Oodles and oodles

Going green

 

I went to the little thrift store in our village this morning and found a basket full of green utensils. Then I went to the antique store across the street and found the same utensils selling for $10 each. That made me happy.

 

I found a pair of depression glass sherbet dishes at a rare Thursday morning sale. They're exactly like one I found at a sale a few years ago and almost immediately broke. Finding replacements (for 50 cents) also made me happy.
 
 

They all look so nice with the Jadite creamer I brought home from the antique store Wednesday. It was crazy affordable because there's the tiniest chip in the rim. You can't imagine how much I don't care about that chip. I love that chip. That chip makes me happy.
 
 

Before I show you the thing that took me two trips to get home, let me run this by you. I think this implement is a noodle cutter - any thoughts?

 

OK, here's the big find. See it? Behind the creamer?

 

A Hoosier cabinet. It's exactly what I've been looking for. I think I nearly jumped up and down for joy when I saw it. All of the ones I had found were either way more than I could spend, or needed way too much work, or both. This doesn't have all the Hoosier stuff inside (like the flour sifter) which is fine by me, because I'd rather have the storage space. I'm hoping that all it will need is a good scrubbing.

 

And, of course, removal of the obligatory Contact paper.

 

I don't know why, but I don't think I've ever seen a Hoosier that didn't have Contact paper somewhere.

Field trip

 

I've been in kind of a funk lately, so instead of going home after work on Wednesday, I decided to go on a field trip. I had heard from someone I really don't know about a shop whose name he didn't have. I wasn't exactly sure what town it was in. Of course I had no idea of what days or times this alleged shop might or might not be open. 

With this much going for me, how could I miss? I needed an adventure. And as soon as I walked in the door of The Red Herring, I knew I had the right place. I wanted to go home, pack a suitcase and move into this room.

 

The shop has vast quantities of the kinds of things I like, and the prices are really reasonable.

 

There's a perfect mix of vintage and cottage styles.

 

Those are teacups dangling from the upstairs ceiling.
 
 

My favorite things might have been these really great doll assemblages made by Betsy, the shop owner. (She also makes wonderful collages and paints furniture.)

 

My pictures aren't doing justice to how fun they are. Betsy has the knack of matching up the tins with the expressions of the dolls, and she adds just the right bits, like Jell-O molds and cookie cutters.
 
 

So did I come home empty-handed? No, I did not. I bought one thing that was small enough to fit in my pocketbook, and one thing that was so big I had to bring part of it home, unload, and then drive back to get the rest. But we'll just leave it at that for right now.

(Shop information: The Red Herring, Route 38, Locke, NY. Summer hours: Wednesday and Thursday, 10 to 5, Friday 11 to 5, Saturday 11 to 4, every second and fourth Sunday noon to 3. Seasonal hours November through April.)

Dream kitchen

 

More Renwal furniture, this time my dream kitchen. All it needs is red gingham curtains, a tiny flowered tablecloth and a complete, teeny-tiny set of Jadite.

 

I'd be cheerful every morning, eating a bowl of Corn Flakes while listening to the radio. The weather report would predict nothing but sunshine, and the news would have nothing but stories about peace and prosperity.

  

The cupboards would be stocked with staples

 

for every member of the family.

 

Even the wastebasket would be cute.

Box lot

 

Here's where we left off yesterday, about to dig into the box of cookie cutters and cake decorations.
 
 

 

Where we'll find lots of birthday goodies ...

 

cupcake picks ...

 

an old package of Easter egg dye ...

 

and Halloween treats.

One box, and I think we've got all of the holidays covered.

Unpacking

 

It takes me a long time to unpack from a trip, because in addition to bringing in the suitcases, I usually need to pull out a box of Christmas ornaments from underneath the passenger seat and lug in some boxes of dinnerware. Some day I'll remember to take an empty suitcase for packing treasures found along the way. Here are the finds from this weekend.

 

I was drawn to this utilitarian Hazel Atlas dinnerware by its mint-in-the-box goodness and a price less than a package of paper plates. Two boxes of it = lunch for eight. The dishes came from a yard sale in my parents' neighborhood. The tablecloth came from another sale near them.

 

A whole stack of metal trays, all in perfect or practically perfect condition. I'm hoping to get a few listed on Etsy today.

 

Doll clothes, spun-cotton heads and handkerchiefs that still have their Marshall Field price tag.

 

These postcards from a flea market were already more than reasonably priced, but the guy I bought them from knocked off a lot more without me even asking. The middle card is a birthday card for a bluebird-loving friend. Much as I like the classic Mayflower-turkey-corn theme of the postcard on the right, I'm wild about the turkey and rose-covered thatched cottage combination on the left.

  

But the combination Thanksgiving and Halloween card is my absolute favorite. It's really, really hard to find reasonably priced Halloween postcards, and this one is close enough for me. Plus, I can leave it out from October right on through November.

Showing you something made of paper is an excellent opportunity to mention my latest spelling pet peeve: the constant confusion between STATIONARY and STATIONERY. I would not mention this except I saw it SPELLED WRONG last night on the Web site of a Very Big Retailer With Which I Bet We All Are Acquainted. I don't offer my proofreading services for free to Corporate America, but I'm passing along this lesson for all of you, even though I'm certain you already know it:

Stationary = the state of not moving. A building, for example, is stationary. It does not move.

Stationery = lovely writing paper and such that we all love. You will be able to remember this because stationery has an e for envelope.

In addition to complaining about spelling, I've also taken to clipping out newspaper articles that I think my son will find interesting. It's like I'm in training to be an old lady.

 

There's a lot of fun stuff in this box. We can dig down through it later.