antique buttons- EBAY listing

I decided it was time to purge some of my button collection...

and these are some of the best!

believe it or not- I have been collecting buttons since I was a little girl...

and that, my friends, is over 40 years ago...
so...
if you are interested, my seller name is comehome2me(yep, I used to buy a LOT!)
all you have to do is go to advanced search, and put in my seller name.
for some reason, my computer won't let me link to my listing...
a great collection of buttons!

vintage trunk heaven...

I brought in 5 trunks that i have purchased the past few years but I have been hoarding them at home...
I decided that it was time to give them up...
so they have traveled to STARS ANTIQUE mall so that they might find a good home...

in this first photo, there is an amazing child's trunk on top with really awesome paper lining inside (all original)
the trunk that is on its side is a bit shabby, but the small gold label on the outside says that this trunk is from PARIS!
and the larger trunk is still pretty small, and has its original tray inside as well...

this green trunk I have had for years...


I bought it at a yard sale...this lovely man was selling all of his "junk" and moving overseas...he said that his great grandfather built and painted this trunk...
if my house were bigger, I would keep this one for sure...
has a great "feel" about it (is that silly?)

hope you are all having a great week!

where bloggers create 2011

I really love my teeny, tiny room full of all sorts of collections...bits and bobbles, old wallpaper, antique books...well...all of the photos get larger if you click on them, to see better close up...and,
I have to admit, some of my photos are very strategic...
cuz you know the minute you get the camera out, and are seriously taking pictures, your cat has a hairball...
I did not take a photo of it...
so...
I have a vintage business at 2 antique malls here in Portland.

I love love old books...and all sorts of bits and baubles...

drawers are filled with old hardware, decorative wood pieces, crystals...(a few stray toys and coins...)




old ledgers are a favorite of mine...they seem to hold such mysteries of past lives...one day a page or two will end up in a decoupage project...

I have been creating paper flowers out of my vintage paper ...falling apart books...sheet music...you name it, if it was old...then I probably created a flower out of it...

one never knows when one will need old ribbon or lace...

lately I have been trying my hand at shadow boxes...







I am finding that all of the little bitty treasures that I have been collecting since I was 5 are really coming in handy for the shadowboxes that I love to fill...

I am really enjoying going through all of my jars, to fill up the little tiny cubbies in these type drawers...I am seeing things that I really haven't touched for years!


this is a current project that I am working on...filling all the tiny little cubbies is challenging...but oh so fun!

I hope you enjoyed a peek in to my packed studio...it was really fun to do this!
I am looking forward to checking out everyone else...
Happy browsing!

black black and more black...my newest obsession...

we will be painting our house starting this next week (doing it ourselves...cuz I didn't win the lottery and can't budget in house painters...)

so I have been trying to decide what colors...

since we have the TINIEST little 2 bedroom cottage, I decided on cream for the overall walls...
with some shade of green for the windows...
but...
I decided on black for the doors and the steps going up to the house...

so since I had some "other" things around the house that we have had FOREVER...I thought that I would spray paint the garden set shiny black...
the trellis we bought years and years ago for $20 at a garage sale-it was already black...so it was perfect already...
and the cushions on the adirondack' s were the absolute ONLY ones that matched the color scheme...I found the first one at a TARGET store for $8...and had to travel to 5 more Target stores to get the other 2...
can't wait to get the cottage painted...
my new obsession...
(by the way, didn't steal the church sign. They had bought a new one and were going to throw it away...I offered to buy it instead!)

Cigar box fetish...

Not sure why I am attracted to these little boxes...


especially the ones that someone has added something to...like the pixie?

I used to think I would save them all and store things in them...

but I found that I just couldn't label them or write on them...cuz they're so neat just the way they are...

so, since I am purging...my cigar boxes are headed to STARS...


and this weekend, starting Friday...is the HUGE EXPO sale at STARS AND SPLENDID MALLS...I am setting up outside on SATURDAY for sure, with loads of stuff that I have been purging...garden trellises, strawberry planters...crates, and lots of stuff from the basement (yep...it keeps on coming...will it NEVER end...)
hope you can swing by on Saturday!
I'll try to do a preview of some of the bigger stuff I am going to load up for the malls!

the coolest lamps in the world...and...what are they?

sometimes I try really really hard to find something to buy...I was at a church youth fundraiser today and they really didn't have any (ANY) cool old stuff...so I bought these pretty, sheer scarves for my friend Elaine for her fairy wings...

I headed out to unfamiliar territory yet again today...just for a change of scenery. I ended up at a farm sale, where they, too, had nothing that I would really buy for my business...
and yet, I saw these packaged shiny things, one says made in Japan in really old print...and I wondered and wondered what they were. They finally saw me staring intently at them, and they told me to look up.
ahhhh...so that is what they are. Their uncle worked for JCPenney in the 1960's...and these were left over from the display department.
I bought them all...





somehow, they seemed just magical!

and now...one more sign...way out...I followed this sale sign for a few miles...
and am I glad...
I know they need rewiring, and the metal shades are a bit weary...


but when I saw them...
I think for a brief moment...
I stopped breathing!
ooohhhh....


am I crazy? I really love them...