Two days 'til 2021

 What can I say about 2020 that hasn't already been said.  Like so many, I just want 2020 to be over.  I want COVID to go away, I want our economy to return to where it was in March, I want the small businesses that are struggling to become prosperous again and those that closed, reopened with a new start.  I want schools reopened so our young people can socialize and get back to their education.  I want people to be kind again.  I want, I want, I want.    

I actually do feel better, just writing this down and I give these wants over to God and ask for his blessings to all as we end 2020 and enter 2021. 

I've been on shutdown mode as my company closes a day before Christmas and then reopens again on January 3rd.  Spent the holidays with my sister and we had 6 days of laying around like third base, watching movies, laughing 'til our sides hurt and just relaxing.  Now I'm spending the last few days of my time off visiting local restaurants and thrift and antique stores in the area and while home, spinning fiber on my wheels.  So far, this really has been a lovely time off and below are some of the finds found this end of year.

Marvelous vintage map of Florida.

Nice vintage martini shaker and ice bucket with etched bamboo stalks. 

Pair of retired St. Nicks.  

Acquired this yesterday at a local thrift store.  A marvelous, Tiara Indiana Glass, Chantilly green sandwich glass punch bowl with 12 matching cups and ladle.

Really big, framed, Chinese propaganda Cultural Revolution era silk tapestry of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. Built during China's tumultuous Cultural Revolution, the double decked bridge was considered groundbreaking when it was unveiled in 1968.

Lightly sunpurpled, early American pressed glass (EAPG).  I have such a weak spot for EAPG and the hard part of finding it is parting with it.

Another lovely piece of EAPG, and that same question, do I keep or do I sell?

Charming little faux Hummel planter with Christmas theme.  Circa 1950-60s.

Nice set of vintage Italian nativity scene figurines. They still have the prices on the bottom and each figurine is marked 29 cents and 5 cents for the sheep.

My favorite find this week is this late Victorian, quadruple plate server engraved with the word, "Cake".   Definitely a keeper for me and it will now be a part of my personal collection.  I think this is a marvelous way to close out 2020 and so I end this blog post with my traditional sign off ... Blessings to you and those you love.  SeaWitch

The season is upon us

 November is half over, Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then Christmas will follow quickly after.  2020 continues to confound and I'm not sure if I'm ready for the holidays or want to jump in whole hog.  I am grateful that in spite of COVID, sales at the Lyon's Head Antique Mall have been the best in three years.  I suspect that antique/vintage shops have become the new entertainment with conversations around the history of things we offer.  I have noticed more and more families coming to visit and the conversations are around, "Dad, did you have this when you were a kid?" or "Mom, what is this?"  This makes me happy as a new generation is being introduced to what their parents and grandparents lived with and it generates a love and interest in the vintage and antique pieces of tomorrow.  

Saturday errands morphed into a quick stop at two of my favorite haunts for treasure and I came home with an eclectic mix of interesting items.

I have a weakness for antique books and this Tarzan, the Untamed, by Edgar Rice Burroughs published by Grosset & Dunlap, 1920 was a surprise sleeper.  Has a much higher value than I thought but I still have it priced below book value for the antique book collector.

One Hundred and One  Famous Poems is another find.

Lovely impressed leather bound binding. Dated 1929.

Sweet little, Armetell ware bicentennial commemorative mug by Wilton.  Circa 1970s

Found a pair of these lovely needle and petite point canvaswork pieces beautifully set in gilt wooden frames.  Very 1970s

Nifty vintage wrought iron shelf unit with hooks to hold hats, towels, bathrobes, etc.

I adore vintage and antique instruments as holiday decor.  This is an antique violin that has seen much better days and someone painted gold leaf.  This would look lovely on a mantle with pine boughs and bright red ribbons.

I sold one of these 1960s small toy accordians about 20 years ago and was delighted to come across another one.  This one is in great condition with the paper intact.

I'm selling a lot of antique and vintage clothing these days so I pulled this one out of my 1960s closet and brought it into my booth space.  Groovy princess cut shift dress with a teaser neckline.  Brilliant psychedelic purple barkcloth.

These vintage beer taps just called to me and I can't explain why.  I just like them and I hope a collector will enjoy them as well.

I love these fussy little Victorian pieces.  

Pretty holly transferware with gold lustre trim nappy.  Circa 1890s

Mid century import, marigold carnival glass decanter is a pretty thing.

Vintage tin tinsel from Germany. Heavy and in original package, never opened.

Sweet, vintage "Light of the World" child Jesus print by Charles Bosseron Chambers in original frame.  This is a small piece 5 x 5 inches.  Circa 1940s.

My mother had Christmas Lefton holly pieces and I always remember them on the family living room center table.  She had candlesticks, nutmeat and candy servers, a teapot and creamer and sugar and we used them throughout December.  Finding these brought all of those memories back but still, these will be in my Romancing Christmas space at the Lyon's Head Antique Mall.

Found a bag full of items that were part of a VFW grouping.  Need to do a little research on two of the pieces before I put them in the display case.

Terrific pair of chalkware Holy Mother and Passion of Christ statues.  I remember seeing these in Catholic homes all over northern New Jersey as a little girl.

A weekend of finding a lot variety of nifty items is a great way to start the week before Thanksgiving.  My sister and I will get together and have a great time eating, relaxing, forgetting about our day jobs and binge watching Hallmark Christmas movies and a few on Pure Flix.  

So my wish for you is continued health and a gentle Thanksgiving.  Blessings to you and those you love. Sea Witch

Fall back and forge ahead

 So far 2020 has been a bitch and with everything we have had to endure I was so hoping that the time change would be dumped and nature would be allowed to reign.  Nope, that wouldn't fit the 2020 narrative so here we are with the clocks turned back an hour again and natures biorhythms thrown out of whack.  Still, we forge ahead and November begins the big holiday season for those whose celebrate Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas and I think everyone is looking forward to a new year.

Busy at home, busy at work and in between I have found a few  items for my space in the Lyon's Head Antique Mall.

Charming little cotton floss embroidery of an owl in frame.  Sweet little thing and so 1970s when owls were king.

Antique cranberry rake in in marvelous condition and already decorated for fall.

Everyone loves a nativity scene for Christmas and this one may not have a lot of pieces but it is lovely.

Great antique book for boys called The World Adventure.

A gorgeous, vintage, Rodney Kent, hand wrought aluminum tray with hand engraved tulips. Decorative handles circa 1950s.  This is a really nice sized tray and would look marvelous on a kitchen wall.

Selection of saltwater rods from the 1950s.  

Lovely watercolor painting, signed and dated 1939.

Charming bisque cathedral with stained glass windows that light up.

And now, the queen of finds this week.  When England swings like a pendulum do and Carnaby Street was the place to be seen.  A great, abstract London Bridge skyline painting produced in the style of the Vangaard Studios in the late 1960s.  This is a big, sofa width size depiction of the well known London Bridge is done in true vintage form with the brutalist drips so popular in the late 1950s through the 1960s.  Original frame.

Just a short video of my space as I just refilled it this weekend.  November begins the busiest time for us and I've got lots of items to bring in for all of the upcoming holidays.  Wishing everyone a gentle November and blessings to you and those you love. Sea Witch

October Surprise

 October is here and it's no political surprise for me but I did have an unplanned surprise this month.  I've been saving to have the huge but outdated, energy hog sliding doors that give entrance to my outdoor atrium.  

I finally had enough saved to have them installed and I'm head over teakettle in love with the finished look.

Before the changeout.  The sliders were single pane and not energy efficient.  They let lots of hot and cold air come and go and were always falling off the track.

The former sliders were so big that I had to add a pair of sidelights to each side and then we could install the french doors.

Love, love, love the way it turned out.  So now I have to paint the inside and outside of the doors and sidelights.  We are in the middle of a very humid week so I will have to wait until the air changes so I can begin the paint job.

And before the doors were installed, I was cleaning and then updating my outdoor ceiling fans.  I really didn't care for them as they were dated and not really pretty but they worked beautifully and I didn't want to spend a couple of hundred to replace them.  

So I grabbed some spray paint with colors that are in my outdoor rung and got busy.

Love these colors and so easy to apply, really fast drying too.

Oh yes!!!   Exactly what I wanted.  A few cans of spray paint turned those dated fan paddles into a fun and updated look.  

And they match my outdoor rug as I wanted to tie in that color pallette with the fan paddles.

In between all of the house upgrading I was doing, I made a quick trip to my favorite place for unique architectural salvage at the Junk Co. in Port Richey.  I was looking for an odd size door to replace the bifolds to my guest hallway linen closet.  It is a small door and I despise the present bifolds. Finally, a door that measured 18" by 80" came in and it is like a french door layout.  My next home project is to bleach the wood and do a faux mercury glass mirror finish on the clear windows.  That will come in the next few weeks so you will have to wait to see it.  But, I did find some treasure while I was there.

Vintage cast metal crucifix insert.  Most likely part of a Last Rites kit where this would fit into a stand.  Circa 1930s

I sold a table and needed another one quickly and found this neat marriage of antique meets mid century table.  Who would have thought that a crate made from antique tongue and groove flooring would look so at home with mid century, atomic iron legs.  Original paint on the crate and the top lifts up for storage, circa 1880s and the iron legs are from the 1950s.

Another great piece from the Junk Co., a faboosh, heavy slate, vintage chalkboard with original wood frame.  Nice size and perfect for a kitchen.

I'm crazy for antique books and have a special weakness for school readers.  

This was a thrift store find.

I don't come across much vintage Stangl here in Florida like I did when I lived in the mid-west but this Granada Gold, double candy dish is too cha cha for words.

Another Lefton turkey found me at my local Thrift haunt.  Oh how I love the Lefton turkeys.  This planter is in excellent condition, but I use mine to serve hot breadsticks.

Marvelous antique Halloween clacker.  Tin litho has wooden clackers and it makes a lot of noise.  M B Co. copyrighted.  Neat pumpkin face.  Circa 1920s

and finally, this charming, mid century, plump, glass piggy bank. This one is larger than the typical smaller piggy that fits in your hand.  

I'm finding it hard to accept that it is mid October and the year will be over way too soon.  The days are slowly getting shorter with sunsets so much earlier these days.  I already miss the long summer nights with daylight to play outdoors.  Wishing everyone blessings to you and those you love. Sea Witch