final countdown

In fourty eight hours my twins are starting a whole new chapter in their lives and mine.  They'll start kindergarten on Friday.  Just thinking about it makes me nervous and excited at the same time.  This afternoon I went to Walmart to get the last minute shopping done and finally checked off my list (talk about last minute prep)!

school supplies bought and sorted ✔
school uniforms laundered and ironed ✔
haircut done ✔
pencils sharpened ✔
bagpacks and coats labeled ✔
double checked shoes and made sure it’s where they can be found ✔

I'm sure I'm still forgetting a couple of things... Ahh, first day of school is so nervewracking!

sale notice & shop preview

Hello! I decided to have another sale just before the end of summer, all of my items at Modish Vintage shop including paintings, furnitures and already reduced items are 20% off. The sale is on now and will run this Saturday and Sunday only.  So if you have your eye on something now is the time to shop and save :)

and now here is the preview of what's coming to the shop next week: lots of old enamel and wooden items and a few early American housewares.

phrenology craze

I love old medical ephemera, so when I won this very old, bulky (like 4-inch thick) medical book from a recent auction I was ecstatic. I've listed a few in my shop and this phrenology chart was the first one to go, they seem like the craze right now. I've also found something similar on the web lately...

this is the scan of the chart I recently sold, and as I write this post there's only ONE available for sale on Etsy.

gyclee print from Jennski

melamine trays with the popular phrenology chart coming soon to Target via Lonny.

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P.S. in connection with the changing of the season I will be listing some darker, older items in the shop next week.  Sneak peek and a small news tommorow, stay tuned!

my vintage collection: brass bowls

I wasn't very fond of brass home accesory when I started with my first apartment and home; it was one of those things that I've associated with the 70s shag rug, lava lamp or velvet artworks in terms of offensive home accessory.

Since opening my etsy shop though I’ve started seeing more of them in the thrift stores and they've kind of grown on me. I like the really old, heavy brass candelabras and small animal and fruit figures with dark patina. I started adding some brass in my home and decided that if they're use sparingly they could add lots of charm and understated elegance in a room.

I have been seeing lots of brassware show up in antique malls and auctions. And this bowl with brass elk head, I just couldn’t resist. Do you love or despise brass or did you- like me learned to love it with the current trend?

fascinating 1897 Sears catalog

A recent auction adventure yielded some very old and very interesting books and one of them is this old 1897 Sears Catalogue reprinted in 1967.  Sears was only four years old at that time when the catalog was issued and it's a bulky volume of fascinating trove for Americana enthusiast. 

It's so fascinating to find the things that people actually sold and bought in the late 19th century and more so is how inexpensive everything was.   From 15 cents bonnet to 40 cents corsets, to  50 cents parasols and 56 cents butter churn. 

Here's a few scans that caught my eye, you can click on the image to view them larger.

**I understand I've overused the word "fascinating" in this post but I don't have any other word to aptly describe the book.

pretty little things

These are hands down my most favorite estate auction finds ever. A few vintage jeweled vanity boxes and a huge lot of vintage dresser jars. Aren’t they lovely, dreamy and oh so pretty?! They’re coming to the shop next week!

my vintage collection: crystal bird figures

Here’s my vintage collection for today; a small group of vintage crystal bird figures sitting on a windowsill on the highest window in our home.

It’s always tricky to find a safe spot to display my breakables (this is why my living room is empty and bare right now) when there are four curious little hands wandering around always looking for stuff to get into. I think I'll wait for another couple of years before really decorating the house.

Monday shop update: back to school items

Just added these few "back to school" items in the shop this afternoon.  I got lots more to list, and if you have been noticing I tend to save the best/biggest items for last as they take more time and effort to list, so I will be listing the "big" items towards the middle or end of this week.  Stay tuned.

antique notary seals

Once in a while I get someone asking me at the auction “what are your going to do with those?” Sometimes, I get stumped “err, I don’t know yet, but I love them a lot I’ll find a use for them, and sometimes I do find a use for them” and other times I just flat out admit that I sell vintage online.

My one indication that someone may not be a dealer is when they ask me what I’m going to do with a big crate full of antique notary seal I just won. Um, I plan on using them as stocking stuffers this holiday season?

This by the way was something I won last night. Twenty-one antique notary seals that dates back from 1909, my husband and I had so much fun last night stamping and finding out the dates and locations of the seals, we even found Humpty Dumpty's.

I love their industrial look and shape and when I saw them on the table my heart went pitter patter. They’re super heavy, one weighs almost two pounds so they would be great as paperweight or bookends.

I’m listing them next week together with my back to school vintage items. What else would you use them for, any ideas? And If you say meat tenderizer, hubby already thought of that.

nice jugs

Hubby and I frequent two estate auction houses in our area. One place has a serious, rigid, don’t-bother-me-I’m-here-to-bid-against-you attitude, and the other one has a friendlier, more relaxed atmosphere. So we were at the rigid auction place one night and as we're collecting our items at the end of the night I didn’t realized hubby bid on these two old jugs from the silent auction table and when he saw someone was holding one of them he half jokingly said “Those are my jugs!”

and  the "jug" comments ensued... "nice jugs!”, “what a nice pair!”, “those are big jugs!”.  it definitely broke the ice and it was nice to finally see that some of these folks got some kind of sense of humor.

my vintage collection: old stereoviewers

Sometimes it’s enough that an object look old, odd and strange, I don’t even mind if they have any practical purposes- you bet I will bid on them at an auction. Like for instance these lot of old stereoviewers. When I tried to bid on them a few months ago all I know is they are for viewing something I don’t even know what they’re called (thanks to a helpful tweep for letting me know), I was interested primarily because of their uniqueness and oldness. 

new home: enamel tureen and card holder

So happy to get these two customer appreciation photos this weekend.  This vintage enamel soup tureen was purchased by a fellow Etsy seller and twitter friend Melinda from Crab Apple Vintage.  So nice to see it displayed among her pottery and teapot collection and that fab painting!

This metal card holder was purchased not too long ago by Shannon from Texas and is now holding greeting cards on her kitchen counter.

Thank you guys!

P.S. 
I'd like to post more of these in the future; if you bought from me and want to send pictures, you can send me a convo via my shop here or send me an email at rncfernandez[at]msn[dot]com. Thank you!
 
P.P.S.
Also want to thank Dallas for the sweet mention of my shop on her beautiful blog.
LuAnn from Back Home Again for this lovely feature. Thank you!

sneak peek: hollywood regency home decor

Here's what's coming to the shop this week; miscellaneous silver and brass trays, chinoiserie framed art, blanc de chine lamp, solid brass candle holders and candelabra, cloisonne vases and trinket boxes and cinnabar vase.

cozy corner

If vintage sellers of clothing loves to play dress up with their finds, I on the other hand loves to play house, decorate a room, set up vignettes and photograph them. Yes, I can do this all day long!

This is a cozy corner I photographed yesterday with my recent finds, a chair and stool both are in the shop now for purchase.

Happy Friday everyone!

weekend thrift find

Two bookcases from Goodwill; $20, (and if you've seen my basement) finding an empty wall for them; priceless!

Of course it didn't take long for me to fill them up. But a great thing that happens each time I find a new storage for my finds is that I get so motivated to reorganize and clean- and then discovering some forgotten stuff I thrifted many weeks ago that are yet to be listed in the shop. It's like finding new treasures all over again, I know it's that bad.

I also reorganized my frames and decided to hang them up instead so they're easier to find when they get sold. My computer desk is right across this wall, now I feel like I am being watched from behind by these old couple.  I admit some of my vintage finds does creep me out a little.