The big find of the weekend

Saturday night I showed you guys some of the stuff I picked up that day, but not all.  I didn't show you the haul from the St Anthony of Padua church rummage sale in Dutchtown, for example:

They were having a bag sale, so I grabbed a lot of things I otherwise might not have.  No point not filling up the bag!

Some of the highlights include a pair of small souvenir trays (very small, like for change):

London scene, melamine, made in Italy

Colorado, kind of heavy, copper-plated?

Cute ceramic owl

Kitschy scoop and mug

Tiny pretty bud vase

  

The little bud vase is very sweet - sort of semi-hobnail, so that it looks somewhat sea-urchin-esque, the scoop is a great shade of green, and I just love the owl.  The trays were more just because the bag wasn't full, as was much of the rest of the contents of the table, except for these:

Very cool looking old icon.

3-D lenticular Madonna & Child

I have a big soft spot for kitschy religious iconography, and I don't know if I've seen much more kitschy than the plastic lenticular Madonna & Child above.  It's scratched up, and made of cheap plastic, but I don't care.  LOVE IT!  On the left is something much less cheap.  I'm not exactly sure who this is meant to be (to be honest, I only really know Mary, St Christopher because I've seen the medals, St Anthony and my favorite, St Francis).  I've decided to believe that thing he's holding is a stylized bird, and say this is St Francis.  He's on this padded blue velvet stand that's really quite pretty and I love him even if I have no clue what he's for.  

The best from the church, though, I already hung up in the booth:

Gorgeous chinoiserie needlepoint

This needlepoint is gorgeous.  I love how the scenery is all in tan and gray and creme neutrals and then there's the woman in rich bright blues and yellows.  The price sticker from the rummage sale pulled off a patch of the gold on the frame, unfortunately, but it's fun to know that under the gold that bamboo frame is for some reason bright red.

Another bit of needlework, this one obviously done free-hand, without a pattern.

 I love, love, love this!  I haven't read through it all, and I doubt I would understand all of what's in there, but just thinking about how much work went into it is overwhelming.  It has phrases like "vatican council II" and "sacrements", but there's also something about a purple sweatshirt, and the St Louis Cardinals, and various dates.  It starts with "An instrument of peace", which is what caught my eye first, and it ends with "Happy Birthday my friend Luv Tup.  What an amazing friendship this must represent, you know?  How many hours went into hand-stitching all of these memories?  It makes me sad that it ended up in a rummage sale, but I hope someone else will be as enchanted by the idea of the great love this represents as I am.  Here's a close-up on the center:

           
And yet that stuff was still not my big find.  The big find was this:

Sexy brown upholstered mid-century modern chair.  

This chair is gorgeous you guys!  I love it so, so much.  And it's comfy, too!  And if my new friend Mary Poppins didn't shed her body weight in fur per week all over my furniture and claw everything when I'm not home, I'd keep it for myself.  But I've put it in the booth because, essentially, it's too good for my house.  It's not perfect, though.  The upholstery is in great shape except for the points of the arm rests and one little slit in the cushion on front, but... you know, you can't really have the points of the armrests showing stuffing, can you?  Also (and this is an easy fix, but since I didn't realize it until I was moving it into the booth I haven't fixed it yet) one of the little brass foot-caps on the tapered legs is loose, so that if you grab it when you're trying to move it, it will slip off.  A little glue up in there will take care of it, so I just have to remember to bring some with next time I get to the booth.  Anyway, all of that is no big deal because the chair is just so hot!  It's not marked, although I did see a spot where there was a bit of paper stuck under one of the staples at the bottom, so it used to be.  A Google image search makes me think it's probably by Selig of Monroe.  Check out this one offered on Live Auctioneers:

This one has a taller back, but the same arms and tapered legs and it's even got the same V pattern of the buttons on the back, and I don't see any indication that this chair style was so iconic as to be copied by other companies, so I'm guessing mine is also Selig of Monroe.  And as much as I'd love to keep it for myself, it's available in booth 78 at Kenrick Antique Mall right now, along with the two framed needle-art pieces, and tons of other great stuff!

Want to see more treasures?  Check out the link-ups!:

Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday and Me and My Shadow's Magpie Monday

Some fun Spring thrifts

It was a long work week last week and with Easter this weekend, I didn't get to hit any estate sales, but I did manage one quick visit into a thrift store this last week, and that one 20-minute trip was well worth it!  I came away with a few choice items:

A cute little pair of ceramic owls on a log with a small pop of color from a pair of polka-dotted mushrooms.

Super sweet drip-glazed big-mouth frog complete with fly on his nose.

Dandelion design glasses - I got 3 of them.  Love!

I love dandelions.  I love that they are these bright, cheery, happy little flowers with a fierce etymology (dent-de-lion = lion's tooth).  I love that the fluffs look like delicate balls of lace and I love that as cute and delicate as they seem, they are strong and tenacious and no matter how hard people try to get rid of them, they just keep on coming back as cheery and cute as ever.  They don't care if you call them weeds, they know they are flowers and they will bring their simple beauty right back to you every time.  I think it's a beautiful metaphor.

Sorry for the digression; on with the thrifts!

Another piece of enameled cast-iron cookware!

The skillet says 26 France Nomar on it's base.  The company does not appear to be around anymore, although one reference I saw and then could not find again indicated that it was bought out/replaced by/renamed to become Staub.  The skillet is in good shape, but unfortunately the wooden handle is both split and blackened on the bottom.

Very cool patterened thermos.  It's missing it's inner cap, and it rattles, but the interior that you can see appears to be intact, so I'm not sure what the deal is with this one.  I wonder if it would look cute as a vase?

And best for last:

Awesome picnic set!

I love this.  The slide-top box you see looks like it would be good to hold sandwiches, and the thermos is in great shape - a little soup or coffee?  And the iconic Thermos Tartan plaid!  Originally the bigger, rattle-y thermos above was actually in this bag, and this smaller, matching thermos was found nearby, but as this one both matches and does not rattle, it was returned to its rightful place after purchase, and I will figure out what to do with the bigger one with the cool print but questionable noises later.  Now a nice picnic blanket is in order, and it's off to the park for a picnic among the dandelions!

Have you been finding any thrifty treasures lately?  

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday again!

New Kitsch and treasures - could use help IDing a couple of them!

I've been so bad.  I know I have plenty of great stuff for my booth for the short term, and should be spending all my free time on cleaning/researching/pricing my finds to get them ready for This Coming Saturday (eek!), and I have done quite a bit of cleaning and researching, but I can't stop myself from the fun of the hunt, and now that I can officially use the excuse that I'm acquiring "inventory", I just keep on doing so.  But I think I've acquired some nifty inventory, at least!  Here are some new nifties that have made it home with me this week:

Cool machine-age bronze colored desk lamp. 

 I love the (pencil-holding?) grooves in the front of the base.  Now I just need to test and see if it works!

Rubbery spindly-legged baby deer.  

Kitschy and adorable.  It's hard to tell but this little fella's huge.  He's at least twice as tall as the regular-sized coffee mug below.

Adorable bunny with pink and mustard colored mushrooms.

Very cute bluebird/angel print.

Sweet vintage Hoenig of California candy dish.

Hawaii tiki napkin-holder.

Fabulously kitschy scowly owl with rolling pin - love him!

Palest green sculptural bud vase. 

This little vase seemed so unique I had to snap it up.  It has the name "Mary Withrow" written on the bottom in what could easily be gold paint-pen.  That is the name of a former US Treasurer, but not of any potters I could find.  If it seems familiar and/or you might be able to point me in the right direction, let me know - I'd appreciate it!

Set of 4 black/gray/orange tumblers.

These really needed washed before getting their picture taken, but I couldn't wait.  Oh, and also they'd just come in from the trunk, so they were really cold and condensation was forming!

Signed and numbered picture in pinks and yellows.
Huge, in heavy wood frame (cropped out of pic).

 I love, love, love this, but the writing is faded so that, while it is definitely signed and numbered, I can't quite make it all out.  In the bottom left corner it says Ed 90.  In the middle I believe it says "Opera Interiors", and on the right it's signed Dorothy Something, 55 (which I assume is the date).  I Googled all the bits I could work out, but haven't had any luck.  If anyone has any guesses on the Something part for me (I think it starts with a B?), or can hook me up with a research resource, I'd be thrilled.

What about you guys?  Anybody else thrifting this week?    Don't forget, I'll be in booth 78 at Kenrick Antique Mall starting THIS WEEKEND!  

Oh, and for my very first time, I'm linking to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.  Yay!