Hats Off to Sherry!

     My friend, confidant, and tea-time buddy, Sherry, has inspired my love of collecting. She has the knack for knowing just what to look for and what the hot trends are.  
     We have shared stories of our finds and treasures for many years. The Kovel's expression, "You only regret the things you didn't buy," has been our experience more times than we care to remember.  Sherry will leave her purchases in the trunk of her car and I will leave them on my counter until we can get together and ooooh and ahhhhh over each other's items.  There are always stories to tell.

Our daughter studied in Australia during her college years.  Sherry kindly gave her this amazing vintage map upon her return.  How cool is that!?!

This sweet little syrup pitcher was my best find at Sherry's garage sale this year.  She has always let me be her first customer at her sales.  Now that's a true friend!

This winter print is one of Sherry's treasures that I was able to have.  The lone wolf overlooking a cozy town conveys the feeling of this frigid morning.  The snuff jar is from Sherry, too.

Hmmm.....  I better not post more from Sherry.  She might want some of them back!  :)

Around the House

Sometimes the biggest challenge to being creative is staying organized.  It also helps to be able to find the right stuff when you need it.  I like using an old Coke crate to keep my craft paints together.  Storing them upside down keeps the paint at the right end.  It's also easier to find the perfect color or see color combinations.  

Using a scissors rack keeps the Sharpies handy.  One can never have too many Sharpies.  

Christmas Day

Not sure what to do with all the cool little stuff you've collected?  Paint an old frame and add some wire.  I put a combination of home made ornaments, vintage items, gifts, photos, and misc. junque. This also makes a great gift.

Who wouldn't love this beauty?  A few weeks ago the Flea Mkt. Fiend and Garage Sale Guru went to a second-day antique sale.  This Hummel figurine was marked $6 so I snatched it up.  As the seller pointed out, the wing had been repaired.  Whoa, not a big deal to me since I want it exclusively for decoration.  Because it was the second day, it was actually half price.  Hmmmm..... I pretty much love it.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Our Mom bought these kissing angels at Silver's Dress Shop in the 50's or 60's.  They're now part of Cindy's Christmas collection.

The Christmas sign is from a favorite craft sale.  The trees and white ware collection are from garage sales.  The vintage cupboard came out of a local school auction. 

The sign is a gift from a great friend many years ago.  Doesn't everyone have a pair of mittens like this?

One of Cindy's best finds.  It's a Coke calendar from her birth year...please don't do the math!  Ha!  She framed it and hangs it proudly all season.

More Merry Finds

We rescued this adorable Rudolph from a pile of broken ornaments at a garage sale.  We try to buy handmade ornaments.  This one was painstakingly made in needlepoint.  We hang it on our rearview mirror each year on the first day of our Christmas shopping season.  

Our brother was renovating an old school into office spaces and asked us if we wanted any stuff.  Heck ya!  We found a stack of these cool white plates.  They were used in the charming days before hot lunch trays. We turned this one (with the help of some special Sharpies) into a Santa's cookie plate for one of our favorite nieces.

As mentioned, we are CRAZY about Shiny Brite.  Our artist niece took this fab photo and we used the Color Splash app to turn it into a Christmas card.

Talk about a blast from the past!  My sister and I used to sit for hours paging through a special Cooky Book.  Our mom is the best baker in the world!  We picked up this copy at a garage sale for a dollar!  Money well spent.  Now we need to decide who will get this one for Christmas...

Some fun, vintage Christmas finds.

One vintage elf from our Grandma inspired our love of these little guys.

A box of vintage cards found at a garage sale in Green Bay, WI.

Garage sale find with an old family Tonka.

Antique sleigh bells are a favorite with the Polar Express. Our children wore the boots.  Our daughter painted the picture and gave it to her Dad for Christmas.

Old silver plate items are a real steal at local garage sales and estate sales.

Who doesn't love Shiny Brite?

Yup, we are that crazy!

As sisters, friends, and treasure hunters we never take ourselves too seriously.

In the Beginning

My sister and I are always on the hunt for the next treasure.  We started hitting the garage sales when our kids were preschoolers.  They'd be up so early on a Saturday morning that we figured what a great way to keep them happy.  With a dollar in their chubby fists, off we'd go.  We're hoping to blog about some of our funny adventures and add photos of cool things we've found. (We're new to the blogging world, so please bear with us.)