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Match!

This is the first painting that I found a duplicate of.  Same still life, two different painters.  Was it a kit?  Did they copy a more famous painting?  Were they in school together?  Who knows?  I never thought it would happen again.

And then it happened again.  I had the painting on the left, and then I spied this one on eBay.  I had to bid on it.  Luckily no one else really wanted it!

And then when out antiquing I saw this painting...it looked familiar.  I strained to remember if it was like the one I had at home.  I wasn't sure.  I asked the price.  $589.  Definitely not in my price range.  I snapped a picture and went home to see mine.

Pretty close! 

And now I'm obsessed with finding more!

You better watch out...

Look I found last weekend!  A little Japanese Santa.  I had a large one when I was a little girl.  I still have him.  Some people think they are a little creepy but not me!  When they pop up at yard sales I grab them.  They actually don't show up that often.  It is against my convoluted Christmas rules to Ebay or antique shop them.

I have strange rules about Christmas.  All of my decorations are pretty much secondhand, garage and church sale cast-offs. They have to be found objects.  I love rescuing them like little misfit toys and giving them a proper place on the tree again.  It makes me so happy that they get a second chance at Christmas.  I am allowed to buy 3 "new" ornaments a year.  One for me and one for each of my children.  Any others have to found throughout the year.   I put them all in a box in the attic and at Christmas it's very exciting to pull out that years booty.

Really I'm strange.

Also I found these lovely dessert plates monogrammed with the letter B.  (My last name starts with B.)  I'm going to pretend I inherited them and use them during the holidays. 

Estate sale Monday

It's been a crazy week: gift show, Sesame Place, estate sales.  Here's a quick post to show you some goodies from the estate sale.
A lawn full of vintage aprons...all unused!

I was airing them out in the sun.  There are 30-something!



I loaded more on Flickr.
And also, 4 sewing baskets filled with vintage ribbon!

There was some thread in there too!  It was so much fun!

I (heart) Ebay!

Look what I won!  They arrived in the post today and I can hardly believe how lucky I am.  Original antique Victorian flower paintings (oil on canvas).  They are each 3 1/2 feet tall.  They are huge!!  Click on it and really look at them.  So beautiful!

And somehow only $99 each!  I've seen these in antique shops for thousands and on ebay even the little ones go for hundreds.  Somehow over the holiday these slipped by and now they are mine, mine, mine! And they are definitely not fakes.  (I'm doing a happy dance.)  Yes, I am a loser.  But I don't care.  HAPPY DANCE!

Must embroider often

Some lady was getting rid of all of her embroidery floss at a yard sale.  Seriously, you can't even imagine how much is crammed in there.  Every color is represented.  $5.  I'm set for life.  Especially considering how little I have embroidered thus far in my life.

White

I'm playing along for Color Week.  A bit of my white pottery.  It's all garage sale, rummage sale cast-offs, but I love it.  My newest piece is up in the left corner and looks a bit like a lotus blossom. 

It's a busy week.  My step-daughter is visiting and we'll be doing lots of trips and adventures.  Very few involve crafting or creating!

Vintage patterns for you!

The problem with church sales is that everything is so cheap that you wind up buying stuff  you do not need.  Like an enormous bag of vintage sewing patterns.  I can't possibly use them all.   I've admired them.  I've gazed at their retro cuteness.  And now I'm done.  But I can't bear to throw them away.  So I'm going see if any of you want them.  Free!  I'll post a pic and if you want it, just leave a comment and it's yours.  I'll check in tonight.   If there is more than one taker, I'll pull a name randomly.  Most of them are cut but usually they are only one size so it shouldn't matter.  And hopefully all the pieces are there, but I can't guarantee anything. (This one definitely has all the pieces!)  Except that they are free, so what do you want?  Check in and I'll post a new one every few days.

Pattern give-away number 1

Cute!

All gone but I have a lot more to come!

Follow that girl!

I brought Lucia with me to a rummage sale this weekend.  I don't always do it, but lately she has been very well behaved and doesn't run off so she has been coming more often.  She's catching the bug!  I usually give her 50 cents and let her pick out something.  More often than not it is some McDonalds toy that she finds at a yard sale and I get rid of  it the very next day. I usually don't plan on finding anything good at rummage sales that I bring her to, because generally I'm stuck at the toy table while she goes through every last toy.  Wistfully I'd look across to people digging through the tablecloths and mostly stuck to trying find vintage kids' books among the rubble.  But then I started looking, I mean really looking at the toys.  And look what I found this weekend!  A Hearthsong journal paper making kit, unused.  A Smith & Hawken flower press.  A Melissa & Doug wooden lacing bear set.  A wonderfully shabby chic rabbit cart I'll use to decorate this Easter.  An brand new face painting book.  An old Ginny doll pink wardrobe.  Even a Haegar lamb planter near the baby stuff.

My arms were full!  And Lucia bought 4 puzzles for 50 cents.  We were both satisfied and I didn't have any more tablecloth envy.  I think we'll be tag sale team for years to come. :)

Since we all have them...

...I thought I'd share.  I always see aprons when I'm out and about rummaging or thrifting, but seldom buy them. I have too many linens already stored away unused, so I have to really love an apron to buy one. 

This was one of my first aprons and I've never found anything like it again. It's very large so I can' t wear it, but I love it!  It is the classic farmhouse kitchen apron of my country dreams. Mostly it stays on my mannequin.

This sweet little apron acts as a window shade in my craft room.  I love it's cheerful lilac color.  It's reversible to boot!

This is my most recent acquisition.  I had never seen anything like it!  It demanded that I go home and make cookies with my little girl.

I have a few more of my aprons here and there is a great Flickr group  of vintage aprons here that I just added my pics to.  There are some fantastic finds in there! 

One man's trash...

Well although I haven't been able to sew much, I have been thrift-happy.  Look what I found at Goodwill in Florida.  Hand tinted Florida photos with gesso frames.   I love them!

They are hanging in my living room.

And yesterday was the yearly bulk -pick- up in my town.  I wasn't able to go scavenging but this morning I was driving and rescued this from the garbage man's hands. 

A great big old shabby antique birdcage.  Slighty rusty, the perfect amount of patina and aging for me.  I swear I felt high afterwards.  It looks much better in person than this flashed-out picture.  I know some of  you are like Huh??? But those who share my taste will understand how happy this made me.