Dime Store Chic

Golden Guides

Hello, My Friends!~~

I collect four sets of things: Holt Howard Pixie Ware, I Love Lucy Barbies, vintage Trolls, and Golden Guide Books.

Today I would like to share a little of my collection of Golden Guide books!

You may be familiar with these wonderful and lavishy illustrated small size books. My collection began when I was 10 and my mother gave me The Golden Guide to Seashores. Then I got The Golden Guide to Birds. And the collection grew in bits and pieces, from used book stores, flea markets, and thrift stores.

There are nature guides, sports guides, travel/regional guides, and more.

And more!

The subject matter of these guides is quite variable.

From "Kites" to "Israel and the Holy Land."

And from "Cats" to "Bats of the World."

There are 8 titles I don't own and some command pretty high prices. I'll just wait and perhaps I'll complete the collection out in the field. Hmmmm...perhaps there should be a Golden Guide book to Golden Guide books!~~~XXOO, Beth

Seriously????

Hello, My Friends!~~~

It is Monday, March 25th and here in the Washington DC area, we woke up to THIS...

2-3 inches of snow! Seriously??? On Saturday we were in short sleeves working in the garden. The peas are up 2 inches as is the spinach. Will Spring weather ever arrive?

The raised vegetable beds have kale and onions I planted last year from seed, and they are thriving and we have been harvesting them for the past few months I do love our Winter vegetable garden, but now it is Spring's turn! The greenhouse has seed flats with newly emerging tomatoes, basil, peppers, blackeye peas, and more peas and greens. Hubby made the two yellow plater boxes on Saturday from re-claimed vintage wood, and they await a mixture of soil and compost. Now if the weather will cooperate and let us get on with more planting!

C'mon Spring!!!!~~~~XXOO, Beth

USA!

Hello, My Friends!~~~

There is something about the red, white, and blue that makes crafting so fun! Here are some new goodies I just listed in Beth's Bagz

I found a vintage patriotic medal recently and used it as the feature of this wreath along with wonderful vintage WW2 ear playing cards!

And star-shaped vintage aluminum light reflectors made the prefect frames fro glittery letters spelling U-S-A on this nifty banner!

These and more are new in Beth's Bagz today!~~~XXOO, Beth

Best Friends

Hello, My Friends!~~~

This is a common scene on our bed...

Sheila is our Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler) and Gyro is our Maine Coon/ Tabby mix cat.

They have a daily battle for who gets the bed, but sometimes they initiate a detente and sleep peacefully there together...

...that us until Gyro wakes up and starts causing trouble. You can see the mischief in his eyes.~~~XXOO, Beth

Playing With Cards

Hello, My Friends!~~

I have quite a few decks of playing cards with those traditional red, white, and blue backs. Here is what I made from some of them last night...

 

One big playng card rosette! A lot of gluing and trying to get the cards into some sort of a pattern. I had no plan, just lots of cards and glue!

Layers and layers!

I kept most of the cards whole, but trimmed a few.~~~I think this decoration would be fun if you are having a Bridge Club over (my Mom goes to her club once a month), Poker Night, or even for Fourth of July! What do you think?~~~XXOO, Beth

 

One More Easter Wreath

Hello, My Friends!~~~

Thanks SO much to all of you who hopped on over to Dime Store Chic to grab some freshly listed goodies! Your packages are on the way to you!

I have one Easter wreath recently listed in Beth's Bagz!

I am working on new goods for spring, July 4th, and every day and will be listing some hopefully by the end of the week!~~~XXOO, Beth

So Much Stuff!

Hello, My Friends!~~~

I am writing on my poor neglected blog...finally!

I have been in estate sale Heaven this week beginning on Wednesday and ending Saturday afternoon! One of the sales was so good I went back 4 times! I was there for the last hour of the last day and managed to get some great deals! The folks running the sale were just dragging and happy to see anyone cart off what was left at the end of the four day sale.

I am going to spend the shank of this rainy Saturday evening listing new good in Dime Store Chic! Hubby is out on his monthly "dudes night out" and I have lots of good things to watch on the DVR while I list new goods. I hope you find something you like if you have tome to stop by.

Before I close this albiet brief post, I will show one item I found on the floor of the basement of the estate sale, swept up with the debris...

Vintage German embossed die-cut scraps of Jack-o-Lanterns. Of course, I rescued these fellows and I know you would too. A perfect example of "another man's trash is another man's treasure."

Take care and thanks for stopping by!~~~XXOO, Beth

Sassy Snail!

Hello, My Friends!~~

I go to quite a few estate sales and flea markets, but what I purchase is for Dime Store Chic and for use in creations for Beth's Bagz. I only have a few collections and finding things now to round them out is quite rare. So I don't keep any of what I purchase. Last week, I made an exception and kept a goodie I found in a corner shelf of a hoarder's basement.

This is the sassiest snail planter I have ever seen!

And look at that happy face! We are still trying to decide if the large dark spot is his nose or his wide open mouth. You be the judge. He is unmarked and I have no idea who made him or where he was made. If you know, I would certainly appreciate you dropping me a line!

Thanks for stopping by and stay sassy!~~~XXOO, Beth

Estate Sale Adventures: The Rumor Mill

Hello, My Friends!~~~

Yesterday I hit a fun and crazy estate sale in Arlington, VA. Because the ad said the house was completely packed with 50 year accumulation, I decided it would be better to get there super early and be in the first wave to enter the sale. While I was waiting right before the sale began as the crowd gathered, a woman told me that she had read on the estate sale company's website that only one floor would be open in the house and the rest would be open on Friday. That made no sense to me and I had not read that bit of information in the ad. The size of the crowd waiting to get in betrayed that it would be a one floor only sale in this little house.

Another woman said that the ad stated that more photos of other floors would be published on Firday and that the whole house would be open on Thursday. This lead to a man jumping in with his somewhat angry concern that "they just can't do that to us!" Well, actually, "they" can and do. I have been to sales where the basement was closed off until another weekend due to the vast amounts of things in the house. I just hoped that the rumor mill that was circulating in the restless crowd was unfounded and that we would get to explore the entire house.

I did not get anything on the porch even though the iron garden furniture was tempting!

And we did! And the house was as the ad promised, "completely packed". In fact it was packed outside along the side and in the backyard too!

The driveway was full of trash bags. That makes me sad as who knows what cool stuff might be in there? But I'm not brave enough to look.

And the sale extended to the backyard under the tarps and plastic.

Hardly anything in the sale was priced but I did manage to haul out three bags worth of goodies for reasonable prices.

After brushing off the dust of the Arlington sale, I headed all the way across town to Annandale, VA to a small sale with the cutest kitchen!

It's hard to tell with the sale goods covering the counter, but that is bright red Formica and curved ends on the counter. Oh my!

Aren't they just darling? Sadly, I hear the family will redo the kitchen before putting the house up for sale.

Wouldn't it be a shame to tear out this original and very cute kitchen? Oh well, nothing I can do about it other than save it by taking photos which the ladies running the estate sale were so gracous to allow me to do.

I will be listing new goodies in Dime Store Chic from my recent adventures! Thanks for stopping by and don't get caught up in any silly rumor mills!~~~XXOO, Beth