~MY VINTAGE LACE HAUL~

 

 Golly-Gee...can't believe I've gone almost an entire week without posting anything here on Blogger!!!!  Wowzers...what is happening to me?!!!

 

 Could it BE that my wee little BLOGGIE has taken second third fourth fifth sixth place in my life???  Yes...I think it has!  

(Things change I suppose!)

I've been busy with my new booth at Serendipity Market (what FUN I say!) and working behind the scenes on new product for my A Gathering Place website.  Don't give up on me...I promise I'm not abandoning it.

Thank you so much to those of you who have written about my hands!  They are doing great by the way...I'm thinking I'm about 80% healed.  Almost 90 days since double hand surgery and I'm excited to share that some of the residual numbness in my middle finger/right hand is slowly (FINALLY) going away.

 

I'm MORE than grateful.  Thank you, God!

Now...I must share my HUGE find of the day.  Despite the crummy weather here in Oklahoma (we need rain so I'm trying to be NICE) my Mr. AGPMan and I were up at the wink-of-the-sun in order to get in line/to get a number/in order to be the first ones in the door at a local estate sale!  

 Pure dedication to the cause, I say! 

The curtains (a couple photos up) were actually four panels (84" long) and were priced at $8.00 for all...  They included about 10 yards of extra lace, too!

Anyway...I signed up online to follow a particular Estate Sale Company and so I had a few preview pictures of some of what was being offered.

  I spied a bunch of vintage lace and linens and I know from experience you MUST get to a sale early if you even have a prayer of snagging the best finds!

Well..snag I did!

Almost everything!

I left only crumbs heavily stained/new lace things for those who overslept.

 You snooze...

 You loooooze!  (Sorry!)

 Or in this case...you get the circa 1980 polyester green tablecloth made in China.

(At least it was new and still in the package!)

I'm sharing LOTS of pictures for you so you can swoon with me. 

Simply magnificent trims, runner, curtain, dollies, napkins, collars, etc. were found at this ONE SALE!

 

 It's hard to pick a favorite...but I must say this gorgeous French Net Lace Runner (a matching pair) was an over-the-top score.  I nearly fell over from being drunk with joy on this wonderful deal!

 I'm blissfully happy right now!  Forgive me for being snarkeee!  Sometimes I just can't help myself!

 Tucked in the mix was this 1940's bridal garter...love the ombre ribbon and rose!

 

 Lots of gently used linen napkins (great for sachets come Mother's Day) were priced $1.00 per dozen.  WHAT?

 

 The piece above is an absolutely mahhhh-vah-lous example of drawn-work.  This will surely be a pocket on a pillow!

Tons of dollies were priced $4 for the lot.  I snagged a few bags like this one!

Because I use vintage lace and trim in my work I'm always on the hunt to discover and track down more.  Even though handwork has made a huge comeback over the past few years the beautiful old stuff made long ago by loving, hard-working hands is dwindling away.  Once it's gone it's gone.  I can't even imagine the hours that went into fashioning each lovely old piece.  I know in my heart when these women pass on and their estates are liquidated it will be challenging to discover more.  Today I'm so grateful I'm able to truly benefit from all their talented work.

Hope your Saturday was as incredible as mine. 

Love to you...

~~~~~~~REPAINTING OLD FINDS~~~~~~~ Recently Finished Product

~REPAINTED METAL COFFEE POT~

I'm all about junkin' and slummin' and if you've followed my bloggie for any time at all you probably know that by now.  I love finding little things on the cheap slim to transform for my home or to refashion for sale on my AGP Website.  I'm amazed what can be found out there in tag sale land if you only take the time to look!

~SOON TO BE TRANSFORMED~

In the middle of November last month I shared with you some of things I found at our local Goodwill store while out shopping with my Mother.  I snagged two really neat metal Sign Thingies with Hooks that I just loved...

 ~EMBOSSED METAL BEAUTIES~

I love shopping second hand and thrift stores because you never know what you'll find.  Although not always, generally you're sure to snag a great deal...  I've found some incredible things over the years.

 ~RIPPING OFF THE PAPER LABELS~

First thing I did was rip off the original paper labels by soaking them in warm soapy water.  Sometimes the adhesive is water soluble.   If it's not you still need to get the old paper off before you can removed the glue.  If the glue doesn't come off with water you can either use Goo-Gone or some other label remover product.  Recently someone told me you can use fabric softener to remove old labels...(I'm sorry...don't remember who passed along the hint!)...

~NEWLY TRANSFORMED~

Anyway...first thing I did after removing the labels and cleaning the signs was to rough them up with a mico-grit sandpaper and then dust them off.  Next came a quick coat of my favorite primer (Zinsser 123) and then a couple of coats of regular fresh white paint...

~PINK ROSES REPLACE THE PAPER LABEL~

Now~because I had an email from a longtime customer who was interested in the signs (and who does not favor distressing) I opted not to age the two signs...but, I REALLY, REALLLLLLLLLLLY wanted to because I personally love it!  Instead after the artwork was applied just a gentle aging with paint was added.

All the old tins you see at the top are next in line for a makeover!  They are going to be FUN to do!  Great vintage styles for neat little accent pieces.

Hope your day is wonderful.  Will be posting more decorating photos soon!

Love to you...   

~~~~PAINTING UP SWEET VINTAGE FINDS~~~~ And Other Stuff That's Keeping Me Busy

 ~BASE PAINTED FINDS~

OK...here's the scoop!  Not too much excitement today because I'm flower-deep in decorating new perfume and bath bottles for my website!  Lots of pretties in the making!

 ~COMING SOON~

(Yep!  SOME Blue, too!)

Yesterday I spent the day painting, finishing up some special orders as well as a wee bit of sewing.  Since my Mr. AGPMan is out of town (on business in New York,New York!), I've been working around the clock!

 ~SWEET OLD and NEW BASKETS~

I love what I do...but there are a few things about my business that I don't enjoy (imagine that!).  One is picture taking (because I'm lousy at it) and the second is writing descriptions for product.  But...bar-none~my least favorite thing is BASE PAINTING my finds!  

Bah! Bah! Bah!

I try and do tons of it on the same day because just the thought of having to get everything ready is overwhelming to me!  It takes hours and hours and hours to prep product!  Bet ya didn't know that, huh?

~CAN YOU GUESS?~

Love doing the artwork tho!  Such fun!

 

~WHAT WERE THEY?~

Any ideas as to what these little boxes were originally for?  If you guessed vintage Band-Aid tins you would be right.  I snagged these over the weekend while out junking with my best buddy, Judy the Beauty.  Believe it or not they are collectibles.  A couple of them were REALLY OLD and I winced at the thought of painting them at first.  But, since black marker was scribbled all over them (with words like NUTS, SCREWS, NAILS, etc.) I figured they were worthless as is.  I know one of them was from the early 1950's.  I found it on eBay and the asking price was $49.  WHAT?  For an old metal box?  :(  You've gotta be kidding me!  Why invest in gold when you can invest in aging Band-Aid Tins? :)

~TISSUE ROLL COVER~

Love how this vintage tissue cover came out!  I'm going to distress it and put it in my master bath!  It's perfectly chic and absolutely shabby...and I love, love love it!

~VINTAGE TOLE TRAY~
(and box!)

Now...I've seen lots of old Tole Trays while out junking and slumming.  I've found a couple truly fabulous antique ones and lots that were painted on an assembly line with huge roses in really bright colors.

 

~WILDLIFE SCENE TO PAINT~

Some I've seen are lovely and some are not.  The one above intrigued me.  I snagged it for $2 and it is in mint condition (save for the dirt!).  I love the old box because it made it easy to date the tray by the 50's clothing on the cover!  I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this yet.  It's an old 'paint by number' craft project and the white stamping easily wipes off with Goo-Gone.  I may just remove that and keep the tray as-is.  Then again...I may paint it.

Hope your day is fab!  I'm back in my studio painting some of those sweet old finds with pink roses!  Can't wait to show you the Band-Aid Tins!

Love to you...

~~~~THE OKLAHOMA ESTATE SALE QUEEN~~~~ And Her Little Angel Dude

TODAY

(About the Crack of Dawn)

Yesterday I told you I was going junking and I did.  My friend Becca and I had a wonderful time slumming through some of the neighborhoods in OKCity and we even lunched at a sweet Bistro in Bricktown.

 ~LIST IN HAND~

Nothing better than getting together with an old friend to shop and eat! :)

~PROGRAMMING THE GPS~

As much fun as I had I was sad that I DID NOT find the bed I HOPED to stumble upon for my 2nd guest room.  Found a COUPLE of sweet little things, but nothin' to brag about...

Bummer dude...:(

~SCANNING THE SALE~

And so...this morning I begged convinced begged (right the first time!) my Mr. AGPMan to hit the trail with me once more in hopes of finding the perfect vintage TWIN BED for a romantic bedroom makeover.

~NECESSITIES AT HAND~

We targeted about six estate sales in the newspaper and off we went to the big city...

~YOU LISTEN TO ME, REBECCA!~
(I be da-boss!)

 ~JUNK IN DE TRUNK~
(expert packer-man)

The first sale we went to was nice.  Fabulous stuff in fact but VERY high end.  This particular estate sale started yesterday and the house was still jam-packed full.  Everything was exorbitantly priced and we left without purchasing a single thing.

~I LOVE JUNKING~
(and shall not be deterred)

The second sale we went to I found a good sized offering of old lace and the most fabulous vintage-y shabby chic bridal box of all time!  It was all dressed up in pink...

 ~SIMPLY SHABBY FABULOUS~

~VINTAGE MILLINERY FLOWERS~

The lady running the estate sale was closing her Momma's home.  She told me the box was made by her Auntie when her parents married in 1948...

~YEP...$2~

I just could NEVAHHHH EVAHHH have parted with such a thing!  I'm sooo keeping this little beauty.  She's going straight into my studio just so I can look at her and smile...

~LOTS OF SWEET LACE~

~OLD JEWELRY BOX~

 

 ~VINTAGE PERFUME BOTTLES~

~VINTAGE TISSUE COVER~

~VINTAGE CARDS~

At the next sale we found some amazing vintage Christmas pretties.  Three bolts of old tinsel on their original cards were a highlight!

 ~GREAT FOR ALTERED ART PROJECTS~

~PINK and WHITE CHRISTMAS BULBS~

~MORE GORGEOUS CROCHET LACE~

At sale number three we found tons and tons of vintage crochet lace edging and the sweetest pink apron I've ever seen...  It had nevahhh been used...beautimous!

 ~LOVIN' the PINKS and FRUIT~

~CRAZEEE ABOUT THIS JAR~

Our visit to sale number four was a bust.  This place had a couple of super high-end things (like old glass front bookcases and sterling flatware, etc.) but nothing that made my little ol' heart sing...

~YUMMY WASTE BASKET~

At sale number five we found this amazing vintage toleware wastebasket!  I'm feeling hand painted pink roses comin' on...

 

 ~INCREDIBLE NEEDLEWORK~

This hand cross-stitched picture was only $1.00. :)  I'm planning on taking it OUT of the tacky blue plastic frame (along with the shocking blue mat) and making a pillow out of it for my mother-in-love for Christmas...

Shh...don't tell her I didn't do the stitching....

~CLOSE-UP DETAIL~

~INCREDIBLY FABULOUS TOLE LAMP~

At the same sale we also found this great light fixture and the lamp you see below.  We got it for parts...love that old turn-key!  The chandy above was $8 and the lamp below was $2...

 ~GREAT FOR PARTS~

Now...what I have to share with you next may not seem like a big deal, but fore MOI it was the sweetest icing on top of an already fabulous cake day...

Here's what happened... 

At sale number six (the last one of the day) we drove up to a place on 23rd Street here in Oklahoma City and it ended up being a business.  I've passed the "store" more times than I can tell you over the years and never once went inside.  It was called Etta's Gift Gallery and I THOUGHT it was a china-type shoppe.  When we pulled into the parking area I said to my guy...

ME:  "Oh brother!  What a waste of time.  I do NOT want to even go into this place!

HUBBS:  "Why not?  We're already here!  Let's just go inside!"

ME:  "I don't want to.  It's a waste of my time!  I'm hot!  My coke is gone!  Let's just go! (wahh wahh waahhhhh)"

HUBBS:  "Oh Rebecca! For Pete's sake (who is Pete anyway???)  WE ARE HERE!  Let's just go inside and have a look!"

ME:  "Alright!  But I'm not going to find anything!  I'd rather just pick another sale to go to!!!"

HUBBS:  "Well...I'm going in!  You can stay in the car if you want to!"

~RATTY-TRAP SHOPPE~
(In the Background)

And so my Mr. AGPMan wins!  We get out of the car and go inside this ratty-trap looking store and I'm griping and mumbling the entire time...
(Blahhhh Blahhhhh Blahhhhhhh!!!!)

Well...the ratty-trap dive-of-a-place ended up being absolutely humongous on the inside and it was filled up and overflowing with more STUFF than I've ever seen in my life!  Seriously...I'm thinking someone (umm...like the owner) was a real-life hoarder or something!

   ~EEEK!  FABULOUS FINDS~

So...here are both wandering around the HUGE STORE (that obviously was once a house...at least the front part was anyway!) and it just keeps going and going and going.  We finally get towards the back and on this one shelf (crammed up and overflowing with STUFF!) I see several bolts of vintage lace.  The lace labels were dated 1974-1976 and the price tags on the ends (especially for back then) were sky-high!  So...I began to gather them all up.  I grabbed myself a plastic box thingy (see above) and placed the laces inside it...

 

 ~MY FAVORITE LACE EVER!!!~

 Now...what is so amazing about finding the lace you see above is this...

Last week when I was taking pictures in my AGP Studio for the Where Bloggers Create Party III I snapped a photo of my favorite insertion lace ever made!  It's was manufactured for many years but has been out of production for a long, long time from what I understand.  I purchased several yards of it on eBay a few years ago but my stash has been dwindling and I've been SICK I haven't been able to find any more for several years!

 

~INSERTION LACE~

Well...I believe God cares about EVERY aspect of my life and so when I came across the lace in my studio I said this little prayer...

"Dear God...please help me find more of this lace!  I love it sooo much and I'm almost out of it!  Please lead me to it!  Amen!" 

Well...guess what was on the shelf??? 

Yep!  The very lace I've been longing and praying to find...price was $6.00 (and there is 36 yards on the bolt...I measured it!).  This story gets better.  Read on...

 ~SEVENTY-TWO YARDS OF THIS ONE~
(or two FULL Bolts)

Huge score here...$9.00 for all of it!

 ~EIGHTEEN YARDS~ 

Twelve dollars for eighteen yards...not too bad (hold on...a shocker is coming...)

~THIRTY YARDS OF THIS ONE~

A bag of loose lace held 30 yards total...price was $12.00...

 ~ORIGINAL PRICE of LACE...$5.29 YD~

  ~SWEET OLD GLOVES~

This pretty little pair of gloves...new-old stock.  Price...$5. 

~WHAT ARE THESE?~

(Jewelry Stands?  Towel Holders?)

I found lots more treasures...some vintage rhinestone baubles and the two display stands you see above.  Anyone want to tell me what they were originally made for?  I'm clueless!
Now...here's the SHOCKER!

 ~MY RECEIPT~

 While my Mr. AGPMan is carrying HIS four enormous bags of packing peanuts to the front (a necessity for the biz but HOW BORING IS THAT to buy????) I get in line to check out.  Once I was at the counter the saleslady began to list out each of my finds on a receipt.  The packing peanuts were a special deal my guy negotiated for $3.00!  :)  The cost of all the other items was then calculated out...

Well...guess what?

EVERYTHING WAS
75% off!
NOT KIDDING!

The total of my entire ticket was $28.95...
 BE STILL MY HEART >>>~~~<3

When we got into the car to drive back to Edmond I said this:

ME:  "I PRAYED I'd find that lace!"

HUBBS:  "Umm...I'm thinkin' the devil tried to get you to NOT go into that store!"

ME:  "Yeah...I'm thinkin' YOU BE RIGHT!"

~ANGEL MAN?~

 HUBBS:  "I'm thinkin' you're little Angel Dude saved you!"

(I hate it when my guy is RIGHT!)

But...I'm over-dah-moon happy!


So....how'd your day turn out???

Love to you...