Dime Store Chic

Estate Sale Friday~~Too Hot!

Summer is estate sale season here in the Washington, DC area, or at least it's my season for estate sales. Since I'm not a dealer, this is not my lifeblood, and I don't go out in winter weather, but it is one venue for finding cool stuff for my creations and filling my already bursting home with vintage cuteness!

But I must observe that the antique dealers are a very organized and tight group. Last night I was cruising through the neighborhood to see exactly where the estate sale was. It was announced in a huge ad proclaiming it to be the home to be of a DC socialite and her officer husband, world travellers both. I like it when I know a little of the folks who used to live in the home. Anyway, my BFF Suzy, was up here on business, and was with me when we found the house in the neighborhood next to mine. We also saw a guy standing in the street by his car which bore a well-worn cardboard sign "Estate Sale numbers here." Now the ad said numbers would be given out at 9:30 the day of the sale, not at 7:30 the night before the sale. This gentleman was one of a tight-knit group of antique dealers who watch after their own and have a system which is sanctioned by the folks running the estate sale. Fourteen hours before the sale began, I got number 35. Suffice to say I am not part of that in-crowd. But never matter, it was motivation enough for me to return and get the "real" number at 9:30 the next morning. Three people ahead of me didn't show up, so I got the official number of 32. I waited about 25 minutes after the sale began for my number to be called.

As I waited, I was tempted to climb up and take a peek in that dumpster, but common sense grabbed me by the throat and I stayed on the lawn. It was already 80+ degrees and tropically humid. I finally got inside from the heat, which was the best thing, and found pretty much nothing for my troubles. I got two necklaces, some small aqua ornaments, and something for Suzy for her birthday. If she had been with me, she would have grabbed it.

After that sale I slipped over to two sales pretty close by, with no waiting, and I wish I had gone to either of them first. But that's the chance you take. I still came out with pretty cool loot for very nice "cheap" prices. Here is a sampling:

Aren't these bells wonderful? At first I thought I might canibalize the glass beads from them, but changed my mind.

These candles were in a box with some other goodies (which are pictured below). The lady running the sale grabbed one of the candles and exclaimed "Why these are antique!" I quickly thought, "oh no, big price coming", as these didn't have a price. Nor did these things which, were also in the box:

Loads of Halloween cupcake picks! These and the candles were dirt cheap, despirte being "antiques"! Don't you just love the expression on the green witch faces?

Thse vintage cards and flower pot trims just stole my heart!

This Barbie doll clothes pattern was a fun find, but I loved the 1930 Conoco map which I will give to my Dad, as he loves to look at old maps of where he lives. I think he likes to look at how many roads were dirt back in the day. Thank goodness for asphalt!

I'm heading off with hubby and son on Sunday to the family river place in Virginia's Historic Northern Neck. Can't wait! Great food, no traffic, scenery to-die-for, and fabulous thrift shops and yard/estate sales! We only have dial-up there, so no blogging for me (I'll try but doubt it'll work). I'll catch you on the flip side after Fourth of July! Take care and have FUN! Always, have FUN!~~~~~~XXOO, Beth

Georgetown Flea Market Sunday

I dragged hubby out of bed to go with me to the Georgetown Flea Market, which ironically is located now in the parking lot of the Clarendon Courthouse in Arlington, VA. This has been going on for a few years now, but it is the first time I've felt compelled to drive into Arlington for a visit. It's about 15 minutes away and I really don't know why I haven't gone sooner.

As you can see the flea market is situated in the canyon of newer office high-rises that make up most of Clarendon.

The sale is advertised as having 100+ vendors, but I don't think they had all arrived yet. It was a little after 8 in the morning and several vendors were still setting up.

 

What is the big attraction at this table? It looked like a bunch of birds going after seed thrown down. I later took a peek and saw that it was a pile of silverplate utensils. I didn't see any prices, and couldn't wonder what the attraction was.

This lamp cracked us up! Later, we saw a man walking around with it so very proud to have it in his possession.

This gentleman who has tons of vintage prints, advertsing, and more, brought all of it to the flea market in the back of his van! Impressive.

This vendor had a lot of costume jewelry. When I inquired as to the prices, the vendor's wife, said, "oh, $2, $3, $4, it depends." That drives me crazy. I don't know how hard it is to just have boxes with prices on the boxes like "$2 each", and so on. But I did select a few pieces and they gave me a fair price for the lot. One of the pieces is the little Scotty pin near the flag pin.

Now, this is more like it! The vendor, a lovely lady named Maria, had all of these boxes marked as one dollar each piece. I found several fun vintage pieces. Then I moved over to her other table...

Maria had marked these pieces as $4 each. I found several pairs of fun earrings.

Here is another shot of the vendors. Check out the crazy yellow-fluted lamps on the grass. They have sockets dangling down with blue glass globes. One is on the lamp and the rest are in the boxes by the lamps. I have no idea where anyone would put these in their house, but they are fun to look at!

Folks brought their dogs to the flea market. This one lady certainly has ber hands full with her trio of well-groomed pups! The terrier to the left is interested in giving them a greeting.~~~So, if you're in town, take a Sunday stroll around the Georgetown Flea Market and don't forget to bring your dog!~~~XXOO, Beth

I am Deeply Honored...!

I returned home this evening from a party celebrating the return home of a dear friend, to learn some wonderful news. I would like to share my news with you, my blogland friends.

Craft Magazine has a fabulous on-line craftzine! My pin cushions were featured on their blog today, posted by Jenny Ryan. Please take a look here!

I am deeply honored to be included on a website for one of the best craft magazines out there. What a nice way to end the day!~~XXOO, Beth

A New Book To ADORE and A Sneak Peek

Happy Thursday! It is INDEED a happy thursday here in the Washington, DC area. The air is uncharacteristically crisp and cool for mid-June and we have had just enough rain to make everything so beautifully lush!

I want to share with you my new favorite book: Retro Crafts: Collecting, Displaying, & Making Crafts of the Past. Suzie Millions has created one of the BEST books on crafts I have ever seen. The book layout alone is retro fabulous and chock full of info and cute-as-pie illustrations and photos.

If you love making fun and kitsch things from old materials and some new things too, recycling cast-offs, and have no fear of accidentally breathing glitter up your nose, please do yourself a favor and check out Suzie's book! I purchased mine from Amazon. My intention was to save this book for when we go on vacation in a week or so, and read it then. But I caved and had to see what was inside. I am still reading! I will pack up some fun craft essentials and head off on vacation with Suzie's book. I will have a great time making all sorts of fun things with my family and friends, getting silly by creating, and letting the Elmer's glue flow! Thanks, Miss Suzie Millions! You made my summer a little sunnier!

And speaking of creations, I have finally after a very busy week so far finished four new pin cushion/sachets. Here is a sneak peek:

"What are you looking at?" The flowers? Of course!

Who is on top of that stack of bright cushions with the pretty gold-tone pin????

"Hey! Look back here! Thank goodness that craft lady didn't separate us!"

I'll be listing this cozy gathering on eBay later today. If you're interested in getting "the scoop" on when I list new pin cushions and other creations on eBay and Etsy, please take a look to the right of this post to the Beth's Bagz tote photo. Click there to join my Yahoo message group. You'll only get one (no more than two) messages each week. Promise :)

Ok, off to enjoy this day and get back to work!~~Have a happy thursday too!~~~XXOO, Beth

Easy As Pie!

One of recent favorite movies is Waitress! I love this tale of a talented waitress who loves making pies, because it was her fondest memory of her mother. Her life hasn't turned out like she had dreamed, but she always has her pies. The copy of the DVD I purchased at Borders came with recipe cards. The names of the pies are hilarious!

Today I decided to make a refrigerator pie from the Waitress cards called: "Marshmallow Mermaid Pie." Please click on the photo to enlarge it if you are interested in making this wonderful pie! Below are a few of my "convenience" variations.

I began with a pre-made graham cracker crust, but this recipe shows you how to make your own and you can add coconut. My hubby and son hate coconut. So, sob!, no coconut.

I melted 36 marshmallows in a 1/2 c of whole milk.

Then I made a package of Dream Whip (instead of whipping the whipping cream) and added to that 1/2 t. of vanilla and 2 oz. of grated unsweetened chocolate.

After the marshmallow/milk mixture cooled I mixed it with the Dream Whip/vanilla/chocolate shavings mixture.

And here is the pie before I put it into the fridge for 3 hours before serving.

In the movie the pie was dotted with pastel-hued mini-marshmallows. So cute! And so very delish!

Oh, and here is the newest addition to my kitchen:

This fun plaster cat bookend! The poor kitty has seen some rough times. Some days I know just how he feels. I had to have him when I saw him all alone at an estate sale last week. Take care, my friends!~~~XXOO, Beth

Dime Store-Inspirations

Once again, I am playing with mosaics. The word inspiration comes to mind this morning. What inspires us? Many many things. I can't cook like those folks on Top Chef, but I am most interested to hear what inspires them. I can't be a contestant on American Idol, but I am most interested in those contenders who are inspired by where they come from and where they would like to go. Fame and fortune is not the reason they sing or put up with the diatribe from a certain English fellow. Fame and fortune are not inspirational motivations, they are only a by-product. Sometimes an unwelcome by-product. These folks who rise to the top of the pile in the reality contests are inspired. They are also competitive. IMHO, you have to have a nice mix of both to succeed in contests like those.

Artists and writers are asked, by those who appreciate their work but don't feel compelled to pursue personal expression in those ways,"Where do you get your ideas?" In other words: "What inspires you to do what you do?" Some may cringe at the question, because perhaps they can't put their finger on when the muse slapped them upside the head and forced them to create. After several years of stumbling ahead in craftland, looking over my shoulder at the art degrees (undergrad and grad) I earned that implied I should be doing something "gallery worthy", I arrived at the realization that I am crafter, not a fine artist, only because of what inpires me to create: the humble dime store.

My earliest childhood recollections were of Woolworths or the local Westover Five and Ten, even Seldens, which was a dime store across the street from my grandmother's house. Row upon row of goodies separated by squat glass partitions drew me in completely. My favorite things to beg my mother to buy was paper dolls, coloring books, pea shooters, and plastic knives (don't ask, I was a Tomboy). The colors of these things, as enticingly bright as a carnival's midway, burrowed deep within me. The shear mass-produced plastic celebration of Japan/Hong Kong/Taiwan-made merchandize boogled my little mind. I had to reach my 38-th year to interpret them into crafts, giving myself the freedom indulge in the nostalgia that partly defined my g-g-generation. Ten years later I am able to say that I am an unashamed Dime Store artist.

Alas, the dime store had morphed into Wal-Mart, Target, and all of that ilk. A few hold outs are still scattered across the USA. But their spirit for the most part lives on in the creations, collections, and in these photos I present to you now:

Ok, this is probably far too philisophical for a monday morning. But as of late, I feel the need to step in and share some of my inner journey with you. I hope you don't mind. Now it's your turn. What inspires you, my friends?~~~XXOO, Beth

Pin Cushions on Deck

Good morning, my friends!~~~I began three new pin cushions on wednesday. I should have had them completed by thursday, but life does have a habit getting in the way. I thought I might show you what my pin cushions look like before I embellish them. I will list them later this week on Ebay.

Here are the figurines, a pious nun in blue, a pair of perky chicks, and a bisque doll from Japan, on their felt pads and ready for me to sew them to their pin cushions. This is my second favorite part of making these pin cushions. I love picking out all of the buttons, beads, and other bits that make these one-of-a-kind creations sing. It is my personal style and what I bring to the table in my creations is the mixing of figurines and lots of baubles to make a lush and whimsical creation. There are a lot of lovely pin cushions out there by many talented crafters. What intrigues me is how we can all take the concept of the humble pin cushion and bring our own twist to it either by needle felting or making teeny tiny animals by hand and perching them on top or a myriad other approaches.

My first favorite part of creating these is selecting the figurine and then letting it tell me what fabrics and pin cushion shape would suit it best. Sometimes I need to come up with a different shape or configuration I've not used before just to suit the figurine, as I did with the lovely lady head vase:

Because her base is oval, I created two graduated in size oval pin cushions and stacked them, because she just had to have some height being such a regal lady! She is currently in my ebay shop as well as the bird pin cushion seen in the background of the first photo.

Someone once asked me if I used patterns for my pin cushions. I do, but these are patterns I have drawn myself. The ball and box patterns are common. There are plenty of store bought patterns in similar shapes. I arrive at the other shapes out of the need to make something different to suit the figurine. I love to stack shapes. The taller, the better! Here are my patterns all spread out on my craft table:

I just figured out how many pin cushions I have sold since 2002~~~616! That's a lot of figurines! When I listed them on Ebay back in the day there was nothing like them out there. I had seen a very vintage pink cushion with a dog figurine glue to the top. It was just a plain pillow with the little dog. I thought I could take that notion and expand it with different shapes, stacks, and lots of fun buttons and other trinkets. I love dime store things and these pin cushions would be a fun way to pay tribute to my spending way too much of my childhood in Woolworths or the Five and Ten Cent store. I made a few pin cushions. I knew I was taking a chance that they wouldn't do well, that no one would "get" what I was doing, but I forged ahead and put them on auction. I was so happy that folks wanted these little creations. Since then I have had them published in Romantic Homes and in an upcoming book on cottage collectibles (more about that later). But what I am thrilled about the most, is that five years later my pin cushions still sell, and many of my customers have to have more than one! I am deeply honored. My promise to them is to always hone my craft, look for the best materials, and always offer them a unique product. Those of us who craft feel the exact same way about our creations--truly a labor of much much love.~~~~~XXOO, Beth

Another Mosaic~~I'm Having Too Much Fun With This!

I love just typing a random word into Flickr and then scouting out fun images related to that word. This, lately, has been my vision obsession. The question is why do I like these?...

I like the shape of dog houses. The pointy little roof. The rounded door. The square door. But perhaps it's because they are small and usually handmade. I like the Dogloo too. Would love to curl up inside one, a big one, and take a nap. We have a dog but not a dog house because she stays indoors with us. That is the conundrum. Should I not like the doghouse because, perhaps, they encourage owners to leave their dogs apart from the family?  No, because there are purposes for the doghouses that aren't sinister. Shelter, shade, a den for the wolf inside the dog to feel cozy and safe in, and even a place for the dog to think doggie thoughts away from the world outside.

Well, that's as philisophical as I can get for early on a saturday morning. Now to go look at yard sale ads!~~~Have a lovely weekend, my friends!~~~XXOO, Beth

Playing With Mosaics

My Bff Suzy showed me how to do a Flickr mosaic. I love looking at all of the wonderful images on this fab photo hosting website. So I decided on a theme, searched the millions of photos, and made a mosiac. Can you guess what the theme is?

You guessed right if you guessed Vintage Dogs! That wasn't too difficult was it? I searched vintage dogs and found these wonderful images shared by the many Flickr folks out there. Hope you like them!

The only problem with the mosiac thingy is it's addictive! Set yourself a time limit or being doing this all night!

On a personal note, today is the last day of school in our county. For our son, it's his last day of middle school and for riding the bus to school. The high school is very close and he'll walk or ride his bike there starting in late August. Everyday, I walked him part of the way to the busstop so I could get some exercise, and because the busstop is pretty far away. Today was the last day. I brought my camera, but he banned me from taking anything at the busstop because "mom, that's not cool." Sigh...my baby is growing up too fast. He's our one and only so everyday is a new milestone for us, a path not yet travelled in his life and in our life as his parents.

Well, at least we have four years of High School to look forward to! ;)

Have a lovely friday, my friends!~~~XXOO, Beth

Quilt Show and a Humid Flea Market~~Ahh June!

Yesterday I took a drive out to Chantilly, VA to the quilt show at the Dulles Expo Center. I'm not a quilter, as some of you may already know, but I am a craft sewer. To my past experience this quilt show is a treasure trove of new fabrics and some vintage fabrics and notions too! I got there early, paid my admission and dove into the fun! Here is what I found:

What fun! Lots of fat quarters and buttons too!

I love the details on these buttons. I plan to use them on pin cushions as features. I have so many vintage buttons, but I always want more!

I just love Japanese prints. I met the nicest couple from Florida who sell Japanese fabrics. Pat showed me how to use Japanese cotton squares to make a purse and a quick, no sew, fanny pack! I had to have the fisk kite panel and the blue checker lucky cat fabric too. The little kimono bear  needed me to take her home! If you are interested in these wonderful Japanese fabrics, some are made of recycled water bottles(!), take yourself over to the Maeda's site www.maedaimporting.com !

This morning we woke up to insane humidty! I felt like we were living on the Oregon coast! Take a look at our humid backyard at 6:30 this monrning~~~

Despite the humidity we set out for the Arlington Civitain Flea Market that is held on the first saturday of the month. I found a bunch of cool stuff! Here is my buy and brag for the day~~~

A funny sock person for Suzy (but she thinks it's creepy so it may end up in my home), lots of jewelry (broken), buttons, plastic bits, a fabulous feedsack, glittery Christmas bells, and more at give-away prices!

I also found a DEAL on buttons--did I say I want more buttons???

One of my fave purchase was this adorable cook book from 1955!

The graphics are so cute. I love her diamond pattern Capris!

I want to go to dessert land too!

Also I found this game that I used to have a child. We played the heck out of it at the beach house!

This is a lot of fun! OK it's stupid fun, but fun none-the-less!

Stay cool, my friends,a nd happy flea-ing!~~~XXOO, Beth