Yard Sale Slump

This weekend we went to 3 Estate Sales and a few Yard Sales and I didn't buy anything - you heard me correctly....not one thing! That has to be a record for me. I guess it is a good thing because finances are tight right now for us so I really don't need to be buying anything anyway. Sales overall this year have been disapointing. I'm not sure what the reason is. Maybe I am getting very discriminating in what I buy or people just aren't parting with things the way they did a few years ago. Or, it might have simply been the heat. Who knows?

I did go to a church rummage sale and I found a few things there. My daughters scored some great toys for cheap - which made the trip worthwhile. I bought these two primitive antique tool boxes there. I like them but I must confess, I am listing them right now on ebay. I'm hoping to parlay my small investment into some cash. We will see. If they don't sell I can always find a use for these great containers.

Because I don't have much to show today from this weekend's sales, I thought I would share some more collections on display right now in my house.

Currently on my mantle is an assortment of summer stuff that I've collected over the years. I've mentioned before that I love to collect for holidays and seasons and change out my mantle display accordingly. I store all the off season items in rubber totes in my basement.

Here are some of my beach-themed things:

Shell boxes, an Engish cookie tin & a Room For Rent sign.

Shell box souvenirs are one of my favorite things to look for while I am thrifting.

This lighthouse painting is paint-by-numbers. I think I paid a $1 for it at a sale somewhere. The post card is from Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. That is one of our family's favorite vacation spots.

I always love to have fresh flowers around the house. I am fortunate to have some hydrangrea bushes which supply lots of flowers for cutting. The vase is an old milk bottle bought at a yard sale for 50 cents. Thrifty Tip - Look for interesting glass containers at yard sales when they are priced very low. When I find these I save them and then later when I want to give someone a bouquet of flowers I always have a pretty vase on hand. These types of containers are much cheaper and more beautiful that those you would buy at the flower shop, grocery store or the dollar store. Look for cut glass vases, milk bottles and old blue/green glass canning jars. The container becomes part of the gift!

My daughter's birthday was this past week. When someone in our family is having a birthday I display these vintage birthday items around the house too.

A few years ago I found an entire bag of vintage greeting cards in someone's garbage. (Yes, I have been known to pick the garbage for something old and unique. I promise to share some good garbage picking stories here sometime in the future :)) Anyway, here are some of the cute children's birthday cards that were in the lot.

This one is interactive. You turn a dial to reveal the message written on the chalkboard.

This one depicts the era - 1950's maybe? Cowboys and Indians ruled the day for little boys.

This is my sweet daughter's birthday cake. She loves mermaids. I made this cake for her and I am very happy with the way it turned out. That cake decorating class I took at JoAnn Fabrics way back when really comes in handy from time to time.

Thanks for stopping today!

KayteeJane

Summer Scenes

As you know I love to collect things and have many themed collections around the house. Some that I have shared here are my collections of heart shaped rocks, hose nozzles, gardening stuff & vintage school supplies.

Here are some of my favorite things that just say summer to me.

Strawberry table cloth

A berry picking basket

Strawberry jam pot

A soda pop bottle holds the first zinnia cut from my garden this year.
Love that vibrant orange color.

I love my metal porch furniture! Picnic anyone?

 

Brewing Sun Tea on the side porch 

Old paper ice cream carton & some green glass dishes make a cute display in the kitchen.

Porcelein coffee pot decorated with cherries

Stop over at Privet & Holly to see some other great collections from bloggers near & far and to read a great post about collecting.
I joined the collection show & tell party there too.

Enjoy this beautiful summer day!

KayteeJane

Selling Some Treasures

Hi All!

From time to time I decide to clean out around the house to make room for new treasures. I have decided to add a page to my blog where I will list things for sale. Some of these may be items that I have previously shown on the blog and some not. I hope to update this page often as things sell and I find new things to replace the old.

To see what is for sale click on the tab at the top of the page that says
"Stuff for Sale". That will take you to a new page with items that I am parting with. If you have any questions you can always reach me by email or leave me a comment.

Thanks!

KayteeJane

More Flea Market Fun

Here are some things that I found at the flea market this weekend.

More Vintage Pyrex. I'm beginning to think I may need an intervention here. Not sure of the pattern name. I already used these to make cucumber salad.

Some cute coffee containers. Since I LOVE my coffee, I buy these when I see them. I love the Sanka jar. It still has coffee in it! It says "Lets You Sleep" - that cracks me up :)

At one of the booths at the flea-tique a vendor had a box of silverware she was selling 2 for $1.00. I dug through the box and came up with this neat baby spoon.

It is inscribed with someone's birthdate I assume.

A great use for these small silver spoons is to attach them to a jar of homemade jelly or preserves. Small butter knives work great for this too. When I see them for sale I usually buy a few and save them to use on a gift later.

My friend Cindy bought me these metal children's cups and saucers at the same flea market. She saw me looking at them and then bought them for me when I walked away. How sweet :) It is so great to have friends who "get you".

This vintage woman's bonnet came from the same vendor. She only charged me a $1.00 for it. I think I will just hang it on a pretty hanger and display it in my bedroom. I can't imagine wearing something like this back in the day. I just love the blue & red patterened fabric. Sometimes you just buy something because you like it and for no other reason or purpose. You can figure that out later :)

This is one of my favorite finds of the day - an old store display sign from a G.C. Murphy store. You may remember the other one that my husband purchased for me on ebay. The possibilities for this are endless - I may use it to display photos, messages or on my table at a special party.

I bought all of these children's hangers for $1.00 too. $1.00 seems to be my lucky number this week! I love vintage children's things - as if you couldn't tell already. I'm in love with the pastel colors and animals - especially the scottie dogs & roosters. These make great baby shower gifts with a new dress or outfit hanging from them.

I like to use these to hang vintage dresses which I display around the house.

This is similar to a dress that I wore when I was a kid. I tried to get my daughter to wear it once but she wasn't impressed with the 1970's design. LOL

I bought this sock stretcher/form this past weekend at a yard sale. Not sure where I will hang it in the house yet. It is made of galvanized metal. It goes well with the hands that I posted about previously. I will probably hang them all together.

Lastly, I bought this sweet embroidered dish towel from the same vendor where I found the silverware, bonnet and tea cups. I am going to sew it into a pillow.

Love the hand-stitching.

Here's to flea marketing! Make a point to go to at least one this summer before they are gone for the year...You never know what treasure you may find.

KayteeJane

Flea Market Fun

One of my favorite flea markets in Pittsburgh is the Allegheny-Kiski Historical Society's Flea-Tique which is held on the 3rd Sunday of every month at the Tour-Ed Mine in Tarentum, Pennysylvania. This is where I began my collecting adventures over 20 years ago as a teenager.

Here is the family posing for a pic this past Sunday. The two ladies in hats have been coming here every summer for those 20 years and they have both been instrumental in influencing me and teaching me about collecting and antiques. The lady in the hat with sunglasses on is my Mom Diane and the other lady is her friend Beth.

My tastes have changed over the years, but I never leave this place empty handed and this past Sunday was no expection. Here is one of the neat things I bought there and it only cost $1.

This cute little metal toy stove was found at this nice vendor's booth. I had to ask her if I was reading the tag correctly and she said "yes, it is $1". Turns out she didn't think it was worth much because it has some rust and the oven door doesn't close.

I also saw these neat metal signs from an old store for sale at a different booth. I thought they would be great for my kitchen. Hubby said "no!" so I passed. Maybe he will make me a copy of these at work (he works at a sign company). One can hope.

Here is what I decided to do with the cute little stove. It is now my kitchen "message center".

An opening on the stove-top holds pens.

The oven door that won't close is perfect for holding sheets of note paper.

The metal body holds holds messages with a magnet.

To me this is reusing & recycling and its best. This cutie would also work great holding plants on your porch or on your desk holding post-its and other supplies.

I got some other great items at the flea market in addition to the little stove. Stop back tomorrow and I will share them with you :)

KayteeJane

S'mores on the Grill

Try this easy way to make S'mores on your grill.

I used the large "Jumbo" marshmallows.

Place a piece of foil on your grill. Don't forget this step or you will have a gooey mess.

Put the marshmallows on the foil - leaving about 2 inches between each marshmallow.

Light the grill, close the lid and let the marshmallows get hot. I kept checking the marshmallows to see if they were ready. It took my grill about 10 minutes on medium heat until they were nice and melted.

They are ready!

Lift each marshmallow off the foil carefully.

The bottom of the marshmallow is toasted nice and brown.

Place the hot marshmallow on top of the chocolate and graham cracker.

Yum!