Merry Christmas

The year is almost over...how quickly it flew by.  Just finished hot chocolate with freshly whipped cream with my sister as we sit and get ready to watch Christmas Eve service.   

I am grateful for a fairly gentle year and hope it will continue in 2020.  This was my best year at the Lyon's Head Antique Mall and I continue to enjoy this marvelous antique mall with great owners who treat all of of heir dealers like their family.

I found some treasure last weekend in between the Christmas shopping and 

have already sold most of it.

A great little holiday find, a 1963 Annalee Santa doll warming his buns near a pot belly stove.

Marvelous silverplated champagne bucket by Gorham in wonderful condition makes a great Christmas tree stand. 

Love these vintage commercial spools. 

Nice mid century silverplated butlers tray.  These have so many decorative uses.

Love this small porcelain  bucket with the hand painted American peace eagle.

Nice vintage, E. O. Brody milk glass pedestal urn. 

 Pretty set of Nativity Scene figurines with a sand cast look with silver leaf highlights.

Everyone knows the Lefton holly line but this is the first miniature kerosene lamp I have come across. 

 Love these big hand stitched beaded and sequined Christmas items.  These are a personal keeper.

Hard to find, vintage, St Anne figurine.  St. Anne is the mother of Mary and patron saint of grandmothers, housewives, women in labor and unmarried women.

As I child, my family visited the NY Worlds Fair almost every weekend during its two years existence.  The Vatican Pavilion was a family favorite and where I saw Michelangelo's Pieta many times.  As a young girl, even then this extraordinary sculpture impacted me.  I had a tiny chalk figurine many years ago and it got lost over the years.  Was delighted to find this much larger, resin cast figurine with lovely details.  This is now in my home and brings me joy and fond memories.

With all that said, I wish peace and joy for all and always, blessings to you and those you love.  Sea Witch

December 1st

November came and went.  Had a lovely four days off over Thanksgiving and spent the time putting up outdoor lights and decor, pricing items for my booth spaces, taking photos for my Etsy shop, Girdle Gals Fashion, did a little antiquing and baked cookies to send to my son who is deployed again.  

Strung lights, decorated the antique wicker baby carriage, my antique snow shovel and my Victorian chair.  

I adore this antique snow shovel as a gentle reminder that I will never have to shovel that white stuff again.

I like to decorate my two front urns for the holidays and this year I decorated large, bouncy balls from Walmart to look like those delightful Scandinavian gnomes.  

Weekend finds were these nifty, 1960s beaded/sequined fruit.

A pair of vintage, milk glass candy dishes with a pretty lattice edge.

A pretty mid century flower frog/planter in the shape of a boat.  Italian piece.

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Nice vintage marble small study lamp.

Pair of naval handbook/manual for Boy Scouts.  Really unique items.

10 inch figurine of a shepherd and sheep for a Nativity scene.

Two of the three Kings for a Nativity scene.  10 inch figurines.

Pair of flocked vintage deer.  Charming pieces.

A stunning Raku pot, signed and dated.

A fabulous find, gorgeous hand painted Victorian fan on a mother of pearl frame.  Professionally framed in the 1940s.

Brown paper packages tied up with string...a really neat, vintage string dispenser. 

A Goodwill find, a stunning Art Deco Buddha lamp with a gorgeous Czech shade.  I'm in the process of rewiring it with a vintage look wrapped cord to keep it's Art Deco look.

A lovely set of Fitz and Floyd seashell plates.

 Christmas is always a fun time in our booth spaces.  I brought in this charming pair of red, long underwear which always makes a great decorative element.

 Vintage stockings are always fun.

I changed around my main space and moved the furniture to different locations within the space.  It really opened things up and this pretty green, Circa 1900 general store counter can now be seen more clearly.

 

Moved my display case to the front of my space as well.  I really like the openness of the walk around area.

and finally, Santa Claus has left a spare suit in the front display case.  A great vintage piece of red velvet and faux fur trim.  

I was a wonderful four days off and I got a lot done.  This year will fly by so let me wish all peace and happiness and blessings to you and those you love.  Sea Witch

Autumn Treasure Hunt

It was a busy, busy weekend for me...had to paint the new molding in the guest bedroom as I had the existing carpet removed and new flooring laid.  Of course, that meant I could not return the furniture to the room until the painting was completed.  Additionally, they did not have enough molding to complete the walk in closet so I have to wait until Wednesday for them to complete it.  So I live with bedroom pieces all around me until the job is and the paint fully dried.  The present inconvenience will be worth it, though.

I am also partaking in a Minimalist Game at my job.  Beginning on Oct 1st, you find at least one item to remove from your home...donate it, toss it, sell it.  As you progress through the month of October, each day you add that amount of removing items from your home. This is a great way to "push" you into getting rid of items you have squirreled away and no longer need.  Well, this weekend, I finally tackled the 20 bins of high end clothing I had that I had as part of my consignment space in Atlanta.  Where I live in Florida there are no high end consignment shops so these items have sat for nearly 3 years   I pulled out bins and had 366 items to donate to a Women in Transition organization that will give these lovely clothes rather then sell them.  I am so excited to pass these on to women who can use them.

Finally, the Lyon's Head Antique Mall held their first Sidewalk Sale of the season and I had to take pictures and live video for the facebook page.  Well, this really isn't a chore and I always look forward to it.

A weekend find at the Lyon's Head Antique Mall Sidewalk Sale this Saturday. My antique gal pals know I am weak in the knees for Victorian quadruple plate and I sprinted to the table of a favorite dealer to see this stunning set up close. Rogers silverplate in marvelous condition and a price that I couldn't walk away from. This is now in my personal collection and I will use it to serve tea when my grandchildren come to visit.  

From the sidewalk sale I stopped in at my favorite shop for all things chippy, rusty, crusty and unique, Junk Co.  

Junk Co. never disappoints and I came home with a prize for my kitchen...an antique, tine egg/creamer hand crank whipper by Fries.  Circa 1890, this is a great piece and in perfect working (whipping) condition.  I also found this nifty miniature horn with seven leadpipes (one is missing).  Would love to know what type of pocket horn this is.

From here, I stopped for a bone dry cappuccino at Starbucks and then headed out to my local Goodwill.  This thrift store is always a field trip of finds and you truly new know what will pop up...this one had interesting things call me.

A pair of charming, Queen Anne seats for the American Girl, Felicity, Dolls.  These are so delightful and they are now in my booth space at a price way below what AG is asking for them on their website.

This has been a month of finding beautiful Madonna and Child vintage figurines.  This is a lovely 1960 ART by Japan figurine.  In perfect condition.

Though not my decorating elements, I adore Capidomonte pieces.  These were also found at Goodwill this weekend.  Stunning pair of vintage candlesticks with hand pressed roses.

Found another pair of doll sized chairs.  Smaller than the AG Queen Anne chairs, these are heavy cast iron.  Oh, how I wish they were lifesize...they would be in my front foyer as you come to the front door.

  

 I was delighted to find this marvelous EAPG cake plate.  Love this glass and I have never seen this pattern before the pattern is called Aurora, circa 1880.

Antique Majolica has a marvelous look and feel and this pretty piece has a lovely color palette.

Vintage, Royal Staffordshire, England by Clarice Cliff is always in demand.  Never came across this color palette before, brown transferware with hand painted blue highlights.

 Who doesn't love Fitz and Floyd pieces?  From the elegant to the whimsical, this lovely teat pot is straight from the sea and called Oceana.  Discontinued pattern.

These charming vintage, Stangl creamers have a sweet holly design.  

Pretty vintage Indiana glass biscuit jar has a pretty ruby flash band.  

 I have had luck these past few weeks finding interesting Early American Pressed Glass (EAPG) pieces and this creamer and sugar set was a great find.  By Atterbury & Co., the pattern is Ceres Cameo and from 1870.    

A sweet pair of EAPG cordials.  Pattern is called Bullseye and Daisy, US Glass Co., 1900.   

These boots were made for walkin' and that's just what they do...well they will walk on over to my shelf and I will decorate them for Christmas.  Just a unique find, a proud mother or father took their child's first cowboy boots and had them copper clad just like other baby shoes from the 1930s-50s.  First time I have ever come across baby cowboy boots in copper. 

With a few days left of this month, the year is coming to a close faster than I like.  Days are shorter and I miss playing outside now that it is dark so soon.   Hope your days are filled with love and pleasant moments and blessings to you and those you love. Sea Witch

Days are getting shorter

 The shadows lay taller as the sun sets earlier each day and the evening weighs heavy with darkness by 7:30pm.  I live for the long, summer days and with the sun taking leave earlier these days I often forget what time it truly is.  

Even the sunlight on the pool takes on a different look as the sun moves around the yard at a different time and is lower in the sky.

Saturday and Sunday were beautiful days to do a little treasure hunting and some neat pieces were found.  Love antique and vintage copper and this charming little, single cup percolator has its coffee inserts and a sassy little glass top.  A weekend find, I'm just crazy about it and it makes terrific coffee.

My favorite place for finding treasure for my home is Junk Co. in Port Richey.  Owners, Jennifer and Brad find the niftiest pieces and this American Primitive snow shovel had to come home with me.  I'm gonna put a big, fat, red bow on it and lean it against my front door for the Christmas holidays as a reminder that I will never, EVER, have to shovel snow again.

A Goodwill find, three watercolors by GUIS.  Robert Guis was born in France and had a special love for Spanish villages.  These three watercolors are representative of that love.  Have a little more homework to do with these and once I find the information I am seeking I will bring into my booth space at the Lyon's Head Antique Mall.

Ahh, be still my heart, I adore antique transferware and these tiny, butter pats are pure joy. 

Pretty Imperial Hobstar, Marigold Carnival Glass open sugar is a charmer.  I use these as votive holders and the light they throw is amazing through this lovely glass

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Antique sock stretcher will be decorated for the holidays.

 A lovely reproduction of a vintage, bottle brush tree.  Not old, but still a great decorative element.

An antique quilt piece was a cutter and I love using these as background for photos.  My little girl likes it too and she spent the afternoon taking a snooze in it.

Vintage Johnson Bros. china is known for their Thanksgiving and Christmas themed pieces.  These oversized butter pats. coasters or nut dishes are the Merry Christmas theme.

Antique bone dishes are no longer used these days but they still have marvelous other uses.  They are perfect for holding jewelry, change or even pretty little soaps.

 A very lucky find, a small group of charming rhinestone pins and one set of earrings.  I love the scissors as this is such an unusual theme.

Always love those antique/vintage books.  The Rubens masterpieces, in color, is terrific.

When starlets of the 1930s and 40s were big on the silver screen and featured in books as the heroines of mystery stories.  

And last, but not least, a precious hand made ram that will find it's way into my personal collection of sheepies.

Wishing everyone a lovely fall and blessings to you and those you love. Sea Witch