Dig This Treasure!

I saved this awesome find from the Igloo sale because I just love them so much.

I spotted these adorable buddies on the same table where all of those vintage Steiffs were located. They are some tiny handmade beagles. I mean, I don’t know that they’re beagles, but I’m just going to pretend that they are. They seem to be knit out of cotton string of some sort. It also appears that a child made a couple of them coats out of felt. They’re a little worn/dirty but they’re still super cute. I got all four for $5.

If you look close, they also look a little crazy, which makes them even more awesome!

-Sarah

You may recall that Erin and I found a little gem of a store in Clinton Township a few weeks ago. I’m not sure how but the first time I looked in this glass case, I missed this treasure. It wasn’t until I asked the owner if I could see something that I noticed those vintage wooden nesting houses hiding in the back of the case on the bottom shelf.  

I freaked out a little because they were really familiar to me but I couldn’t place why. Then I remembered that we had these same houses when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen them in my parents house in years, so I’m not sure what happened to them. 

When I described them to my mom, she didn’t remember them, but then this past weekend I showed them to her in person and she immediately remembered them. But she had no idea where they went. 

Anyhow, it seems like you can find some of your own on Etsy! 

-Sarah

A few months ago, I found an adorable little figurine of a teenage girl talking on the phone, but she was cracked, which broke my heart. Shortly after, I created an eBay alert for “girl on telephone figurine” and have since started my very own collection! I’m sort of bummed that I have to rely on eBay for them (I like the serendipity of sales!), but what can ya do?

This little blonde is the first that I purchased and she’s by far in the best shape. She’s also of the “Lego Japan” variety, which are my favorites.

Since starting this search, I’ve discovered that the teenage girl on the telephone is a theme that many other makers also used–it seems to have been popular in the 1950s. After finding the blonde girl, I obtained my very own solemn girl on the phone–just like the one that I had noticed back when I first posted about these!

If you look closely, her nose is jacked up, which wasn’t part of the description. The seller gave me a partial refund, which was nice.

Next up was this totally awesome bank! I got it around Christmas, which I remember because Erin secretly told Adam to get it for me, and he got all annoyed that I bought it for myself. Oh well! I didn’t want to risk having someone else swoop in and get it!

The last few of these I just purchased recently. These two came in a lot together. Obviously I only wanted the femme-y boy, because the girl is  clearly undergoing an exorcism. How else would she get into that position?

Look at that nerd!

TERRIFYING.

Ok, and finally, here are my favorites. They are just so dang adorable!

They’re not salt and pepper shakers, so I’m not sure why this person had two of the same figurine, but they sure are cute!

There are two more Lego girls (like the first one I found) that I received in the mail last week, but that story is an entry of its own, so I’ll save it for another time.

-Sarah

There have been lots of adorable Olympic mascots, but perhaps none as cute as the 1984 Winter Olympics mascot Vucko.  This happy little wolf beat out other mascot finalists, including a chipmunk, a lamb, a mountain goat, a porcupine, and a snowball.  (I bet that snowball would’ve been cute too though!)

Here he is in stuffed form:

Zach has always been a big fan of the Olympics, using up all of our DVR space the years it is on.  So when he saw this amazing metal Vucko on ebay, he wanted him pretty badly.  I ended up buying it for him for his birthday a few weeks ago.

Pretty adorable!  I love that he still has his little scarf on.

Like I mentioned, there are lots of cute Olympic mascots, and plenty of merchandise that features them.  Here are some other cute items I’ve found:

Cute, huh?

-Erin

While I recover from the fact that Erin neglected to buy me one of those ADORABLE carvings last weekend, I want to tell you about another Fave Find. Erin is actually the person who found this item (at the house where I found those Michigan shaped cork coasters) and then let me buy it, so I’ll forgive her a little for the carving situation. 

Look at how cute that bear is. Someone loved the sh*t outta that bear. When I was taking his picture last night, I noticed how large the ear on the right was compared to the one on the left. Then I looked closer and noticed it was sewn on. I’m not sure what happened there, but it makes him even cuter. He is a jointed bear and seems to have some sort of noise maker inside because when you shake him around, he makes a quiet moany sort of sound. I love him. 

-Sarah

The same day that Zach and I scored those Briggs treasures, we swung by another sale and bought two items that are now  “fave finds” of mine.

When we arrived at the sale, I instantly noticed all of these wood carvings.  They were ADORABLE.  The woman running the sale informed me that the deceased owner of the estate had been quite the woodworker.  He made all of these figures and sold them throughout his life.  

I was immediately happy that I was going to be able to buy some of these, but also MEGA SAD that the family of this man didn’t want to keep these.  I started to stress out that all of these figures would be thrown in the trash when the sale ended.  

Unfortunately I couldn’t buy all of these guys because they were kind of pricey!  Originally they were $15-20 each!  Since it was Sunday, and the last day of the sale, they were all around $5-10.  

The first guy I found was this skiing rabbit:

If there are two things I love, they are skiing and rabbits.

Next I found this country singer lady:

Look at that little cowboy hat she is holding!  This is truly the greatest thing of all time.

Here is another view:

These carvings make me so happy.  They are funny and cute…important characteristics of any fave find.

What’s funny is I was writing this post and dropping it in our queue about the same time that our friend over at Monkeybox Blog was writing this great post about her own folk art collection.  I’m glad to see some fellow admiration for the effort that goes into woodcarving.  Very cool.

Ok, so last thing.  This is too hilarious not to mention.  When Zach and I left this sale, we noticed this yard:

And then this crazy guy ACROSS THE STREET AND IN A DITCH:

Penguin on the run!

Ok and for good measure, here is an old photo of me with a real penguin:

-Erin

So I’ve never hidden the fact that I LOVE me some Native American art and artifacts, as long as they are authentic and not stolen Indian designs made in China.  In particular, I really like Inuit art.  I’m no expert, but a lot of it seems to present everyday, mundane life in more meaningful and whimsical ways.  And a lot of it has animals in it, particularly whales and narwhals (always cool).

Until recently, my closest attempt at owning Inuit art was this book I bought on ebay.  It was essentially a catalog of Inuit art that I would never actually own.  

I considered at one point cutting out and framing the photos in this book, which would probably end up being sad and embarrassing.  Is that some original Inuit art on your wall?! No? You cut it out of a book?  That’s sad.  Go buy yourself some Inuit art.

Around the time Sarah and I started getting into auctions, I discovered that there are live auctions online!  This seems obvious, but was actually a huge epiphany for me.  And sure enough, there was an online auction scheduled out of Vancouver featuring ALL Inuit art.  I was thrilled.

I figured this would be my chance to buy a piece more affordably.  Pieces on ebay always sold for high prices or were listed expensively to begin with.  Maybe I could catch a deal in this live bidding.  

The items up for auction were all great.  There were sculptures, fabric art pieces, prints, and more.

I zeroed in right away on the piece below:

It’s called Fox Traps and Anxious Hunters by Jamasie Teevee.  It’s a lithograph (#22/50) from 1976.  I entered a pre-bid of $150 and went to bed (the sale was happening on Pacific Time and it was getting late).  Sure enough, when I woke up the next morning, I had an email saying I was the high bidder, and the bidding ended at $120!  SO AWESOME.

Jamasie Teevee died in 1985, and all of his prints I’ve found for sale are listed for upwards of $400.  I feel like I got a really great deal, and a really amazing piece of art.  I’ll cherish it for a long time to come!  Now I just have to find me a narwhal sculpture like the one above…

-Erin

P.S. LOOK HOW CUTE THAT WALRUS IS.

Update from Sarah: Oh my gosh! I heard the story of the Inuit art print but have never seen it or a picture of it until now. It is so stinkin’ cute. I’m actually really jealous of this.

I haven’t written a “fave find” post in awhile, but this recently-acquired biscuit box sure is cause to write one now.

Antique biscuit boxes were used at bakeries or old General Stores, and they were filled with doughy delights.  The grocer would open up the box and use tongs to pull out the treats for a buyer.  The box is metal with a glass front so purchasers could see the goods inside.

I found this particular box at a small auction I went to with Timmy on Thursday.  It was right near my house, and all of the items looked good.  Unfortunately, it ended up being really high-priced!  People were bidding machines!  I was getting very grumpy because neither my dad or I were winning anything, and because people were paying obscene amounts for worthless things.  Common Effanbee dolls for $70?!  They barely sell for $10 on ebay.  It was a lot of stuff like that.  [Sidenote: Zach pointed out that “Effanbee” sounds like I am saying “F'in B” which is funny.]

So I figured that the biscuit box would soar in price, and I would go home sad.  It was the only item at the auction I REALLY wanted.  But then it went up for bidding, and I won it for $25!  I was thrilled.

As you can see from the photo, I put some old books in it and am now displaying it on our bookshelf.  I think it adds a nice look to an otherwise typical shelf.

If you are interested in your own metal biscuit box, take a look on Etsy and on Ebay.

-Erin

P.S. Can anyone tell me what “Not in the Trust” means on my box?!

Now that my mom is a world class estate saler and eBayer, she’s starting to find things that I am jealous of. She and my dad went out a few weeks ago on a Saturday and found a secret sale. I’m not sure if they chanted the secret sale song or not, but they should have, because it ended up being great. The best thing (in my opinion) that they found, though, was this handmade Noah’s Ark.

I am always drawn to folk arty things like this because it’s what I grew up with, and I loved it from the moment I saw it up on eBay. My mom already had some watchers and told me she would have just given it to me if she had known I loved it that much. She also only paid FIFTEEN DOLLARS for it. It’s pretty big, and it’s VERY cool–made out of wood, metal, rope, etc. The estate sale they found it at was a living estate sale, and the woman told my mom that she had bought it for $100 at an art fair years ago. It’s signed by the artist and everything. 

Anyway, I just figured I would bid on it because I was willing to pay up to about $60 for it, so I went ahead and did that toward the end of the auction. I let my mom know and she told me to just bid a ton of money on it so I’d ensure that I would win it. In the end, I won it for $68! Cindy would not accept payment because years back, she and my dad gave my brother their wooden Noah’s ark. This one is way cooler, though. Take that, Sam. 

Here it is in its new spot in our living room: 

Adam clearly isn’t a huge fan of this piece, but he’s tolerating it, which I appreciate. When I was asking him about where he thought it should go, he said, “Isn’t that a Christmas decoration?” I asked him what part of the story of Noah’s ark has to do with Christmas and he didn’t really have a good answer besides it being a story “related to Jesus.” It goes without saying that this was a pretty weak attempt at shutting the Noah’s ark operation down. 

-Sarah

I’m back!

I need to start this entry by giving props to Erin who has basically been running the show here for the past few weeks while I’ve been out frolicking around on vacation. 

At the end of the first Cash for Gold entry, I mentioned that one of my finds was a Fave Find. When we were at the sale where Erin found that clover necklace, she came up to me and showed me this: 

What you are looking at is a box of adorable, miniature stuffed basset hounds. These little dudes were made at some point by Applause for Hush Puppies. They are still twist tied to the box they came in. I don’t think you could find something cuter. So thanks, Erin. And they were a steal at $6 for the set. 

I know that I have written about how I love finding items at sales that resemble my pets, and Erin actually questioned my judgement on these items (in terms of how well they actually resemble my pets), but in this case, I think I’m spot on: 

That’s Max, who we think is half Beagle, half Basset. Isn’t he so sweet (when you’re looking at him on the Internet and can’t smell his breath)? 

-Sarah