Saturday, March 31, 2012

Dance baby, dance!

 I picked these chalkware plaques up a few weeks ago.  They had some paint loss and scratches to the paint but I love the black and white ovals, as well as, the texture of the figures.  I always struggle with how much to restore.  I don't want them to look new but rather to keep some of their vintage charm.  I decided to leave the cream/white as is-just cleaned up.




Here they are all cleaned up with the black and aqua repainted.  I love the Valspar testers that Lowe's sells!  They will mix any color and they are only like $2 each.  The only drawback is the testers only come in a satin finish.  If you need a semi or high gloss then you need to get at least a quart.















The plaques are marked " '60 Modern Art Co" on the edge.  They also have a stamp on the back that is very difficult to read.  I can make out " Cory _____sted  _____ Art Co. Milwaukee, 12. Wis."

I am very happy with the end result!

'Til we meet again,
Ms. Adventure

Monday, March 26, 2012

Wowsa, Wednesday happens every week!

Okay, okay.  I know it seems like I may have a problem but I swear it's under control.  It certainly makes me happy to find my little treasures and let's face it, there are certainly worse things I could be doing.

I couldn't help myself and made the trip back out to the middle of nowhere last Wednesday.  I had spied a few things that I would like on my previous trip so Daddy-o and I headed out.  I figure life is short, why not shell out a little cash.  You can't take it with you, right?
A cute little set of chalkware wall hangings.
I picked up this set of wall hangings with the intention of repairing the damage to the musical notes.  On closer inspection, I don't think this is a set at all.  The finish on the notes seems to be different than on the "Harp".  The central portion is marked "1952 Gary Art Studio".  There are no markings on any of the other pieces.

 The musical notes had several cracks in the neck and were fairly unstable.

I first used superglue in the cracks followed by spackle.  Once the spackle was dry I sanded the repair smooth.  A nice coat of paint and voila!

I chose to touch up the figures as well.  The color had been sprayed on and was pretty sloppy.  I left the faces of the figures untouched because I liked the rosy cheeks. 





I think they look darling!  The colors really pop, yet the faces retain their cherubic quality.  I love the crispness of the gold paint.  I tried several varieties but found that model paint worked the best.






A few other purchases...


Gold slip ons and a vintage barkcloth clutch.  The best $1.50 I've spent in a long time!


A great Sputnik light fixture. The finish is in rough condition but she is so lovely when illuminated that I just could not pass her up. 



'Til we meet again,
Ms. Adventure

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A perfect find!

While visiting Che Bello, a new boutique here in town, I spotted what would be the perfect accessory for the man folk to sport on our upcoming Vegas trip!

My, what a handsome belt buckle!

What's that?!  A removable flask?  Brilliant!

A great little 3 oz belt buckle flask!  Who was the brilliant chap that came up with this idea? 

The flask is held securely in the belt buckle with two small magnets.  The hand of cards seems fitting given the locale of the event.  They did have some other designs as well but this was the best for us.  I thought they are so awesome and a pretty good price that I bought a couple.

The owner of the store was kind enough to special order exactly what I wanted!  Check them out on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CheBelloBoutique

'Til we meet again,
Ms. Adventure

Sunday, March 18, 2012

In the genes perhaps?

The other night I was going through old photos while making a picture book for my Grandmas birthday.  Shhhhhh....don't tell her.  It's a surprise.  I was pleasantly surprised to come across this photo
Check out that lamp!
I am not sure why my grandmother (in the blus dress) looks horrified.  Surely it's not because of the lamp.  If I had to guess, I would say that my father or one of my uncles had just done something truely inappropriate!


Indeed, they appear to be up to no good!  From L to R, Uncle Mark, my father and Uncle George.
I suspect these photos are from 1956. 


'Till we meet again
Ms. Adventure

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Wild Wednesday adventure!

So I decided to take the day off of work.  I have been desperately trying to cut down on the amount of time I spend at my job.  My plan for today was to get my oil changed, clean my car, get equipment ready for a beekeeping class I am doing tomorrow, go to the bank, etc, etc... 

Well, while waiting to get my oil changed I realized it was indeed Wednesday, a fact I knew but had not had the "Aha!  It's Wednesday!"  moment yet.  What's so special about Wednesday you ask?  My friend Samantha (read her blog here) and I have been trying to go to this antique store in the middle of nowhere all winter.  Their winter hours are Wednesday 11a-1p.  Hello, two hours in the middle of the week??  Needless to say, when I realized it was Wednesday it was 10:40am and I just had to start my trek.  The store is about 40 minutes from where I was.  I immediately texted Samantha.  She texted back something about working.  What?!  So I did what any good friend would do.  I went without her.

The store is not heated and actually occupies two buildings, the old bank and an old 7-Up distributor.  The town it is in most likely has a population somewhere around 400-700 people.  I didn't find too much in the old bank so I headed next door to the soda garage. 

I spotted what would become Daddy-O's birthday gift.  Even though his birthday isn't until June, I just had to buy it.

Daddy -O has always wanted a floor globe.  This one is fantastic with its smart mid century design.  It lights up too!  Bonus!  Because as I will fully admit, I have a lamp addiction.  The only major flaw is a crack that runs through Africa.  My plan is to try to glue it from the inside to stabilize it.  I may try to apply some touch up paint to the exterior to minimize the crack.  It's really only noticeable when the light is on.

   The soda garage is two floors, so after careful inspection of the items on the lower level, I headed upstairs.  There were no lights in the garage but many windows including a large (6ftX5ft) opening in the side wall that has no glass.  It is literally open to the elements!  The upper floor is somewhat "L" shaped.  When I came around the corner and nearly fell over.  This is what I saw...


The proprietor of the store was right behind me and I think I did a very good job of containing my enthusiasm.  I said flatly, "Wow.  Those are big AND purple".  He immediately dropped the price by 30%.  He said he was told by the dealer he got them from that they would be "hot" in Chicago.  Well, the upper peninsula of Michigan is a long way from Chicago and they have been sitting there for what sounds like several years.  In an unheated garage, unprotected, 20 feet from the  outside world.

The lamps were made by Reglor in 1953.
I just brought them home and plugged them in.  I haven't cleaned them yet.  Boy are they dusty!  They are very large measuring 35" from base to finial.  The shades measure 22.5" at their widest point.
There is a small chip in the bottom of the male lamp and two small areas of paint loss.  The female lamp has a small hole under her left arm.  The dark purple paint on the faces is cracking and needs repainting.  The shades have some small spots on the underside but otherwise are in fantastic condition. 
I hope I can do as nice a job as Hepcat.  He has restored some fabulous finds and is kind enough to detail his work in his blog.  Thanks Hepcat! 


Monday, March 12, 2012

My you're a handsome devil. What's your name?

With our trip to Vegas fast approaching, Daddy-O made a few new shirt purchases.  He tends to gravitate toward Hawaiian and bowling shirts.  Although we love vintage shirts, they tend to be difficult to come by in the proper size and the price can be downright frightening!

One of his favorite shopping spots is Daddy-O's  (no relation, of course)!  Here are some favorites from his collection.

This shirt celebrates the iconic Sun Records Company.  This is where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison got their start.  Read more about the history of Sun Records here.

 A classic bowling shirt and the only one in Daddy-O's collection that has his true name on it!  You may not know this, but we are total bowling geeks.  I think it may have something to do with really long winters here.  You would think we would be much better at it but we are just there to have fun.
Ahhhhh....the Leopard shirt!  The best thing about this shirt, besides being my favorite color, it that the print panels are fuzzy!  Just like a plush toy...there is just something a little wrong with that.  How many beanie babies gave their lives to make that shirt!



Front-4 pocket

This hot little number was requested by Handsome Devil #1
Back- 4 pocket
Bombs Away!  Reminiscent of the classic nose art on WWII era planes.








The above shirts are vintage to some degree.  The orange shirt is from the 50's.  It has the name "Fred" embroidered above the left breast pocket.  Best of all it has a "Chicago Artists Guild" patch on the sleeve!
The Boomerang Bowling pins shirt is from Daddy-O's but was purchased on Ebay.  It has a large embroidered pin and boomerang on the back along with the name "Meyers".  It is somewhat shorter than most of the other shirts he has.  I have a sneaking suspicion that it may indeed be a woman's shirt.  It does have the name "Pat" embroidered on the sleeve.  That's about as much help as "Chris"!  Anyone else thinking of old Saturday Night Live skits right now? 


'Til we meet again,
Ms. Adventure
 

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Bright Lights, Big City

In one short month Daddy-o and I will be headed to Las Vegas to attend the 15th annual
Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender.  While in Vegas, we will be making our way over to the Neon Museum.  I am super-excited to see all of the retired neon signs!  I have always been drawn to great old signs.

So, in anticipation....
Here are some of my favorite signs from around the country.











'Til we meet again,
Ms. Adventure