A few small findings

Wood Mocha box from the thrift store.

Will set it on it’s back so the top opens UP and turn it into a ‘memory box’.

Copper tray.  Not sure what I’ll do with it just yet.

Little ironstone creamer for my personal collection (I only collect this specific SHAPE.)  Glass vase that will be turned into a cloche.

Small duck and chicken tureens.

Small dome cloche (might have to keep this one for myself too!)  And a vintage ‘Owl Drug’ bottle.  Was going to embellish the bottle, then at the last minute I decided to research it online real quick.  Turns out these are HIGHLY collectible, so I’ll be selling it ‘as is’ (a tiny ‘bruise’ on the back) in my booth at
Stars.

Bag of BIG wood bun feet!  You know ow I LOVE furniture feet!!!  Will save these for ‘just the right’ furniture project.

Fancy dowel finials that I will probably use as drawer knobs.

Packets of little wood knobs. The package SAYS 4, but there are only 3.  To add to my stash for when I need extra knobs.

Nice dry weekend and had a VERY productive painting marathon.  (pictures coming soon)  Raining today!

Findings

Here’s a bit of what I’ve found on my thrifting ventures lately:

White Stoneware pitchers.  (sorry about all the blotches on the pictures.  Must be something on my camera lens?!) This is my very favorite shape of white pitchers, and not that readily found too often.  Let alone finding ALL THREE at the same time.  I’ve always wanted to start my own white pitcher collection, but always convince myself to sell everything I find.  This time I decided to keep them!  And I discovered that I had one more, a smaller one, in one of my booths to add to my collection!

Little glass spice bottle (I put a Halloween label on it) A tall funky heart shaped bottle (will be made into a ‘love potion’ bottle for Valentines Day) and a bell shaped cloche.  (always need these!)

The bottle on the left is the one from the previous pic.

Cute dog figurine (NO idea what to do with it!?!)  Little urn (to fill with a little nest or bottle brush tree or use as a dessert plate pedestal) small glass (to use for a cupcake stand base) and a salt shaker (to use as a pedestal for a little bird)

This is the little white bird that I want to put on the previous salt shaker.  The bird is also a salt shaker though, so I have to figure out a way to cover up the holes).  Little ceramic bird (maybe paint it black for Halloween??)

It’s the same bird as the one on the left here; that I painted white and used as a cloche handle.

Stoneware bowls (ALWAYS on my ‘look for’ list; any shade of white/cream)  Little stoneware crock that I added a Halloween label to.

Large hurricane vase that I inverted and added a knob to, to make it into a cloche.

BIG lettuce shaped salad bowl!  

 

Such a cute little set of milk glass jars with wicker carrier.  Any one know what this might have originally been used for??  Debating whether or not to ‘piece it out’ and sell bottles and carries individually; or leave it as a set???  What do you think?  One of the lids was GLUED on to the base, which we (the cashier and I) both noticed at checkout.  I decided to get it anyway.  Soaked it in warm soapy water for a while and it came right apart and the glue peeled right off.

Such cute ‘pot belly’ shaped jars!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!  That bell cloche fits this angle candle pedestal perfectly!  Maybe paint the pedestal white and pair them up??

Itty bitty angels; super fragile; might have to glue them in a glass jar to protect them.

These apothecary jars originally had brushed aluminum lids; which I spray painted black.  Will add some collage labels to these.

Here are some similar jars I did a while back; embellished with keys and papers.

A big vintage cherub vase.

Upcycled / repurposed it into a tall cake pedestal.

 With faux display cake.

For sale in my booth at Curiosities in Beaverton for $29.00.  The taller stand is $39.00.  Perfect pieces for a small wedding cake OR a cupcake buffet!

 

 

 

LATEST FINDS & 2/3 of the way to my next collection!

Found another armillary last week while out and about treasure hunting!  Charming little gold frame and a unique old bottle.   I saw another bottle EXACTLY like this at Stars too.  Any know about the history of this unique shaped bottle

Little corner shelf to repaint.

Little oval step stool.  I’m always looking for little stools like this!  And they ALWAYS sell!

GIANT playing cards for altered art and collage projects.

Cutie patootie teeny tiny mice!  At first I thought they were salt and pepper shakers because they each had 2 extra holes in the top of their heads. Examining the bottoms of them proved that theory wrong, but they were SO cute I just had to buy them!  Will try to fill the holes and use them for cloche toppers.

Wood tray.  Trays always sell well too.  AND are very useful in display for grouping a bunch of small things together.  Visually the tray makes it “one thing” so it looks less cluttered.

Wood bread box to paint.  Bread boxes have proven to be good sellers for me too.

Stoneware bowls.  Another ‘standard’ stock item for me.  Bowls sell much better than plates.  Go figure?!?

2 liter vintage French ‘Le Parfait’ canning jar and 1/2 gallon apothecary jar.

Clear glass bunny dish, stoneware creamer and bell cloche.

And here’s my armillary 2/3 of a collection display at home. I don’t really care for the shiney finish on my newest one and will probably repaint it.  But will wait until I find my next one before I decide what color to paint it.

Latest finds

Will probably repaint these.

Cute mini armoire; bottom right knob is broken off.  The broken part is inside the drawer, so I might be able to glue it back on.  The drawers don’t come all the way out, so I’m not sure HOW I’d unscrew the old knob if gluing it back on doesn’t work?!?

Another picnic basket!

And this one has a ‘pie shelf”!

I actually had NO IDEA what that extra wood part in the bottom of the basket was for?!?!?  The clerk at the thrift store told me what it was.  AND she said that she collects picnic baskets and the ones like this with the pie shelf are very hard to come by!    Certainly appreciate that little tidbit of info!  I just might have taken it out and tossed it otherwise?!?!?

Cutie patootie LITTLE (creamer size) melon pitcher.

Pretty slim pickins lately.  Which is probably a GOOD thing, since sales are pretty slow right now and I don’t really NEED a lot more stuff.  I just HAVE to ‘stop in’ if I am driving by a thrift store, ‘just in case’ there is a treasure awaiting me!

Findings

As I’ve already mentioned, I have not been going thrifting too terribly much these days.  Only when I am already ‘out’ for some other errands, and IF a thrift store is ‘on the way’.  Found this basket a couple of weeks ago, and it was priced so low that I couldn’t not buy it!

I’m especially avoiding the craft stores because I know I will always find some new awesome craft supply that I NEED!   FORCING myself to use up what I have.  And I have a LOT of ‘craft crap’ as my other half calls it!  I really REALLY want to downsize the excess supplies I have.  I’m working on it and focused on it EVERY day.

Quite a bit of it has been going to etsy, at crazy low prices and with a FREE SHIPPING offer if you buy  three or more listings.  Then if I can’t come up with a way to use it right now, and I don’t think it will sell on etsy, it goes to the thrift store.  I’ve pretty much been taking more TO the thrift store lately than I have been buying and bringing home!

This type of basket is something that I have been looking for forever!  One that doesn’t have all that fabric stapled to the inside, and has a flat lid and handles that go to the sides so that I can STACK stuff on top of it.

It did have this nasty piece of elastic stapled to the inside of the lid.  I just ripped it right off and grabbed some pliers to yank out the remaining staples.

For now, I’m thinking about using it as my ‘project basket’ in the living room.  I ALWAYS have a small messy pile of ‘something’ that I am working on while I watch TV.  Something that I really do work on EVERY day, so I don’t really want to pack it up and take it back to the craft room.  BUT I am really trying to keep the house ‘tidier’.  S o perhaps I will leave my current ‘hand work project’ in this basket, next to the sofa in the living room.  Close at hand, but out of sight.

I also found this vintage sewing box a while back.  Was going to paint it aqua and sell it; but now I’m thinking I need to keep it and USE it, in my new quest for neatness WHILE I work on projects!

Would look much nicer than the kleenex box of threads and needles I usually keep my sewing supplies in.  Especially when I leave it out in the living room, to stitch while I watch TV.

I always need more white dishes for my space at Stars.  I watch for them to go to half price at the thrift stores so that I can give my customers a better price, and still make a wee profit.

Very PLAIN stoneware plates, like these, are the most popular; AND hardest to find, of course!  About pricing:  I ALWAYS price dishes INDIVIDUALLY, even if I have a ‘set’.  Reason being, if you price it as a group it never fails that someone wants ‘just a few’.  Then you HAVE to break up the set and re-price everything individually!  So, why not do it that way to begin with?!?  If they want the whole set, does it really matter if they are priced separately???  This is especially wise at a ‘remote’ location, like a mall setting where you are not right there.  Saves the staff a lot of extra work and phone calls.

Salad / dessert plates seem to be what people are most often looking for.

These clear plates and little shrimp cocktail glasses will become cupcake pedestals.

Just add e6000!  Easy peasey!!  These will be going to Stars after Christmas, with my Valentine product.  (Which I really need to start working on!!!!)

Always need crocks, big or small’ white or cream/tan/brown!

You’ve actually already seen how I used all of these.  And ‘cherub’ items are something I have always looked for when out thrifting.  But NOW that I have discovered how cute the small candle holders are when I put a little bottle brush tree into the candle hole; I’ll be especially looking for small ones!

These are a previous project, but using the white cherub candle holders again.  These had a flat enough surface that I could glue on (e6000) a plate and turn them into a dessert pedestal!

The ones I took to Stars have already sold, but three are still available in my  etsy shop.  

I also had some taller ones that I made into pedestals.  Alas it got tipped over and broke while at Stars; so it’s now glued together and in my personal collection.  (WHY do I only keep the broken stuff for myself?!?)

The white cow creamers are something that I ‘always’ buy (IF the price is right!) .  The little chick is a salt shaker and will probably eventually don a party hat and stand atop an Easter gift box.   The  baby Jesus in the manger looked like something cute to put under a cloche.