Vintage Tablecloths

I love vintage tablecloths.  All kinds.  I have a very large collection and I am trying to be choosier when buying them.  Today I was just happy to find so many of them for $6 each.  I haven't been finding them lately so I bought 5 today at 3 different estate sales.  I went to estate sales in McHenry, Crystal Lake and Woodstock.  I also found a vintage hand embroidered Christmas tablecloth for $4, a wooden box for $3, a glass rooster for $1, a frog figure for $3, a tin plate for 25 cents, a glass candle holder for 50 cents (to create a cake stand with), a pin for $4, a lady head vase for $8 (for my collection and I didn't have one like it), and lots of doilies for 25 cents each.  It was definitely a me day!

I'm soaking a few of the tablecloths at a time.  I was surprised that they were all in good condition.  No holes and only a few stains. 

Once again, I'm redoing Austin's room.  I am putting a child's size potting table in his room for his nutcracker collection.  He used that table when he was little and I just stored it in the garage for later.  Well, later is now and I think it will work.  His nutcracker collection is growing too quickly to display.  He told me today that when he gets older and buys a house, he'll make one room just for his nutcracker collection.  I can see it now......

Looking for Treasures

Since today was pretty nice outside, I just had to go looking for treasures.  I started at the Carriage House Antiques and Other Good Stuff in Crystal Lake.  They will be having their Holiday open house starting on Dec 6 at 3pm through Sun Dec 9.  Their open house is always fun and they have treats to sample and raffles.  I love this shop.  They always have such cool, just priced right treasures.  I found a New York hankie (I have been shopping for a New Jersey or New York hankie and was sooooo happy to find one for $4).  I also found a vintage Santa ball ornament for $3 and a troll for my mom for $1.  Another thing to add to her Christmas box. 

I went across the street to a newly opened antique store, Crystal Lake Antiques.  I found another hankie, but of Paris France for $3. 

I just didn't feel like heading home yet, so I took a detour into Ridgefield.  The shops held their Holiday open house Thanksgiving weekend, but I couldn't make it.  They still have lots of Christmas items, which was mainly what I was looking for today.  I found a vintage Santa bell ornament for $2. 

I can't wait to put all of these "new" to me vintage ornaments on my trees.  Not only was I shopping today, but I was also pricing Christmas items that I have.  It's always fun for me to see what my items are worth.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I always knew that some of them were real "treasures."

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Kohl's had some good clothing deals on Black Friday.  I just had to go since I had a $5 off coupon plus a 15% off coupon.  I finally found the black cowboy boots that I have wanted and only for $20.  They are the shorter ones, but I like them anyway.  So, for every $50 you spent, Kohl's gave a $15 coupon to spend this week.  Of course it was burning a hole in my pocket, so I went and found the cutest Christmas tree decorations. 

All of the ornaments were on sale and I only paid around $3.50 for each one.  The Christmas tree ornament and the snowman snow globe look vintage.  The snow globe was around $4.50.  I couldn't find an Ethan ornament, but I did find an Austin one.  Since Ethan collects turtle figures, I found him a turtle ornament.  I love adding ornaments to my collection every year.  I am going to weed out the ornaments this weekend when we get the tree and start to decorate it.   I like to use a lot of vintage looking ornaments, but also add in some craft ones and others that just catch my eye.  There is no specific pattern to my tree.  Only what I love. 

Overall, I only spent $5.23 for 5 ornaments.  (I bought 2 of the trees.  I couldn't resist).  I would like to find an Ethan ornament and will try to get to another Kohl's this week.

Santa, Elf and Angels Collection

I love spending time in my Winter Wonderland reading or just sitting with a cup of coffee.  I always run out of room to display my Christmas collections so I have to choose what to put out every year.  I use the bookshelves in the living room to display a lot of my Santas, elfs and angels.  It's fun to look at.  I usually find a few that I don't have over the course of a garage sale season. 

In the next few weeks I will be going through my Christmas collection to make it better organized and to weed out those that I don't want anymore.  My pile for a garage sale is growing daily.  I'm going to run out of room to store things that I will be selling in the spring. 

I'm looking forward to adding to my Christmas collection.  I can't wait for garage sale season to begin!

Christmas Wonderland

I host Thanksgiving every year, but I'm always thinking ahead to the day after when I begin decorating for Christmas.  After the Thanksgiving dishes are put away, I begin putting away the decorations in anticipation of bringing out the Christmas decorations.

I spent about 5 hours today putting up my Christmas Wonderland.  I found a few items that I no longer want and will be putting them up on Ebay.  I love looking through my collection because it seems like new each time I go through it.  I have so many amazing items, but my favorites are my Santa and elf collections.  I also bought quite a few vintage ornaments this year and put them on my tinsel/aluminum trees.  I have a theme for each of the 3 trees I have.  Santa/vintage glass ornaments and vintage figures tree.  Our real tree that we'll probably get next weekend will be covered with craftier more modern ornaments and ones that the kids have made.  Each figure/ornament in my collection brings me happy memories.  I love this time of year!

We went to the lighting of the Woodstock square tonight and I walked through Seasons by Peg.  You have to go through that store.  Her decorations are amazing.  It was too crowded tonight so I'll have to go back sometime this week to really enjoy it. 

May the holidays be merry and bright for you!
  

Shelf Redo

I took advantage of the warm sunny day this week and spray painted white the black wrought iron stand that I bought for $12 at an estate sale last month.  I used Rustoleum Glossy white.  I like how that color shines.  The stand came out nicely with only a small patch of white on the grass. 

I put it into Austin's room to hold some of his Pokemon cards/tins that were lying all over his room.  It looks nice right next to his desk.  He has a lot more room on it to hold more Pokemon as he gets it.  I moved the white iron stand that was originally in that space to the other side of his room to hold his every growing collection of nutcrackers.  I had to rearrange them off of his windowsill since he is getting more for Christmas.  At least it looks cleaner in his room right now. 

I also had a chance to rearrange the bookshelf holding his nutcrackers and have more room now to add to it.   It's fun to rearrange a room, even if it's not that much.  The room always looks so new when you do that.  He was happy with how I added to his room.  He couldn't believe how much more space he has now.  Just a little bit of organizing goes a long way.

Speaking of organizing, I have been working on adding to my garage sale pile.  I rearranged some milk glass in my bathrooms for a new look.  I have a nice collection of milk glass and just want to use it more often.  No sense in keeping it hidden.

Yesterday, Ethan and I went to the Goodwill and Savers in Lake Zurich.  I had never been at the Savers there.  They just opened in October.  I found 2 really nice bracelets.  One was handmade for $2.99 and the other was a vintage Coro for $5.99.  We found a few books and at Goodwill the loose leaf wide ruled packages of paper were 10 for $1.00.  We go through so much for school that I couldn't pass up this offer.

Cheese Trip to Monroe Wisconsin

We do a yearly family trip to Monroe Wisconsin to get cheese.  It is usually in November and for the most part we have been lucky with the weather.  A few times it was snowing on our trip, but today it was mild for awhile before the rain started.

Our first stop is at the Maple Leaf Cheese Store on the way into Monroe.  Then, it's off to Alp and Dell in Monroe.  What a great place!  They remodeled the store and it seems bigger with more selections.  They always have a clearance bin that we check out first.  There are also samples to try.  It is funny how we only go once a year (sometimes more often) and they remember us.  Today they were so surprised at how big the boys got.  We buy a lot of cheese and freeze it.  It does last us for the year.  The only cheese we found out that doesn't freeze well is cheddar.  It crumbles when thawed. 

Next, is our stop at Swiss Colony which is just down the street.  We stocked up on cakes.  How can you not when most were $2?  They freeze well and are good even 1 year later.  Caldwell found a great pair of black suede shoes for $30 on clearance.  They also have the Seventh Avenue outlet attached to the store. 

We always stop for lunch at Baumgarteners on the square.  It is a fun place to get more cheese to eat and you can even have one of the staff throw a $1 bill to stick on the ceiling.  They donate the money every 2 years to charity.  They said that this summer they had about $8500 to donate to 2 local charities.  The kids love watching them try to get the money to stick on the ceiling.  We usually walk around the square (not much is open on a Sunday), but today since it was raining, we just left. 

We were early enough to stop at a favorite antique/junking store, Van's Antiques.  It is not far from the town of Walworth.  He is only open from April to Nov and next weekend is his last weekend for the season.  He is only open Friday to Sunday.  I didn't know that he was closing next weekend, so I was glad that we made the trip today.  I found another metal lawn chair for $12.  Everything was 20% off.  Caldwell found a fishing rod holder for about $10 and I found a great bracelet for $2.60 that just needs to have the clasp fixed.  He is a nice guy and always answers the many questions that the kids have.  He also remembered us today and couldn't believe how big the boys were.  This was the third metal lawn chair that I have bought from him.  I have also bought a dresser and many other items. His prices are really good and he always has a nice selection.  I never leave empty handed.  I'll be looking forward to April when he reopens for the season.

I look forward to our yearly trip up to Monroe.  It is a great town and there are lots of stops to make on the way.  It is our way of beginning the holiday season.

Last Rummage Sale?

I went to the last rummage sale (I think) of the season at St Pauls Church in Crystal Lake.  I had a chance to follow up with my fellow rummage sale friends.  I found, or my friends at the sale found, 3 brand new purse handles for 50 cents each, a turtle for 50 cents for Ethan's collection, a necklace for $2, 2 hand embroidered pillowcases for 50 cents and about 100 Christmas cards for $1.  I have to write out my Christmas cards this week so it was perfect timing.  I always send out my cards, with the kids pictures, right after Thanksgiving.  I enjoy spending some quiet time writing out the cards and writing a short note to loved ones. 

The kids and I went to the Algonquin library book sale and I bought all of their knitting books and a few gardening books.  I'm having fun going through them.  Even better that they cost between 50 cents to $1 each.   The boys found some video games and DVD's.  I found an organic gardening book by Elliot Coleman for 50 cents.  I was so excited because at the recent Master Gardener Conference, we were selling the book for $24.95.

Check out my page on 2013 listings for flea markets, book sales and other sales that I love to go to.  I will be updating it as I get the dates.

Mistletoe Magic

I love going to Mistletoe Magic at Grace Lutheran Church in Woodstock!  It officially kicks off the Christmas season for me.  They always play Christmas music to get you in the mood.  I bought a lot of jewelry this year.  Pins, earrings, rings and necklaces.  The table was pretty cleaned off in about 1/2 hour.  Some I will keep for myself, some I will use on my felted bags and some I will give as gifts.  They only cost between $1-$3 each.  It was quite a bargain.  I love adding to my costume jewelry collection.  I have begun weeding through my collection to give away pieces I no longer like to wear.  It's good to purge every so often.  I always get in the purging mood around the holidays.  So, I do a little every day. 

Ethan and Austin and their friend Mark let me shop by myself for awhile and then joined me when it came time to buy the cookies.  We bought some bacon chocolate chip cookies which they ate in the car and I had to go back inside to get more.  We always look forward to the cookies that you buy for $8 per pound.  You get to pick your own assortment.  This year we liked how everything looked so we bought 2 pounds.  Each of those cookies is delicious!  We also bought some chocolate chip toffee sea salt cookies and some peanut butter cup cookies.  We have to savor them until next year.  Mistletoe Magic is the first Saturday of November.

Friday is the rummage sale at St. Pauls Church on Woodstock Street in Crystal Lake.  They are 1 week later than usual but I'll be there.  This will probably be the last rummage sale of this year.  (Boo hoo). 

Home for the Holidays

Every year the Floral Department at McHenry County College puts on a Home for the Holidays show.  Last night was the night.  The students and instructors made floral arrangements for Thanksgiving/Fall and Christmastime.  It cost $10 to attend and your name is entered in raffles that they do throughout the 2 hours.  I won a beautiful "transition" piece.  I was so excited.  I also bid on a Christmas arrangement in the silent auction and won it for $5.  The silent auction is a nice way to get beautiful floral arrangements, either live flowers or artificial, for a small price.  It was a nice time spent with some friends that I knew from the McHenry Garden Club. 

The McHenry Garden Club has their Floral Extravaganza at McHenry West High School on Nov 29.  Doors open at 6pm, but the event starts at 7pm.  There is a cost to attend.  This is another good way to get beautiful arrangements made on stage from local nurseries/florist shops.  Your entry ticket is entered into a raffle for a chance to win the arrangements made on stage.  There are also tickets to buy for themed baskets.  The baskets are wonderful to win also. 

Tomorrow is Mistletoe Magic at Grace Lutheran Church in Woodstock starting at 9am.  My favorite craft/bake sale event of the season.  You can buy cookies by the pound made by parishoners, buy knitted/crafted items, other baked goods and vintage items/jewelry.  I always find lots of things for reasonable prices.  Make sure to attend this event.  The money raised is divided up between charities.

The Algonquin Library holiday book sale is on Nov 8-11.  There is a cost to attend on the 8th, but the other nights are free.  This is one of my must go to book sales.  I anticipate each one that they have.