All New Treasures

 

This great antique style cabinet is made to hold your laundry or trash can in style. It is made to look like an old pie safe and has a punched tin door in the front that drops down and a perforated door in the back for air circulation that opens for easy cleaning. Great new shabby chic black finish and darling glass knob! Measures 28" tall x 20" wide x 12" deep. Much better than an ugly plastic garbage can or hamper!

Asking $45.00 SOLD

 

Vintage Wooden Stick Hobby Horse On Wheels

This beautiful antique stick hobby horse on wheels measures 38" tall. He is all carved wood with glass eyes.
Asking $55.00

Great Vintage Cigar Boxes
I have 18 old cigar boxes. They include Antonio y Cleopatra, Don Diego, La Palina, John Riskin, Roi-Tan, Bankers Club, Fifty-Fifty, Miles Havana, House of Winsor, Jamaica Crooks, El Toro & White Owl. These have incredible antique graphics and are great for small storage or as vintage photography props. Some are mint, some are taped, others written on. Some are wood, some cardboard, most have stamps. Pre embargo. The cigar prices range from 2 for 5¢ to 15¢.

 Asking $1-$10 each or $45 for all. SOLD

Antique Rid-Jid Ironing Board

This old board looks great for her age!  Fully functioning from the 1930's. Wood with blue metal parts and black handle.
Asking $35.00

Fantastic Old Florist Plant Stand
This fantastic old florists plant stand has a great chippy green finish. I believe it is from the 30's, mortise and tenon joints. It measures 44" high x 44" wide at top x 35" wide at base x 18" wide. It would be great for displaying plants, books or collectibles or as a cupcake stand at a shabby chic wedding! This is a really unique vintage display piece!
Asking $125
Also available for rent for your event.

 

Fantastic Set of 4 Antique Wood Folding Chairs

These incredible set of 4 antique folding chairs date to the 1910's. They are in wonderful original condition and sturdy.
Asking $100

 

Fantastic Vintage Wooden T-Square

I just love this old wood t-square made by A.P. CO. It is 24" long and has a wonderful patina. Incredible accessory for a vintage office!

Asking $30.00

Party Party
For the past 10 years I have had 15 plus parties a year. This year I am taking a break. Everything I do is homemade, from the invitations and decorations to the cheesecake and egg rolls. It is a lot of work. Next year all of my girls have milestone birthdays. Monica a teen at 13, Maggie Sweet 16, And Mary Kate 21. I didn't do Easter this year and I am not sure about Thanksgiving and Christmas for 25 plus people. The girls can have a couple of friends for dinner on their birthdays this year, but I am taking a break from my huge theme parties.

When I do parties, I go big! I have had rodeos, carnivals, masquerades, and Make-A-Movie parties complete with scripts and red carpet. My theatre background makes me a drama queen. I will be back to it before you know it, but for now this is Monica's 11th birthday party from last September.

The theme was  Sweet  Shop and as you can see we had goodies galore. The big hit was the chicken strips (which the kids ate all night instead of candy) and I will include the recipe below.

 

We will start with the invites which were hand delivered and easy to make. The card was plain pink card stock with a candy themed scrapbooking paper glued on top. We added a circle of scrapbook paper, a lollipop stick and coordinating ribbon to finish. My husband Michael is an award winning graphic designer, who put together the inside page, which we embellished with cutouts from the sweets paper. If you need an incredible, one-of-a-kind invite, my Michael is your man. Contact me by email and he will do the rest!

The decor was obviously candy themed. I filled dollar store vases and plastic containers from Michael's with  Skittles,  Starburst, M&M's, Orange  Slices, caramel corn, powdered doughnuts, giant Pixie  Stix and lollipops. I also added chocolate covered pretzel sticks, marshmallows, strawberries, cheesecake and sundae style cupcakes. I had giant butterscotch, lollipops and peppermints left over from Maggie's "America's Next Top Model" candy photo shoot (another great party I will blog about later) and hung them from the ceiling and put them around the rooms. I bought pink broadcloth (half price) to cover the tables and topped them with orange plastic runners or added orange plastic skirts (also half price) for some tables. It was windy outside that weekend and the tablecloths did not want to stay on. The solution? Little cellophane bags filled with aqua glass rock "candy" tied with a lime green bow pinned to the corners. The tablecloths didn't move and it brought more of my colors to each table.

In the dining room I hung striped fabric with my colors as a backdrop and used the fabric for pillows outside as well. The banners were made with scrapbook paper, card stock and my husband's printed letters. Bouquets of sparklers and Morning Glory fireworks with coordinating matchboxes decorated the tables outside. I used coordinating scrapbook paper to cover cans both empty and full to make my tablescapes. Don't forget streamers and balloon clusters and chandeliers in all your colors which make a big impact for very little money!

The food was simple and portable. Corn dogs (yes, store bought), homemade chicken strips, and pickle potato salad in adorable custom labeled dollar store paper cups. It is my new favorite way to serve food. You grab a food cup and a condiment cup and you can enjoy while you mingle!

Everyone received a a candy quiz shortly after they arrived. They had to match clues with the name of the appropriate candy, eg. Athos, Porthos, Aramis - Three Musketeers. The kids competed separately from the adults, and honestly did better! We played Marshmallow Head (way too messy!), Skittle Relay, and the best kids game, Remove-All-The-Gummy-Bears-From-Your-Whipped-Cream-Filled-Pie-Pan-Without-Using-Your-Hands game. The adults loved watching it and the kids wanted to play it again and again! The biggest hit of the night was Blindfolded Musical Chairs. Thank you Ellen DeGeneres! We remove most of our furniture from our living room but you still have to have extra people to make sure no one runs into something and hurts themselves. We all laughed at the kids and then all the grown-ups wanted to play. The adults were so funny that we were laughing until we were crying!

 

The evening ended with fireworks. Monica's birthday always comes on Labor Day weekend and the water park a few blocks away has a huge fireworks show. With the pool and our sparklers, we had a blast!

Best Chicken Strips Ever!
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
14 tsp paprika
1 egg
1 cup milk
Oil for frying
2 boneless chicken breasts

Combine flour, salt. peppers and paprika in a medium bowl
In separate bowl whisk together egg and milk
Slice chicken breast into 1 inch strips
Preheat oil in deep fryer or oil in pan to 375 degrees
Dip Chicken strips one or two at a time into egg mixture. Dredge through flour mixture then repeat, coating twice.
When all chicken is breaded chill on a plate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes
When chicken is done resting, drop several pieces into the oil  at a time and fry 5-6 minutes. Repeat until they are all fried.

I make 250 strips at a time by multiplying the recipe. I fry them and freeze them, then pull them out, defrost and fry for about 2 minutes on my party day. They are incredible! Your kids will never eat store or restaurant bought again!

Wednesday's Wonders

 

Rare Antique Berger's No 2 Railroad Lantern

This rare antique Berger's No 2 railroad lantern was nicknamed "The Storm King".

It does have rust. The red globe is in perfect shape. It dates 1900-1910.

Asking $95

 

Antique Dietz D-Lite Railroad Lantern

The lantern is missing it's glass globe and has some rust. Made in NY USA. Great rustic decorator piece.

Asking $35.00

 

Small Vintage Dietz Railroad Style Lantern

This little vintage lantern was made in Hong Kong. Lots of rust and character.

Asking $15.00

 

Large Antique Hamilton Type Setting Tray Shadowbox

This fantastic antique Hamilton type setting letterpress tray measures 32" long x 16 1/2" high and has 89 compartments. It has a wonderful patina and has picture hangers on the back, so it is ready for hanging longways or sideways. These are not easy to come by and great for displaying smalls.

Asking $55.00 SOLD

 Great Antique Type Setting Tray

This antique type setting letter press tray measures 16 1/2" x 21 1/2". It has picture hangers and is ready to hang. It has 86 compartments and is great as a decorator piece or shadow box for smalls.

Asking $30.00 SOLD

 

Incredible 1920's Vintage Eskimo Fan

This fantastic 1920's oscillating Eskimo fan is still in great working condition. It measures 13" from the base to top, 10 1/2" across. The chippy paint gives it lots of character.

Asking $125

Antique HKP Porter's New Easy Bolt Cutters Size 0
This is a great old tool for display or use. The cutting edge is worn and needs repair.
Asking $30

 

Cute Vintage Roll Top Bread Box

This cute vintage bread box measures 18" wide x 12" high x 11" deep.

Asking $25.00

Beautiful Ladies Bulova 17 Jewel Wristwatch 10K RGP
This beautiful vintage winder Bulova with Swiss movement, is in like-new condition. It is dainty, keeps good time and has an adjustable band.
Asking $45.00

Fantastic Vintage Watham 17 Jewel Mens Wristwatch
This 60's-70's vintage winder gold tone Waltham with stainless steel back is in very clean condition and keeps excellent time.
Asking $45.00

Vintage Westclox Award II Luminous Alarm Desk Clock
This great vintage Westclox Award II Luninous alarm desk clock is new in box and keeps perfect time.
Asking $45.00

If you are interested in ant of my items please contact me at Bseaingu2@aol.com

Mantle Makeover

Until last fall I was the owner of the ugliest fireplace I have ever seen. As you can see in the photos it was a brick surround with bricks sticking out as the mantle. A foot above it were niches that were an attempt at southwestern modern? It was hideous! I wanted to paint the brick to match the walls when we moved in, but my mom thought I was crazy. Instead, after a couple of years, I painted the walls a terra cottta to match the brick so the fireplace would disappear! I had lived with this room the way it was for ten years, and last year I just couldn't take it anymore.

 

My wonderful husband is an artist and graphic designer, not a carpenter, but years of whining about my dream mantle and buying him power tools for every occasion finally paid off! We weren't really sure how to begin building the mantle.  Should we remove the brick or build over it? In the end we decided to use the brick as part of the framing. I was absolutely giddy while shopping for the lumber. Luckily standard size lumber was perfect for our project and very little cutting was necessary.

 

The mantle went together like a puzzle, starting with the top and working down the sides and across the front. I was like an impatient child checking every 20 minutes to see how far he had come. We decided on plain trim so the mantle wouldn't compete with what I wanted to display. I would have liked a travertine surround, but it didn't fit the budget so I covered the brick with drywall compound and faux painted it as stone. I love the end result!

 

The niches that bothered me so much before, make sense now that they start at the top of the mantle. We painted the room a soft gray and the cream and white of the fireplace are beautiful against it. 

I love my new mantle and look forward to decorating it for years to come!