Antiquing in Huntsville--Tickle Me Tuesday

I want to change the lighting in our house and I've been keeping an eye out for chandeliers.  Here's a couple on Etsy that have been tickling my fancy.  This one is from PurpleFlowerFairy. 

PurpleFlowerFairy

This one is from GraceandPlenty.

GraceandPlenty

I stopped off in Huntsville on my way home  from Richard Salley's workshop in Spring. I really like the antique stores in downtown Huntsville.  



My first stop was River Country Antiques where I spotted these spoons and these shoe buckles.

Next stop was A Nitsch in Time. 








 I found these cool little tobacco tags.  

I also found this draftsman's chair sitting outside the door.  Twelve bucks!  It may not be pretty but it's in good shape and it went home with me.  I'm putting it in the studio next to my tall table. It needs a good cleaning.  
  



Next door at Bluebonnet Square I found this ribbon and these buttons:

The ribbons were in the organizer in front of this fun display.












I made  a pit stop for a hamburger at Cafe Texan. 




Cafe Texan has an old bar complete with red bar stools and a separate dining room lined with large vintage photos of historical interest. When my Dad worked in Huntsville he drank coffee here with some other "old-timers."


I finished my tour at Sam Houston Antiques. These three vintage makeup bags were irresistible.  Two are leather Budd purses and the other is Celebrity.  I like to use these to store delicate items.




The first time I went in this store I thought I was Alice and had fallen down the rabbit hole.  The store looks small from the outside, but it connects to the adjoining building, and has three stories and plus a basement.  When you are inside it's like it goes on forever. I kept checking the time because I was a little worried I'd be locked up inside. 




See what's tickling every one's fancy over at Yes, Teacher Crafts.

Vintage Finds and a War Journal

Recently we had the "birthday" anniversary meeting for our AAUW branch. We met in Farmersville at the Sugar Hill Restaurant. The restaurant features home style cooking and an array of vintage, new, and antique dish ware, all of which is for sale.




I'm thinking seriously of going back and getting a set of these dishes. Isn't this plate beautiful?

Here's a shot of my buffet selections. I chose a cabbage soup and a selection of salads. Since since hubby and son are not into veggies and salads I consider them a treat.



The Sweet Sensations were there to entertain us--think barbershop quartet, only with women and a larger group. They are really good and very entertaining. The program consisted of patriotic songs in honor of a late member of our group.



After lunch I went antiquing in the stores around the town square. I like to go antiquing but don't always find much. This time I'm pretty pleased with my haul.

In the shop adjoining the restaurant I found this cool vintage bracelet. I believe it is Czech glass.



 My favorite find of the day was at Farmersville Antique Store where I found this beautiful and mostly working typewriter. The ribbon is there, but broken, and something is jamming a couple of keys. The carriage still moves though and I think repairs will be possible. I believe this is an Underwood No. 5 but the decals on the bottom of the front frame that usually have the model number are not there. The no. 5 is the most common of the antique typewriters. I plan to use this to type things to use in collage and on collaged pendants when I get it fixed.



This jewelry was calling my name--I swear I heard it. I love the little crystal headpins on the smaller pin and the drusy crystal look on the Marquis shaped crystals on the earrings.



Afterwards I visited a third shop where I found another rhinestone necklace and a Bluejackets Manual from the WWII era.



This was the first Bluejackets Manual I have seen. It's a Navy instruction manual that covers what a sailor needs to know--things like how to organize the locker for inspection, rules and regulations, etc. I got very excited when I found it.

My great uncle, Bill Carter, served in the Navy during WWII. He was a 19 year old sailor on the Utah when  Pearl Harbor was attacked. He survived because he just happened to be on deck when the Utah was hit and sank. He served for the duration of the war.

My friend Paul and I have been working on my late Uncle Bill's journal. Mostly Paul is doing the work. He's a historian and has done the notes and things. Luckily my aunt Sarah scanned the journal many years ago so we have good copies to work from. The original is in very delicate condition.  My great aunt Helen (Bill's wife) is eager to see it published. Bill did a lot of sketches in his journal of things he saw--ships burning and other things.  It's very interesting not just for our family members, but as a historical document.

This brings me back to the Bluejackets manual. Navy personal weren't supposed to be keeping journals. Uncle Bill wrapped his journal up very well in brown paper, wrote a note on it saying "I can't think of a better gift for a bosun mate's wife than a bluejackets manual." Then he tied it up in a lot of string and mailed it. The journal was the same size as a manual and it went through without being opened by the censors.

Antiquing with Billye

My friend Billye and I went antiquing on Tuesday. Martha was coming with us, but had something pop up at the last minute. (Read her blog here where we went antiquing earlier.)

We went to The Back Door in the nearby town of Caddo Mills. The business area on Main Street is about a block long and The Back Door takes up a large part of it. It's chock full of vintage, antique and new items. I'm quite sure I could go back tomorrow and see lots of things that I missed the first time, even though we spent about three hours going through the store!



This was my favorite find! It was labeled spice box, but had clearly never held spices. I think it's more of a sewing cabinet, but who knows? I'm in the process of clearing out a room at the house for my jewelry studio and this is going in there.



Next up I found these wonderful buttons and beads. The ones in the middle are cobalt glass buttons, kind of unusual. The crystals were in the cabinet so the owner said they went with it. What a bargain! Click on it for a detailed view at Flickr.



Martha's been wanting a sugar mold for paint brushes in her studio. This one just looked like it should be in her studio, so we got it for her.

I also got three interesting postcards that I'm going to use in some mixed media art one day.

Billye has recently moved and she got some great things for her house. Altogether we had a fun day.