Retro Ceramic 'Pineapple' Lamp

I got this lamp at a sale this summer. It was down in the basement on a worktable -- it was off-center, the cord was frayed & spliced with oilcloth tape, the socket was disconnected and the whole thing was covered in nasty, greasy dirt. The estate dealer thought it was such a lost cause that he sold me a 1960s lamp for $1! I loved the color, loved the gold design and loved the wire accent at the top. This lamp was perfect -- it just needed a little TLC (and rewiring).

Now that Christmas is over and the booth is set up, I finally got to work on it. Look at it now! If you aren't a lover of all things retro, you'll probably think it was time wasted & that the lamp is still a lost cause. I, however, think it's just wonderful!
I still want to find another rice paper shade for it, because I want to keep this one. Though I know I could (and probably will) sell it in the booth, it's going to be really hard to part with my beautiful teal pineapple lamp!

Children's Record Clock

Take a look at my newest project! I bought a box lot of children's records at a sale last week, most of which were scratched and unplayable. When zootsuitmama saw the picture, she suggested that I make clocks out of them. Thanks, zootsuitmama!I bought a clockwork kit at the local hobby store and got to work this afternoon. It wasn't too difficult -- the hardest part was figuring out the order for placing the hands on the clock, since it came with no instructions at all.I'd like to make more and give some as gifts and sell others either on Etsy or in the booth. I'll be looking for more children's records at sales I go to now!

I'm having trouble pricing these! Help me out, if you would, dear readers . . . if you wanted to buy this record clock for your nursery, studio or kitchen, what would you be willing to pay for it?

Dealer Day

Today was 'Dealer Day' at the antique mall. It's a really nice thing that the owners do for the dealers: once a month they have a two-hour time before they open on Sunday, provide breakfast and even have a giveaway for 2 lucky dealers in a drawing! It allows the dealers to come in, restock & 'fluff' their booths when there aren't any shoppers there, plus it's a great time to get to know each other (and shop). I've been really impressed by how helpful and supportive the owners are, as well as all of the sales staff -- this is turning out to be a great experience.

We met lots of dealers -- especially our booth neighbors -- and everyone was very nice & encouraging. Lots of them had advice and comments about our items and I feel like we'd have a good support net if we had a question or problem.

Here's what the booth looked like when we left today. I forgot my camera and Bargain Hunter took these with her phone:

Unfortunately (for my bottom line, anyway), there was also time to shop! I bought a few things, but am really trying to curb my enthusiasm. . . money is supposed to be coming and NOT going out! I'll take pictures of what I've been buying and post them soon. For now though, it's down to the craft room to work on some projects.

A Prince of a Sale Day!

Today was a beautiful, sunny day, though pretty cold -- it was only 12 degrees when we set out at 7:15 in the dark. My friend, Bargain Hunter, and I had a great time as we went westward to 3 sales and an antiques store. I got some WONDERFUL things -- mostly ready to go, but a few projects in waiting. And you know I love a good project!

Here are some of my Friday 'treasures':

A 1960s toaster -- SO COOL!

Several pieces of Pyrex

Some 1970s custard cups with mushrooms (magic mushrooms?) on them3 butter knives in my wedding pattern (and my mother's AND my niece's), Coronation3 Vintage clip-on skates (it's been a LONG time since I saw any of these)6 1950s pamphlet cookbooks -- these are so much fun!14 Children's booksA pile of old 78 & 45 rpm children's records -- so much fun!A vintage portable baby bed -- probably from the 1960sAn old vanity bench -- a project to restore and refinish - you'll see more on this laterSeveral orphaned pages and maps from books (you'll see more of these later, too)And here's the prize of the day -- a yellow formica and chrome table (it matches the Beetle, doesn't it?)
Then when I got home, I found that THIS treasure had arrived -- a new addition to the Queen Elizabeth collection -- a little pamphlet about her as an (obviously) wife and mother before she took the throne. It's always a happy day when something arrives with the queen's picture on it!

I have to say -- this day was just more fun than any one woman should have! Did you have any fun junking adventures this week?

The Booth is Ready!

Well, the snow-pocalypse is over (it actually turned out to be a snow-fizzle, as we only got about 6-8") and we woke this morning to bright sunshine and a pretty & newly (clean) white world. Bargain Hunter and I spent the morning at the antique mall placing the last items in our booth and staging it. Now it's ready to go and just waiting for some shoppers! Several dealers and a few shoppers came by to check out what we had and I think we made a few sales.

We decided to hold off on the polka dots, because I did a sample board yesterday and didn't like the way they looked painted on the black with acrylic craft paint, so I talked BH out of them. She found a blog about pasting fabric circles to the wall using liquid starch as the paste -- what a clever idea (and they're removable, too)! So, we might do that or we might look for a cool retro border or we might decide to paint something else. With the booth filled, though, I don't think anyone will even notice the border.

Here are some pictures -- check it out for yourself! If you live in the Southeast Michigan area, you can find us at the Livingston Antique Outlet.

Temporama - A Retro Find!

I found some Temporama dishes at my local thrift store last week. I'd never heard of Canonsburg Pottery or Temporama, but was instantly drawn to the retro pattern & colors. It has a circular pattern of squiggles, sunbursts, lines & snowflakes in turquoise and tan.Since I'd never heard of the pottery company or the pattern before, I did some research. Here's what I found out:

Canonsburg Pottery was started as Canonsburg China Company in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (outside of Pittsburgh) in 1900 by John George, but the name was changed in 1909 to Canonsburg Pottery. In 1959 they bought the molds & equipment from the Steubenville Pottery Company when it closed down and continued making some of their patterns under the Steubenville name. Canonsburg went out of business in 1978. Though Temporama is very 1960s in style & color, Canonsburg is probably best known for its floral patterns.

At the thrift store, I got 2 small oval platters, an egg platea gravy boatand a covered casserole
I priced them and put them in the shop, but have 'seller's remorse'! As I write about them and look at the pictures again, I want to go right back and get them to keep for myself.

Opening Day - Antique Mall Style

Today was Opening Day (for our booth at the antique mall)! My shop partner, Bargain Hunter (I'll just call her BH), and I went with her husband to get the booth set up. His truck was loaded with all the shelves for the booth and it looked like the Beverly Hillbillies (all it needed was Granny in a rocking chair)!

Here's what the booth looked like when we began -- the previous tenants left the *lovely* border, royal blue shelves and blue carpet. We wanted to go with a more 50s & retro look and less country, so we painted the border with black chalkboard paint. We're going to put lots of different colored polka dots on it and leave a space at the back of the booth to write a changing message, like 'Welcome' or 'Happy Valentine's Day'.

BH's husband has been so good to us! He not only built the tall white shelves and corner shelf that you'll see in the picture, but then took the day off work to come and help us get them into the booth and tied in to the wall. We couldn't have moved in without him!

Once the shelves were in and the border was painted, it was time to get out all the stuff and start staging -- that's the REALLY fun part! All told, we spent about 7 hours there and got the booth together pretty well. All of BH's items made it there in one trip, because she has an SUV and mostly bin-items. I have a TINY sedan and had lots of larger stuff, so only about half of my stuff is in. We're going back to paint the polka dots and add more stuff on Thursday, after the blizzard. Yes, the snowpocalypse is upon us -- we're supposed to get about 12" and have 60-mile-per-hour winds, so everything is closed tomorrow.

Here's what the booth looked like halfway through the process. . .. . .and when we left for the day

And now for the best part: by the end of the day both BH and I had our first sale! The people who worked at the mall were all excited to see a new dealer and see what we had. I've noticed that most shoppers won't come in the booth when you're putting things in (I never will, either), but the workers were happy to get first dibs. They bought our first two items! That was a great confirmation that we're on the right track.

I'll post more pictures after we dig out of the snow and finish up on Thursday.