Tiny Finds

Not everything we find is big. Often what I find when I'm out thrifting is some little thing that just catches my eye. Today's post is dedicated to the little finds that make me smile.

 It is an eclectic mix, for sure. Little wooden bird whistle and a very small matroishka nesting doll, small flowered boxes and tins, a tiny amber bird...

a cobalt heart paperweight and a small antique milk glass plate

that has great "fire" inside (a sure indicator of older milk glass).

A sparkly prism paperweight, odd little bird pitcher marked "Foreign Made",

a lavender tin (my favorite scent),

 strange little ceramic monkey that is badly chipped but I can't bring myself to throw it away because, well, look at that face! Another pretty flowered box,

and a rose-topped trinket box.

while the little vase is marked "Occupied Japan" but is a souvenir from Manitou Springs, Colorado,

and a tiny key and a "Twinkies" spoon which was a giveaway from a shoe manufacturer in the 1930's.

These all live in various places in the house. Combined value of all of them might be $50-75 but for me, they're just the little things that brighten my day.

Do you have collections of little things like this?

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

The Glass-aholic

I admit it. I am a glass-aholic.

What makes a person a glass-aholic? Some warning signs:

1. You notice a marked increase in the amount of glass in their home. Especially useless glass that sits on shelves, in cabinets and in windows.

2. The person begins throwing around words like Hazel Atlas, Blenko, Fenton and Fostoria.

3. They use strange acronyms like EAPG, AH and HA, and PIA.

4. They spend hours browsing books with pictures of glass. In extreme cases, they mutter "oooh" and "ahhhh." In very severe cases, the books are filled with markings and post-it notes.

5. They join Facebook groups, like Vintage Glass, Blenko Collectors, American Pattern Glass Society and Pyrex Lovers. A trip to a glass plant or museum is like a holy pilgrimage.

6. They study the bottoms of glass pieces, muttering about logo shapes and pontils

7. They spend evenings on eBay, looking at glass and adding it to their "Watch" list. Sometimes they even buy the pieces they are looking at.

8. They buy glass at thrift stores because if they don't buy it the thrift might toss the chipped/cracked/stained 100-year-old piece in the dumpster. They keep jars of broken glass shards from favorite pieces that met untimely deaths. The disease has morphed in these people to GRD (Glass Rescue Disease).

9. They add more shelves and cabinets and fill them with glass.

10. They decorate for holidays by changing the glass in the shelves and cabinets to suitable colors: red and green for Christmas, ruby, pink and amethyst for Valentine's pale greens, yellows and pink for Easter, orange, amber, and ebony for Halloween, and so on.

If you're guilty of being a glass-aholic, you might recognize yourself in the above indicators. There really doesn't seem to be any hope of a cure. You may try to sell your glass, but you will probably relapse and buy more.

The upside to this disease is that you will eventually become knowledgeable about glass and people will come to you for advice and information. This is your chance to spread the contagion to the unsuspecting, who will soon be as impossibly infected as you are yourself.

If this happens, congratulate yourself. You will have made the world a better, more sparkly place.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

More Marietta Booth Updates

I took a lot of pictures at Marietta--it's been a while since I've done that, usually just grabbing a few as we left. So here's the second installment. Marietta is actually 5 spaces, scattered around the same general area so we have a lot of stuff there.

I don't have a great deal of Christmas items in my booths, and what I've had at Marietta has sold pretty quickly. This little candle tree is by Avon, but cute as can be.

Wexford crystal is a steady seller--not fast, but steady. It's a great go-to for parties because it's plentifyl and if one breaks it's not a great loss. It's also quite sturdy, making it doubly attractive for parties. And at the prices it brings, it's not much more expensive than plastic.

I've been bringing in blue jars as I get them washed up. We found two totes full of them in the cellar when we cleaned it up last month. I've also been bringing in half-gallon jars because we just don't need that size these days with just two of us here.

A little Fiesta, anyone? I don't carry a great deal of it, but it's very popular with buyers. These pitchers might be due for a price reduction as I've had them for a while.

What Blenko I have in the booth is on the bottom shelf in the above photo. A few candleholders, a Blenko plaque, an ashtray--I tend to keep Blenko for my own collection 😉

Below, a shelf full of various collectible glass.

A Fenton lamp, "married" pitcher and bowl set, a pink milk glass vase, two wall pockets, and a lot of et cetera--which is really the lifeblood of a booth.

 Mugs, measuring cups, Jumbo peanut butter jars, polka dot bowls and more.

I added a lot of tumblers to these shelves--some Boscul, some Kentucky Derby mint julep glasses, some tulip juice glasses, and others.

Mixing bowls, which I hope find a home during the holiday baking season.

I kept this checkerboard table for a while, but finally decided to sell it. It's handmade, around 1930-1940 and probably chestnut as gthe ma who made it seemed to use a good bit of that wood in his work.

Pretty glass--I can't resist it! The green and yellow bowls have matching ladles, proably for mayonnaise. People made their own mayo and served it in pretty dishes like this. Nice!

Cranberry etched shade lamps that Larry rewired, along with more pretty glass. What can I say, I'm an addict!

Another recent addition is the wall-mounted coffee grinder. This was an eBay find--needed the lid and the catch cup which I also found on eBay, to make it complete.

 More bowls! And all sizes. My own cabinets are full of bowls too--apparently another addiction.

Tea cups were a good seller, but have been slow lately, Maybe they'll pick up again in spring, for tea parties.

 Uniforms are regular sellers too, so we pick them up whenever we find them. Even newer ones will sell, probably for hunters?

And the shelf of amberina! I do love amberina glass, and have a good bit at my house (all Blenko, which is called tangerine by that company). These are West Virginia glass makers Kanawha and Fenton, along with some Mosser and Moon & Star glass by L.E. Smith.

Well that's the tour for today! The booths are full to bursting, and I hope sales are good during the holiday season. Things tend to slow down in January and February, so we look for a good December to carry us through. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.