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On a flowerpot.
On a giant roll of old crepe paper.
On a bottle brush tree.
Or a Santa tin.
Or a Shiny Brite ornament, and some cottony angel heads, because they were each a dime.
Or you could put some of those quarters together and spend a dollar on a tin of buttons.
But if you're going to start throwing around that kind of money, make sure you're getting a lot of buttons.
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So: I went to work, came home, finished a free-lance story that I needed to get done, took the car in for repairs, did a couple of eBay listings, made dinner and found myself out of words. So: pictures instead. And a request, only if you feel like it. Which one of these feedsacks do you like the best?
Do you ever see fabrics that remind you of somebody? This reminds me of one of our fellow bloggers, but I don't want to say who. (Whom? I'm out of grammar, too.) I'll wait and see if she leaves a comment.
Also: If you're contemplating selling on eBay or Etsy, or if you already are, read these comments. I agree with all of them. I was going to add a few observations of my own but: out of words.
Fortunately, there's one thing I'm not out of: my favorite punctuation mark.
A world without the sturdy and useful colon: I would not want to live in such a place.
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Saturday turned out to be a good day for feedsacks.
A really good day for feedsacks. Mrs. Vintage Soul and I made a road trip to an estate sale that promised "100 years of accumulation." Oh, music to our ears! Although there was not as much accumulation as the ad might have led us to believe, it certainly was worth the trip. Mrs. VS got some wonderful things, as I'm sure she will be showing you.
And while finding this many feedsacks on one stop (and there actually are about 10 more not on the clothesline) would normally have left me dizzy and giddy, this purchase involved counting and negotiating and a lot of back-and-forth, which aren't my strong suits, so I left feeling like I'd worked to get these. But once I got home and started looking them over, and especially after I got them washed up and hung out to dry, I was happy I got them. Most of these are full, and some are still stitched shut.
Isn't it remarkable how feedsacks always look so great together?
Especially when they're pink.
It might be feedsack overload, but I'll show you some more tomorrow. I need to sell a few of these to replenish the summer spending money account, and it might be a good chance to revisit the Etsy vs. eBay discussion from last week.
On a somewhat different note - my daughter was forced ever so happy to help me by modeling an apron for my Etsy shop. I like the daisies and her sweet little hand. I think she's got a real future in this.
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They weren't the only thing I found Friday morning ...
but these little crepe-paper favor cups were my favorite find.
Happy treasure hunting this weekend!
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I took this photo at the thrift store Wednesday just so I could show you something that made my heart race when I saw it last week. No, not the checked sofa. To take the picture, I stood in about the same spot where I was when I first saw it. I raced across the store to get to it. It seemed to take an eternity. I felt like I was running in slow motion, to the theme of "Chariots of Fire." Think you know what it is?
Can't miss it now, can you? Oh, is there anything better than the telltale flaps of patterns sticking out of a box marked "4 for $1.00"?
Since there was comfortable seating nearby, I settled in on that checkered couch and had a nice, leisurely look through the box. Here are the ones I got. That get-up on the right is a dress, not an apron. I just can't imagine any circumstance in which that would be my dress of choice.
There were a lot of patterns, but I stuck to ones that were 1960s or earlier.
Love this.
And this. Especially the navy coat.
And this. Not the robe so much, but the jacket. Maybe in quilted flannel? For late-evening television viewing, PARTICULARLY MAD MEN WHICH IS COMING BACK ON AUGUST 16 AND I AM SO EXCITED I AM WRITING IN CAPITAL LETTERS AND I WROTE IT ON THE CALENDAR.
I'm OK now. I love Vogue patterns.
The next two patterns probably are responsible for countless hours of therapy. Because if it isn't bad enough that your mom brings home a pattern "sized for the CHUB-DEB,"
how 'bout one "designed for CHUBBIES"? Suddenly my childhood is looking trauma-free.
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I went to a sale recently at a sweet little house with a sweet little old lady and oddly oversized Christmas decorations. Probably it was the result of an abundance of Christmas spirit, which is always a good thing. The ornament on the left is probably five or six inches in diameter.
The classic plastic manger scene with Baby Jesus and family? Nope, this one has the whole cast and crew.
The elf in the bowl is the typical large-size knee-hugger elf. Not to be confused with the small- or medium-sized elf, or
GIANT PIXIES. They were so big I didn't notice them at first - I know that makes no sense, but your eyes are trained to pick up on certain cues, and mine were not programmed for GIANT PIXIES. I can spot some objects a hundred feet away, like Gurley candles. I once spotted a Gurley witch candle in a darkened barn as I was getting out of my car. All I could think was, four years of studying classic works of literature and I am walking as fast as dignity will allow so I can grab a candle before anyone else. Anyway, I put the large knee-hugger between them to give you a sense of scale.
The guy in the middle is used to being the biggest elf on the block. He looks slightly freaked out at his realization that he isn't.
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I was really hoping the 80-years-of-accumulation sale that was advertised for the 4th of July would be a good one because 1) it was about the only sale around and 2) I rang the Vintage Soul household unforgivably early on a holiday morning to see if Mrs. Vintage Soul wanted to go. (She did, but Mr. Vintage Soul imitated a zombie and muttered "must have coffee" when I arrived.)
The first thing we saw at the sale was a big stack of Christmas ornaments in boxes right by the door. Mrs. Vintage Soul and I are both trying to be somewhat more reasonable when it comes to accumulating Christmas decorations, so I bought only two boxes. Those daisies are among my favorites. Mrs. Vintage Soul might be returning to the sale today to snag final-day bargains.
I found some handkerchiefs, both floral and ...
a collectible Donald Duck handkerchief. I don't collect them, but others do. I'm kind of neutral on Donald Duck, but I do like the little skis and sleds on the border.
I have mixed feelings about this piece, too, because I kind of thought I would sell it, but I figured my daughter would want it, as it so beautifully sums up her feelings about me. Funny, but she said to go ahead and sell it. Without even a moment of hesitation she said to sell it.
Sheep are good not just at Christmas but at Easter. I've never seen trees like this before.
A couple of Swanky Swigs were tucked among the mismatched-glasses-for-50-cents table. (Ornaments, hankies and Swigs all at the same sale - good things do come in threes.) Although it's more exciting to find the florals, my black-stars-for-Halloween collection is progressing nicely, and the blue star was a nice find on the 4th.
This might have been my favorite find, though, just because it's quirky, and I don't think I've ever run across an exit sign before. As awesome as it looks on the ledge over my front door, it's drawn more than the usual number of questioning looks and unkind comments from other occupants of this household. So it's going in Etsy just as soon as I get some good photos of it.
That leads me to the discussion question, which comes up in comments from time to time (hi, Mary!). I'm really curious about what all of you think about it. If you sell on eBay and Etsy, how do you decide what goes where? Or, if you buy on eBay and Etsy, do you shop differently or look for different items on each site? Is there a reason you sell on one, but not the other, or buy on one, but not the other?
I've sold on both, and it's sure not scientific how I decide. Jump in if you have any thoughts, and I'll try to summarize and tell you what I think later on this week.
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I was taking some Etsy photos today when the thought occurred that you would probably love to see my photo studio. It's quite a set-up, and I should warn you that you might be really, really jealous when you see it.
I think it's the natural light that makes it so spectacular. The wallpaper taped to the siding is kind of a nice touch, too.
Whatever works, right?
I meant to post a picture of this when I got it, but I forgot. It doesn't strike me as a particularly practical way to store a comb and brush, but it's pretty cute. That combination of primary colors and pink is a good one.
One more thing if you want a photo studio like mine. Make sure to leave room for friends.
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