Memorial Day

It has been a busy weekend, and no slowing down, it seems. We visited the Simply Iowa sale and found some lovely things, stopped at Amana on the way home and saw a sign for the Old Creamery Theatre and did a spur of the moment purchase of theatre tickets for On Golden Pond, it was really good and got the girls asking to go see more plays, so that is a good thing.

Next week is the Glenn Miller festival, so I have to ebay my heart out this week, as I won't be able to ship stuff next week. As usual, I have more inventory than I have time to list, but I am going to try!

Here is an egg crate and a big pantry measure that I painted. The mid-1800s doll dress is the best indigo calico.

Summertime Auctions

Ebay has been sooooo slow as everyone is busy in the garden and hosting graduation parties. Today I got email-yelled at for painting something, so I guess at least they are looking again! Always best to look on the bright side. I put together a few things for auction, all Americana antiques that look great in summertime displays. I was kind of down in the dumps this morning, but after I spent an hour photographing these, it cheered me right up, red white and blue are very happy colors!

I Don't Think the Shakers Would Mind

I have this real Shaker firkin, it has a torn original paper label that is a bit unsightly and it didn't sell, so I put my hands to work and heart to God and added a few things just for me. I had some 1800s blue calico that I wrapped around the middle to cover the label, then put a Shaker seed label on. The label is new, but doesn't it look authentic? My apple core spool didn't sell either, so it is mine now too, and I love the milk paint I added. Those Shaker seed labels are my new "watch out or you'll get a label stuck on you" obsession, I'll have bunches of tins in the shop later. Still working on my red white and blues, hope I get done before July 4!

Travels in Iowa

I went to Amana last week for the cute fabric and of course visited all the wonderful shops. I took some photos to share, primmity prim table and door are in the Smokehouse, pretty and bright table is from Grapevine Antiques, then a few outdoor shots. The sidewalks, I had to include because it is sooo darn German. I could just hear my father in law "Well, the city might make me put in a sidewalk, but there is no need for it to be more than one person wide, no way am I wasting all that good cement." I had to include the gas station just to show that in Amana, even the gas station is pretty!

My family has some lovely travels coming up. We have Glenn Miller Festival the first week in June, we will be host family to 2 high school girls from Japan who will be playing in an orchestra at the festival. Then, I tell you, I am even more excited than my girls, we are going to Harry Potter World in July. I am going to have to quit buying antiques so I can go shopping in Hogsmeade, I can hardly wait! We are going to stop in Nashville and check out the antique stores too, and the girls are hoping Taylor Swift will be wandering the streets of Nashville so they can meet her at last.

To completely change the subject, this story I find really funny, don't know if it translates to the written word, but I'll try. New neighbors moved in down the street, they have 2 daughters. Our house is the hub of little girl activity, as we have 3 houses in a row full of girls, so my kids and theirs are often out in the yard practicing cartwheels and drawing on the sidewalks. The 2 new girls joined in. I didn't get the whole story until later, but when I was working on my flowers, the new girls were shocked to find that I was the mom, since of course, my girls are Chinese and I am not. "What are you, adopted?", they asked. Anna said to me "Mom, I told them yes and I tried to explain about China's one child policy, but she just looked at me like I was talking nonsense." I guess the one child policy is not a typical play ground discussion!

Hope it is Worth the Wait

These little groups are gorgeous, I must say, even though they took me what seemed like years to get all the finishing touches done. I went to Amana to Heritage Designs for the fabric, they just got in this huge selection of bright 1930s fabrics, aren't they so cheerful and pretty?

I still won't have time to list for a couple days, so if anyone wants them, prices are as follows--

Greens--paddle bread board w spoon 28, rolling pin 20, stoneware pitcher 25, seed tins 15 each, garden fork 15, original paint masher 15, wood bowl 25.

Reds--paddle board w spoon 28, same for square board with chicken cookie cutter, toy rolling pin 25 (I imported him from Germany), small rolling pin 25, seed pails 25 each, small tin basket with wood eggs 25, plaster chicken 8, toy fry pan 8, butter pat presses 20 each, hoe cake flour tin 25, and the red broom is 25. The little rolling pins in the pie pan are sets of 3, 15 for all 3 red, 15 for all 3 green.

I also have a blue collection ready and a yellow collection in my imagination, plus I just bought these horrendously expensive breadboards just so I can paint one red, one blue and one white, extra prim for a summertime collection that I am dreaming of. I've gathered several 48 star parade flags and some other Americana tins to brighten up the place. I also have a cozy prim cabin look that I'm working on--more ideas than I have time for!

The Things I Do For Antiques

I was going to spend Saturday painting and working on updating this blog, then got sidetracked when I saw Simply Iowa's post about the What Cheer flea market that I had forgotten about. Plans scrapped, and we were off to the hot, humid, mud filled fairgrounds at What Cheer, slogged through the dirt for hours--we looked like pig farmers by the end of the day. We found the Simply Iowa booth, and she wasn't kidding, I think she had 2 cupboards and 2 statues left by the time we arrived, still looked beautiful though! For the rest of the fair, I had to walk through miles of, well, let's say it, crap, to get to the good stuff. There was one really wonderful primitives dealer that I bought bunches from, she's supposed to be having a sale at her house this summer, can hardly wait for it. Along the way, I managed to dig out a few good odds and ends that I have scrubbed up and ready to auction, so it is back to work. As for my projects, I am once more in the midst of about 50 items that I have half finished and just need some uninterupted time to get to the end product. Hoping they turn out as well as my imagination! I am doing red and whites, got an idea for some green and white and yellow and white that aren't even started. I also broke down and ordered my milk paint by the gallon, quarts are getting used up in no time. I am still recovering from the trip to Clarinda. First, I owe the biggest debt of gratitude to my cousin Janet, my sister Mary and my girls Anna and Grace. When we got to the house, I took one look at the boxes everywhere, the Christmas show displays still all over the place, the dust and the cleaning to do and I just wanted to sit on the floor and cry. Being my mother's daughter, I went and got the mop bucket instead. Everyone pitched in and carried boxes upstairs and helped wash the sheets and make the beds and by the next day at least the downstairs was a home again. I could never have done it on my own. They made me pasta and a cake for my birthday, which was lovely, and helped me host the million family dinner the next night after my aunts funeral. We go back in a few weeks to host our "Japan girls", as they are known, the Tamana Girls Orchestra that will come for the Glenn Miller festival. It is going to make it so much easier to get the guest room ready for them now and be up to re-learning communicating with hand gestures. When Anna and Grace were little, they never believed me that the girls didn't speak much English and chattered away at them nonstop, never a moments shyness. Now that they are older, they worry more about not being understood, but usually end up sharing pictures and teaching each other origami and showing them how we cook. I can look forward to it a bit easier now. Here are some things I'll have out for auction, hopefully tonight.