Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

Deck the Halls

This is an old architectural piece from the top of an old column, a farm machinery disc on top to hold a collection of old ornaments and a mercury glass candle holder which you can't see.

I love spelling out seasonal messages with my collection of old printers blocks.

This snowman ornament is one of the oldest in my collection and also my favorite. I bought it at a neighbors estate sale in a box chock full of old ornaments.

Part of my mantle...love these mercury glass trees...this is my one new purchase this year for Christmas decorating. The Santa Claus Snow box is vintage mica snow, I love the old boxes this came in, this one has never been opened.

I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to Christmas decorating...I love anything vintage , especially my collection of old shinybrite glass ornaments.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween weekend.

I've been busy rearranging my shop, will be back soon with new pictures.

Garden junque art

Garden collage. A great way to use those old discarded garden tools. It's heavy! Don't tell hubby how many holes you had to put in the siding to hang it !

What's on your mantle ?

I'm not lucky enough to have a real fireplace. I do however have an awesome salvaged mantle. I love to change it with the seasons. Halloween and fall are my favorites. What's on your mantles?

South Dakota Harvest Moon

The sunsets and moon rises are so beautiful this time of year. You can't really tell from this picture but the moon is low in the sky , orange with light cloud cover, what we call a harvest moon...love it.

Bag Lady

A new purse designer in the making! My daughter makes these great , funky , purses using mostly vintage or Amy Butler fabric and patterns. They are so cute and get compliments often when she's out with one on her arm. I find it funny that this is the girl I used to drag to garage sales ect , complaining all the while, now scouring the sales herself for vintage fabric and cool stuff for her own apartment! I always knew I'd make a junker out of her!
Amy Butler pattern and fabric.
Inside of the bag above
Love this retro look fabric!

The inside is just as cute!

Come rummage with me...

It was a great weekend for finding good bargains at the local rummage sales. I found all this stuff and more. A great yellow and brown plaid cooler..so cool! A pink Ginny doll wardrobe full of Ginny clothes and accesories, an old wire grocery basket.
A miniature Stetson hat box with a mini hat in side, a tin replica wringer washer (not old) , advertising mirror, ironstone pitcher, enamel pot, small round suitcase.

One of my best finds was this 2 piece Western stoneware water cooler. White pottery basket and a small McCoy planter. Vintage bird theme juice glasses. The wire thing with all the rings is a fruit holder but wouldn't it look great with a display of old baseballs or croquet balls?
This old woodburned box and adorable Fenton chick.

And this beautiful Dresden plate....I'm not really into glassware or dishes, I just buy what I like, so this plate with roses caught my eye.

All these treasures are now for sale in my shop, Serendipity Antiques.

Hunt and Gather cont.

Lot's of lighting choices...
Dice...game pieces.....
Vintage fabric used to make purses...lamp shades...
Wall of art...

Find your prize

Hunt and Gather is a unique shop located in Minneapolis Mn. Multiple dealers with a wide variety of merchandise. Funky, current, and so much fun.
Pink pottery on a silver tray...
Fun vintage carnival prize girls.
Funky chicken and egg vending machine, loved this! I didn't put my quarter in for my prize...what was I thinking??!!

Lot's of letters, numbers, flash cards and other graphic art supplies.

Oronoco

Oronoco Gold Rush days. Oronoco Mn. Great outdoor sale, held 3rd weekend in August. It seems like the crowds were down on Friday. LOTS of empty spaces. Not sure if the economy and gas prices are to blame. It looked like the people who did venture out were buying, so hopefully everyone had good sales....lots of interesting architectural salvage...primitives...furniture...

A day at the auction

Beautiful old sideboard/buffet..love that glass door in the middle.
Vintage gas sign.
Horse teeth anyone????? (only at Wicks!)
Molds...just waiting for a project.
rows and rows of 'stuff'

Soda caps...my daughter uses these to make very cool, unique table top mosaics.

Wicks Auction House is operated by Larry Wicks and his wife Jan. Weekly auctions with just about anything you can think of for sale. About 4 times a year they have a special antique auction which is where i spent my Saturday. It's always an adventure. Held in an old pole barn type building, it's usually filled to the brim with all sorts of 'stuff '. Boxes to dig through, furniture, primitives, once in awhile a few chickens or other live creatures, you just never know.

The sale starts at 9am and has been known to last well into the night, so if your stamina is good, you can pick up some good bargains at the end of the night. I only stayed for a few hours but I did manage to buy a very cool old wire basket, a wire flower frog, a french post card album and an ironstone pitcher. You can check out their website for future sale dates and pictures. http://www.wicksauction.com/.

Shell inspiration

I thought this was a great idea for using a shell in a different way. I planted hen and chicks in the shell opening and watered carefully. You could use any kind of succulent plants, or a big, flat clam type shell would work great for a mix of plants. This displayed on a tray of shells or resting on a table next to a stack of old books......or.....under a cloche.....got any ideas??

Summer Arts Festival

I loved this old chest of little drawers...to expensive for me though.
Vintage toy cars....love the Donald Duck!
Lots of nice furniture and glassware.
My kind of treasure!
I was thrilled to find this box of vintage shaving brushes. I saw a picture of these displayed along a bathroom window ledge on the Barn House Blog and a new obsession was born. I had to have my own collection, this was to easy! I bought five of them. I especially love the one with the glass handle....they look great in my bathroom window.

Saturday I went to the summer arts festival in Brookings SD. It's an annual event I look forward to every year. It draws artists and crowds from all over the US. I love the crowds, the wonderful artists displaying their work, the live entertainment, the great fair food and my favorite part , the flea market where they have antique dealers selling their treasures. This year, for whatever reason, the number of antique booths were down. I still enjoyed looking and even managed to take home a few treasures. If you are ever in the area, the arts festival is held every year the first weekend after the 4th of July, in Brookings, South Dakota.