SIMPLIFYING AND NEW FINDS

I've been working on simplifying my life lately, paring things down to the important things in my life...like spending wild and crazy times with family and quiet time with God, trying to stay healthy by cooking more rather than going out to eat, getting enough rest and enough exercise ( important at my age ), and helping others through volunteer work. But I DO take time for fun, hobbies, and pleasure. So I have also made time for collecting treasures for Hob Nobbers and  Gwen And Alma's, my Etsy Store.

I've been pleasantly surprised how much I'm selling in my Etsy Store. Not that I'm "raking in the dough" but I thought it would take a few months at least for people to even "find me" considering there must be hundreds of thousands of little Etsy stores out there. But in the first two months I have made sales from New York, to Washington, to Oklahoma, to Virginia, and more! I keep wondering how they are finding me?! But it has been fun so I'll keep going and hopefully it will keep growing!

Assorted wooden bowls and utensils, shown here in wooden trough ( also for sale )

I've been slow to write on my other blog, My Balanced Life ( due to simplifying my life...and trying to maintain balance ). I'm going to have to figure out a strategy there. Things were busy over the holidays and then we moved right into birthdays and overnights with Gramma and Grampa ( that would be my husband and I ) and then Valentine's Day. Whew! It's been a whirlwind of activity! And it's all good!

Folk Art Bottle Cap person

I have just a few things to show you that I bought for our Spring Sale! I've been able to find some nice things at auctions over the winter. Usually I'm scrambling in the Spring for inventory for our sale but this time I've been searching high and low over the winter.

You'll have to look close to see the salt cellars here. Some with spoons.

Here's a closer view

 

 

I was excited to find this framed, signed, numbered, limited edition Charles Wysocki print, Merrymakers Serenade. This is a poor photo of it so you'll have to come and see it for yourself. Check it out on the internet in the meantime. It's a beautiful painting.

Of course we always have a few vintage flower frogs. Many people use them as photo holders or vintage postcard holders.

              I found a couple of rustic metal "sugar cube trays" that you could repurpose. What would YOU use them for? OR they could still be used for sugar cubes! Hah!

I'll be sharing more of our "finds" in the days ahead.  I'll also be writing more about simplifying your life as well...

Check out Gwen And Alma's, my Etsy store. I have to replenish it though because I'm running out of inventory there. Find it by clicking it on the right sidebar.

If there is something specific you are looking for, let me know and we'll look for it when we're out searching. Let me know also what you would be willing to pay for it.

THIS WEEK'S VINTAGE FINDS

There was a Estate/garage sale in a small town near here but I decided to sleep in on the first day of the sale. I know, Early Bird gets the worm and all that but I was tired. On the second day, and in the afternoon, I decided to drive over and hope there might be something left. Shoulda been there on the first day. Coulda bought some great stuff. Woulda if I hadn't been tired. Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

And yet....they were now selling treasures for HALF PRICE! So I think I got the BIG DEALS of the day! I managed to find some fun "smalls" and a couple of larger pieces. The sale was in the garage and on into the kitchen of a townhouse. An elderly couple sat in chairs in the living room, talking to people as they walked in. They seemed to really be enjoying themselves. I found two sets of salt cellars. As I picked them up to look closer, the elderly lady shared, "Those are really old. I've had them quite a while."

 Not many people use salt cellars these days but I think they should make a come-back. They dress up the table in a simple way and are not very expensive, at least not at our sales!

Below are three egg cups. The first is Norwegian Figgjo Flint. The red one is from Norway and the other is unmarked. I might have a hard time letting these go as I have a small egg cup collection myself.

           
                  Not sure what this is but it is heavy for its size. Could be used as a paper weight.

                           
                               Below is a vintage matchbox holder with a candle holder.

             
 This is an interesting piece of handmade funky Folk Art. It's a bird of some kind carved out of wood with a hollow "nut" as the body. I love Folk Art so it always stands out to me.

And last but not least ( of the smalls anyway) is this fun golfer door stop or book end. Another one selling like it on eBay says it is from the 1930's but I don't know if that is accurate.

My husband, a golfer himself,  might want this so we'll see...If not, it will be in our Mantiques section at our Hob Nobbers sale. So that is just a few of my fun finds for this week!