Balanced

Reader, it's not that I don't think of you, it's just that life gets in the way.  I feel like I am always making excuses for not writing and I know that you sit at home nightly with your box of tissues crying your eyes out for a new post from MTSS, but I don't have time to shop or a place to put all of my finds.  Please rest assured, when I do shop, you are the first to know!  There isn't some secret blog where I am posting for some other readers about things you aren't seeing, I promise.  It's only you, it's always been you, it will always be you.

But, this past couple of weeks have been insanity.  It is just one of those time with lots of balls in the air and tons of things happening.  I am surviving and I felt the balance last weekend with a little shopping...

I have to say that one of my favorite new tools for shopping estate sales is estatesales.net.  It's great in that it tells you where the sales are, plus has lots of photos of what they have.  You can see if there is anything you might like or discover instantly it probably won't be worth your time...this one was!  The issue of course is that you see things you want, but then you get there and they are already gone.  But, I guess it was my lucky day as the two footed bowls (the same, but with different china markings) were still there and I got them for half off since it was Saturday morning.  They'll be perfect with all of the other white dishes of mixed pedigree. 

Shells.  Faux shells.  You know about my obsession (here, here and here), so I was more than thrilled to add these two, lovely specimens from Wedgewood cast in the bone china to the collection.  It grows, its shifts...it expands.

I always eye salts at the antique store covetously because I want them so badly and they are always fifteen to twenty dollars EACH.  Is the market for salts really that strong?  I guess so, but I was very happy to find four lovely little specimens at the estate sale for next to nothing.  They remind of little crystal urchins and next time I have a little formal dinner I will serve my very exquisite salt in these little guys.

This little matchbook was not priced, but the woman at the checkout was so delighted we wanted something "from my era" that she threw it for free!  From Japan, it opens out the end and has a different little house image on both sides.  It is kind of the palette of our kitchen in Terre Haute and the hanging objets above the sink, which is not to say the same as the palette in the Texas kitchen, although close.  These things are always changing and evolving.

These glasses have been following me all over the country!  I'm sure they're just something basic from Libbey that was just sold everywhere, but I have managed to find them in Wichita, Terre Haute, Madison and now West Texas, amassing quite a collection.

These, on the other hand, I have been hunting forever and have never found.  Until now.  What are they, you ask?  Stemware from Russel Wright for Morgantown Glass, eight goblets and seven sherbets in chartreuse, for a song.  Scott at Ars Longa seems to stumble over a few of these every time he turns around, but for me they have remained elusive.  I'm not a big collector of Wright, but I do love these glasses.  Unlike plates and ceramics, they're unmarked, so you really have to know what you are looking for.  And be lucky!

Plant stand?  Or modern sculpture?  Either way, it is going to look lovely with pots in it until I convert it a serving piece by attaching plates some way to the little pot circles.  Hmmm...

...and then felt revived and restored, with some wonderful finds and a chance to share them with you, my dear reader.

Fab Finds

With travel for work, hither and yon, I hadn't been to the thrift stores in Midland for a few weeks, so I thought this weekend was a great opportunity to see what might have appeared since I had last shopped. And dear reader, guess what? There was quite a bit...

The first couple of stops yielded nothing. I mean, if I had been shopping for white, ceramic cats then it would have been the mother lode, but I think that is even beyond my kitschy sensibilities. However, at Trade-n-Treasures, I came across one of my favorite things: a lovely faux sea shell. (More on my faux shell obsession here, here, here and here.) Of course, someone had filled it with flower arranging foam and the most hideous plastic flowers you have ever seen, but I just ripped those right out and stuffed them into another pot. No reason to take them home! Plus, I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't think they were as hideous as I did. They would be wrong, but to each their own.

Of course, I had just rearranged the salon table a week or so ago, bringing my small collection of faux shells to the forefront with the addition of some stones and gems. The effect evokes an essence I would consider to be a la Jung, meaning 'in the style of Jung' as in my friend, sister in thrift and the muse of MTSS, Stephanie Jung.* While arranging them, I thought, "I could really use a couple of more major faux shells to make this really come together." Ask and ye shall receive; thrift and ye shall find.

The next find is a little hard to describe: a pretzel-style lucite and silver candlerabra? Whatever you call it, be sure you use the word 'fabulous' as part of the adjectives. This is one of those odd, special, fabulous, mod early-70s accessories that can mix in anywhere. Really. The problem is that I have a box of candlesticks, inherited and purchased, that I rarely use. But, this was on sale and I could not resist its unique quality. A real conversation piece.  However, sometimes I think my house is so full of conversation pieces that they are all yelling at each other!

The next stop was Dress Up's, but Miss Dress Up wasn't present. Instead, I was manically greeted by who I can only assume is Miss Dress Up, Jr. and her two children. There were lots of lovely things to be had, including a very charming, yet over-priced bar, which MDU, Jr. kept telling me locked and included a key--as though a locking liquor cabinet was the most important aspect to consider! There were a couple of items I could not resist, the first being the diminutive plates above. I love tiny bowls, little plates or any sort of Lilliputian dishes, so I had to have them even though they hadn't reached a discount yet. I had to have them. I'm sure I will find some specific and satisfying use for them.

Finally, the strangest find of the day was this clown art. Now, we already talked about white, ceramic cats being beyond my aesthetic sensibilities and I'm sure you probably have the talent to take an arrangement of clown pictures and make them look quit chic. But reader, as fond as I am of sending photos of clown finds to my friend Jessie who is absolutely terrified of clowns, I don't usually purchase them. This, however, isn't just a clown picture. No, do not be deceived; this is a music box and the nose is the handle! It does work and plays a rather maudlin rendition of 'Send in the Clowns.' I could not resist it and had to have it. Where will it go? I'm not sure, but its existence amuses me and owning it amuses me even more. So, I've included a little video for your enjoyment:

 

That, my friends, is a good day of thrifting if I do say so myself...

*For those new to MTSS, it was actually started as a paper zine after I moved to Wichita, KS and was missing thrifting with my friend.  I started drawing my finds and including musing on thrifting, which I sent to several friends.  But, they were created with the intention of both amusing Stephanie and keeping her up-to-date on my thrifting adventures.  Eventually, it became a blog which was a helluva lot easier to manage.  That was eight years ago.  I still don't have a book deal, but I am still blogging, amusing myself and keeping her, and you, updated on all my fab finds.