Adding a Little Something

My craze to purge and organize my home is slowing down.  I have finished most of my to do areas. There is still a little more to go in the basement thanks to having to replace the sump pump.  I caught the pump overheating so I caught the problem before anything bad happened.  The good part is that I was "forced" to organize and clear up the basement.  Austin went through his stuff and has already made some money selling what he doesn't want.  (Ethan is in for it when he gets home on spring break.  He has his things to go through).

I had cleared out the front hallway when I got rid of books that were in a small bookcase.  I'm saving the bookcase for when Austin goes to college.  It is the perfect size for a dorm room.  Anyway, it was so bare and I hated it!  So, I stopped in at Anew Interiors Anew on the Woodstock Square because they were having 20% off everything in the store.  I found the perfect two tiered small table.  It was the perfect size for that space.  I wanted something tall also and it fit that requirement.  The best part is that it was $35.

This kind of table is kind of hard to display on but the cream colored pottery vases look really cute on it.  I added a small doily on top and some flowers to complete the look.  It's even cuter up close!

Sales are stopping to pop up.  Remember to add March 12 to your calendar for the Elgin High School flea market.  I'm pricing and boxing up treasures to sell there.  Also, for the month of February, all linens are 20% off at the Carriage House.  I took quite a few there yesterday.

Vintage tablecloths are piled up! My space is really full....

Happy treasure hunting!

Quilting Notes

My friend Cecilia and I went to hear Mary Fons http://www.maryfons.com/ speak at the Woodstock Opera House http://www.woodstockoperahouse.com/operahouse yesterday.  Mary is the daughter of Marianne Fons of Fons and Porter quilting fame.  She was an amazing speaker.

The audience was a mix of quilters and non quilters.  She did a fantastic job of keeping everyone interested and she even convinced a few to become a quilter.  I was very interested in hearing about her fabric line since I love vintage fabric.  She brought along quite a few of her quilts so we could OOH and AHH over them.  They were fantastic.  I haven't quilted in a while but ideas are now forming for future projects.

A few days ago I stopped at the Sparrows Nest in McHenry and found a great yard of fabric and a really stained vintage tablecloth.  The tablecloth had the most brilliant pink flowers on it that I couldn't pass it up.  I rarely shy away from a stained tablecloth.  This one also had a fray beginning on one edge but I knew that I could still use a part of it to make a pillow so I bought it.  I soaked it over night in hot water with OxyClean and the stains came out!  It is a beautiful tablecloth that I can't part with.  (It will look even better when it's ironed).

I seem to be moving towards pink colored items lately.  Pink just seems to brighten up a room.

Happy treasure hunting!

January is for....organizing

Happy New Year!

January for me is usually when I go overboard organizing.  This year is no exception.  I feel so much better after I have purged, rearranged and organized my house.  I can then get ready for what the new season of sales has to offer.

I had always planned on selling the vintage young adults/adults books that I had been collecting for years.  I finally did!  Many of the books are up now on Ebay for sale and some are at the Carriage House.  The bulk of them I will bring to a flea market that I plan on selling at on March 12 at the Elgin High School in Elgin Illlinois.  It is a great flea market with everything from vintage to new and crafts.

The bookcase now holds some of my milk glass collection that I condensed from other areas of the house.

I added a Hull vase collection that I hadn't planned on starting but couldn't pass up as I found them. The prices were too good.  We also have a large collection of paperweights that was paired down.  A recent obsession of mine has been silverplated pitchers so I added a few to the bookcase as well as a few ironstone pitchers.  I know I will keep tweaking it but for now I love how it is open and clean.

I took some advice from my friend Cecilia and didn't sell my favorite barn.  I sold a few at the Carriage House but she advised me not to sell my favorite one.  I am so glad that I listened to her because it looks so great on top of the bookcase holding two cow figures.

I am pleased that one new years resolution has been completed.  The bookshelf has been reorganized which allowed me to reorganize other parts of my living room/dining room.  Of course there's still more organizing to be done, but I'm on my way!

Mark your calendars for March 12 for the flea market at the Elgin High School at 1200 Maroon Dr in Elgin Illinois from 9-4 with 8am being early admission.  There is a fee to enter.

Happy treasure hunting!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a blessed day....

When my grandmother (baba) passed away 12 years ago, I got the wedding picture of her and my grandfather (deda).  I didn't like the frame so I'm ashamed to say, I put it in the back of the closet for another time.

Well, about one month ago, I pulled it out and was going to mount it on a wooden door.  I kept procrastinating, which isn't like me, and it didn't get done.  The other day, a customer came into the Carriage House and bought a wooden pew end from me and right next to the pew end were two doors from an old cabinet that I kind of forgot about.  I thought one would make a perfect frame for the picture.  So yesterday I went to the shop and measured the door but still wasn't sure it would work. Last night I couldn't sleep and decided that I would go to the shop before it opened and take another look at the door.  This time I took the picture with me and it was then that I knew it would work perfectly.

Sometime in the past, the picture was mounted to heavy cardboard so I needed to use a utility knife to resize it.  It looks beautiful!  The door is the perfect frame for the picture.

I called my mom to tell her that I reframed the picture.  I felt so desperate the past two days to get it done.  Kind of an uneasy feeling.  That was when she told me that today is the 25th anniversary of my grandfather's (deda's) passing.  To me it is a Christmas Eve blessing from him to be remembered.

Decorating for Christmas

I wanted to share some pictures of my friend Joy's house from savvycityfarmer http://savvycityfarmer.com/.  Her house was beautifully decorated for the holidays.

What a great idea for using a high chair to hold books.

I especially love her mantle.

Here is a cute display.

Simple greenery really created a wonderful farmhouse look.  I love seeing how Joy puts things together.  It's never the same.

Since I have been feeling the holiday spirit along with some creativity, I created some tree decor with bottle brush trees and thread spools.  I loved using the darker spools that still had thread on them with vintage jewelry as an embellishment.

I only had 2 larger thread spools and thought that they would make great looking trees.  I also used a miniature oil can for one of the tree bases.

I created three of the trees with vintage trim and vintage jewelry as an embellishment.  I found a few metal paper holder stands to use as the base for the trees.  

Merry Christmas.  Happy Holidays.  Wishing you peace and endless creativity!

Creatively Inspired

Ever since I went to that open house last week, I have been coming up with creative ideas.  I have been inspired.  I'm going to try to "create" more in the new year.

I decided to chalkboard paint some white doors that I have for sale at the Carriage House.  This time though, I kept one for my front porch. I stock up on wreaths that I find at garage sales.  I always find a use for them. The iron candle holder was a find years ago at Autumn Drive in Woodstock for $15.  I love its rusty patina.

It's simple, but the look that I was after.  I painted a smaller one too and have two of them at the store now for sale.

It was such an easy project.  I still have some white doors and windows that I haven't painted yet. Just in case I come up with different ideas.

My friend Cecilia has been having creative moments too.  She did such a nice display of vintage Christmas ideas in her dining area.

With a lot of snow forecast for this weekend, I may just be creating all weekend.

Happy treasure hunting!  There are still sales around.....

Repurposed Open House

I wanted to share some pictures of an open house I attended last night.  Terry, a customer from the Carriage House, invited me to this event that she and a friend have.  They repurpose items to sell at this 3rd year open house.  It was fun to see what they imagined as a finished product.

Terry bought this white screen from me a few weeks back.  It makes a wonderful card holder.

The red door was so cute.  So many wonderful ideas in this area.

This area is part of the house year round.  Instead of hanging art work, the windows and shutter are used as the art. 

This was one of my favorite pieces (not for sale).  Quilt blocks were used with an old window.  

I just had to take a picture of the living room.  The fireplace mantle was super!  Makes me want to redo my home.....

There were so many great ideas at this open house that I'm inspired to start working on my own ideas. Sometimes I forget to keep items or repurpose them for my own home.  I'm so focused on bringing treasures to the Carriage House for others to enjoy.  I guess a little of both wouldn't hurt.

Happy treasure hunting!

My Favorite Time of Year

I love Christmastime!  Now that the open house at Carriage House is over, I can try to focus on my own home.  I am so behind this year on just about everything.  Usually I'm done shopping for gifts by October, but this year I'm just finishing up now.  I want to make sure that I have time to enjoy the season, so I want to be caught up soon.

Right after Thanksgiving, I start to decorate my house for Christmas.  Vintage Christmas usually.

I love to go through the boxes to see what treasures are inside.  I'm always in awe at what wonderful pieces I have.  I set up three aluminum trees with each one having their own theme.  This one is vintage glass ornaments.

I love to combine vintage with newer vintage looking pieces like the Merry Christmas star.  The red truck was a find in January that I have been changing each season.  I love it!

I found a box of vintage ornaments recently at a sale for $2.  They look great in the Westmoreland milk glass sleigh that was also a garage sale find a few years back for $10 and the reindeer sleigh was 25 cents.  Too cute to pass up.

The ironstone pitchers that I found this summer at garage sales look nice on top of the piano in a simple vignette.  Once again, vintage with a newer Peace dress form works well together. I also like to change my doily seasonally.  Right now I'm using vintage Christmas towels in place of a doily.

In the bookcases, I just like to overfill them with my collections of Santas, elf figures and angels. I pick a few every year to bring out.  There is always way too many to set up so I try to rotate them every year.

I added a Santa to my aluminum piece that I purchased at the Wendell August Forge showroom in PA this summer.  The piece is too lovely to put away and was the perfect stand for Santa.

A few years ago, I made quite a few felt stars with a vintage piece attached to the front.  I needed something extra to decorate a few packages this year, so I made a few more.

I found those vintage star ornaments in different colors at a garage sale this year and knew that they would be perfect.  Next I may try the blue or pink ones.

I still have a few more packages to get ready, but with some holiday music and creme brulee coffee, I'm ready for anything.

Happy treasure hunting!

The Latest News...

Tomorrow starts the Holly Days Christmas Open House at the Carriage House.

I have been preparing all week.  My spot is full of vintage Christmas treasures.  The outside of the store looks so cute too.  Except for the 70 degrees that we are expecting tomorrow, it will be Christmas in every other way at the store.

Here's another peak into my space:

The newest issue of Flea Market Style Magazine has hit the newstands.  I couldn't wait for it to come out! https://www.facebook.com/fleamarketstylemagazine/?ref=br_rs  (I found mine at Walmart).

Carriage House Antiques (page 32) is listed in Readers' Choice for best antique stores in Illinois. How exciting!  What an honor for us to be listed.  I love having a spot at this store.  It has been the best experience for me and I'm having the time of my life.  Karen and Di (co-owners) are the best people to know and to work with.  I'm truly blessed to have found them and for being given this wonderful opportunity to be a part of their store.

There are still sales out there!  I found one today and picked up more vintage Christmas.  Except I think I may have to keep them.

Happy treasure hunting!

Holiday Spirit

For some reason, as soon as it gets a little chilly outside, I'm ready for Christmas.  Maybe because I love that time of year.  Or maybe because I collect vintage Christmas just about anything.

So now that Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, my mind is focusing on Christmas.  I have been busy getting ready for the Holiday Open House November 17-20 at the Carriage House.  I have marked so many things down in my space this week to make room for all of the vintage Christmas that I will be bringing in.  It helps that we will be closed November 14-16 to prepare the shop for the Open House.  I will need that time since I have about 9 bins full of vintage Christmas treasures.  I love to see the customer reactions when they enter the store and are surrounded by the wonder of Christmas.

On Saturday (even though it was really warm outside), I created more vintage trucks with bottle brush trees.  This time, I used sewing thimbles for the base of the trees.  I had some vintage advertising thimbles that had a red stripe around them so they were perfect for the Christmas colors I was using on the trucks.  They are adorable!  I had to keep one for myself and the rest will be at the Open House.

There are so many Holiday Open Houses coming up.  Tomorrow night, Wednesday Nov 9 is the Pink Geranium and the other stores on Pepper Road https://www.facebook.com/thepinkgeraniumandco/?fref=ts from 4-8pm.  The stores in Ridgefield will be having their Open House Nov 25-27. https://www.facebook.com/TheAntiqueShopsOfRidgefield/?fref=ts

Happy treasure hunting!

Sales

I have been to sooooo many fun sales in the past few weeks.  I finally went to Hippie Tom's sale in Waterford WI.  Talk about a pickers sale!  I couldn't believe the amount of items.  When you first walk in, there are sinks on the ground.  Barns full of windows and architectural pieces.  A barn full of religious items.  A greenhouse full of gardening items.  It was never ending.

No wonder he was on the American Pickers.  The one shed had repurposed jewelry and mixed media art.  The hat stand/light had moss as the covers.  It was so unique.

Nellie's Barn sale was another fun sale.  So many unique and creative vendors.  It definitely gave me ideas for future projects.

Nellie's Barn sale along with Meyer's Tails Up Farm is having a Christmas at the Farm sale Nov 4 from 5-9pm and Nov 5 from 10-4 at Meyer's Tails Up Farm 5390 Irene Road in Belvidere IL.

A woman I met while doing my garage sale called me recently because she wanted to sell some of her linen collection.  She was in her 80's and had been collecting for a long time.  She had everything organized in bins and written down for inventory and wanted to sell to someone who loved vintage linens as much as she did.  I ran over there!  I ended up buying 3 bins full with about 400 plus linens. I finally went through them this weekend deciding which to keep and which to sell.  (I went through my collection and pulled out 60 pieces that I could sell to make room for the incoming ones.)

There were so many beautiful hand embroidered tablecloths that I will sell at the Carriage House over the next few weeks.  The woman told me that she hoped I would make some money while cherishing those that I was keeping.

Recently I discovered Washington IL (not far from Peoria IL).  It is such a quaint town.  There were a few antique stores downtown.  I stopped at a few garage sales and the people were extremely friendly.  Maybe I'll pass through again at Christmastime to see what they do for the holidays.

Happy treasure hunting!

I Always Wanted to be Famous

I always wanted to be famous.  When I was little, I wanted to be the first woman president.  In my teenage years, I wanted to be a makeup artist to the stars.  Now, I'm the first Master Gardener to submit their profile to the local newspaper, The Northwest Herald, for an article on the Master Gardeners.  http://www.nwherald.com/2016/09/29/the-first-in-our-new-meet-the-masters-series-profiling-mchenry-county-master-gardeners/agikw4s/

How excited I was to open the paper this morning to see ME as the feature.  I always wanted to be famous!  Ethan jokingly texted me from college to remember where I came from.  So.......

The weather turned more fall like this week.  I love it!  It started to feel like Christmas so I brought out all of my crafty items.  I put together some small trucks to sell at The Carriage House during out Open House in November.

I especially like the gold disco Santa.  Cecilia and I went on a rummage sale buying spree the other day and she saw my new creations and bought four of them.  There are still some cute ones left.  If I can find other vintage trucks, I'll make more.

Isn't that the best mirror ever?  I'm having a hard time parting with it, so far.  Here's another picture of name tags that I made with angels.

I found a few really great treasures garage saleing this week.  This crystal chandelier was broken but the price was right.  I took it apart and will be selling the individual crystals at The Carriage House.

At the same sale, I found two really fabulous silver trays.  They were are so heavy.  I was balanced out carrying them in one hand and the chandelier in the other.

Tomorrow is the last Cedarburg WI flea market of the season.  It is also the Cider Festival in Union IL at the Historical Museum.  Thursday Oct 6th is a rummage sale in McHenry at the Lutheran Church and its also the start of Hippie Tom's sale in Waterford WI.  I haven't been to his sales before, but I'm sure going to this one to check it out.  I can't wait! Friday and Saturday is Nellie's Barn sale in Roscoe IL.  Oct 13th is a church rummage sale in Huntley that starts at noon at the Methodist Church in the downtown area and Oct 14-16 is Autumn Drive in Woodstock IL on Garden Valley Road and surrounding areas.  http://www.autumndrive.net/

Happy treasure hunting!