Oodles and oodles

Houseplant advice from my grandmother

My mom bought me a Christmas cactus two years ago, and I immediately felt sorry for it. It was going to have to rely on me for its continued existence. The first year, it formed buds, and then they all fell off. It was very sad.

Then I remembered an image from my childhood. My grandmother's Christmas cactus, sitting underneath the canopy of a willow tree all summer. She didn't do anything to it. If it rained, it got watered. If it didn't rain, it didn't. All she did was bring it in when the weather turned cold.

Which is what I did this year. It's blooming a little early, but it's not like I mind. Once again, my grandmother knew best.

Nice surprises

When I went to work Tuesday morning, I found this box on my desk.

 When I took off the lid I saw this.

Out of which I plucked these.

(One of my colleagues grabbed the box just as it was about to be thrown in a trash hauler's truck. She thought I might like it.)

Later in the day, I stopped by the thrift store and found these.

Then it snowed, and the drive home was dark and a little slippery, but there was dinner waiting and a fire in the stove. This morning the sun came out, and everything sparkled. It's been a good 24 hours.

Imported from Pennsylvania

I'm back from a trip to see my parents, and finished for now with a big work project, and so now it's time to open the suitcase and show you what I brought back with me. Ornaments, of course. Some of which came in a really great box.

Little bottle brush trees with their Japan tags and square bases just like the ones on the ornament box.

More trees. Pennsylvania is heavily forested, you know.

And not just with bottle-brush trees.

But with white plastic ones. (Tilt your head slightly and it will look perfectly straight.)

In Pennsylvania the snowmen wear Jadite-colored accessories and serve as stacking sugar bowls and creamers. (It's marked 1963 on the bottom - a date, or maybe a model number?)

I have a newfound thing for square vintage paper plates. I have a Halloween one, so with the addition of these two patterns, I have an official collection of holiday-themed square vintage paper plates. Another lifelong goal is realized.

Because Pennsylvania is heavily forested, it only makes sense there would be acorns. This garland looks like glass, but it's made of some kind of indestructible composite with a metal coating.

Also indestructible, or close to it: 1960s hard plastic ornaments with a metal finish. I've never seen this style before.

There was just enough room in my suitcase for a few sparkly things.

Including these metal cornucopia things to be filled with Christmas what-nots. I think those spun-cotton angels are singing the praises of shopping in Pennsylvania.

Oh, and happy Halloween! It is a dark, rainy, windy day here, and our generator is on because we have no power. The wind is whipping the walnuts off the tree and onto the roof and porch, so we even have scary, unpredictable banging noises. It's pretty much perfect for the day.

Seasonal confusion

It's been a confusing time around here. At work I'm pulling together a Christmas season fundraiser, and at home I'm sorting and photographing Christmas ornaments. On my desk is a box of Gurley pilgrim and turkey candles that I keep meaning to get listed. But the Swanky Swigs with the black stars have appeared in the Hoosier, and that can mean just one thing: Halloween is on the way.

So if there is a theme to this year's decorating, it is: Little things like to be collected in boxes. Like in an old silverware box.

Or an old metal lockbox, the more dented and scratched, the better.

My favorite decorations this year are the paper party favors acquired at a yard sale this summer - the black cat, the skull and the pumpkin. They're the kind that have a long streamer that pops out when you blow into them. I assume they work. My mother raised me to believe that germs, like zombies, never really die, so I'm not going to give them a test run. (Would you?)

The boxes are living on the hutch with some other favorite decorations. This summer we painted the living room gray, and the curtains are black-and-white checks. The colors were not chosen with Halloween in mind, but it did cross my mind that the color scheme would work out nicely come October.

The skeletons are guarding the mirror, and if you aren't alarmed by the fact that the photographer does not cast a reflection, perhaps you should be.

A cozy corner filled with witches, ghosts and grinning jack o'lanterns.

A closer look at the witches, moved into the dining room where the light was better. They're just horrible. And somehow at the same time, just wonderful.

Time to play

Here are just some of the things I love about this illustration: 1) the children are playing nicely; 2) the boy is wearing a sailor suit; 3) the illustration is dated so we know exactly how old it is and 4) they are making something I like and have blogged about previously.

Mostly I like the fact that it's an illustration for the jumbo-sized, every-bead-project-you-can-imagine 1939 Walco playset.

With supplies for making bead flowers.

There's a drawer full of something called snowflake beads. Which look all the world to me like tinted pasta (they're not wooden), except I'm not sure tinted pasta would have lasted more than 70 years.

There's a drawer full of supplies for making bead people and pets. The third drawer is filled with strings of wooden beads (not very visually exciting, but pretty useful).

The bead set and all of these games and kits came from the auction Saturday. Lots of the toys were hobby kits and educational toys, which I love. Did you have Colorforms growing up? I l-o-v-e Colorforms.

Check out the bracelet kit.

My son's girlfriend was visiting over the weekend, and she scored major points for ooh-ing and aah-ing over the charms.

There was another charm-bracelet set, although these charms are kind of cheap and light - more like what you'd get out of a gumball machine or Cracker Jack box.

However, there was an intriguing variety, and we discussed the possibility of making a don't-mess-with-me charm bracelet.

On a sweeter note: paper dolls with outfits that lace on.

And a leathercrafting kit, which apparently wasn't a big hit since it is pretty much untouched. The only thing keeping me from lacing up my very own leather key case with an embossed dog (see illustration in upper left) is the fact that I am still sorting Christmas ornaments. I have about 30 lots ready to photograph and list, but I am not quite halfway through them. I need elves to help.

 

 

 

Gentrification

Who knows why some neighborhoods just start to decline?

Why did the farmer let the roof go unrepaired?

Why did the family just walk away from their lovely home and leave it to decay?

Why would anyone not clean a kitchen for decades?

Fortunately, a motivated seller met an energetic buyer.

With a few basic tools and some gumption, the barn roof was repaired. (Now the barn seems to be speaking to the new owner. It says: Is it Christmas yet? When it is, will you decorate me? With a big wreath, and some farm animals, and a truck hauling a bottle-brush tree? Yes, the new owner says. Yes.)

The house needed only a good power-washing, and soon it was gleaming.

'
It dreamed of the day when children would once again romp through the nursery. (The new owner, who is committed to keeping the barn, plans to flip the house. But only to someone who promises to furnish it and love it and fill it with happiness.)

And the kitchen? The kitchen was stripped down and scrubbed until it gleamed. Its new owner says she will never part with it. She wishes to decorate it with tiny vintage tea towels and bowls of fruit.

And perhaps make perfect tiny ice cubes in the perfect tiny ice cube tray.

 

 

Auction success, and a very old thing

I went to an auction Saturday, and at some point an hour or so in, I thought I might just go home. I had been outbid in heartbreaking fashion a couple of times, and all I had to show for my frantic bidding was a cute typewriter - the box says it's not just a toy but a working typewriter, but I haven't given it a go - and I was feeling glum. But I stayed strong. In for a penny, in for a pound, I always say, and surely my luck would turn.

Slowly, it did. I got a shoebox full of Christmas stickers and tags.

I hauled in some Gurleys.

And some boxes of greeting cards. Since this was a family that kept everything, there were quite a few greeting cards. And quite a few of, well, everything. Like every piece of clothing they'd ever owned. Every toy. Every decoration. And before long, I heard my favorite auction phrase:

"Anybody got a buck for this?"

Which means the auctioneer is getting tired, and there is still a lot of stuff to go. This is the best part of an auction. You can feel the shift. The big spenders have left. The pace picks up. And the stuff that was going for $40, $50, $100 a lot earlier in the day starts going for only a few dollars. Sometimes one dollar. It's pretty wonderful when it happens.

Good thing I washed up this quilt as soon as I got home, since it came in handy on a rainy NFL Sunday. (Aren't they cute? My two boys.)

Lots of favor cups and candles and such.

These were buried in a huge mystery box of Christmas decorations.

Along with these. I like the ornaments and the paper mache boots.

The elf that works at shows in Las Vegas during the off-season, not so much, but he'll find a home with someone.

I assumed this was simply a cheap, plastic Christmas decoration made in Hong Kong, but I looked closer. I was drawn by the claim on the tag: "Quality. So real ... it even fools the bees." I cannot help but feel something was lost in translation here.

Fascinated, I read on, and found this. Yes, pieces like this date "back to the stone age." My first antiquity!

Tough as it will be to top this, there is a lot more stuff to show you from the auction. Some of it, I dare to say, is even more impressive than a Stone Age decoration, but I'll let you judge. 

 

 

 

The week ahead

How's your week looking? Are you doing laundry today?

Then ironing on Tuesday and sewing on Wednesday?

The farmers' market in my town is Thursday, so this might be somewhat accurate. I will have to hunt around for my gathered skirt and bonnet, though.

Before you know it, the weekend will be here again.

Not a minute too soon, especially if cake is involved.

I've seen days of the week towels, but this is the first days of the week coverlet I've seen. Whatever your week holds, I hope there is a happy surprise or two.

When sailors frolic, and other fun things

Without a doubt, my favorite find from this morning's estate sale was this old game.

The idea is to lob a ball at a bird, and if you hit it, it flips over, and you score points.

If I catch anybody throwing anything at it, however, there is going to be trouble. I think I like this so much because I was way outbid on one at the last auction I went to. This one was a couple of dollars. It might have been cheaper (cheep-er? sorry) because one of the birds was missing a beak. I replaced it with the tip of a golf tee. That also pleased me.

I really like this little cabin, too.

Want to guess what's in this tin?

You guessed right, didn't you?

I also came home with a nice old Union pumpkin lantern and some pretty velvet flowers.

A few pieces of Jadeite, but the measuring cups are the only pieces I'm keeping. I have almost too much Jadeite. If that's even possible. Perhaps it's more accurate to say I have about enough.

If you had been married in 1925, you would be by far my oldest blog reader, and you also might have a collection of really lovely old cards. They are so very pretty.

If you are wondering about the sailors in the title of the post, here they are. I stopped at a thrift store on the way home from the sale and plucked this old pattern out of a box of junky ones. The feedsacks came from the sale, and I think we know how I feel about them.

Especially this one. Sailors on shore leave, in pink. All in all, a good morning. 

Happiness at half price

I have wanted a set of Bakelite flatware for as long as I've known it existed, but I don't see much of it, and I can't afford it when I do. So - let's cut to the chase - I was pretty happy to find some this morning. Especially since stopping at the sale was kind of a whim, and only to say hello to the woman who was running it. Especially since everything was half price today.

And it was priced so reasonably I'd have happily bought it at full price.

Not only was there red, my favorite, but lots of butterscotch.

Also green.

Four full place settings of black.

A set of six steak knives and some serving pieces.

Fortunately I had an appropriately vintage flatware tray waiting for it.

One of my favorite finds this summer. Maybe of all time.