ViNtaGe ***LoVe BiRd*** Pins/Brooches!*!*!

I was Thrift Shopping in Cedarburg & found this "adorable" Bling-Bling, Vintage Birdie Heart pin/brooch!*!*!  The smallest of things can add just the right touch to this & that...  "Like Icing on the cake"!*!*!

I put this sweet little birdie pin in one of my vintage "casket jewelry boxes"...  It added just the right touch...  PeRfeCt for a Valentines Day Vignette...

  Don't you just love the pink!!! There is something so sweet about "birds in pairs"...  Think about it... ~ Like looking at male and female bird - either at the feeder or caring for their young in a nest...

"Bittersweet" ~ Remembering Cedarburg, Wisconsin Flea Market Booth...

January seems to last forever here in the Midwest...  Thank goodness the sun is out today...  It was quite a bittersweet sight for me yesterday, as we drove by our local FIREMEN'S PARK Fair Grounds ~ where Cedarburg's Maxwell Street Flea Market is held.  Now, at this time of year, a huge field covered in snow ~ with the bleacher area wall advertising "2010" FLEA MARKET DATES" - MAY 30th being the first one of the 2010 season...  I have had a booth there (May Date Only) for the past 6 years...   Last May  - 2009, was one of my "BeST Ever" Sales  at this Fair Grounds...

OMG!*!*!  What a refreshing sight - especially at this time of year...  I always adorn my booth with fresh flowers for my outdoor flea market sales...

My May 2009 flea market booth in Cedarburg, Wisconsin...

I always have a lot of "Garden Theme" items at this time of year...

My "fussy" jewery nook pretties...

Maxwell Street set-up is on Saturday... Open to the public on Sunday...   Everything gets covered with a tarp before the big day... ~ Midwest dew...   I can't thank my husband enough for helping me with ALL the honey-dos - repairing all the little stuff - adding hangers, glueing, nailing, electrical wiring, etc.   ThANk YOU Froggie!*!*! ~ Yes, my husband looks like a FROG ~ turned "Prince"!**!

A most successful SaLe!!!   

Hopefully I'll get the same booth location for 2010...  I've been located in the outfield - "Kitty-Corner" from the kettle corn vendor, on the East/West Row, mid way...  Booth #1020... Easy exit to the front gate on Washington...  Hope to see you SUNDAY, MAY 30th...  Mark your calendar...  New opening time 7 a.m.

FrOsTy!*!*! Antique Saturday Morning...

Jeff & I headed out somewhat early this Saturday morning to the West Bend Antique Show - about 15 miles from our house...  As we're traveling along the back country roads ~ OMG!*!*!  A FrOsTy Winter Wonderland appeared!!!  ~  It wasn't like this by our house...  It seems the warmer temperatures, mixed with fog, created a lovely frosty coating on ALL the greenery...  See for your self... 

Neither of us had any high expectations driving to the show...  Just a fun winter outing on a FrOsTy Wisconsin Winter MoRNiNg...  It appeared to be an older crowd waiting to get in...

 

This was my one and only favorite find (which I did not buy) at the show...  ChiPPy Old Birdhouse... YES - there were some quality items to be had - just not my chippy-shabby kinds of things...  Major "Brown-Out"...

After lunch we made a quick pit-stop at an Antique Store...

Of course ~ the Architectural Pediment was marked NFS!*!*!

The "smallest of things" Can add just the right touch... BiRdS!*!*!

Year of the BiRd!???  I've been bird cRaZy for a long time...  ~ I'm seeing sooooo many new displays in stores with a birdie theme already this year...  Pottery Barn has a wonderful table setting with them... I love their "nest like" place mats...  "Tag" Brand has the sweetest little Platters etc. with birds...  But Nothing Compares to Adornments with ViNtaGe Birds!*!*!   Here are a few of my birdie autograph books/booklets...  (click on pics to ENLARGE details... Comments are appreciated!)

The smallest of things can add so much...   I used small "flower frogs" to to prop up these darling little litho birdie booklets...  The Flower Frogs work well for standing up so many things ~ old post cards, seed packets, pictures, advertising cards etc.

OMG!*!*!  This is my most favorite old "authograph book" ~ last 1800's...  The birds have dimension to them ~ and are a little bit chippy!!!   Just Sweet!*!*!

Another vintage autograph book with a gorgeous gilt-gold bird cover...

The colored litho pages inside this autograph album are absolutely The BeSt!!!  Lots of flowers & birds...  Today's printing cannot compare...

Just Sweet!*!*! ***Little SHaBBy ViNtaGe Booklets***

These "Sweet Little Shabby Booklets" are just The BeSt!*!*!  I love incorporating them in my vignettes...  Many of them have colored litho prints on the inside pages...  A good number of them have subtle signs of watermark stains, dog-eared edges, & seam wear...  These imperfections only add to their "vintage charm"...   These particular ones are early 1900's...  I find them hard to come by... Here are a few from my personal collection... EnJoY!*!*!  (click on pictures to enlarge for better details...  comments are welcome...)

This is one of my most favorite covers...

The color of these "old lithos" is just amazing...  Nothing like todays... Sweet little verses...

Sweet little booklets like this work well adorning your "jewelry nook"...

Lovely ...

Another favorite of mine...  If you look close - there are "3" little birdies on the cover...

Pansies!*!*!  These flowers were a favorite of my Aunt Loretta's... 

ChiPPy!-SHaBBy things with PaTiNa!*!*!

Here are some "sneak-peek" examples of "ShaBBy Things" in our home -OR- Ones I Sold on Ebay Last Winter...  PaTiNa is Everything!!! ~ It yields great character to a piece... ~ Whether it be on Concrete ~ Wood ~ Metal, to name a few... (click on pictures to ENLARGE for better detail... Comments appreciated!)

This is one of my very favorite CONCRETE  ARCHITECTURAL pieces...  I purchased it many years ago at Red Chair Antiques in Peterborough, New Hampshire, on one of our yearly New England trips...  I was told it was a concrete fragment from a building in Boston...  The natural time-worn "Paint Patina" is just AwEsoMe!*!*!   I have it resting on top of a hutch along with other architectural salvage...

Salvaged WOOD door...  I sold this door on Ebay last year...  ~ Major regret!!! ~ What was I thinking????  A few layers of vanilla/beige paint ~ wonderfully weathered time-worn patina!*!*!

This Galvanized METAL/TIN Architectural Fragment, has "The Best" natural crusty/rusty patina!*!*!   Another item I sold on Ebay last winter...

  Sneak Peek of an old window ...  "Natural time-worn paint patina...  Hints of old pink paint poking through!*!*! ~ Not to mention the crusty/rusty old hinge...  LoVe It!*!*!

Just AwEsoMe!*!*!  Best natural time~worn patina on this chandelier's METAL canopy...  Another item I sold on Ebay last winter...

"Sneek Peek" of a 2-die-4 shelf I've owned for many years...  ThE BeSt old time~worn chippy paint crazing... not to mention the crusty hardware...  It's still a keeper for now...

WINTER CABIN FEVER IS BEGINNING TO SETTLE IN... I'LL BE STARTING UP MY EBAY SALES IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO...  AnD YES ~ I WILL BE SELLING MY ENTIRE PERSONAL COLLECTION of "ViNtaGe BLUE" Bottle Brush Christmas Trees & Wreath...

I'll keep you posted!*!*!   Ebay Seller:  chippy-shabby 

"OLD GRAYSLAKE" FLEA MARKET LOCATION...

I did indeed come home with a good number of small "SHaBBy Finds" this past Saturday...  HOWEVER, I do have to say -  I TRULY MISS THE OLD GRAYSLAKE LOCATION & BUILDINGS...   The new location with it's ONE large drab new building - excessively tall ceilings, has absolutely no charm/character!!!   The Old Location was THE BEST ~ with it's numerous old out-buildings/crude-like shacks - It enhanced "All the Old Stuff" & your hunting experience...   I'm sure a good number of you will agree...  Oh well.... Progress???????

Here are some "Small Pretties" I took home with me!*!*!  Some are "keepers" ~ Others will be at my future SaLes or on Ebay...  EnJoy!*!*! (click on pics to enlarge detail... comments are appreciated!)

Sweet!*!*! Bird watercolor (Diane's Booth)...

Gorgeous Vintage Brooch (I bought more jewelry from the same dealer)...

A touch of Bing!*!*!  I loved this very old "bling fragment" - just  loaded with "french paste rhinestones"...Definitely a keeper...

I picked up a couple pieces of "White Matte Pottery"...  The Birdie Candelabra (Sandy's booth, rhubarb reign) isn't old - but just sweet... I could definitely see it adorned with some vintage millinery... The little book has flower pictures in it - sweet adornment especially in a shadow box of sort...  The fabric is a wonderful white and beige table runner... (Kathy's booth)

ViNtaGe Valentine Heart... It's so hard to find unique old valentine items...  I found this old heart in Diane's booth...  The beautiful old millinery flowers and ribbon could very well be original...  The darling cupid/arrow brooch was found in another booth... ~ As you can see, they compliment each other PeRfeCtLy!

OMG!*!*!  One of my "major weaknesses" is mirrors with patina...  This was my Favorite Find of the Day!*!*! ~ (from "Chandelier Kathy's Booth")...  Just AwEsoMe!*!*! - Definitely a keeper...

The wreath-like flower garland looks like crinkly old foil - it's not etched...  It had a wire on the back for hanging ~ but I've chosen to lay it flat like a plateau mirror...  "The BeSt"!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - THanKs Kathy!!!

More birdies and bling...  This vintage necklace was from the same seller I purchased the brooch from (in my first photo) along with this pair of pink birdes...  The little framed birdie will look wonderful as an adornment in a shadow box of sort...

Even though it's the dead of winter here in the midwest, ~ you could find "subtle signs of SpRiNg" in Diane's booth...  It was adorned with little birdies here and there, along with an ever so subtle sprig of flowering branches, wreaths and valentine adornments... ~ Quite a welcoming sight!*!*!

Tin Vase ~ great form with it's fluted edge... (from Diane's booth)

Great Form!*!*!

This old clock did-not go home with me ~ but I loved it!!!  It had such great potential in a jewelry nook...  I could just see it with perfume bottles on the top shelf and perhaps doll pincushions on the bottom...  The support posts were twisted glass...

Sticky... Ooey-Gooey... Crusty... Rusty... Nicotine Residue...

OMG!!! This dealer had "3" gorgeous old chandliers that were "just caked" with all this crud ~ not to mention rarer missing pieces...  AND I was told he had already cleaned them...  They must have come from some very old bar  where people smoked and ate greasy food...  What a "Bittersweet" Sight!!!