NEW FINDS TO KEEP

 What wings are to a bird, and sails are to a ship, so is prayer to the soul. Corrie Ten Boom

As I shop for items to sell in our Gwen And Alma's shop I often find that I end up keeping a few things for myself! Thats the beauty of this little side business! ; )

So today I'm sharing a couple of ( or a few ) things I kept...at least for now!

This little Antique English Burnt Bamboo Shelf is one recent treasure I had a hard time letting go... so I kept it! I had already found one at an Estate Sale and sold it and then immediately regretted it! So when I saw this one I HAD to have it! Right now it's sitting in a back hallway that is a large enough area to put something in but it needs to be on the smaller side. So it fits the bill. 

I also purchased the sweetest little vintage bird picture which I also kept and for now it is sitting on this shelf but I really like seeing the little bamboo slats on the back of the shelf so I may not keep the picture there. I'll probably hang it!

                   The blue pitcher was a Mom's Day gift and the pot was made by a friend.

Near the shelf is this Scandinavian bench I purchased at an Estate Sale several years ago and I think I'll always keep this, since I'm fully Scandinavian!

     I also kept this extra large pillow from an Estate sale that is covered with an antique flour sack!

Recently I was bidding on an online auction and saw a Primitive Milking Stool that I really liked. I finally stopped bidding as the bidding went higher. And then over Mother's Day weekend, my daughter and granddaughter and I went to Gold Rush, an Antique, Vintage and Flea Market, and lo and behold, there it was! How crazy is that? It was in a Scandinavian booth which I stop at when Gold Rush is in town. The owner has a Scandinavian shop in Wisconsin. I asked her if she had just purchased this at a recent online auction and she, of course, said she had! There couldn't be TWO of them, after all! 

I had been bidding on it thinking of selling it but now that I saw it in person I decided to buy it for myself! I told my husband he just bought another Mother's Day gift for me!

It's a little more primitive than my living room so I will probably find another place for it! But it's a fun conversation piece and it has a fun story to go with it! Right now it's a plant stand.

         Les and I went to the 100 Mile Garage Sale and I picked up this antique mirror...

I'll hang it later but for now it's going to sit on the dresser, which by the way, I purchased at an Estate Sale. 

Oh my! I didn't look in the mirror before sharing this. LOL I didn't quite get the bedroom ready for a photo op. This bedroom is used by the grandkids so I keep little cute things on the dresser, including the pixie sitting in the bowl of sand from our "second home" in Panama City Beach, Florida.

On our latest trip to South Carolina, I purchased this vintage embroidered pillow from a cute little gift shop in Old Bluffton. They carried antique and new items. 

                         This little guy, "Baby", is ready for May in blue hat and flowers. I change his head wear monthly according to the seasons. 

Enjoy the May flowers! 

Sandy

COPPER FINDS

Lately I've been drawn to purchasing copper items. I love the old rustic look, the patina, and the quaintness of these pieces. So I have a few pieces of copper being sold in our Etsy Shop right now. But I'm bringing this up because as I mentioned in another post I would share the items I purchased at the last Auction. The first two are the ones I purchased at the auction and the others were purchased at an Estate Sale earlier.

                 This last one is kind of rustic but I could see some cute plants growing in there.

                            I also have this wonderful copper tea kettle with a wooden handle.

 

And this sweet pitcher.

 

And my personal favorite, this antique primitive copper ladle in the front of this photo. You can see more photos of this and all the others in our Etsy Shop at gwenandalmas.etsy.com

                    The wooden bowl, the lantern, and the stool have already been sold.

MY TOP TEN FAVORITE FINDS FOR 2016

                                    2017   Twelve New Chapters :  365 New Days
                                   **************************************

I've collected photos of my favorite vintage finds in 2016. Some of them I sold in my Etsy Shop, some at our Hob Nobbers Occasional Sales, and some I kept. Others will be for sale in our Hob Nobbers Sale or Etsy's shop.

You'll find that I like  the old Rustic and Farmhouse style decor. The first one is this old box with its cute hooks. I love to use old boxes for storage  and I love the Farmhouse style look. This one sold on Etsy!

The next item is also a favorite. This cute little desk and chair which I sold at our Occasional Sale.

                                               This large primitive dough bowl sold also. I'll keep looking for more of these! Love it!

I hauled this amazing Library rolling ladder home from Naples, Florida! I sold it at our Hob Nobber sale. Both sides have large wooden steps and had been used as a book shelf.

                                           
                                         Are you seeing a pattern here? Lots of wood! Next up is an antique child's folding  table and chair.  This has not sold yet and I'm so surprised. It's adorable and the color is amazing!  I've envisioned this not only as a child's item but  cute vintage decor pieces. But for a child, how cute would it be in a garden setting with a little plant on the table?  This is still for sale in my Etsy Shop, Gwen And Alma's!

Below is another REALLY favorite piece. I had never seen anything like this before. This is a unique antique German wooden trencher or trough. The couple I purchased this from were collectors and were downsizing. They had used this as a blanket holder at the end of their bed. So my Hob Nobber partner, Karen, purchased it. And she is now using it in the same way. We often buy each other's treasures!

This is a vintage ice cream stool with a wooden seat.  Love, love, love it! Not sold yet!

I love the color blue and I love stoneware bowls so this was on "My Favorites List" for sure! This sold in my Etsy Shop. I'll be looking for more for sure!

This is a blue enamel Norwegian  tin. The reason this was a favorite is because I had two of the same set.  So you know I had to keep this one to complete the set! Can you believe that I had two of a set of these from Norway and then happened to find the third in an Estate Sale  in another state? I didn't even know there WERE three of them! I had purchased the other two from a friend who collected Scandinavian treasures and was downsizing in retirement. The other tins say, "Sabe" and "Borster". I've had a hard time trying to find the definitions but the closest I've come is that "Sabe" is "Soap", "Borster" is "Brush" and "Soda" is "Soda". Apparently soda  was kept years ago in bathrooms. So my guess is that these might have been hung in bathrooms to hold items used there. If anyone out there has better knowledge of the definitions, let me know.

This next one is something I had not seen before. I couldn't even find another one like it on the internet, and every antique collector I asked had not seen another either. So this is RARE! I sold it in my Etsy Shop to some lucky person! Just love the little soap dish attached to this enamelware!

So that's my TOP TEN for 2016! Of course there were many more favorites but I had to pick only 10!

OPENING OF ETSY STORE

It has been a long time coming but I'll be ready to open my new Etsy store next Wednesday, November 18th. The name of my store is  named after my two grandmothers...

                                                           Gwen And Alma's

Gwen

While Hob Nobbers is a group effort of Karen, Renee,  and I, along with our families, my Etsy store is a business that I am doing on my own. Our Hob Nobber occasional sales will continue over Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, though so don't worry! My new Etsy store will just allow you to shop year round!

Gwen and Alma both have Scandinavian backgrounds and grew up on farms so I will be featuring rustic farmhouse wares, vintage Scandinavian treasures, as well as other vintage items.

Check out my Gwen And Alma's page to see what will be for sale next week. Pictured below are some things that will be posted for sale at a later date. You can contact me if you are local and would like to purchase an item.

Vintage Tray

Rustic Primitive Scoop

 

Several Vintage Christmas Tablecloths. Everyone needs at least one!

                                 AND LOTS MORE...JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

                    Also check out my Craigslist site where I have the following for sale:

Difficult to find vintage dress form. If you use this for decor, you can pull off the knitted outer lining and it has a lovely patina and rustic look underneath. Great also for display of vintage dress wear and jewelry.

           And because both Grandmas had cottages on lakes I'm listing beach chairs! Find them also on my Craigslist listing...( Rochester, Mn, Antiques )

Perfect vintage beach chairs,  the original canvas is still in good condition but can always be easily replaced later. These would look sweet in front of any lake home or cabin or even in your own backyard. Great gift idea for anyone who loves vintage also!

     REMINDER:   Be sure and check out my Gwen and Alma's page above just under the header! These will be for sale next week!

Our admiration of the antique is not  admiration of the old, but of the natural.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

SPECIAL THANKSGIVING FIND

Recently I went to an auction out of town. I bid on and won a "lot" of miscellaneous pieces of pottery. There were actually a lot of people at the auction but this photo was taken early before the auction began. My husband and I enjoy auctions though they DO take up a lot of time. You have to sit through the bidding of a lot of things you don't want until they get to the things that you do want. Sometimes we have spent a whole day at auctions. The auctioneers at most places we've been to are entertaining and fun! Not the "all-serious" auctions you might see on TV. ; )  

One of the pieces we "won" was this wonderful mustard-yellow Frankoma Cornucopia. Auctions speak in terms of "winning"something  instead of "buying"something. Guess it makes you feel like you actually won something. The idea behind it is that you have "won" the bid!

 Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner I decided to offer this for sale now ( for local pick-up only unless you really twist my arm to mail this to you ) so someone could enjoy it for Thanksgiving. Only available on Hob Nobbers right here, right now! This would look amazing filled with mini pumpkins or other Fall decor. It is in great condition with no chips or cracks.

                               
                             Leave a comment if you are interested. I am selling this for $10. 

Source

MORE FINDS!

 "Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared to believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances."    Bruce Barton

I have a few more items that I didn't list in the last  post of my finds...Some are for sale now...

 For some reason I'm attracted to Folk Art. I found this folk art guy at a going-out-of-business antique store. I gave him the name, Beau Eddie. When you hold the handle on the base and bounce it up and down, Beau's arms and legs bend and flail, dancing all around.

         
 I found the cookie cutters and vintage Christmas ornament ( one of 10 ) at an Estate Sale.I will post a photo of the other ornaments later!  I am going to  sell these in my Etsy store after Thanksgiving but if you would like to buy them now let me know before I list them and I will sell them to you. The vintage ornaments and cookie cutters are great for adding vintage decor in your home or even to add as a sweet decoration/extra gift on your Christmas packages!

This sweet Victorian tray I won on an online auction and will be for sale at our Spring Sale 2016. I love the green border and delicate handles.

        I purchased the following clock at an out of town auction. It will be for sale in the Spring.

                             These swanky swig glasses will be going in my Etsy store also..

                               And this flow blue dish will be for sale in my Etsy store as well.

                                                
                                                     Another Etsy item...this chamber pot

I'm still listing things on Etsy so it is not open YET but will be sometime this month! I will announce the GRAND OPENING date soon so be watching for it!

NEW TREASURED FINDS

Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.  Author unknown.

 This weekend I went to an Estate sale and picked up some nice things for upcoming sales. I am now shopping for three sales! We have our Fall Sale over the Labor Day weekend but this year I'm also going to take some things to Gold Rush, an antiques and flea market show that brings in people all over the U.S. I will have a vendor space there. The other Hob Nobbers will not be involved in this sale. It's just my husband and I. I am also collecting for my Etsy store which will be opening sometime this month. So I'm stocking up!

Here are a few of the little things I picked up.  But there is a lot more! Now to decide what venue to take each item to...

I always pick up any ironstone I find. I love this sweet little pitcher!

There were a lot of flower frogs at this sale. These are two that were different from the usual that I find. One is in its original box.

 

 Next is this set of vintage measuring cups shaped like a beehive.

I also pick up vintage children's hangers when I see them. If you can see the ticket behind the hanger it is the new "tag" I'm using. I'm actually pricing and tagging items as I get them for the first. time. ever! I usually procrastinate and have hundreds of items to mark and tag the week before our sale!

I'm not exactly sure what this little guy is. He is porcelain with two slots on either side of the bottom. He is a cook carrying a spoon in front. Does anyone know what the slots are for?

Flow blue is my favorite! Maybe I should keep this. ; )

Prisms for your "chandy", anyone? I have 15 of them!

How about this wonderful set of printing stamps? There are actually two levels to this set and it is in great condition as is the wooden case it is in!

A large primitive wood bowl! I love the coloring on this!

A pretty Nippon antique hat pin holder...

A "Mother's Poem" picture in a lovely frame. Every Mother should have one!

This cute little creamer...

And last but not least, this grouping of ephemera...

I also found some great larger pieces but I'll show those in another post. The lady who owned these items seems to have the same tastes that I have. Happily this was a "live estate" in that the lady who owned these treasures is still alive but is downsizing due to moving. 

And while I had my camera in hand, I snapped this shot of two of my husbands hats he had tossed on the post of the stair railing! Hah!

Have a wonderful day! Remember to add beauty to your home! And notice the "whimsie" in it as well!

NEW BLOG...I've started a new blog about how to live a happily balanced life. It's titled, well, "HAPPILY BALANCED". I'd love to have you follow along and share your ideas! Go here to see it.

Till Next Time...Sandy