Empire Ranch Part III

These are the last of the photos, I promise!  In the master bedroom was a series of shelves behind glass holding some of the artifacts the women of the house would have likely used while they lived on Empire Ranch.  Of course I had to snap some pics!

Silk gloves, so thin you can see right through them!

Mesh bag.  Spotted a version like this at one of the antique stores recently.

Hair brushes.

I love these tortoiseshell combs!  And the delicate initials on the back of the mirror? Exquisite!

Tea time, part 2

All that blogging I did yesterday about tea made me want to hit the local thrift store, just in case there were any other cool cups or pots or what have you that would pop up.  Thrift stores really are some of my favorite places.  Often times, as long as you are patient and have an eye for quality, you can find some really nice treasures amongst all the stuff people throw away.  Some of the most beautiful things I own, be it jewelry or china or clothing, have come from thrift stores.  Growing up poor, they were necessities; they helped my mom stretch the dollars to help make it through the month.  As an adult I appreciate them even more.

Anyway, I've been thinking to myself lately that I really needed to find myself a creamer for my tea.  It makes no sense to brew myself an entire pot and plunk myself down in front of the computer to write or the television to sit and knit, and then have to get up twenty times to get a splash of milk for my teacup.  So when I went browsing yesterday I made sure to check the dinnerware section to see if anything turned up.

The creamer on the left is Avon and matches my teapot for herbal and green teas, down to the tulip embellishing the handle.  The one on the right is Myott out of Straffordshire, England.  I paid about $4.75 for both creamers and now I have some lovely options for drinking my tea!  I also snagged a bottle of Hero Black Cherry Jam which is out of Germany to go with the Irish soda bread I baked last night.  Yum yum!

Tea time

I am a serious tea fan.  I love drinking it, I love brewing it, I love trying new kinds but I'm fussy about my favorites.  I've also somehow managed to collect quite a few items that are tea inspired; everything from a set of towels and hot pads for the kitchen emblazoned with a tea pot, to multiple tea bag dishes, to the cups I drink my tea out of.  So I decided to snap some pics!

I am having Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride by Celestial Seasonings.

Some of my favorite black teas and my prized Brown Betty teapot.

The teacup on the left says "Nothing is worth more than this day"; the teacup on the right was made in Japan.

I couldn't capture the beautifully colored enamel in the design.

Bavarian china cup with matching saucer.

I just purchased two seasonal teas this weekend: Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride by Celestial Seasonings and Pumpkin Spice by Stash.  I also had the opportunity to try Darjeeling for the first time!  Delicious!  Much more delicate than my usual black teas but not quite as grassy as an Oolong.

The Brown Betty teapot in the second picture was a gift from my good friend Lynn who's family is from the UK.  I received it as a Christmas present soon after I first met.  Being British he appreciates a good cuppa tea as well!  I've heard, and I personally believe, that black teas taste better when brewed in a Brown Betty.  In any case I have two teapots, one for my blacks, another for my herbal and green teas.

The pretty white china with the blue roses was a thrift store find I scored not too long ago.  It had been sitting in a box in the St. Mary's Thrift Store almost for as long as I've lived on the west side of Tucson.  I've eye-balled it before but at $60 it was a bit rich for me, even though it was in flawless condition, bore maker's marks on the bottom and came complete with four cups, four saucers, and four each of two different kinds of dessert plates.  So about a month ago I was talking to the man running the cash register and mentioned that I wouldn't buy it for $60 but I would for $30, which is exactly what he sold it to me for!  The maker is Johann Haviland of Bavaria and the pattern is called Blue Garland and dates to the 1930s.  Replacements for the teacups alone are $18 apiece.  Score!!  The china is nice and thin, so delicate you can see light glowing through them and a joy to use!

Thrift Store Finds!

 So I went out after work yesterday to try and locate some of those great striped tights I was seeing at all the Halloween stores this year.  Unfortunately it was too little, too late: the Spirit store only held a sale the day after Halloween and Savers is so picked over it was sad.  *sigh*  So I guess if I want to rock the Emilie Autumn look (not to mention stay warm in my skirts and dresses this winter!) I'm going to have to find some other source for funky tights.  That's what I get for being cheap and wanting to stick to sales!

On the bright side, I scored some major vintage at Savers!

Vintage score!

Glass bottle, c. ?

Flowers with Butterfly and Bee, teardrop pearl, c. 1950s

Genuine pearl necklace

Gold toned shell earrings with faux pearl, c. 1950s

All told I scored three pairs of vintage earrings, two of which have maker's marks on the backs so I can research them, a real pearl necklace, a heart shaped glass perfume bottle and a real china bowl, again with the maker's mark, pattern name and patent number on the back!  And everything was, of course, cheap.  I just hope Savers never hires anyone who has a knowledge of antique jewelry.

Halloween - Before the madness...

 The annual Halloween party given by my family in California kicks off at 8:30 this evening so everyone is puttering about the house cleaning, assembling, visiting and watching really bad horror movies.  I have busted out my camera and taken some preliminary shots of the festivities.  I can't wait for tonight; my costume is retro-rific!

The Halloween Cake, during the final stages of assembly

Detail of the cake.

Detail of the cake.

Terry, proud creator!

The cake is awesome!  Terry always does an incredible job creating a new Halloween-themed cake every year and this one is so detailed.  I had to share some shots of her mad creativity!

In the retro vein, I had to take a couple shots of my friend Richard's incredible Art Deco era bar!  I just about fell over in envy when I saw it.

Shot of the entire bar. The side wings and table top swing out all at once.

A portable bar on the top along with other antique and Halloween goodies.

Closeup of the swing out wings and table.

Stay posted for more incredible pics!

Thrift Store Luxury: Elvis Clock

I have great luck when it comes to stumbling across cool things in out-of-the-way places.  I was in Savers (Oracle and Fort Lowell) a few weeks ago looking for some exercise shorts for the gym when I randomly wandered down the knick knack aisle and discovered this great vintage Elvis clock!

It has pictures of Elvis during his Vegas years marking each of the hours, a black center reading "King of Rock and Roll" and a gold frame. 

It was damaged, missing the pictures from the 2 and 6 hour spaces so it was selling for only $3.  I took it home, decoupaged two images from the internet into the missing spaces and reinforced the remaining images with Mod Podge so they wouldn't come loose.  The images I chose were a scene from the film Viva Las Vegas and the cover from the soundtrack for the movie.  And then, because I couldn't control my crafty side, I added black glitter to the frame to balance the play between gold and black throughout the clock.

Now I just need new batteries and a hook for my wall and I have a great vintage treasure for my home!