Limbo... better buy some cool retro stuff to pass the time

Here is a "still life" of some of my recent finds.

As you can see, I've been a little focused on Milk Glass lately. Trying to focus on vases....

But any seems to do. I don't know why. This would have been poor quality in its own time.

General "mid-century" patterns still appeal to me. I have yet to create an
actual dinner set. I am afraid, however, it will be more difficult, here in Indiana.
For, while the thrift is much cheaper than Montana, the selection is more limited.

I did find this amazing McCoy bowl, probably from the 40s, for $2! on my trip
out here. But, like all things eventually, it wasn't meant to be. It leaped from my
car the next day and broke. I thought, maybe the break was clean?

Alas. Some things aren't mean to be.

Incidentally, the towel in that first picture was $1 at the same store. It's a little
worn, but I love that color pallet. Meant for my future inspiration, I'm sure.
 

I was buying these colorful tins for my good friend, R. We found them for
anything between $1-$6. I bought a few for her last time I was here, on
the higher end, as she was my friend and watching the cats. These ones,
I got for about $1 each, a little less.

In Montana, I found these adorable brass star-burst candle holders.
Two for a dollar. I found a thirst for $2 here, but I thought it was right to
have more matching!

Amazing little Harvest Gold and Aqua flower wall-clock for $2.41.
Works and keeps time perfectly.

These mod-tile serving trays are perfect for bringing
beauty to the home. Says so, right on the back.

An original painting by... I don't know who... for $2.50.

Classic.

Still collecting deer.

And birds.

A still life with birds and bark-clothe table cover inside the trailer.

It's time the trailer started getting some decoration, don't you think?

Retro, Finnish Cross Stitch Patterns

Curtains for Alice

I couldn't resist these curtains when I found them at an expensive antique shop in Indianapolis. I had planned on making pleated drapes with them for Alice. Wouldn't that be cute? And they are heavy enough to add some temperature shielding to the drafty windows. Alas, I was intimidated by making drapes and never did set up my sewing machine (it's still in the box from the move here). I have two or three full curtains, and extra fabric. Enough, actually, that I wonder if I shouldn't make curtains for a house instead, so I can enjoy them more often. Or I could make a matching table cloth and matching pillows.

I bought colorful vintage sheets and covered all of Alice's cushions with them. They are very busy and loud for the space, but added a much welcomed pop of color. They will also protect the upholstery from car sick kitties. I bought several sheet sets so I can rotate them, as needed, over the next month. Pictures will come later. Meanwhile, the fabulous bark-cloth curtains go back into a box.

Wallpaper

I want this wallpaper. Cool pattern. Pink with gray and darker gray accents. Seen in Dr. Who, Season 2.

What not to embroider on a pillow.

You should never count your chickens before they hatch. I knew it. The anxiety told me. I thought it was the half-pot of coffee I have become accustomed to drinking every day. Switched to decaf, but still...

Here I am, sitting in a staged house. Can't touch anything unless I clean it right after. Hopefully soon, someone will love it again. Someone who isn't alone, a team who can manage a big house on a big property. The last person realized she couldn't, and backed out, like I probably should have. But hopefully, someone soon.

The parade of prospects has begun again, traipsing through at all hours. I am an awkward customer, sitting in the showcase window, messing up the picture perfect displays.

I want these dishes

Sex sells

This is probably just what I looked like, mowing the lawn yesterday.

I think I was in jeans and a tank top instead though. And I had Birkenstock on. 

Roofers stopped by to measure my roof to give me a quote. They called me "darlin'" several times and said, "you're workin' too hard. Get your husband out here to mow that lawn."

"I tried that and it didn't work. Now I'm selling."

Think of all the unemployed miners

Vintage magazine illustration and story

Cowboy christmas (tin)

April 16th was special

but I'll never know why.

 

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UPDATE: Do you think this was made for Emancipation Day? It looked to me like an anniversary, but I was thinking of a wedding or buying a house... but I like the idea of it being for Emancipation Day. I went back to get it, when I made that connection, but it was gone.

Plastic seat cover

Retail therapy. New is good, but vintage is better.

Today, R and I went shopping. We have been doing that a lot lately. I try to only buy things that are special, but when you prefer hand-made things, before you know it, everything is special. If you like hand-embroidered kitchen towels, well, they're all different, unique, and made with the hand of a special person I'll never know.

I found a few neat things today. So did R. I was trying to hold back, but then I found this. It is a white Hippo piggy bank. We had been making jokes about how hippos would be the next trendy animal (like cats). I picked up this funny looking hippo, looked on the bottom as I always do, and was surprised to see a "Tiffany & Co." sticker and stamp. It was for sale for $2.

So, I don't know what I'll do with it, but he is pretty cute. He may also be going up on eBay. Hey, I have a roof to replace.

Vintage kitchens and "at least I'm cleaner than that"

As I was just writing, I have been coveting a vintage kitchen. I spent yesterday in the town of Pryor, a town on the edge of the Crow Reservation, for one of my Prison images. There was a slew of abandoned houses along the dirt road I spent four hours on. And of course, I had to go inside. One had an "intact" 1940s kitchen. I couldn't believe all the pieces were still there, from the round-top fridge, to the beautiful enamel oven.

And of course, the steel cabinets with the enameled tops.

The problem? Had hooligans come and started a meth lab in it? Not that I could tell. Was there vandalism? Not the kind you would think. Yes, the wiring had been removed from the walls, but the thing that was really shocking...

Was the cow shit. That's right, the main vandals of these houses that were bringing it back to the earth were cows.

And they were working overtime.

And they hated people. Maybe even these people in particular.

Because, yes, above, you can see the manure is piled up more than 6 inches in some places. And I think the destruction to the cabinets and appliances was from them too.

I mean these cows really hate people. This clever one opened the oven and crapped inside it!

This one took its mighty dump on what was left of the sofa.







I hope it's needless to say, I did not try to salvage those kitchen cabinets.

Amazing lamp!

Can do better

My $1 box of 1941 Speed Colored Indelible Pencils came with this little pamphlet with these fabulous illustrations. Someone had used the Dark Blue pencil to write on every one of the illustrations, "Can do Better".

I feel like the universe is sending little messages I didn't know I needed lately.



I used the pencils to make a drawing I'm sending out tomorrow. Maybe that will make it extra lucky.

I really wanted the grape lamp. But then I would have had to buy the cowboy too.

So many questions about kitsch

Tall dog

House interrupted.

I still am so amazed by the loveliness of this unmarked vase. It's been on the mantle. Moving it to the dining table so the cats can break it so I can enjoy it more.

Paint-by-numbers... Greenberg was so wrong about the importance of kitsch for the public and their appreciation of art. And the popularity of Pollack and Picasso now have essentially made them kitsch. Bet he hates that.

I bought a series of painted portraits, probably from an art student from 30 years ago. These were from the Goodwill outlet in Indianapolis... you buy crap by the pound there.

The local craft shop has new "vintage" towels you can buy to embroider (just like the good ol' days!), separated by decade. This striped one was labeled the 1940s. It came in a pack of 3 for $6 and is made in the USA. Cheaper than "new" towels, but still new. This one is next to an unfinished embroidered towel from 1975. I love those flowers with the green printing.
 

I've bought several crocheted blankets and quilts at second hand shops the last few weeks. It's strange to me that they are in such good condition and are so interesting... but so cheap and unwanted. I like this blanket on the back of my 1920s sofa. Maybe I should put it on the seat instead, since the back has the most craftsmanship. I also have lots of pillows from Cost Plus (all made in India... China ones need not apply), which I think makes it homey. And I had buyer's remorse when I bought that flamingo, as he is chipped and worn, but isn't he a wonderful addition to the room?

The cats don't seem to understand the table-boundaries... doesn't matter if I put freshly washed table clothes on the tables. They sit on them anyway.

This is a piece I bought last year in Indy... I think for a dollar. Next to a fox skull also from Indiana.

Dharma seems to be feeling better today.

My music corner with record player (unfortunately, China... all the second hand ones had mechanical problems I was too intimidated to try to fix). Notice my Nancy Sinatra album (which is AMAZING), my 1940s hand-painted photo-on-canvas, my print of a cowboy saving a fawn from barbed wire and wolves, and the embroidery of a horse done by a grandma (says so on the back).

You'd never know it was winter for all the sunshine and warmish days.

I love my colonial lesbian teapot. Other than a chip on the spout and missing it's lid, it's in great shape. It's for plants now... though my poinsettia has seen better days (see Thanksgiving)... Will have to find something with flowers for these ladies as the weather warms up. (This is from the Porcelier company, made in the USA.) In the background is the teacup wall pocket from my grandma's house.