Mitzi's Miscellany

The Ebay Experiment Redux

This week I listed several things on eBay (or Ebay, if you prefer) that are Halloween-related.  I haven't been selling my wares on eBay as frequently as I used to, mainly because of the uncertainty of the whole auction process.  Typically, I will sell certain items that I think are unusual and may appeal to a specialized group of collectors, such as vintage Halloween decorations, rather than something common, such as a milk glass  vase.  You'd be better off giving the milk glass vase to charity rather than spend time on the numerous steps it takes to list an item on  eBay.  It's quite time-consuming.

To give you an example of the unpredictability of auctions, let's take a look at these fabulous medical classroom charts from the 1920's that I listed on eBay several weeks ago.  I thought these were beyond wonderful, with the deep rich colors and black background.  They would also be difficult to display and sell in the antique mall because of their fragility and large size.  So I photographed them and listed them on eBay.....

 
I thought the one above would look great in a dentist's home office, and the second example for an optometrist....

 

These were made by Denoyer-Geppert, a big manufacturer of scientific teaching materials.  Check out the great detail and lush coloration...

 

Ouch!

Does that eye make you wince?  Although these posters may not appeal to shabby chic fans, this type of collectible is quite popular right now.  Haven't you noticed anatomy charts and other schoolroom or scientific supplies incorporated into home interiors?

These posters were large, and my dad spent quite some time constructing two elongated mailing tubes that they would fit inside for safe transportation.  They finally sold to the same bidder, for $75 each.  I think that was quite a bargain.  The high bidder was an antique dealer who was selling similar charts on his website for $350 to $500 each!  Although disappointed, that's the way the cookie crumbles, and I had to accept it and move on.

Right now I want to give eBay another whack with three old Halloween collectibles, including two hard plastic candy containers and a rare two-faced jack-o-lantern.  Paper pulp, or paper mache, lanterns are pretty common, but mine has a face on both sides, which is unusual.  The paper liner insert that covered the  eyes and mouth on the inside is long gone, but I think this piece has a lot of potential.

 

These two hard plastic crazy cats on wheels can be surprisingly valuable...the example on the right sold on eBay for $86.01 a couple weeks ago.  I'm not kiddiing!  There was also an example of the same cat with white coloration.  Very unusual.  The bidding got up to $177.50, which didn't meet the seller's reserve.  I wish my example was white, that's all I can say!

So I got these three items listed in the nick of time, before Halloween.  I thought the timing was right.  The starting bid was only $5.00.  I'll let you know how they end up, so stay tuned!

10/31/09  This just in:  The item pictured above on the left sold for $68, the cat pushing the JOL sold for $58, and my rare two-faced JOL sold for $61.  All in all, I'm happy.  Now I have some Christmas collectibles I need to get listed.......

Millinery Madness and the Mysterious Pink Bananas

I just returned from a journey through my friend Sharon's millinery, button, and antique stockpile.  It has been quite a fascinating and fruitful journey.  Sharon is a very knowledgeable antique dealer who had the great opportunity to buy out two old millinery stores in Detroit way back in the 1980s, before most crafters began their quest for vintage millinery supplies.  She's also been a button collector for quite some time.  Now she's sitting pretty, selling bits and bobs on eBay and to other dealers, like me, who visit her warehouse where all the goodies are kept.

These two hats are just the tip of the iceberg:

When Sharon read about an old millinery store that was going out of business back in the 1980's, she and her friend visited the store whose elderly owner, sadly, had signs of dementia.  When the two of them were ushered into the basement of the old store building, where much of the stock was stored, they found large plastic bags hanging from the ceiling full of old hats, which the owner opened up and let fall to the floor.  Left to sift through the straw, ribbon, and felt, Sharon and friend were having fun piling up items here and there as the owner closed up shop, forgetting about her customers in the basement and shutting off all the lights.  Luckily another worker upstairs heard someone calling, and rescued them from the darkness.

The other load Sharon purchased came from an Armenian family that owned a millinery and florist shop in Detroit that had been closed up since the 1960's, when of the original owner passed away and his daughter shuttered the business.  This treasure trove included German and Czech foil diecuts, boxes full of beautifully made greeting cards, and millinery flowers from Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Japan, all organized in their original bundles and boxes.

Sharon has drawer upon drawer of surprises, including these colorful pears:

Spun cotton clown heads on chenille stems ready for a floral arrangement or corsage.  These fellas are getting a little impatient.  They've been waiting nearly 60 years to be purchased by some creative person to give them a new home!

 

Drawer upon drawer full of blossoms:

More eye candy from the store room:

Golden Czech made diecuts:

Crispy old straw hats with beauty on top and under the brim:

 

Sharon set up a banquet table for me to lay out my selections, and after four hours I was satisfied that I had all that I could handle.  There was plenty of pink to go around:

 

Plastic cameos on wires.  Imagine the possibilities.....

 Stamens for your blossoms.....

Some stamens were very special, like these fuzzy guys that I paired with some berries:

How about some spun cotton redheads and blondes for a craft project?

 

I didn't forget leaves, like these satiny made-in-Japan beauties:

 

Other millinery accoutrements, like these little lace cuffs:

Of course, I bought hats, but the one pictured below was one Sharon wasn't ready to part with:

I arranged my hats inside a gold picture frame to add a little sparkle in these pictures:

 

I can see that these hats and blossoms might need a little steaming to bring them back to life:

Especially this one:

Look at these blown glass balls for corsage-making.  They were each lovingly wrapped in tissue before being shipped to the U.S. many years ago:

As a little extra somethin' somethin', Sharon gifted me with a bunch of pink bananas, which can only be explained by the Japanese company that made them way back in the 1940's, and they're not talking.  I'm going to save my pink bananas as a souvenir from my visit!

There's A Lid For Every Pot

Just in time for Sweetest Day, I have some images to share that prove "There's a Lid for Every Pot".  I guess it's just a matter of looking for your lid, if you don't have one.  Do you ever wonder how couples ended up with one another?  I do, when sifting through boxes of old cabinet photos, photo albums, and other ephemera.  When all you have to go on are the physical features, it simplifies things.  I also like looking at family portraits to see how the children resemble one or the other parent.

This looks like a happy young couple, even though they aren't grinning like fools in love:

I'm not sure why people didn't smile during the time these pictures were taken.  You almost never see a toothy grin or even a slight smirk in any of the studio pictures.  I have two theories:  People had poor dental health and didn't want to advertise their unpleasant looking teeth; or maybe because they had to pose longer than we do now, and it just wasn't realistic to hold a smile long enough for the film exposure.  Do any of you readers know why folks didn't smile in old pictures?

This middle-aged couple seem to have body language indicating they have a happy marriage, although the woman has a melancholy expression:

I would say these two aren't really into one another:

This couple made me wonder how they found each other.....they look like the Odd Couple!   There's a date on the back showing the portrait was shot in 1884:

I think these two shared a love of flamboyant accessories:

This young fella just signed up on E-Harmony.  Do you know someone that might like to sit next to him on that paper moon? 

Happy Sweetest Day from Mitzi's Collectibles!

Majolica Pottery 101

Majolica pottery is near and dear to my heart because both my mother and I have collected it for years, and my search for majolica has led me to so many wonderful antique shops, shows, and may even be responsible for my interest in selling antiques.  Most antique dealers started out as collectors, then when things reach a critical mass they have to start finding ways to whittle their collections down and logically begin selling off things they can live without.

It often starts with one innocent pitcher or plate, like the pieces below.  The large blackberries on basket weave plate is a common majolica motif and was my first-ever majolica purchase:

No matter how much I appreciate the all-white/cream shabby chic color palette, I always end up with colorful decorative collectibles in my home.  I just love color, and majolica pottery is known for the colorful glazes and fanciful forms.  I can't tell you how many times I've noticed this type of pottery in decorator magazines.  It gives a punch of color to a cupboard, bookshelf, or mantel where some pizazz is required.

Majolica isn't the name of a company, like "Roseville", let's say.  It was made by numerous pottery companies in Europe and the U.S., and was actually at the peak of popularity in the 1850's in England, and later around 1870's in the U.S.  By 1900, this style of pottery was considered gaudy and over-the-top, (which is exactly why I like it), and most manufacturers moved on to other styles of pottery.

I was planning to bring everyone that reads this up to speed on majolica basics, and in my search for resources online I came upon www.e-how.com, a site that will provide you with more information than I could ever begin to cover here.  In fact, there's a series of video clips that pretty much blow my plans out of the water.  I imagine I could learn quite a bit from e-how myself, and I'm planning on exploring it more fully when I have time!  So in the remainder of this post, I'll just share some examples of majolica so you can see what I'm talking about......

Birds, flowers, butterflies, and deeply veined leaves were often used in majolica designs.  There are many pieces that reflect the aesthetic movement, like the Asian/fans/cherry blossoms platter below right:

This egg coddler is very rare:

Some majolica and other items for sale at the Shirley Street Antique Mall in Naples, Florida: 

Most large antique malls should have some majolica for sale.  Once in a while a piece will pop up at a flea market or garage sale, but not very often.  Because of its age and fragility, it isn't something that people just toss around.  Many pieces you will see will have some damage or repairs.  Since I only collect it for its decorative value, I overlook minor damage.  I try not to pay over $100 for a plate or small pitcher, but the more elaborate pieces can sell for several hundred dollars.  Finer examples such as a jardiniere on a pedestal may be valued in the thousands.

These drawings are from the Griffin, Smith Company catalog, whose factory was churning out majolica in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, in the 1880's.  This particular page of the catalog shows the familiar begonia leaf dishes, and some butter pats:

I bought the pitcher below at a flea market for $4.00, but it has several areas of damage.  It's probably worth my while to have it repaired, which I might do eventually.  I'm lucky that I know a good pottery repair man who does a fabulous job on pieces such as this.  He's also fast.  When I first started having majolica repaired, about 12 years ago, I gave a corn motif pitcher to a local woman that specialized in pottery repair.  She had it for over two years!

I hope you will start noticing majolica now, if you haven't already, and don't forget to explore www.e-how.com.  You might even bump into me over there!

Whirlwind Saturday

Yesterday was an exceptionally great day, very busy and full of surprises.  In the morning I decided to visit a small "Antiques and Fall Festival" on the grounds of a Michigan Centennial farm in DeWitt, a little town north of Lansing.  The owner, Jill, and her husband have immaculately maintained grounds and there are so many wonderful details everywhere you look.

There are several small barns or "outbuildings" which housed some of the handful of antique dealers, crafters, and their offerings.  Other dealers set up between the trees:

These are "osage oranges" that fall off the osage orange tree this time of year.  Supposedly if you put a few in your basement they will keep spiders away:

 

I really like this set of red painted chairs:

 

More autumnal goodies:

 

Here's a local crafter's wares.  Not exactly my cup of tea, but I appreciate their efforts: 

A vintage bee skep vignette.  I love bee skeps!

Jill even has a chandelier hanging from a tree.  I love it!

I'm envious of these lush hydrangeas.  I'm sure they will end up being dried and preserved: 

While I was enjoying the sale in DeWitt, a dealer mentioned to me there was an estate sale going on in a Lansing neighborhood that is full of old Tudor style homes built around the 1910's - 1930's.  I jumped at the chance to tour the inside of one of these old homes, and I wasn't disappointed when I arrived here:

This house has details galore, including this plaster work frieze that greets you in the foyer.  This is attached to the wall, mind you!:

Right above it is this light fixture and ceiling medallion:

The fireplace was done with a mixture of old and new Pewabic Pottery tiles surrounded by newer complimentary tile, and another detailed plaster focal point featuring a fruit swag:

Although this Pewabic tile is newer, just look at how masterfully crafted it is.  I love the little ladybug.  And when was the last time you saw a black ant depicted in clay?

This dragonfly tile is one of the older Pewabic Pottery pieces.  Pewabic Pottery is a Detroit company that has been in business since the early 1900's:

 

I just couldn't get over the wood moldings, trim, and plaster work!

 

You just don't see craftsmanship like this anymore.  Even the banister had me enthralled:

One can never have too many chandeliers:

I was able to purchase a large quantity of depression glass, Fostoria American glassware, and other odds and ends.  I'll be back to this neighborhood soon with my camera to get some exterior shots of the beautiful homes and trees once the leaves become more colorful. 

Oh yes, the home pictured above is for sale.  Would you like to buy it?

A Quick Little Craft Project

Recently I ended up with a box full of old studio portraits, and some empty Art Deco style cardboard frames.  I typed some little witticisms, enlarged them to fit within the frames, and now I have a few framed words of wisdom that would look cute on a shelf in someone's office or craft room.  These little frames fold flat, so they could be mailed quite easily to someone far away that you would like to acknowledge.

Here is the pile of cardboard frames....

And here is what I did with them....

Here's another view.....as you can see, the quotes I've chosen run the gamut from Albert Einstein to Mae West!

Some of these quotations I got online at BrainyQuote and others I sort of had rattling around in my head.  Do overly enthusiastic and ultra-cheerful people ever get on your nerves?  That's what inspired "Can You Carpe Diem Somewhere Else?".  Remember the famous scene in "The Shining" where Shelley Duvall reads what Jack Nicholson had been spending so much time typing?  It said "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", as I recall.  That's what inspired me to type "create" over and over, with the word "relax" inserted a few times.  Wouldn't that be a cute gift for a crafty person that you know?  We all need to be reminded to take a break once in a while.  The possibilities here are endless!

If you want to try this little craft project but are wondering where to get the cardboard frames, I would suggest doing an eBay search.  Estate sales would also be a good bet, because many times you'll find a box full of family portraits.  Nobody can bear to throw away a framed picture of a relative, can they?  You might have to buy the actual photographs along with the frames, and then you could remove the photos and use them in a different project. Have fun!

How to Make a Wallpaper Mirror Just Like Anthropologie

Last winter I was visiting my family in Naples, Florida, and we did a little shopping at the Anthropologie store, a place I love to visit to get product display ideas and other types of inspiration.  I saw a few curious looking mirrors there that appeared to have vintage wallpaper peeking through the silvering and creating a very interesting effect.  This reminded me a little bit of antique mirrors that were called "vanity mirrors", (as in "vain", not as in the furniture "vanity"). 

I actually have an old "vanity mirror" that has a damaged frame that I've been meaning to fix.  One of those projects that lingers in the garage....

Let me explain:  back in the Victorian era (1837-1901), over 100 years ago, it was considered in bad taste to check oneself in a parlor mirror, so they would hang "vanity" mirrors which would be a basic framed mirror with a decoration painted directly on the glass.  This way, if you wanted to peek in a mirror to check your teeth for possible stuck spinach, you would appear to be admiring the lovely swans and flowers or what have you instead of checking your teeth for spinach. 

Now these Anthropologie mirrors are just the opposite of Victorian vanity mirrors in terms of their construction, because the design from the wallpaper would be applied behind areas of silvering that has been rubbed away from the glass.  The minute I saw these mirrors in Anthropologie, I knew I could recreate them at home, and in the process use some old mirrors I had hanging around that had damage or wear to the silvering and probably would be hard to sell "as is". Getting a mirror re-silvered is a real hassle, by the way, and usually isn't worth the expense unless we're talking about something very valuable.

These four mirrors have been given a Mitzi makeover with some of the vintage wallpaper that I have in my stash:

If you would like to try this project, you will have to sacrifice a mirror you have or find one at a flea market that is damaged, so you don't feel uncomfortable when you remove more of the silvering.  Once you do this, there is no going back!  So here are the basic steps:

Remove the mirror from the frame.  In most instances, there will be a piece of cardboard protecting the back of the mirror.  Set this aside as your base for the wallpaper.  If there isn't a cardboard backing, cut a piece of poster board or foam core that will serve as a backing.

Now lay your mirror down outside and spray some Easy Off oven cleaner to a few areas of the silvered backing to create a random pattern.  You might want to practice on newspaper to see how much spray comes out of your can so you can control the area covered when you spray your mirror.  Sometimes the spray will cause immediate removal of the silvering, so you won't be able to "do-over".  Be ready to accept the first pattern you spray.

Leave the Easy Off on your mirror for about five minutes, then put on your rubber gloves and remove the sprayed areas with paper towel.  Try not to smear Easy Off all over in the process so you don't remove more silvering than you had planned.  Rinse with water and dry.  Keep in mind that each mirror is different, and some may have more stubborn silvering than others.  I had to take some fine steel wool and remove some remaining silvering on one of my mirrors, and it worked pretty well. 

Now take the cardboard backing and apply scrapbook paper, wallpaper, or just about anything else that has a pleasing pattern to selected areas.  I used Mod Podge and a brayer to smooth down the vintage wallpaper to the cardboard.  You won't have to cover the whole piece of cardboard, because the remaining mirror silvering will mask some area, and you can judge how much paper will actually be necessary by laying your glass mirror on top of the cardboard. 

With this example, I pretty much covered all of the cardboard because I had scraps of wallpaper I thought I'd use up:

For a second option, you could apply the wallpaper directly to the glass with Mod Podge.  I prefer the cardboard-backing method, because there might be a chance that I would someday want to change the pattern and this way the paper wouldn't be permanently stuck to the glass.

Now all you have to do is reassemble your mirror.  This is actually a pretty easy project, so I hope you can give it a go!  We'll consider these our new version of Victorian vanity mirrors, and maybe we can use them in the same manner.  After all, we still have to check our teeth for stuck spinach from time to time, don't we?

Button Mania Takes Over Mitzi's Collectibles

Is there anything as happy as a button?  No, there isn't.  Just ask a serious button collector about their passion, and you'll learn so much about these tiny utilitarian treasures.  Buttons can be works of art but are often under appreciated by us, and they are right under our noses!

Recently I bought the mother lode of buttons from my friend Sue at Me Again Flea Market in Lansing.  When I say the mother lode, I mean it, as you can see in the photo below!  Imagine this huge Utz Pretzel container and a large Tupperware box filled to the top with unsorted buttons!

"Unsorted" means they have not been divided into various colors or types of material such as mother-of-pearl, celluloid, wood, etc.  There is a method to sorting buttons, and believe me that it is really fun!  My blogland friend Beth Lientz has a great post detailing how one should go about sorting buttons here.  Beth has several posts about buttons, so spend a little time on her site learning about her button obsession.

If you have kids, sorting buttons is a great way to keep them busy for a couple hours.  Dump a bunch of buttons on a cookie sheet or tray and have your tot divide them into black, white, and colors, for example.  Or by material.  Are there any military buttons?  Maybe metal buttons can be put in another pile for further examination.  Whenever I sort buttons, I drift into a "zone" of total concentration on what I am doing, and I forget all the worries of the day.  It's quite therapeutic. 

Here are some of the sorted buttons from my big haul pictured above:

Aren't they beautiful?  Just like little jewels!

Now that I have all the buttons I want from the big pretzel container, I'll sell the rest in bulk, probably at an auction.

Once I had my pretzel buttons sorted, I was feeling pretty good about myself.  Then, I stumbled upon an estate sale in Lansing that just happened to be the remains of a button collector's estate.  Oh boy.  It was loaded with buttons of all types, some arranged scientifically on cards like entomologists display their insects, others in labeled bags, and some in jars.  What did I do?  I bought more buttons, of course!

Now, one thing to remember about button collectors:  they are quite serious about their quest for new buttons, and I've found it's best to move out of the way and let them get "first grab" at estate sales.  You can be standing in line at a sale waiting for the doors to open next to a friendly little granny one minute, and the next you have orthopedic shoe prints across your back once the sale starts.  Sometimes they bring back-up, like their husbands, in tow, carrying an empty tote bag to load up with fresh kill.  

Wow, I think I might have enough buttons....

The two boxes on top are hand-carved mother-of-pearl (MOP):

Here are some large plastic and celluloid coat buttons:

Colorful celluloid and Bakelite, with rhinestone and metal filigree (sorry about the blurry pic):

Another group, ornate metal buttons with lots of filigree and one turquoise cloisonne:

 

I will be posting more about buttons in the future, mainly because they have taken over my life right now.  If you have any craft ideas for beautiful buttons, I'd love to see your pictures, so consider e-mailing me a few pics and I can include your project in an upcoming post.