Why I Oughta...

At a yard sale this weekend, we came across this blue Lake Louise plate that we couldn't pass up.  My in-laws have been to Lake Louise and have come back with lots of photos and stories from Banff. The plate was made by the Sigal Brothers in Windsor Canada and has at $5.95 price sticker on the back.  It is "made in Japan", so it likely has *some* age to it, but I can't figure out how old.  I did find a companion plate on Ebay ( here ), but the one we bought has a larger/longer description on the back and appears to be a bit older than the one being listed for sale.  They're asking $10.99, so my $0.50 (I haggled!) deal is looking pretty good.

While up in Michigan, we stopped in a bunch of yard sales.  At one of them, we came home with these two Westmoreland Milkglass candlesticks and the little bowl in the middle.  All for $2.00.   They're currently up on our mantle, but I know that while Nat adores milkglass, she isn't that into clutter.  I think these guys might have to get packed up saved for when/if we ever have a bigger house...

Part of our typical weekend routine during the Spring/Summer is to try to stop at a few garage sales.  Sometimes, Nat and the girls are with me, sometimes not.  Usually, there's nothing to be had at them as we either arrived too late or there is nothing but junk, but on a rare occasion, I find something that I like and is priced right.  This weekend was one of those times.  I found two pieces of Milk Glass: this bud vase and a weird circular hobnail pattern taper candle holder.  The bud vase was marked $0.25 and the other piece was $4.00.  We went home with this pretty little vase, but I couldn't decide on the other one, so I left it behind. She's a real beaut!

We spent the weekend up in Michigan - and as usual - made a stop at the Great Lakes Antique Mall.  I really like the place because it doesn't have very much furniture and mostly focuses on 'smalls'.  There was a booth that still had some Christmas stuff up and had it marked at 50% off their list prices. The Mall is set up with a bunch of different booths with each one seemingly operated by a different vendor, so there is little room for negotiations.  The vendors of the booths aren't there in person typically. But, a 50% off Christmas sale?  I couldn't pass it up.  I saw this tall Santa planter and with a sub $10 sticker price, I had to bring him home.  He might be the tallest Santa we have now.  For less than five bucks, he'll be a great fit next to the rest of the vintage Santas.

We didn't stop at just the Mrs. Claus ornament at the Christmas sale.  We also picked up these deer bookends.    They were in the Christmas section (marked half off) and are stamped Japan on the bottom, so they fit in with our other Christmas stuff.  Nat tells me that deer are 'hot' in home decor trends these days, so it appears that these might not be destined to our Christmas collection, rather for either the Babe or the Bird's room for everyday use.

As I said yesterday, while we didn't pull in any of the items from the 'motherload', we did pick up three different things.  The first of which is this Mrs. Claus ornament.  The light catches the inside really well and it brightens up and looks pretty neat.  She was just $0.75 but she won't see the light of day until next November because we are taking down our tree today.  And...by saying "we", I really mean "me".  Nat hates that I take our stuff down so soon after New Year's Day, but I can't stand to have it around and need to move on with a clean slate.

While we were up in Michigan today for our annual NYE/NYDay trip, we stopped at the Great Lakes Antique Mall to try to snap up a few vintage Christmas pieces.  Last year, we bought a few little Christmas treats, but this year, we happened upon this display of what must be 100+ little porcelain Christmas figures.   This person clearly is focusing on carolers and angels, but there was one little spaghetti trim Santa (that's him on the very far left, second shelf from the top). Unfortunately (for us), the prices were on these were a bit too high, but we did come across a few other Christmas pieces that we snatched up at 50% off their list prices.

I snagged this Elephant piece from my Dad's collection a few weeks back.  It is a set of 3 personal ashtrays.  You can see them there on the left of the photo above.  Very Mad Men-ish, right?  Take an ashtray and pass one around to your guests.  The elephant had me convinced we should take him home, but then I turned it over and was very surprised to see the mark:  Made in Occupied Japan. That means it is firmly dated from 1945 to 1952 per the info out on the web.   Neat stuff and thus far, it has fit in well on our mantle in the living room.

What's this?  Another stinkin' Christmas post?  WTF?  This is January you say.  It is, indeed.  But...the sad truth of the matter is that I still have Christmas on my brain.  And, I'm sad to report that the deluge of vintage Christmas shopping didn't stop with our little Christmas girl .   I couldn't put these (above) 3 vintage Santa cake toppers down at the Antique Mall .  I'm not sure we're going to keep them because they seem to be more in the wheelhouse of my mother-in-law.  While Nat bakes a MEAN cake (and other sweet treats), her Mom has used cake toppers of all sorts - including some vintage ones that her Dad brought over - so she's likely be geeked to have them. They've been packed away in one of our Christmas tubs, so come this November, we'll see what Nat thinks when we unpack them and if we're going to keep 'em.