Before and After Silver Haul

I had a meeting in a town about an hour and a

quarter away from my house earlier this week

and on the way home I stopped at a thrift shop

for a look around and found a pile of old silver.

I imagine a family emptied out someone's home

and sent it all to the thrift shop.  Probably many

of these pieces were wedding gifts back when

people got silver for their weddings.  There were

so many cool pieces, a huge circular tray that

must have been 2' across, coffee pots, creamers,

footed water pitchers...  and I didn't buy anything.

NOT ONE THING!  I thought, oh, you have so

much already, where will you put it?

And then I regretted it.  I thought about it all

week.  I really wanted the huge tray.

This was our wedding anniversary weekend and we

were out of state all day on Saturday so I made a deal

with Mr. Wonderful.  I said if we got up early on Sunday

 and got all of our outdoor chores done, could we head

back down south and see if any silver was left?  He was

up for it and off we went.  Of course many of the good

pieces were gone, including the huge tray.  But I did

pick up 10 pieces.  And I got it all for $20 which is the

weekend limit I usually set for myself.  So it was a score!

I polished it all as I was watching the final Lewis on

Masterpiece and now it is all packed away in the china

closet.  I think we will have a silver themed Thanksgiving

and Christmas this year!

World's Longest Garage Sale ~ Underwood Typewriter

Went out for a Sunday drive and hopped on the World's

 Longest Garage Sale route for a while and scored a vintage 

Underwood typewriter for $10. I have been looking for one to 

go with the "brush with fame" secretary desk and Bank of 

England desk chair that was another score! All with be photographed 

together once we take over a kid room as our new office/library. 

Wonderful wants to know if Underwoods are more collectible 

after House of Cards?

Silver Haul!

It's that time of year when the garage sales start up and 

I'm always ready to go treasure hunting.  A church near 

my house was having a rummage sale and I stopped in to

look around.  I saw this bag of silverware marked $5.

The first thing I noticed was this server that was

sitting on top of all the other items.  I thought the

rest of the bag was probably filled with assorted

forks, knives and spoons but I was interested in the

server.  In an antique store this item alone would 

probably cost at least $15 so I figured $5 was a 

good deal.

When I got to the car I looked in the bag and laughed.

I guess someone else likes butter knives as much as

I do!  I use butter knives often and not just for butter,

when I serve triple cream brie or other soft cheeses

or dips, I like to give each person their own knife.

When I was a little girl I always liked to use the butter

knife from my Mum's silver set ~ it just made the meal

more special.

While watching a movie this afternoon I got them all

polished and looking beautiful.

They are mostly silverplate but I did find some 

sterling.  There are even a few that match

 ~ not that that matters...

I love the little shields on this set of 6, perhaps I

should have them engraved with our initial.

These two will go to someone I know with the

initial B.

There was even one M ~ made just for us!

Mid-Century Atomic Snowflake

While I was out treasure hunting recently, I came

across this Mid-Century Meat Platter by Inland Glass.

I took a photo and sent it to Kate saying, "too bad you 

are a vegetarian, this would have been perfect for you."

She asked, "would I have to use it for meat?"  I figured,

no, you could serve anything on it so I got it for her.

This is not just a perfect find because she likes this sort

of style but also if you notice the edging is in black and

gold and Kate is a proud Purdue graduate and those

Boilmakers are wild about their school colors.  This

pattern is known as the Atomic Snowflake which I

find wildly amusing.  It is so Mid-Century.  I'm (luckily)

too young to have had A Bomb drills in my childhood

classrooms, we only had firedrills.  But I remember my

siblings talking about air raid drills where they were 

told to get under their desks.  Ah ~ the good old days!

It also came with a stand so you could keep your

dinner warm with candles under the platter.  I guess

it's good Kate is a vegetarian since our modern tea 

light candles don't fit...

Spool Cabinet

A few years ago Mr. Wonderful and I were strolling

through an antique store, which is what you will find

us doing most weekends, and we came upon this lovely

spool cabinet.  I love these things and this one was in

good shape and the price was reasonable.  I told Mr.

Wonderful that I had always wanted one and he said

since my birthday was coming up soon we should get it!

I didn't argue with this.

As luck would have it I was at Me Time that week and 

a couple was visiting the shop from Florida, they had

a tin of old spools of thread and wondered if anyone

could use them, the owner of the shop pointed to me.

Wow!  What a lucky coincidence since most of the 

spools in the tin were the small size that I needed to

fill my cabinet.

I look at it every day and love it!

Snippy: Vintage Electric Scissors

A Blast From My Past!

I went to lunch with my sister Trishie today and we were

talking about some old stuff in our lives and she mentioned

Snippy.  I hadn't seen Snippy in decades.  Snippy is an

electric pair of scissors that was sold as a safe alternative

to regular scissors though the thought of little kids with 

electrical appliances can be a bit unsafe in my mind.

Trishie says Snippy is probably from the late 1950's, so 

before my time.  I know I inherited Snippy sometime 

in my childhood and I loved him.  He is cute as the 

dickens and I loved using him when I was little.  The

best part is, though Snippy is going on 60 years old,

he still works!  They don't make 'em like they used to!

Snippy will now be displayed in my studio with my old toys.

Dutch Treat!

Lessons Learned

I found this adorable spice rack when I was out

treasure hunting on Saturday and I didn't buy it.

If I did I would have gone over the budget I set

for myself for each weekend, so I passed on it.

I found it in an antique shop that is over an hour 

away from my house and on the ride home I was

telling Mr. Wonderful how much I really loved it.

He said he liked it too.  So now I am in non-buyers

remorse.  How many times have I said, if you see

something you love, get it while you can!  

And I didn't...

I went to over 10 antique or thrift shops that day

and only spent $5, I got 3 small blue willow bread

plates and 3 candlewick glasses.  

And all I could think about was, yep, you guessed

it ~ the spice shelf.

Wonderful happened to be off today and we 

decided to head back to the far away antique

shop.  We were crossing our fingers that Murphy's

Law wouldn't act against us and have us show up

to find the shelf was gone...

But no, luck was with us and it was still there.

We had thought it was German but when we 

googled some of the words we found out it was

Dutch!  Even better, I have a thing for kitschy

Dutch stuff ~ I bet that comes from growing up

across the street from my Dutch neighbor, Mrs. C.

I should have known it was Dutch just by the 

painting style.  I'l have to consult with Mrs. C's

daughter, the Delft expert.

I love that someone wrote the English translations

on the back of the drawers.  The person got some

of them correct, some were written in Dutch and

some of the spices had the names mixed up. 

I find that to be adorable too.

Canton Orange Peel?

This is a nice little piece I found last year.  I was visiting

an antique shop in rural Ohio for the first time and picked

this up in a $5 box in one of the booths.  When I went to

check out the man working the register told me I got this

little dish from his booth and he is sure I found a great buy.

He is sure it is Canton orange peel and for some reason it was

just not selling so he threw it in the $5 bin to move it along.

I don't know enough about Cantonware to tell if this is a 

piece from there but it doesn't matter, I love it and I'm sure

I got a bargain.

Ex Votos

Four years ago I took a trip to Greece.  While in Athens

I visited the flea market at Monastiraki and I was so

disappointed to find tacky souvenirs and sneakers for sale.

While hiking on Santorini a few days later I met Aditya 

and he told me I didn't go far enough into the market

and there were tons of antiques to be found.

I was traveling to Istanbul next but had a long overnight

layover in Athens so we hopped on the metro and headed

back into the city for a few hours.  We went to Monastiraki

and went further into the market this time and struck gold.

I could have spent a few days in this area but we only had 

a few hours!

As I was walking down a tiny side street a man

started talking to me, in Greek.  I told him I spoke

English and he exclaimed, "YOU are not Greek?"

"Oh, you must be a Greek-American."  Well, no.

And then I saw his basket of ex votos.  I have seen

these in so many of the churches in Europe along

with watches, rings, crutches and eyeglasses.  Ex

Votos are a votive offering often given in gratitude

or devotion or in fulfillment of a vow.  They are 

placed in a church or chapel where one wants to 

give thanks.  Pilgrimage destinations will often have

a shrine decorated with ex votos.  I bought a boy and

a girl, a house, one for marriage, one for eyes and 

one that says thank you, in Greek.  I had a lovely

time chatting with Achilles but had to get back to 

the airport to catch my flight.

Sad to say, these ex votos have sat on the piano

bench in our living room for four years.   We wanted

to put them in a frame but never got around to it.

The other day I was in a thrift shop in a town not 

far from me and saw a gorgeous frame but didn't

know what I would use it for so I left it.  When I got 

home I passed the ex votos and realized the frame 

would have been perfect for them.  It just so happened 

that Mr. Wonderful was heading up to that same town 

the next day so I sent him on a quest to find the frame.

It was still there!

Now the ex votos have finally found a home!

Silver ~ Present Perfect!

A few days ago I was out treasure hunting with one

of my friends and when I got home I found a package

waiting for me.  My dear friend who has moved away

to sunny Florida sent me a gift ~ present perfect!

She knows me so well, she said she saw this pair of

candlesticks in an antique store and knew I had to 

have them.  I grabbed the silver polish and wow!

They are gorgeous!

Yesterday I had to go on an errand to a town not too

far from my house.  I don't get up there too often 

these days so I decided to stop in at the local thrift 

shop.  I found this sweet silver vase for 99 cents and

knew it had to come home with me.  When I got to my 

car I removed the label from the bottom of the base 

but the sticker left so much gummy residue I couldn't 

tell if it had any marks.  Once home I got out the polish

and saw it is marked Gorham.  A nice find!  Today the

first daffodils have bloomed in our back garden so I

snipped a few for the vase but I'm waiting for the 

grape hyacinths to bloom in the next few weeks, I 

think they will look spectacular in this, I'll place it

next to my bed so I can wake up to the scent of

Spring!

Delft

I have loved old stuff all my life.  Just yesterday I 
bought a piece of Delft and I thought to myself how
 long have you loved this stuff?  I realized it was 
probably when I would visit my neighbor across the
 street from my girlhood home.  Mrs. C was Dutch and 
collected Delft.  It was probably in her home that I 
first fell in love with it.  I have been to the Netherlands 
a few times but never to Delft.  
I'll have to make it there on my next trip!

I sent this photo to Mrs. C's kids and her daughter

sent me this photo.

Wow! This is Debbie's collection.  She said her daughter

has her Mom's collection ~ just as it should be.  It is great

to see families pass their treasures to younger generations.