Antique Sun Purple Pewter Shaker

The Color Purple.  Accidentally.

I’ve loved purple since I was a tot and Donny Osmond was all about purple!  Recently, my friend R rescued me and my bad back from the couch to go antiquing, and I spotted a little pile of purple pieces from clear across the room.  The owner stated that the glassware was originally clear but had been placed in sunlight and turned purple.  Of course, I did a bit of research and learned, “If  you have a clear jar that has turned purple then it was made before WWI when supplies of Manganese Dioxide, the chemical that causes old glass to turn purple in the sun, was cut off by German blockades.”  Didn’t know that, just knew I loved purple.

I think my purple shaker with a pewter lid was a steal at $6.50.  Looks great on my island sitting on top my antique French bread board with my other condiments!

Ye olde Birdcage Birdfeeder

Snowman or feeder?

I do love a bargain.  I love it even more when Better Half loves a bargain which, when he’s shopping with me, doesn’t happen often.  However, this past week found us in the Big City with time to spare so we walked to an antique/junk store to waste an hour.  Honestly, I couldn’t find anything in this rather large store, which was shocking even to me, and was ready to leave when Better Half asked if I’d seen the birdcage outside the door.  Criminy, not this birdcage thingy again?

Better Half, for years, has reiterated to me his dream of owning an antique birdcage turned into a birdfeeder.  I just nod my head and start adding how many years before it doesn’t look strange for him to be put in a nursing home.  A birdcage birdfeeder?  Not on my watch!

I rolled my eyes, and walked to the front door.  OMG.  The birdcage of my his dreams.  I really saw his vision!  It was so cool, old, and heavy; about 3′ tall.  Even if the birdfeeder idea didn’t materialize, my mind was racing with things I could do with this gem.  I was dreading how much it was going to cost for this vision to become a reality, when the sweet little English proprietor said $12.  $12?  Are you serious?  SOLD!  We took the snowman, er, birdcage home, painted two planters to put inside it, filled the planters with birdseed and immediately birds flocked (haha) to it.  We had opened the doors to the cage so they could enter and leave, but I think now we’ll be closing them because these birds don’t believe in entering through the front door.  They enter through the “walls.”  It’s awesome.  We even have them sitting on the swings.  We’re thinking big-time now: more cages for a birdcage tree!

Jeez, now I’m going to have to look for a double bed at the nursing home. . . .

Vintage Luggage Rack

I spent a great day with a friend antiquing last weekend.  Karma must have been in my path because as we were perusing an off-the-beaten-track antique shop, I saw IT.   What I have been trying to find for years.  Sitting on the front porch of this derelict looking shop, pushed up against rusted, dirty, and battered antiques and junk— a vintage luggage rack.  I’ve been looking for one for our guest room for years.  I wasn’t specifically looking for antique or vintage; new or gently used would have been fine.  I just didn’t want to spend mucho dinero on a “luxury” item for a guest room I never “guest” in!

When I first saw, I didn’t get my hopes up.  I have found several vintage/antique racks, yet when I pull them out they’re torn, wobbly; just plain junk.  I couldn’t believe my luck!  This one, other than the mahogany wood needing refinishing, was perfect.  Well, almost.  It was filthy and had big wads of dirt between the wood and tapestry straps, but otherwise, perfect.  Super sturdy, no parts broken, no parts missing.   My first thought was wow, my next thought was how much?  And there it was; on a blue piece of painter’s tape: $3.00.  Holy cow!

I’m now the proud owner of a vintage luggage rack.  I cleaned it up and discovered that once I delicately washed the tapestry straps, they look quite pretty and don’t need replacing.

I then noticed an old gold sticker on the underside:  “This is a genuine Scheibe product.  Fine quality accessories since 1914.”  Well, well.  So I did some quick research, found out that Scheibe had been bought by another manufacturer, but they are still producing the same luggage racks; even this one.  It’s pretty obvious, based on the hardware, condition, and the infamous gold sticker, that my luggage rack is definitely not new.  How old, we’ll never know.  I do know this–the new ones sell for almost 30 times the amount I paid!

Most items in this shop were very reasonably priced and it was a super fun place to “pick.”  The owner was a very pleasant, laid-back gentleman; good karma is coming his way.