I’m not a person who worries much about the purse I carry–I want it to be functional, hold my stuff, not be too heavy, and have a convenient layout of pockets, etc. It has to be sturdy, too because once I find one I like, I carry it for months. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m not attracted to unique bags, and most of the ones I carry are vintage because they are good quality and hold up to the kind of use I give them. I mean, I carry a camera, a multi-tool, a tape measure, pocket knife, voice recorder, cell phone, and all the usual things a woman might need.

Lately I’ve found some bags that, while they certainly aren’t “me” are way cool. Here are a few of them; most are listed for sale on eBay right now.

 I was fascinated by the catch on this bag. A yard sale find, this Rodo bag is made of laquered wicker with the neatest snap catch I’ve ever seen. It converts easily to a clutch by simply putting the chain strap inside.

A stunning bag, probably from the 70′s or 80′s. This one sports reptile hide, braid and suede in a luscious shade of purple. Again, the catch caught my eye–it’s a braided circlet, just lovely. Made by Palizzio, and like the Rodo bag above, made in Italy.

 This raffia and plastic or bakelite purse was made in Hong Kong. It has a nice brass catch and is lightweight but so cute.

This one may not be vintage, but who can resist beads, satin and rhinestones? Not me. A NY & Co bag.

This bag is made of metal, with a velvet lining that is trimmed in braid. The gold chain strap can be put inside to make it a clutch. Gold and gorgeous! The photo doesn’t do it justice really.

The photo  is blurry, but even so the classicly elegant lines of this 50′s-era evening bag are clear. Rhinestone-studded catch is a nice touch.

 I am a sucker for beaded bags of all kinds, and this 1950′s-60′s vintage bag is a great example. What I like most about these older purses is the catches–they were made to be pretty but solid. The hinged frame on this bag is another example of good workmanship.

So simple, and so stylish! This pretty leather bag has a heavy chain handle, and inside, pale pink grosgrain silk lining. There is no maker’s name in this one, but it obviously well made.

A country woman like me would have little use for purses like these, but that doesn’t stop me from admiring and appreciating them!

Linking to these friends today: A Vintage Green, Colorado Lady, Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures, From my Front Porch to Yours and A Coastal Charm. Check them out to see lots of great thrifting finds and vintage items!

Recently I’ve been finding some pretty pink kitchenware, like these Libbey glasses:

Linking to these friends today: A Vintage Green, Colorado Lady, Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures, From my Front Porch to Yours and A Coastal Charm. Check them out to see lots of great thrifting finds and vintage items!

It’s going to be hard to part with this lovely ball pitcher with an ice lip. It’s in beautiful shape, too. I’ve listed it on eBay because my shelves are already full and I don’t really need another pitcher…do I?

All the things I’m showing today were found at that Salvation Army store in Erie, PA that had just been robbed when I got there. Sheesh–what a dummy. He could have made more money than he stole just by buying and re-selling some things (realizing, of course, that it requires a few resources and skills, but still…). This basket was made by Imperial Glass; I’m not sure of the date, but I think it was probably in the 70′s.

Lovely little pressed glass perfume bottle smells like Emeraude, my mother’s favorite perfume for evenings.

This Fenton Spanish Lace cake plate was also found at the Erie store. It’s already being bid on on eBay; I like it but I already have 3 (yes, 3) cake plates.

Roses again, this time on a pretty Anchor Hocking jar. It goes well with the pitcher, doesn’t it?

I should say that if you are interested in buying any of the things I post, just drop me an email at susannaholstein at yahoo dot com and we can talk

That’s my show-and-tell for today. Now, back to working on taxes. I am so jealous of those of you who already have this headache off your plates.

Linking today to Colorado Lady, Apron Thrift Girl and Her Library Adventures.

I mentioned that we went to an auction last week, and boy did we come home with stuff. I’ve been sorting and organizing it ever since. Here’s what it looked like after I’d sorted most of it:

Totes and boxes were already sorted here: some to trash, some to donation, some to store away, some for the booth, and some for eBay. And of course, there was a lot of washing up to do!

and the counters were pretty much full:

I loved this little lamp. It’s staying here in my kitchen!

The clutter spilled over into the living room too…

and onto the kitchen table…

 and pretty much all over the house. I’ve got it mostly under control now, but guess what I did today?

Yes, I went junking again, this time with Ronda of The Pauley Principle blog! We had a great time in Gallipolis (pronounced gal-a-pole-EES) Ohio, searching out some fine treasures. Now I have more sorting to do tomorrow. The booth will get quite an infusion this weekend. I’ll try to post pictures tomorrow. After I get my car unloaded, that is.

This cute spice set was an eBay prize. I bid $4 on it and won–amazingly, it came with free shipping. This will stay at my house too, mounted on the wall right beside the stove. I feel bad for the seller, though; they surely made no money at all on this and in fact probably lost on the shipping. That makes me feel guilty for getting this particular good deal.

I hope you’ve had some good finds this week!

My camera is safe! What a relief!

I can’t tell you how happy I was to find it, right where I left it in the booth at the antique mall. Thankfully I’d laid it down in an inconspicuous spot, but I like to think that anyone who visited would not have taken it anyway. My faith in human nature might be naive but it’s been supported numerous times over the years by good people doing the right thing.

Right now it is buried in the truck under a load of boxes. We went to an auction today and my goodness did we find some good stuff. Photos will come later, after I unearth my camera.

Since we had to go back in search of my camera I took two more totes of things to add to the booth. It’s certainly filling up nicely. I’ll take more this weekend, I think–I want to visit on a Saturday to see how busy the place is on a weekend. I did notice a few more things were gone so that’s good.

It was a full day, and I’m pretty tired. But I am happy and satisfied too. My camera is back with me, the truck is full of some amazing things, and I will have a fun day tomorrow sorting it all out and deciding what to put in the booth, what to list on eBay, what to store for later, and what to take to a donation center. Box lots can provide a lot of interesting and useful stuff that I might not want to keep, but that someone else can use. I’ll also be busy listing on eBay because I need to earn back what I spent and that’s a faster route than selling in the booth. But I promise to post the rest of the pictures, along with a few of our finds today.

Best find today: a late 1800′s-early 1900′s lamp that was buried in a box of linens. I don’t think anyone else noticed it! It looks like it was a kerosene lamp that was later retrofitted to be electric. Two other lamps are favorites too–they are alabaster and I really like them. I need to learn about cleaning marble, though because they sure can use a cleaning.

More tomorrow after I totally destroy this house unpacking and sorting!

Here’s a look at some of my new booth at the antique mall. It’s not a complete look because I left my camera behind. I am so worried that it will be gone when I go back tomorrow. I sure hope someone honest finds it and turns it in. I have loved this camera and will be very sad if it’s gone.

As it turned out, the memory card got full as I was snapping photos so I changed it out and that is how I happen to have a few photos to show you even though the camera (and the bulk of my photos) is AWOL. So here’s at least a peek at what it looks like.

This is Shelf Unit 1. I tried to arrange like with like as much as possible, keeping colored glass and white glass grouped–but the yellow honey pitcher had to go beside the Pfaltzgraf bee-themed pitcher and went okay with the flowered retro plates too. I don’t like the color of these shelving units; we’d intended to paint them but the weather turned too cold for that so we opted to use them as they were. I’d like to replace these one day with white wood shelves. On the plus side, the shelves are adjustable and they have a baked-on enamel on steel finish that is pretty tough. Maybe I’ll learn to live with them as they are.

Second shelf is green and clear glass alone with a little amber. There was some Capri dot glasses on this shelf that must have sold. I noticed several things were gone so that was good. This has some retro 70′s glass, a Pyrex casserole, some English hobnail grill plates, some fan-shaped snack plates and some other odds and ends. We took another full tote over today and still have space to fill. I’d like more light on these shelves, another future project.

Lots of room on shelf 3! I do believe some things were missing here. As my friend Joy said, take pictures on each visit so you can see what’s not there when you come back! I need to work on this shelf, and will bring more things to better stock it later this week, I hope. The English soup tureen and matching underplate is pretty nice; there’s a large cobalt glass bowl not showing to good advantage here. The bottom shelf has mostly metal trays and tins, along with some Oriental-look items and that random basket that had so other place to go.

Shelf Unit 2: on the top is a set of wood nesting boxes (handpainted fruit designs on the lids), baskets, a HUGE beer stein and a tall glass Blenko vase, along with a set of 6 black and white checked woven placemats. This shelf is mainly kitchenware, and mostly 30′s to 80′s vintage. Green handled Coke glasses, a coffee grinder that works but is really for decoration I think, Hazel Atlas Ovide cream and sugar, a stovetop toaster, French mustard pot with a wooden spoon, a Pyrex bowl full of kitchen gadgets, a square mirror clock and a chrome clock, salt and peppers, egg cups, and a huge glass fish platter made in France, among other things.

Shelf 2 holds a small graniteware roaster, juice set, a metal bucket with red-checked napkin filled with kitchen gadgets, a beanpot and a few assorted items.

The bottom two shelves are still kitchen items, a lot of metal things, like stainless pots, icetrays, etc. Some nice syrup pitchers too.

Then there is the “lady” corner! Lots of pink and pretties here.

Hankies! I remember buying these for my mother when I was a girl–they were sheer, beautiful and useless really as a hankie. But so pretty! Back then they cost 59 or 69 cents; that was 50 years ago.

I used a garland of pearls as decoration in the booth, stringing it across and around this feminine area. The lighted lamp adds a soft glow through a flowered shade.

Aprons hang on wood ladders above the “primitive” table. I took more photos of this area but alas, they are on my camera, wherever it is   I hope it is in safekeeping and that I will be able to share more photos with you tomorrow. So far I have not covered half of the booth, so there is a lot more to show.

Send good thoughts to my camera and tell it to come home safely!

Linking to these friends today: A Vintage Green, Colorado Lady, Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures and A Coastal Charm. Check them out to see lots of great thrifting finds and vintage items!

I have been so busy with getting ready to set up shop in my booth that I haven’t been taking a lot of photos. But this week at Goodwill, I got so lucky. The luck of the Irish, I suppose because I found some beautiful things that make me think of Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day. My heritage is mixed, like most Americans–my father was half Irish and half German, my mother 100% English. But the things I found spoke to my Irish blood for a change. (Usually I’m more in touch with my English heritage, and given the difficult relationship between Britain and Ireland, it’s a wonder I’m not running a fever all the time.)

 
Like this Marcus Notley tea set that includes the teapot, sugar bowl with lid and spoon, creamer and six mugs.

I also found 4 more matching mugs to this set, so I listed them on eBay separately. And there was one extra mug–that one will be for me to toast my Irish heritage on St. Pat’s Day!

That wasn’t all, though. I also found these 2 glass mugs with concise instructions for making Irish coffee etched right on them. How much fun is that? A little research revealed that these were made by “Eamon” for QVC. Pretty sure it’s not my nephew Eamon they’re referring to.

Then there was this lovely little basket at a little thrift shop that I passed up the first time but when it was still there three days later, well…

Are you planning ahead for the green month? I know Valentine’s Day hasn’t even come but that is never a really big deal for me. And usually St. Patrick’s day isn’t either, but this year I’m in the mood for it for some reason. So I might be doing a little more greening up around the house in preparation.

If you feel like reading up a bit on Irish history, mythology and folklore, this site is a good place to find what you’re looking for. And you can listen to podcasts of Irish history here, or share the story of your Irish-American heritage here.

We have to make our trips count. If we have to go to town, we try to accomplish several things, not just one. It’s a habit for country people; if we need gas for the tractor we’re going to wait until we need milk or something else. Then we’ll add in a stop at the library and whatever else we can to make the most of the money we’re spending on gas. I bet most of you do the same thing.

Yesterday was Larry’s regular appointment with the VA doctor in Charleston. I’d stopped at the ReStore, Habitat for Humanity’s resale place, on Tuesday evening and found a little gas heater for the greenhouse we’ll be building next month. I also noticed a lot of doors and windows–we plan to build this greenhouse using old windows and other salvage and I wanted Larry to look at them with me to see if we could get what we needed for a reasonable price. So that meant I needed to go with him to Charleston (which is 50 miles from here).

He dropped me off at a big thrift shop–and he was gone 2 hours! Do you know what kind of damage I can do in two hours? I combed that place pretty thoroughly, I can tell you. Lots of finds, a couple mistakes (do you ever do that? Something looks great but when you get home you find the chip or the stain or it’s not what you thought), but overall it was a worthwhile stop.

When he picked me up we headed to another small church-run shop. There I found some good vintage linens and some vintage dishes (Daisy by Indiana Glass–5 grill plates). Then we headed to ReStore. We looked through windows but then I saw the sliding glass doors. The windows were just too pricey, but the doors–not full doors but individual panels–were just what we needed. We could get 3 foot by 7 foot door panels for $15-20 each. It doesn’t take many of those to make a wall of glass. We also bought a good storm door with a sliding screen for the entrance, and an antique interior door for the log cabin room we’re building. That door had the neatest hardware, a handle with little flowers all over it and old hammered hinges.

I found a small 9-drawer cabinet for the bathroom (one drawer missing but that makes a nice cubby for all sorts of things) and boxes of decorative tins that I will sell on eBay. I wondered about the tins–they had pallets of them? So what was the story? Did the truck wreck? The boxes were waterstained, so had a warehouse flooded?

There must be some story behind all those tins ending up at the ReStore–as there is a story behind every thing they get. I was enchanted with a fireplace gas heater that I could just see in the room we are building. Larry wasn’t as enchanted with it so we came home with it.

When I got home I found inside one of the drawers of the pink cabinet a very pretty cameo and silverplate box. The hinge pin is missing but I’m sure I can fix that.

We ended up with 6 glass panels, the interior door, storm door, and the other things for $137.00. We have all the glass we need for the greenhouse now except for the roof, and just need one more door. The greenhouse will be built against the garage so we only need three sides. Larry is going to build a block foundation for it, then we’ll build frames and slide the glass panels in, caulk them along the seams, and trim them with wood so they look good on the outside. The roof will be partly glass, and I’d like to use something that will open for a vent. Still working on that part. For this year the roof may just be plastic sheeting until we find what we want.

We were tired when we came home but we worked on the used washing machine we’d got the night before and after a lot of fiddling around, got the loose part back in place and hooked up the washer. It works like a champ and look new inside and out. I have a lot of wash to catch up on today!

And after all of that, I worked on eBay until after midnight. Yesterday and today are free listing days so I try to take full advantage and get as much listed as possible.  These finds are from earlier in the week and I was cleaning them up last night. Haven’t got them listed yet, though, as I concentrated on listing some things I’d had for a while.

As you can imagine, we were late getting up today and I am moving slow. It’s a good day for resting, cloudy and drizzling. So I am working on the grant applications, packing a few eBay things and taking the day as it comes, one thing at a time.

I hope you had some good finds yesterday. Be sure to check out Colorado Lady’s blog to see what others found!

A few more finds–yes, I do love colored glass

Back to grant writing!