Sunday, August 26, 2012

Weekend Estate Sale Finds!

This was one of those rare weekends where there were so many
great estate sales in the area that it was impossible to choose which
ones to hit... So I put together a list of what I considered the top three
for each day and then closed my eyes and pointed to the ones we'd put
on our list. I almost backed out of my pick for Friday since it was nearly
a half hour away and was scheduled for 7AM; but in the end, this vintage
copper Bundt pan I picked up for only $1 made the lack of sleep worth it!
I picked two sales for Saturday... The first was an estate tag sale in Greensboro. It
was just like that reality show on television where everything in the house is
tagged and organized by room. When they opened the doors at 8AM, I made a
bee-line for the kitchen. And, while I was pleasantly surprised by how organized
and clean everything was... It took less than five minutes to realize that the last
thing this now departed couple bought new was in 1973. Now, often that can be a
good thing but not when the only place they shopped was Kmart. Originally I was
concerned about making it to the next sale before it began at 9AM, especially
since we had a 40 minute drive ahead of us, but it didn't take long to realize
there wasn't anything there to risk being late to the next sale on my list!
Especially since I wanted to be there to have a shot at this clock!
Vintage, German, 8-day with Westminster
chime... And, it was keeping perfect time!
SpaBoy met us there, which made attending this auction even more fun!
We both immediately found things we wanted to take home!
High on my list was this little silverplate set from England...
And, if I had room for it or liked dark wood, I would have been a contender on
this solid cherry dining set by Hitchcock. It was perfect and sold for under $200!
There was a little bit for everyone at this auction!
If I had a bigger bathroom, this would be filled with my fluffy white
towels now. The woman that picked it up for just $300 was ecstatic!
As for me... I came home with plenty of other goodies. I picked
up this gorgeous English Sheffield roll top bacon server for $75...
They're difficult to find under $200 and even harder to find complete...
But this one has it all... Both interior tray pieces and, it's in perfect condition!
SpaBoy got his pieces and I got mine... I didn't notice it until we got
everything home but this hot water pot on stand with burner has the
same English maker marks as the tea infuser and little tray set! Best of
all, these pieces came up near the end of the auction after the crowd had
thinned a bit so my relatively low bid of $50 was enough to take it all!
The same cannot be said for the clock however... I had to wrestle a dealer
for it and ended up paying much more than I expected. Nevertheless, the
fact that every time it chimes I'm reminded of the church bells across from
my Oma's house and the grandfather clock in our home while I was growing
up makes it worth it. The fact that it's also German is just icing on the cake!
My final find was this piece of Libbey. When I picked it up at the preview I
thought it was just a nice vase... But SpaBoy knows his glass so he pointed
out to me that it's actually vintage Libbey. Of course, the woman running
the auction knew it too so after she mentioned to the crowd that it is
in fact signed Libbey, people woke up and, the bidding picked up!
But in the end I came out on top with a winning bid of just $20!
As it usually goes when I bring home new finds, I spent a couple hours
today cleaning and arranging new things in their places and putting away
old things that I'm tired of. All that cleaning and arranging inspired me to
also tackle our bedroom. You see, we're taking delivery of a new mattress
on Tuesday, and we're getting very special company in a few weeks too!
Not only are my parents coming to visit but
they're also bringing the Ranger home with them!
Put together, these events call for an immediate eviction of
dust bunnies as well as commencement of the happy dance!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Happy Socks!

Time to wrap up my sock team cookie project I started last week!
First step... Royal icing! Since I went a little crazy with the cookie
dough and ended up with twice the amount of cookies I need for
the socks marketing team, I had to double my royal icing recipe...
Which is fine because I have yet to receive any complaints about bringing
too many cookies at work! That being said, Paleo is making the rounds at
my office so all that could change. By the way, if you're not baking cookies
in advance and freezing them, you're missing out on the best kept secret of
decorated sugar cookie making. Believe me, even small batches can beat you
to death if you try to mix, roll, bake and decorate all in the same day/weekend!
I stay happy and interested in my cookie creating by breaking up the steps
over several days or weeks... Now, I haven't quite gotten to the point where
I'm cutting out several different shapes at once but it's nice to know that I
could. Frozen cookies thaw to taste just like fresh baked - Even after being
on ice for a couple of months. This means I could have created autumn
leaves and/or pumpkins to decorate around Halloween. But I didn't
do it. This exercise had me totally focused on making happy socks!
Clean, white Hanes happy socks!
To help celebrate our Hanes socks marketing team!
They work really hard to ensure Hanes socks are the best socks!
And, as far as I'm concerned... They do and, the socks are!
I'm partial to Hanes low cut and no-show socks for every day...
But nothing beats Hanesbrands Champion socks in the gym!
Champion socks make the hours I spend in spin class so much better on my feet!
To jazz up my socks I decided to add a little disco dust! Of course...
I'm not sure this is what SpaBoy had in mind when he gave me
this beautiful brush to apply my favorite facial masque...
But seriously, can you think of another brush that
would have fit the heel on my sock cookies any better?
Now that my secret is out, I expect you to politely say nothing
about disco dust as it may or may not relate to my healthy glow!
Do rest assured that this was the first and only time the brush was used!
There are many things I love about Bridget's sock cookie design...
But my favorite is how simple it is!
You see, while I admire my friend Pam's cookie decorating work...
Just take a look at these as an example... Fact
is, I'm not much of a multiple colored icings girl!
So this design was perfect for me!
A little pink, a little blue, and tiny amounts of red and black is all I needed!
And, while I was a little tempted to use candy eyeballs
to cut on time corners a little, I stuck to the original plan!
And in the end, was rewarded for the extra effort of mixing up black icing!
I was a little nervous about the girl-eyes... I mean, the first few looked
more like lady socks of the evening. But I stuck with it and pretty soon...
They looked as innocent and as sweet as Bridget's girl socks!
 Whew!
It always amazes me how well these projects come together...
All the fuss and procrastinating I tend
to do in advance of the end result...
Always ends up being for not!
Because before I know it, my cookies turn out
better than I hoped and ready for packaging!
I decided to experiment with packaging a little this time... You see, I have
this amazing friend that keeps encouraging me to create my own tags!
She's a brilliant accountant but Stampin' Up is her hobby so she's always
recommending the coolest punches to me. Like this super-cute heart punch!
Here is the last punch I ordered from her after she sent me
this Easter card she made for me. Seeing it, I was totally inspired!
Because just like every other card she's sent me... This one purrs love too!
My friend suggested this punch might be a great substitute for the foil
stickers I order from Williams-Somona for use with my embosser...
And, as is usually the case...
She was right!
Of course, I'll need to invest in some better colored paper because all
I could find tonight was this random stationary. Which was clearly...
Not heavy enough! But that's okay... At least I got the punch out
and tried. I know my friend will be happy. After all, it only took
me two years! However, until I get the right paper I'm going to...
Stick with what I know to package up my socks...
Which is ribbons and bows!
It's a packaging method that never lets me down!
Granted, it's not the least expensive option...
But it's always a favorite of those receiving my cookies!
Seriously... How cute are these sock cookies?
Big thanks again to CopperGifts.com for the
special sock cookie cutter they created for me!
Because creating templates should be left to the experts!
Now all that's left is to get these socks to work tomorrow morning!
If I can manage it without any casualties...
I'll be very happy indeed!