old children's books, especially old school books, I am helpless to resist.  I brought some home from a sale last week. The illustration above is from "See My Toys." Every picture is as cute as this one.



This is from a 1939 book, "Happy Days." Look at that symmetry, the diving swallows, the Scotty dogs. I could gaze at it all day.


There's a lot to love in "The Little Red House," too, including that smart little maternity outfit. Most of the babies in the books I remember just kind of appeared out of nowhere.


Even the math books were beautifully illustrated.



Just a stack of old books, their covers a little worse for wear. Within them there exists a magical world where the colors are always bright, the words are always simple, and the children are always smiling.

 

Three little words

My years of reading yard sale ads have resulted in a couple of theories. One is to never bother going to a sale that's advertised only with "Too much to list! Something for everyone!" It never turns out to be true. (My guess is that anyone who can't give you a general idea of what they're selling is either selling junk or is just plain lazy. Either way, it's not a good sign.) On the other hand ...



if the ad says, "Years of accumulation!" then set your alarm and get there early. Those three little words almost never fail to disappoint.



That's the kind of sale I went to Saturday morning. (The one where I got the hat.) A nice old house, packed with little things someone had collected over a lifetime. The people running the sale were pleasant and well-organized, and the prices were great. Most of my finds cost only a dollar. My little 25-cent milk bottle got put to use right away holding daffodils. I picked up a few project pieces, too - a shelf to paint, and a wooden letter holder, and some great picture frames. (Because I need a few more projects, right?)

Eventually I'll get all of my new finds put away. In the meantime, the World's Largest Christmas Ornament is resting in a flower pot.

Happy Show and Tell Sunday

I think the bling gene passed me by - it's only recently I've started picking up bits and pieces of vintage jewelry. Almost all of this came from the same house sale earlier this year.

My favorite is one of the tiniest pieces ... a little pin that says "Darling." (It's in the top in the middle of the photo below.)

It's not very bling-y, but it's just so sweet. Lots of pretty jewelry to see today - stop by Little Pink Studio to see all the places to go! Thanks to Cerri and Analise for hosting!

A good omen

Any Saturday that starts...



with finding a pretty hat that's shaped kind of like a birthday cake ...



and costs only $2 -- well, that's a good Saturday.

More treasures to share soon. See you on Show and Tell Sunday. I have to go out in my yard and play.

Yet another sign of spring

I'm back. Went to five sales. It was good to be out. Even better to be home before 10 - a whole gorgeous day ahead.



You know the 20-80 rule, don't you? It kind of gets applied to everything: in an organization, for example, 80 percent of the work gets done by 20 percent of the workforce. I'd say it's true of yard sales, too. I get 80 percent of my stuff from 20 percent of the yard sales I attend. (If I could only figure out which 20 percent that was.) Today was more typical of the 80 percent of the sales: they were OK, and I got a few little things, but nothing way spectacular. There are more sales Saturday, so I hope to take a group picture then of my finds. (Well, I did find one thing that I love. I think it's more in the "Isn't it great?" category than the "I think I'd better sit down because I feel dizzy with glee" category.)

But speaking of spectacular...



Here's what I could see from my yard Thursday night. Not only has the yard sale season begun, but the hot air balloon season has started! The balloons often launch across the road from us, at a little country airport, so often in the summer that we start not to notice. But the first one of the year is nice to see.



And off they go. Those are the maple trees along the front of our lawn. Just over the ridge is Skaneateles Lake, one of the Finger Lakes, which apparently the balloonists have chosen over a view of my back yard. I think that was a wise choice.

Hope you're having a spectacular day!

Happy first day of yard sale season!!!!!

Know what this is?



It's my inspiration. My reason for getting up a lot earlier than I would like on weekend mornings. (But not my reason for living, because despite my love for vintage things, I'm really not that shallow.)

It's the best thing I ever found at a yard sale.



A jadeite jar. A grease jar, to be exact. (Housewives once kept their bacon drippings and such to use later for even more frying. A never-ending chain of saturated fat. It's a wonder anyone survived.)



I found it last summer. For $1. I kept it tucked under my arm because I was sure someone would wrest it from my grasp. I was so excited I broke a depression glass sherbert dish I also had planned to buy. I paid the guy for the sherbert dish anyway, so I guess this jar really cost me $1.50.

I have my route all mapped out for Friday morning. I have a full tank of gas. I have an assortment of small bills and plenty of loose change. My cell phone is charging. All I need is a good night's sleep. And a little bit of luck.