Bits & Pieces

 MIA.....missing in action! So much has happened in the last few months that I will just touch on a few things! The above picture was taken at our local grocery store during the few days around Mother's Day. Here in deep South Texas Mother's Day is taken seriously!! Check out the explosion of colors on these cakes. I had gotten in line to pay for some groceries and I was right next to this display. Yes, it was a Kodak moment! Click on the pics for up close and personal! :)

 This picture is of some darling little showcases I found. No this wasn't a flea market, antique shop, thrift store or any other of my usual "junking" haunts......this was at a "Marshall's"! I could not believe my luck! The wooden one is aged to perfection and really does look to be very old. The other one is a tin and glass creation with the lid slanted a bit....very similar to an antique one we had used in our antique shop for years....Mom has that one! I have had these a couple of months now so don't go running to Marshall's, sorry, but I just had to share!

 This is just because I love pink......and mercury glass......and old millinery velvet leaves.......and MacKenzie-Childs pottery......and that great antique pink satin glass lady flower frog.......well, the lady flower frog is my daughter's but I am "storing" it for her till she is ready to take it! That MacKenzie-Childs very large platter was a gift from my kids and husband several years ago and is one of my favorite pieces. I don't think this pattern was made very long as you sure don't see it much! The old vintage jar with a metal lid holds a large ball strand of pink mercury glass beads that are new but I am an equal opportunity mercury glass buyer. And besides, hello, they are pink! By the way I LOVE old glass jars, too, but that will have to be another post! :)

Now the first photo is of what used to be my daughter's room. She grew up on me, darn her, went off to Texas A&M and is now married to her sweetie, lives in California and is an elementary teacher! Soooo her room got transformed into my craft, eBay, Etsy, antique mall preparing room! Whoosh! It does NOT look like this picture anymore as it is somewhat filled up, and a bit messy at the moment, but I will post pictures soon of it's "loveliness"! I am in love with the great black and white floor and I have even more shelving now than what is here. Don't hate me!
The bottom photo is of some items I have listed on eBay right now, lynnesfinds is my seller name, that are from an estate sale I am currently working on. These pieces are sterling and very nice to say the least!!!! Please check them out if they interest you, they are beautiful pieces! So that is a little of what I am, and have been, up to lately. I will try my best to not take so long to update and my finished room pics will be coming soon! Have a great week!

Booth Sign & Altered Embellished Bottles

Don't you just LOVE old dictionaries??? I pick them up when I can as they come in so handy for crafting of all kinds! Right now I am working on a sign for my new booth. I wandered all over Michael's last night getting all kinds of inspiration.  Got a little distracted, too, if you know what I mean!

 When I got home I started looking around for something to make the sign out of. My husband even got into it, too! He kept saying use something you wouldn't expect, something no one else has. He ended up pulling out of my many piles and stuck away corners of stuff this old carved oak piece. It was probably the top crest of a dresser or sideboard mirror and long ago I had started to spray it white. I decided to mod podge dictionary pages for the background which I love to do.

 I was so wound up with excitement I just sat down and got with it. It went really fast and is now all done and ready for the embellishing!

 My daughter had bought me some chipboard letters a couple of years ago and I had to search awhile to find those suckers. You have no idea how many places I could have put those things but I found them, finally, and they will look just great. More pics later when it is done.

 Last night while I had the mod podge and dictionary out I got inspired to finally embellish some old bottles....something I have wanted to do for ages. That is really the reason I didn't finish the sign...hee hee. Once again, I got totally distracted!

 I cut the pages and mod podged them onto the bottles and left them to dry. I actually made myself go to bed or I would have kept going!!! With the time change I went to bed at 2:30. This morning I fully intended to go to church. Forgive me Lord, I didn't quite get there but I did work on my bottles.

 After over 30 years in the antiques business, plus still scouting and buying all the time, I have quite the stash of old goodies to work with. I love keys and the largest bottle got a key that still had a little paper tag as to what it opened. I left it with the old string and tag and tied it up with an old button and paper flower. It now shares space with a vintage lavender earring. I used old handmade lace, antique and vintage buttons and odds and ends of old jewelry and assorted bits and pieces on the other bottles, too!

 I also have vintage beaded and embellished trims, old silk binding, vintage tiny nosegays and old dress clips to play with. With all my stash the possibilities are endless.

The tallest bottle still had it's original rusty lid so I left it alone. The others I added old clip on earrings for the tops. Well, for a first time try I think they turned out pretty good, don't you? These are now headed to my new booth.....they close at 6:00, I can just make it!! Later gator!

My antique mall booths!

 Just wanted to do a quick update on my antique mall booths! These two photos are of my booth at Mimi's Attic in downtown Weslaco, TX. I have been rearranging both spaces, bringing in merchandise and freshening up.

 I have two vintage/antique showcases on the aisle and then you can step into my booth. I have a great lighted cabinet full of great stuff-on the right. At the back is a very long old tailor's table, display only, that I will be loading up later with some type of shelving, crates maybe? Not shown is another very large multi shelved lighted display case also chock full of great collectibles and antiques.

 This is my booth at Weslaco Antiques Mall only 2 doors south of Mimi's! I just completely rearranged this booth. It was long overdue and now is so much better! Remember you can click on the photos for a closer look! All the items in this booth are now half price! I am wanting to not only rearrange the booth BUT bring in all new (old) merchandise! Lots of great stuff to pick from so if you are local, come on down!

I have other news, too! As if two booths is not enough I am now at a third antiques mall but this one is in McAllen! My new space is inside New & Again Antique Mall at 1101 Upas, one block off Tenth street and very easy to find! Hours are Wednesday thru Saturday 10:00 until 6:00 and Sunday 12:00 until 6:00. These photos are the "befores", obviously, but my camera quit on me for the "afters"! I am headed over there tomorrow to take some more goodies and updated booth pictures. I have been blessed with great sales here already, thank you God! If you are local check out this nice mall run by some very sweet sisters! Thanks for checking in with me!

Where Have I Been????

Yes, I have been MIA...missing in action. My plate has been full and running over! For the past 2 1/2 months I have been working on my own parents' estate sale. My parents have downsized and I am selling what didn't fit or they couldn't take. It has been long hours and lots of work but we have done some good. We have had many friends, family and customers to the house, a few at a time, for private selling as parking is not the best. And for now we, my helper Janelle and I, are taking a break mainly as I now have some other estate sales to start seeing about. My parents have lots more things in storage and we will get back to their house later to re-stock and re-open. As for this week, I signed a contract for an estate but cannot really start until probate is done. My next appointment for another sale is later this month as that is when the heirs will be here from Chicago. So for now I am working (playing) in the yard as spring seems to have sprung! Just look at this photo of my passion flower vine. This vine has finally just taken off and has flowers all over.

 Have you ever taken a really good up close and personal look at one of these flowers??? Alien I tell you, alien! Look at it! As a child growing up in the early 60's we had one of these vines on our patio. There were wrought iron columns that held up our patio roof and this vine was on one of these columns, lush and beautiful! When Hurricane Beulah struck in 1967 this vine said goodbye. The ferocious winds kept pulling at the patio roof slowly yanking the wrought iron columns with it. Once the bolts on the columns gave way the vine tried to hold on.........but not for long. We will never forget watching the roof fly up and then over our house and across the street only to plunge into the neighbors garage door! What a sight! Hurricanes are so powerful!

 At the corner of our house are two bottlebrush trees. They are both covered in blooms today and it is a wash of long red spires! Remember to click on my photos for a closer look!

 One old wives tale is "March roars in like a lion and out like a lamb" and today is one of those days. Taking these pictures was hard as the winds are gusting at 45 mph but I kept snapping away to get some good shots.

 Here is a closeup of these pretty and unusual blooms. They are just long spires of red fluff and I love them. The birds also like to hide in these trees or rest in them at night. Occasionally there will be some nests, too!

 Also in the front yard there is a rose bed that follows the sidewalk to our front door. In the fall I noticed some rose bushes were dying plus two large shrubs at the front window. Little did we know then but termites, and ants, were munching out on them AND our house. Yes, we got the bug people to kill all those pests and we are filling in plants that were lost. Here are the new rose bushes.

 I have a thing about the word "variegated". In simpler terms it means two-toned. I LOVE two-toned roses!!! You will not believe the colors that these will be. When we bought them they were blooming and when I saw a couple of them they made me gasp they were so pretty. Oh yes, my husband was along for this as we bought these roses for our 31st wedding anniversary. That, my friends, is a long time for a marriage these days. I am blessed with a wonderful man!

 Our son is digging up the rose bed and getting the old soil out. We just had a truck load of topsoil brought to the house this morning to mix with some manure compost. Yes, those roses are going to be blooming up a storm! I can picture them in my mind already!

 In the meantime, I was at our local grocery store Sunday. They had some gorgeous flowers and tons of roses in their floral department. A dozen roses were only $8.99! How can you pass that up? I sure can't!

 Here is that word again......variegated! This is what I am talking about folks! Two-toned and out of this world beautiful! God is such an artist!

So, bloggers, I am back. Refreshed, ready to go and blogging regularly. I have lots of other news, too! But I will save that for another day! I hope everyone is having a glorious day today.....I sure am!