handmade antiques

 This past week, Nicki and I drove back up to Brimfield, back to NYC and then up to Maine to pick up a hard-to-find set of 1950's bunk beds. I was on a mad search for them and was having no luck. Finally I found a set on Craigslist in Maine so I jumped on it. The ride up there was nice and we got to stop by some antique stores on the way back. Brimfield was successful like the last time and we basically found every last prop we needed.

So it's been a summer of antiquing (well 1950's prop shopping) and in the midst of all things old, are many handmade objects and art. I just adore finding old crafts. I am so curious about each piece I see and I just find the homemade pieces to be so much more interesting.
 

Above is a framed pair of felted parrots that I spotted in a warehouse style antique store on Route 1 in Maine.

 This piece is made of all dried natural materials like flowers, grass, and moss. Hidden by the stream is a paper Dresden of two little girls playing. It was a very magical piece and reminded me of a secret garden.

 Shell art is probably the most common handmade craft I see while antiquing. Above is a beautiful shell flower wreath in a shadow box frame at Brimfield and below is a shell flower arrangement in an antique store in Maine! Good old shell art! I am yet to find a relic sailor Valentine heart shaped box to add to my collection of treasured things.

I just thought I would add this picture of a mouse trap I saw. Catch the mouse, it runs in the wheel so you know he's trapped and can hear him because often times people forget to check live traps and the animals wind up starving to death, defeating the whole purpose. Plus rodents love to exercise and this will keep him busy for the time he is jailed. Then you take him out to the woods to set him free! Wish it was that easy. Mice are so cute.

I don't know

I am always interested in what drives new visitor to my blog so I often look at the stats. This week a few people searched "i don't know" and ended up on lemmemakeit. I love that :)

 I also love the squirrels in my neighborhood—they make me smile almost everyday.

fleas & elephant feet

Most of the time, flea markets can be an inspiring atmosphere—there is so much to look at—so many different types of things from so many different times, owned by so many different people. I get a lot of ideas from the things I see at flea markets and sometimes can't stop thinking about them. 

My sister spotted this old taxidermy parrot at the Avenue A flea and called me over to take a look at it. Yes it was interesting, jangly and somewhat frightening (it would be to Pico anyway)—I snapped a photo of the bird to remember it and noticed something strange behind it.

This is when you say WTF! I just don't understand! 

Laying behind the inanimate parrot was the foot of an elephant. I stared at it for a minute and thought "no, it can't be?" But it was and I couldn't help but think of the poachers who might have done this, the black market that supports this, the culling in Africa, and the memory and intelligence that elephants carry—the fear, the terror. It brought me back to the first few chapters in the book I just read, Zoo Story.

I would have never expected to see something even close to this at a flea in New York City—I was ashamed.

yarn art

 I purchased a piece of yarn art from the Avenue A flea market for $5 last weekend—wow, I can't even believe that the whole week has gone by—time certainly flies. Anyway, the vendor had an interesting collection, all bought from one estate sale. I was kind of fascinated by them—wondered how old they were, where did they come from, were they all created by one artist, who previously owned them? The unknowns of flea market finds...