After Christmas Sales Oh So Brite!

There is nothing better than after Christmas discounts especially on Christmas décor and ornaments. Earlier in the season I had been at our local Marshall’s with my mom and she bought me a pack of 12 small vintage inspired ornaments by Christopher Radko. They are called Shiny Brite, just like the vintage ornaments from the 1950s. They were extra small and perfect for my metal Crate and Barrel Christmas tree.

I kept meaning to make it over to Marshalls again to see if there were anymore left. With my mom and sister in tow we headed out to seek some discounted Christmas bargains and I scored big! I found 3 boxes of Shiny Brite ornaments left over from the holiday season. One box had 6 larger balls and the other two boxes had 9 average sized balls each, in Christmas green with rings of glittery pink.

The boxes of ornaments were already on sale, however each box had at least 2 broken balls. I don’t normally haggle outside of estate sales, but I really wanted all 3 boxes and wasn’t willing to pay for broken merchandise.  After speaking with the manager, the store gave me a discount for the damage and the holiday sale which made my night!

After removing the broken pieces of glass and wrapping the remaining ornaments safely, I can’t wait until next year to admire them on our tree.

From the Christopher Radko web site: Shiny-Brite™, a re-creation of the uniquely American ornaments and decorations of the 1940′s and 50′s.

Christmas green and pink - my favorite!

Larger ornaments

Red boxes so brite!

Lights, Camera, Fierce!

The Sunshine Grove would like to introduce Stacie, our fabulous model of frocks, coats, hats and all things vintage you can wear. She hates curling her hair, loves being goofy during shoots and although she complains about the wardrobe changes always falls in love with what she's modeling.

Here's a sneak peak of what's to come!

Merry Christmas!

At our house we celebrate Christmas Eve with our large Mexican - Cuban family. We have a traditional Cuban dinner of pork, rice and beans, yucca and plenty of libations for all. This year we're trying a Puerto Rican punch called coquito. Add lots of sugar and rum and ta-da you've got yourself a great drink.

Close to midnight we all open our gifts and enjoy all of the baked goods. My sister and I made candy cane sugar cookies, Melting moments, berry pie and a chocolate crust cheese cake.

Hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas!

Sophie!

Weekend Finds

It’s that time of year again, the week before Christmas! With so much to do in preparation we did some early weekend hunting for vintage treasures on Thursday. We normally stay pretty close to home but did head into Los Angeles for a great sale. Supposedly the home was closed for about 2 years and was opened for the first time with tons of books, mid century furniture and sewing notions. When we see awesome furniture we get bummed that we don’t have the space to bring home more. Jeremy found some old 1960s Engineering reference books and Navy maps. I brought home a box load of 1950 and 1960 patterns. I was so excited when I came across the box of them. I’ve dabbled in sewing but have yet to make clothing. I found a great vintage fabric so I’m thinking of making my first vintage inspired shirt.

On our way home we stopped at a self claimed retro estate sale but it was a bust. To redeem the afternoon we stopped off at a thrift store that has a 2^nd floor full of vintage clothing at 50% off the tag price. Jeremy found a vest and jacket that were dropped off at the cleaners today just in time to be worn for Christmas Eve.

The rest of the weekend brought us two records – Johnny Cash live at San Quentin and Dean Martin. I really wanted to find an old Christmas record but all the ones there were badly scratched.

Sunday we headed over to the Long Beach Flea market and I got in for free! I hoped to find any piece to my Nest Stone dinnerware and it just so happens that a dinner plate made its way into my collection. Today was spent wrapping gifts, visiting the post office and finishing last minute sewing projects. We  can’t wait to enjoy the company of family and friends later this week.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Vintage Books

Soon to be vintage shirt

Nest Stone Dinnerplate

Patterns!

More Patterns!

Feature!

A Collective Journal, a blog about artists and pickers has featured a set of flocked deer from our shop today! Be sure to check it out! There is one nativity set made by Etsy seller Zime and they have some excellent wood designs we love.

Flocked Deer!

Weekend Finds

Our weekend was filled with relaxation and a bit of family time. My sister came home from college for her winter break, we did some shopping for rose bushes at the local nursery and tried to stay warm. I received a package on Friday with my new Keds black and white saddle shoes. I found them on sale for $15 with free shipping. Heck ya!

 On Sunday we drove up to LA for the Renegade Holiday Craft Show. Lots of fun vendors, food trucks and even hands on crafts. My sister and I made mosaic frames with Piece by Piece. They are a great non-profit that teach underserved LA residents to create art and benefit from the sale of what they create. We also grabbed fun props and took a few photos at the Magnolia Photo Booth Co booth.

 On our way home we stopped in China Town for some crackling rice soup. YUM! There was a beats festival with food vendors and lots and lots of vinyl. We learned that LA has a DJ academy and talked a bit to one of their alumni who made some vinyl art for my sister and I. They turned out really cool. Near the parking lot there was an old mill building that has been boarded up. We left wondering how we could get in there to see what cool stuff we might find.



Keds Saddle Shoes



Los Angeles State Historic Park



Gettin' Crafty



The Family

Wondering what awesome stuff is in this building

Vinyl Art from Scratch DJ Academy

Weekend Finds

After a few weekends of so so estate sales our spirits were down and we really weren't expecting much better this weekend. How happy were we when luck was on our side! We met another fantastic duo in Lakewood who host estate sales that even thanked us for being kind buyers! Of course we thanked them for being such great hosts. Not only did we find fellow vintage lovers, but also the pattern dinnerware of our dreams.

We've put together pieces we've found here and there to make a nice Pyrex baking set, some mid century serving bowls and platters and rounding out most of the glassware from wedding gifts. We hadn't found a dinnerware pattern we loved yet. This was pretty much that love...at first sight. The plates are a creamy color and have a diamond and starburst design in a robin eggs blue.  When we got home, I fired up the internet for some research.  Starting with the stamp Nest Stone on the plates, we still didn't find too much information.  According to Replacements LLC the pattern is called NSN1 (Nest Stone 1 maybe, and not too clever if you ask me) and seems to have been manufactured by Stetson China Co for Mar-crest in the 1960s.  Thanks to Modish blog it looks like the official pattern name is Diamond Carousel - a much better name! Enough History - we brought home 4 dinner plates, 2 saucers and a cup. We are excited to begin the hunt for more pieces. We know it's going to be tough, but well worth it. Any "leads" are appreciated.

We headed to a few sales closer to home and found some more great buys. One of the homes had a matching pink Fridgadaire stove top and wall oven. They were absolutely fantastic and also matched the pink bathroom down the hall.

Now that I'm done bragging about what we saw this weekend, I must express my amazement with the teams on Etsy. I didn't quite know how they worked and now that I have taken the time to apply to a few teams, been accepted and read about them, I can see how they will be a great marketing tool. Obviously, exposure of the shop and our products is very important and the teams help shop owners discover new shops and listings. I can honestly say it was really fun getting familiar with the teams we've chosen to be part of. Can't wait for more.

Nest Stone Dinner Plate

Pink Oven!