Thrifted Finds # 11 :: Mother Mugs & Kitsch

We have been having exceptionally beautiful early spring weather.  There are yard sales & estate sales galore, but unfortunately we've been busy, busy, busy & haven't had time for many of them.  I've still managed to come away from my favorite little dingy thrift shop with some great goodies.

 

Like this gorgeous Lefton Mother coffee mug.  It is a coffee cup (the other side says coffee in gold script) that looks like a giant dainty tea cup.  I am in luuurve with the pink scalloped glaze on the interior rim.  So feminine & flowery.

 

A super glittery retro owl Lucite night light.  His tummy glows when  you plug him in, I remember these in my Grandma Edna's house when I was a kid.  She had one in the bathroom & one in the sun room where we slept when we visited.

These plaster 1940s his & hers wall hooks are just brilliant.  I love, love, love them!  They are extremely shabby with super chippy paint, but I couldn't bring myself to repaint them.  I almost sprayed a clear coat on them to make sure no more of their original paint chips off, but decided to offer them up in the shop as-is ... just in case any of my customers loves them in their found state as much as I do.

If they don't sell after a month I will go ahead & let Chucky redo their paint before reposting them.  I hope they sell first.  We live in a cinder block house & these would stay with me if it were possible to hang them on our walls, but the masonry hooks I have to use wouldn't let them lay flush against the wall & it would do nothing but frustrate me.

 

A retro Disneyland hand-cut silhouette ... the quintessential souvenir.  I can't pass these up.  I love the little flourishes around the perimeter.  They always sell well.

This amazing 1950s Color Picture Dictionary has the best retro illustrations inside.  Tons & tons of them.  A dream for anyone who's as into that sort of thing, if you could see fit to dismantle & use it for journaling or scrap-booking or jewelry ... I can't do those things, not to an awesome vintage children's book.  I'll leave it to someone else.

This week everything posted is already up for sale in Bliss&Vinegar Vintage.  I've been a busy girl, posting away ... trying to get a hold on all of this inventory.  We're preparing for a large yard sale to whittle down some of the things I bought that I don't feel fit in with my Etsy shop, the locals will be pleased.

Linking up with:

Our New Addition

Early last year my cat Mushu walked through some pesticides in a neighbor's yard & got very sick.  It took him close to a month to get better & a week later our pesky neighbor was out with the sprayer again (trying to wrestle a meadow full of star thistles into oblivion with pesticides while growing a huge organic garden ... makes no sense to me) & this time my Mush wasn't so lucky.

The time since has been the only time in my adult life that I haven't owned a cat.  More specifically an orange, male cat.  I've had Marmalade, Schmert (full name Schmerticus Von Mordecai Bom-Bom Bickie Boo-Woo), Chino, Puck, & lastly Mushu.  We also had Kung POW! but she was a black female cat.

When Chucky started working at a new tattoo shop late last year there just happened to be a pet store next door.  I told him that yes we could get a new cat (as if I don't have my hands full enough with our two Pitt Bulls & Plott Hound) if he could find a short-haired orange male kitten.

It took eight months & we haven't yet named him so he can't be properly introduced, but ... look what Chucky brought home from work on Saturday.

We're kind of in love.

I forgot how full of energy they are, I made him some special little sugar skull toys filled with crinkly plastic (from the plastic seals that come on top of our gelato) & catnip.  Elvis is a little jealous, he's been the baby of the house for three years ... he keeps stealing Kitty's toys & hoarding them on his corner of the bed with his favorite frisbee.

Sorta cute.  I think Gingersnap is a cute name, Chucky likes Wonton ... my five year old niece, Sequoya, thinks his name should be Orange Cat.  I'm sure we'll settle on something soon.

Etsy Spot Guest Curator

How excited was I to get a message from Nina over at Etsy Spot asking me to be the guest curator for the upcoming weekend!? After the initial "aw shucks" moment of blushing & embarassment (because I'm a super cheese) I was just thrilled. She asked me to write a paragraph about myself & my Etsy shop, Bliss&Vinegar, & to come up with a vintage themed treasury. Easy-peasy, right? Well, I'm a bit awkward (the WORST resume writer ever) when it comes to writing about myself, but I think I did alright.

You can find the post HERE.

As you can see I used Pee Wee's Big Adventure as my theme, you can see it in action over on the Etsy Spot Blog. If you're so inclined to visit my treasury, click around a bit & maybe comment ... that would be appreciated too.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

After just under a year on the Paleo plan, my doctor told me that she believes I have heavy metal poisoning caused by my pescetarian Paleo eating habits.  She has instructed me to add whole grains, beans & legumes back into my diet as protein sources ... basically back to following a mainly vegetarian diet with occasional fish.  For now I'm avoiding fish altogether, until my body gets back to normal.  We had to go shopping as our diet since last may consisted of NO grains, NO sugar, NO processed food.  I had to pick up the basics like brown rice & sprouted breads, black beans, etc.

So, what is one of the first things I did?  I bought some organic whole wheat pastry flour!  I had to bake something, & off to my Sweet Cuppin Cakes Pinterest board I went!  This recipe came across my Pinterest dash last month & it looked right up my alley.  I was correct & they are the perfect cookie for me.  Light, slightly crisp shell, moist & chewy inside ... LEMONY.  Next time I think I'll make an equally lemony filling & sandwich them together & roll the edges in coarse sugar for a super treat.

I had forgotten what an outlet for relaxation & creativity my baking had been for so many years.  If I was stressed or having trouble making a decision or sad or restless or whatever, I would bake.  I could lose myself in a batter or a dough, I wouldn't think about anything but the ingredients & the process.

Last night I lost an hour & a half to baking these & listening to my favorite Camera Obscura album & that's okay with me.  My mind was quiet, I wasn't panicky or waiting for the sky to fall.

It was lovely & when I was finished I got to eat an effing cookie (so, yeah ... I had three)!

Thank You Easter Flamingo ... Bawk, Bawk

Happy Easter to everyone!

This is the basket that was waiting out in our front yard for me today.  Elvis saw it first & it startled him so much that he flipped out & started barking (while running in the opposite direction) which alerted me to its presence.  I hope the Easter Flamingo left you all of your favorites this year as she did for me.  PBR tall-boys & all things filled with marshmallow & mint.

I went to brunch with my  Mom & sister while our husbands golfed.  All of my nieces are out of town, as is my little brother so it was a very mellow day.  I baked a Pig Pickin' bundt cake (everybody's favorite) & am preparing to enjoy dinner & conversation with my family.